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Friday, February 27, 2009

Dedicate to My Mom



Guess it is another post depicting my Mom's influence on my taste buds. I wonder why I was never interested in learning how to cook when I was much younger or especially when my Mom was still alive. There were times when I was standing at the side of the kitchen's window and watching her cook or when I was in the mood of giving her a hand I offered to do little things, like cutting vegetable or peeling garlics. That was all. Mom would definitely be willing to teach, just that I was never curious. Gosh!

Anyway, I would like to dedicate this dish to my Mom who introduced our family to the delicious taste of lotus roots. How many hundred times she had served her special lotus root soup and made us enjoy its special taste.



As I gazed into the bowl filled with floating red paprica slices, I came to admire how simple things could be so aesthetically beautiful!

FRIED LOTUS ROOTS AND SWEET PEAS
Serves 4 persons

Ingredients:
- Lotus root > 1 section approx.170 gram
- Red sweet paprica > 1
- Corn flour > 1 tablespoon
- Water > 2 tablespoons
- Sweet peas > 10
- Black mushroom > 6
- Garlic - mince > 2 cloves
- Roasted cashew nuts > 10
- Vegetable oil > 1 tablespoon

Seasoning:
- Soya sauce dressing > 1 tablespoon
- Oyster sauce > 4 tablespoon
- Sugar > 1 teaspoon
- Salt >1/4 teaspoon

Method:
- Mix corn flour and water. Set aside.
- Prepare seasoning by mixing all ingredients together.
- Slice lotus roots and red paprica.
- Fill one bowl with boiling water and another with cold water.
- Blanch sliced lotus roots, red paprica, and sweet peas with boiling water for 1 minute, then rinse with cold water.
- Saute garlic in vegetable oil until fragrant. Add black mushrooms.
- Fold in lotus root, sweet peas, and red paprica. Then add cashew nuts and seasoning.
- Finally thicken with corn flour mixture.
- Serve hot.

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Craving



Don't know why... as I was looking into my files seeking material for the new post, I found Macaroni and Cheese and just instantly had craving for it. Tried to remember what exactly I had in my fridge, and need to swing by supermarket to get the rest of the ingredients, especially those fresh ones like onion, parsley, and milk.

After a long working day, just hope I could fix my dinner quickly, sit down comfortably on my couch, eat my macaroni hot and watch "No Reservation" - for the third time. Yes, third time ..... just totally love love love it.

MACARONI AND CHEESE
Serves 2 persons

Ingredients:
- Macaroni > 100 grams
- Water > 500 grams
- Salt > 1/2 teaspoon
- Butter > 9 grams
- Garlic - mince > 2 cloves
- Onion - mince > 50 grams
- Ham – thinly dice to 1x1 cm > 50 grams
- All purpose flour > 1/2 tablespoon
- Milk > 115 gram
- Oregano > 1/2 teaspoon
- Ground black pepper > 1/4 teaspoon
- Cheddar cheese – grate > 75 grams
- Parsley – chop to sprinkle > 1/2 tablespoon

Method:
- Boil water and salt in pot. Add macaroni and cook for 10-12 minutes. Drain and apply some cooking oil so macaroni will not stick together.
- Saute garlic and onion with butter till fragrant. Add ham.
- Fold in all purpose flour and stir swiftly. Immediately pour in milk gradually while stirring until smooth and thicker. Sprinkle oregano and pepper.
- Lower heat, put macaroni and grated cheese. Mix well.
- Serve on plate and sprinkle with chopped parsley.