Peanut Satay Sauce

You need:

- 2 tbs creamy peanut butter
- 1 tsp soya sauce
- 2 tbs coconut milk
- A little sugar
- A little lime juice
- A pinch of garlic powder.

Mix them up together, garnish with a little chopped green onion.

Serve it with Korean BBQ Pork (Click here)

Korean BBQ Pork with Peanut Satay Sauce.

Serves 4 persons.

Ingredients:

- 4 Boneless Pork chops.
- For the marinade:
- Half a cup light soya Sauce.
- 1 tbs brown sugar.
- 2 tbs minced garlic-ginger.
- 1 tbs rice wine vinegar.
- 1 tbs corn starch.
- 1 whole stalk minced green onion.
- 1 tbs hot sauce.
- A pinch of black pepper.
- A quarter cup veg oil.

To prepare:

Mix all the above ingredients and marinate the pork chops for a few hours.

Heat a griddle till it is hot and generously brush it with some veg oil. Place the pork chops on the hot griddle and cook each side for 3-4 mins. Take them off the heat and cover them for some time.

Then slice them thin and serve hot with rice and salad. I served them with Peanut Satay sauce (click here).

VEG) Sauteed Snap Peas

Ingredients:

- 1 cup washed, peeled and cleaned Snap Peas.
- 1 tbs butter.
- Salt for taste.
- 1 tsp garlic powder (optional).
- 1/2 tsp sugar.

In a pan pour in half cup of water and throw in the snap peas. Allow it to boil for few minutes making sure it retains the green color. Throw away the excess water once the peas are parboiled.
Shock the snap peas with very cold water. Heat butter in a pan, throw in the peas, salt and sugar. Saute it until the snap peas look shiny and buttery. Sprinkle it with the garlic powder and serve it with grilled fish. (Or, as in the picture, I had served it with potato and fontina cheese bake).

(VEG) Snow Peas Pilaff with Fried Paneer (rice dish)

Ingredients:

- 1 cup of Basmati Rice (you can cook it with brown Basmati Rice too), washed and dried.
- 1 cup of washed snow peas, with tips cut off .
- 1 cup of fried Paneer.
- Salt and sugar for taste.
- A pinch of saffron soaked in about 2 tbs of warm milk.
- 2 cups of water for cooking the rice.
- 2 whole cardamom (big).
- 11/2 tsp garam masala (small cardamom, cinnamon and cloves powdered together).
- 1 whole bay leaf.
- 1 tsp ghee (clarified butter).
- 1 tbs raisins (optional).

Heat some vegetable oil in a wok, put in the bay leaf, ghee and the whole big cardamom. Put the washed rice in the wok and stir it with the oil. Put salt and 1-1/2 tsp sugar, mix it with the rice.
When the rice looks fried enough, pour in two cups of water. Make sure the water level is one inch above the level of the rice. As the water starts to boil, lower the heat and cover. When the rice is parboiled, throw in the snowpeas, paneer and ground garam masala. Leave the cover on until the water has fully dried and the rice is cooked. It should be "al dente". Take the wok off the heat and fluff the rice gently with a spatula. Then sprinkle the saffron soaked milk and the raisins over the rice. Mix it gently with the rice. Serve hot.

(FISH) Malaysian Style Crab Roll

This recipe is entirely created by me.

Ingredients:

- Tin of lump crab meat.
- 3 tbs mayonnaise.
- 3 tbs coconut milk.
- 1 tbs madras curry paste.
- 2 Kaffir lime leaves (minced).
- Fresh lime juice of half lemon.
- 2 tbs small cubed unsalted butter.
- Salt.
- 1 tbs chopped green onion.
- 1 tsp shrimp paste.
- 1 tbs chopped fresh garlic.

Pour the crab meat from the tin into a bowl - making sure there are no shells in it. Mix lemon juice with it.
Except for the salt and the crab mix all the ingredients and keep it aside. Taste and adjust the salt.
Meanwhile heat the oven 400F.

To prepare the roll ingredients needed:
- 10 slices of fresh white bread with their sides cut off.
- Crab meat marinated in lemon juice.
- Prepared mayonnaise mixture.
- 1 egg beaten.

Take a slice of bread and roll it out. Put some crab meat along one end of the slice, not too much.
With a spoon put a little mayonnaise spread over the crab meat.
Holding the two ends of the slice, start rolling, and while doing so, keep brushing the beaten egg so that it acts as glue.
Arrange the rolls on a baking sheet and brush oil on each of them. Put the baking sheet in the center rack and bake it until it turns golden brown.
Take them out, allow to cool down, then with a serrated knife cut each roll at an angle and serve it with some hot sauce and salad.

(VEG) Sweet Basil Pesto and Glazed Carrots

How to prepare Basil Pesto:

Ingredients:

- Bunch of fresh basil leaves.
- 2 cloves of fresh garlic.
- Salt and pepper to taste.
- Dash of Balsamic vinegar (about 2 tbs).
- A handful of pine nuts.
- About 1/2 cup good extra virgin olive oil.

Except for the oil, put everything in a food processor and grind together. Then slowly drizzle the oil while the machine is on until the mixture thickens. Taste to see if the salt is OK and it should taste creamy.
Pour it in a bowl, and drizzle a little oil on the pesto, which helps to retain its green color.


Glazed Carrots - how to prepare:

For ingredients:
- 1 bunch of fresh baby carrots (washed, heads cut off).
- 1 tsp sugar.
- Salt to taste.
- 1 tsp garlic powder or fresh clove of garlic chopped (optional).
- 1 tsp butter.
In a skillet put 1/2 cup of water and the carrots on a medium high heat. Put some salt and sugar, allow it to simmer until the carrots are tender and the water has evaporated. Put it in a serving dish and mix the butter with it. Serve hot.

(FISH) New Orleans BBQ Shrimp

I loved this dish, ate it in New Orleans and I made sure I tried it out at home. Of course it is not the exact version - I cooked with all the ingredients I had at home and it tasted equally good!

Ingredients: Cooking time about 20 mins under broiler or grill in the oven.
- 1 lb fresh water shrimps with heads attached.
- 4 tbs Worchestershire sauce.
- 2 tbs Soya sauce.
- 2 tbs vinegar.
- Cracked black pepper.
- 1 tsp minced ginger.
- 2 tbs minced white onion.
- 1 tsp allspice powder.
- 1 tbs hot sauce.
- 1 tsp cayenne powder.
- 1/4 cup veg.oil.

To prepare:

- Mix all the ingredients listed above and marinate the shrimps in a bowl, cover it, refrigerate for an hour and then cook.

How to cook:

- You need 6 cloves of garlic, sliced.
- Also 4 tbs unsalted room temp.butter.
- In an oven proof skillet, melt the butter over low heat .
- Put the sliced garlic in the butter, making sure either of the ingredients does not get brown.
- Take the skillet off the heat and pour the marinated shrimp and the marinade over the heated butter.
- Then put the skillet below a broiler or a grill on high until the shrimps tend to turn lightly brown and the marinade begins to sizzle.
- Take it out from the oven and pour it in a serving dish. Sprinkle some dried thyme or rosemary.
- Serve it with warm garlic bread.