Hong Siu Yuk – Shanghainese Braised Pork Belly

Hong Siu Yuk with noodles

Due to Melbourne's Stage 4 lockdown restrictions, only 1 person per household can go shopping. Honestly, I had a mini-meltdown because only MrT can go since he drives. I looove to grocery shop and always pick up stuff that's not necessarily on the shopping list (I'm constantly making shopping list). 

I armed MrT with a detailed grocery list (including meats from butcher, deli special, green leafy veg. hahaha) and just hoped for the best.

He came back with a slab of pork belly and knew I would make something delicious out of it. I figured we might as well try a different dish to our go toes Taiwanese LouRouFan or Crispy Roast Pork.

I scoured the internet for Hong Siu Yuk, a Shanghainese braised pork belly dish where the pork just melts in your mouth.

Here's what I did after combining a few Chinese youtube videos.

Ingredients

• pork belly slab (mine was maybe 400g)
• 3 cloves of smashed garlic 
  
• 1 small knob of sliced ginger (half a thumb)
• 3 spring onions, sectioned
• 1 tsp Sichuan peppers
• 2 Star anise
• 1 tsp Cloves
• 1/2 Cinnamon stick
• 1 tbsp Sugar: rock/palm/raw sugar (i used palm)
• 1/2 cup Chinese Cooking Wine
• 1 tbsp Chinese Black Winegar
• 2 tbsp Light Soya Sauce
• 1 tbsp Dark Soya Sauce (i used kepjap manis)
• Oil
• Salt and pepper

Directions:

Blanching pork belly

• In a large heavy-based pan, add boiling hot water and whole pork belly slab
• Blanch pork belly for 5–10 mins to remove impurities and a bit of the fatty oiliness
• Remove from pan, rinse off and cut into big cubes
  
  

  

  Prepare the vegetables
  

  
  
• Add oil back to the clean pan on medium heat
  
  
  

  

  Have the dry seasoning ready
  
  

  
  
• Add the dry seasoning to the hot oil and fry for a little bit
• Add the vegetables to the pan
  
  

  

  Fry vegetables and dry seasoning for a bit
  
  

• Add the cubed pork to the pan and brown on all sides
  
  

  

  Let it fry a bit on each side before flipping them
  
  

  
  

  

  Have the seasoning ready
  
  

  
  

  

  Add seasoning and sugar, top with a bit of water
  
  

• Cover and slowly simmer 
  
  

  

  Check it occasionally and stir to make sure it's not sticking to the bottom
  
  

• Cook it covered for about an hour or 90 mins, depending how hungry you are and how much you can resist the delicious smell wafting through the kitchen. 
• Season with salt and pepper to taste
• The pork will be so so soft and melt in your mouth.
• I quickly blanched rice noodles in hot water and add the noodles to the pan, coating each strand of noodles in the reduced sauce
  
• In another pan, add some chopped garlic to peanut oil and saute some spinach
• Or you can serve this with jasmine rice.
• Hope you enjoy this!

Taiwanese Lou Rou Fan - Slow Braised Diced Pork Sauce on Rice

Lou Rou Fan - Diced Pork Sauce on Rice

I love this simple dish ever since trying it for the first time in Sydney over a decade ago. However it's not as prevalent in M-Town so I kinda forgot about it until my visit to Taipei earlier this year. It was everywhere and reminded me of its deliciousness. The pork is so flavoursome and melts in your mouth. It's not too difficult to make either, just need a pinch of patience.

LouRouFan

Ingredients:

• 500g pork belly, chopped finely
• 1 large onion, diced
• 3 spring onion
• 1 tablespoon ginger
• 6–8 dried shitake mushrooms - re-hydrated
• 3 cloves garlic
• 2 tablespoon sugar
• 3 tablespoon soya sauce
• Chinese five spice powder
• white pepper
• Chinese cooking wine
• Sesame oil (optional)
• salt
• water from re-hydrating shitake mushroom
• cornstarch

Directions:

Step 1 – Thinly slice pork and cut into little vertical strips

Step 2 – Finely dice onion

Step 3 – Add pork to hot wok on medium heat, cook until water has evaporated and the pork fat is frying the meat

Step 4 – Add the onion and cook til transparent 

Step 5 – Add white parts of the finely sliced spring onion 

Step 6 – Add minced ginger

Step 7 – Add the finely diced re-hydrated
mushrooms

Step 8 – Add minced garlic

Step 9 – Add sugar to caramelise the mixture

Step 10 – Add soya sauce to the edge of the wok so it sizzles before stirring into the mixture

Step 11 – Add Chinese cooking wine, Chinese five spice powder, white pepper, water from soaking the mushrooms 

Step 12 – Transfer to pressure cooker, top up with water until mixture is completely submerged.

Step 13 –  Cook for 25 minutes under pressure, this is to ensure the flavours meld together

Step 14 – After releasing the pressure, check the sauce and add cornstarch slurry to adjust sauce viscosity, add salt to taste also add a dash of sesame oil and the green bits of spring onion

Step 15 – Serve with medium boiled eggs and some green veggie

Homey Mac'n'Cheese with lotsa veggie

Mac n Cheese with lotsa veg

Mr T and I returned from our brief break from sunny and warm Surfers Paradise and was greeted by the wet and freezing cold of M Town.

I was really craving something homey and decide to make mac'n'cheese. It's also Mr T's number 1 comfort food. This is what he would request when he's sick. No Congee for him....

I remember we had this whole head of cauliflower sitting in the crisper section of our fridge that we got at the market nearly a month ago and this long forgotten leek. So thought we'd better use them up now that our oven has been fixed (it was out of commission for nearly 6 months! >.<)

Ingredients (feeds 4 or more)

• 1/2 packet of pasta (I used macaroni coz I like their shape)
• 1 whole head of cauliflower, separated into florets
• 1 leek, sliced finely up to all the edible bits 
• 3 garlic cloves, chopped finely
• 1 carrot (grated)
• 1 red capsicum, diced
• frozen green peas (optional and use as much as you like)
• bacon, diced (optional, use as much as you like)
• butter
• flour
• milk
• white wine
• 1 egg
• 1 heaped tablespoon of whole grain mustard
• mixed herbs
• Slap ya'Mama (cajun/chili powder - optional)
• Dukkah (optional)
• cheese (cheddar, Parmesan, mozzarella)
• breadcrumbs (optional)
• Olive oil
• Salt & Pepper

Directions

• Season the cauliflower florets with mixed herbs, salt & pepper, slap ya'Mama and Dukkah in a roasting pan (or whatever you'll be making the mac'n'cheese in), place in oven and roast for 20 mins or so, until soften. 
• Cook pasta on stove top per packet direction til 70% ready (under cook them, because they'l cook further in the oven).
• In a large saucepan, over medium heat, fry up the bacon bits over a splash of olive oil, add the leek, cook for 5 mins.
• Add garlic and grated carrots cook for another couple of minutes, add capsicum & frozen peas, keep stirring so they don't stick to pan and everything is thoroughly mixed, season slightly with salt and pepper.
• Pour out cooked pasta and drain.
• In pasta pot over medium heat, make a roux with the butter and flour until it's a nice nutty tan/brown colour.
• Add in milk and white wine, make sure it's NOT bubbling and crack in the egg, keep whisking so it doesn't form a poached egg!
• Season with whole grain mustard and Slap ya'Mama, keep whisking and add in cheese until it's one gooey gooey glob.
• Transfer cooked cauliflower to the saucepan of veggies along with the cooked pasta and mix well.
• Pour the mixture back into the roasting pan and then add in the cheese sauce, top with a sprinkle of breadcrumb to give it that crunchy top 
• Bake for 20 mins until it's golden. 
• DIG IN!!!

Taiwanese 3 Cup Chicken (Samg Bui Gai)

So apparently the '3 cups' in 3 cups chicken is in reference to the quantity of soya sauce, Chinese cooking wine and sesame oil in the dish. Unless you're cooking a banquet for 100 people you just need 1 tablespoon each. Though '3 tablespoon chicken' doesn't quite have the same ring to it does it?

This was super quick to make and it was ready to eat before my rice even finish cooking. So I had to wait around smelling this aromatic dish. Not good on a hungry belly.

Ingredients:

3 Cups Chicken

• 4 chicken thigh fillets (approx 500g)
• 1 red onion, choppped
• 1 red capsicum, chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 1 tsp of chopped ginger 
• red chillies
• Thai basil leaves
• spring onion
• 1 tbsp soya sauce
• 1 tbsp Chinese cooking wine
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 1–2 tspn cornstarch
• 1 tbsp peanut/vegetable oil

Directions:

• cut up chicken to bite size, I removed the excess fatty bits
• add cornstarch, soya sauce, cooking wine, sesame oil, ginger and garlic to chicken and mix well
• heat oil in pan/wok on medium heat
• add chopped onion and cook for a little til soften
• add chicken mixture and leave it don't stir for a few minutes
• add chopped red capsicum to pan and stir to make sure the other side of the chicken is cooked
• add red chilies, spring oil and Thai basil leaves a few minutes before serving
• the cornstarch in the marinate would thicken to a nice sauce.

Served hot with white Jasmine rice. yummm

Meatballs with Romesco Sauce

Mozzarella stuffed spicy meatballs with romesco sauce

Meatballs!

So after visiting the Scorsese Exhibition at ACMI I simply could not get the meatballs that his mom Kathy made out of my head! (And wanting to watch all his movies as well, this guy is a cine-genius!)

I knew I didn't want big fist-sized meatballs because I just find them too dry, eating this massive chunk of mince meat did not appeal to me, but little ping-pong ball size ones filled with gooey mozzarella cheese....ooooh yeah baby! Get in mah belly!

We had pasta at a really cute Italian restaurant in the city after the exhibition, called Il Solito Posto, it was quite cozy and the food there was lovely, will definitely be going back there again. Though then made me crave something less traditional to go with my meatballs, so I decided to go Tapas/Spanish style with Romesco sauce, if you haven't tried it before, it is amazing! My Romesco sauce is made with roasted char-grilled red capsicums, so their flavours really intensify and brings out the sweetness and slightly smokiness, there's almond flakes, breadcrumbs to give the sauce body and other spices like smokey paprika to up the pepper and smokey flavour. It went really well with the meatballs. Here's what you'll need to make this simple but yummy dish.

Romesco sauce ingredients:

• 2 large capsicums, grilled whole in the oven on high heat for 30 mins
• breadcrumbs
• almond flakes
• tomato
• garlic
• smokey paprika
• chili flakes
• red wine vinegar/balsamic vinegar
• salt & pepper
• basil
• leek/onion
• olive oil

Directions

• Remove grilled capsicums from oven and place in ziplock bags, careful not to lose any of it's juices, this is vital part of the sauce!
• Let the capsicums cool in bag and remove the skins and the seeds
• In a blender thingy add all the ingredients except the basil and leek/onion and blitz til smooth
• In a saucepan, add olive oil and brown/sweat the onion/leek
• Add in the sauce, it is now ready for the meatballs to be be simmered in.

So let's get right into them.

Meatballs ingredients:

• 500 g of half pork half beef mince, you can incorporate other mince if you like
• 1 onion finely chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic finely chopped
• 1 egg
• breadcrumbs
• mozzarella/bocconcini quartered
• mixed dried italian herbs
• chilli powder/flake
• paprika
• salt & pepper
• kasundi

Directions

• Add all the ingredients except the cheese together, mix well
• Take a spoonful of the mince mixture and flatted it a bit and add the piece of cheese in the centre, then wrap mince around and roll it up into a ping pong ball size
• Add them to a fry pan with butter/olive oil to brown on all size, doesn't need to be cooked through.
• Do this in batches until all the meatballs have been browned, then add them all to the Romesco sauce for simmering for 15-20 minutes until they're cooked through and the sauce thicken up a bit.
• Serve with some chopped basil and you may top it up with shaved Parmesan cheese if you like.

Yuuummm :D

Cantonese–style Wonton Noodle Soup

Giant Cantonese–style wonton noodle soup

I was really really craving wonton noodle soup. This is a comfort food for me when I was very young growing up in HK and it has been ages since I've had homemade ones. Frozen wontons are available in supermaket and Asian stores but I find them incomparable to the homemade ones.

T-Rex helped me wrapped these and some of them are pretty ginormous. heheheh.

I confess, it's been awhile since I wrapped any dumplings and I was never very proficient at it. So I watched a few youtube videos on how to fold them. We experimented on a variety of ways to wrap them. It's really up to you, as long as the filling stay inside, it's all good!

Speaking of filling, it definitely needs to have prawns, chunky bits of prawns, so there's some texture to it and not just dry and meatbally.

Ingredients:

• A package of wonton wrappers
• A dozen frozen prawns
• 500g mince pork
• Minced ginger
• Spring onion
• Coriander
• White pepper
• Chinese cooking wine
• Sesame oil
• Light soya sauce
• Dry thin egg noodles
• Choy Sum or any green veggie
• Wonton soup mix (yeah I know! Being super lazy, but this mix powder gives me the exactly flavour of the soup of my childhood memory)

Directions

• Defrost the frozen prawns and soak them in cold water and then chop each prawn into 3.
• Mix prawns with pork mince, herbs and the other seasoning, keep stirring until the mixture seems gooey (at least 5 mins).
• Now you're ready to wrap, I generally use about 1 tablespoon of filling per wrapper. Fold it up whichever way you prefer. I liked folding them in half in triangles and then folding the ends behind and pressing it in so they look kinda like tortellinis - which I've always thought of as Italian wontons.
• Get your water boiling in a pot and add the wontons, cook until they float - at least 10 minutes.
• At around the 5 minute mark, add in the noodle, veggie and soup mix.
• There you have it, yummy homemade wonton soup. I think I'll add some shitake mushrooms to my filling next time.

Vietnamese Summer Rolls

Yummy vegetarian summer rolls

It was a particularly hot day here in M-town and I really didn't feel like cooking anything after work, or rather turning on the oven and making the apartment even hotter. So I figured some summer rolls would be a great idea, plus T-Rex can also help roll them.

I made vegetarian version for Meat-free Monday and had an addictive spicy peanuty dipping sauce to go with it. I think I crave the sauce more than the rolls.

Here's what you will need.

Ingredients:

• Rice paper
• Vermicelli
• Carrots
• Cucumber
• Mint
• Basil
• Spinach/Lettuce
• Hard tofu
• Peanut butter
• Hoisin sauce
• Fresh chilies

Directions:

• Start by julienne the carrots, cucumber and tofu
• Cook the vermicelli according to the direction on the package (soak in hot water) and then drain
• Get a big bowl and fill it with cold/room temperature water for the rice paper, if you use hot water the rice paper becomes too soft and tears very easily.
• Lay out the damp (but still "rigid") rice paper on a plate/board and add a handful of the noodles to the lower third of the paper, top up with the other fillings and herbs, be careful not to overload, else it's very difficult to wrap it up.
• By this time, the paper would have soften enough, fold the bottom up, then the two sides and then just roll it up. TaDa!
• For the sauce, I usually use a ratio of 2 spoons of peanut butter to 1 spoon of hoisin sauce, top with hot water to your desired sauce consistency and add fresh chopped chili to your spice level, I added about 4 chilies.
• Enjoy! You can try other cooked fillings as well, maybe smoked salmon, prawns, chicken slices. Be creative :)

Jamaican Dinner

Yummy Jamaican Brown strewed chicken with red beans and rice

This was the night after the Attica Degustation dinner. And what do you eat after a delicate 5 course dinner?
A hearty, spicy, full of flavour Jamaican meal of course!

This one is a handy, foul-free treat.

Brown stewed chicken with red beans and rice. I also had some left over pumpkin from the previous week's Sunday roast dinner. So here's how you go about getting this easy dinner on the table.

Ingredients

• Chicken pieces
• Onion
• Garlic
• Ginger
• Chili
• Red capsicum
• Green capsicum
• Soya sauce
• Pickapepper sauce
• Ketchup
• Apple cider vinegar
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• Thyme
• Sugar

Directions

• Season the chicken with salt, pepper, chili
• Heat up the olive oil in a dutch pot, add the chicken pieces to brown
• Remove the chicken when they look 70% done
• Top up a little more oil if you need and then add the aromatics: onion, garlic and ginger
• Add the capsicums
• Add the seasonings: soya sauce, ketchup, pickapepper and top up with some hot water
• Bring to boil and reduce heat to simmer, add back the chicken and the juices, cover lid
• Add the sugar, vinegar, hot sauce, thyme to taste and reduce the sauce til it's nice and thick and just coating the chicken.

I basically cook all my rice in a rice cooker, never learned to do it any other way.

So I added a drained and rinsed tin of red kidney beans to my washed rice, along with a tin of lite coconut milk (I find the coconut cream too sweet). Long grain rice is best to get that individual grain result. season with a little bit of salt and allspice/mixed spice.

Thai Chicken Larb Salad

Spicy, Salty, Sweet and Sour. It packs a punch of flavours!

I just adore Thai food. The spicy, salty, sweet, sour and fresh flavours are tantalizing to your tastebuds. Though some people might not be fans of fish sauce, but it's ok in moderation.

Here's a pretty quick salad that's something different. I combined a few different recipes and added my own twist to it.

Even my new housemate who hasn't had much appetite of late had 2 servings of this yummy salad.

Ingredients:

• Chicken Mince
• Garlic
• Ginger
• Coriander (including the roots)
• Cucumber
• Green beans
• Basil
• Mint
• Kaffir lime leaves
• Dried chilli flakes
• Fresh chilli
• Bean sprouts
• Fish sauce
• Lime/lemon juice
• Sugar
• Salt
• Peanut oil

Directions:

• Heat oil in wok, add the minced garlic, ginger and coriander roots
• Add chicken mince brown and break into little bits with dried chilli
• Add fish sauce and sugar 
• Add the chopped up green beans and stir until heat through, this is all the cooking done.
• Remove from heat and toss in all the remaining ingredients, all chopped up except the beans sprouts
• You can top it off with some crushed peanuts for the extra crunch but I ran out of peanuts.

Random Spicy Sausage and Potato Stew

I went to the markets over the weekend and got a bit over enthusiastic with the vegetables. Now my fridge is completely packed so I had a few friends over for dinner every night.

 

Last night, I initially wanted to cook vegetarian but then I got distracted when I saw these sausages on special at my local supermarket. Plus I wasn't sure if the Persian lentils and vegetable casserole along with the rice pilaf would be enough to feed us all. Better to have more than less right?

Spicy!

I didn't really have a concept in mind when I bought the sausages, but it turned out really well.

Ingredients

• Beef sausages cut into chunks
• Potatoes
• 1 can of tomato
• Onion
• Garlic
• Red capsicum
• Parsley
• Chilli
• Sugar
• Thyme
• Salt and Pepper
• Olive oil

Easy Peasy Instructions

• Heat some olive oil in a hot pan, brown the sausages, onion and garlic
• Add the potatoes and tomato and a bit of water
• Season with chilli, thyme, sugar, salt and pepper,
• Cook covered til potatoes soften and the sauce thickens.
• Add the capsicum and cook for another 5 mins
• Top with parsley and serve

Winter Favourite - Red Wine Lamb Shanks

 Winter is the best time month to leave stuff bubbling away in your slow cooker, I usually do it overnight so my apartment smells amazing in the morning and then I can't wait for lunch.

But this time I managed to wait and save it for dinner, O lamb shanks, o lamb shanks, why did I wait so long to try you out again? Years ago, living in Sydney, I had attempted to make lamb shanks but unfortunately, the meat just stayed stuck to the bone, and I never really got over that disappointment.


Lamb Shank with Sweet Potato Mash & Pomegranate Salad

I finally decided to conquer my failure and try it again. I saw these pomegranates at the market and just couldn't resist them. Just the thought of their little sweet juicy gems can bring a smile to my face.

 

And you can't make a stew without something to sop up the sauce, initially I was going for cauliflower mashed, but it was twice the normal price at the moment so I settled for some sweet potato, which is just as good.

Ingredients for the Lamb Shank:

Onion                  Salt/Pepper
Garlic                  Tomato Paste
Carrot                  Can of Tomato
Lamb Shanks       Worcestershire
Red Wine             Sugar
Stock                   Flour Mixed Spice        Bay leaf               

Directions

• Dust the lamb shanks in flour that's seasoned with salt and pepper and brown it in a pan
• Meanwhile, add the paste, can of tomato, seasoning, sauce, bay leaf to the slow cooker
• Add the lamb in slow cooker
• Brown the onion, garlic and carrot, then to slow cooker
• Top up with red wine and stock up to 7/8 of the shank.
• Cook it on low for 8 hrs (I did this and went to bed or in the morning before going to work)

After consuming the meat-falling-off-don't-even-need-knife-from-bone, there was still quite a  bit of sauce left and since I didn't want to waste it, I dumped some mystery meat I had frozen in my freezer and set my slow cooker to work again, Ta-Da 2 meals in one!

Tuscan Sausage and Bean Stew with Kale

It's already getting quite cold here in M town, the nights starts early and last night, along with that chilly wind it was also wet. Uuuugh. It's the kinda weather that makes you want to stay at home, curl up on the couch with a good book or Netflix marathon....

I've been meaning to eat healthier, since my obsession with Fried Chicken is really not working out (super sad). So I scour the web for tonight's dinner inspiration. My current flattie is returning to Italy end of next week and is super critical of all Italian cooking. So it was with trepidation that I decided to attempt my take on a Tuscan classic, the Sausage and Bean stew with Kale.

Yummmy, so much veg

Luckily my version was met with approval :)
I think I'll be adding it to my repertoire of Winter favourites.

Here's what you need: 

• 1 large onion, diced
• 3 cloves of garlic, smashed
• 2 carrots, cubed
• 1 - 2 zucchinis, cubed
• handful mushrooms, cubed
• bunch of kale leaves
• 1 can of white beans
• Sausages, chucks (I used Lamb with rosemary)
• Thyme
• Rosemary
• Chili
• Paprika
• Stock
• Worcestershire sauce
• Sugar
• Salt & Pepper

And how to make it:

• Heat up the pot, sauté the onion and garlic til soften, add the chucks of sausages and brown.
• Add the hard veggie (carrots and zucchini), add the mushroom
• Add the seasoning and some stock, top up with water so it slightly covers everything.
• Cover and simmer for 20 mins or so, (til your kitchen smells nice)
• Add in the beans and kale, stir
• Taste, and add more sugar/Worcestershire sauce/chili

Tortilla de Potatas

Finished product - yummm

So the other day, when I woke up late on a Sunday and wasn't sure what to eat for brunch. I remember I still have a couple of potatoes left over and a dozen eggs. So I decided to try my hand at the Tortilla de Potatas.

It looked pretty simple with only a few ingredients required.

Here's what you will need:

Ingredients:
Potato sliced thinly (I used my mandoline)
Onion, sliced
Garlic
6 eggs, beaten with a little bit of milk
Salt and Pepper
Grated cheese
 a few leaves of Basil

Directions

• Pan fry the potato slices in hot oil until they're crispy but not burnt
• Remove potato from pan, cook the onion garlic in some oil until brown
• Add back in the potato, layer them evenly around the pan
• Pour in the beaten eggs (seasoned with salt and pepper)
• Cook it for a bit til the egg mixture is firm
• Add grated cheese to the top and put the pan in the grill until golden brown
• Top with pieces of fresh basil

Korean Fire Chicken

I was craving something spicy last week when the weather was really crappy. This spicy and sweet dish really lifts your mood.

It was actually quite easy to make, and I did tone down the spiciness just a notch so my flatmate could eat it without dying. Also I didn't have quite a whole chicken. But you can just adjust the spiciness to your taste.

Here's the ingredients (And I'll try to be more specific with the amounts)

• 1 kg Chicken
• 2 Onion diced
• 4 cloves of Garlic crushed
• 2 tablspoon of Soya Sauce
• 1 tablespoon of Sesame Oil
• 2 tablespoon of Honey
• 2 tablespoon of Sugar
• Pinch of Salt and Pepper
• 2 stalks of scallion/spring onion/ eschallots (Was having this discussion with Squishies what the long green tubes with white bits at the end are called....)
• 1 tablespoon toasted seasame seeds
• 1/2 Nashi Pear
• 1 tablespoon Chili Powder
• 3 tablespoon Korean Chili Paste
• 1 tablespoon of Dried Chili Flakes

Directions:

• Marinate the Chicken with 1 of the onions, 1 stalk of scallion, garlic, soya sauce, seasame oil, honey and sugar for 30 - 45minutes
• In the food processor/blender thingy, add the nashi pear, chilis, honey, sugar, other onion and blitz into a thick red paste - aka Fire sauce
• Brown the chicken in a hot pan with some oil, add the Fire sauce to the chicken and cook until sauce thickens.
• Serve with remainder scallion and scatter the toasted seasame seeds
• Best serve with white rice

Dinner for 1

So I'm determined to post a bit more this year than I did last year....and one of the recipes I'd like to share is this ridiculously easy Berlotti Beans with Tomato Stew. With Melbourne's crazy weather, one day it's 30 degrees plus but then the next drop to the teens. A hearty bean stew sure warms your body and soul when it's suddenly very cold. But this would still be great during warmer weather.

Easiest Stew Ever!

 

The original recipe recommended 20 minutes cooking time, but since I did this in my slow cooker it didn't even count. I chucked everything into the crockpot in the morning before I head out and I am greeted by a delicious aroma when I open the door in the evening when I get home. This just made me so happy and so little efforts involved.

So Healthy and economical

 Ingredients:

• 1.5 cups dried Berlotti Beans rinsed well (no need soaking overnight)
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 1 diced onion
• 2 diced carrots
• Allspice
• Rosemary
• Mixed herbs
• Chili powder
• Salt and Pepper
• 2 Stock cubes
• Chopped Parsley

Directions:

• Dump all but the parsley into the slow cooker, cover with water and leave it on high/auto
• Go to work/play/sleep
• Ta da, all ready when your house seems slightly smokey (in the bbq way, not the burning house way)
• To serve, top with chopped parsley

Happy 2015

Fresh new year, fresh new start.

My new housemate Ms Romantica once told me when she first moved in that Pasta with Vongole was one of her favourite meals. Ever since that conversation a couple months ago, I've had Vongole on my mind. So for our first meal together in 2015 I decided to make this delicious pasta dish with fresh clams from the market.

 

Spaghetti alle Vongole

 It was really simple with just a few choice ingredients, but the end result was stunningly. I can definately see why this is one of her favourite dishes, I think it's become one of mine also.

So here's what I did:

 

Serves 4. Time: 15 mins

 

Ingredients:

• 1 kg Vongole
• 1 package dry spaghetti (or any pasta of your preference)
• Garlic
• Parsley
• Cherry tomatoes
• Chili (I used both powder and dried)
• Splash of white wine
• Juice and Rind of 1 lemon
• Olive Oil
• Salt and Pepper
• Butter
• Parmesan cheese

Directions:

 

• Heat up your pan, add olive oil and butter and then garlic
• Add cherry tomatoes and vongole (make sure they were rinsed and toss out any opened ones)
• Add wine and cover pan, cook for 5 mins and then check
• Cook spaghetti in boiling salted water as directed on package
• Once all the vongoles are opened, stir in chili and lemon rind and juice, add the cooked spaghetti and some of the cooking liquid so there is a little sauce in the pan.
• Season to your liking
• Turn off heat and toss in chopped parsley
• To serve top with parmesan cheese



Prawns and Snowpeas pasta in a zesty yogurt sauce

This is a great dish when you're short on time on a warm night. The zesty yogurt sauce is appetizing, light and creamy. In another word....PERFECTAMENTE!

Creamy Zesty Light pasta with Prawns and snow peas

I love this dish so much! Basically my friend Squishy showed me two different pasta dish and I thought it would be perfect to combine them. Here's what you will need.

Ingredients:

• Pasta
• Prawns
• Snow peas
• Cherry tomatoes
• Chili
• Parmesan cheese
• Small Tub/cup of Greek yogurt
• Half a lemon ( Zest & juice)
• Garlic
• Basil
• Dill
• Salt & Pepper
• Butter
• Olive oil
• White wine

Directions

• Cook pasta per direction. I used spaghetti but use whatever you like. Same same.
• Heat oil in pan, add the butter to melt then add the garlic, cook til golden and add the prawns
• Toss in the tomatoes and snow peas, add some fresh herbs (I put in dill and basil), add a dash of white wine and chili and add the pasta to toss through. You can actually stop here and have a yummy pasta dish (this was one of the recipes)
• If you wanna try something new - empty of the tub of Greek yogurt into salad bowl, add zest of half a lemon plus the juices, salt and pepper and Parmesan cheese
• Combine everything together and top with more cheese. Trust me it's so good, even my Italian flatmate was impressed ;)

Jamie Oliver's Pumpkin and Spinach Rotolo

So Mr ShyGuy is going to the Freezing Land of nowhere to teach for a year, so I figured I'll make something fancy for one of the last meals he'll have at home. I recently bought a copy of Jamie Oliver's Save $$$ Cookbook and this Vegetarian Pumpkin and Spinach Rotolo caught my eye.

I must admit it's alot more effort than what I usually make (1 pot wonders) and this involved 3 pots and a baking tray....but it's kinda one off (for now) unless I need to impress someone I might make it again. But saying that is not to put you off from trying it, because it was really yum! And looks impressive, it wasn't very hard to do - kinda like rolling sushi, but just need to get all the components ready. Took about 1hr and 30 mins include the 30 mins baking time.

Alrite so let's get started.

JO's Pumpkin & Spinach Rotolo

Ingredients:

• Peeled and roasted pumpkin
• English Spinach
• Garlic
• Parmesan Cheese
• Feta
• Can of  diced tomato
• Onion
• Chili
• Basil
• Pasta sheet (Lasagna)
• Salt and Pepper

Directions:

• Mash up the roasted pumpkin
• Heat up the olive oil in pan, add the garlic and onion, brown and then add the spinach to wilt it and add the chili
• Cook the pasta sheet as per instructed
• Assemble the ingredients as you would with sushi: pasta sheet down, add pumpkin layer, then spinach, then feta, and roll it up. Leave it resting with the "flap" side down
• Heat up the can of diced tomato with more onion and garlic, chili, basil and season with salt and pepper
• Cut up the roll, and plate up with the sauce, add the rolls and top with parmesan

Vegetarian Baked Eggs with Mushrooms and Tomato

Sunday Brunch....my favourite meal of the week.

This is the time I can get up leisurely, make a cup of coffee and peruse over my fridge and pantry and decide what to start my week with. Sunday is the beginning of the week right?

I've already made the big breakfast with scrambled eggs, mushrooms, tomatos and avocado on Saturday, so figured I'll mix it up a bit.... I've made pancakes the last couple of Sundays....I Looove Pancake. But yeah time for a change... so browsing through foodblogs...I came across these little baked eggs in muffin tins. Score!

Yummy Baked Eggs

Here's how I made mine:

Ingredients:

• Sliced bread (white or brown or whatever you have)
• Desired number of eggs
• Tomatos, chopped
• Mushrooms, chopped
• Spring Onions, chopped
• Parsley, chopped
• Tasty Cheese, gratted
• Butter
• Salt and Pepper

* Feel free to subsitute filling with what you like, say....BACON!!!

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 180C
• Saute the mushrooms, tomatos and spring onions in butter
• Spray the muffin tin with oil (I forgot to do it and was a bit difficult to get them out afterwards)
• Smash the bread with your palm/fist to flatten it a bit and then smoosh it into the muffin tin
• Fill each bread cup with the coked veggies
• Topped with some cheese
• Crack an egg into each cup
• Put in oven and cook for around 15 -18 minutes until the eggs are cooked to desired consistency
• Scatter some chopped parsley on top and serve!

I also squirted some Siracha Chili Sauce on top heh

My Aboslute Favourite - Jamaican Curry Goat

If you ask me what's my favourite Jamaican dish is......the list of probable responses would be:
a. Jerk Chicken
b. Escovitch Fish
c. Oxtail stew
d. Curry Goat

and my answer every time would be Curry Goat, I've only had it a few times here in Oz (always at a restaurant) and have been wanting to make my own. Finally the other day we went to the markets and came across an ethnic butcher and I decide to poke my head in and see what's available and what do you know, right in front of me is a tray of "curry goat" meat. It's like calling to me to take it home.

I was so excited and quickly messaged a few friends to come over for a Sunday night dinner party.

The goat turned out amazing! I saw a piece left on Mr ShyGuy's plate and I thought he wasn't having it so I quickly stabbed it and transferred it to my plate, only to have him turn around and tell me he was saving it and was just going to get a knife to cut it down.... o well, you snooze you lose....heehee

Here's the Jamaican Curry Goat Recipe:

Ingredients:

the curry goat bubbling away happily on my stove

• 500g curry goat meat
• 2 onions, sliced
• 5 cloves of garlic, minced
• 3 potatos, cubed
• 2 carrots, cubed
• 2 sprigs spring onion, chopped
• 1 habernero chilli, chopped
• curry powder
• all spice
• thyme
• Ketchup
• Apple Cider Vinegar
• Supar
• Salt and Pepper
• Oil

Directions:

• Add 1 of the sliced onion, garlic, chili, curry powder, salt and pepper to the goat meat and let marinate for at least 5 hrs or overnight
• Heat up oil in your heavybased sauce pan and brown the goat meat, leaving the onion/chili stuff behing
• After meat is browned on all sides, all remaining marinating stuff to the pan and top with some boiling water until meat is covered, put lid on and simmer on medium/low heat for 1 hr
• Add the chopped up vegetables and top with more curry powder
• Add seasoning and cook down uncovered til the sauce is thick and gloppy

Serve with white rice, I'm so making this again soon!