Good morning!

Words written: 8,727. Distance run: Same route as yesterday.


Look what greeted me this morning! The lilies (a mix of Peruvian and Stargazer lilies) have started to open.

The Lord has made this day.
Let us rejoice and be glad.

Grumpy

Words written: over 7,000. Distance run: Savoy Gardens, St James Park, Green Park (one lap each) - around 3 miles? Mood: Not good.

Sushi Hiroba - stack of sushi that we ate

After a social and foodie weekend, am working round the clock to finish chapter 3 before I head to Singapore this Thursday. Grumpy, but nothing a good night's sleep won't erase.

Outbid!

Words written: 1,492. Distance run: 0. Currently reading: Harry Potter.

I don't believe it! My dream tea set, and I was outbid by some Turkish antique buyer by 3.24 seconds. 3.24 seconds! I tried putting in my maximum bid at the very very last minute, but was probably impatient and submitted it a microsecond too soon. And this previously unknown bidder sneaks in his/her bid just like that! I'd never seen him/her before. From his/her userid, I bet I'll be seeing this darling of a tea set listed on ebay again soon, but for a higher reserve.

Well, this is my first time bidding on ebay, so I guess it's a tactical lesson learned. The auction was all very exciting and I could feel the adrenaline pumping. However do you time your bid to the very last microsecond though?

Transformers, The Movie (2007)

Final battle: Optimus Prime vs. Megatron

Calling all children of the 80's: Remember your Transformers robots? They're on big screen now! The movie finally reached the fair shores of Britain, and orchid boy (actually, he's rose boy again cos he turned up this time with a single perfect white rose) and I caught it on big screen this weekend - our second "date". Totally gripping - I was on the edge of my seat tapping my fingers, the whole time. Starscream escaped the final destruction, so... Transformers II? I hope so!

Bumblebee leading the pack

Hey brother dearest, have you watched it yet? Remember how I used to crush your transformer robot... muahahaha...

Recipe: Southern Fried Chicken with Cornbread Muffins

Leftover of rose boy's roses put to good use as table centrepiece

Academics are a funny bunch. There are times when you can be at a party with a whole bunch of your colleagues and feel utterly lonely (this goes for conferences as well). And then there are other times when everyone just decides to show their private wacky side and you realise that philosophers are one of the most fun and interesting people around. Or, it could have been the fact that I loosened my guests tonight, which included my advisor and his wife, with some of Elise's Watermelon Strawberry Agua Fresca. Or that the continuous waft of fried chicken mixed with baked cornbread, combined with the sizzling of oil in the background, was just too intoxicating. Or, maybe it was just summer floating in from the yard outside.

Chicken soaked overnight in brine in the infamous ziploc bags

On the menu tonight: Southern Fried Chicken and cornbread muffins. I adapted the chicken recipe from Homesick Texan, adding cayenne pepper and curry powder and no salt into the batter (really, you can add anything you fancy). The recipe was tested out tonight on 3 Americans, among others, one of whom is certifiably mid-western - and passed with colours! Also, Homesick Texan's chocolate fudge (with vanilla ice-cream and strawberries) was up for dessert as always - it has proven a hot favourite with consumers on this side of the Atlantic! However, it seems we are a little more fainthearted about sugar - 2 cups, not 3, is quite nice thank you.

Cornbread resting in a bowl lined prettily with teatowel

Everything had been prepared before the first guest arrived. The peas and sweetcorn were bubbling in their pots (I add one stock cube for extra flavour), the mash was done and resting in its pot. I learned how to make the best mash in the world from a classmate in school whom I had a massive crush on at the time. The secret ingredient? Absolutely anything dairy and lotsa pepper. Being a bit more grown up now, I used milk and added a pinch of rosemary for an elegant touch last night.

Nowadays, I only start cooking when guests arrive. But everything is ready to go. I call it "macro mise on place" - preparing for preparing. It makes things easier, and I can do it over a few days (on top of a full-time job, that is). Plus, my guests can visually participate in the cooking process. Of course, this doesn't work for long braises, roasts and other time-dependent dishes. But it's nice when it happens wherever possible.


No, we did not have fireworks after dinner. These are the fireworks from the Mostly Mozart concert at the Barbican last week. But we did try playing poker. My advisor and wife got distracted with playing pac-man though, and everyone started wanting their turn. (My pac-man is plugged into my widescreen tv.) Pac-man rocks! Even the audience gets involved in cheering the player on and shouting directions and whooping at close calls. See what I mean about academics' hidden side? People left after midnight, which is always a good sign of a fun time had by all.


SOUTHERN FRIED CHICKEN

Equipment:
Cast iron pan (Le Creuset and Staub are good brands)
* Warning: Cast iron pan will take a hour of scrubbing after dinner. Can anyone recommend a good grease remover that will do the job in a second?

A - Meat
Chicken pieces, with skin intact
8 cups of water
1/2 cup salt

B - Batter
1 cup flour
1 tbsp cayenne
1 tbsp curry powder
2 cups buttermilk

C - Frying
Grapeseed oil
(or any other oil with a high smoke point, like canola or sunflower oil)

*****

A - Heat water and dissolve salt. Allow to cool. Soak chicken in brine in ziploc bags and leave overnight (at least 8 hours) in fridge.

B - Mix dry ingredients. Prepare one container with dry ingredients, and a separate container with buttermilk, for frying. Take chicken out of brine and place on a tray.

C - Heat oil in a cast iron pan over medium heat for about 5 minutes, but make sure it is not smoking (that will give chicken an unpleasant taste). Test heat by throwing in a sprinkle of flour - if it starts frying, the temperature is good. Coat each piece of chicken with flour, then dip in buttermilk and coat with another layer of flour (I find it easier to use my hands to do this). Place in hot oil, skin-side down. Lower heat to low. Fry for 15 minutes on one side till golden brown, turn with tongs and fry for another 10 minutes.** Remove fried chicken from pan with tongs and drain for 10 minutes on paper towels or a dishcloth. Serve immediately.

** These times are approximates, since much will decide on your type of pan. Cast iron pans retain heat well, hence I lower the heat once a good temperature has been reached. But if you are using some other pan, like a wok, then you might have to adjust the temperature constantly. The guide is that the chicken must be sizzling throughout.


CORNBREAD MUFFINS

A - Dry ingredients
1 cup cornmeal
(In Britain, some labels say "maize meal". Cornmeal is not easy to find in London, unless you go to a supermarket with a World Cuisine section. Polenta (not instant) is a good substitute.)
1/2 cup white flour
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp sugar

B - Wet ingredients
2 tbsp canola oil
1 egg
1 cup buttermilk.

*****

Preheat oven to 232 degrees celcius.

A - Mix dry ingredients in a bowl.

B - Using your fingers, work the oil into the flour mix, until it is crumbly. Wash hands. Using an electric beater, beat the egg in and then buttermilk. Spoon yellow batter into greased muffin tray*** and bake for 20 minutes until golden brown. Fork one muffin to test - fork should come out dry.

Serve with butter.

*** I use Jamie Oliver's silicon muffin tray, which does away with the need to grease and works wonders. My muffins pull away from the tray after baking like magic, and it cleans like magic too (very important without dishwasher). Am beginning to be fascinated by the material silicon, and thinking about getting silicon tongs. Silicon oven gloves are silly though.

Words written: 0 (beginning a new chapter is always tough). Distance run: 3.84 miles. Distance brisk walked: 2.24 miles.

Working at home tomorrow. Feeling good about new chapter, although still have vague clue what it's about. Brisk walked to bookshop in search of fresh-off-the-press book for new chapter, came back to office to pick up stuff, came home and cooked some maggi mee for dinner, had some strawberries ice-cream and dark chocolate fudge (rehash of Homesick Texan's recipe, with Green&Black's dark chocolate this time) in front of tv, tinkled a bit on house's new piano, currently blogging.

Roar!

Ziploc woes

Orchids (golden showers, my favourite),
from rose (now orchid) boy

I cannot find good ziploc bags in London.

By "good", I mean bags that i) actually zip, and ii) don't leak. Waitrose just made a huge delivery to my house, and I was so looking forward to some potentially good ziploc bags at last. But nooooo. As we speak, a gazillion pieces of chicken are soaking in brine in a huge bag in the fridge, in prepraration for Homesick Texan's 'Great-Grandma Gibson's Fried Chicken' tomorrow. The first bag leaked (that's not good at all). The second one took me 5 minutes to zip. But at least it didn't leak. And, fearing that the flimsy material would give way, I put the bag with chicken and brine in a bowl, thus defeating the purpose of putting it in a bag in the first place. Am holding my breath until tomorrow, that said bag will not somehow give way and overflow the bowl (and fridge) with salty water. Thank you in advance to M, who is flying over from Singapore with some proper Ziploc(TM) bags for me.

On a brighter note, aren't my orchids pretty?

Randomly yours,

Tea at Brown's

Continuing the tea theme, the rose boy called and said, my mother is in town, would you like to have tea? Tea? TEA? Yes yes yes. Hoorah. So after a sweaty Saturday morning of re-arranging my library, lugging the piles and piles of books beside my bed to their dusted resting shelves, I cleaned myself, put on my best dress and shoes, hopped into a cab to meet said boy and mum at Brown's. High tea at Brown's - what a treat!

I admired the Wedgwood teacups, as the sunlit elegance of the tea room enveloped me in its white linen embrace. There were finger sandwiches (I liked the cucumber best). There were scones with clotted cream and jam, and little petit fours (including a delightful lemon mousse encased in a white chocolate covering). There was a piano and a pianist. There was hot piping tea served in a silver service. There were waiters wearing their waistcoats and gentle smiles. The sun was shining and everyone seemed happy. And then there were all these things, and yet, the thing I enjoyed most that afternoon was talking to a grand old lady and her very charming son. That, I have concluded, is the best part of an afternoon English tea.

Still dreaming of tea services...

Dreaming of tea services

Spode, Golden Valley collection

I've been dreaming about tea services recently and found the perfect pattern with Spode. Unfortunately, it's not only way beyond my budget, but way way way beyond my budget. Free to admire though. Wedgwood offers an affordable substitute, which is currently on sale. Probably more practical too.

Wedgwood, Wild Strawberries collection

On the brighter side, I made an inspirational discovery: secret London location for Mariage Freres tea! You'll never guess where... Currently drinking their Marco Polo blend out of my good 'ol law school mug. =)

Coming up: Barbican Mostly Mozart concert with fireworks, tea at Brown's, and long-overdue birthday post, with presents.

Roses for you

Words written: 9,377. Distance run: 0 (refer word count). Currently reading: Ruth, A Portrait, The Story of Ruth Bell Graham (Patricia Cornwell).

Roses from a boy.
For you Texans reading this,
note the map of Houston in the background!

I love being given flowers. Being a poor student at the moment, I will always think twice paying money for cut flowers, lurking around the Holborn flower stand trying to think of the prettiest and most economical combination. So I appreciate being given flowers, also because I do love the way they brighten up my room and remind me when I wake up in the morning that someone thought of me. These red long-stem roses smell heavenly!

Grace

I followed this link through the Book by Book website: it is an interview with Joni Eareckson Tada, founder of disability outreach Joni and Friends. I have to confess I was curious because, being a girl, I wanted to know more about her husband, Ken Tada - I can't imagine many men who would marry a quadraplegic, so I thought, there must be a powerful love story there!

I finished the article, and yes I found out a bit more of the love story. But more than anything else, it wasn't the love story that got me. It was Joni Tada's testimony about God's grace. I started to wish I could wake up desperate for the grace of God each day (how wonderfully intimate!). Then I was promptly worried that God would take me seriously and make me disabled (oh no!),

... a self-centred thought which then brought home how much I really need God's grace.

I should say more.

I don't think total submission to God means that Christians don't have their own life agenda - ambitions, hopes, dreams. Submission goes against our nature afterall. But God in His mysterious ways never sleeps to inspire us align our goals with His. It is a constant battle, more so for those who profess to be closer to God I suspect (you think your minister doesn't struggle??). As for hard times, we will never know how much strength we really have to face them, until they come. So maybe leave those 'What if?' questions in the backburner. God says, do not worry about tomorrow, and He does promise He will provide a way out. His grace is sufficient for you.

So, I shouldn't think too much, is what I'm trying to say.

So, you are wondering, what's this gotta do with my favourite dark chocolate?

Well, nothing really. C came over for dinner last night, together with my running partner L and her cousin, Helen. I served up lettuce wraps again, and Homesick Texan's mum's chocolate fudge - over strawberries and vanilla ice-cream, not with the lettuce wraps! Unfortnately, I could only find milk chocolate, which I find flavourfully boring, and so I shaved some nutmeg into the fudge. I suspect that dark chocolate would introduce more complex flavours, 'cos last night's fudge just reminded me why I don't eat milk chocolate and prefer my coffee black. Luckily, my guests were quite happy. Hence also, the picture. After that, we trotted down the road to the Sports party, where we morphed into a fatter crowd and chatted through the night.

Floggers

If you haven't noticed, my list of floggers has expanded - not dramatically, but certainly - over the last few days since I resumed cooking seriously again. Breadcoffeechocolateyoga and Movable Feast were blogs I used to read as a postgraduate, when blogging was still in its infancy - the first disappeared from the scene for a little while and I've only rediscovered it this week. Chez Pim, Chubby Hubby, Elise, Greedy Goose, Kuidaore and Umami are old favourites who got me reading flogs in the first place. From new addition Eggsbaconchipsandbeans, whom I came across a long time ago together with Rasa Malaysia and recently resurrected, I found two greasy spoons near my workplace this week, both in parks - how lovely! Then there are two wonderful brand new finds this week: Homesick Texan, whose American bbq entry made me laugh (it's a religion - it's true!) and whose mum's chocolate fudge I'm going to try this weekend. As well as Nordljus, who has fantastic photography (I really should try harder).

It occurs to me that there is a community of overseas Asians who cook a lot, inspired by a love for food and a deep-felt homesickness. If you ask me what I miss most about home, for example, it would unhesitatingly be (1) family and (2) the food. And you might be surprised, but the two are interwined mysteriously by tradition and memories. Growing up, most family interactions, important annoucements, celebrations etc. occured over food. One of my most vivid childhood memories is mum and her mum (my grandmum) making me roll love letters (traditional egg rolls) off a hot smokey grill with my (then) little fingers - child labour! Even now, I get at least 3 rice cravings each week and cook mostly Chinese and S.E.Asian cuisine - I'm still perfecting the latter. I would go on more, but there's work to do. You get the idea, though, that food is really an integral part of my being.

That's my excuse for eating and cooking, anyway.

Le Creuset

Words written: 8,617. Distance run: 0. Currently reading: The Yes Anxiety (M. Blaine Smith).

Harts of Stur is a family runned business (a big one) situated in the heart of the Blackmore Vale in the West Country, and they offer the best deals on Le Creuset and other leading cookware brands. I was exceedingly impressed by their prices and speed! My Cerise Oval Cocotte (29cm) arrived within two days - unbeatable service! So much so I've placed another order, for a Cerise frying pan (26cm).

Highly recommended.

What was it Barbara, a wise Christian lady visiting from California (with two grandchildren on the way) whom C introduced me to recently, say? Don't wait till you are married to set up a home - do it now. Mm... dreaming of chicken pot roasts and beef rendang and other delightful fruits of the kitchen.

"Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house;
your sons will be like olive shoots around your table.
Thus is the man blessed
who fears the Lord."
~ Psalm 128:3-4

Recipe: Lettuce wrap egg fu-yong

picture from http://www.schwans.com

We take turns in my Bible study group to cook dinner and lead the study. It was my turn to cook tonight, and I was looking forward to it all day. I haven't done any major cooking or photography for the last coupla months, and we know how big I am about both!

Tonight, I decided to go for a healthy option. Lettuce wraps, or lettuce tortillas, are very common in Asian cuisine. For this particular dish, I was inspired by an American-Vietnamese friend living in London, who makes the best banh xeo (Vietnamese crepes wrapped in lettuce leaves, with accompanying dipping sauce called nuoc cham), recently when she served it up for dinner. Lettuce wrap egg fu-yong was one of my favourite dishes growing up, and I decided to try my hand at it tonight, but with London-available ingredients (read: no sharks fin and cheaper crab meat substitutes). Also, I liked the combination of mint leaves and the dipping sauce in Vietnamese lettuce wraps my friend did. So this is a kinda Chinese-Viet-London 'fusion' version.

LETTUCE WRAP EGG FU-YONG
(serves 4-5)

A - Egg mixture
16 eggs
4 tsp vermouth (I use Noilly Prat. Sherry or chinese cooking wine is also fine)
2 tsp sugar
2 tsp salt
white pepper
4 tbsp cornflour (dissolved in 8 tbsp water)

B - Filling
300g pork fillet (parboiled for 20 minutes and sliced thinly) - friend's inspiration
300g prawns (parboiled until pink) - friend's inspiration
16 crabsticks (chopped up) - substitute for crab meat
250g shitake mushrooms (sliced thinly) - substitute for sharks fin

C - Marinade
2 tbsp light soya sauce
sesame oil

D - Garnishing
2 lettuces (leaves peeled off and washed - be careful not to tear the leaves!)*
bean sprouts
mint leaves
Vietnamese dipping sauce

*Note: I use butterhead lettuces, because their leaves have a soft velvety texture that makes the wrap easier to fold. Iceberg or loose leaf lettuces, which are more commonly found, are also ok. But because the leaves are more brittle and tend to break more easily during folding, cut off the hardest part of the stem horizontally. You should still get a nice curved dome-shaped wrapper.


A - Beat eggs and add rest of ingredients, with cornflour mixture last.

B - Fry sliced mushrooms with marinade C.

B/C - Heat saucepan with enough oil to coat. Arrange a selection if ingredients from B/C in saucepan. I usually use 5 slices of pork, 5 prawns, 1/2 a handful of crabstick, 1 tbsp of mushrooms. The trick is to arrange the ingredients in the middle circumference, i.e. not the middle or the edges, so that the omelette folds easily and doesn't fall apart. Then, using a standard sized soup ladle, add one ladle of the egg mixture (A) to the ingredients, turning the saucepan so that the egg coats the entire surface, binding the ingredients together. Cover and cook on medium heat until smoke starts coming out from under the lid (about 3-5 minutes). Fold in half and set aside. Repeat until you finish the ingredients and have a stack of egg fu-yong 'crepes'.

D - To eat, take one lettuce leaf. Put half a egg crepe in, and top with a handful of beansprouts and a few mint leaves. Roll the leaf up with the ingredients inside (like you would a tortilla) and eat with Vietnamese dipping sauce.

I find this a satisfying meal, always coming away feeling filled but light. 3-4 wraps usually equate to a full meal for me. It has the added bonus for being a simple but great conversational piece for a party of people!

P.S. I really should be taking my own pics, I know. My beloved camera has been languishing hanging on a coat rail forever, and my fellow floggers' dedication puts me to shame. Next time, next time.

My secret sartorial genome

I have culled my wardrobe twice in the last 5 months, and it is still spilling out. And this is only my spring/summer! (Winter/autumn has moved back, perhaps prematurely, into boarding school trunk.) Am convinced that said wardrobe is self-reproducing... *ahem*