P.F.Chang's Stir-Fried Spicy Eggplant

I have never heard of P.F.Chang before this! From the info I read when I google, it is a very well known and famous chain of restaurants in U.S. Now what I do know is, this is a really delicious dish. I got this copycat recipe from Recipe Goldmine website. I have not tried the original version as I have never set foot in U.S before, so I would not know how the original would taste like. Without a doubt, should be good!

This dish is extremely easy to prepare, just combine all the ingredients for the sauce in a bowl, and stir it in during cooking. Simple, quick and easy.

The recipes states to peel the eggplants. I did not bother because the ones I bought are really young and tender. Even though the recipe doesn't call for scallions (spring onions), I added them and I'm glad I did!

The balance of the flavours are just right, sweet, salty, sour and a hint of spiciness, it's all in one dish.

Serve this piping hot, really delicious with plain white steamed rice!

I'm sharing this with these fabulous sites, be sure to visit them to see other delicious yummies!

Full Plate Thursday over at Miz Helen's Country Cottage
Recipe Swap Thursday over at Prairie Story
Copycat Club over at Buttercream Barbie  (Tia will showcase all copycat yummies on the 7th of each month, visit Buttercream Barbie for more details)

P.F.Chang's Stir-Fried Spicy Eggplant

(source from : Recipe Goldmine)

1 pound eggplant, peeled, cut into 1-inch dice
1 teaspoon garlic
1 tablespoon cornstarch mixed with 2 tablespoons water to make a paste
canola oil for deep-frying

Spicy Sauce
2 tablespoons vegetarian oyster sauce (or substitute oyster sauce)
2 tablespoons Lite soy sauce
2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 teaspoon chili paste (Sambal Oelek preferred)
1/2 teaspoon ground bean sauce (Koon Chun preferred)
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil

Combine all Spicy Sauce ingredients and mix well.

In a wok, deep-fry eggplant at 350 degrees F for 1 minute. Remove eggplant and drain on paper towels.

Meanwhile, remove all but 1/2 teaspoon of oil from wok. On high heat, stir-fry garlic for 5 seconds then add Spicy Sauce. Reduce heat and let sauce simmer 20 seconds. Add eggplant and simmer for another 10 seconds. Stir in cornstarch paste a little at a time until desired consistency. Serve immediately.

(my notes : I did not add the cornstarch solution as the dish is fairly dry)

Kadhai Murgh

This delicious Indian dish is really good. A word of caution, if you are serving this with plain white rice, make sure you cook plenty of rice. You would want to have a second helping!

I love spicy Indian food. I bought some spices from an Indian store, and couldn't wait to try out more Indian curries from a few of my books. The store that I went to, is fantastic, they have all the spices which I have been looking for ages that I could not find anywhere else. It is like walking into a goldmine!  There will definitely be a lot of curry recipes coming! 

I found out about this store from one of my Indian cooking books, right at the top right of the last page. I did a search from the web, and was really excited that they have all the spices that I was looking for! Bingo!  Felt like I have hit the jackpot (not that I have before!). Felt so silly, as did not notice this all along, instead, went everywhere to look for the spices!

This dish is a little sour, salty and hot. I omitted the pounded red chili as I'm afraid it might be too hot for my kids. One of the ingredients is pounded black pepper, which I added half a teaspoon more. The flavours from the black pepper is really wonderful. If you do not like a spicy curry, you can omit the chili. Or if you are like me, who loves fiery hot stuff, then, by all means, add the chili!  According to the chef, this dish is popular in Lahore, Pakistan.

The name of Kadhai Murgh sounds really nice. Kadhai means 'wok' or 'vessel', and Murgh means 'chicken'. 

I couldn't wait to try other Murgh recipes and other curries like legumes and vegetables! Give this a try, you'll love it!

"Passage Thru' India" is a well-know Indian restaurant in Kuala Lumpur, that has won numerous awards. This book is a collection of some of the best Indian dishes served at the restaurant. Chef PS Kadam, who has been in this restaurant since 1996, has simplified the methods for use in home-cooking.

I'm linking this post with Copycat Club at Buttercream Barbie

Kadhai Murgh
(adapted from "Passage Thru' India" by Chef PS Kadam)
Serves : 4
Preparation Time : 35 minutes
Cooking Time : 30 minutes

Ingredients :
500gm chicken
2 tbsp ginger garlic paste
1 pinch turmeric powder
salt to taste
100 ml cooking oil
1 pinch / 5 gm cumin (jeera) seeds
20gm / 2 tsp ginger and garlic, chopped
10gm / 2 green chilles, chopped
400gm / 4 tomatoes, chopped
1 cup water
1 tbsp / 1 red chilli, pounded
1 tsp / 5gm black pepper, pounded
1 tbsp / 10gm coriander seeds, pounded
50 gm / 1 capsicum, cut lengthwise
1 pinch garam masala powder
1 tsp kasoori methi (dried fenugreek leaves)
2 tbsp coriander leaves

Method :

1. Clean chicken and remove the skin. Cut into cubes of equal size and marinate with 1 tbsp ginger garlic paste, 1 pinch tumeric powder and salt for 30 minutes.
2. Heat oil in a kadhai (wok). Saute cumin, chopped ginger, garlic and green chillies for 10 seconds.
3. Stir in 1 tbsp ginger garlic paste and saute for 30 seconds.
4. Put in chopped tomatoes and keep stirring till tomatoes are mashed.
5. Add chicken cubes and stir occasionally. Pour in some water and simmer on low flame.
6. When the chicken is almost done, add the pounded spices and capsicum, masala powder, kasoori methi, coriander leaves and salt.
7. Cook till chicken becomes tender and gravy thick. Sprinkle water and stir. Adjust the seasoning. The gravy should be thick, the taste hot and sour, and the colour orange red.
8. Remove from heat and put in a serving dish. Garnish with green coriander, ginger and tomato slices. Serve with chapatti, naan, roti or biryani rice.

Kenny Rogers' Corn Muffin

Each time when we went to Kenny Rogers' for a meal, the muffins would be the last one to be eaten, and usually it will be packed for takeaway as we would be full from the meal.  Over here in Malaysia, Kenny Rogers restaurants only served three types of muffins, Chocolate Raisin, Banana Raisin and Golden Vanilla Muffins. So this Corn Muffin is a new flavour to me and  since they do not sell this muffin over here, I'm unable to know whether it tastes just as Kenny Rogers'!  Among these four flavours, I would go for the Chocolate and Golden Vanilla. 

I'll be taking a little break for a short holiday with my family.  See you when I get back!

I'm submitting this to the monthly roundup at Copycat Club at Buttercream Barbie and Recipe Swap Thursday at Prairie Story

Kenny Rogers' Corn Muffins
(source from recipe.goldmine.com)
Ingredients :
1/2 cup butter, softened
2/3 cup granulated sugar (I only use 80gm)
1/4 cup honey (I use slightly less, I reduce about 1 tablespoon from the 1/4 cup)
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup yellow cornmeal
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup milk
3/4 cup frozen yellow corn

Method :

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees F
2. Cream together butter, sugar, honey, eggs and salt in a large bowl.  Add flour, cornmeal and baking powder and blend thoroughly.  Add milk while mixing.  Add corn to mixture and combine by hand until corn is worked in.
3. Grease a 12 cup muffin pan and fill each cup with batter. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until muffins begin to turn brown on top.

Wendy's Chili

I have never eaten a chili dish or cooked one before, but I have always knew that it would taste exactly like this! To me, it is similar yet different from spaghetti sauce, the one ingredient that makes a difference is the addition of cumin powder.  I couldn't get any pinto beans, so I substitue with chipotle beans instead.

This recipe is a copycat version of Wendy's Chili, which I found on RecipeLion.com. According to them, "As restaurant copycat recipes go, this version of Wendy's Chili is bang-on! We swear it, if you put it into one of those paper cups like they serve it in at Wendy's, you'd be hard-pressed to tell this was simply a restaurant coycat recipe. It tastes just like Wendy's Chili!." Well, I have not tried Wendy's Chili before, so I don't really know! 

What I know is this is quite delicious.  I only make half the recipe. My kids are very happy eating this with some corn chips. I even made a Mustard and Dill Bread to go with this.  I can see that I'll be making this again very soon for a get-together and serve it in paper cups with corn chips!  

 The bread is dense and soft, it is not fluffy soft, but it is soft and perfect for this chili.

Great with corn chips. My daughter insisted on this photo!  

There was some leftover and a packet of unopened chips, half  of which my daughter brought to school for her lunch and the other half was 'reserved' for my son. He wanted to eat the leftovers after he's back from school.  He reminded me a few times to keep it for him!  There! they really enjoyed this chili very much!

Guess what was the request from my daughter?  She asked me to make corn chips next!!!  


I am sharing this with these fabulous sites :
Copycat Club at Buttercream Barbie
Texas Star Chili Cook-Off at Miz Helen's Country Cottage
Recipe Swap Thursday at Prairie Story


Wendy's Chili
(source from RecipeLion.com)
Serves 8
Cooking Time : 3 hours
Ingredients 
2 pounds ground beef (I use ground pork)
1 (29-ounce) can tomato sauce
1 (29-ounce) kidney beans with liquid
1 (29-ounce) can pinto beans with liquid
1 medium onion, diced
2 green chillies, diced
1 rib  celery, diced
3 medium tomatoes, chopped
2 teaspoons cumin powder
3 tablespoons chili powder
1-1/2 teaspoons black pepper
2 teaspoons salt
2 cups water


Instructions :

1. Brown the beef and drain the fat off.
2. Crumble the cooked beef into pea size pieces.
3. In a large pot, combine the beef with the remaining ingredients and bring to a simmer over low heat.
4. Cook, stirring every 15 minutes, for 2-3 hours.

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Happy Halloween everyone. Have a lovely spooky fun!

Mustard Prawns the Copycat Version / Garden

This will be my first entry to The Copycat Club's debut!. Have you heard of The Copycat Club? If not, then it is about time you do. The Copycat Club is a club that features copycat recipes from your favourite restaurant, favourite fast-food, famous bakeries, just about anything that can be eaten, as long as it is a copycat! The person behind this is Tia from Buttercream Barbie. For more details about this club and how to join in the fun please do visit Tia's fantastic blog.   My first entry will be Mustard Prawns from the Taj Group of Hotels.

Taj Group of Hotels is famous, right? This recipe is taken from the book, "The Best of Indian Cooking : A Selection of Recipes From The Taj Group of Hotels", edited by John Mitchell.  This book was published in the year 1994, oh gosh, I was just a sweet young twenty something at that time! Boy, time really flies in a blink of an eye! Well, I bought it maybe not in 1994, but certainly not far from that year! And all this while, I have only tried maybe two recipes from this book.

The recipes from this book, according to John Mitchell, was edited with some changes from the original ones, with approval from the chefs, to make the recipes practical for use in the domestic kitchen.  So this is the copycat versions from the originals! Perfect! And to think that I do not have any copycat recipe on hand, it has been sitting on my shelf for years!

This is a very tasty dish. I have not been to any of the Taj Group of Hotels, obviously have not tried any of their food, but this is delicious with plain white rice. (My hubby had second helpings!). This is very simple and easy, just get everything cut and ready before you start cooking. Give it a try. For an authentic Indian style of serving, serve it on a banana leaf, on a plate. 

I'm linking this to Cookbook Sundays at Brenda's Canadian Kitchen and Potluck Sunday at Mommy's Kitchen. 


Kaduku Eral (Mustard Prawns)
(adapted from "The Best of Indian Cooking - A Selection of Recipes From The Taj Group of Hotels" edited by John Mitchell)
600gm prawns
1 large onion
2 tomatoes
4 cloves garlic
2 tbsp oil
1 tbsp mustard seeds
8 curry leaves
1 heaped tbsp chilli powder
salt to taste
chopped coriander leaves

Shell and de-vein the prawns, then wash under running water, pat dry and set aside.  Chop finely the onion, tomatoes and garlic.  Heat the oil in a pan until very hot, then add the mustard seeds and curry leaves.  When they start to crackle,  immediately add the onion and garlic and saute until softened.  Next add the tomato and cook for 4-5 minutes, then add the chilli powder and stir well.  Lower the heat and add the prawns.  Cook for 10-12 minutes, stirring frequently, then season with salt to taste.  To serve : transfer to a large plate and garnish with chopped coriander leaves.

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A little post on my garden...... continuation from last post

Ever seen this flower?  Can you name the plant of this flower?

Cannot guess the name of this plant with this pretty flower?  Not many people do!  These pretty flower belongs to the Curry Leaf Plant!  Are you surprised? The flowers has a light jasmine-like fragrance, it will turn to small round red berry-like fruits, which will eventually changed to black.  According to Wikipedia, the fruits can be eaten but the seeds inside are highly poisonous.  Would you dare to try the fruits? 

Curry leaves are very aromatic and extremely important in curry dishes.  It is used worldwide in various cuisine. Over in our multi-racial Malaysia here, it is used by all races, even the  Chinese restaurants use the leaves for extra aroma in many delicious fried dishes, not necessarily spicy.   But, not many of us have seen or even aware that the ever popular curry leaves has flowers just like any other plant. So the next time when you pick a bunch of these leaves from the store, think about the pretty flower! Hope you have enjoyed reading this little post!