Tuesday, September 7, 2010

My Humble 27th Birthday Homecook Dinner…

Usually, I go out on my birthdays, like my few previous ones, for dinner.. but being rather homely after my trip back from Bangkok, I decided to just cook myself a decent dinner instead and stay home, play with Jacky a.k.a Codie and watch TV… reason being is my birthday falls on a national day eve… the roads are usually jammed up.. people will be everywhere… I rather have a quiet one this year… another sign of aging…
I went to the market in the morning, got myself the necessary ingredients… my menu of the day consists of pan grilled chicken chop (teriyaki & black pepper), with greens, potato salad and seafood penne as sides. Wanted to cook soup, so decided on something light, i bought shark fin melon and a slab of lean meat. Haha.. kinda fusion eh… western food with chinese soup :D then orange sparkling for drinks and tau fu fa for desserts! super fusion!
meal
My potato salad ingredients… potatoes boiled and cubed… must get russet potatoes next time… the type that is easily mashed after boiled…hard boiled eggs, Japanese cucumber, carrots, onions (most uses the yellow/white onions) but I used this red onions cos it tastes stronger… all finely chopped and mixed in a bowl with kewpie mayonnaise… add black pepper for that extra taste!
Collages4
Tadaaa…. my potato sarada (potato salad)…. it’s yummy! haha… some add chopped ham, which I actually do have in my fridge but I totally forgot all about it…
Collages 
My shark fin melon soup…. what I do is cut the melon into big cubes, remove the seeds, boiled the water, throw in the meat and dates…then the melon.. simmer until melon turns soft and you can see shark fin-like strips…. add salt to taste…
Collages5
Deep fried the onion rings I have in the fridge as appetizer…
Collages2
Got the chicken thigh from the market and got the seller to debone it for me.. marinated each with black pepper sauce and teriyaki sauce… cook penne in boiling water (add some olive oil and salt), heat pan, stir in bunch of chopped garlic, prawns and the cooked penne in the pan.. stir fry for a while and add in pasta sauce… viola!
Then, pan grill the chicken thighs, one at a time, while waiting, get plates ready with lettuce, tomato slices and cucumber slices… once cooked, plate the chicken on the plate, scoop in the sides… and there you have it, a plate of hearty meal! :D
Collages3  
Me and my masterpiece :D
Collages6
Sudah lama didn’t really cook, luckily everything turn out good and at satisfactory…
Collages1
Got peel fresh no sugar added orange juice, mixed with 7up.. refreshing! And ended the meal with tau fu fa I got from U Soya, at Pekaka Square, on the couch watching TV! Life’s a bliss :D
Collages7  
Perfect meal for my birthday, and yes, I’m 27! Happy 27 Birthday to me, I’ll make sure I age gracefully… muahaha…
I actually cooked this for a birthday 3 years back… now only I noticed.. pretty similar… I had penne as my sides too.. :D
Collages8-1
I made pan grilled teriyaki chicken with cheese and ham… then I pan grilled black pepper lamb shoulder…. and it was beautifully done… haha.. angkat bakul betul…
Collages9
Then I had seafood platter too! Muahaha… Deep fried tempura fish, shrimp and squid, with fresh greens, fries and sprinkled with parsley and paprika powder…
Collages10  
Cooking is something I really enjoy… I used to cook at least once a week, rice and some dishes, like normal home cook… then I suddenly just stopped cooking for a while… cos it’s not easy to cook for one person, and it’s expensive too.. Only sometimes when I have guests over, I’ll make use of my little kitchen… but since now I’m trying to get back on my cooking track, next round it’s gonna be something Asian la… a bit jelak of western adi now :P

6 comments:

AyuMi said...

wah sedapnya ah wen! =) me love cooking too!

Taufulou said...

eh eh.. nice cooking and sure you pamper yourself in ur big day..

Happy Belated Birthday~ :)

Wenlynn said...

haha... ayu.. cooking is one way to destress.. agree? and to see ppl enjoying is a joy!

Wenlynn said...

hi taufulou.. thanks! I sure did pampered my tummy too :D

Patrick Keh said...

Looks great, like everyone else i am hungry too.

Wenlynn said...

haha.. thanks Patrick... time to spend some time in the kitchen yourself too.. :D