Nasi Lemak

We had Allison and Daniel over for dinner tonight so I made them a super special treat! Nasi Lemak a wonderful Malaysian dish of coconut rice and sambal covered eggs. Roasted peanuts and crispy anchovies covered in sugar are served on the side. It's traditionally served with fish but I went for fried pork chop instead.

1. Cook rice in rice cooker using coconut milk instead of water.
2. Pan sear pork chops until golden brown. Make sure to season with salt and pepper before.
3. Place pork chops in roasting pan on top of tin foil and add basil leaves on top of pork.
4. Sear basil leaves with the oil residues from the pan you seared the pork in
5. Wrap the pork completely in tin foil and place in oven on broil (hi) for 20-30 minutes depending on your tastes medium rare-well done.
6. blend 10 dried chilies that have been de-seeded and soaked in warm water for 10 minutes with 3 small shallots.
7. Fry mixture in a lot of olive oil on med low and add sugar to mellow spice 2 tbsps is plenty but use less if you like it spicy
8. Once sauce turns red, add thinly sliced onion until sautéed thoroughly
9. Coat hard boiled eggs with sambal mixture you just made
10. Sprinkle anchovies with olive oil on a plate mix and microwave for 30 secs. Taste to see if they are crunchy add time if necessary. Sprinkle with sugar.
11. Toast peanuts with skins but no shells on dry pan with no oil. Keep on low heat and stir constantly until roasted but not burnt. Should taste crunchy!
12. Serve eggs, anchovies and peanuts with pork and coconut rice.

ENJOY another wonderful Malaysian specialty :)

Potato Brussels with caramelized brown sugar

I think this dish turned out quite well. It takes a bit of time and patience but well worth the wait.
Brussel sprouts are in season and a wonderful vegetable! I didn't discover it until I moved to the mid-west and it was a wonderful find. People have mixed opinions on their taste, but most don't cook the sprouts thoroughly enough. They should be soft but still maintain a relatively bright crisp taste and ideally retain some of its beautiful dark green colors. We have a baby brussel sprout growing in our garden-soon-to-be-hoop house and hope to get some super local sprouts to eat soon, but for now the farmer's market will have to do. I would also highly urge you to grow some mint and rosemary in your kitchen. If you start with large plants, they will do really well even under the mild abuse of constantly hacking them away to put in my food :).

1. In a small baking dish mix together 5 Brussels sprouts washed and cut in half with hard bottoms removed.
2. Slice 2 potatoes into small pieces (the smaller they are the faster they will cook)
3. Sprinkle a decent amount of olive oil and pepper into the mix as well as a dash of red wine vinegar, and the juice of 1 lime for tartness
4. Add freshly chopped rosemary and 4 crushed mint leaves as well as 1 diced clove of garlic
5. Mix well then set oven to broil on low then place baking dish on second shelf of oven to prevent burning.
6. Check oven every 10 minutes and mix to insure the sprouts don't burn
7. When potatoes are soft and a few slices of butter on top and sprinkle with a little brown sugar
8. Return the pan to the oven and let the butter and sugar caramelize together for a little while ~3-5 minutes. You should end up with a beautiful brown coating on your sprouts and potatoes.
9. Eat eat eat! It's a really great side dish to go with any sort of protein you like. Rice always goes well with everything in my opinion!

The Songbird Cafe

Rating:❤❤❤❤💔 price:$$

This place has amazing lattes and soup. My personal favorites are the caramel latte (soy is spectacular but so is milk) and when I don't want caffeine I go for a tangerine lavender steamer.
(off menu) my favorite soup so far has been the clam chowder but today's shrimp and sausage gumbo was a close second. Not the highest quality shrimp but the okra seeds were a true testament to the homemade super flavor delicious broth! B enjoys his chai oatmeal. I highly recommend this place tucked next to the baskin robins across the Kroger strip mall on Plymouth! Not to mention the owners are a super sweet mom daughter combo and the decor is fabulous.
Win and win.

Theresa's fabulous veggie fried rice

This dish is best made when you have old rice in the fridge. You know the kind that you don't want to eat anymore that's all dry and yucky. But waste not!

1. Fry 3 cloves of finely chopped garlic in sesame oil until golden brown in a frying pan
2. Add 2 small sliced shallots, fry until soft
3. Chop a 1/4 of a zucchini into small bite sized pieces and add to pan until almost translucent in color, add a dash of red wine vinegar for flavor
4. Add mushrooms and 5 fried tofu cubes cut in 1/2 diagonally. I like the long enoki straw mushrooms but you can use whatever you like
5. Wait until mushrooms cook down then add 1/2 a bowl of your old rice
6. Add extra sesame oil, a nice pour of soy sauce, about 2 tbsps of dark soy sauce and a small dash of rice wine
7. Stir then turn up heat to medium high and add a 1/4 cup of water then quickly cover to let the rice steam back to a nice consistency
8. When the rice looks nice and fluffy again make sure all chunks have been separated using a spatula
9. Taste your rice! Add a little more dark soy sauce if it's not brown enough and regular soy sauce if it's not salty enough.
10. Add two raw eggs and stir into rice until cooked.
11. Chop some parsley and serve on top of a plated bowl of your fab rice!

This recipe is easily adjusted depending on whatever veggies you have lying around... Be creative!

B's rating: "50 aphids"

Shalimar

Rating: 3 ducks; Price: $$
This is probably my favorite Indian spot in AA. It's a bit expensive but it has the best lassis around.

Go for the murgh tikka masala! It's super flavorful, but not super spicy even if you ask for "hot." DISCLAIMER- my spice tolerance may be a little high for most. I've had super spicy stuff from them before but you have to demand extra extra spicy.

The lamb korma is off the menu but you can still get it if you ask nicely. It has a sweeter taste if you're into that but not my favorite.

By far, the best is the lassi. A delicious yogurt sensation in your mouth. Sweet lassis are my favorite since they have a light rose flavor and the tanginess of the yogurt really shines through. The mango and strawberry flavors were preferred by the others, which if you have a sweet tooth may be the choice for you!

Bak Kut Teh

This is a Malaysian pork rib stew brewed in tea leaves and soy sauce delicious! Super fast and easy. You can also make it in a crock pot.

1. Boil half a pot of water in a medium saucepan.
2. Add half a section of pork ribs into boiling water.
3. Add 1/2 a clove (do not peel) of garlic, 1 package of Bak Kut Teh mix, 1 stalk of dried bean curd, a bunch of dried shiitakes (I have super cute mini ones) - you can get these at an Asian store, 2 tbsp of dark soy sauce 1 tbsp of light soy sauce and a couple of boiled eggs (peeled). I added quail eggs ( from MSU!) for fun.
4. Bring to a boil then let simmer a couple hours.
5. Salt to taste
6. Serve with steamed rice

** if you want to make this veggie friendly just leave out the pork and add a little extra soy sauce and put some fried tofu cubes in place of the meat.

B is out of town this weekend so I am indulging myself in non-veggie friendly dishes in between studying the Krebs and Calvin cycle ;)