Bored at home last week, I cured my restlessness in the kitchen with an attempt to make a potato bake. Just the cravings for more varieties of home cooked food for dinner were enough to get me cooking. Not that I'm complaining about Lee's cooking. It's just that its not enough to sate a Malaysian with the same old steaks and spaghetti every week. =P Heheh...

So I tried out this easy peasy recipe and improvised with ingredients we already had in the fridge. In this case, with bacon bits and shredded chicken. Another change I made with that recipe was from a French style potato bake, where instead of boiling the potatoes in water, it had suggested that the potatoes were boiled in milk (that will also be used in the cream later). I think that's what gave the bake its creamier texture.

I couldn't wait for Lee to get home to try it, and was obviously glad when he said he liked it. Save for the part where he started to compare it to his grandmother's, where she had garlic in it. Then I told him I had never actually tasted a potato bake before, so how could I tell what it was supposed to be like. Hahaha...

I wouldn't mind playing around in the kitchen more, even if I'll be forced to start making my own Malaysian dishes. I had obviously taken for granted learning to cook any Asian dishes only because my dad is such an expert with them. But that's also because Western dishes are much simpler to cook than Asian ones. Of course, being far away from home where a scrumptious bowl of laksa will only set you back RM3 (AUD$1), and never getting sated by the Caucasianized curry and chili tastes of Malaysian dishes here, I'll be better off attempting them on my own.