A few things I cooked in the past months.

I am consciously trying not to write about babies and hormones. So I am going to blog about food instead.

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A while ago, I attempted to make Seremban beef noodle, one of my favourite things to eat pre-preggers.

Seremban beef noodle is quite different from KL’s. The former is lighter and has a variety of textures while the latter is richer and more punchy in flavours.

It was easier to cook than I initially thought, and the recipe I used was from this lovely blog.

# – My first Seremban beef noodle attempt.

I used Korean udon noodles, which were a tad too stodgy for my taste, so stick to chinese rice noodles!

I have since developed a disdain for innards of any kind, so I probably won’t make this dish until after the baby has arrived.

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Another thing I really loved pre-preggers was salt beef. The only place I know that serves good salt beef is Nutmeg at Bangsar Village 2.

Salt beef is just a cheap cut of beef that has been cured and then boiled, so instead of paying extra I decided that I should make them myself.

The recipe I used is from The Telegraph.

# – Cure brisket in spiced brine.

# – After 7 days…

# – Poach for 3 hours until tender.

# – Salf beef, DONE!

We ate it with potatoes and Dijon mustard. Well, must say I was a little underwhelmed despite the amount of effort put in to make the dish.

So, I think I will stick to going to Nutmeg (after baby comes cause the idea of eating salf beef right now makes me want to hurl), hehehe.

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I friggin loveeeeeeeee hummus. I could eat it everyday. It’s quite a pity that hummus is not a more common sight at supermarkets here.

Fortunately, it’s very easy to make hummus, if you cheated….

The traditional way of making hummus is complicated, you have to pre-soak and grind the chickpeas, grind sesame seeds till they become paste, boil olive oil till it’s scalding hot etc etc but the angmoh way of doing it is very easy…just blitz with a food processor. Don’t even need cooking.

The recipe I used is from BBC.

# – Stick canned chickpeas, tahini (sesame paste), crushed garlic, lemon juice, ground cumin, olive oil, salt and water into the food processor.

# – Blitz and season if needed.

# – Serve with flat bread….so healthy and easy.

Use it like a bread spread too in sandwiches..healthier than butter. Yummy!

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I had leftover pears, so I made a pear cake. I used a recipe from this blog, and it’s easily one of the easiest things I’ve ever baked.

Looks quite beautiful too I must say. The sponge was light and fluffy, the pears were soft and chewy. Yums.

# – Italian pear cake.

# – Served with vanilla ice cream.

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Lastly, I made Gordon Ramsay’s pork neck curry again. I used shoulder loin (funnily, they are also called butt) and it worked very well.

Instead of mango salsa, I made apple salsa because I forgot to buy mangoes and I had loads of apples in the fridge. They worked well…just cubed apples, halved tomato cherries, lemon juice, salt & pepper and a handful of pea sprouts.

# – Yummy yum yum….served with rice.

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That’s all, kthxbai.

Cooking risotto

Am on a roll! Cooked mushroom barley risotto for dinner and made roast chicken thighs for some meat to go with.

The barley I used? The ones chinese mothers have used for generations for the familiar barley drink.

All at the cost of RM0.60 per packet.

Who needs arborio rice? Who? Suckers!

# – 2 packets of barley for two. RM1.20 WTF!
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The most expensive ingredient was the fresh mushrooms. Think I’d use canned ones next time since I probably can’t tell the difference after a spot of sauteeing.

# – One ladle of stock at a time and stir. One ladle at a time.
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Used this recipe for the risotto and this recipe for the chicken thighs.

By the way, you must absolutely try the chicken recipe cause it was crazy good!! No marinade, just salt & pepper. I was shocked at how delicious it was.

# – Mushroom barley risotto with roast chicken thigh.
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Happy cooking!

No butter, no sugar fluffy pancake recipe.

Fluffy pancakes. One of the most satisfying breakfast options in my humble opinion.

Pass the lips and onto the hips, I know, I know. But really, this recipe is preeeeeetty healthy; no sugar, no egg yolks, no butter but still fluffy and delicious.

# – Fluffy pancakes!!

Without further ado, here’s how to cook these pancakes.

The ingredients:

  • 2 cups of flour
  • 1 3/4 cup of water or milk
  • 1 teaspoon of baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon of salt
  • 2 egg whites
  • # – Sift the flour and baking powder into a mixing bowl, twice.

    # – Gently stir in the water or milk.

    # – With a wooden spoon, stir mixture till smooth. The desired consistency is achieved when when a clear line is created after you run your finger on the back of the spoon. If it’s still too thick or too thin, add more flour or liquid accordingly.

    # – In the meantime, beat the egg whites.

    # – When it has reached soft peaks, add the salt.

    # – Continue beating till it holds up when you hold the bowl upside down :D Good luck!

    # – Gently fold in the egg whites into the flour mixture. Fold until it resembles a fully combined, thick, fluffy batter. Be gentle when you’re folding the egg whites in as you do not want to beat all the air out.

    # – Heat up a greased non-stick pan over medium heat and pour one ladle of batter into it. Just let it the batter spread on its own, do not tilt the pan or try to spread it with the back of the ladle.

    # – Let the batter cooks until the top side bubbles and forms holes. This is the sign that it’s time to turn the pancake to cook the other side :) It’s advisable to time how long it took for the batter to form holes so you’d know how long to cook the other side later.

    # – Cook the other side with the same amount of time it took the top to bubble previously.

    # – Serve with whatever you want, fruits, jam etc but I served mine with too many crispy streaky bacons and a sunny side up :D

    # – Drizzle honey or maple syrup all over. HHmmmmm.

    # – Time to eat!

    Hope you like these fluffy, pillowy pancakes ;)