Homemade Mango & Strawberry Salsa

"Fruits day, it's not necessary to be in liquid or paste form. I make fruits into refreshing briny salsa dish."

I saw a very great Japanese pork chop cutlet from a Japanese variety show in tv, and decided to try it out as it looks really alluring (Show you the recipe next time!).

To make my pork chop meal more balance with both dry and moist dishes, the fruit salsa came to my mind. I had thus craving to make mt own salsa as I find it a great complement to something dry, like pork chop, since it contrasts the taste and texture.. The super refreshing mouthfeel to have a chilled side dish like salsa for piping hot pork chop is also what I was looking for.

Super easy to prepare, ingredients are easy to get, too. Of course, the ingredients used for making this salsa have to be really fresh!

Well, if you are cooking pork chop, grilled fish, roasted chicken, or just some tortillas or taco, this salsa simply adds merits to your culinary record. Moreover, without much hassle, you'll get it serve as sides, snacks, or condiments to your dish in a flash!

Yields about 1 large noodle bowl portion. Good for 4 servings
Ingredients
1 large or 2 medium ripped mangoes, peeled, pitted and diced
8 - 10 strawberries, trimmed and diced
2 - 3 stalks of fresh cilantro, finely chopped (Pick the front portion of the stalks)
1 - 2 small red onions, peeled and finely chopped
1 Jalapeño chilli or red chilli, removed seeds and rib, and finely chopped (Use less chili if can't take spicy)
1 tablespoon of lime juice squeezed from 1 - 2 fresh limes
¼ teaspoon of sugar
Pinch of salt and coarsely ground black pepper

Method
Place all ingredients in a large salad bowl. Drizzle lime juice, sugar, salt and pepper. Gently toss all ingredients to combine well. Chilled and serve.

A serving of my salsa counts about 55Kcal. I liked this because it's low fat, yet, mouthwatering!

Don't worry if you dislike onions, the taste of the onions in this salsa is not visible, but its addition helps in elevating the overall flavour of the salsa that makes it an important element in the recipe. Even my girl who hates onion, find it acceptable and she did not mind having it.

Tips: For really hot flavor, add Serrano chilli instead. If you have super high tolerance in spicy flavour, retain some seeds, and it will really give you the punch in your palate!
* Jalapeño or Serrano can be easily obtained from some western supermarkets in Singapore e.g. Market Place, or NTUC Finest. Otherwise, compromise with an adaption of red chilli or bird eyes chilli.

Express Black Bean & Soy Bean Paste Chicken Stir-Fry

"Something easy and flavorful for a quick-fix dinner. Look at the flavourful black bean sauce, it compliments the steamed rice soooo well!"

This dish is similar to my preserved black bean chicken dish, but it should be considered the simplified version. Easier and quicker.

I cooked it this way to save some time and effort, actually. Since this is just a resemblance dish for settling our dinner with a quicker fix after being worn out by all my festivities since last year end, I didn't thought of posting this, actually... But, to my surprise, hubby said this version yields even better taste than my original version. The version which I've learned from the tv cooking program of the celebrity chef (laugh)!

Anyway, in case you are like me, needing a quick fixed dinner, this is what you might want to consider for your purpose. :)

Serves 4
Ingredients
Half chicken, trimmed fat and chopped into chunks
2 teaspoons of preserved whole black soy bean, mixed with 1 teaspoon each of olive oil and sugar
1 tablespoon of minced preserved soy bean paste
2 thick slices of ginger
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
Pinch of sugar
1 teaspoon of cooking oil

Seasoning for chicken:
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
½ teaspoon of sesame oil

Method
1) Season chicken with light soy sauce and sesame oil for 20 minutes or longer.

2) Heat wok with oil over high fire. Add 2 ginger slices and sauté for a bit while, followed by garlic, sauté both till fragrant and lightly browned. Add in chicken and stir fry it for 3 minutes. Add in whole black bean, stir to combine. Reduce heat to low fire, cover wok with lid for 5 minutes.

3) Add in soy bean paste and sugar. Stir fry to combine well. Let it cook for another 5 minutes or until chicken is cooked, with or without lid on. Heat up to high fire to stir fry for 1 minute before heat off. Dish up. Serve with hot steamed rice.

A portion of my bean paste chicken stir fry counts about 260kcal.

Tips: Use of olive oil in seasoning the whole black bean gives smoother texture after cooked. If really can't get any olive oil, use normal cooking oil in a slightly lesser amount.
* Whole black bean is not so popular in supermarket. Try finding it from neighborhood minimarts or provision shops. Or, many provision shops in Chinatown. It usually comes in small packing. If bottled, it's usually seasoned in oil (you may then skip the addition of oil in your seasoning). Ask the shop keeper for help!

This Weekend-Family Meal: Chicken McGrill @ McDonald

"I think I was dining at a posh American restaurant. I'm lovin' it!"

This post is not exactly an advertorial. It's just my personal experience with the newly launched burger by McDonald.

McDonald threw a private food tasting party for its new launch of Chicken McGrill and I was lucky to get a slice of the action, invited by Nuffnang.




This food tasting party was an exquisite one. The food was served on elegant porcelain dish and metal cutlery, even our table-clothed dining table was nicely decorated with fresh yellow roses, given a feel of luxe, you won't feel like you are dining at a fast-food restaurant. Look at the way they served their hot fries to us, it's in the nice porcelain cup! It's lovely~

Yes, there was quite a huge crowd of participants from various sectors, personnel from the media, a number of bloggers, like myself, participants from Hardware Zone, McDonald FB's and etc, together with the marketing communication director and her crew members of McDonald. And of course, the celebrity chef, Ms Jansen, who took the lead in creating the new appetizers and dessert of the 4-course menu for the party, with the existing ingredients of McDonald's food.

Let's see....




Appetizer: We had the piping hot and unexpectedly light textured crustless quiche with chunky fish meat cubes. Actually, this quiche was added with BBQ sauce, but the taste of it wasn't obvious though. However, I liked the mild eggy flavor in the quiche that wasn't too over-whelming, but the natural sweetness and aromas in the egg were still visibly present in the palate. Hmm... Just that I thought it would be even better if there were some chopped spinach added in it. Afterall, spinach quiche is still my no. 1 favorite among the quiches. :)




The salad with corn kennel originally from corn cup from McDonald kid-meal's order, its salad dressing was the low-fat thousand island sauce! Yes, I loved thousand island sauce, but I would never take unless it's low fat. And guess what? The thousand island McDonald served during the session was the low-fat version which the same will be offered over counter for a limited period, if I heard the crew correctly.




The last creation in the menu is a refreshing dessert. Soft ice cream & strawberry yogurt with apple dices and special sourdough crouton (sautéed bread cubes seasoned with cinnamon & caramel) as the 'base'. The addition of these delicious croutons adds extra crunch and specially interesting bites to this, otherwise normal yogurt parfait dessert. A delicious meal wouldn't be complete without a refreshing sweet treat... I loved dessert!

Hold on...




That isn't my sweet ending here.. Save the best for last... Check this main entree out! Let me tell you, the teppanyaki Chicken McGrill is a must to try!




This juicy chicken thigh sandwiched between the soft & fluffy sourdough buns was indeed delicious. Its generous portion will probably balloon up your hungry tummy (chuckles).




The hearty beverage: someone ever said that I looked like I am a 'Latte' person, a skinny latte person, because I took only skinny Latte, until.. a chance like this. The skinny Cappuccino has now become one of my choices of preferred beverages.

You'll find me at the McDonald outlet again this weekend, for sure. Smile.

P/s: Go log on to my FB. Not sure if it works, but I'll still share with you a 1-1 Chicken McGrill deal for this week?


PatriCa posted from iPhone