I went to Sydney to see Bebel Gilberto's concert on Friday night. And as per usual, no trip to Sydney would be complete without catching up with my favourite Sydneysiders.
Lunch was at Nubia and Cristobal's for a sumptuous Colombian feast. I went there with Liz and 20 or so other Aiesec friends. I had been to their place several times and it's always a delight to spend afternoons eating, chatting and dancing... the Colombian way!
I met up with my girls for dinner at Capitan Torres and drinks followed at Darling Harbour afterwards. There were lots of chatter, photo taking and good food to pass around.
Shopaholics not so anonymous. The four of us practically stayed on that couch the whole time. We started thinking of mock situations and amused ourselves by posing for Miel's camera all night.
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And I'm still on a Spanish kick. Made these for dinner:
Well done Nando! They were pretty decent goals as well. I wish I saw this game. Apparently he was being challenged by the Reading defenders quite a lot but he stood his ground and delivered for the team. But poor boy had no idea what to say during the post-game interview. I think he understood the bit about how he's going with his English though. And he did say 'thank you' in the end. Ahhh que lindo! :)
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These came in the mail today.
Brasilian lollies, Ceu cd, hand cream, earrings and bracelet from Doug. Last couple of times I received parcels from Brasil, they were detained by Customs. And once, my friend thought it'll be funny to send flour in a clear plastic bag. The flour was yummy and I don't think it's available here. But man, no wonder it took over a month in Quarantine. The powdered white substance in the clear bag sure looked suspicious.
Doug, if you're reading this, I'm happy to announce that Customs didn't even bother opening my birthday present. I got the box in one piece. Obrigado!
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Warming up to my new kitchen
Homemade tacos, Carbonara, Fish with Thai inspired sauce and stir-fried tofu, Beef Pho
This was taken on my 25th birthday dinner. I was supposed to watch John Butler Trio that evening but they had to postpone cos their drummer got sick. Some friends and I ended up organising an impromptu dinner at Rock Salt instead. Everything was superb but for me, what really stood out were their desserts. One of the pleasant surprises that we got was a really simple strawberry salad with basil and balsamic vinegar. It was so yummy and refreshing. Regina (on the photo) and I were obsessed.
I tried to copy it tonight for dinner. Super sarap and it was very easy to make:
And I also made beef and tofu teriyaki for my main meal:
Look here! I made you raspberry and pear bread for your 25th. :) I promise that you'll get to try the real thing when you visit in March. Hehehe love you!
And while I'm in the mood for food phlogs, here are some of what I made in the last week or so.
clockwise: baked stuffed capsicums, pumpkin soup, potato and broccolo soup, home made dumplings in rice noodle soup.
Yuuuuum! I'm not a big fan of instant mixes, bottled sauces/marinades, canned soup, etc. I make a big fuss over making things from scratch cos at the end of the day, nothing beats fresh produce especially for a warm winter meal.
I had a Vivian Ward moment whilst in Your Habitat the other day. Remember that scene at Beverly Hills when she was practically kicked out of the shop because she looked inappropriate? Yep, that scene.
I was looking at Kitchen Aid mixers and I wanted to know the difference between the standard mixer and the deluxe one. I approached a shop assistance to ask for help and she basically tried cutting me off every chance she got.
Me: I was wondering if you can tell me the differences between the standard mixer and the deluxe one. Shop assistant: Well, I'd recommend this one over here (pointing to the standard mixer) because the other one's only for people who cook and bake a lot. Me: Ok... but can you tell me more about the features of both? I cook and bake a lot, that's all. Shop assistant: I really think you should get the standard mixer because we only recommend the deluxe one for people who uses their kitchen a lot. Me: Sure, I understand. But can you just tell me more about both products so I can compare and decide which better suits my needs? Shop assistant: Look, the deluxe one is just for professionals. So I think you should get the standard one.
Aba sya pang nainis! And in my sweetest and nicest voice, I asked her jokingly "So I guess I don't look professional enough, hey?"
Then I said thank you and she told me that the deluxe model has a more powerful motor. Haaaay nako. If she only knew the amount time I spend in my kitchen. I may not have gone to a culinary school nor have I taken cooking classes but cooking and baking are two things that I acknowledge I'm fantastic at. I should've invited her to come over for dinner. And besides, what's wrong with wanting to know the difference between two models of the same product?
God knows how I've wanted a Kitchen Aid mixer for the longest time. It's been on every Christmas/Birthday/Anniversary/whatever list for years and years now. Little miss shop assistant could've made a sale but no, she didn't think I deserve any of her time.
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Shop assistant: Hello, can I help you? Vivian: I was in here yesterday, you wouldn't wait on me. Shop assistant: Oh. Vivian: You people work on commission, right? Shop assistant: Yeah. Vivian: Big mistake. Big. Huge. I have to go shopping now.
Description: I made this for dinner the other night. I wanted to deviate from my usual lamb recipe of marinating/rubbing the meat with garlic,salt, oregano and rosemary so I tried this.
Ingredients: 4-6 lamb chops 1/4 cup parsley 1/2 cup chopped pecans 1 tablespoon rosemary 2 cloves of garlic, chopped finely 1/4 cup bread crumbs 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon of coarsely ground black pepper 3 tablespoons of dijon mustard
Directions: 1. Combine pecans, parsley, rosemary, garlic, bread crumbs, salt and pepper in a food processor. Process until finely chopped. 2.. Add oil on the roasting tin. Roll the chops on the tin so they'll be lightly coated with olive oil. 3. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees celsius. 4. Rub each chop with mustard then coat it with the pecan mixture on both sides. 5. Arrange the chops in the roasting tin and place in the oven for about 20 minutes. 6. Serve with roast veggies.
Ingredients: 2 1/2 cups self raising flour 1 cup caster sugar 1 cup milk 2 eggs 150 grams butter 1 teaspoon vanilla essence 1 punnet of blueberries
Directions: 1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees celsius. 2. Butter the muffin tray lightly. 3. Melt the butter in low heat and cool. 4. Sift the flour into a glass bowl. Combine sugar with the four. 5. Combine milk, lightly beaten eggs and vanilla essence in a separate bowl. 6. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture. Pour the milk mixture into the bowl. Add the melted butter. Fold the mixture gently then add the blueberries. 7. Divide the batter evenly among the holes in the muffin tray. 8. Bake for 20-25 minutes.
Description: This recipe's my own. Now you can make it too. :)
Ingredients: Ingredients: 200 grams cooking chocolate, coarsely chopped (I prefer dark) 125 grams unsalted butter 1 cup brown sugar 4 eggs 2 tsp vanilla extract 1 cup sifted plain flour 1/2 cup of macadamias, coarsely chopped 1/2 cup of chocolate chips icing sugar
Directions: 1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius. 2. Prepare the baking tin by lining it with aluminum foil. Butter the foil then line with baking paper. 3. Melt the butter and chocolate in low heat. Stir occasionally. 4. Remove the chocolate and butter mixture and let it cool for around 10 minutes. Pour the mixture into a mixing bowl. 5. Whisk sugar and vanilla into the bowl. Add eggs one by one and continue mixing. 6. Add the flour and mix well. 7. Gently fold in the nuts and chocolate chips. 8. Spread evenly into the pan and bake for 30-40 minutes. 9. Let the tin cool on a wire rack for 30 minutes. You can even chill the brownie in the fridge once it's cool. This will make slicing easier later on. 10. Finally, slice and dust the brownies with icing sugar.
Description: Japanese rice dish with chicken and eggs
Ingredients: 2 breast fillets 1 large onion (cut into wedges) 1/2 c Dashi stock 2 tbsp mirin 2 tbsp caster sugar 4 tbsp soy sauce 4 eggs (lightly beaten) 1 shallot shitake mushrooms
Directions: 1. Heat dashi stock in medium heat. Add soy sauce, mirin and sugar. Bring to a boil. 2. Add onions. 3. Cut chicken into bite-sized pieces. Cook in the dashi and soy sauce mixture. Add the mushrooms. 4. Bring soup to a boil. 5. Pour the eggs onto the mixture. Lower the heat and cover the pan for a few minutes. Turn the heat off and let it stand for a couple of minutes. 6. Serve on top of steamed rice and garnish with finely chopped shallots.
Ingredients: 125 g plain flour 25 g corn flour 1 1/2 tsp baking powder 100 g unsalted butter 300 g caster sugar 4 eggs 2 tsp vanilla extract 2 tbsp milk 50 g flake almonds 375 double cream 250 g strawberries
Directions: 1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C. Line, butter and flour 2 x 22 cm spring form tin. 2. Weigh out flour, corn flour and baking powder into a bowl. 3. Cream butter and 100 g of sugar in another bowl. Separate the eggs and beat the yolks into the butter and sugar mixture. Save the whites to whisk later. Gently fold in the dry ingredients, add the vanilla, and stir in the milk to thin the batter. Divide the mixture between the two prepared tins. 4. Whisk egg whites until soft peaks form. Gradually add the remaining 200g of sugar. Spread a layer of merengue on top of the sponge batter in each tin and sprinkle almonds evenly over. 5. Bake for 30-35 minutes. Let cakes cool in tins, then spring them open the last minute when you are ready to assemble the cake. 6. Whip the double cream and hull and slice the strawberries. Invert one of the cakes on to a plate or a cake stand so that the sponge is uppermost. Pile on the cream and stud ith strawberries. Place the second cake on top and press down gently, just to secure it.
Description: Salsa Roja, Salsa Verde and Guacamole for Abi's Gael Movie Night. ;)
Ingredients: See below :)
Directions: Salsa Roja
2 cups of finely chopped tomatoes 1 cup of finely chopped onion 1/4 cup of finely chopped coriander 1 to 3 Ancho chillies for mild salsa; 4 or more for picante salsa one clove garlic (crushed) two limes one teaspoon of chicken stock powder mixed into one half cup of water salt and pepper
Chop tomatoes, onion, cilantro, garlic and chiles very fine. Make sure to remove seeds and spines from chillies. Add the juice of the lime and the chicken stock. Salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate salsa. Serve cold.
Salsa Verde
one cup chopped onions 1/4 cup vegetable oil 1 1/2 cup spinach, chopped 1 1/2 cup whole tomatillos, cooked (green tomatoes) 1/2 cup green chillies, chopped 2 cloves garlic, crushed 1 tbsp dried oregano leaves 1 cup chicken stock
Cook and stir onions in oil in 3 quart saucepan until tender. Add spinach, tomatillos with liquid, garlic and oregano. Cover and cook over medium heat 5 minutes. Transfer to blender container; cover and blend on low speed until smooth, about 1 minute. Return mixture to saucepan; stir in chicken stock. Heat to boiling; reduce heat and simmer uncovered 10 minutes. Cover and refrigerate no longer than 10 days. Yields about 4 1/2 cups. Note: for less picante sauce, use a lesser amount of chillies.
Guacamole (Avocado Salsa) 1 cup of Red Salsa Fresca (chilled) 4 avocados, peeled and pitted 2 limes salt and pepper to taste Mix together cup of uncooked salsa with avocados that have been well mashed (or mixed in a blender until smooth). Squeeze in the juice of two limes, mixing. Season with salt and pepper to taste. You can add a shredded white cheese on top for garnish.
Ingredients: 1 chicken (2 kilos) cut into 10 pieces 1 head garlic 2 unwaxed lemons, cut into chunky eights small handful fresh thyme 3 tablespoons olive oil 150 ml white wine black pepper
Directions: 1. Preheat oven to 160 degrees/ gas mark 3. 2. Put the chicken pieces into a roasting tin and add the garlic cloves, lemon chunks and the thyme; just roughly pull the leaves off the stalks, leaving some intact for strewing over later. Add the oil and using your hands, mix everything together, then spread the mixture out, making sure all the chicken pieces are skin side up.
2. Sprinkle over the white wine and grind on some pepper, then cover tightly with foil and put in the oven to cook, at a flavour-intensifying low heat, for 2 hours.
3. Remove the foil from the roasting tin, and turn up the oven to 200 degrees/ gas mark 6.Cook the uncovered chicken for another 30-45 minutes, by which time the skin on the meat will have turned golden brown and the lemons will have begun to scorch and caramelise at the edges.
4. Serve straight from the roasting tin; so just strew with your remaining thyme and dole out.
Ingredients: chicken pieces 250 grams baby spinach leaves a dozen mushrooms 1 large onion 3 cloves of garlic 2 cups of arborio/calrose rice 6 cups of vegetable stock (I love vegeta!) 1 cup dry white wine 1/2 cup sour cream olive oil
Directions: 1. Brown chicken in olive oil. Add mushrooms until cooked. Set aside. 2. Bring stock and wine to a boil. Remove the pan from the heat. 3. Sautee onion and garlic in olive oil. Add rice and stir until coated with oil. Add a cup of stock and wine mixture and stir until it's absorbed by the rice. Repeat this step until you've finished the stock mixture. 4. Add chicken, mushrooms and baby spinach. Mix well. 5. Stir some sour cream into the pan, mix well and serve.
Directions: 1. Cream margarine, sugar and vanilla. 2. Gradually beat in eggs 3. Add peeled and mashed bananas. 4. Add baking soda to the milk. 5. Fold in sifted flour alternately with milk. 6. Bake in two loaf tins for 3-35 minutes (180 degrees Celsius) 7. Spread frosting* on top of the cake and top with chopped walnuts.
*Frosting: Place all ingredients in a bowl and beat until smooth.
Ingredients: 240 of penne 100g of pancetta or streaky bacon cut in to small chunks 6 large asparagus spears cut into chunks 100g of freshly grated Parmesan 3 egg yolks 300ml double cream 2 tbsp of chopped parsley Knob of butter Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Directions: 1. Add the penne to some salted boiling water and cook for 6 minutes. 2. Add the asparagus and cook for a further 2 to 3 minutes till tender but still with a little bite. 3. Whisk the cream with the egg yolks, add half the Parmesan and season with salt and pepper. Set aside. 4. Fry the pancetta in hot pan and add a knob of butter. Once it's cooked toss in the parsley, asparagus and pasta. 5. Add the egg yolk and cream sauce. The heat of the pasta will cook the sauce. 6. Serve with the rest of the Parmesan.
Ingredients: Chicken breasts/thigh fillets (cut into bite-size pieces) 4 Kaffir lime leaves (teear into small pieces and add more if you like) 2 Tsp sugar 1 Tbs fish sauce 1 Tbs light soy sauce 1 Tsp minced garlic 1 red chilli to garnish Basil leaves to garnish 3 Tbsp chilli oil
Curry Paste: 2 Tbs red curry paste 1 Tsp minced ginger 1Tsp minced garlic 1 Tsp lemongrass 1 red chilli (sliced thinly) 1/2 medium onion (diced)
Directions: 1. Marinade chicken in garlic, soy sauce, fish sauce and sugar. 2. Blend curry paste, garlic, ginger, chilli and lemongrass in a processor. 3. Heat chilli oil in a wok. Add curry paste and lime leaves. Stir until golden and fragrant. 4. Add chicken. Stir fry for a couple of minutes. Add 1/2 cup of water and simmer for a bit. 5. Garnish with chilli and basil leaves. Serve with steamed rice.
Description: may be served with either pasta or rice.
Ingredients: 600 g. rump steak (cut into small strips) 10 small mushrooms (sliced thinly) 1 brown onion (diced)
butter 1 can of cream of mushroom soup 2-3 tablespoons of sour cream parsley flakes
pasta (i like using fusilli or spirals)
Directions: 1. Fry onion in butter until transparent. Add mushrooms. Remove from pan when cooked through. 2.Stir-fry meat in butter. Return onion and mushrooms to pan. 3. Pour cream of mushroom soup. Add 2 tablespoons of sour cream. 4. Season with salth and pepper. Sprinkle parsley flakes. 5. Serve over pasta or rice.
Ingredients: chicken tenderloins tandoori paste plain yogurt roti or chapati wraps lettuce tomatoes cucumber mint leaves
Directions: 1. Mix the tandoori paste with 2 tablespoons of yogurt. 2. Marinade the chicken for at least half an hour. 3. Drizzle wraps with olive oil and heat in the oven/barby for a few a couple of minutes. Set aside. 4. Grill chicken in the oven/barby. 5. Spread yogurt on the wrap. Place chicken chunks on the wrap. 6. Layer some cucumber, tomatoes, lettuce and mint leaves on the wrap. 7. Roll wrap towards opposite edge. Serve with extra yogurt as a dipping sauce.
