Suet Fun’s Recipe for Avoiding Egroup Angst

Dear Ching Pin,
I have known you since we were cycling around Taiping; I attended your 17th birthday party where your mum made such a lot of wonderful food and she was so happy when so many of your friends came to celebrate the big day with you. That was a long time ago.

I do not lay claim to the fact that I knew you so well then, neither do I do so now. But may I take the liberty to say that Fabian is so right to say that you are a unique individual. You are. Likewise, everyone else in this e-group.

As a member of the group, I must admit that I have been, at turns, irritated, frustrated, amused, horrified, angered at some of the exchanges. At the same time, I also understood that much of what was said, is not unlike what happens in the real world. It is not unusual to meet people who are unkind, nasty, rude and unreasonable. Neither is it unusual to meet people who are kind, polite, considerate and reasonable. It struck me that our e-group was very much a microcosm of the real world, except we are held together by the bond of the alma mater. For some, that's tenuous; for others, its enough to bind us although we hate each others' guts.

Expecting everyone to be humane and respectful doesn't exist in the outside world. What makes us think that we can expect these of each other just because we are Tigers? Don't you think its an exercise in futility? Don't you think we are setting ourselves up for a big fall?

Early this year when I wanted to raise funds for eggs for our rugby boys, all these came home to me very quickly. What began as a well-intentioned effort on my part turned into objections, suggestions and comments, and very little true support in terms of pledges. It left a very bad taste in my mouth, particularly when someone insinuated that I was only doing it because of my "personal relationship" with Coach Din, and I was not really thinking about the well-being of the boys. It rankled me deeply then. I questioned rigorously the kind of group we really were. I thought then, and even now that maybe our stripes was mere skin, they never came near our heart. But I stayed on.

The reason I am still with the e-group is because I learnt that we are not all the same, and never can be. That the only thing that's important to me is my own conviction, and that whatever I do comes from my heart. I also understand that this is an e-group, not a care group. We can say what we think and feel, but we do not have to share our personal angst and challenges and expect people to be considerate, pat us on the back and extend sympathy.Ironically, the latter is one reason why I also enjoy being a member. The lively, hard-hitting exchanges hardly exist in any other forum.

And so, its actually up to us how we deal with the bullets. We can shoot back, but do expect to be shot at. If you don't want to play, lay low. It's just like the real world Ching Pin, just like the real world.

Take it easy, my friend.
Suet Fun

CLASSIC OSSO BUCO from Tiger Mike

M.N.Taib wants you to know: Enjoy


You can view the complete recipe online at: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/recipe_views/views/105436


CLASSIC OSSO BUCO
4 pounds (1.8 kg) veal shanks, cut in 1 1/2-inch ( 4 cm) slices
1/4 cup (30 g/1 oz) flour
salt and pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
2 onions, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1/2 bottle (375 ml) dry white wine
a 14.5-ounce (435 g) can plum tomatoes, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
grated zest of 2 oranges
1 cup (250 ml/8 fl oz) veal stock, more if needed

For the Gremolata
3 or 4 garlic cloves
bunch of flat-leaf parsley
grated zest of 2 lemons
1. Heat the oven to 350°F (176°F/Gas 4). Put the flour on a plate, add generous amounts of salt and pepper, and coat the veal slices, with flour, patting to remove the excess. Heat the oil and butter in a sauté pan or frying pan big enough for all the veal slices to touch the bottom. Add half the slices and brown them over quite high heat, 2 to 3 minutes. Turn them, brown the other side and remove them to a plate. Brown the remaining slices and remove them also.

2. Lower the heat to medium, add the onion and carrot and sauté until golden, 5 to 7 minutes. Pour in the wine and boil until reduced by half, stirring to dissolve the pan juices. Stir in the tomatoes, garlic, orange zest, veal stock, salt, and pepper. Immerse the veal slices in this sauce — the liquid should come at least halfway up the sides. Cover the pan and bring it to a boil.

3. Braise the shanks in the oven until the meat is very tender and falling from the bone, 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Stir from time to time, gently turning the slices, and if the pan seems dry, add more stock. At the end of cooking, taste and adjust seasoning of the sauce. Osso buco can be cooked ahead and stored up to 3 days in the refrigerator, or frozen. Keep it in the pan ready to be reheated on top of the stove.

4. For the gremolata, chop the garlic; pull parsley leaves from the stems, and chop the leaves together with the garlic. Stir in the grated lemon zest and pile the gremolata in a bowl. It can be served separately from the osso buco, for guests to help themselves, or sprinkled on the dish just before it goes to the table.

Tiger Mike's South African Sausage (boerewors)

Category: African, Beef, Dinner, Grilled

Ingredients for 40 sausages:

2 kg ground beef,
1 kg ground pork,
45 ml whole corriander seeds
5 ml whole cloves
30 ml salt
15 ml pepper, fresh ground
2 ml nutmeg, grated
10 ml allspice, ground
10 ml brown sugar
125 ml dry red wine or dark vinegar
90 grams sausage casing, thick , soaked in water


Procedures:
1. In a large bowl put your ground meat and set aside.
2. Roast coriander and cloves in a dry frying pan, tossing the spices about until uniformly brown.
3. Don't allow to burn.
4. Grind spices with a pestle and mortar, sift to remove husks, mix with remaining spices and sugar and sprinkle over the mince.
5. Lightly mix in wine or vinegar.
6. Drain the casings and place over one end of the filling horn of a mincer.
7. Carefully push all of the casings on leaving a 3 inch length hanging down.
8. You can then feed the mixture into casing , guiding the filling in.
9. Feed the mixture into the mincer a little at a time, while securing the casing with a gentle pressure of one hand on the horn to control the unrolling of the casing as its filled.
10. Mould the sausage with your hand to make it uniformly thick.
11. Don't pack the casings too full, or the sausage will burst while cooking, but try to avoid air bubbles.
12. After the casing has been filled, remove it - still attached to the horn - from the machine.
13. Push any remaining filling into the casing and tie a knot in the end.
14. BBQ quickly over hot coals.
15. The skin should be crisp and the middle just pink.
16. Serve immediately.

Tiger Mike's Hamburger Patties

1 kg of minced lamb

1 kg of minced beef

2 fresh eggs

4 tsp of corn flour

¼ stick of real butter – melted

4 cloves of garlic chopped small

2 onions chopped small

1 tbsp of coriander powder

1 tbsp of cumin powder

2 tbsp of chopped coriander roots

2 tbsp of chopped fresh mint

2 tbsp of chopped Chinese celery

4 tbsp of scraped parmesan cheese

4 tbsp of breadcrumb

Mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl using gloved hands.100 gm size for kids and 180gm for adults. Use tin foil to wrap individual patty. Use a little breadcrumb on both sides before packing. Keep in freezer.

Buy minced lamb and beef from LEE Frozen in Kg Attap. Very good quality control. Ignore the proprietress; she has gone blonde with a sunflower hair style. Reading too much Aztec sex books listening to Oriah.

Dear Suet Fun,
Forgot to include 2 tsp of Knoor's Aromat when you mix the patties.If you can make your own mince, so much the better. Finish with apple pie and Baskin. I understand completely your feelong¹. The food, the ambience, the relaxed company of give and take types and Coors using Rocky Mountain's water. Yes, there is a few things I dearly missed. I loved Idaho and Oregon. Apa boleh buat, Terengganu pun boleh tahan, lah!!


¹Past tense of feeling!!

Tiger Mike's Mexican Chili Con Carne

1 kg of good thick minced beef (buy from Lee Frozen in Kg.Attap)

2 tbsp of veg oil

1 onion sliced

1 clove garlic, mashed

1 can tomatoes (buy Italian)

1 cup of water

1 tsp of salt

4 tsp of chili powder

1 tsp of oregano

Dash of white pepper

½ tsp of cumin powder

2 cans of kidney beans* or butter beans


Use a wok to brown meat in hot oil. Add oil ingredients except beans. Cover, bring to boil; reduce heat and simmer. Stir occasionally. Add more liquid as needed. Add beans and simmer for 15 minutes more. 6 servings. Use French bread.

* Kidney beans. Soak overnight. Still will not be soft. Pressure cook for 30 minutes. No pressure cooker, boil for one hour or more. Then add to meat.

I have some additional suggestions:
* 1 tbsp of olive oil and one tbsp of butter. Use unsalted Anchor Brand butter from NZ or President Brand from France.
* Include four bay leaves. Best buy is in Lee Frozen. The bay leaves packed by S'pore's Singlong are broken up. You can buy fresh bay leaves in the wet market. Say; " Daun Salam ada tak?"
* Add 1 tsp of Aromat powder. One container of Aromat will last you at least a year. Please share with your kakis. I use it for almost everything.

If you buy the uncooked kidney beans. You have to use the pressure cooker for 1/2 hour from the hiss. If not, buy the canned kidney beans in water for RM 2.99. I discovered that the best canned tomato is Tesco's Italian Peeled plum tomatoes.RM 2.65. 400g.
Suet Fun, one can of Bud is RM 9.95. Lost the smell of hops and the taste is slightly reduced. Bad traveller.
Once the minced meat is cooked, bang in the beans and allow 10 minutes and serve. If kiddies are eating add green peas. Decor with coriander or mint leaves.

Wine Tips - Shake and Bake (From "Simply Recipes" Blog)

Sacramento, California, where I live, is surrounded by wine country - Amador, El Dorado Hills, Clarksburg. To gain a better appreciation of the fabulous wines that are made in the area, I recently took a series of wine tasting classes at The Wine School aboard the Delta King in Old Sacramento, taught by G.M. "Pooch" Pucilowski, Wine Editor for Sacramento Magazine, and the guy in charge of all of the judging of wines at the California State Fair wine competition. The purpose of this prelude is so that when I get completely skewered for suggesting the following, that you know that I didn't just make them up out of thin air. These are just a few of the tips that our wine expert Pooch recommended. And, if you are about to completely dismiss them as absurd or utterly sacrilegious, I ask that you first give them a try.

Tip #1: The Microwave
Red wine should not be consumed chilled, but closer to room temperature. It just tastes better that way. But if you open a bottle of red wine and don't finish it, the best thing to do is to pop the cork back on and put it in the refrigerator, where it can keep for a couple of weeks. When you pull the wine out to drink it later, you can leave it on the counter to slowly come to room temperature. Alternatively, you can pour a glass, put it in the microwave, and zap it a few seconds until it warms up to room temp. Every microwave is different, and depending on how much wine is in the glass, the number of seconds will vary. I suggest starting with 5 seconds and adding 3 second increments until you get there.

Tip #2: Shake that Bouteille
Red wine often needs to come in contact with some air to reduce some of its sharpness. Usually this is accomplished by pouring the wine into a decanter. If you're drinking a young wine that is just too rough, you can also accomplish the same oxygenation by pouring out 1/2 glass of wine from the bottle, putting the cork back in part way, and shaking the heck out of the bottle. Obviously, you're not going to do this with a well aged wine that may have some sediment. But if it is a young wine, sediment shouldn't be a problem, and it's the young wines that typically need this air.

Bonus Tip: Wine Ice-cubes
How do you keep your glass of white wine cool on a hot summer day? If you know what wine you will be drinking in advance, you can use an ice cube tray to freeze some of the wine into wine-cubes. Just add them to your glass of wine.

Tiger Mike's-Chickpea Pakoras (to go with the mint chutney)

500g chickpea flour, sieved
3 tbsp salt
1 tbsp cilli powder
1/2 tbsp garam masala
1 tsp cumin seeds
200g kangkung, leaves only
2 onions finely diced
2 potatoes, cut into tiny cubes
50g spring onions, chopped finely
50g coriander leaves, chopped finely
1 tbsp breadcrumbs
100g water
groundnut oil for frying
1 small can of sardines ( Cap Kings Cup) optional

Mix all the ingredients together, adding the water little by little until mixture thickens and leaves the sides of the bowl.
allow the mixture to stand for half an hour to infuse the flavours.
Heat the oil in a deep pan over medium fire. At this stage you mix the sardines into the mixture without the tomato sauce. Drop spoonfuls of the mixture into the hot oil and deep fry until golden brown.
Remove from oil and drain on paper towels. Serve hot and crispy with the mint chutney.

N.B There is a South Indian way of making the mint chutney. Its excellent too.

Tiger Mike's Suggestion for Katapandhi

Goons hot and pungent curry (vendaloo)
by Julie Sahni (from Classic Indian Cooking)
Vendaloo is the famous fiery-hot, mustard-laced dish from Goa, a state on the southwest coast of India. Traditionally, vendaloo is made with pork, but there are many variations prepared with beef, chicken, lamb, and even duck. Pork is rarely eaten in India, except by the Portuguese Christians in Goa. Even though some religious sects permit the eating of pork, it is not as highly prized a meat in India as lamb or chicken. Indians tend to regard the pig, who eats most anything from everywhere, with suspicion. Another reason for its lack of popularity is that the feed-corn needed to raise the best grade of pig for good pork is not grown in India on a wide enough scale to feed an animal population.

Vendaloo is made by first marinating the pork in a mixture of spices and seasonings. It is then cooked in the marinade along with such additional flavorings as fried onions and tamarind juice. The ingredient that imparts the authentic vendaloo flavor is mustard oil. Mustard oil in its raw form has a very strong smell that many people find unpleasant. Before Indians use it in cooking, it is put through a mellowing process. This is done by heating the oil to a very high temperature (the smoking point), which releases the pungent smell and vaporizes the oil. When cool, the mustard oil is ready for use.

For 4 persons:

6 pork chops (about 1.5 lbs.)
Using a sharp boning knife, cut the meat off the bone. Reserve the bones. Trim all traces of fat from the meat and bones, and discard. Cut the meat into 3/4" cubes, and set aside.

1 tsp. cumin seeds
1 tsp. black mustard seeds
Heat a small frying pan over medium heat, and add cumin and mustard seeds. Roast the seeds, stirring constantly, until the cumin seeds turn dark and the mustard seeds gray (about 3 minutes). Transfer to a small bowl and let cool briefly. Then grind to a fine powder. Set aside.

1 medium-sized onion, peeled and quartered
4 medium cloves garlic
1 Tbsp. chopped fresh ginger root
2 Tbsp. cider vinegar
2 Tbsp. light vegetable oil
Put onion, garlic, ginger, vinegar, and oil into the container of an electric blender or food processor, and run the machine until the contents are a fine pasty puree.

(pork and pork bones)
(ground cumin and mustard seeds)
(pureed mixture)
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground clove
Mix thoroughly to distribute the spice paste over the meat pieces. Cover and marinate for 8 hours, or refrigerate for 48 hours.

1" ball tamarind pulp
1.25 C. boiling water
Put the tamarind pulp into a bowl, add the boiling water, and let it soak for 15 minutes. Strain the liquid, squeezing the pulp as much as possible, into another small bowl, and set aside. Discard the stringy fiber.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cooking
1/2 C. mustard oil, or substitute light vegetable oil
When ready to cook the meat, heat the mustard oil over high heat in a large enamel-coated pan. When the oil begins to smoke, turn off the heat, and let it cool completely. (Skip this step if you are using a vegetable oil other than mustard.)

(mustard oil)
1.5 C. thinly sliced onions
Heat the oil again over medium-high heat, and add onions. Fry them until they turn caramel brown (about 12 minutes), stirring constantly to prevent burning.

1.5 tsp. turmeric
1.5 tsp. red pepper
1.5 tsp. paprika
Reduce heat to medium, add turmeric, red pepper, and paprika. When the spices begin to sizzle and turn dark (about 15 seconds), add the meat and bones (reserve any marinade left in the bowl), and fry until the meat pieces are slightly seared and the oil begins to separate from the gravy (about 10 minutes).

(tamarind juice)
2 tsp. Kosher salt
(remaining marinade, if a

TIGER MIKE'S MINT CHUTNEY

Re our coversation in the Khalsa Club on 31st Mar 06, here's the mint chutney recipe from Kpg Boyan;

2.5 cups of coriander leaves, coarsely chopped
1.5 cups mint leaves, coarsely chopped
6 green chillies, seeds removed, cut
1tbsp of salt
1piece tamarind peel (assam keping)
1tbsp lime juice or to taste
4 tbsp water
Whiz the coriander, mint, green chillies, salt and tamarind with two tbsp water in an electric blender for 30 seconds.
Add another two tbsp water and blend for a minute. Add lime juice and stir to mix well. Chill chutney before using.
Try the above first. Later try with two bawang merah kecil, a pinch asofoetida and one tbsp of fresh kelapa parut.
Do you know how to make Chickpea Pakoras? The Kpg Boyan Baaii add Kangkung leaves, no batang. Manyak bes, ma!!