Sunday, 30th November 2008

There's been a lot of spaghetti aglio olio in this household recently. Here is tonight's dinner.

Mark helping to make the oil mix.

Spaghetti in briskly boiling salted water.

A tray of roast chicken.

Dinner is served.

Chicken Wine with Ginger

http://foodietales.blogspot.com/2007_05_01_archive.html

Hello Lynn

Here is an old recipe from my archives. I used sweet rice wine which I buy from the neighbouring states.

It will be wonderful for a cold evening!

Happy trying ;-)

E.

Tuesday, 25th Nov 2008

How to get dinner ready in 15 minutes. In a saucepan, add water and once it comes to a briskly boiling point, add salt and pasta of your choice.

In a separate bowl, add olive oil, mixed herbs, salt & black pepper. Panfry bacon gently in a small pan. When crispy, remove pan from heat and add one clove grated raw garlic. Put aside. Now you have the oil mixture and the bacon mixture ready.

By this time, the pasta will be just about ready. Drain and add to bowl with the oil mixture with 3 tbs pasta water. Toss quickly. Add bacon/garlic mixture/oil mixture. Some freshly grated parmesan will be nice at this stage. Dust with chilli flakes if required.

Adjust seasoning if necessary and tuck in!

Weds, 19th Nov 2008

I bought 2 pieces of 'snow cod' from Sno Food, a sister company of the ever popular Excapade Sushi in Gadong this afternoon. Mark loves the crispy blackpepper cod served there so I tried to replicate this at home tonight.

The fish was thawed gently, then marinated with salt, black pepper & a few drops olive oil (out of habit), then panfried in a hot wok.

2 fillets weighing 0.305 costs $12.51 @ $41 per kilo.

I also roasted some potatoes with garlic & rosemary in the oven.

After half an hour.

Close up.

And opened a tin of corn kernels to go with the meal.

Hazel helped me to plate the two portions.

Here's her portion while Mark had a bigger one.

Another pic.

I also made a bolognaise sauce and boiled some pasta for tomorrow. On left is Hazel's lunch portion, top middle is the sauce for dinner, while Mark's lunch portion is at the bottom, on right is very al dente spaghetti for dinner - yes, they will eat the same food for both meals tomorrow :-) All ready to be bunged into the microwave just before serving.

Hazel reading Beezer and the Lion Boy at the dinner table.

p.s I am so tired... 9 days to go, NINE.

Sat, 15th Nov 2008

A choc muffin with a melty choc centre from a new bakery, Mr Baker.

Sat, 15th Nov 2008

Rosemary Garlic Chicken.

I'll put up the recipe later - for now, I'm rushing to get ready for the boot sale (to buy not to sell) at this hour when it's still dark outside!

Sat, 15th Nov 2008

Here are more pics from my very impromptu dinner of sorts party.

Foie Gras.

Inside.

On the table.

Macro shot.

Served with a sweet dessert wine.

Tin Sockeye Salmon (from Vancouver) Mayonnaise with finely diced sweet red onion, red and yellow peppers.

Pitted Black Olives (very popular but I CAN'T stand them AT ALL).

Some smoked oysters and spicy tomato salsa (part of) - one small tin yields 12/14 pieces.

Tomato Salsa is easy to make - diced tomato (remove seeds), cilantro, sweet red onion (or shallots), chillies, lemon juice, salt, black pepper and olive oil.

A closer look.

The small buffet of sorts table. Grilled Chicken, Salad, Pasta & French Beans.

And here I am right now (waiting for my hair to dry) - just 5 hours to go before I hit the bootsale - I want to complete my Jodi Picoult collection of books.

Sat, 15th Nov 2008

What started out as a "oh just come as you are we'll eat in the kitchen when/if we're hungry" kind of thing has turned into a full-blown fuss fest, what I am best at; here is a pic of the kitchen counter and the simple salad which is corn kernels, red and yellow peppers, cubed cucumbers and cherry tomatoes, with good ole English Salad Cream (Light). I've added Dijon/Grainy Mustard, Black Pepper and a sprinkle of dried parsley for extra taste.

Let's see, the rosemary/garlic chicken thighs/drumsticks are in the fridge waiting to be grilled, French beans with tomatoes have been cooked and chilling nicely in the fridge, Foie Gras and tile which it will be served on also in the fridge and pot of water on standby for the spaghette aglio olio.

I have to make a spicy tomato salsa for the tinned smoked oysters and the garlic/olive oil/chilli mixure for the spaghetti. Oh yes, slice the bread for toasting later.

A picture of the smoked oysters from my dinner party earlier this year - stolen from Mr AB.

Made lots of ice-cubes and drinking water scented with lemons & limes in jugs are sitting in the fridge. Glasses, napkins (*paper*), crockery and cutlery have been set out.

What's next? I'm just looking out of the window waiting for the sun to set :-)

More pics to come.

Thurs, 13th November 2008

It has been very quiet here lately.... but I'm back for the moment anyway.

After watching Kylie Kwong make this recently on her programme, tonight I made braised Lion's Head with bok choy in a claypot. I kept it very simple; minced meat marinated with light soy, Chinese cooking wine, white pepper, sesame oil, dash oyster sauce and a pinch of sugar. Added some sliced shallots and mixed them into the meat mixture. Roughly shape them into even sized balls and pan fry till browned. Half the meat balls became dinner for my kids and the other half for the stew. Kylie's recipe has grated ginger and spring onions added into the meat mixture.

The claypot was lightly 'seasoned' with a bit of oil the meat had been fried in, garlic, Chinese cooking wine, light and dark soy. The pot was lined with vegs, then topped with meatballs and more vegs was added.


Here is the stew after 15 minutes over a very low flame.

After half an hour, I tasted it and it was awfully bland and lacked flavour/taste. What next? Half a teaspoon of chicken stock, quarter teaspoon of five spice powder, a splash of cooking wine and another pinch of sugar was added and it made a huge difference in taste. I also added a corn starch solution to thicken the gravy at this stage.

And after 20 mins, here is the dish; it's cooling in the kitchen and soon I will put it into the fridge for tomorrow night's dinner.

I hope my kids will like the meat ball stew. (On reflection, maybe the vegs should be added tomorrow to retain crunchiness - oh well..)..

Sat, 1st November 2008

Exquisite bags -My 3 favourites

More

Love the one in the middle.

HRH The Prince of Wales

FOOD

Big lens.

And more bags.