Spicy Shredded Chicken (Ayam Suwir Pedas)

250 g chicken fillet
1 stalk of white part of lemon grass
1 Salaam leaves(Indian Bay Leaves)
2 fresh Kaffir Lime leaves
1 tbs Tamarind (asam jawa) juice
100 ml chicken stock
Half fresh tomato, chopped

Spice Paste:

3 shallots
2 cloves of garlic
3 red chillies
3 bird's eyes chillies (optional)
1/2 tsp of pepper
Salt and sugar to taste

Bring to boil the chicken. When it cooked, take out from the stock then shred. Set aside.

Grind or blend the spice paste.

Heat the oil, then sauté the spice paste until fragrant. Then add salam leaves, kaffir lime leaves, lemongrass, fresh tomato,tamarind juice and the chicken.

Mix them well for few minutes, and then give the chicken stock.
Cook until the water absorbed. Add sugar or salt to adjust the taste.

Butter or olive oil?

From a health standpoint, olive oil is the better choice. But butter still has its place. All oils are a mixture of fats including monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA), polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) and saturated fatty acids (SFA)—but in each oil (and in butter, too, which is basically a solidified oil), one type of fat dominates.

Olive oil is predominantly rich in heart-healthy monounsaturated fat, which decreases your risk for cardiovascular disease by lowering LDL cholesterol and increasing HDL cholesterol. On the other hand, butter is mostly saturated fat, which increases LDL cholesterol and causes inflammation in your body. So generally, it’s best to use olive oil.

However, the distinctive smell, flavor and consistency of butter works best in certain baked goods—including cakes, cookies and pastries—so it’s OK to make these occasionally and enjoy the butter. Another butter-vs.-oil difference: Because butter is solid at room temperature, you have more control over how much (or how little) of it you spread on bread; with olive oil, it’s difficult to gauge how much oil is absorbed. So dip lightly!

Tofu Omelet (Tahu Telor)

200 gram white tofu
2 eggs
1 stalk spring onion, finely chopped
1 stalk celery leaf, finely chopped
salt to taste

For Garnish
Bean sprout
Parsley
fried peanut

Peanut sauce
100 gram fried peanut ( or you can use peanut butter as a substitute )
3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
3 bird's eye chillies (optional)
2 tablespoons sweet soy sauce (kecap manis)
2 tablespoons fermented shrimp paste (petis udang) - optional

Cut the tofu into small cubes
Beat the eggs with salt and spring onion, celery leaf, then add tofu. Divide the mixture in two.

Heat the oil in non-stick frying pan, fry the mixture. Make it as a round omelette. Set aside.

peanut sauce : Fry the garlic and the chillies, remove and set aside. Then grind or blend the fried peanuts with garlic and chillies. Then add water, fermented shrimp paste (if you have it) and sweet soy sauce (kecap manis) and cook in very low heat until sauce is thick.

To serve : put the tofu omelet, bean sprout, fried peanut and parsley on a round platter and pour with peanut sauce. Garnish with fried peanut if desired.

Unusual uses for vinegar: Deter Ants

Got trails of tiny ants weaving their way around your home? These annoying insects aren’t big fans of vinegar, so spraying a 50/50 mixture of white vinegar and water anywhere you have seen them can help encourage them to move out.

The vinegar also erases the scent trails that they use to indicate sources of food to their brethren.