potato salad

here's the thing, potato salads doesnt have to be made up of potatoes only.

assuming that you're not providing this to a vegetarian party, this recipe is the ideal thing to bring to a port luck. easy to make and guranteed to taste good.

1. peel the skin off 3 large potatoes and give it a good rinse. cut them into large bite sized chunks and place them in a pot and fill it with water enough to cover over the potatoes. add 1 heap tsp of salt to the water. place the pot on the stove and bring it to boil. then, lower the heat and let it simmer for 12 minutes or until the the potato is cooked. (test by poking a fork or satay stick into the potatoes. it should penetrate it with ease). once cooked, drain the water off and let it cool.

2. in another pot of boiling water, cook 3 whole sausages for 3 minutes. remove the sausages and let cool. in the same pot of boiling water, cook 5 crab fillament sticks for 1 minute, remove and let cool. cut the sausages into little coin shaped pieces and the crab fillament sticks in approximately the same size.

3. (shortened instructions: boil 2 eggs (hardboiled), let cool, remove the shells, and cut them into rough chunks.)
place 2 eggs (room temperature. if you store your eggs in the fridge, it's advisable to let it cool to room temperature before cooking) in a pot with water enough to cover over the eggs. place the pot over medium heat and stir the eggs continuously until the water boils and cook for another 3 minutes, all the while stirring the eggs. remove the eggs and let cool. remove the shells from the egg and cut them into rough chunks.

4. in a large container, mix the potatoes, sausages, crab fillament sticks, eggs, with a pinch of salt, generous dashes of black pepper, 3 heap tbsp of mayonnaise, 2 heap tbsp of coleslaw sauce, 1 whole stalk (or more) of spring onion. cover and keep in the refrigerator until ready to be served.

serves 4-5 as side dishes. garnish with more fresh spring onion.

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(*the tedious job of constant stirring is to ensure that the yolk remains in the center of the egg, preventing it from overcooking on one side. overcooked hard boiled egg has a layer of greenish grey colour around the yellows. it's still edible, but if you taste it carefully, that part has a slightly sourish taste.)

(*if you like your yolk to be still a little runny in the middle (not recommended in this recipe), cover egg with water, bring to boil, continue to boil for another minute, remove from heat and let sit for another 2 minutes in hot water before removing the egg, all the while stirring the egg)

cranberry lust

thought this up as i was clearing up after the margaritas. there was half a can of bitter lemon left and i was gonna store it in the fridge when lo and behold, a big packet of dried cranberries staring back at me... ::lightbulb above my head lighted up::

1/2 tsp dried cranberries
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp grenadine syrup
1 tbsp brandy
bitter lemon, to top up

place the cranberries in the bottom of a martini glass. place 3 to 4 ice cubes above the cranberries. add the lemon juice and then the grenadine syrup, which should mix together to form the first layer. then slowly pour in the brandy and gently top up with the bitter lemon. this should give it a gradual blend of colors from blood red, golden to clear liquid at the top. garnish with a paper umbrella or skewer a few cranberries (fresh or dry would do, or strawberry) together on a toothpick.

it tasted real good, and the color is a luscious red. this is a great party drink, especially if it's a hawaian or red themed party. this layering style of serving is only suitable when you're serving a small group of friends. if you're catering to a large bunch of people, throw 1/2 measure of lemon juice and grenadine syrup, and 1 measure of brandy into a cocktail shaker filled with ice. shake well and strain into martini glasses prefilled with 1/2 tsp of cranberries each and top up with chilled bitter lemon.

if you can get your hands on some fresh cranberry juice, all the better. use it to replace the bitter lemon.

* it's almost impossible to find dried cranberries in malaysia, so try and get frozen ones. as far as i know, it's available at section 14 pj's cold storage. you can try looking for it at the bangsar village grocer or other supermarkets around bangsar.

* garnish using something with a toothpick so that your guests can eat the dried cranberries at the bottom

* sprite & 7-up (or any other brands of lemonade) can usually replace bitter lemon but the drink will be slightly sweeter.

* it's a good way to get rid of the tonnes of VSOPs and XOs we've accumulated over so many CNY

* for something fancier, tint your ice cubes red. in a jug of water, add in a few drops of red food coloring, stir and pour it into the ice tray. for added effect, add a a small piece of frozen cranberry into each cube before refrigerating.