Malaysian-inspired Stir Fried Long Beans

Stir Fried Sambal Belacan Long Beans

That's the Malaysian dish ordered by Billy, my husband, for lunch on our last day in Kuala Lumpur. 

We both liked it so I tried to guess how it is made by giving the ingredients a good munch. I saw anchovies among the beans! Billy said he misses anchovies. I was certain I still had some in the ref at home. :)

Challenged by what I tasted but too tired from the trip back to Manila, I had no time to search about how to make sambal belacan. I ended with this--- Stir Fried String Beans with Dried Anchovies and Shrimp Paste. 

Yeah, I had to make do without the sambal belacan sauce. Afterall, I wasn't sure if any of us would have tolerated the real spicy flavor.

Here's how I did my own modified version of the dish. 

Ingredients:

1 cup dried anchovies

oil

1 tbsp garlic

1 medium onion, sliced

2 tbsps shrimp paste

1 bunch string beans, cut

1 large tomato, cut 

Steps:

1. Heat anchovies in pan until brown and crispy. Add just a very little oil on pan. Cook anchovies in oil. Set aside.

2. Using the same pan, but adding a little more oil, saute garlic, onion and shrimp paste. 

3. Add string beans. Simmer until tender. Add tomatoes.

4. Sprinkle anchovies on top of beans mixture.

5. Serve with hot rice.

The finished product which, to my husband, was "simply perfect"!!!!

But if you would like to get a taste of the original recipe, here are two recipes I found from the net that describe how to make sambal belacan. I would love to try these very soon! This weekend maybe!?? Just click on the links below.

Stir Fried Green Beans in Belacan

and

Stir Fried Long Beans in Sambal Belacan

Enjoy your Malaysian meal and the rest of the week!!!!

Crocheting a Business Card Sleeve

This is not the first time I'm writing about making a Business Card Sleeve.

In my previous post about crocheting this project (click here to view post), I shared about my experience from a spiritual standpoint.

This sleeve can be used to keep business or loyalty cards.

This time, the feature is about how to crochet on the opposite side of the chain. This tutorial by Rachel Choi of Crochet Spot talks about how to do that.

This is very easy and simple because all you have to do is repeat the rows round and round until you reach the desired size. 

Enjoy making as many business card sleeves using different colors for your friends. 

Fast Food Dishes by Garden Chef: Corned Beef - Veggie Omelette

Thinking of a dish to serve for breakfast? Or pack lunch for kids? You might want to try this!

For the past weeks, office work has seemed to drain my energy that when I get home I just prefer to prepare simple and easy-to-cook dishes.  Here's exactly one of those quick veggie and egg dishes that I cook for dinner or lunch the following day --- Corned beef-veggie omelette. Here's how.

Ingredients:
oil
1/2 large onion, sliced
1 can corned beef 
1/2 carrot, sliced
1/2 green bell pepper, diced
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
1 small broccoli florets 
1 large tomatoes, sliced
pinch of salt, ground pepper and other spices of choice (allspice, thyme)
3 eggs, beaten
1 tbsp leeks

Steps:

1. Heat oil in pan. 
2. Saute onion and corned beef. 
3. Add carrots, bell peppers, broccoli and tomatoes. Simmer. 
4. Transfer sauteed mixture to a platter. Set aside.
5. Heat oil in pan. Add 3/4 of beaten egg mixture.
6. Allow egg mixture to settle at bottom of pan.
7. Spread sauteed corned beef and veggies over egg omelette.
8. Pour remaining beaten egg over corned beef and veggie mixture. 
9. Simmer for 1 minute. Top with leeks.
10. Serve hot with rice or as toppings on wheat bread.

Hmmm... I just love how it turned out! I wonder if there would still be half of this left in the morning!??

Enjoy the taste of the Grill

Home-church-home is our family's usual routine on Sundays. Between church and home, after attending the Sunday Worship Service, we would often stop for lunch at Toni's Grill.

Located right in the middle of Shakey's Pizza and Dunkin Donuts at Pearl Drive Mall, Fairview, Quezon City, Toni's Grill has become a frequent weekend hangout of our family for lunch. 

Opening the door, this is what you will see.

Did you say ambiance? Well, not a very formal atmosphere inside. Homey is more like it. We do see familiar faces almost every week. Toni's Grill is gradually becoming a luncheon melting pot of families coming from different churches in the Fairview community.

A very practical place to dine where one can enjoy simple legitimate Filipino cuisine at very reasonable prices.

We have a favorite spot at one corner where this big wall painting is the background.

Now it's time to order! Com'on!

Pick your choice! I'm starving!

Krispy Kangkong (P 58.09) is a favorite entree.

How I wish I could manage to turn a bunch of kangkong leaves into thin pieces of egg-coated crisps that taste like spinach.

The perfect blend of the sweet and sour dressing of this Thai Eggplant (P 103.43) 
has caught the tastebuds of Ana Cristina.

The egg slices would disappear in an instant even before I could get one for myself!

Pinakbet na Bangus (P 176.95) --- is Billy's default dish, having fish and veggie in one.
We get to share this large half slice of bangus set in a platter 
arrayed with string beans, okra, squash and ampalaya with its thick creamy sauce.

Ayana Grace would order any of these---
Seafood Medley (P 243.80)

Garlic Squid

Chicken Teriyaki (P 193.97)

Pancit Palabok (P 134.68) solo serving

Ana Cristina likes this Crispy Hito Salad (P 154.58)

and other similar dishes such as Ensaladang Mangga (P 101.42) and Thai Green Mango (P 83.69).

Lumpia Shanghai (P167.12)



Chef Rice (P 147.46)



One order of this savory fried rice with carrots and green onions,
topped with egg omelette and shrimps serves more than four.

Our favorite thirst-quencher --- either ripe or green Mango Shake (P 85.00)

Did you notice the generous serving of each dish featured? One serving is actually good for 3-4 persons (shhhhh…. Even if the waiters would say one serving is only good for two, one shouldn't take their word all the time!) We would order two to three dishes and enjoy a sumptuous lunch!

Clean and cozy place. Restroom and wash area?  Well, a little bit of maintenance like prompt refilling of the liquid soap could still be appreciated and an automatic door closer for the rest room because of its proximity to one or two tables. 

Planning your next meal? Try Toni's Grill and enjoy Filipino cuisine that keeps us coming back week after week.  It also has several branches in Metro Manila. 

Oh, look, my Facebook friends!

Wanna join us? Come on!

Crocheting a brand new coffee mate!

Enjoying an afternoon cup of coffee alone? Tired of staring at your old plain mug? Here, let me introduce you to this Mug Cozy! Your new coffee mate from now on. Isn't it a cutie? 

It has been three weeks since I made this mug cozy but I haven't publicly acknowledged the author of its pattern in my site yet. So here it is.

That's my little  Samsung Galaxy S3 buddy keeping me company, showcasing the Mug Cozy pattern from Bubblegirl Boutique Hand Knits at the background. That's the Red Heart variegated yarn I used. I still have some left-over in my stash that I can use for another project.

My finished Bubblegirl's Mug Cozy before the button was sewn into place

I worked on it while watching TV before I went to bed. It was very easy to make. Only that I just had to guess where to fasten the button because I wasn't sure about the exact circumference of the mug. I gave it as a gift last Fathers' Day to a dear brother in our church. 

These were the Mug Cozy, Coffee Cozies and Soap Savers I gave away to some (sorry I wasn't able to make enough for all) fathers in our church. I didn't realize until now that blue is beautiful! Click here to view my previous post on the Soap Savers.

Oh, I so love the color! I should make more of these! Thank you, Lisa, for sharing your Mug Cozy pattern! 

Happy Sunday to all!