Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Prawn Paste Chicken Wings




Ingredients:
■8 mid-joint chicken wings
Marinade:
■2 tbsp of prawn paste
■1 tbsp of oyster sauce
■2 tsp of all spice powder
■Dash of black pepper
■1 tsp sesame oil
■3 tbsp of liquor or rice wine

Method:
1. Heat oven to 350 F (177 deg C).
Chicken wings usually take about 40
minutes at most to be fully cooked.
2. Line baking tray with aluminium foil,
unless you want to break your arms
scrubbing it after you’re done baking.
3. Use a metal rack. Place on top of tray.
Brush the rack with melted butter or
cooking oil.
4. Place wings underside facing up on
rack, with enough space in between
each.
5. Into the oven they go. After 20
minutes, baste wings with remaining
marinade. Turn them over and brush on
some more butter, and bake for another
20 minutes.
6. Serve with a wedge of lemon.

Extracted from Hedy Khoo

Sunday, September 7, 2008

Love Story of the Irish Coffee


There's a story that Irish Coffee is invented and conjured from a Bartender in Dublin's airport who fell in love with an air stewardess.

He fell in love the moment he was acquainted with the air stewardess. She's like Irish Whiskey, rich and frangant. But each time she walk into the bar, she would order different types of coffee according to her mood that day, but never a cocktail. Yet, the forte of the bartender is in mixing cocktails. To have the girl drink one of his specialties was his greatest wish. An idea was formed and he mixed Irish Whiskey and coffee together into perfection, thus inventing a new drink - Irish Coffee, adding it into the menu, hoping the girl will take notice.

However, the girl was not a person who take notices at small details, the bartender himself never once hinted at her, remaining doing his work behind the counter. Once, during her non-frequent visit, she discovered there's Irish Coffee and became the 1st person to have tasted it.

The only reason why she was the 1st person to drink it was that the bartender had created two menus; 1 dark brown, 1 light brown specially for the girl.

It was a whole year from the day the bartender created the drink till the day the air stewardess ordered it. The bartender was very emotional when she ordered the drink, he cried. For fear of her seeing his tears, he wiped them away and use his fingers to run a circle around the glass tip. So it is said the 1st taste of Irish Coffee reminds one the thoughts of yearning for someone and suppressing it.

The girl fell in love with Irish Coffee and would order it each time she landed at the airport. As time goes by, both of them became good friends and she would tell him the sights and happenings of her trips. The bartender would teach her the secrets of making Irish Coffee. Then came one day, she decided to retire from air stewardess and came to say farewell, which is goodbye for good. The bartender made Irish Coffee for her one last time and addded, "Would you like tears to go with it?".

He was hoping she could realise what the tatste of fermentation represents.

The air stewardess went back to her home in San Francisco and one day she was looking for Irish Coffee in pubs around her area, but couldn't locate any, then she realised that the drink was specially created for her, but she never understood why the bartender asked her whether she want to add some tears to it.
She opened a coffee cafe soon after and began selling Irish Coffee. That is why although the origins of Irish Coffee began in Dublin, but it became popular in San Francisco. The bartender also made available the drink after the air stewardess left, which is why Irish Coffee is considered a cocktail in Dublin, but a coffee beverage in San Francisco.

Monday, September 1, 2008

Back At One - Brian McKnight