Okay, so the title is extremely misleading. There is no such thing as a perfect recipe. There are tons of different recipes for main dishes, starters, salads, soups and desserts but no ONE perfect recipe for a complete wholesome meal.
Unless of course we are talking about baby food here.
LR is a really finicky food critic who expresses his dissatisfaction with any food presented to him with a simple sound, ***gag*** bleaaggghhh!. Then he would throw it all up. So, to satisfy his extremely choosy palate, I try to prepare meals which would not elicit the gagging and vomiting response.
Cooking for LR is actually much simpler than it sounded. LR has a thing about textures especially that of any kinds of meat (because it is considered too stringy for him no matter how tender it is to us adults) but he loves vegetables.
Before I go on, let me explain that we are not vegetarians but we do eat a lot of fresh vegies and fruits on a daily basis. So, the moment LR turned six months old, the first few things I introduced to him are vegies and fruits. Perhaps it is early exposure to these vitamin rich, high fibre foods but till now, LR will immediately sit and wait at the dining table the moment he sees me cutting up cooked vegies for him.
He also loves soft and easy to swallow food such as porridge, congee and boiled potatoes. And each meal must be accompanied by a clear broth of any choice or he will certainly make his demand very clear.
So, I came up with a combination of all that he loved and used to make it on days when I do not feel like preparing three to four different dishes although all of us eat the same food. Yep, mummy and daddy sometimes eat baby food too just because mummy do not want to cook separate meals for two adults and a toddler.
But I digress. Here is the recipe I came up with for the little gourmet at home.
Chicken and vegetable rice congee
1 cup washed rice
3 cups water
Minced chicken
2 carrots, chopped
Broccoli, chopped
1 small tomato, chopped
2 small potatoes, skinned and finely chopped
Some garlic, diced
First, season the minced chicken with some salt and pepper so that it would not be too bland. Then, place all of the ingredients (except the broccoli ) into a slow cooker or rice cooker and press start. Let it cook. Check on it occasionally (if using rice cooker) and if it appeared too dry (the amount of water needed depended on the cooker you use), add hot water but if it appeared okay, then let it be. It should be ready within an hour. Just before you serve, microwave the broccoli till tender and sprinkle it on top. Add a few drops of soya sauce for taste.
You can also use the 'cook congee' function if you prefer to use the microwave to cook this dish.
That’s all. Simple, easy and healthy. For the health conscious, just replace white rice with brown rice and replace chicken with fish. If using brown rice, more water is needed.
I usually add a lot of water because I use brown rice and LR prefers it watery and smooth. The measurements I mentioned are just estimates as I often cook by instinct and rarely measured the stuff I cook. So, feel free to experiment with the portions until you get the perfect combination.
Showing posts with label food critics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label food critics. Show all posts
Thursday
Monday
I have food critics living with me!
When I was younger, I don't like to cook. In fact, I never stepped foot into the kitchen and the only time I do so was to forage for food.
So, if my younger self were to meet me now, I'd probably be so shell-shocked and speechless at my sudden (ahem!) prowess in the kitchen which does not only involve stuffing my face with all sorts of junk food and chocolate-y food there.
This transformation was actually a result of having to survive on fast food, stale bread and far from healthy junkfood all those years before I decide to become healthier by cooking and eating healthy meals.
But I digress. I don't intend to go into the long story of my many 'adventures' in the kitchen (I'll reserve that for another post) but more on the food critics living in my house.
First, my husband is a self-proclaimed food critic who will crinkle his nose at anything that is even slightly off or not to his taste. One of the conversations went like this:
"Sniff...sniff...that smells weird. What's that?" combined with a disdainful down-his-nose look and a tentative poke at the 'weird' food with his fork.
This will result in a killing-glare from the chef (me) and he would suddenly realize his little slip and tried to make amends.
"Err...I mean. That...err...chicken looks interesting," he improvised with a 'please don't bash me over the head with the frying pan' look.
"It's not chicken but a monitor lizard our neighbour killed while backing out of his driveway and didn't want to waste so he skinned it and gave me a recipe to cook it with. He said it is very tasty, just like chicken," this is said with a dead-pan look.
By now, his face had turned a particular shade of green and purple.
"Did you say lizard?"
"Ya, the type that always make you jump up and scream like a girl. The type with a long tail, scaly skin and flicking tongue," I paused, "Though this one is no longer able to flick its tongue so it shouldn't be so scary to you,"
"Err...I'm not hungry anymore..." he pushed away his plate and inched away from the so-called lizard.
"Too bad. I cooked it the way you loved best. With lots of spices and chilli," I shrugged and nonchalantly picked up the dish to head to the kitchen.
**silence**
"So, what else is for dinner?" he ventured tentatively after a few minutes, with me trying hard to laugh silently in the kitchen.
I coolly brought out the same dish and plonk it on the table.
"Chicken stew with potatoes simmered on low fire for two hours so that the chicken is tender and soft, with spices and a dash of chilli to add some zest into it," I said with a flourish.
He did a double take, stared at the dish suspiciously and then turned to me, blazing me with a narrowed eye look.
At that point, I burst out laughing and it took me another few minutes of almost rolling on the floor with laughter before I could talk coherently. My laughter must have been contagious as he, too, joined in.
Needless to say, that is the last time he wrinkled his nose over any of my cooking before tasting it. Oh, don't worry. He finished the stew and asked for seconds after I managed to convince him that it was really chicken and not lizard.
The other critic is Little Ray. This one is a little hard to tackle as this little guy found a way to make himself throw up if he does not like something. Fortunately, he loves vegetables (shocking, I know, but true!) and the only problem is with any sort of meat that is not tender enough to melt in his mouth.
He has a problem with any soft food that requires a lot of chewing but loves crunchy vegetables such as carrots and almost raw broccoli. Oh, he has this thing for tomatoes and could eat four or five cherry tomatoes in one sitting as a snack.
His number one enemy is milk. At the sight of his 'Milk Milk Cup' he would make gagging sounds and immediately go into hiding.
How I wish I could just feed him carrots and broccoli all day but too bad, he's not a rabbit and he needs his healthy carbs, dairy and protein to grow up. Besides, this little food critic does not like to have the same type of food everyday, meaning, if he had carrots and chicken for lunch today, he better don't find the same thing cooked in the same way tomorrow!
Hmm...and I thought my boss was demanding!
So, if my younger self were to meet me now, I'd probably be so shell-shocked and speechless at my sudden (ahem!) prowess in the kitchen which does not only involve stuffing my face with all sorts of junk food and chocolate-y food there.
This transformation was actually a result of having to survive on fast food, stale bread and far from healthy junkfood all those years before I decide to become healthier by cooking and eating healthy meals.
But I digress. I don't intend to go into the long story of my many 'adventures' in the kitchen (I'll reserve that for another post) but more on the food critics living in my house.
First, my husband is a self-proclaimed food critic who will crinkle his nose at anything that is even slightly off or not to his taste. One of the conversations went like this:
"Sniff...sniff...that smells weird. What's that?" combined with a disdainful down-his-nose look and a tentative poke at the 'weird' food with his fork.
This will result in a killing-glare from the chef (me) and he would suddenly realize his little slip and tried to make amends.
"Err...I mean. That...err...chicken looks interesting," he improvised with a 'please don't bash me over the head with the frying pan' look.
"It's not chicken but a monitor lizard our neighbour killed while backing out of his driveway and didn't want to waste so he skinned it and gave me a recipe to cook it with. He said it is very tasty, just like chicken," this is said with a dead-pan look.
By now, his face had turned a particular shade of green and purple.
"Did you say lizard?"
"Ya, the type that always make you jump up and scream like a girl. The type with a long tail, scaly skin and flicking tongue," I paused, "Though this one is no longer able to flick its tongue so it shouldn't be so scary to you,"
"Err...I'm not hungry anymore..." he pushed away his plate and inched away from the so-called lizard.
"Too bad. I cooked it the way you loved best. With lots of spices and chilli," I shrugged and nonchalantly picked up the dish to head to the kitchen.
**silence**
"So, what else is for dinner?" he ventured tentatively after a few minutes, with me trying hard to laugh silently in the kitchen.
I coolly brought out the same dish and plonk it on the table.
"Chicken stew with potatoes simmered on low fire for two hours so that the chicken is tender and soft, with spices and a dash of chilli to add some zest into it," I said with a flourish.
He did a double take, stared at the dish suspiciously and then turned to me, blazing me with a narrowed eye look.
At that point, I burst out laughing and it took me another few minutes of almost rolling on the floor with laughter before I could talk coherently. My laughter must have been contagious as he, too, joined in.
Needless to say, that is the last time he wrinkled his nose over any of my cooking before tasting it. Oh, don't worry. He finished the stew and asked for seconds after I managed to convince him that it was really chicken and not lizard.
The other critic is Little Ray. This one is a little hard to tackle as this little guy found a way to make himself throw up if he does not like something. Fortunately, he loves vegetables (shocking, I know, but true!) and the only problem is with any sort of meat that is not tender enough to melt in his mouth.
He has a problem with any soft food that requires a lot of chewing but loves crunchy vegetables such as carrots and almost raw broccoli. Oh, he has this thing for tomatoes and could eat four or five cherry tomatoes in one sitting as a snack.
His number one enemy is milk. At the sight of his 'Milk Milk Cup' he would make gagging sounds and immediately go into hiding.
How I wish I could just feed him carrots and broccoli all day but too bad, he's not a rabbit and he needs his healthy carbs, dairy and protein to grow up. Besides, this little food critic does not like to have the same type of food everyday, meaning, if he had carrots and chicken for lunch today, he better don't find the same thing cooked in the same way tomorrow!
Hmm...and I thought my boss was demanding!
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