Egg Plants

Ingredients
1. Two egg plants, sliced into wedges
2. One fresh chilli, optional
3. Spring onions/coriander, optional
4. One and a half tablespoons fermented chilli bean paste or yellow bean paste
5. Three tablespoons onion oil
6. Thumb of ginger, roughly chopped
7. Two cloves of garlic, roughly chopped – divided into two portions
8. Two dried mushrooms, soaked in boiling water for at least twenty minutes, optional
9. Pinch of sugar
10. Dash of white pepper
11. One tablespoon of oyster sauce or light soya sauce or both optional
12. One cup water or stock from dried mushroom - with a pinch of potato flour added. Mix well.
13. Sufficient water to cover egg plants
14. Tablespoon of Huo Tao wine or equivalent - optional

Method
1. Add water to pot and bring to a boil. When water boils, add a pinch of salt and egg plants and cook for about two minutes. Drain on colander.
2. On a medium heated pan, add two tablespoons of onion oil, pan fry ingredients separately in the same pan, start with the mushroom first, and then ginger followed by the rest of the ingredients. Gradually mix all the ingredients together and pan fry till fragrant then dish them up on a plate.
3. Do not wash the pan. Reheat with another tablespoon of onion oil, pan fry the garlic still fragrant, increase heat, add egg plant, stir fry on high heat for about a minute, add dash of white pepper, fried paste, sugar, light/soya sauce and mix well. Fry for about a minute. Scrape bottom of pan if necessary.
4. Add water/stock, mix well and leave it to simmer till the softness is to your preference. Add more stock if necessary.
5. If using wine, increase heat to high, splash wine at edges of egg plants, mix well.
6. Adjust seasoning and serve immediately with white rice

Caramalized Onions

Ingredients
1. Two Spanish onions or any red skinned onions
2. One cup of vegetable oil
3. Small pot, just sufficient to cook onions

Method
1. Finely slice onions.
2. Heat pot, when pot is hot, add oil.
3. When oil is smoking, add onions slices and stir around gently on high heat.
Add more oil if necessary, it will not be wasted.
4. Onions are done when they turn golden brown, remove from stove and place on rack as it will still continue to brown if left on the same ring.
Do not burn onions as it will taste bitter.
5. When it has completely cooled down, pour in a jar. Store at room temperature as it keeps very well

Note:
Occasionally I will add roughly chopped garlic into the caramelized onions at the very last stage when the onions are slightly golden.
I absolutely love it. Use loads when cooking vegetables, marinade/grilling/pan-frying meat, fish, in soup, salads or simply let your imagination run riot.
Top up oil in bottle when it's running low. The caramelized onions will still continue to 'perfume' the oil.

WERE YOU COLDER THAN THIS?

This was a true story shared by Tinkerbell from Singapore Women Abroad.
I was so moved and cried.

Quote.

It was Christmas Eve in Korea. An expectant mother walked through the snow to the home of a missionary friend where she knew she could find help.
A short way down the road from the mission house was a deep gully spanned by a bridge.
As the young woman stumbled forward, birth pains overcame her.
She realized she could go no farther. She crawled under the bridge.

There alone between the trestles she gave birth to a baby boy.
She had nothing with her except the heavy padded clothes she was wearing.
One by one she removed the pieces of her clothing and
wrapped them around her tiny son - around and around, like a cumbersome cocoon. Then, finding a discarded piece of burlap, she pulled it over herself, and lay exhausted beside her baby.

The next morning the missionary drove across the bridge in her Jeep to take a Christmas basket to a Korean family.
On the way back, as she neared the bridge, the Jeep sputtered and died, out of
gas.
Getting out of the Jeep she started to walk across the bridge, and heard a faint cry beneath her.
She crawled under the bridge to investigate.
There she found the tiny baby, warm but hungry, and the young mother frozen to death.

The missionary took the baby home and cared for him.
As the boy grew, he often asked his adopted mother to tell him the story of how she had found him.
On Christmas Day, his 12th birthday, he asked the missionary to take him to his mother's grave.
Once there he asked her to wait a distance away while he went to pray.
The boy stood beside the grave with bowed head, weeping.

Then he began to disrobe. As the astonished missionary watched, the
boy took off his warm clothing, piece by piece, and laid it on his mother's grave.
Surely he won't take off all his clothing, the missionary thought.
He'll freeze! But the boy stripped himself of everything, putting all his warm clothing on the grave.

He knelt naked and shivering in the snow.
As the missionary went to him to help him dress again, she heard him cry out to the
mother he never knew: "Were you colder than this for me, my mother?" And he wept bitterly.

Unquote:

Kleenex here for you .........

Four Seasons Hotel

Feast with your eyes especially on the eggs benedict and foie gras .....

Prawns and Avocado Salad

Ingredients
1. Six medium sized fresh prawns
2. One just ripened avocado
3. A packet of mixed salad or vegetables of your choice
4. Quarter of an onion, roughly sliced
5. A wedge of lemon
6. Enough water to cover prawns

Method
1. In a pot, bring water to a rapid boil, add prawns, when water reboils, turn off the heat, and cover pot with a tight fitting lid. Remove from stove and set it aside for about one minute. Prawns will turn pink. Do not let prawns overcook.
2. Shell some prawns but leave some with tails/heads intact. De-vein prawns.
3. Slice avocado in half. Using a sharp knife, gently tap into the seed, then with a twisting action, and remove the stone. Squeeze or rub fruit gently with lemon juice or lemon wedge to prevent discolouring.

Dressing
1. Two tablespoons of creamy horse radish sauce
2. One tablespoon of caramelised onion
3. Two tablespoon EVO
4. One tablespoon onion oil
5. Pinch of sea salt
6. Freshly ground mixed pepper
7. Juice from half a lemon
8. Half teaspoon honey
9. Half stalk of spring onion and few stalk of coriander including stem. Roughly sliced.
10. Chilli flakes - optional
11. Mix well, taste and adjust seasoning according to taste

To serve
1. Toss salad ingredients gently with the dressing first.
2. Add prawns and avocado and toss lightly.
3. Serve immediately

Note:
I have a few pots of different herbs and will add into the salad whenever it takes my fancy.

Lamb Chops

Ingredients
1. Lamb chops - marinade with some light soya sauce, freshly ground pepper and rosemary. Mix well.
2. Two medium sized potatoes - slice into chunks
3. A clove of garlic - sliced
4. A pinch of fresh grated nutmeg
5. Three tablespoons of milk, double cream, light cream or what ever is available.
6. Knob of butter
7. A stalk of spring onion roughly sliced
8. Chicken stock or water, just enough to cover potatoes
9. Mint sauce

Method
1. Marinade lamb chops for a minimum of twenty minutes or overnight.
2. Add potatoes, garlic, and a pinch of salt to chicken stock or water. Bring to a boil, lower heat to medium and cook till just tender. Strain potatoes in a colander, place potatoes back in pot. Add knob of butter, dash of white pepper, freshly grated nutmeg if used. Add milk, mash together till about smooth. Add spring onion and mash to desired consistency.
3. On a smoking pan, a drop EVO, swirl oil round pan, place lamb chops, do not crowd pan. Lamb chops cook very quickly. When slightly brown, turn over once. Cook other side for less than a minute, remove from pan and let them rest for a few minutes before serving.
4. Serve on warm plate with mint sauce and vegetables of your choice.

Note:
The Spanish version is cut pathetically thin and it takes less than three minutes to cook the chops. Cooking time varies according to thickness of the cut.

I prefer mashed potatoes wee bit chunky as opposed to really smooth. If the potatoes are a bit dry after mashing, gradually add more milk/cream to desired texture.

Who Is Your Guardian Angel ....?

This is so beautiful that I would like to share .....

Quote:
You never know when your guardian angel will be there for you so I have to try...
Pay attention to what you read.

Here goes:

People come into your life for a reason, a season or a lifetime.
When you know which one it is, you will know what to do for that person.
When someone is in your life for a REASON, it is usually to meet a need you have expressed. They have come to assist you through a difficulty, to provide you with guidance and support, to aid you physically, emotionally or spiritually.
They may seem like a godsend and they are.
They are there for the reason you need them to be.
Then, without any wrongdoing on your part or at an inconvenient time, this person will say or do something to bring the relationship to an end.
Sometimes they die.
Sometimes they walk away.
Sometimes they act up and force you to take a stand.
What we must realize is that our need has been met, our desire fulfilled, their work is done.
The prayer you sent up has been answered and now it is time to move on.
Some people come into your life for a SEASON, because your turn has come to share, grow or learn.
They bring you an experience of peace or make you laugh.
They may teach you something you have never done.
They usually give you an unbelievable amount of joy.
Believe it, it is real. But only for a season.
LIFETIME relationships teach you lifetime lessons, things you must build upon in order to have a solid emotional foundation.
Your job is to accept the lesson, love the person and put what you have learned to use in all other relationships and areas of your life.
It is said that love is blind but friendship is clairvoyant.
Thank you for being a part of my life, whether you were a reason, a season or a lifetime.
I wonder what mine will be.

Unquote:
Pass it on and may God bless you and your family.