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Pan-Seared Pork Steak with Apple & Pecan Risotto

Earlier this week, one of my mates said to me, “I’ve just realized how funny you are. Every damn thing you say is Facebook quote-worthy.”

Obviously flattered, the topic of the worthiness of my witty banter soon passed and things got right down and dirty - the topic of food, chocolate, Sunday roast and Christmas mince pies. Indeed, I am often less bothered about what I say really than the yummy concoctions I put in my mouth. I mean, I get totally psyched about that!

One good thing about my pals and I are that we are easily teased by food. Apart from friendship, this is the strong bond that brings us lot together. Think of us as a Knighthood of Glorified & Appreciative Eaters, if you like. So anyway, everyone got properly jittery when Starbucks released their Christmas red cups, considering the fact that among us we have people who have either worked/works at Starbucks and/or are just generally unadulterated Starbucks junkies (and unafraid to admit that we are). So, still satiated and buzzing from an afternoon Christmas special drink (with the roof of my mouth tingling a little from burning it on a dark cherry mocha), feeling nice and toasty in my new slipper socks as my room is slowly infused with the scent of burning mulled wine candles, I plot my Sunday lunch.

And blimey, was this Sunday lunch very brilliant on the flavours! Just last week, I’d popped two beautiful pork steaks into the freezer in an effort to save them for a time when I was better prepared ingredient and energy wise. Today was just the perfect day for tasty steaks and what better to pair pork than with apples? The advent of winter also means making use of wintry flavours in fruit and nuts. Instead of chomping on that next bar of Aero chocolate, I was beyond delighted to deck myself in my black sugarbar apron and get working within the comforts of a heated home on a hearty meal.

I found an interesting recipe on goodtoknow.co.uk incorporating Chinese ingredients for a pork marinade. I was a little worried on how that might work with a fruit risotto but my fears were put to rest once I put a fork of meat to mouth. The flavours were gorgeous! Chinese 5 spice and the garlic was just wonderful, making the meat so juicy and succulent with a nice lacing of oriental sweetness. I adore this marinade and highly recommend it. In fact, I’m hoping to use this recipe again next week for another friend of mine, in hopes of wowing his socks off and showing him what a stunning cook I am. Actually, it’s also because I owe him a meal after he whipped me up some amazing chicken fajitas about 2 weeks ago. This man, I swear, is some sort of god of fajitas.

The apple risotto too was quite amazing. Word of advice, don’t pick sweet apples such as Royal Gala or Pink Lady. As much as these apples are tasty and beautiful to look at, I find that choosing a rather tart apple like Braeburn or maybe even a Cox just perfect, especially since it’ll go well with a dash of white wine.

This recipe serves 2.

Pan-Seared Pork Steak on Apple & Pecan Risotto
Ingredients

In a small bowl, mix together ingredients for the marinade. Place pork steaks in a large plate and pour marinade over the tops of the steaks. Rub gently into the steaks, flip over and cover the clean sides with marinade. Make sure to pat the chopped ginger in the marinade onto the steaks. Cover plate tightly with clingwrap and let sit in the refrigerator overnight or for at least an hour.

For the risotto, make sure you start on it about 10-15minutes before pan-searing the steaks as this will take about 5-7minutes to cook completely.
Heat the butter in a saucepan. Add the risotto rice and fry for about 2 minutes. Add the shallots and fry a little longer. Ladle about 2 ladles of vegetable stock into the saucepan, lower heat and let simmer. The arborio rice will slowly absorb the liquids in and be careful to only add a ladle of stock each time, stirring now and again as the rice cooks - you can add liquid to risotto but not take it out!
When all the liquid is nearly absorbed, add another ladle and continue this cooking process. This will take about 10-15minutes to cook. Once the risotto rice is cooked through, add the white wine and stir. Once the consistency of the risotto has reached the desired thickness, remove from heat and add 1/2 the prepared grated parmesan, thyme, apples and pecan. Stir with a quick and firm hand until all the ingredients have just come together.
Add the rest of the grated parmesan, saving a tiny bit for sprinkling over the tops. Season with black pepper if needed.

For the pork steaks, preheat the oven to 200d Celsius and prepare a hot frying pan. The pan has got to be very hot but not overly hot. Grease lightly with cooking spray. Remove steaks from refrigerator.
Place steaks on hot frying pan and let sear for about 7 seconds (you will have to judge this by eye). With a pair of tongs or a spatula, flip the steaks quickly to sear the other side for another 7 seconds. Now remove and place on a grill, then slide into the oven to cook for about 5 minutes. Once cooked, serve quick on a bed of apple & pecan risotto with a sprinkle of grated parmesan.

作者:diva

更新日:2008年11月23日 18時27分

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Mum’s Yaki Udon with Shimeji & Shrimp

Mid-week: I’ve finally got down to updating my iTunes library with the latest toon-age. I might have taken it a little too far and induced a banging headache that now pounds in tandem with my electro/house/rock beats. This sort of abated when I opened my dashboard to find a nice little tag from Deeba of Passionate About Baking. I know bloggers may (or may not) be fearful of such tags but it’s fun and I’m really never too bothered when I get a little tagging-love from my fellow blogosphere friends. Spread a little lovin’, boys and girls.

This tagging thing demands 7 random facts about myself so here goes. Hear ye hear ye…

1) I hate pâté and think it is freaky shit.
2) Vivienne Westwood turns me on…like a lot.
3) I adore well-cut clothes, beautiful shoes and will go manic with nice eye make-up.
4) I am often mistaken for a dog-person but really am a cat-lover.
5) Definitely not a pyromaniac, just really like burning pretty candles.
6) I occasionally think I’m a rockstar - the urge to smack that shit hits me at the most random moments too.
7) I freak out if someone touches my wrist. Press hard and I feel faint.

If you’re not possibly disturbed by my random facts, you’re more than welcome to come back for future visits. Kid Diva’s positively delighted to have you sniffing round her food blog, especially if you’d like to share some gastro-knowledge, observe the hysterical foodie rants of a randomer and so forth.

Now, I’d like to pass this watcha-call-it to another 7 bloggers. How it works is just tag; 7 random facts; pass it on to another 7 by commenting on their blog; enjoy. To set forth the tag:

1) Ann of Velvet Lava
2) Manggy of No Special Effects
3) Celine of Black Salt
4) Laura of Hungry and Frozen
5) Toontz of Okara Mountain
6) Shari of Whisk Blog
7) Cakewardrobe of My Cake Wardrobe

A little lovin’ has been spread. Think it’s time to wrap up that M&S Advent Calendar and send it to my sister in the post. Maybe a little lazy nap thereafter? Sounds just about right! Here’s a recipe for yaki udon that my mum makes now and again. It’s definitely not as good as the way she makes it but she’s away holidaying in South Korea, so it was a bit of a toughie trying to figure out what exactly she puts in her lovely dish. My version was a little dry but nothing that a little more sauce couldn’t sort out.

Here’s a recipe for 1.

Mum’s Yaki Udon with Shimeji & Shrimp
Ingredients

If using dry udon, cook about 10 mins (or depending on your make) in hot water and a few drops of sunflower oil. Drain away water and set aside covered as you prepare the rest of the ingredients. Or you could use fresh udon that come in sealed packets and which are always very handy to have.

Place mushrooms in a bowl with teriyaki marinade and let sit for a while.

In a hot wok, heat some oil. Add the shallots, garlic and half the prepared chopped chili to the oil and sauté. When shallots are brown, add the marinade and mushrooms and prawns. Now add the cooked udon and spring onions and fry on high heat, adding the rest of the chili and sauces to the wok, stirring quickly as you go. Turn down heat a little, make a well in the centre of the noodles. Crack the egg into the well. Now turn up the heat again and stir vigorously so the egg cooks almost immediately as it breaks and mixes into the noodles.

When the noodles have all come together and it looks well covered in the sauces, remove wok from heat. Serve and garnish with black sesame seeds and some Japanese ginger pickle if you’ve got any lying around.

作者:diva

更新日:2008年11月12日 19時30分

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Plum Bakewell Tart

After all the massive hype of Halloween, it isn’t that much of a hilarity to mention I feel like I’ve come back from the dead. But indeed I have because ‘death’ for me was 1 week of bedridden patheticness. Struck down by fever and a flu, I could do practically nothing and my meals were tasteless and dull. Finally, the virus has been beat down and all that’s left plaguing my system is a tummy ache. Between cravings of chocolate and oatmeal cookies, the tummy’s ambitious enough to dream of autumn pudding too. The rest of the body, however, is too weak and too damn lazy to get up and prance about the kitchen.

Panicky not. Dear ol’ Sam has found his calling and is in mid-therapy - cooking his heart out. Just last night, Kate and I were served a delicious Parma Ham & Spinach Tart which was just fucking beautiful. The fresh parmigiano, the rosemary and oregano-infused shortcrust pastry and the parma ham were an out-of-this-world combination of flavours. The meal left Kate and I spellbound at what this wonderful little man could do with my Jamie’s cookbook and a wonky ol’ oven. And right after the meal, Channel 4 aired a horror film. What was better than the pairing of food and horror for the sake of horror? By the time that was done, us all were sluggish and sleepy so off to bed we went.

The day started late for me. Tummy a little fragile but perked up immediately to the smell of cooking plums, cinnamon and almonds. A look out the window and all you’ll see is grey, wet, dead leaves and the random magpie. A little on the sad side I know but there’s nothing I like more than autumn because it means (if it isn’t me then it’s someone else) autumn cooking, cups of tea and free reign of sweets and biscuits to get into the spirit of the Christmas month. So what exactly was cooking, you’d like to know. Bakewell tart! or also known as bakewell pudding depending on how you make it — one of my favourite things to eat this time of the year. And also, one of my favourite things to munch on (especially if it is Cherry Bakewell with the icing bit on top) when there’s a bake sale going on on campus. Pastry, jam, frangipane and a healthy toss of fruit and almonds over the top. To me, that’s really autumn personified.

I’ll be completely honest, I didn’t help at all with this, except maybe for the splitting and stoning of the plums. Everything else was a gift from God. Ok, maybe not. Everything else was the wonderful effort of our dear Sam. And by godalmightey, is he a little talent because even if he was a tad disappointed with the moistness (too much, apparently) of the tart, it was a fantastic pudding that was as gorgeous to look at as it was to eat. I might even have shut out everything around me, noise people and all, as I savoured the last special bites of pudding. Food before friends is the rule and the key to true gastronomical enlightenment. So moist, so tasty and very well made.

The recipe is one from Jamie’s Jamie at Home. And it is a recipe soon to be used again by Sam for sure and by me as well, now that it’s tried and tested. I also hope that you lot will forgive me for being a lazy blogger and blogging about food that I hardly lifted a finger to make! However, this pudding was too beautiful to let off without sharing with everyone and here, I’d like to thank Sam for putting so much effort into last night’s meal and this morning pudding. Despite the massive toll and beating my body has gone through this week, I am now saved by pudding. Ah. That sounds positively poetic now, doesn’t it?

Diva. Saved by pudding.

And what sort of pudding would that be? Bakewell. Mmmm. What sort of pudding could save you from one of the darkest, dreariest moments?

Plum Bakewell Tart
(recipe from Jamie at Home, p.306)
Ingredients

To make the pastry:
Sieve the flour from a height on to a clean work surface and sieve the icing sugar over the top. Using your hands, work the cubes of butter into the flour and sugar by rubbing your thumbs against your fingers until you end up with a fine, crumbly mixture. Mix in lemon zest.
Add the eggs and milk to the mixture and gently work it together till you have a ball of dough. Flour it lightly. Don’t work the pastry too much at this stage or it will become elastic and chewy, not crumbly and short. Flour your work surface and place the dough on top. Pat it into a flat round, flour it lightly, wrap it in clingfilm and put it into the fridge to rest for at least half an hour.

To make the tart:
Grease a loose-bottomed 28cm tart tin with butter. Remove ball of dough and roll it out on a floured surface. Line the tart tin with rolled out pastry, easing it into the ridges at the side. Place in the freezer for an hour.

Now make the frangipane. Blitz the blanched whole almonds in a food processor until you have a fine powder and tranfer this to a bowl with the flour. Halve your vanilla pod lengthways and scrape out the seeds, using the back of your knife. Now blitz the butter, sugar and vanilla seeds until light and creamy. Put the almond mixture back into the food processor with your lightly beaten eggs and whiz until completely mixed and smooth. Place in the fridge to firm up for at least half an hour.

Preheat oven to 180d Celsius. Bake pastry case for around 10mins, or until lightly golden. Remove from oven, leaving the oven on.
Halve the plums and remove the stones. Finely chop half of them and place in a saucepan with the vanilla sugar and the mixed spice. Cook gently until softened, with a jammy consistency, then stir in the cornflour and simmer until thickened.
While the plums are cooking, cut the remaining plum halves into quarters and macerate them for 5 mins by sprinkling them with icing sugar. Carefully spoon your plum jam into the pastry case and smooth it out across the bottom. Spread the frangipane over the plum jam. Arrange the plums on the surface of the frangipane, pressing them lightly. Scatter the flaked almonds over the top. Bake the tart in oven for about an hour, placing a baking tray on the shelf under the tart, just in case it bubbles over.

Once cooked through and golden brown on top, remove and leave to cool.

作者:diva

更新日:2008年11月9日 16時20分

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Pasta with Caramelized Onions, Goats Cheese, Streaky Bacon, Cashews & Greens

The clocks have turned back, the temperature’s dropping lower and I’m discreetly reaching out for that next bar of chocolate. Kit Kat’s latest release - Kit Kat Senses is quite the treater. I say go try it if you haven’t. Huddled under the duvet in a giant fleece hoodie with a Kit Kat as I watch Hellboy then Hellboy II, my Sunday is going by quite well actually if you don’t consider the fact that I’m seeing my dissertation tutor tomorrow who is a practicing psychoanalyst — she’s terribly intimidating and I shit marbles from fear when I’m talking to her one on one!

Shitting marbles ain’t exactly the best expression for me to be putting onto the intensely parent-controlled world wide web, or a food blog that has no scatological relations whatsoever, but it’s the appropriate way to describe how freaked out I get when I’m around her. She’s amazingly intelligent and seems nice enough. There are people with big personalities; there are some with very dominating presences and some who just get forgotten by others even when standing right next to that ridiculously coloured punch bowl; some who light up the room; some who are really messed up or eccentric or hilarious. And there are just some who FREAK THE HELL OUTTA YOU - who seem to see right through you, through your eyes and into your brain then right out through the back of your head and then down your spine into your stomach and intestines. That’s right. I feel like she’s even in on what I ate for lunch. As I chatter on away nervously about Jeanette Winterson and Luce Irigaray and these big ideas on phallogocentrism, I gather she’s analyzing everything about me — my black patent Dr. Marten’s, my pseudo curly ‘bed’ hair, my shiny dark-coloured nails and the woolly tights I’m wearing that I saved from my laundry basket that very morning. Her gaze is so piercing and intense, being in the same room as her is near suffocating. Suffocating because the air that I breathe out she breathes in and holds it in and I’m like a skanky hungry rat being held from its tail by its captor, unable to run away or do anything except squeak in fear and twist its body into weird contortions in hopes of loosening its tail from those unforgiving fingers.

Yea. Yea, so…she’s not that scary, huh?

Think it’s definitely a glass of water, a couple of deep breaths before I knock on her door tomorrow. I don’t even know if I’ve got her office hours right, either. Seems I get it wrong every week. As I did last week, which resulted on me waiting patiently outside her office listening in on some sort of odd group seance.

That’s the story of my life this week. A build up of anticipation and nervousness which shall either combust into flames of stutterings or coat itself in a glossy exterior of placidity. Hence, the chocolate, cookies and Jelly Babies. I’m not stress eating! Absolutely not! Well…some might dispute that. But I don’t stress eat. It’s just about the time of the month and sugar makes me properly drugged. Sugar and chocolate get me giggly and funny in the mind. Which also seems to be telling me something - I’m addicted to the drug Sugar!

However, it’s bad that I’m consuming that much sweetie junk for lunch and so I decided to whip out the chopping board and cooking utensils to fix myself a proper lunch, which also decidedly chased away some of my stress devils. I’ve dreamed about the caramelized onions and goats cheese pizza from Pizza Express a couple of times now. Knowing I’m a little skint, I’ve recreated the flavours into a simple and rather cheap pasta dish. Honestly speaking - best bowl of pasta I’ve ever made! The caramelized onions were beautiful and a recipe I’ll definitely be coming back to for as a pizza topping, addition to burgers, etc. The choice of greens were very limited since I didn’t really do a proper shop for this and the addition of runner beans were quite random. Not complaining though since it all tasted great, made the stomach happy and filled up one of the slots for my 5 a day.

Wonder if my tutor will be clairvoyant enough to know what I ate for lunch today, tomorrow?

This recipe is just perfect for 1. Increase the amount for caramelized onions and store in fridge for later use if you like!

Pasta with Caramelized Onions, Goats Cheese, Streaky Bacon, Cashews & Greens
Ingredients

Prepare caramelized onions about 20 minutes before.
Melt some butter in a saucepan. Add olive oil. When butter is all melted, add onions and let it sauté and then, sweat. Once it starts getting softer and translucent, add spices and sesame oil. Once most of the fats has started to be absorbed into the onions, add water to saucepan to loosen up the sauce that’s starting to solidify at the bottom of the pan. Reduce heat to low and let it simmer, stirring now and again. This should sit on the hob for about 5-10minutes.
Most of the water should have reduced by then. Add HP brown sauce and season a little to taste. Set aside to top the pasta later.

Toast cashew nuts on an un-oiled frying pan or on a baking tray in a preheated oven.
Boil some water and cook the pasta. In a separate saucepan of boiling water, cook the runner beans.

On another frying pan, heat some oil and fry bacon strips. Once pasta is cooked, mix the bacon strips and some of its grease into the pasta, not forgetting the runner beans and spinach leaves. Mix well so all the pasta is covered with the lovely bacon juice.

Pour out into a bowl. Crumble goats cheese over the top, spoon the caramelized onions on the top and finally the toasted cashews. Serve.

作者:diva

更新日:2008年10月26日 19時29分

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Roasted Parma Ham Wrapped Salmon, Runner Beans & Red Peppers with Dill, Mascarpone & Pesto

I’ve got the munchies!!

All day today, and all day yesterday, I’ve been plagued by this never-ending craving for chips, crisps, biscuits and sweeties. It’s been an awfully long time since I’ve felt this way or felt such a need to snack on something. Don’t get me wrong. Snacking is something I definitely do but this massive force or urge compelling me to trek down to the kitchen every 2 minutes is not only unbearable (I can’t bloody focus on work since I’m on the constant move for food). It’s starting to seem very suspicious. Maybe I’ve been spiked (not with a date rape drug) with the can’t-stop-eating drug!

Actually, there’s probably a more logical reason for this whole shnazzle. I’ve got a cold. I’ve been trying to fight it off for ages. It’s here, happy and healthy in my system as my white blood cells fight off the freaking cold. It’s definitely getting better but I’m told, one needs to feed a cold - thus, my voracious appetite and the bottomless stomach.

And because of Diva’s inherent greediness which is made very much worse, like feeding oil to fire, by her hungry cold, she has now accepted FREE chocolate chip cookies from strangers on the streets.

What? Did someone just call me ’silly’? Oh…’mental’ is that what you said? No no. I wasn’t lured away to someone’s evil lair by cookies, not to worry. I got free cookies in exchange for giving away some details to Unibutler - a new freebie service for university students. Quite a cool new company that I foresee might be a competitor to the ever-dependable Studentbeans.com. And even though the cookies were worth 59p from Premier, Steph and I were rather pleased with our little freebies. To be honest, a cup of tea and a free cookie and I was sorted! It was the best thing that happened to me that whole boring day.

Do you believe in lucky stars? The human ones, not ones that form constellations. I firmly believe that Steph is my Freebie Lucky Star. When I’m with her, freebies seem to come my way. So far, I’ve had a free Cadbury Freddy and a box of chocolate chip cookies. It doesn’t seem like much and I’m really not one to go hunting after free stuff. But one must understand that Diva NEVER has and ever gets freebies. What a pleasant surprise to finally be noticed by the God of Free Things.

Anyway, the day I had free cookies was also the very day my craving for fish gave me cold turkey. I would’ve used a nice white fish for this dish - something like monkfish or haddock - but having not been able to visit the fishmonger in town and wanting not to be such a self-indulgent Epicurean, Tesco’s Healthy Living salmon fillets were mighty fine. The fillets require little seasoning except for the all-important garlic powder. Good parma ham should be used as this is what will flavour the fish and therefore, minimizes your job of having to prepare the fish really. I have a bad habit of not paper-towelling off any excess moisture off fish and so it usually results in a white liquid discharge. Forgive me for describing it as such, but it isn’t a pretty thing and you can see it very clearly in my pictures. Word of advice: cutting corners has its consequences.

The vegetables were quite messily put together and I went a tiny bit overboard on the white wine vinegar. Hence, resulting in a way too piquant plate of veggies but it seemed to cut through the smokiness and saltiness of the fish and ham. That was a relief. The fish was amazing. I might re-attempt the veggies with less vinegar but the flavours definitely worked.

Here’s a recipe good for 2.

Roasted Parma Ham Wrapped Salmon, Runner Beans & Red Peppers with Dill, Mascarpone & Pesto
Ingredients

Preheat oven (or you can always use the grill if you prefer) to 170d Celsius.
Season salmon steaks with herbs, garlic powder and pepper. As salmon is an oily fish, I did away with drizzling it with olive oil. Wrap tightly with parma ham. I find placing the fish slightly diagonally on the parma ham a little easier but this depends on the shape and size of your fish really. You might find that you need more than a slice to each steak.
Place in a prepare foil, close over the sides and scrunch it up at the top so it looks like a little wonton. You want to be able to open up the bag towards the end of the cooking process just so that parma ham browns and crisps up at the top.
This should cook for 25-30minutes.

Towards the end of that cooking time, re-open the foil bag and let it brown up.

For the vegetables, heat some olive oil in a pan. Sauté the garlic, then add the vegetables. Add white wine vinegar. Be careful not to add too much - which was exactly the mistake I made. Geez.
Add pesto, mascarpone, Worcestershire sauce and dill. Finally, season to taste.
This should be done just about the time your fish is ready to be removed from the oven.

Plate up - placing vegetables at the bottom and fish on top. I was very tempted to serve this with chips or rice, but I’d already had the indulgence of having chicken & chips this afternoon (and a ridiculous amount of snacks, obviously) so that was not on the cards for me. Shame.

On the other hand, the meal was pretty fantastic other than the ridiculously obvious note of vinegar on our plates.

作者:diva

更新日:2008年10月23日 20時38分

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Ultimate Fat Fluffy Blueberry Pancakes

If someone were to break into my house, into my bedroom to be more specific, whilst I’m in and demand all my valuables, my reaction would definitely be:

Please, take everything you want except my passport and laptop!

Firstly, I probably shouldn’t be making any demands at all. It seems totally unwise to be attempting bargains when face to face with a nasty desperate burglar. Secondly, there shouldn’t even be the most minute allowance for a break-in but I’m just saying ‘what if’; of course, I’m totally crossing my fingers and banging on wood that it’ll never ever happen. Thirdly, shouldn’t one’s life be more important than something mechanical and material like a laptop?

Only thing is, my laptop’s like my love-child. Ok, maybe not so much a love-child but an amniotic sac that contains all my unborn children - failed attempts at poetry, bits of surprising cleverness, the puzzle pieces of a story I’ve yet to successfully put together, precious photos & artworks & graphics and a massive database of tunes. Oh, not to forget university documents and important essays (strange how that only came to me as an afterthought!). And I could never willingly give that over to someone. Just as anyone would feel violated at the thought of a complete stranger entering your house and going through your things, I would too feel massively violated at the thought of having someone rob my intellectual property and know personal ‘memories’ (photos) and ‘obsessions’ (music).

Another great problem would be the attempt to re-build all that work. It could be easier for others with a better memory but seeing as I ain’t too good with remembering as I was in high school, attempting to reconstruct my writings and put together my iTunes and photo database would be near impossible!

Paranoia hit me this morning and by some strange stroke of magic (if you could call it that), I was so sure that my beautiful Macbook might die on me soon. I pray it won’t since it’s been such a gorgeous girl for 2 years now. I’ve promised to take it for a nice upgrading come Christmas to increase its performance but somehow there’s a tiny nagging feeling at the back of head and it’s a good nagging feeling because it’s pushing me to backup my most important documents. Hopefully, you lot out there will also be hit by the Paranoia Bug and think to backup whatever you hold important to you. Even if nothing bad’s happened, even if you computer is working like a beauty, even if you’ve never been burgled - be careful! It’s always good to be safe than sorry.

Putting aside that most random story and paranoia, let me share with you the best pancake recipe (I won’t say ‘ever’ because there might be better ones ever - but this is the best I’ve made so far). I love pancakes. But I’ve never had that perfect plate of pancakes which I could proudly proclaim to everyone “I made that!”. So each time, I go on and slather butter and pour gallons worth of maple syrup on them feeling a little miffed and upset. However, I’ve altered and tweaked my pancake recipe each time I make them in the search for that ultimate fat pancake. I’ve deifnitely not once given up. Talk about the Pancake Pilgrim’s Progress (I hope I haven’t made John Bunyan turn in his grave by perverting his title)! What’s so good about this attempt I think is that I might just have managed to alter my pancake recipe to the point of perfection — but perfection for me alone. I’ll be using this recipe from now on, except on Pancake Day (when English pancakes must be served), because these guys are the ultimate fat buggers I’ve been searching to create all my life. These are really fat and definitely fluffy. Be sure to cook them through. If you’re not careful, the fat layers might deceive you into thinking it’s all cooked through when actually there’s a tiny bit of uncooked gooeyness in the middle.

Add blueberries for the ultimate experience, or whatever toppings please you the most. These are still great plain or with the tiniest dash of cinnamon. I think the next time I whip these up, I’m adding two slices of crispy streaky bacon on top - major sin at breakfast time! Just the way I fancy it.

Ultimate Fat Fluffy Blueberry Pancakes
Ingredients

Place all dry ingredients in a bowl. Whisk to mix. Make a well in the middle. Add eggs and gently whisk in. Add milk gradually as you continue to whisk. Batter will be lumpy and bubbly but that’s fine.
Melt some butter on a frying pan or skillet and ladle out a ladle of batter into the middle of the hot pan, using the back of the ladle to spread it out into a neat circle. Cook about 2-3minutes until bubbles start to form on the wet surface. Slip a spatula underneath the pancake, shuffle it about to unstick the pancake from the pan.
Now, flip the pancake with a gentle flick of the wrist - like a pro - or use the spatula. Cook another 1-2 minutes.
Serve up warm with extra butter and syrup.

作者:diva

更新日:2008年10月20日 20時45分

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Tamago-yaki (たまごやき)

Life’s gotta be fun. For the sake of fun, in the name of fun, whatever you wish to call it, Sam and I are on a mission to “man him up”.

So, you ask, what’s undergoing improvements? The high-pitched Ricky Gervais voice, the random bird-like squawks, the politeness of well-bred elegant ladies are a few characteristics to name a few among others. To save himself and his manliness, Sam’s now resorted to an extensive use (and very random application) of colourful expletives, removed all habits of politeness from his vocabulary and man-ed up his lumbering stance. It’s funny how manliness is equated to crude language, assertive body language and a deep, hoarse voice. It’s a laugh to verbally spar with him and constantly remind him to bring his voice down a few, not decibels, but pitches.

Looking at the words on this post, it seems absolutely ridiculous I know. Just be who you are - that’s the best tip to life I reckon. It’s safe to say there’s nothing wrong with Sam now, past or future. He’s perfect the way he is. But don’t tell him that. It’s great fun to see him squirm and also, nothing’s taken to heart. In fact, I believe our friendship is getting stronger because of all the awesome jokes and verbal abuses that are ping-ponging back and forth.

Manly Diva (or Dave as my mates call me) takes on the feminine Sam. It’s definitely not a move to make him over. I love my mates the way they are with all the heeby-geebyz that go with ‘em. Life’s no fun without them.

On that same note of fun, the craving for an omelette struck me round lunch time today and it hit me that I’d yet to take on my Tamago challenge from last year’s failed attempt. If you’re familiar with my previous Pseudo Tamago, you’d notice a change in this recipe and of course the way the egg roll looks in general. Glad the second attempt showed great improvement and also tasted a lot better!

This recipe serves 1. You can multiply the number of eggs and ingredients respectively depending on the number of people you are serving. It’s definitely a good idea to anyway as this means your tamago-yaki would be fatter and firmer. It’s sad cooking for one but don’t worry, it - in no way - reduced the flavour of this.

Tamago-yaki
Ingredients

Beat eggs in a bowl. Mix rest of ingredients into the egg till it is beaten smooth. Heat a little oil in an egg-cooking pan and wipe off the excess.

Pour 1/3 of the mixture into the pan. If using a regular round frying pan, lift pan and whirl until the egg mixture spreads out evenly. When half-done, fold into thirds from the farther end, then slide the folded egg to the farther side. Pour half of the remaining egg mixture in empty space, allowing the egg to run under the roll as before. When half-done, fold with folded egg inside, making into a roll.

Cook the remaining egg in the same way. When egg roll is done, place on a bamboo mat and roll up tightly. Leave for 4-5 minutes to cool. Cut the egg roll into appropriate sized pieces.

作者:diva

更新日:2008年10月16日 13時48分

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Grilled Salmon, Courgettes & Apricot Jam with Lemon Herb White Wine Sauce

If someone invented a giant comfy grandfather chair that recharged your ‘life’ levels, I’d totally get it - crumple straight into it like dead batteries to a charger and stay in there lifeless till I’m good and ready for the world.

Completely maxed out in terms of energy today. Never realized 4 hours in the library could be so soul-sapping (since it has never left me so dead tired before), to the point that I turned down a pub quiz night and pound-a-pint, and an invitation to Gatecrashers. Normally, if there is a lack of events for the evening, I’d happily light my row of candles by the window sill, turn the lights down, slap on a face mask and cuddle under the covers with my readings. My brain is completely fried, my eyes red and tired, and my neck stiff as hell. I can’t seem to do anything else other than sit my laptop on myself and struggle immensely hard at completing this post.

What I’d give my life for right now? A back massage, an eye mask and the comfiest king-sized bed with the most luxurious bedspread and most decadent down duvet in the world!

If my week (subtract last week’s amazing nights out and my 21st) of bad karma was not depressing enough, it would be laughable to think the people up there were letting me go scot free without a next round of setbacks. Round Two is a fucked up shower that might fall through the ceiling, a injured right hand that got caught in a door and being woken up by a deafening faulty fire alarm. Some tribes somewhere believe that your soul travels out of your body whilst you sleep. Hence, one should be gently woken up (if truly necessary) to give the soul sufficient time to return to the body that houses it. Reckon, not only was my body shattered from lack of sleep, my soul has been given a right electric-shock from that horrible alarm. If I were crazier than I already were, which is really a bad thing, I’d go up to that dastard manmade invention and give it a good talking-to. Only I was taught in school that there’s a difference between living and non-living things. Cheeky as I am, I ain’t gonna try and provoke that barrier between them. Not all binaries of the world can be exploded.

The pictures for this post aren’t much. 3 out of 4 of the lightbulbs in the kitchen went bust and I didn’t have a spare lamp anywhere for extra lighting. I forget that a return to student life is equivalent to foregoing little luxuries like not having to pay the bills, groceries bought and ready-stocked in pantry and fridge, and err… lights?

The sauce is power-packed and inspired by a gorgeous sauce paired with scallops from Melonfish. The strength of the garlic and lemon were pretty superb with the sweetness of the courgettes. The flavour of the salmon, it being an oily fish, pulled everything together and tamed the piquancy of it all.

Lemon Herb White Wine Sauce
Ingredients

Courgettes & Apricot Jam
Ingredients

Grill salmon steaks as you normally would.

For the sauce:
Melt butter in a heavy-based saucepan. Add olive oil. Sauté garlic in the fats, be careful not to let them brown. Add wine, tomatoes, lemon juice and zest and mix well. Next, add the rest of the ingredients. Lower heat and let it simmer until thickens. Season to taste.

For the courgettes:
Heat olive oil in large frying pan. When oil is hot enough, add the courgettes and stir-fry till slightly browned. Remove from heat. Add jam and stir, making sure to coat all courgette strips with jam. Season a little. Serve.

作者:diva

更新日:2008年10月13日 21時39分

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Turning 21 by the Wharf

Me: You only turn 21 once.
D.: No. YOU’ve turned 21 three times. That’s mental!

I’ve turned 21 three times now: a pre-birthday bash, the official birthday, and a belated birthday. Can safely say I’m very fortunate, very loved and very honoured. Multiple celebrations are way too cool and have imprinted my 21st very deeply in my memory now.

I’d like to thank all my mates for all the effort (time and money) they’ve put in, Ted Baker, my liver and Birmingham’s good side. I think some tried really hard to make me forget about personal troubles. A home-baked chocolate cake, party hats, giant balloons in your face, and shiny birthday banners — the perfect cure to anything!

As our tastebuds were getting a little bored from the usual Italian fare, The Oriental was the restaurant of choice for the night. Situated by the wharf in The Mailbox, it was quite decadently decorated with a great ambience and very kind and attentive staff. We probably went a little too far with the starters and very many bottles of wine, such that the main course was a bit of a challenge when they were finally set down on the table. Our table was very taken with the wonderful menu. Spoilt for choice. I highly recommend going onto their website first if you intend to pop in for a visit as it is so extensive and varied over Thai, Malay and Chinese cuisine, you won’t be able to figure out what you want only after about 30minutes I reckon!

Not to worry, however, since major drool-age pushed us into ordering quicker than you can say ‘quick’. I was so hungry at that point my ribs were hurting. Not to mention I had been battered the night before, my feet were aching, my knee was scabby from falling over because of my new ALDO heels. What else? None of us had really eaten all day. Wonderful! Peking duck pancakes, a Thai platter of starters, wine and a Singapore Sling. Then, plates of Cointreau Flambéd Red Snapper arrived, a Sweet Orange Duck, Pork with Ginger & Spring Onion, Sweet & Sour Chicken, not forgetting some noodles and the ever-lovable egg fried rice.

By the end of the meal, I was zinging with joy - never feeling so happy and relaxed. Despite all that food I’d eaten, I was literally bouncing off the ground with each step. Walking down the canal towards Brindleyplace to meet the rest of the gang for drinks, I suppose we were the loudest, jolliest and craziest group of people. Next thing we know, Steph’s practically ordering us to pull a Thriller pose in front of some random Thriller posters. No problem there, as you can see.

Last stop, Brindleyplace. Got into Pitcher & Piano without an ID. How? you ask. Simply flashed my ‘21′ badge after my mate had explained it was my party and got an ‘ok’ and a smile from the burly bouncer. Everyone’s awfully nice and understanding when you’re 21. Geee. I think everyone in the bar was tolerating these crazy yellow balloons as well. It was hilarious.

Great banter. Many rounds of gin & tonic, B55 and Screaming Orgasms (a chocolate alcoholic cocktail) and the night rounded up very pleasantly. Woke up the next morning, surprisingly, with not the faintest throb of a headache! But feeling knackered, Steph and I pulled through and trudged to uni to spend 4 hours in the library slogging hard at a desk. The magic of the night had worn off a little but with the massive number of photos we’d taken that night on 2 cameras, I’m relieved to know it’s all preserved in them. Best night of my life.

作者:diva

更新日:2008年10月12日 9時53分

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Ume Somen (梅そうめん) with Aubergine, Courgettes & Mushrooms

Who’s up for noodles?

Well, not just any type of noodles actually.

The finer but just as elegant cousin of the udon noodle is the somen noodle. Often considered the queen of all noodles, because it originated from the aristocrats and hence is the nobility’s favourite noodle, somen is made similar to hand-pulled noodles. However, somen require a longer pulling and resting time. The noodles are made from wheat flour, salt and water. They are moistened with sesame or cottonseed oil to prevent their thin lengths from breaking. It is not difficult to find affordable packets of machine-made somen noodles in grocery stores or your Asian supermarket these days but handmade somen noodles, made the previous year, are most-prized. The reason for this is that handmade ‘overwintered’ somen changes texture as they dry out during storage and the oil on the noodles changes the noodles’s taste with time. It is recommended to wait a year before cooking handmade somen to really enjoy the flavour of somen.

Somen is the star of the show during Japan’s Star Festival in the summer. The festival of Tanabata is based on a famous Chinese legend about 2 lovers. Once a year, only on the evening of the 7th of July, the young cattleman, the star of Altair, is allowed to cross the Milky Way to meet his beloved - the weaver Vega. As a child, we’d celebrate this by placing handmade paper boats with a lighted candle on top of it on river surfaces and let it float along in hopes that all the lighted candles on the water surfaces can guide the weaver and cattleman to meet. Of course, it is not common to see anyone doing this anymore. At this time of the year, it is said that it’ll be difficult to spot any sparrow in sight as sparrows will be busy bringing the lovers together. In Japan, children used to decorate bamboo branches with their origami creations and tie coloured paper tags which bore their wishes. These decorated bamboos were then thrown into nearby rivers.

Somen noodles are usually served cold and eaten with a, similarly, cold dipping sauce. In winter, a variation of it called ‘nyu men’ is served in hot broth - and this is what I’ve prepared tonight. The house is absolutely freezing so there was no way in hell I was gonna pick out a cold somen salad recipe. When buying somen in supermarkets or grocery stores, somen are usually available in 3 appealing flavours : cha somen (addition of green tea), tamago somen (yellow due to egg yolk) and ume somen (pink from the addition of plum). Not only do they look great, they’re fabulous to the tastebuds too. I initially thought it wasn’t gonna be any different to regular somen but these ume somen packed a punch! The moment the somen is put in hot water, you can already start to smell the lovely fragrance of ume and the taste is even better. Slightly salty but definitely holds a distinctive ume flavour.

My choice of vegetable topping wasn’t anything greatly inspired but more about what was available in the fridge, and also at a near rotting stage. I haven’t come across a traditional nyumen recipe so this is something of a as-I-have-it nyumen demi-ramen broth recipe.

Check out Kimiko Barber’s The Japanese Kitchen for more info on somen and the Japanese noodle tradition. Here is my quick and easy recipe for 2.

Nyumen Fit For A Lady
Ingredients

To prepare the soup:
Place sesame oil in heated pan. Sauté ginger and garlic in oil. Reduce heat and add both types of stock to the pan. Let it boil then add sake, mirin, soy sauce and sugar. Once it boils, reduce the heat and let it sit to simmer.

Boil sufficient water to cook the noodles in a large saucepan. Add the somen. The cooking time needed will depend on the type of somen noodles purchased. When done, strain noodles then run under cold water and keep in pan of cold water till other ingredients are done.

Stir fry vegetables of choice in butter.

To assemble:
Simple place somen in a bowl. Place toppings on and carefully ladle soup into the bowl. Garnish and serve whilst hot.

作者:diva

更新日:2008年10月6日 18時43分

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