Indian style okra

I don’t cook as much Indian food as I probably should, partly because of all the chopping it requires. Especially onions. And somehow, I’m always out of tomatoes. Go figure.

I got me some okra at the market, and decided on an Indian style dish. My mum usually makes okra ( more popularly known in Malaysia as ladies fingers) chinese styled. Stir fried with some chopped garlic and an egg. My sisters and I can finish a whole plate of okra each this way. I’ve made this before, but decided to try something different this time around and was pleasantly surprised. You know it’s good when a certain someone pauses his killing computer game to run to the kitchen for another bite. 😉

 

Ingredients

300g okra, washed, dried and cut to desired size

3 cherry tomatoes (or one regular tomato) chopped, juices drained

1 big onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 tsp cumin seeds

2 tsps mustard seeds

1 tsp turmeric powder

1 tsp coriander powder

1 tsp chilli powder (adjust to your preference)

2 tbsps oil

Salt, to taste

 

Method

 

1. Heat oil. When hot, add cumin seeds and mustard seeds, stir fry till it starts to pop.

2. Add in onion. Fry till translucent.

3. Add in okra and fry till it is almost softened. Do not add water as it will turn all slimy!

4. Add turmeric powder, chilli powder and coriander powder.

5. Add in chopped tomatoes and fry till okra is cooked through and tomatoes are slightly dried up.

6. Add salt to taste.

7. Serve hot with rice.

 

The thing about Indian cooking is that it requires a myriad of different spices and one unfamiliar to it may be daunted by just the ingredient list. It’s actually very simple cooking that requires a variety of spices. And how hard can it be to toss in 3 different powders? 😉 The time consuming part would be the chopping of the onion and garlic. And some recipes require a blender to form a masala paste, but as I said earlier, it’s really not hard at all.

Sometimes I wish I had four stomachs (minus the bulge) so that I can cook lots of different other stuff. The hubs is always travelling, and when he’s home, I’m always stuffing him till he actually told me once to “prepare the lousy stuff that you make for yourself when I’m not home”. Little does he know that I cook myself gourmet meals when I’m home alone. I want to cook more Italian food, but at the same time, my Indian spices are always calling out to me, and so are my Chinese herbs. Sometimes my Malaysian (Malay) rempah (spices) wave at me. I have such a close relationship with everyone everything in my kitchen, I feel bad choosing one dish/ingredient over another. Anyone else have such a complicated relationship with their food? Geez I hope I’m not the only foodie psychopath out there.

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Sambal Udang and Petai

Me being me, naturally I had to source for the nearest Asian grocery store in Malmo. Oh what joy it was when I found the well stocked Asien Trading (no, it’s not a typo) in Malmo. They had everything a deprived-of-her-Asian-foodstuff girl could ask for. From the thousand and one types of noodles to the hundred and one types of sauces. And the fridge, oh, the fridge. It was laden with banana leaves, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, tofu, bird’s eye chilli, galangal, okra and….PETAI 😉 Petai, also known as stink beans or twisted cluster beans is an acquired taste for sure. I haven’t had them literally in years. I bought two packs of petai, a bag of bird’s eye chili and lemongrass.

The very next day after arriving home from our trip, I got down to the business of whipping up a mean Sambal Udang and Petai dish.

 

Ingredients

 

300g prawns, shelled

1 big onion, sliced into rings

1 cup petai, sliced into halves*

1.5 cups sambal

1 tsp tamarind macerated with fingers with 2 tbsps water

1 tsp belacan

3 tbsp oil

Salt, to taste

Sugar, to taste

 

Method

 

1. Heat oil in pan

2. Add in ground sambal paste

3. Although my sambal paste already has tamarind and belacan, I sometimes like to add more tamarind and belacan for added oomph.

4. Cook over small fire till it thickens and turns a dark red colour & oil separates. Add in onion and cook till they are slightly soft.

5. Add in petai and prawns.

6. Cook till prawns are fully cooked and petai is slightly cooked, but with a slight crunch to them.

7. Season to taste with salt and sugar.

8. Serve hot with rice.

 

 

Note:

1. Always, always slice your petai into halves lengthwise, as per my picture above. Worms love petai and they always burrow into the petai beans and have a siesta there. So cut the beans up so you wont accidently bite into one. Eww. More work, I know, but it beats biting into a juicy fat worm don’t you think? 😛

2. Cooking good sambal takes time, as it may take hours to get it to turn to a beautiful dark red. Make sambal only when you have the time, else you will end up with sambal that is raw tasting – not very nice.

3. I like a slight crunch in my onions, hence I didn’t add them from the beginning. If you like them soft and wilted, feel free to add them at the start.

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Tandoori Chicken Tikkas

OMG where has the year gone???? I almost can’t believe that 2010 is just around the corner! Felt like it was just yesterday that I moved to Italy. This time last year I was grumbling about the cold. I guess you need a little time to get used to the cold. Yesterday it was about 1 degree outside, and somehow, I feel like I’m getting accustomed to the cold. Let’s hope I don’t jinx it and get ill later on!

Anyway, the hubs and I have been so freaking busy, you have no idea. It’s the house that takes up most of our time and energy these days. Coupled with the fact that I have more classes to teach these days and also classes to attend, I practically am out of the house from morning to night. When I come home, I whip up dinner, have dinner, have a shower and then collapse in bed. And the next morning, the cycle repeats itself. And ironically, these workers who come to our house LOVE coming at 8-8.30 in the morning! That’s still not too bad. What’s worse is when they SAY they’re coming at 8 and then turn up at 10. Gah I hate that. Wake up so early and waste a few hours of precious sleep waiting for them to arrive. Oh well, at least I see the light at the end of the tunnel. The final work;  touch-ups of paint around the house is being done as I type this. Once that’s done, we can remove more things from the boxes strewn all over the house. The kitchen part is done. I took ONE FULL DAY to organize my kitchen items & ingredients. And I thought I’d need like 2-3 hours at most >____<

Anyway, once the boxes are out of the house, we can get our new sofa delivered, and then have the housewarming party. Which leads me to my recipe of the day 😉 I decided to try out this particular recipe to see if it works well, and whether it would be good enough to serve to the guests. The thing is, I want to make something that’s Malaysian. But what IS Malaysian food? I can only think of Nasi Lemak, Roti Canai, Char Kuay Teow. But OMG, the Italians are so very, very unadventurous with their food. Most of the Italians I know do not like Asian food. So what do I cook for them? I can’t exactly be making pasta coz that would be akin to having an Italian cook nasi lemak for me. It just doesn’t seem right. So, like it or not, I’ve decided to make some Indian and Chinese food for the party, BUT I’ll stick to the mild ones, hence my dish below; Tandoori Tikkas.

Tandoori Tikkas

 

Tandoori Tikkas

 

How, nice or not? 😉 I know that self praise is no praise, but the tikkas sure tasted good 😀 The only thing missing was the mint raita which I had planned to make. The supermarket had run out of mint leaves, so we had to do without the raita. I substituted with some cut cucumber and a piadina. After my failed attempt at making chapati, I figured that it would be simpler to jut buy some piadina. It looks like chapati but tastes different, just slightly.

Here it is, the recipe for Tandoori Chicken Tikkas

 

Ingredients

500g boneless, skinless chicken thigh – cut into bite sized pieces

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 cup yoghurt

5 tbsp ginger & garlic paste

2.5 tsp tandoori masala

1 tsp coriander powder

1 tsp cumin powder

1 green chili (or to taste), minced

1 tbsp oil

1 tsp red chili powder (or to taste)

Salt, to taste

A packet of bamboo skewers – soaked for at least 2 hours

 

Method

1. Wash chicken and cut into bite sized pieces.

2. Add lemon juice to chicken and let it rest for 5 minutes

3. In a smaller bowl, add the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Taste whether it is to your liking (esp salt).

4. Add chicken to the marinade and mix well.

5. Leave it to marinate in the fridge for a few hours, or preferably overnight.

6. Thread the chicken pieces onto the bamboo skewers.

7. Place skewers on a baking sheet that has been lined with foil and greased.

8. Place in oven on BROIL or GRILL mode for about 10 minutes on one side and 8 minutes on the other OR till the chicken pieces brown / caramelize at the sides.

9. Remove from oven, garnish with onions, cucumber or lemon wedges and serve with mint raita.

 

 

And oh, I am a happy girl 😀 We went to Ikea and I got myself a pestle and mortar to replace the tiny, fragile one that the hubs had (that one couldn’t even pound one onion!)

Ikea Pestle & Mortar

 

Pestle and mortar from Ikea, made of marble. Don’t play play ok. Now I’m gonna pound everything and let the stupid neighbour beside us complain however much they want. 😀 *GLEEFUL*

 

 

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Baked Cod Fillet With Parmesan Breading

I have been trying to incorporate more fish into my diet lately but it has been quite difficult as the best (and cheapest) fish are from the hypermarket which is quite a distance away. We try to stock up on fish whenever we go to the hypermarket, being a typical guy, the HB doesn’t like those trips. I am absolutely over the moon coz our new house is directly opposite a large-ish supermarket, and they also stock fish! And buttermilk!

 

I wanted something quick for dinner today and I  usually eat very quick, simple meals when the HB is away. I opened the kitchen cabinets, mulled over the ingredients I had and also those I have to finish, as they were nearing their expiry date.

 

Thus I came up with my own recipe of sorts 🙂

 

Baked Cod With Parmesan Breading

 

 

Ingredients (Serves 1)

1. Cod fillet

2. 4 tablespoons breadcrumbs

3. 2 tablespoons mayonnaise

4. 1/4 teaspoon chili flakes (I love mine hot, so I used a whole teaspoon)

5. 1 tablespoon lemon juice

6. 4 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

7. 1 tablespoon mashed anchovy fillet

8. 1 teaspoon garlic powder

9. 1/2 teaspoon chopped parsley (I used dried parsley)

9. Dash of pepper

10. Dash of salt

  

  

Method

  

1. Preheat oven to 220 degrees Celcius

  

2.In a bowl, mix mayo, chili flakes, lemon juice, Parmesan cheese, mashed anchovy, garlic powder, salt and pepper.

  

3. In another bowl, mix breadcrumbs with parsley flakes.

  

4. Drag one side of fish over Parmesan-mayo mixture. Drag again in the other bowl with breadcrumbs to evenly coat.

  

5. If you feel that you have a lot of remaining Parmesan-mayo mix, place fish on baking tray and spoon remaining mixture on fish before spreading with breadcrumbs.

 

6. Bake on tray lined with foil and smeared with a little olive oil for about 15 minutes or till crust turns a golden brown.

 

7. Serve with a slice of lemon.

 

Note: This is quite a forgiving recipe, and I suggest you eyeball measurements as you go along. Add or reduce cheese, chili flakes and garlic powder to your preference.

 

 

 Super easy, very yummy!

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Portuguese Egg Tart Recipe

 

Portuguese Egg Tart

 

Delightful little things these are. I never could resist them whenever I see them at bakeries back home. I do love all things eggy (apart from chawanmushi), and egg tarts have to be high up on the list. There’s the usual egg tart with the short-crust pastry and smooth yellow custard filling. And then there’s the Portuguese egg tart with it’s puff pastry and bumpy brown surface. *Loves*

 

Yesterday, I had a crazy craving for these, and when I looked it up online, woot, the recipe seemed simple enough. I went to bed thinking of these tarts. And guess what. Me and my crazy, vivid dreams. I dreamt that my house caught fire coz my egg tarts were in the oven, and the oven somehow caught fire. So when I woke up today, I just HAD to make these, you know, to sorta negate the dream 😛

 

The recipe I got was from Rasa Malaysia and it worked really well. The only thing I should improve on is the puff pastry. I never have had any luck with pastry, even if it’s store bought.

 

Ingredients

 

1 package store bought puff pastry

4 egg yolks

1/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup milk

1/3 cup whipping cream

3 drops vanilla extract

 

 

Method

 

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees celcius.

 

2. Mix all ingredients (except pastry) in a bowl with electric beater for about 3 minutes. (I don’t have one and hence used a fork to beat for about 5 minutes)

 

3. Strain mixture through a strainer.

 

4. Cut pastry into circles to fit into your muffin pan/aluminium foil cups. I used the latter.

 

5. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until there are golden brown spots at the top.

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Chinese Steamed Fish

 

The HB only likes his fish steamed. Hence I’ve made this a few times. The usual steamed fish is very simple, but my version needs a bit more work, but it tastes great!

 

I don’t mind eating this often, but how do I get the HB to like fish cooked other ways? Fish = steamed for the funny guy 😛

 

Chinese Steamed Fish

 

Ingredients

1 fresh fish – I use Sea Bream

2 inches ginger, julienned

3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

4 shallots, thinly sliced

A bunch of coriander leaves

2 tbsps cooking oil

1 tbsp sesame oil

4 tbsps light soy sauce

 

Method

1. Clean the fish properly (remove scales, guts etc).

2. Cut two slits on each side of the fish, about 2cm deep.

3. Rub fish with some salt. Place half the julienned ginger in the cavity of the fish.

4. Place on a metal plate and steam for about 10-15 minutes, or till done.

5. In the meantime, prepare the sauce. Heat oil in pan, and fry the garlic, remaining ginger and onion separately till brown and crunchy.

6. To save time, I do this all at once, using different spots on the pan.

7. I like my onions really crunchy, so I fry them till they turn dark brown. Fry it to your liking.

8. Remove fried ingredients from the pan. In a small bowl,  mix the remaining oil from the pan with soy sauce.

9. When fish is cooked, discard the water on the plate. Pour oil-soy sauce mixture on fish.

10. Top the fish with the fried onion, garlic and ginger.

11. Garnish with coriander leaves (optional if you don’t like coriander).

 

As you can see, I LOVE my coriander. A few sprigs would suffice, but I use coriander as a whole vegetable serving for this meal, hence the little garden on the plate. Funny how I used to despise this vegetable/herb. But after years and years of watching mama chomp this vegetable (root and all!), I began to develop a taste for it. It’s awesome coupled with Sambal Udang (Prawn Sambal) too!

 

I remember this restaurant in Batu Pahat that served a similar dish. We used to love it. I remember they used to have fried “chai poh” (pickled radish) sprinkled on top apart from the fried shallots. The proprietors were always besotted with my (then)still-cute-as-heck baby sister. Remember this shop, Sophia? Papa used to take us there, in Kg.Merdeka, near the old hospital 🙂

 

Memories….

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The heat, gelato and shuet karp!

It has been SWELTERING hot here in Modena. I kid you not. Coming from a girl who lived in the tropics all her life, this is something serious folks. 😛 I have been walking to class every Mondays and Wednesdays, and the usually pleasant 30 minute walk has been arduous to say the least. The other day, I captured this in HB’s car:

 

40 degrees celcius at 4.13pm

 

40 degrees celcius (Thats 104F for ye Americans out there :P)! That’s like wayyyy hotter than in Malaysia. No wonder I was feeling faint and light headed. Strange how I’ve taken to using sunblock in Italy, when in Malaysia, I couldn’t be bothered 😛

 

So, whats the best cure for a terribly hot day?

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

An assortment of ice-cream!

 

😀

 

Now the gelato in Italy is usually very, very good. Even their in-house brands such as the Esselunga (similar to Tesco, Carrefour) one is really good, so we usually buy those types as they’re much cheaper.  However, the Haagen Dazs was on sale! It was going for EUR3.50, how could we not resist it! Put two pigs together, and this is what you get haha.

 

 The HB complains that I’m always hankering for ice-cream, but AHEM, it’s HE who wolves down the ice cream like there’s no tomorrow. You see that Esselunga tub? It’s a 500gram tub, and we finished that in TWO DAYS. Yepp, you read that right. Back in Malaysia, we used to take maybe 3-4 scoops in a mug BUT my greedy other half serves the ice-cream in a soup bowl, beat that 😀 But I ain’t complaining. The Haagen Dazs disappeared in two days too, but that’s only coz I was PLEADING for him not to finish it, else it would’ve finished in one sitting.

 

We also tried to make ourselves feel less guilty with all that ice-cream intake, and hence:

 

Ice-cream with berries!

 

Blueberries, raspberries and blackberries with ice-cream. Who says I don’t eat fruit ma? 😀

 

And, another attempt at trying to “cool down”:

 

Shuet Karp Thong Sui

 

Yepp, I can’t believe how traditional I’ve become. This is a Chinese dessert drink that’s usually served in uppity restaurants and is mighty pricey. Shuet karp/suet karp/snow deer/hasma is actually made from the Fallopian tubes of a certain type of frog. It actually isn’t as gross as it sounds, and trust me, it tastes just like plain ol’ jelly. The Chinese believe that hasma is good for the lungs, kidneys and for improving one’s skin complexion. Lord knows I can use loads of that!

 

There are many versions to this recipe, but I made do with the little stuff I had at home.

 

Here’s the recipe:

 

Shuet Karp/Hasma Thong Sui

2-3 grams of hasma, pre-soaked for about two hours

4 red dates

8 dried longan

A chunk of rock sugar, to taste

 

Method

1. Add all ingredients together, bring to a boil.

2. Let it simmer for an hour or so.

3. Stick it in the fridge for a nice, cool dessert!

 

I’m almost out of longan and red dates 😦 If only I can find those ingredients here. This summer heat is killing me!

 

Pssssttt….the HB and I went to Bologna yesterday. Stay tuned for our adventures misadventures, and how the usually heat resistant Malaysian was defeated by…..the heat. Tsk tsk.

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BEST EVER BANANA CAKE

Best ever banana cake

 

Best ever banana cake

 

 

I kid you not.

 

I exaggerate not.

 

I ate not a lot.

 

😛

 

What triggered me to make this cake was the overly ripe bananas we had at home. Best decision ever. I don’t think we’re ever gonna eat fresh banana again. From now on, I think I will buy the ripest bananas I can find, OR buy regular bananas and wait till they are overly ripe (with brown spots) because the riper they are, the more banana-ey the cake will taste. You know how banana cakes are usually hard and dry? Ooooh, this one was super moist and soooo banana-ey!

 

I got this recipe online and tweaked it a little to my liking.

 

Here’s the recipe:

 

2 cups ripe banana, mashed

3 cups flour

2 teaspoons lemon juice

1.5 teaspoons baking soda

A pinch of salt

3/4 cup softened butter

2 1/4 cups sugar

3 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

1.5 cups buttermilk (If unavailable, substitute with regular milk + lemon juice OR milk+vinegar)

1 cup chopped walnuts

 

1. Preheat oven to 135 degrees celcius (275 F)

2. Grease and flour a baking pan. I used a 30cm x 22cm pan and it was just perfect. This recipe yields a lot, so I don’t know if it will fit in a smaller pan.

3. In a small bowl, mix the mashed bananas with lemon juice.

4. In a bigger bowl, mix flour, baking soda and salt.

5. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar till light and fluffy. I don’t have an electric mixer. I did this by hand. The HB tried to help. Hilarity ensued. I literally laughed till I cried. MUST.BUY.MIXER.IN.MALAYSIA.

6. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Stir in the vanilla.

7. Beat in flour alternately with buttermilk (i.e, some flour, some milk, some flour, some milk)

8. Stir in the banana mixture.

9. Mix chopped walnuts into mixture.

10. Pour batter into baking pan and bake in preheated oven for about an hour or till toothpick inserted comes out clean.

11. Remove from oven and place directly into freezer for 45 minutes. This apparently makes the cake REALLY moist.**

12. Switch on the TV, switch off your phones and enjoy the best banana cake ever. 🙂

 

Note** : I intensively googled “putting hot stuff into your freezer”. Apparently the freezer only works harder, and putting hot stuff into the freezer doesn’t spoil any part of the freezer. It is akin to an aircond cooling down a hot room as compared to another aircon cooling down an already cool room. The aircon just works harder.

 

Try it out and tell me whether or not you agree with my post title 😉

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Jamie Oliver’s Roast Lamb Shoulder

 

Oh

My

Goodness.

 

Today, I outdid myself. I made the best dish EVER. Thanks to Jamie Oliver. I am officially in love with the guy. Here I am, a novice in the kitchen, and I whipped up the best lamb dish I have ever tasted. (Ok, I am NOT bragging, but I tell the truth and nothing else.) It totally rocked my socks. I daresay its restaurant quality.

 

I bought the lamb shoulder from the hypermart only coz it was the first time they had lamb, and I was excited as heck. I figured I could look up a recipe on the Net when I got home and thats what I did today.

 

When I googled “lamb shoulder recipe”, most of the recipes were of Jamie Oliver’s Incredible Roasted Lamb. Wow, with a name like that, I guess it should be quite good. So I decided to give it a shot. I was taken aback by ONE thing though. It required 4 hours in the oven. Yupp, you read that right. Four hours. But I tell you this, its TOTALLY worth it.

 

So here it is, Jamie Oliver’s Incredible Roasted Lamb

 

Serves 6

 

1 pound lovely greens, such as white cabbage, Savoy cabbage, Brussels tops or cavolo nero, leaves separated, stalks finely sliced

 

For the lamb

 

A large bunch of fresh rosemary
1 x 2.2 pound shoulder of lamb
Olive oil
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 bulk of garlic, unpeeled, broken into cloves

For the smashed veg

1 ½ pounds peeled potatoes, cut into large chunks
3 large carrots, peeled and cut into small chunks
½ a large rutabaga, peeled and cut into small chunks
6 tablespoons butter

 

For the sauce

1 tablespoon flour
2 cups good-quality hot chicken or vegetable stock
2 heaped tablespoons capers, soaked, drained and chopped
A large bunch of fresh mint, leaves picked
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

 

Preheat your oven to full whack. Slash the fat side of the lamb all over with a sharp knife. Lay half the sprigs of rosemary and half the garlic cloves on the bottom of a high-sided roasting pan, rub the lamb all over with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Place it in the pan on top of the rosemary and garlic, and put the rest of the rosemary and garlic on top of the lamb. Tightly cover the tray with aluminum foil and place in the oven. Turn the oven down immediately to 325ºF and cook for 4 hours — it’s done if you can pull the meat apart easily with two forks.

 

When the lamb is nearly cooked, put your potatoes, carrots and rutabaga into a large pot of boiling salted water and boil hard for 20 minutes or so until you can slide a knife into the rutabaga easily. Drain and allow to stream dry, then smash them up in the pan with most of the butter. If you prefer a smooth texture, add some cooking water. Spoon into a bowl, cover with foil and keep warm over a pan of simmering water.

 

Remove the lamb from the oven and place it on a chopping board. Cover it with foil, then a kitchen towel, and leave it to rest. Put a large pan of salted water on to boil for your greens. Pour away most of the fat from the roasting pan, discarding any bits of rosemary stalk. Put the pan on the stovetop over medium heat and mix in the flour. Add the stock, stirring and scraping all the sticky goodness off the bottom of the pan. You won’t need gallons of gravy, just a couple of flavorsome spoonfuls each. Add the capers, turn the heat down and simmer for a few minutes.

 

Finely chop the mint and add it to the sauce with the red wine vinegar at the last minute then pour into a pitcher. Add your greens and stalks to the pan of fast-boiling salted water and cook for 4 to 5 minutes to just soften them. Drain and toss with a knob of butter and a pinch of salt and pepper. Place everything in the middle of the table, and shred the lamb in front of your guests. Absolutely delish!

 

I did not follow the recipe verbatim, as I left out the smashed veg, knowing that it would be too much for the both of us. I substituted with a simple boiled broccoli and carrots tossed in some melted butter, salt and pepper.

 

Also, I kinda got a little impatient after 3.5 hours, so in effect, I actually roasted it for 3.5 hours and not 4 as specified by Jamie’s recipe. But the end result was fantastic nonetheless. Maybe its because the lamb shoulder piece we bought was a little on the small side, and cooked a little quicker than the specified 4 hours. The meat was juicy and succulent, falling off the bone. Drooooool.

 

Here are the pictures:

 

Lamb Shoulder

 

Agnello Spalla = Lamb Shoulder. Yepp, it costs EUR 10.25. I shudder thinking of the price in RM. 😦

 

And here is my masterpiece 😀

 

 

Jamie Oliver's Roast Lamb

 

 

Lamb, sauce and bread

 

I seem to have forgotten to take a picture of the vegetables in my haste to gobble everything up.

 

Clean plates, check out the bones!

 

Empty wine glass, empty plates, full tummies. We even picked the bones dry.

 

Haha, our dining table is piled with food, check out the cake with Grand Marnier in it 😉 We bought more stuff due to Xmas being around the corner, and of course, the entire city (if not country!) will be closed.

 

I tell you, this lamb recipe is fantastic. Best of all, its actually quite easy if you have the ingredients at hand. I’m quite happy we bought pots of rosemary and thyme, and they’re both growing quite well. It’s quite convenient to just snip off some stalks when I need it.

 

Give this recipe a try. Its awesome. And easy!

 

I need to get Jamie’s cookbook already dammit.

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Roast Pork Loin and Baked Potato Wedges

It is fun cooking and experimenting with new recipes when HB is back. When he is away travelling, I usually eat simple, easy-to-make meals. HB was home this weekend, and we decided to try something more challenging.

 

We had decided earlier on to make a nice roast pork dish, and I figured pork loin would be a nice cut.

 

So for those of you who are feeling adventurous, do try this, it’s really yummy! Actually its not even all that challenging. Quite simple really, if you have all ingredients at hand.

 

Roast pork loin

 

The meat was really juicy and not dry as I thought it would be.

 

Baked potato wedges

 

This was HB’s effort (mostly 😛 ). He did the cutting and mixing of seasonings while I coated the wedges with the said seasoning. Now, I really love my potatoes, and this turned out REALLY yum. I think I could have finished the entire 4 potatoes myself!

 

Delizioso!

 

We coupled our meal with a glass of wine, and it was just like a meal in a restaurant, albeit 90% cheaper. 😛 The wine we had was a Chianti Classico, and it was quite mild. I think I am probably used to stronger tasting wines these days 😛 And no ma, that does NOT mean I am turning into an alcoholic. =________=

 

So, for those of you who may be interested, here’s the recipe for our Roast Pork Loin and Baked Potato Wedges.  

 

Baked Potato Wedges

4 potatoes, washed (leave skin on)

4 teaspoons grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 teaspoon paprika powder

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

8 teaspoons vegetable oil (we used olive oil)

 

1. Cut potatoes into wedges

2. Mix the parmesan cheese, salt, pepper, paprika powder, garlic powder and oil in a small bowl.

3. Place potatoes skin side down in a baking pan/tray. Brush the seasoning mixture over wedges.

4. Bake in a 180 degrees celcius oven for about 45 minutes.

 

 

Roast Pork Loin (serves 4)

 

1 boneless pork loin (about 1 kilo).

4 tablespoons softened butter

400 grams chopped prosciutto (can be substituted with shaved/chopped ham)

4 tablespoons finely minced garlic

2-3 tablespoons dried rosemary (of course, better if it is fresh)

3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

1 teaspoon black pepper (or more if you prefer)

2 cups dry red wine

 

1. Mix butter, prosciutto, garlic, rosemary, cheese and black pepper.

2. Cut slits on loin about 4cm long and 2cm deep on both sides of loin.

3. Spread butter mixture all over loin and ESPECIALLY into the slits. (Use fingers for best results).

4. Place loin in a Ziploc bag and refrigerate overnight. (Do not freeze!)

5. Preheat oven.

6. Place loin on a roasting pan and pour wine all over it.

7. Roast for about 1 hour or so at 180 degrees celcius, depending on size of loin.

8. Baste with pan drippings every 20-30 minutes.

9. Let it rest in oven for about 10 minutes before serving.

 

Sit back and enjoy the aroma of roast pork and baked potato wedges wafting through the air. 🙂 I had actually wanted to steam some broccoli to go with this meal, but we realized that there is already too much for us to down 😛 So, we made do with grapes later on for fibre.

 

We polished off the potato wedges, and there’s about 1/5 of the loin left in the fridge. Excuse me while I go heat it up and have another wonderful meal. 😉

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