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Risotto-style Butter & Chicken Rice | Belly Rub Recipes!
Honestly, most Malaysians make their butter chicken rice in a rice cooker. I could've just done the same.
You need:
4 cloves, garlic
1 whole shallot
1 cup, uncooked rice
Chicken/ vegetable stock (make plenty)
1/8 of Golden Churn butter (from the stick)
Olive oil
Chicken strips (optional)
Vegetables of your choice (optional)
Salt (optional)
Pepper
1. Unshell your garlic cloves and shallot. Cut your veggies into manageable pieces coz those are going into the dicer/blender (no dicer? Fear not. You can manually chop them up). Dice until they look just right.
2. Heat your pan on low, add a small amount of olive oil and add your 1/8 of butter. The low heat is important so you don't burn your butter and the rest of the ingredients. Once the butter has melted, add your diced ingredients. Keep the heat on LOW because you don't want to brown it. You just want it to mix in with the butter and the flavours should immerse together.
3. Add your cup of uncooked rice. It's weird, I know. Stir in well and the rice should start "frying". This is why it's called "risotto style" and most risotto recipes use dry white wine but we aren't. Why? Learn below!
4. Add a ladle of chicken/vegetable stock each time. You want to go slow because we are avoiding making rice soup. Let the rice slowly soak in each ladle. Keep adding a ladle in until you see your rice nicely "frothing" up.
5. Grab your lid and close the pot. Let it simmer. You can blast the heat up at this point.
6. Keep stirring and add 1 ladle in as you please until you get the texture you want. I had chicken strips left so I just threw it in the pot. Repeat this process until your rice fluffs up and is cooked. Add in your seasonings - I did not use salt because the butter is salty enough.
It might seem like a lot of steps but once you've done it, you'll realise how easy it is.
LESSON: Certain flavour compounds are more soluble in alcohol than in fat or water, so you get more flavour. NOTE: this is not necessary here.
You need:
4 cloves, garlic
1 whole shallot
1 cup, uncooked rice
Chicken/ vegetable stock (make plenty)
1/8 of Golden Churn butter (from the stick)
Olive oil
Chicken strips (optional)
Vegetables of your choice (optional)
Salt (optional)
Pepper
1. Unshell your garlic cloves and shallot. Cut your veggies into manageable pieces coz those are going into the dicer/blender (no dicer? Fear not. You can manually chop them up). Dice until they look just right.
2. Heat your pan on low, add a small amount of olive oil and add your 1/8 of butter. The low heat is important so you don't burn your butter and the rest of the ingredients. Once the butter has melted, add your diced ingredients. Keep the heat on LOW because you don't want to brown it. You just want it to mix in with the butter and the flavours should immerse together.
3. Add your cup of uncooked rice. It's weird, I know. Stir in well and the rice should start "frying". This is why it's called "risotto style" and most risotto recipes use dry white wine but we aren't. Why? Learn below!
4. Add a ladle of chicken/vegetable stock each time. You want to go slow because we are avoiding making rice soup. Let the rice slowly soak in each ladle. Keep adding a ladle in until you see your rice nicely "frothing" up.
5. Grab your lid and close the pot. Let it simmer. You can blast the heat up at this point.
6. Keep stirring and add 1 ladle in as you please until you get the texture you want. I had chicken strips left so I just threw it in the pot. Repeat this process until your rice fluffs up and is cooked. Add in your seasonings - I did not use salt because the butter is salty enough.
It might seem like a lot of steps but once you've done it, you'll realise how easy it is.
LESSON: Certain flavour compounds are more soluble in alcohol than in fat or water, so you get more flavour. NOTE: this is not necessary here.
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| Alcohol-free butter chicken rice cooked risotto-style! |
CONVERSATION
Oil-free, Pan-seared Fennel Salmon, Cauli-Rice & Omelette | Fitness Food Recipes
Salmon and the occasional tuna are the only fishes I eat. And maybe the ones my mum goes to get but I'm not so fond of those and will always run back to my trusted fillets of ray-finned fishes.
You need:
3 cloves, garlic
1 small shallot
1/3 cauliflower (imagine your veg to be a pie, cut a third of it off)
2 teaspoon, whisked egg
Paprika powder (optional)
Pepper
Salt
Olive oil
1. Remove the garlic and shallot skins. Cut up your cauliflower into manageable pieces. Put all 3 ingredients into the dicer/blender (if you don't have this machine, you can manually chop them up finely). The reason we use it is because it dices the ingredients perfectly to give you that rice texture you are looking for. Also, it takes seconds. (lazy people syndrome over here, haha!)
2. Grab 2 eggs and crack them into a bowl. Season them as you please because this will be your omelette for later on. Whisk well and add 2 teaspoons into your cauli-rice mixture. Stir the egg well until you get a slight, thick texture. Add in your seasoning.
3. Heat your non-stick pan up. Add in a little olive oil. Get your rice mix in and stir. I added a hint of paprika powder for the taste. Stir occasionally to make sure it doesn't get burnt. If you're waiting for it to turn brown as an indicator that it's cooked, fear not - you can cook it for 5 minutes and it's already safe to eat.
Turn this into your own rice variation by adding anything you want (meat, seasoning, fish, vegetables, etc)
Oil-free, pan-seared fennel seed salmon
I think salmon is the easiest meat to prepare with so little effort.
You need:
1 fillet, salmon
Sprinkle of black pepper
Sprinkle of fennel seeds, crushed
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| I've teamed it up with cauliflower rice and a fluffy spring onion omelette. I love my fish to be slightly raw on the insides. Sear it for 10 minutes while moving the fish on each side regularly so you get a good balance of searing per side. Keep your heat low if you want to cook the insides well without burning the outer parts. |
1. On a board or plate, sprinkle as much black pepper as you wish on all sides of the fillet (including the skin unless you've deskinned it).
2. Take a sprinkle of fennel seeds and crush them with a pestle & mortar until nicely crushed and "dusty". Rub all over your fillet.
3. Grab a non-stick pan and heat it up. Salmon is a naturally oily, fatty fish so you really don't need any oil.
4. Place your salmon in. Make sure you pan-sear all sides well and watch the natural oils flow. Sear it on low to medium heat to avoid burning the outsides.
5. If the amount of fish oil is bothering you, place your cooked fillet on a piece of kitchen towel and let it soak in the oils.
Cauliflower Rice
Cauliflowers are a great source of Vitamin C and Vitamin K so you should definitely include them in your diet at least 2-3 times a week if you want to get the health benefits from them! So I found this from www.whfoods.com about these cruciferous veggies:"While cauliflower is not a well-studied cruciferous vegetable from a health standpoint, you will find several dozen studies linking cauliflower-containing diets to cancer prevention, particularly with respect to the following types of cancer: bladder cancer, breast cancer, colon cancer, prostate cancer, and ovarian cancer. This connection between cauliflower and cancer prevention should not be surprising, since cauliflower provides special nutrient support for three body systems that are closely connected with cancer development as well as cancer prevention. These three systems are (1) the body's detox system, (2) its antioxidant system, and (3) its inflammatory/anti-inflammatory system. Chronic imbalances in any of these three systems can increase risk of cancer, and when imbalances in all three systems occur simultaneously, the risk of cancer increases significantly."
You need:
3 cloves, garlic
1 small shallot
1/3 cauliflower (imagine your veg to be a pie, cut a third of it off)
2 teaspoon, whisked egg
Paprika powder (optional)
Pepper
Salt
Olive oil
1. Remove the garlic and shallot skins. Cut up your cauliflower into manageable pieces. Put all 3 ingredients into the dicer/blender (if you don't have this machine, you can manually chop them up finely). The reason we use it is because it dices the ingredients perfectly to give you that rice texture you are looking for. Also, it takes seconds. (lazy people syndrome over here, haha!)
2. Grab 2 eggs and crack them into a bowl. Season them as you please because this will be your omelette for later on. Whisk well and add 2 teaspoons into your cauli-rice mixture. Stir the egg well until you get a slight, thick texture. Add in your seasoning.
3. Heat your non-stick pan up. Add in a little olive oil. Get your rice mix in and stir. I added a hint of paprika powder for the taste. Stir occasionally to make sure it doesn't get burnt. If you're waiting for it to turn brown as an indicator that it's cooked, fear not - you can cook it for 5 minutes and it's already safe to eat.
Turn this into your own rice variation by adding anything you want (meat, seasoning, fish, vegetables, etc)
Spring onion omelette
You need:
2 eggs, whisked (from our rice mix)
White pepper
Spring Onions (mine is home grown and organic)
1. Take your whisked eggs and season them as you please. I just used white pepper.
2. Whisk a little more. Keep whisking until you get a nice, evenly whisked texture with bubbles.
3. Heat up your non-stick pan and add a dash of olive oil. Once heated up, pour the eggs in slowly. When pouring, keep it as low to the pan as possible. Just makes a neater circle shape.
4. Leave the eggs to form on the pan and add your spring onion in. Try to check every now and then with a spatula if the bottom has cooked. If you want a super neat edge, use your spatula and carefully remove the "skin edges". Be gentle to avoid breaking your omelette.
5. With a non-stick pan, you can easily tell if the egg can be moved to the other side. Once you get that sign, flip it over gently and let the other side cook.
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| With patience and a little love, you'll get a nicely coloured, fluffy omelette. |
CONVERSATION
UNDER CONSTRUCTION!
You might have noticed that the blog name has changed, and my new layout makes the OCD crowd a little edgy.
I am slaving away to construct this page properly.
I haven't had to use html codes since I was 16. And I was very good at HTML/CSS codes. Now I'm not.
I am slaving away to construct this page properly.
I haven't had to use html codes since I was 16. And I was very good at HTML/CSS codes. Now I'm not.
CONVERSATION
Anchovy Spinach Rice | Lemon and Rosemary Salmon | Fitness Food Recipe (FFR)
It's been an overdue fitness food post!
Just had my last surgeon's appointment and all is well, so now I can continue rambling on about what I eat as part of my fitness routine.
Anchovy and spinach rice
I don't usually eat rice, but when I do I try to whip it up differently than just plain rice.
You need:
Olive Oil
Olive Oil
Small handful of dried anchovies
4 Garlic cloves, chopped
1 Shallot, chopped
Large handful of red spinach, cut into smaller leaves
300g (or less) of cooked white rice
1. Take a small amount of anchovies, put them into a mug and add boiling hot water. Not only does this kill any bacteria but it will also soften them up ready for cooking.
2. Chop up garlic and shallots, drizzle some olive oil into your pot/pan and on medium heat, cook them until they are golden brown. Grab your mug, throw away the water and add in your anchovies.
3. Stir in some red spinach - grab the amount of spinach leaves you fancy and gently rinse before cooking. Pan-sear for around 5 minutes or when the leaves have slightly shrunk.
4. Add in your rice and mix in well. Get your spatula into every area of your pot/pan so the rice gets stirred in nicely with everything else inside. Add salt and pepper to taste.
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I couldn't resist scooping some of the rice out in little balls.
Lemon and rosemary salmon (steamed)
Salmon is an incredible fish packed with omega-3 fatty acids and usually contains more than the RDA (recommended daily average) for the average adult when you bake or steam it. It also contains a large dose of Vitamin B12 and Vitamin D plus biotin too - biotin helps to give you lustrous hair and gorgeous skin!
Super easy recipe, just get your steamer ready!
You need:
Black pepper
Rosemary
1 fillet, Salmon
1 wedge, Lemon
1. Sprinkle some rosemary and black pepper on your salmon.
2. Fill 1.5cm of your pot with water and leave to boil. My personal preference is to add a small wedge of lemon into the boiling water so the essences will steam together with the fish later on.
3. Once the water is boiling, prep your salmon onto your steamer and carefully place it in. Cover with a lid for 10 minutes for medium rare cooking (pale white on the outside, pinkish inside). If you want it more fully done, leave it to steam for 15 minutes or until the meat starts to flake.
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I squeezed in a bit more lemon for that extra citrus flavour.
My meals and their portions are very much suited for my needs. Incorporate more protein for lean gains but don't forget carbs to give you that energy!
CONVERSATION
Post-Op Recovery | Life
It's day 4 since my appendectomy and I feel a lot better. I still walk with a hunch but not as hunched as the last few days, your grandmother can still out run me, my food is still mashed up and every day is just me in bed thinking of gym.
Gym and alcohol.
Just to recap, I was discharged at 5pm on Monday- I couldn't walk and all I wanted to do was sleep. Since then, I've been in bed all day and night and forced to sleep like a surfboard. With lack of movement going on and a limited diet, my back muscles are aching and stiff, to the point you might think I've been doing lat workouts all day when actually it's just super stressed from being a potato.
So here are my meds. They're so generic and even those Uphamol paracetomols were thrown in my pack. God knows how many of those I have by now and I do avoid taking those and replace them with Panadol because they get stuck down my throat.
Gym and alcohol.
Just to recap, I was discharged at 5pm on Monday- I couldn't walk and all I wanted to do was sleep. Since then, I've been in bed all day and night and forced to sleep like a surfboard. With lack of movement going on and a limited diet, my back muscles are aching and stiff, to the point you might think I've been doing lat workouts all day when actually it's just super stressed from being a potato.
So here are my meds. They're so generic and even those Uphamol paracetomols were thrown in my pack. God knows how many of those I have by now and I do avoid taking those and replace them with Panadol because they get stuck down my throat.
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| Augmentin antibiotics, Celebrex painkillers and yep, Uphamol. Don't worry; I do take them since I can't move out of my bed and my med box is just right next to me. |
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| My Celebrex painkillers (400mg). They prescribed me to have this once a day when I felt like I needed 3 of these. |
Diet | My relationship with post-op food
So a few people have asked what am I restricted to. To answer it bluntly, semi-solid food. I can start eating normally except most have to be mashed and the reason behind this is because you want to avoid constipation so lots of fiber and mashed food goes into the diet. I'm having porridge rice, oatmeal, lots of vegetables and I've started taking fish essence to boost my immune system and repair my tissue. Salt, pepper and sugar is limited as well and this isn't a medical need but it is something I feel is necessary to aid recovery.
EGGS | CHICKEN | SEAFOOD
I'm avoiding eggs, chicken and seafood and I'm not sure the reasons behind it. I tried to research into it but there are mixed opinions on this so as much as I miss having eggs and chicken, I'd rather heal up clean and avoid anything that slows down the recovery process. Fish however is another story - I'm consuming only steamed fish.
BABY FOOD
I literally have Farley's Rusks as snacks. They're easily digestible and tasty. I've turned from 25 years old to 25 months old. But honestly, baby food is easy on your body.
I stock up on plenty of water to cleanse my body from any toxins and medicines running around, Vitamin C and consume hot drinks to keep my body feeling alright. I get tensed up on cold drinks so that's pretty limited too but hey, it's a different situation for everyone.
Can I shower?
Yes. You might think that it's gross not to shower but plenty of bed bound patients are forced to step away from their hygiene routine. Although it is difficult to stand under running water for a period of time while I wash and condition my hair, I'm still capable of it although the stitches sting and my body is just angry at me for standing for such a period of time. However, no-rinse bath products are available on the market.
How long would recovery take?
According to most websites, keyhole appendectomy patients generally take around 2-3 weeks for recovery. Ofcourse that being a general estimation, it depends on your body. I've been given 10 days medical leave from work so we shall see how that goes.
I cannot wait to start my fitness routine again and also have a back massage.
CONVERSATION
Emergency Appendectomy! | Life
I was admitted into KPJ Hospital and prepped into the operating room for an emergency laparoscopic appendectomy - in simple terms, removing my appendix.
So Sunday (5th June, post our pre-Ramadan party usually held before my Muslim friends start their fasting month) I woke up at 6pm after a nap with my cat and had my usual snacks. Suddenly I felt a sharp pain on my lower abdomen, slightly on the right side. I thought this was another usual stomach pain I've felt since I suffer from a lot of stomach aches then suddenly I vomitted. The vomitting went on for 4-5 hours straight before I realised it was not normal. I puked water constantly, I couldn't move, couldn't walk and couldn't straighten my legs. I kinda had that gut feeling that it was appendicitis.
I am like any other health skeptic. I go to gym, watch out for my food, take care of myself so how is it possible that I end up with this? Once the triage doctor gave me a diagnosis, the specialists and the surgeon came to me and I had to demand that it was absolutely positive that I had appendicitis. What if they made a horrible mistake and was about to remove the wrong organ? What if it was only a severe case of bloating? Truth was, the blood test will always detect. And they're experts. It was in fact a ruptured appendix.
So what is appendicitis?
It's the inflammation of the appendix, a little pouch that hangs at the end of our large intestine. No one actually knows what it does but we can live without it. It's caused by a blockage either from an already occuring infection, foreign body, our own faeces that travelled the wrong direction or even cancer (that's not my case). Here's a useful link from the NHS (coz I'm a typical half-Brit like that) for an in-depth explanation of what it is.
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| PC: www.webdmd.com |
Prepping me for surgery.
I hate needles going in my vein. I felt that small but intimidating tube just crawling into my vein and welcoming itself as a guest. I had IV painkillers and 2 bags of saline to induce urination (I was so dehydrated I needed more before I could go). I wore an operating robe and also a cap before they whisked me off into the OR and I had so many things going through my head. What if the anaesthetics does not work? I would feel everything during the entire surgery and even see the robotic arms twiddle away inside me. But it was too late now. Either I die or I live, the former NOT BEING AN OPTION.
It was honestly an interesting moment of my life. In 25 years of living, I was about to understand anaesthesia and its effect in comparison to taking barbiturates recreationally. How could the two be different? Would I be dreaming or tripping out? What would I have dreamt of? How would my body react to anaesthesia? Would it feel like as if I had taken Valium, where your body knows its in pain but your synapses doesn't interpret them? The anaesthetist pumped a pretty large dose of clear liquid into my IV tube. It took a few seconds for the liquid to work and I felt a pretty familiar, dizzy feel. It was that space of calmness and relaxation. I kept on feeling my fingers to see if I had also felt a sense of numbness and yet again, that familiar numb-but-not-numb feeling kicked in and I knew I was going to be fine. The gas mask was put over my face and that was it. TKO.
So here's a diagram I found on Google Images on laparoscopic appendectomy. It is not your traditional surgery where there is one, big line down your abdomen. This is also known as key hole surgery and yes, it is very expensive but there's minimal scarring.
Yes, I have 3 holes like per shown above and my belly button wound is the most painful one.
Post Op:
I woke up around 1am from the most peaceful sleep in my entire life. I totally forgot I went in for surgery and there were nurses and doctors around. I remembered the surgical nurse waving my burst appendix, which floated in a yellow liquid, in front of me. Truthfully I'd love to keep it but I was too high to bother. As the hours went by, I was floating in and out of sleep and I was thankful. My throat was sore (most probably from the breathing tube that was inserted) but nonetheless still calm yet tired. I had my porridge breakfast around 7am but I couldn't eat much and had nausea from it. I had to be kept under observation since I've never had a single surgery before and no one knew what might happen.
I couldn't walk, couldn't move, couldn't eat. But I am definitely thankful and super grateful to my parents who paid for my entire treatment and to the staff at KPJ for being so good to me, and very informative. My surgeons were great; very understanding and showed a great sense of care towards me and that is always a good thing.
I shall be updating every now and then on my recovery, but I gotta rest. I'm bed bound and confined to my bed, and also my baby food. 😂
📩
DISCLAIMER:
If you do experience any similar symptoms, please go to your nearest hospital and appendicitis is very serious especially when ruptured. Everything here is what I have experienced and blog posts are personal experiences so never use them as a way to self-medicate or self-diagnose serious issues.
CONVERSATION
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Rose Bruce
Malaysian-English raised in London.
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