Post #89

tomato feast. hehe, shouldnt really call it a feast when i've only cooked 2 dishes using tomatoes... in fact, apart from the tomatoes, the other common denominators were thyme and mint. the 2 bunches of herb that are sitting in the fridge waiting to be either used or discarded.

meatball lasagne - i used real lasagne sheets this time. i dont really like minced meat in lasagnes and prefer lumps of juicy meat. made mini meatballs this time, so that i can still make 3 layers. plus plenty of onion, fennel and zucchini also cooked in the tomato sauce.

layering the lasagne:



final layer, with finely grated parmesan - see i havent covered the whole of the top lasagne sheet with tomato sauce? bad bad mistake. the lasagne sheets need the moist from the sauce to get softened and cooked in the oven, which means that those exposing bits came out hard after baking.



and worst still, it got stuck to the foil :(


-Mini meatball, fennel and zucchini lasagne-

tastes good! but i still like wonton sheets better....

this second tomato dish i cooked a few times before, the idea came from a greek dish we had in melbourne a few years back. modified it by adding some pearl couscous (donated by sis).


-Tomato, prawn + fetta with pearl couscous-

the prawns are hidden under the pile of rocket :) i dont know why i just sprinkled some fetta on top. i normally cook the fetta with the tomato prawn for a little while before dishing up. =.= anyway, still tastes good. the pearl couscous has a chewy texture and actually requires cooking, not like their tiny counterparts.

and of course there's a salad! just a v quick and easy one this time:


-Rocket and pear salad with balamic vinaigrette-

Post #88

you ought to love chinese cooking. somehow dishing out 3 plates of food to have with rice is just so much easier and quicker than western cooking. perhaps its the type of chinese food that i cook. perhaps...

back to basics chinese cooking :)


-Steamed egg white with crab meat + zucchini-

Steamed egg has always been one of my fav chinese dishes. i remember my grandma used to make it, it was so good that me, sis and the cousins had to first draw lines on the smooth egg custard to define our own territories so that we cant attack the neighbouring portions. i have some egg whites in the fridge *left from some unsuccessful cake baking* so i've decided to steam egg white instead. once the white is steamed, i pour on top of the custard a layer of thick savoury syrup with crab meat and zucchini dices.

super smooth egg white custard - yum yum~ not bad for my first attempt!



now, when i say simple stir fry veg, i mean SIMPLE - with garlic and a few drops of sesame oil in the end - but it was delicious thanks to the sweet zucchini~!


-Stir fry zucchini rings-

third dish:


-Baked pork ribs with fermented tofu + maple syrup-

hubby thought the first bite tasted a bit funny... i must say, the fermented tofu + honey combo worked so much better with chicken wings!! these little porkies somehow arent friends with the combo... and using maple syrup as opposed to honey actually made it worse.... its acceptable, but i kept thinking chicken wings...

Post #87

havent blogged for a while, and that's because i havent cooked anything other than microwaving leftovers (if that can be regarded as cooking...) and whacking the simplest and plainest stir fry veg. eating out did contribute to this 'laziness' as well.

feeling obliged to post something up, i resorted to my archive - food that i've cooked a while ago but havent yet had a chance to post up. this is one of them. i wouldnt call this a failed attempt, but the outcome turned out quite differently from what i expected...


-Fettucini with prosciutto, carrots + broccolini-

i had this vision of chopping all ingredients in thin strips so that each ingredient would replicate the fettucini so *if all goes well*, you'd have colourful orange, green and yellow strips that you can twirl around with a fork. hm... i still fancy the idea, but there was a problem with the execution... the chopping of the veg, particularly the broccolini was a struggle. it was almost mission impossible to cut long thin strips =.= and the idea didnt seem so good afterall when i was trying to juggle between chopping distorted long strips of veg and avoiding fingers being chopped at the same time =.=

anyways, taste wise, it was good. added some anchovies and onion to start the cooking process, and a dollop of pesto at the end *as i had a bunch of basil left in the fridge*.

Post #86

havent cooked for a short while, nothing proper anyway.

mum gave me some beef shin, chinese dried red dates (jujube) and dried goji berries and taught me how to boil this simple soup. said it's good for the body. as much as i love chinese soups, i rarely boil them, largely because i dont have the time. so one of the things to always look forward to when going to mums is her beautiful soups. gosh how i miss having them every night...

this soup is simple enough - literally chuck everything in then boil. haha, i like that.


-Beef shin, red dates + goji berry soup-

mum said red dates are good for blood deficiency and goji berries are great for many things, and particularly good for the eyes. did a quick google search which shows that goji berries basically contain too many good things - rich in amino acids which help build protein, 21 trace minerals (including germanium, an anti-cancer trace mineral rarely found in foods), complete spectrum of antioxidant carotenoids, vitamin C (at higher levels than those found in oranges), vitamin B complex, vitamin E etc. wow... who would have thought those tiny berries contain such richness of goodies!!

despite all the goodnessES, the soup is almost like a clear soup *not a bit of oil from the beef shin* and is super delicious!!

now, this fried rice from a few days ago. i used shrimp paste to start the wok, and the consequence was that the whole unit was filled with the strong smell of shrimp paste =.=


-Fried rice with pork mince + prawns-

the only key to fried rice is the days old rice, and i reckon the longer it stayed in the fridge the better *to the extent that its not off* and then there's no rule - literally chuck every piece of leftover you can find in the fridge. a good way to round it off in the end is to crack an egg in. this dish i used minced pork and prawn dices, heaps of chopped shallots, a handful of peanuts and some cucumber pieces right at the end.

Post #85

on the weekends, i stumbled across some interesting mushroom species - chestnut mushrooms, selling at a surprisingly reasonable price. never had these before. the label on the pack says it has a crunchy texture! so i grabbed a packet, thinking chestnut mushroom risotto.

the label says no need to wash... but i was paranoid. after the wash, they started to fall apart =.=



not a lot of mushrooms in the pack, and since they're so fragile, i cooked the mushrooms separate from the rice. cooked a risotto base with an unproportionally large quantity of onion, leek and fennel. hehe, veg are good for you! ;p some grated parmesan and lots of chopped parsley. then stir fried some beef with the chestnut mushrooms, and place it on top of the rice.


-Chestnut mushroom + beef on risotto rice-

mushrooms are nice and slightly crunchy, but only if there are more of them....

more veg for dinner as i also made a fennel and orangeS salad - this time using blood orange and normal orange!! spot the difference?!



look the blood orange flesh - love that ruby colour!!


-Fennel, blood orange + orange salad-

Post #84

cabbage 2 ways.

i like cabbage because its one of those veg that tastes great raw or cooked, asian or western!  a quarter each of a green and a red cabbage is plenty for some variety cooking!


-Shredded cabbage apple + pear salad with apple vinaigrette dressing-

lots of fine chopping with this salad... the apple added a diff kind of crunch and the diced pear a lovely sweetness. rather than a mayo dressing, i made a vinaigrette this time, mixing some apple puree into the dressing.


-Stir fry mixed cabbage with garlic-

simple simple cooking, but v rewarding!! cabbage must be one of the sweetest veg!!! if 2 quarters of a cabbage is more than enough, then i'd get the green ones as it seems to be sweeter compared to the red ones, but it could be just the ones i bought... but then mixing the colours' kinda fun *although purple...*. hehe.

cabbage is also a good source of vitamin C, and and and... a low calorie food!!!

Post #83

andrew invited us for a bbq in this cold cold weather! despite the cold, we had lots of fabulous food and loads of fun!! =)

my small contribution was some baked orange cheesecakes!! i dont really like cheesecakes all that much, especially the really dense ones. these ones are light and fluffy *yes, i like most things light and fluffy, hehe*

just came out of the oven - 12 little babies still looking tall and glorious:



i twisted the original recipe a little, substituting lemon with orange (we have too many oranges at home... and decorated the little cakes with some honey infused orange peels and a sprinkle of almond.


-Mini orange baked cheesecakes-

Post #82

i've only recently discovered the goodness of couscous. not only is it quick to prepare, its apparently among the healthiest grain based products. according to wiki, couscous has relatively low GI and is enriched with more vitamins than pasta. it also has the same level of protein as pasta (and more protein than white rice) but a less fat-to-calorie ratio when compared to pasta and rice.

wow... i wonder if i can introduce couscous to my dad...

anyways, back to some couscous cooking.


-Couscous with fennel, cherry tomato + steak with yoghurt dressing-

i've recently cooked something similar for a dinner for one, but without the meat. but this is kinda a proper version. this is actually a variation to Jamie Oliver's fish couscous dish. we've already had fish this week, so i bought a piece of scotch fillet steak instead and omitted the chilli as i dont think chilli goes well with steak. i found that its actually better to slice up the cherry tomatoes and had them raw rather than cooked, seasoned and tossed with some chopped mint, then set aside. once the onion and fennel are cooked with some stock, lemon juice and chopped parsley, i stirred in the hot veg with the tomatoes and couscous, and finished the dish with spoonfuls of orange juice diluted yoghurt on top. :)

i guess one thing i would say about couscous (not sure if its good or bad) is that it doesnt really fill up your tummy in the same way that pasta and rice do. so i also grilled some button mushrooms in case hubbys not full!!


-Grilled mushrooms with anchovy butter, pepperoni + cheese-

Post #81

its sis birthday (yesterday now that its past midnight..) i've actually given up on baking her a cake as i didnt have time... not until i knew i could escape work early today - leaving at 5.30pm is an extreme rare occasion *thanks to bank's holiday, we had no clients to hassle us* - then i was tempted. but in hindsight, 2 hours is still stretching my baking capability...

and dumping some OFF coconut milk into the egg yolk mixture obviously didnt help with the tight time constraint!!!! as i basically had to start from scratch... then only to find that i ran out of caster sugar =.= so in the end, its cooking survival skills again *and next time i would prefer getting some spare pantry supply*, i used a mixture of brown sugar and icing sugar :(

baked poh's chiffon cake again cos i like the spongy and soft texture of the cake, but i ruined it this time as it came out a bit hard. i think its either because of the sugar or the tin i used (i didnt use a baba tin cos i dont want a hole in a bday cake...) and lucky its winter *and actually v windy today* i could take the cake out to the balcony to cool quickly! keke.

sis likes citrus fruits, so i made an orange flavoured cake again, but this time adding honey orange peels into the cream rather than vanilla extract. AND even attempted to ice the cake with chocolate ganache~! just for you sis!! ;)



the finished cake - decorated with chocolate ganache, small dollops of orange honey cream and candied almond:


-Orange birthday cake-

take a slice:



happy bday sis!! :)

Post #80

successfully lured sis over for dinner last night with an indian korma dish and a beetroot salad!! hehe.

i have wanted to try this korma dish since i saw it on Poh's Kitchen! it's not an ordinary indian dish as it doesnt have much spices in it, but the ratings were 100% positive and its quite easy to make, so i want to give it a try!!

my first attempt at indian food!! the recipe requires 4 green chilli, but i couldnt find any after work. so as substitutes, i used 2 long red chilli plus 1 small green capsicum. hehe, the closest substitutes i could think of... blending the chilli and the pistachio:



the DISH!!


-Chicken + pistachio korma-

although the korma didnt taste like the normal indian food that one would expect, but it was really delicious! the use of fresh ingredients as opposed to ground spices gives the dish a beautiful fresh taste! will most definitely cook this dish again! and i actually think using red chilli and green capsicum in place of green chilli adds a tint of lovely red colour to the dish!!

bought these takeaway samosa and pappadum to complete the indian theme:



also cooked a beetroot salad - sis' favourite, but with a yoghurt sauce!


-Beetroot + orange salad with orange yoghurt dressing + hazelnut-

also added a few strips of honey infused orange peels and some parsley sprigs. adore those exciting colours!!!

finishing off with a stir fry veg - would have been better if the egg was a tint more undercooked, then the runny yolk can cover more of the veg!!!


-Stir fry gai lan with oyster sauce + fried egg-