Thai Style Pineapple Fried Rice

What I like about Thai food is the flavour. It's strong but not overpowering. I like how they incorporate the use of fruits and nuts in simple dishes like fried rice- making it ultra special.

I adapted this Thai style fried rice by asking my Thai friend, tasting the fried rice we had at a restaurant recently and reading some recipes online. By no means it is authentic but it certainly adds a bit of Thai flair to normal every day cooking.

I served this with a Green Chicken Curry.


Thai Style Pineapple Fried Rice
2 cups of cooled cooked rice
around 150 gram of pineapple chunks
1 cup of small prawns
1 tsp of garlic and ginger
2 bird egg chili chopped
2-3 tsp of tumeric
3-4 tablespoon of fish sauce
1 tablespoon of white sugar
1 cup of frozen peas
1/4 cup of sultanas/rasins
1/2 cup of cashews
2 eggs lightly beaten
seasoning

Saute chili garlic and ginger. Add prawns in. When done, remove prawns and set aside. Cook rice till very hot, adding pepper. Adding seasoning and frozen peas after around 5 minutes. Dont forget the prawns! When rice is done, add beaten eggs into the pan, only tossing it when the egg is nearly set. Then toss pineapples, sultanas and cashews through. Taste before adding salt. Serve hot.

Spicy Chorizo, Sweet Potato and Chickpea Soup

Since I am on a winter high, I decided to make another soup for dinner. I love love love soups! I can have them for lunch and dinner. Paired with a good bread roll, it doesn't take much to make me a happy gal.

I like my soups really chunky though. It's like I need to bite into something. If I'm not biting, my tummy doesn't feel satisfied! Surely there is some form of research out there that says chewing helps sends messages/signals to the brain that one is eating or full!? hmmm...

I'm not sure where I get the inspiration of this soup from. Personally, I love a good puree soup. It gives you the creamy feeling without the fat! What I have added this time though, is chorizo. I used the Spanish chorizo which gives it a spicy flavour. This soup freezes well. Two portions were frozen and tasted wonderful even after 2 weeks.

Spicy Chorizo, Sweet Potato and Chickpea Soup (Serves at least 6)
2 spanish chorizo sliced
1 red onion sliced
around 1 kg of sweet potato diced
1 ltre of chicken stock-reduced salt
another 500 ml of water 
1 can of chickpea


Saute sliced chorizo. Drain on paper towel. Cook onions till soft and add sweet potato. Add stock and simmer till sweet potato are nearly cooked. Add 1/2 of the chorizo sausages. Cool.

Blend the mixture up-2 batches if needed. Pour mixture back into stock pot. Simmer again with chickpeas. Taste and season accordingly. Serve with slices of chorizos. 

Baked Spring Rolls

Most people will know of spring rolls as deep fried entrees in a party or in your local chinese take away shop. I decided to experiment with the spring roll wrappers and baked the rolls instead. The result is a slight crisp parcel with heaps of goodness inside. Although not as crunchy as the deep fried version (I wonder if my filling was too wet?), it was certainly a healthy meal!

Another twist in this rolls, I added some left over rice in them. Just a way to add some carbs without over doing it. I served these babies with some side veges and my favorite chili dipping sauce! 

Baked Spring Rolls 

around 10 pieces of medium size wrapper defrosted


300 grams of pork mince
1 onion chopped finely
1 tsp of minced garlic
3 stalks of finely diced celery
1 finely diced carrot
2 tablespoon of oyster sauce
2 tablespoon of soya 
1 tablespoon of dark soya
1/2 cup of hua tiao jiu 
1/2 cup of left over rice
1/2 tsp of sugar
heaps of pepper!

Saute garlic and onion. Add pork and cook till done. Dont forget the veges! Add in all sauces. Toss in rice. Simmer for around 10 minutes. Season with sugar and pepper. Taste to see if it is salty. Set aside to cool.

Wrap rolls up with cooled mixture. Spray with some oil. Bake in a 200 C oven for 15-20 minutes.

Tender Lamb Chickpea Casserole

The good thing about winter weather is that we get to consume hearty comfort food. I guess back in the days when I was residing in Singapore, the thought of having casseroles and hearty stews often in the hot weather will be uncommon. A positive in staying in Australia (or anywhere with 4 seasons), food choices increase.

Come to think of it, I wouldn't have classify casseroles as "my kind of food" say 10 years ago. Certainly one thing I realized is that the palate change. And what I didn't like before may be what I enjoy having now.

I like this dish because it represents a different side of my cooking. It's not Asian, neither is it truly western. In fact, it's probably a mixture of what I read in various cookbooks! I dare say this is a combination of Jamie Oliver and The Australian Women Weekly! ;)

Tender Lamb Chickpea Casserole 
600 grams of lamb stir fry or lean cuts of meat-sliced (Season lightly with pepper and salt)
1 can of tomato diced
2 tsp of tomato paste
2-3 tsp of chili flakes
1 tsp of garlic 
2 stalks of celery diced
1 carrot diced  
1 cup of sliced mushrooms
3/4 zucchini diced
1 can of chickpea
1 cup of stock or water
optional -1/2 cup of red wine (Omitted) 


Saute garlic. Quickly fry up the lamb.  Add all veges and tomatoes. Simmer for 30 minutes or so, adding water when needed. Add tomato paste and chickpeas. Season. Cook for another 20 minutes or so. Serve with couscous. 

All the goodness- Spicy Lamb Shank Soup

Friday afternoon,. I spotted lamb shanks on sale! Grabbing it, I decided that a pot of hot soup is the way to go for dinner tonight. What can be better than lamb shanks on a cold wintery night?

Except of course.. I have never attempted lamb shanks at home before. Never ever. It has always been my assumption that lamb shanks are for pubs and pretty restaurants. Well, time to conquer my fear.

Pan frying or browning the shanks, I realised how huge they are! As I stucked them into my soup pot, it struck me that i have used too small a pot for the whole shank to be submerged into the soup. Oh well, I just gave it a few good turns through that 2 hours of making this soup.

And it's full of vege goodness too! What a win.

All the goodness- Spicy Lamb Shank Soup  
2 lamb shanks
1 tsp of garlic
celery
2 carrots
mushrooms
can of tomato
chili
corn (I added it later!)
chopped onions.
1 ltre of beef stock
another 500ml of water to add gradually

I didn't add the amount as I was just clearing my fridge so I used up whatever that was there. =)

Brown lamb shanks. Mean while, in a soup pot, saute onions, chili garlic and all the other veges. Fill pot with stock and start to cook it. When the shanks are done, place them into the soup. Add water when it is needed.

After around 1.5 hours, take lamb shanks out. Start to shred the meat once it is cooling. Add meat back to the soup and continue to simmer for another 20 minutes or so. Serve with crusty bread.

Loh Mai Kai (Glutinous Soya Pork Rice)

I have raved about this blog before and still continue to draw ideas from this brilliant home cook. When I saw Little Corner's lazy version of this very popular hawker dish, I decided to give it a go. Can you believe that I have not touched this dish for years! (Approx 8 years probably). One reason is because of the oil that goes with this dish. In hawker centre, I can taste the oil sipping through and being very weight conscious, I couldnt bear to take this dish when I can have other options to try (like my favourite Yong Tou Fu!).

Thankfully, home made version means I can adjust oil and seasoning accordingly. It was super easy and while I was in the zone plating this up, I messed up my Kueh Salat (previous post). Oh well, one win and the other one... to try again!

Loh Mai Kai (Glutinous Soya Pork Rice) -Chicken should be used! But I had pork so I used that instead.. 

1 cup of Glutinous Rice  (i did soak it for a few hours) wash, water level as normal and cook in rice cooker
 200 grams of pork sliced marinated in
2 tablespoon of oyster sauce
1 tablespoon of soya
1 tablespoon of dark (I might reduce this next time)
heaps of pepper

garlic
Chinese mushrooms
1 chinese cured sausage (Lup cheong) sliced 

Marinate Pork. While rice is cooking, saute garlic and add lup cheong. When it sizzles, add pork and sauces. Add around 1/4 water if too dry. Taste for seasoning. Add chinese mushrooms. Set mixture aside when cooked.

When rice is nearly done, add in the same portion of seasoning as you would for the pork. Stir well.

Spoon cooked rice into a small bowl. Compact it. Place pork or chicken slices, mushrooms  and lup cheong on top. Press to compact. Place a plate on top of the bowl, turn it over, give it a light tap and remove bowl. Tadah... Loh Mai Kai!

Minced Meat Noodles

I was very inspired after reading Little Inbox's Minced Meat Noodles. It looks soooo rich and inviting. The beauty of it is that re-creating this isn't hard at all.

I followed pretty much what Little Inbox did, except that I used fresh egg noodles and added veges and chili. Mine turned out sightly more dry though so I think I probably did not add enough water. I love how the noodles absorbed the sauce and how the eggs taste even better the next day!

Mince Meat Noodles (adapted from Little Inbox)

300 grams of pork mince
around 6-8 pieces of dried chinese mushrooms hydrated and chopped
1 tsp of garlic
few stalks of celery chopped (Not in little inbox's recipe)
4 hard boiled eggs shelled and quartered
fresh chili chopped 
water

2tablespoon of oyster sauce
2-3 tablespoons of soya sauce

dash of sesame oil
1 tsp of dark soy sauce

1) Cook noodles and put aside. Dish into separate bowls. Place eggs on the noodles.

2) Saute garlic and chili. Add mince cooking until nearly done. Add sauces and water. Simmer. Toss in veges and mushrooms. Spoon over noodles and egg.


Dishing this out to my friends at Presto Pasta founded by Ruth. Hosted by Chaya Comfy Cook Blog this week!

Baked Beans with Chicken Meat Balls

The humble baked beans has come along way since being on our breakfast table. This is one of my favourite dishes as a kid. My grandmother used to make it with mince pork though, but it is just as tasty.

My twist in this is to use chicken minced- making them into little meat balls first. First of all, chicken mince is leaner than pork mince and...also just because Woolworths had NO pork mince left when I did groceries that day. Why meat balls? For presentation and texture sake I suppose. There is more of a bite while eating meat balls then just saute minced meat.

We had it with rice but I pushed my rice aside and just savored the baked beans with chicken meat balls. No need for carbs with the baked beans I say! 

Baked Beans with Chicken Meat Balls (serves 4-5)

1 red onion chopped finely
1 tsp of garlic minced 
2 red chilsl chopped 
2 cans of baked beans reduced salt
1/4-1/2 cup of chicken stock 

300 grams of chicken mince
1 tsp of sesame oil
1 tablespoon of corn flour
1 egg
3-4 tablespoon of chinese wine
2 tablespoon of soya sauce

Marinate chicken mince for around 20 minutes. Shaped into meat balls.

Saute onion, garlic and chili. Add baked beans and simmer. Add chicken stock if the mixture gets too thick. When it starts to boil, put meat balls in. Cover and cook for around 10 minutes. Check and flip meat balls over if needed. Cook for another 5 minutes or so, adding stock if required. Serve HOT with some veges and plain rice. Or if you are like me, eat it as it is!

Swiss Adventure- Rosti and Halomi at home

During our trip to Switzerland (Interlaken), we hurried to try the local cusine. Cheese Fondue with white wine-checked. Rosti- Checked. While I wasn't ready to try out the strong cheese fondue at home (just didn't sit too well in my tummy), I love love love the rosti.

Re-creating dishes that we try and love overseas back at our humble kitchen is one of my passions. While our little rosti cakes did not look anything like what we had in Switzerland, it brought us back memories. The human brain is so amazing, recording our memories not just by sight, but by all senses. Having this, just brought us back a little more of what we have experienced. I can't help but drool with the sight of the runny egg on a bed of potato!

At home, I grated the potato, added some melted spread, season and proceeded to shape them in little cakes. It worked really well and turned crispy despite not having much oil added to the pan. I suppose it would have to be the butter on the potato cakes.

The shredded delights hit a big spot in us. We paired it with a light salad with grilled halomi cheese.  While I tried this cheese briefly in cafes, I have not thought of using it in salads before. Grilling it made it slightly crispy and I was greeted with the crispy outer and creamy cheesey insides. Superb!

 

Rosti with Halomi Salad (Serves 3-4) 

50 grams of Halomi cheese sliced to 2 pieces

Rosti 

2 potato grated

2 tablespoon of spread melted 

lots of freshly cracked pepper

1 tsp of chilli flakes 

1 tsp of minced garlic 

1 tsp of mixed herbs 

sea salt  

Mixed all ingredients together. Shape into patties. Preheat pan with a little oil. Fry rosti up.

ps- I like my potato with a little bite so I didn't pre boil it.  

Grilled Halomi- Preheat another pan with oil. Grill it till it turns crispy on the outside. Serve on bed of salad. 

Chicken Breast Stuffed with Semi-Sundried Tomatoes and Cheddar

I am so loving my copies of Australia Healthy Food Magazine. A friend recommended me (thanks Laynee- I know u r reading this!) and I got very addicted. It is MY kind of food magazine (I can see AR rolling his eyes because he thinks every food magazine is my kind).It is filled with lots of healthy facts and ways to prepare good tasting food without the scary amounts of calories. From suggested snacks that fill me up to quick dinners to health information, I read it from cover to cover.

This is what I picked up from one of the mag one day. Chicken Breast Stuffed with Semi-sundried tomatoes and chedder. For sides? I mashed potato with cream sweet corn. My friends, you know my pendent for sweet corn of course so this is NO exception.

Honestly, it is not my thing to stuff anything. One deep reason- everything I stuffed comes out. I just can't seem to do it right. Not this time though, I sliced the chicken breast into half, place the sem sundried tomatoes in there, half a slice of chedder, sew it up with a toothpick, rub it with some olive oil and season it with cracked pepper and salt. Then I throw it into a pre-prepared hot pan and hear it sizzle.

A few minutes and then I turned sides. Oh, not forgetting the edges of course. Mashed the potatoes with the sweet corn instead of cream or butter and it was a steal.

And check out the little ruby tomatoes-aren't they calling for you?

Chicken Breast Stuffed with Semi-Sundried Tomatoes and Cheddar   (Serves 2)
2 Chicken Breasts
30 grams of 98% fat free Semi Sun dried tomatoes drained
1 piece of cheddar

Seasoning

Preheat grill pan. Quickly cut chicken breast lengthwise, to open it up to a butterfly. Be careful not to cut through it. Place sundried tomatoes and cheddar in the cavity, seal it up with a toothpick. Season and rub olive oil on them. Place on grill and sizzle. Cook for around 5 minutes on each side and dont forget to sear the edges as well.

Mash 2 potatoes with a can of sweet corn. Season. Serve with salad on the side.

HAPPY AUSTRALIA DAY! This marks my 10 years in Australia already. So HAPPY 10th Year anniversary between me and you Australia!

Simple Okonomiyaki

Growing up, watching "Fang Tai" cook in our television screen is the norm. What I used to be amazed, was the amount of oil she seemed to have on hand. There was always a wok filled with oil ready for deep frying- and how nearly EVERY dish required deep frying!

Mum and I went shopping one day at OG (2 years ago maybe?), and I spotted "Fang Tai"'s  Quick and Easy Meals cookbook. I flipped through and surprise surprise, the dishes featured were alot healthier than what was before.

This simple Okonomiyaki caught my attention because it is what it says, simple. I never did associated the word simple with Okonomiyaki, so it was nice to know that it can be replicated in the small kitchen.

Funny enough, in the cooking instructions, it says add water but now where did it state how much water to add to the batter. I went with my "gut feeling" and added it till it becomes a semi thick batter that we can pour easily using a ladle.

Simple Okonomiyaki 

3/4 cup of flour
1/2 cabbage shredded
mushrooms
1 packet of ham
1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tbsp oil
around 1 cup of water
Teriyaki sauce
Mayo

Salt and pepper

Sieve flour and baking powder, add water and mix into batter. Put oil and seasoning. Mix well and set aside for 20 mins. Fold all veges and ham in batter.
Heat oil in pan. pour small ladle of batter into pan, flip after around 5 mins. Serve with teriyaki sauce and mayo!

Teriyaki Scallops Stirfry

Dinners in our households can be a simple affair. Lately however, AR has been requesting for more Chinese style meals. Being a Cantonese girl means I often think of dinners as "Soup, meat, vege and rice" combo. Unfortunately though, more than often, I am back home late and the thought of being in front of the stove for more than 30 minutes does turn me off cooking.

So we compromise. The "soup, meat, vege and rice" combo, is much better off handled over the weekend. Sometimes, he just have to do without a soup. Being brought up under my grandmother's wings means that soups must be boiled many hours and with love. And I simply can't handle preparing it in the morning before I head off to work either. Some weekends however, it is doable.

Isn't funny how husbands are "not quite fussy" until they got married?

I regretted buying the Woolworths Brand of Teriyaki Sauce- wonder what was I thinking of getting a Home Brand? Most of the time though, I have no problems with Home brand but when it came down to this sauce, it wasn't as good as it should be! Too sweet, and it didnt taste like teriyaki at all! Next time, back to the oriental store and stick with a Japanese brand!

Speaking of Woolworths, my bargain side came out quite unglamly at Woolworths one day- All seafood were being marked down and it was close ot 5pm. Haggling resulted in 50% discount in these scallops! YES! My Singaporean blood remains.... 

Teriyaki Scallops Stir Fry (Serves 4) 

400 grams of baby scallops
1 bunch of spring onions sliced
1 red capsicum diced
1/4 of cabbage sliced
1 tablespoon of garlic
1tsp of chopped chilli
3 tablespoon of teryaki sauce
1 tablespoon of soy

Saute garlic and chili till it smells sooo good. Then add the veges. Add a couple of tablespoons of water. Cook till it is nearly done. Push them aside. Add scallops and quickly fry them till they are not transparent. Add sauces and toss everything together.
Serve with rice.

3 ways to Chapati Pizza

A couple of months ago, Philadelphia cheese had a promotion on their cookbook- buy 3 tubs and get 1 cookbook for free. Pretty good deal hey? I'm have a soft soft heart for bargains so couldn't help resist buying 3 tubs of cheese even though I know it will take us really long to finish it. Baking a cheesecake could be an option but I wasn't in the "mood" to do so. Besides, there was a time factor with the planning of our honeymoon + renovations taking place approximately the same time. 

Thankfully though, the cookbook turned out to be a winner. It featured little recipes that are pretty easy to make (all using Philadelphia cheese of course) but certainly provided me with a different perspective on the humble cream cheese. Pizza- no a problem, Pasta- sure! Patties involving cream cheese-yummy, What about crepes and cream cheese- can be done.

While adapting their "Chilli Prawn Pizza" and "Spanish style Chorizo Pizza", I came up with 3 versions in our old kitchen. I used chapati bases- you can choose to use mini pita breads if you wish.

Chilli Seafood Pizza (serves 2)
1 pizza base of your choice
2 tablespoon of philadephia cream cheese
100 grams of marinara mix
2tsp of dried mix heaps
1 tsp of dry chilli flakes
a handful of rocket leaves

Preheat oven to 180C. Line tray with foil or baking paper. Spread cream cheese on pizza base, place prawns all over the pizza and sprinkle mixed heaps and chilli flakes on it. Season with salt and pepper if you wish. Bake for 15 mins. Cool and then top with some rocket leaves.

Tomato Seafood Prosciutto Pizza (serves 2)
1 pizza base of your choice
1 tsp of tomato paste 
2 strips of prosciutto
50 grams of marinara mix
1 tablespoon of cream cheese

Preheat oven and prepare tray. Spread tomato paste on it and place seafood evenly. You can use a knife to cut the prosciutto into strips but I just use my hands to do that. Dot the pizza with cheese. Bake for 15 mins. Serve with cracked pepper.

Spicy Tomato and Prosciutto Pizza (serves 2)
1 pizza base of your choice
1 tsp of tomato paste
2 strips of prosciutto
1 tomato chopped
1 handful of rocket leaves

Preheat oven and prepare tray. Spread tomato paste on pizza and sprinkle diced tomato on it. Place prosciutto strips and mushrooms. Bake for 15-20 mins and when cool served with rocket leaves.

Grilled Honey Soy Chicken

So I am a big fan of oven roasted dishes. Seriously, what can be easier than marinating and putting into the oven and then come back to lovely dinner?

Well,  the only problem was that I ran out of time! So after marinating the chicken overnight with the purpose of chucking into the oven, circumstances happened and I didn't managed to oven baked it in time. The next best thing is of course, grilling it.

I didn't regret it one bit. The result was crisp chicken, but tender on the inside. I served it with rice and veges and it was a lovely comforting meal.

Grilled Honey Soy Chicken (Serves 4)
6 drumsticks
1/2 cup of honey
1/4 cup of soya sauce
1 tablespoon of garlic
1 tablespoon of oyster sauce
1/2 tsp grated ginger
1/4 cup of chinese wine

All marinated over night or for at least 20 minutes. Baked in oven for 40 minutes or grilled it for around 15 mins. Serve with a squeeze of lemon.

Chicken Hor Fun

There are some days, where I want Singapore hawker  food. In MY ideal world, it will be low fat, low calorie but tastes the same. Alas, that's not always the case isn't it. We are quite blessed that in Perth, we have easy access to similar hawker food like in Singapore (plus where we reside). However, it is never quite the same as sitting in a kopitam, enjoying a plate of hor fun or  my ultimate favourite... ban mien.

Still, a girl has got to make do with what she has. So dropping by the oriental store, I picked up a packet of the white flat noodles, got my wok in action and started frying.

The result is still not as nice as the hawker style one of course, but it will do! for the time being..... =)

Chicken Hor Fun

200 grams of Hor fun noodles blanched and seperated
500 grams chicken diced and  marinated with soya, sesame oil, dark soya, oyster sauce and pepper.
1 bunch of choy sum washed and chopped
1 cup of chopped mushrooms (I used button but dried dehydrated shitake is fine)
2 eggs
1 tablespoons of garlic

Seasoning
2-3 tablespoon of oyster sauce
2-3 generous tablespoon of soya
1 tablespoon of dark soya sauce 
1/3 cup of shiao xien wine.

Heat a little oil in pan. Fry garlic and chicken till nearly done. Toss all veges in. Then toss noodles and add seasoning. Keep frying. Make sure the heat is on HIGH. Add eggs and tadah.. dinner is served.

I'm sharing this very simple dish with my friends from Presto Pasta organized by Ruth. This week Deb of Kahakai Kitchen is hosting.

Ma Po Tofu

The best thing about Chinese cooking is that it can be as simple as you want it to be or as challenging as we want it to be. More often than none, I choose the simple way.

Tofu is often perceived as boring. Not so in Chinese cuisine. I love my tofu as spicy as possible and the look of ma po tofu certainly appeals to me. Served with warm rice, it is the basis for good comfort food after a hard's day of work isn't it?

Ma Po Tofu 

2 firm tofu diced
300 grams of chicken mince (pork mince will be perfect for this)
handful of dehydrated shitake mushrooms diced
1 chili diced
1 red onion diced
1 tablespoon of minced garlic
1 big bunch of spring onions sliced
1/2 cup of Spicy bean paste
1/2 cup of Shiao Xin Wine
pepper

Fry garlic, chili and onion till nice and soft. Add in chicken mince and cook-breaking it up in pieces. Add mushrooms and tofu. Add all sauces and simmer. Adding stock or water if needed. Finally add in spring onions and toss through. Serve with hot rice.

Pork and Feta Burgers

There has been an increase of burger joints around lately. The difference is that they are real burgers rather than the processed stuff. Pretty expensive too I have to say- AU$25+ for a burger and some chips.



I shaped some pork mince and crumbled feta cheese into some cute little patties and served them for Sunday lunch. The great thing is that I used the left over patties in some pasta as well, hence that kills 2 meals quickly. LOL Very chic especially when served with some wedges and salad.


Bringing the cafe feel into the home kitchen without the extra cost! =)

Pork and Feta Burgers
300 grams pork mince
50 grams crumbed low fat feta
2 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce
1 egg
1 tablespoon of corn flour
1/2 cup of bread crumbs
lots of pepper
2-3 tsp of mixed herbs (dried)
1 tsp of garlic powder

Mix everything up. Marinate for around 20 minutes. Shaped into patties and fry them up. Serve with toasted bread buns, melted cheese and good old salad n chips!

Baked Lamb Meat Balls with Couscous

The thing about having a long weekend is that it gives us a taste of what it feels like having those few days not being at work. Apart from the usual mundane chores, hubby managed to put up wooden venetians plus curtain rod and curtains up.

I thought we took BEFORE photos ages ago when we proudly tried to install beige curtains up and removed ugly green ones. Due to our computer crashing on the 24th of April (YES! Our wedding day!), we lost alot of data and photos despite backing it up (must have forgotten that file) hence the only ones I could find were the ones my mum took when she came over. Even that I only found one that has a photo of our curtains...

Yup.. a photo of me and dad during my parents' visit for my graduation.

And the now photos:
Interior look:



ah... Hubby said that since after the wedding, I have been itching to plan and do other things JUST to add on to my load of work to do. He was being sarcastic of course but in a nice way. Afterall, I had 3 weddings + a doctorate thesis to plan in 1.5 years. Well, right now, I have to say that work is enough to drive me crazy and cooking and home improvement is keeping my sanity in tact (plus alot of prayers of course).

Having said that, I am very proud of hubby as he took upon my crazy idea, even went with me to Ikea to pick these blinds up. AND despite the person saying it will only take less than 2 hrs (it took us 8!!!), it eventually did happen and we have pretty windows. Certainly add abit of warmth isnt it?

I'm also looking at adding some home ideas stuff on this blog- To add flavour (haha pun!!) but also to reflect our next stage of life.

Wait, I did not forget to cook! I was still in winter mode when I baked this but it was such a warm nice Sunday night meal to have. Add a glass of red and a good movie, life is meant to be enjoy isnt it?



Baked Lamb Meat Balls with Couscous (Serves 5-6)
500 grams of lamb mince
1 tub of ricotta cheese (around 250grams)
1 chopped red onion
1 tablespoon of corn flour
1 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce
2-3 teaspoon of Tabasco sauce
salt and pepper
1 egg
1 cup of bread crumbs spiced


Tin of tomato (I had mine with oregano and basil)
1 cup of cheddar cheese

1 cup of couscous (cook to packet instructions)

Marinate lamb mince with ricotta cheese, cornflour, sauces, seasoning, egg and bread crumbs for around 30 minutes.

Pre heat oven 200C. Shape mince to meat balls and place in cassoroel dish. Bake for around 25 minutes. Remove from oven and pour tin tomatoes over it.Sprinkle with cheese and return to oven for around 5 minutes. Serve with couscous.

Red Curry Seafood Pasta

Yikes! Time is slipping through our fingers quickly. I can't believe it has been more than a week since I left my footprint (thumbprint?) on this blog. I still have heaps of meals to show but yet not enough time to blog!

We have a special guest with us this week- all the way from Brisbane. A friend of a friend, she is residing with us and we are having heaps of exciting fun with her. Not only that, she is vegetarian! Despite having a few vegetarian friendly recipes up my sleeves, I still felt a little "oh no, what are we going to have!?!?" She taught me a few things so I hope to be able to re-create them in the near future as well.

For today though, I want to share with you a Red Curry Seafood Pasta dish that we had for dinner some time ago. Our favorite seafood marinara (or seafood medley) is being used again. Some baby corn and peas-and it almost resemble a Thai red curry dish isn't it? Some lemongrass would have done the trick!
Red Curry Seafood Pasta (Serves 4)
2-3 tsp of red curry paste (I used thai red curry)
1tsp of garlic
1 tsp of grated ginger
200 grams of seafood marinara
100 grams of baby corn
2 cups of peas
handful of torn fresh basil leaves
250 grams of pasta

Cook pasta to your package's instructions. Drain and set aside. Saute garlic and ginger in the red curry paste till it smells oh so wonderful. Then include in seafood. Cook for around 4 minutes adding vegetables along the way. Toss pasta though with basil leaves.


ps-more wedding photos to follow in the next post!


Sharing my pasta love with friends at Presto Pasta founded by Ruth from Once Upon a Feast. This week, it is hosted by Joanne from Eats Well with Others.

Cottage Pie

Have you ever had something to eat as a kid that you just cannot forget?

My first taste of cottage pie was at a friend's farewell party. I think we were 15 years old. She was one of my close mates in class and we had debates over Shakespeare's Macbeth. But her dad was relocating to the UK and subsequently to Sydney, hence the farewell party was held.

I took a bite of her mom's cottage pie and I was sooo sooo hooked on it. Seriously, I have NOT tasted such a well made cottage pie since then. I remembered being cautious.. not quite certain what I was eating (I was brought up in a Traditional soup, vege and meat meals home) but gave it a go anyway. It was in a aluminum tray...and it was huge.

And it was gone in minutes.

The worst thing was I was too stunned (and very unsure about my cookery skills!) to even ask for what her secret was. AND we lost touch soon after her re-location..

I can't get that image and taste out of my mind though.

Here is my version of cottage pie when the pangs hit.



Cottage Pie (serves at least 6)
3-4 medium sizes of potato (I used royal blue)
1/4 cup of milk
1 tablespoon of spread
seasoning

1 red onion chopped
1 tsp of garlic
olive oil
400 grams of lean beef mince
3-4 tsp of Worcestershire Sauce
1/4-1/2 cup of beef stock
1 cup of peas
1 cup of chopped mushrooms
1 can of tomatoes
1 tablespoon of spicy mango chutney
2-3 celery sticks chopped

Cheddar and Parmesan cheese (around 1 cup)

1) Chop and cook potatoes till done. Mash with milk and spread. Season.

2) Pre heat oven 180C. In a deep pan, fry garlic and onion till soft and done. Add beef mince. Break the mince up as you cook it. Add stock and simmer. Add chutney, sauce and seasoning. Stir in the veges. Cook for around 10-15 minutes till done.

3) Place beef mixture in an oven proof dish. Then top it with the mash potato. Sprinkle some cheese on too. Bake for around 45 minutes till it is bubbling hot and golden brown.