Beef and Beans Burrito

Spent a very lazy day cooking and play boardgames with my family. I woke up pretty late today so I decided to make brunch for my family. I like Mexican food, and this burrito is not difficult to make!

Due to limited time, I just bought the ready-made Tortilla. I heard that one could make good tortillas from scratch with corn flour, plain flour and lard etc. I will try that later and let you know how it goes. Below are the ingredients. Tortillas, diced onions, cheddar cheese, minced garlic, minced beef and refried beans (yumm!!).

Added spices, cumin and paprika. Smelled sooo good. And of course, Mexican tomato sauce too!

I am taking off for my long Europe trip tonight so this will most probably be the last June post. Will be back in July and will share with you my European culinary experience then, so Ciao!

Coq Au Vin

I have always wanted to make coq au vin. It is a classic french dish, made either with white or red wine. But as Julia Child pointed it out, the red is more characteristic.

I did not follow Julia Child's recipe word by word and I skipped the bacon. I know the bacon grease would make the dish more dense and aromatic but for the sake of healthy eating, I skipped the bacon. Instead of bacon grease, I added a tiny bit of butter, fry the ingredients separately and let the red wine cook and simmer with the chicken fat.

The red wine is good enough. I never knew le vin rouge works so so well with chicken. Serving this dish with buttered green peas and potatoes will be perfect.

Green Papaya Salad

Quick update. I made green papaya salad for lunch today. Loved it. 

Bought the green papaya in Sai Kung, didn't really know how to cook it, so I asked the owner of the groceries for some tips, and recalling the taste of the green papaya salads I had at the thai restaurants, I made this. I don't have a shredder so I had a hard time cutting the papaya myself. I was hungry so I cut it roughly. Would have made it more fine if I had the time, but good that the thickness did give the salad a bit more crunchiness. Nice. 

I first prepared the vermicelli, set aside and let cool. Then I stir-fried the minced garlic with the chinese dried shrimps and pork with the seasoning. Once done, I started mixing everything in the big big bowl. Added fish sauce (yum!), a squeeze of lime juice, minced chilli and some more garlic. Gave it a final touch with a generous splash of some homemade thai sour and hot sauce.

Penne with Shrimps in Tomato Cream Sauce

I stood at awe of this unbeatable combination of shrimps, garlic, onion, tomato sauce, white wine, cream and parsley. I adapted this recipe from the Pioneer Woman website, but as usual, I didn't really follow the suggested measurements. I rely on my own intuition and of course, I always taste my dishes before serving them. I like it that way.

To keep my station clean and neat, I decided to adopt the practice "mise en place", which means "put in place" in English. I first realized its beauty and importance half a year ago when I cut my finger with a can while struggling in a very messy station (my sister always warned me about it). This practice is a must-do in professional kitchens. Before the cooking is done, all the ingredients are to be cut, prepared and separately placed in small plates and bowls, with all the necessary utensils placed at the stove.

I first fried the shrimp in olive oil and butter, cut them into small chunks and later drowned them in the gorgeous orange sauce. We were all so satisfied after this meal. This is comfort food. :)

Simple Stir-fried Spaghetti with Broccoli

Ran out of ingredients but still wanted to cook and eat well. So I stir fried the spaghetti with garlic, chilli, white wine and lemon juice. Sharp and pungent, it cannot go wrong. Oh and of course, I gave it a generous splash of extra-virgin olive oil before conquering it. 

I have found that the garlic tastes particularly nice when perfectly sautéed and browned. And another very random but useful tip, for those who wear contact lens, wear your contact lens before making this dish, the chilli hotness wouldn't leave my fingertips until now, i.e. 6 hours after the cooking.

Grilled Mackerel & Homemade Lemon Linguine

I love making my own pasta! I don't have a pasta machine, so I had to knead knead knead and roll roll roll. It takes a bit of effort but it's all worth it! The pasta you make yourself is healthy, with no preservatives, and  most importantly, it's very very al dente! 

I followed this recipe for making the pasta: 2 and 1/4 cups of plain flour, 3 eggs, and a pinch of salt. You may also add in different ingredients, say, minced garlic, chopped herbs or tomato paste to create a pretty flavored pasta!

Now am placing my little pasta nests under the sun to dry them up.

I roughly followed Jamie Oliver's lemon linguine recipe, drizzled some lemon juice and olive oil on top of my cooked linguine, seasoned it with sea salt and freshly ground pepper and mixed in a bunch of basil leaves and lemon zest. 

The mackerel (recipe adapted from Donal Skehan) was really easy and took me only 8 minutes to cook. I rubbed in olive oil, minced garlic and chilli, sea salt and ground pepper, lemon juice and zest on both sides of the fillet and let it cook on my lovely grill pan. So light, so tasty and healthy, I will have it for lunch very often from now on. :)

I will end this post with a cute little poem for all pasta-lovers. I found this poem from the Pioneer Woman website. Enjoy!

I love pasta in the morning.

I love pasta at night.

I love pasta when I’m happy

And when I’m filled with fright.

Pasta makes me happy.

Pasta makes me free.

I like to eat pasta

When I’m tuning into Glee.

Love, the Poet Laureate of County Road 4223

Hot & Sweet Drumsticks

My mom said we all need to diet and asked me to stop making so many snacks and desserts until my sister's big day is over. But I refuse to leave my kitchen, my home, so I am going to do more main-course dishes instead for now. 

I was in the mood for something nice and hot so I made this Hot & Sweet Drumsticks. It feeds my crave for strong flavors and the sweetness of the apricot preserves leaves a smile on my face.

Apricot preserves, soy sauce, ketchup, Tabasco and minced garlic is everything you need to make the sauce. Once the sauce is cooked and thick, pour it over the drumsticks, set aside and let it marinate itself. Shove it in the oven, and viola! No pain, no sweat. 

The recipe is adapted from the Tasty Kitchen. Instead of baking the chicken immediately after pouring the sauce over it, I let it marinate for an hour so the thick flesh will carry the strong flavor as well. Another thing I would do next time, in addition to the recipe, is to hold a bit of the sauce cooked and pour it only after baking. That should give the chicken a much darker and strikingly attractive look.