Chocolate Chicken

A recipe to beat the blues....

It's been ages since I last posted. The laptop went kaput and then we were busy moving house. And then I ran out of inspiration...

Yes, we've moved to our new home where the kitchen is large and not so "lil" anymore. It was time to test out photography here where there's some natural light.

Yet, I was feeling down in the dumps due to several issues I can't mention here. I couldn't couldn't find a anti-depressant recipe. I thought of cooking chicken mole but decided to try something a little different. I made some pink pasta for my kid's birthday party, which was kinda disastrous, cause nobody dared to eat it. So I had leftover beet which I decided to use in this recipe. After all, I knew its red colour would go away after cooking it for a while. And I had to use chocolate, to kick away the blues.

So, I adapted chicken mole recipe and stirred up this thing, which was quite edible. If you're adventurous, you might even think it's nice. 

It might look like some rendang or curry kapitan but it doesn't taste like it. 

Well, just for my record, here's the recipe (sort of):

I look forward to next post, which I hope will be a happier sort. That's all for now....

Pink Pasta

Sometimes, you just have turn ordinary cooking into something a little extra-ordinary. (This reminds me of a quote I recently came across, which I will share at the end of this post.)

For me, cooking pasta is something I do when I don't know what else to cook, or when I'm pretty lazy but refuse to eat instant noodles. But then cooking pasta can be jazzed up by making it pink, without food colouring of course!



I would recommend this for those with young kids, especially those with daughters. Mine was absolutely impressed! Another good thing about this dish is that it's not only pretty but also nutritious.

I would love to share the recipe but when I cook, I don't normally follow exact measurements. It's more like "dump it in" method. So no conventional recipe, but here's a visual of how to make it. I hope you like it.

And here's the quote I mentioned:

All Natural Red Velvet

Although I don't understand why, there seems to be a craze over red velvet cake. I mean, it's just red colouring in a cake right? But a trend is a trend. And many, like me, can't figure it out.

Anyway, I've tried making them at home, without the red colouring, and without much success either. I'd have a nice red batter but end up with a dull brownish cake.

So it was a nice relief to find a simple, workable recipe from PlayingWithMyFood. I made some slight modifications, of course, and they still turn out great.

.

 

 

Recipe:

1 medium red beet 
About 1/2 cup water
1 tsp vinegar
2 cups sifted cake flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs, beaten
2/3 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla
pinch salt

 

Steam beet until soft, but not too long or the colour will fade.

Cut the beet into small cubes and blend with enough water to get 1 cup puree.

Sift flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl.

Whisk together beet puree, vinegar, sugar, eggs, oil, and vanilla in a large bowl.

Stir in the flour mixture a little at a time.

Spoon batter into muffin cups.

Bake for about 25-30 minutes.

 

And here's how it looks like, topped with cream cheese frosting, on the hands and mouth of my little helper.

Yums!



Purple Smoothie

Red Velvet Smoothie

I've been making smoothies since sometime last year. It was a way to add Emma's breakfast variety of breakfast other than oatmeal or pancakes. Since then, I've trying trying out different kind of smoothies including healthy green smoothies.

Here's a nice an easy one that I whipped up on a Sunday afternoon. I used cooked beetroots and chocolate malt powder.

Do give this a try. It's not only pretty but also delicious.