Black Pepper Beef Pot Roast

I had a nice piece of beef top round and was trying to figure out what to cook with it. Finally I remembered a very popular dish in Malaysia: beef - or actually any kind of meat with black pepper sauce. There are small stalls and big restaurants that serve beef, lamb or chicken with a black pepper sauce. In fact black pepper sauce is also featured in noodle dishes such as Japanese udon noodles with bell peppers and seafood.

I decided to make it easy on myself by just cooking the whole piece of beef as a pot roast in the oven rather than making the sauce separately and pouring it on steaks. It turned out beautifully tender and very flavorful. For just the black pepper sauce recipe, leave out the beef, carrots and mushrooms and you will be able to get about 2 cups of sauce.

Grilled New York strip steak with the black pepper sauce

BLACK PEPPER BEEF POT ROAST
Serves 4

2 pounds beef top round
2 tbsp olive oil
1 big onion, finely chopped
6 pips garlic, finely chopped
1 tbsp tomato puree
2 cups water
1 beef stock cube
4 – 5 dashes of worcestershire sauce
½ tbsp sugar
3/4 tbsp black pepper, ground
1 tsp white pepper
1 tsp plain flour mixed with 2 tbsp water (optional)
2 carrots, peeled and cut into chunks
2 cups mushrooms, sliced and sauteed in 1 tbsp butter

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
• Season the piece of beef with salt and black pepper. Heat oil in a heavy based pot on a medium heat, add meat and brown all over. Set aside.
• To the pot, add chopped onion and cook until caramelized. This will take about 15 - 20 minutes and will make a big difference to the taste of the dish. Add in chopped garlic and sauté for a few minutes. Add in water, stock cube and tomato puree, bring to a boil, lower heat and cook until onions and garlic are soft (about 45 minutes).
• Add in Worcestershire sauce, sugar, white and black pepper then the beef. Cover and place in the middle of the oven. Cook for about 1 1/2 hours until tender.
• Carefully remove, set aside to cool 10 minutes then use a very sharp knife to slice into 1/4" - 1/2" slices, place in the sauce, scatter carrots and mushrooms around the meat, cover and cook in the oven for about 30 minutes more until carrots are tender.
• Make a flour slurry with 1 tsp flour mixed with 2 tbsp water and mix into the sauce to thicken it if desired.

Mexican Fruit Cake

I opened a can of what I thought was pineapple rings to make pineapple pork and instead saw crushed pineapple instead. Oops! Well I immediately thought of the cake that my mother-in-law had made one Christmas which was very tasty, very easy to make and the first time I had heard of crushed pineapple in a can. So I immediately got out all the ingredients and started mixing, but just as I was about to pour the batter into the pan, I realized that there was no butter or oil in the list of ingredients and I wondered if I had copied the recipe incorrectly. Now Keith's family members are good cooks, but they are all about tried and tested recipes and not necessarily inventive so I was quite sure I would find the recipe if I googled it. Yes, there it was and I confirmed that the cake did not use any kind of fat. However, the recipe calls for 2 cups of sugar and I just couldn't bring myself to use that much so I reduced it to 1 cup sugar and it was just as good. Keith was more than happy with his double dose of pineapple that night - pineapple pork for dinner and the Mexican fruit cake for dessert.

MEXICAN FRUIT CAKE

1 cup sugar
2 cups flour
2 eggs
1 20 oz can of crushed pineapple with the juice
1 cup chopped nuts
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla

• Preheat oven to 350°F
• Mix all ingredients together on slow for about 2 minutes
• Put in greased 13” x 9” baking pan and bake for 40 - 45 minutes

Who Pickles Brussel Sprouts??

This is what a stalk of brussel sprouts looks like

When in a pickle what do you do? I guess similar to the saying, “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade” I decided to make brussel sprouts pickles when I was stumped with what to do with a big bunch I had. I had bought a stalk of brussel sprouts when I saw it at my grocery store mainly because it was still on the stalk and looked cool! I cooked some for dinner - al dente and with lots of bacon to give it flavor but Keith looked like he was going to keel over and die with every bite of the six sprouts that he ate at dinner that night! And I really didn’t want to eat the rest of them all by myself. So I started thinking about what I could do with them and then I thought that since I like pickled cabbage maybe the brussel sprouts would taste good pickled.

I found an Eurasian pickle recipe in a 35 year old cookbook (Ellice Handy) and adapted it. The pickles were terrific! I gave some to my friend Ivan who happens to be half Eurasian and he agreed that eaten as part of a Malaysian meal – with steaming hot white rice and fried fish as he did, it actually passed muster. So here it is, maybe for the first time ever - pickled Brussel Sprouts!

PICKLED BRUSSEL SPROUTS
Makes about 3 jars

3 cups brussel sprouts, halved
1 large carrot, peeled and sliced
2 tbsp finely shredded ginger
1 stalk lemongrass, smashed
1” galangal
6 cloves garlic
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 cup white vinegar
½ cup sugar
2 tbsp salt
2 tbsp oil

• In a large pot, boil 1 gallon of water with ½ cup vinegar, ½ cup sugar and 2 tbsp salt. Lower heat to simmer. In a few handfuls at a time, blanch vegetables for 1 minute. Use a salad spinner to spin dry. Set aside.
• In a mortar and pestle, pound the garlic and galangal until fine.
• Heat oil and fry ground ingredients until fragrant, add the lemongrass and turmeric, stir 1 minute then add the vinegar, sugar and salt and bring to a boil.
• When the spice mix is cool add in the vegetables. Mix well.
• Keep in clean jars for at least 1 day before eating.

These Muffins are Bananas!!

With a toddler, we almost always have bananas in the house - which don't always get eaten before they get overripe. A friend taught me to just stick overripe bananas (in their skin), in the freezer and then thaw them on the counter (for about 30 minutes) and they can be used in any recipe which requires mashed ripe bananas.

The banana skins will turn black and once thawed they will be very mushy, but just peel them or squeeze them over a bowl like squeezing toothpaste and you can use it just as you would fresh ripe bananas. I have to say though, after trying the frozen bananas in a recipe I actually like them more than using fresh bananas! I think the freezing actually makes them sweeter and these muffins get eaten really fast!

BANANA WALNUT MUFFINS
Makes about 24 muffins

6 ripe bananas
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 eggs
½ cup (1 stick) melted butter
3 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
1 cup chopped walnuts

• Preheat oven to 325°F.
• Mash bananas with a fork. Stir in other ingredients in order given, until just blended. Do not over mix.
• Grease and flour muffin pans to make 24 muffins (or use cupcake baking cups)· Pour batter until 2/3 to the top
• Bake for about 30 – 35 minutes
  
  For banana bread:
• Pour into 2 greased and floured 9” x 5” pans and bake for 1 hour

And Fire Made It Good

Beef and chicken satay with peanut sauce (with a dollop of extra hot chili paste in the center), red onion slices, cucumber slices and cubes of compressed rice.

One of the most popular Malaysian dishes is Satay which is skewered grilled meat served with a peanut sauce (or kuah kacang in the Malay language), cucumber slices and red onion slices. Cubes of compressed rice or “nasi impit” is also usually served as it goes well with the peanut sauce. Other Asian countries have a similar style of cooking and I have had both the Indonesian and Thai versions, but I have to say that although the meat may have tasted alright, nothing compared to the Malaysian peanut sauce.

I made some chicken satay for our Christmas lunch at my cousin's place. Due to a miscommunication (understandable given that we were doing what Malaysians like to do which is to talk about all the food that we were going to have for that weekend) we didn't have quite enough skewers and so we ended up cutting the chicken and beef into slightly bigger pieces and threading about 7 pieces of meat on each skewer. I wouldn't recommend that because authentic Malaysian satay is thinly sliced meat and just 5 - 6 per skewer. Oh but don't get me wrong, it was delicious all the same!!

The next time we visit Malaysia I think I’ll actually get a proper satay grill to bring back, just hope the US Customs don’t stop me from bringing it in!


CHICKEN SATAY WITH PEANUT SAUCE
Makes 50 skewers and 8 cups sauce

4 pounds chicken thighs, cut into ¾” pieces
2 tbsp coriander
1 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp fennel
1 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp galangal powder
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 big red onion
2“ ginger
5 pips garlic
2 stalks lemongrass
2 tbsp peanut oil
3 tbsp brown sugar
2 tsp salt

• Toast coriander, cumin and fennel separately in a pan until fragrant. Leave to cool then grind finely in spice/coffee grinder.
• Grind the onion, ginger, garlic, and lemongrass with the oil and about 1/4 cup of water.
• Marinade chicken in spice mixture, ground ingredients, sugar and salt for at least 2 hours or overnight
• Soak about 50 bamboo skewers for 15 minutes.
• Thread about 6 - 7 pieces of chicken on each skewer.
• Brush on some oil while grilling. Cook for 3 – 5 minutes on each side until golden brown and meat develops a few char spots.
  

Peanut Sauce
Makes 8 cups

2 onions } grind finely with ¼ cup water
5 pips garlic }
2 stalks lemongrass }
1 tbsp chili powder }
2 cups skinned peanuts
1 tbsp tamarind soaked in ½ cup warm water (or 2 tbsp tamarind puree)
¾ cup sugar
2 tsp salt
1 cup oil

• Toast peanuts in dry hot wok for about 10 minutes, leave to cool then coarsely grind in a spice/coffee grinder
• Heat oil, sauté ground ingredients for about 30 minutes until the oil rises to the top, add 1 cup water.
• When boiling add in the tamarind juice, sugar, salt and ground peanuts. Add more water if necessary (sauce will thicken when cool). Adjust seasoning
• Serve chicken satay with peanut sauce, cucumber slices, red onion pieces and nasi impit

Happy Chinese New Year!

From top left: braised duck, steamed garlic prawns, stir fried sugar peas and sambal petai prawns

Steamed Garlic Prawns cooked in the microwave

I have always made a point to celebrate Chinese New Year, partly to celebrate the Chinese half of my heritage and I like the festivity, the food and the camaraderie shared with family and friends. Unfortunately Keith was going to be away at a convention that weekend and I was feeling kind of sad that it would be just Little Miss M and me.


But then a few days before Chinese New Year our friends Ivan and Gary called an invited us for lunch! Ivan is a good cook and I gladly accepted his invitation. For our meal he made: Teochew braised duck, sambal petai prawns, stir fried snap peas and steamed garlic prawns. The duck recipe he got off a Malaysian blog and the sampal petai prawns were cooked from prepared sambal mix from Malaysia, but the steamed garlic prawns which are cooked in the microwave was his own concoction. Everything was absolutely delicious and we had a really great start to the Chinese New Year.

IVAN’S STEAMED GARLIC PRAWNSServes 4

12 large prawns

4 - 6 cloves garlic, finely minced

1 tbsp Shaoxing wine

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 tsp sesame oil

1 stalk spring onion, finely chopped

• Clean the prawns by using a scissors to cut the head where the 'horn' begins (about half-way of the head) or remove them completely if you like.
• Slit the prawns lengthwise from the head to the tail, devein.
• Place in a microwave safe plate and stuff with the minced garlic.
• Sprinkle the wine, soy sauce and sesame oil evenly over the prawns, cover with plastic wrap (eg. Saran or Glad wrap) and microwave on high for 3 minutes. Leave aside for a minute and then sprinkle the chopped spring onions and serve.

Minced Pork with Edamame

Little Miss M's favorite 'baby', MoMo the mouse loves this dish too!

Although the grocery store is just 1 1/2 miles away from our house there are days when we're out of fresh food and I'm just too busy to make a trip to get groceries. Something I always turn to when this happens or when I'm too lazy to think of what to cook is the following dish. I am not ashamed to say that our freezer has NEVER not had bacon! I also stock up on edamame (shelled or whole in the pod) and at least a pound of minced pork.

You can also add fresh or reconstituted dried Shiitake mushrooms to the dish which I would if Keith didn't hate mushrooms so much. The minced pork is very good on noodles with some blanched bean sprouts and 'choy sum' (Chinese mustard greens). Both Keith and Little Miss M like this dish very much and served with brown rice and a green vegetable I think it provides a balanced meal.

MINCED PORK WITH EDAMAME
Serves 4

2 cloves garlic finely minced, or use 2 stalks of green onions, thinly sliced
1 pound minced pork
2 rashes bacon, cut into 1/2" pieces
½ tbsp oyster sauce
½ tbsp soy sauce
½ tsp dark soy sauce
1 tbsp Chinese cooking wine
1 tsp sesame seed oil
a dash of white pepper
½ cup water (or more, for more sauce)
½ cup shelled edamame beans

1 cup sliced fresh or reconstituted dried Shiitake mushrooms (optional)

• Cook the bacon until crispy, set aside.
• Remove all but ½ tbsp bacon fat, fry the garlic or scallions for 1 minute.
• Add in the minced pork and fry until browned, breaking up the meat into small pieces. Add all the other ingredients except the edamame. If you are using mushrooms, add in now.
• Cover and cook for about 10 minutes then check the seasoning.
• Add in the edamame and cook for 3 minutes.