Barberries and Wine

Thai Inspired Salad

2012-03-07T12:00:00.000+08:00

Thai inspired salad--in other words, salad made from whatever I had left over after the Thai food cooking spree! Turned out that this was so bloody fresh and yummy that it outshone everything else that I made lol. Was it Keats that said, beauty lies in simplicity? Well this was definitely a case of that.

Ease of Cooking	Yummy Factor	Apprx. Cost
		HK$10 (US$1)

Ingredients (Serves 1-2)

1/2 zucchini, julienned
1/2 tomato, seeded and julienned
2 tbsp snow peas
1/2 lime
1 bunch basil leaves, thinly shredded
1 bunch coriander leaves, thinly shredded
1 tsp fish sauce
Few cranberries
Iceberg lettuce (optional)

Directions

Toss everything except the iceberg lettuce together.
Can be eaten on its own or by making wraps using lettuce leaves.

Kaeng Khiao Wan (Thai Green Curry)

2012-03-06T13:42:00.000+08:00

Without a doubt, Thai stands way up at the top in my list of favourite cuisines. My philosophy with food has always been that if you can't decide what you want to eat, go for Thai. Not only is there always a huge variety of flavours to choose from at any Thai restaurant, it's also one of the few things that doesn't leave you feeling guilty after you eat a massive meal. How can something that tastes so good be so healthy (relatively speaking, of course) lol

My favourite Thai place, as I'm sure most people who know me in Hong Kong can attest, is a tiny hole in the walls venture right above the Tai Po Wet Food Market. Not only is the food amazing and fresh there, the staff is super friendly too--I've never had any complaints about that place.

Any way, with all that awesomeness in mind, it was only going to be a matter of time that Thai Green Curry would find its way into our kitchen sometime soon. Where I thought it was difficult to make though, I was wholly wrong--this is one of the easiest things in the world. No doubt I'll be making it again soon!

Overall, the curry tasted as it should except for the fact that it was perhaps a little too sweet, and a little less creamy than that Tai Po restaurant. These things can easily be sorted though by adding a little less sugar (1.5tsp) and condensing the curry for a bit. I wasn't particularly a fan of the peas either and thought that they added some bitterness to the curry, but found that zucchini was a great substitute for Thai eggplants.

Ease of Cooking	Yummy Factor	Apprx. Cost
		HK$50 (US$6.5)

Ingredients (Serves 2)

1 tbsp canola oil
1 tbsp green curry paste
1 cup coconut milk
250g boneless chicken thigh, chopped
50g white button mushrooms, halved
50g snow peas
50g, zucchini, chopped
2 kaffir lime leaves
2 sprigs basil leaves
1 red bird chilli, thinly sliced diagonally
1 tsp fish sauce
2 tsp brown sugar

Directions

Saute green curry paste with oil over medium heat. If it splatters, reduce heat.
Add 1/2 cup coconut milk and kaffir lime leaves and mix well until the paste is fully dissolved and you can see the oil appear on top.
Add chicken and cook until chicken is half done.
Add mushrooms, peas and zucchini and cook until they soften slightly.
Add the rest of the coconut milk along with the basil leaves, fish sauce and brown sugar. Stir thoroughly and bring to a boil.
Reduce heat and simmer for another 5 minutes. Add more coconut milk if a thinner consistency is desired.
Garnish with red bird chilli and serve hot with steamed rice!

Vegetarian Chili (Stew) with Chocolate

2012-03-02T18:39:00.000+08:00

This recipe is probably one of the most random things I've ever tried, though perhaps not as random (or disgusting) as the banana and carrot sandwich I concocted a couple of years ago. In the end, though, it turned out to be pretty good and hearty, and was of course a tonne of fun to cook with a dear someone nearly 8,000 miles away over web cam.

I've never actually had chili before, but I imagined that it would at least have been a little spicy as the name suggests. However, this was more on the sweet side, mainly because of the strange, and not entirely necessary, addition of chocolate. The most disappointing thing about this, though, was that there was a lack of definition in taste that made it stand out on its own; as we agreed after tasting, this recipe, if anything, was unfortunately a little unmemorable.

Granted, I have to admit that I did not entirely follow the original recipe. If I had, it looks like I would've ended up with a watery soup instead of a stewy mixture. If I had to make it again, which isn't entirely unlikely, I would probably also add more cumin, onion, tomato (paste) and garlic, just to give it that extra punch and because I could barely taste these ingredients in this version. Adding garlic to the cous cous, though, did help to boost the taste a little, so maybe next time, a whole extra clove needs to go into the stew itself! Also, a little less chocolate and red chili powder would also probably help the taste. Keeping all things in mind, I thought the chili or stew or whatever this was, tasted a lot better (from a 2/5 to 4/5 yummy factor) when eaten with a bit of cous cous with fried garlic.

Ease of Cooking	Yummy Factor	Apprx. Cost
		HK$40 (US$5)

Ingredients (Serves 2)

2 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 small onion, finely diced
1 tomato, finely diced*
1 1/2 tbsp tomato paste*
1 can (15oz) chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 can (15oz) kidney beans, drained and rinsed
2-2.5 cups vegetarian chicken broth
1 tsp cumin, ground
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp red chili powder
20g bittersweet chocolate
1 cup cous cous
1 cup water

*Alternatively use 1 can whole tomatoes

Directions

Heat oil and cook 1tbsp oil, 1 clove garlic and all of the onion in a pot until slighly softened.
Add chickpeas, kidney beans, 2 cups of broth, cumin, salt, tomato, and tomato paste. Bring to a boil over high heat.
Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until thickened (approximately 1 hour). If it becomes too dry, add more broth or water.
Stir in the chocolate until melted. Keep warm.
Meanwhile, fry 1 clove of garlic in the rest of the oil until golden brown.
Add water and bring to a boil.
Turn off heat, add cous cous, cover and wait until it soaks up all the water.
Fluff with a fork before serving.

Torshi Hafteh-bijar (Pickled Green Tomatoes and Chili)

2012-03-02T14:42:00.001+08:00

I was in an Indian convenience store a few days back and saw a bunch of small fresh green chilies in the fridge. It took me back to the time where my mom used to buy tonnes of chilies and green tomatoes in the late summer to make jars upon jars of this northern-Persian pickle for use in the winter.

Freshly made

Green tomatoes cannot easily be found in Hong Kong markets, but as mentioned in one of the last posts, we managed to get our hands over some in a bit of an unexpected place in the city!

3 weeks later

These pickles are very similar to a variety of northern Indian pickles, but where those only need to be fermented for a couple days at most and use green chili, shallots, lemon juice, onions, with a bit of red wine vinegar, these use a mixture of aromatic herbs and have to be left to age for a much longer time. They go well with many classical Persian stews, especially with Gheimeh.

Ease of Cooking	Yummy Factor	Apprx. Cost
		HK$40 (US$5)

Ingredients (makes over 600ml/20oz)

200g green chili, chopped
200g green tomatoes, chopped
50g fresh parsley, chopped
50g fresh mint, chopped
1tbsp dried dill
1tbsp dried tarragon
1tbsp dried mint
1tsp mixed Italian seasoning
1l white vinegar
Salt and pepper

Directions

Mix all vegetables and herbs in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper.
Transfer to a glass jar and pour in vinegar until contents are completely covered.
Leave to age for a month, though they can be eaten after a week.

Mid-week Treat: Because Every Blog is Better with Cats

2012-02-29T11:23:00.001+08:00

Source: Unknown

Light Potato Salad

2012-02-26T10:41:00.000+08:00

We were thinking of making a low calorie version of the potato salad by omitting the mayonnaise, so the first thing that came into mind was to mimic the Bavarian kartofelsalat. Our salad, though, turned out to be a little dry for some reason--maybe because of the potatoes? We've actually had this problem many-a-times with potatoes in Hong Kong. They're very starchy and disintegrate at the slightest threat of boiling water.

A beef stock based sauce is usually added to the classical kartofelsalat, which most likely would've helped to moisten the salad, but we didn't have it and were hungry, so maybe next time!

Ease of Cooking	Yummy Factor	Apprx. Cost
		HK$20 (US$2.5)

Ingredients (Serves 2-3)
250g potatoes, boiled, peeled and thinly sliced
1/2 onion, thinly sliced
50g parsley, finely chopped
1tbsp lemon juice
Salt and pepper

Directions
Mix all the ingredients together.
Cool before serving. Simple as that!

Fried Green Tomatoes

2012-02-19T22:32:00.000+08:00

I'm not sure if this is a good thing or bad, but we found some tomatoes growing at the University. For the past week, we've been talking about making some northern Persian pickles at home that need green tomatoes, and the only way to get them in Hong Kong--as far as I know--is to grow them yourself. Needless to say, then, that we were really happy to not have to make that effort. On the minus side, they are grown suspiciously close to a GM food lab, but since there were no signs stating that they were part of an on going experiment, we nicked a few. Any way, the random placement of the plants looks like they've grown after someone threw a tomato or two in the area last season. Haha

So after making the much coveted torshi, or persian pickle--a recipe for which is on its way--we still had a bunch of extra tomatoes left behind. Now, I've never even seen green tomatoes, except on the plant, let alone eaten one, but it seemed like a bit of a shame to let these go to waste. And this is where ye ole Google came in. A quick search for "green tomato recipe" showed a huge list of things people have been doing with these sour little fruits. One of them that kept popping up was for "classic southern (american) fried green tomatoes." Classic or not, since it is so popular, I thought of giving them a go...

Thankfully, i had all the ingredients on hand. And within about 20 minutes, we had a bunch of tiny green tomatoes covered in a mixture of breadcrumbs, egg, pepper, salt, and dried basil. I was reluctant to take the first bite, but it was actually surprisingly very good. Overall, besides the sourness of the tomatoes, it tasted great. Perhaps if they were cooked for a little while longer, the sourness would go away?

Ease of Cooking	Yummy Factor	Apprx. Cost
		HK$6 (US$0.7)

Ingredients (Serves 2)
5 small green tomatoes
1 small egg
1 cup panko breadcrumbs
2tsp dried basil
2tbsp water
Salt and pepper
Cooking oil

Directions
Slice tomatoes into 1/4 inch slices. Reserve.
In a small bowl, combine egg and water for an egg wash.
In another bowl or plate, mix the breadcrumbs, basil, black pepper and salt.
Heat a little bit of oil in a frying pan on medium-high heat.
While it's heating, coat tomato slices in the egg wash, transfer them to the breadcrumbs till they're fully coated, and move them to the frying pan.
Cook for 2-3 minutes on each side until each side is golden brown. The crust will be very crunchy, and the middle, still solid, but cooked.
Place on kitchen towel to drain away access oil before serving.

Tabbouleh (Lebanese Herb Salad)

2012-02-15T11:48:00.000+08:00

Tabbouleh, at first glance, seems to be a simple salad, but when eaten with other Lebanese foods such as falafel, you begin to realize the playfulness of its texture, fresh aroma and slight sourness. It's perfect to cool down the palate after a big bite of a falafel sandwich and refreshes the temptation for yet another one.

Tabbouleh is a typical middle-eastern salad: fresh, simple, quick to make and, of course, sour! The art of making a good tabbouleh, though, seems to lie mostly in the preparation of the bulgar. This cracked wheat is available at any Indian grocery store (ask for "dalia"), and when placed in water, soaks it all up! This softens the wheat, but if the excess water is not removed, the salad comes out all soggy. Squeezing too much water out, on the other hand, makes it incredibly sticky. After a few trials, I realized that the best way is to use hot water for a shorter period of soaking time, and giving it only a little bit of a squeeze.

Still, after adding the copious loads of lemon juice, the salad still came out a little watery. This was a compromise we had to make to make sure the grain stayed separate and retained its texture. Of course, if a more dry salad is desired, the water can always be removed.

Overall, this was a very refreshing salad, but perhaps could have been better by replacing lemon juice with that of lime; the lemon was a little bitter that's all.

Ease of Cooking	Yummy Factor	Apprx. Cost
		HK$40 (US$5)

Ingredients (Serves 2-3)
1/2 cup bulgar wheat
5-7 cherry tomatoes
3 bunches parsley, chopped
1 bunch mint, chopped
1 bunch spring onions, chopped
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper

Directions
Add 1/2 cup hot water to the bulgar, cover with a cloth, and let it soak for about 30 minutes.
Drain and place soaked wheat onto a cloth. Squeeze slightly to drain some of the excess water.
Combine wheat with tomatoes, onions and herbs. Mix well.
Add lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper to taste. Mix well again and serve.

Falafel

2012-02-14T11:19:00.000+08:00

Picking a main course this week was a little difficult for us because of the huge number of choices that came up when searching for Lebanese main course recipes. In the end, we decided to limit the choices by trying to control our pockets, picking something healthy, and of course, something simple that could easily be made in our kitchen that isn't fantastically equipped--especially now that I melted the grinder away... Falafel was the obvious choice.

As with the hummus that I posted about a couple of days ago, though, a majority of the recipes for falafel called for a food processor. An immersion blender wouldn't help this time either because the mixture needed to have that little bit of crunchiness while making a dough that could be shaped into patties and balls that wouldn't break off in the oil. Without a thought, then, I had to bring out the trusty ole potato masher again. After not having seen the light of day for months, I'm sure it was pretty happy to be smashing away softened chickpeas for half the afternoon (okay, 10 minutes).

The balls from the first batch that I pan-fried (instead of the usual deep frying) were a little under-cooked in the center because I had forgotten to turn the heat down and was afraid the surface would burn. But, once fixed, we made a bunch of very nice, crisp and fresh tasting falafel that I'm sure will be made again soon! By putting them in pita pockets with a bit of lettuce, red onion, tomato and hummus, they made for a great main course, but of course, could've been eaten on their own as a snack too.

Ease of Cooking	Yummy Factor	Apprx. Cost
		HK$20 (US$2.5)

Ingredients (Serves 3)
1 can chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 tbs fresh parsley, minced
3 tbs fresh coriander, minced
3 tbs plain flour
1 tsp cumin, ground
Salt and Pepper
Oil for frying

Directions
Drain chickpeas and discard the water.
Combine chickpeas, onion, garlic, parsley, coriander, 2tbsp flour, cumin, salt and pepper to taste in a mixing bowl.
Mash all the ingredients together until they're all well mixed and reach a thick paste like consistency.
Form small golf ball sized balls from the mixture. I prefer to flatten them a little bit at this stage because I prefer to pan fry rather than deep fry.
Heat about half an inch of oil in a frying pan. Turn the heat down to a low setting and fry the patties.
Turn them over every minute to make sure they cook thoroughly and don't burn.
When they're golden brown and crispy on both sides (about 3-5 minutes each), scoop them out and place them on a kitchen towel to rest and drain access oil.
Serve hot on a bed of lettuce, onions and tomatoes with tahini or hummus! Sprinkle a bit of lemon juice on top if desired (we didn't).

Hummus

2012-02-13T01:13:00.001+08:00

This week started off on a bit of a destructive spree on my end: while trying to make almond butter, I managed to melt off the chopper and grinder we got a few months ago. The almond came up to a pasty stage when it broke, so it never became as buttery as I wanted. Needless to say, I won't be posting anything about it until I can make a batch without melting machines or setting the apartment on fire.

What was also disappointing was the fact that I was heavily relying on using the grinder to make this week's Lebanese food. We didn't have anything special planned really; just hummus, falafel and tabbouleh, but most recipes call for a food processor/blender/grinder for the first two at least. I personally always am skeptical of machinery and often ask myself what people did before they had these machines... but well, the only answer is that they used grinding stones, etc (read: lots of work!). I'm lazy, so that, of course, is out of the question as well. But, with the soft and squishy ingredients that hummus and falafel use, I was pretty happy that at least I could make a close-enough replica by just using a potato masher. All in all, it turned out to be a very good lunch!

Despite loving hummus, it's actually the first time I've ever tried making it--not counting the times I used the "just add water" thingiedoos from the supermarket that taste like cardboard. I'm pretty happy with the result, though to get a better texture, I did indeed have to bring out the immersion blender I had lying around in the back of the cabinet. The texture was still a bit more grainy than desired, but it tasted just as great as anything I've had in the restaurants in town.

The only problem is that the cost of buying tahini (sesame seed paste) in Hong Kong is a tad bit high. In Taste, it comes up to around HK$70 per bottle, but I'm pretty sure we'll be making this quite a bit, so at the end of the day, it's not that bad.

Ease of Cooking	Yummy Factor	Apprx. Cost
		HK$15 (US$2)

Ingredients (Serves 3)
1 can of chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
1/4 cup of liquid from can of chickpeas
3 tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 tbsp tahini
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp olive oil
Mint or parsley to garnish

Directions
Combine all ingredients into a mixing bowl, except for the chickpea water.
Using a masher, mix and crush the ingredients as much as possible.
Blend the mixture until it reaches a smooth pasty consistency (apprx. 3-5 minutes). Alternatively, use a food processor and make your life easier (or a grinding stone if you like the torture).
Add 1tbsp olive oil and and as much chickpea water as needed until it reaches the desired consistency.
Place in a serving bowl, douse with a tablespoon of olive oil on top, garnish with mint or parsley and nom with some pita bread!

Spaghetti with Meatballs

2012-02-05T00:23:00.001+08:00

I have no idea why, but ever since I started cooking meat, I've been thinking about making spaghetti with meatballs. This became almost an obsession after I had an amazing version of the dish up in the Popup@Elgin.st restaurant around New Year's Day. All things considered, then, I have no idea why I've delayed making them until now.

This recipe is a bit of an adaptation of Fabio Viviani's; even though he says that you cannot have an Italian meatball without ricotta, there was no way I was going to put in a bazillion kilos of (fairly pricey) cheese into mine, especially considering that all this food and lack of exercise in my schedule is making me grow horizontally. I do really recommend the Japanese breadcrumbs (Panko) though. It adds a crispier flavour to the meatballs, but also helps to bind them together nicely.

All in all, from the creamy meatballs to the concentrated tomato and basil sauce, it was probably one of my best attempts at cooking. And they even tasted better than those at Popup@Elgin.st! ;-)

Tomato and Basil Sauce

Ease of Cooking	Yummy Factor	Apprx. Cost
		HK$30 (US$4)

Ingredients (Serves 2)
1 can plum tomatoes in natural juice
4 cloves garlic, crushed
3tbsp concentrated tomato puree
3tbsp olive oil
Handful of basil
Salt and pepper

Directions
Fry garlic in 2tbsp oil on medium heat until golden brown.
Add canned tomatoes, tomato puree, and 1/2 cup of water into the pan. Stir.
Add a generous helping of basil, salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Heat for 10 minutes until it reaches a thick consistency.
All another tablespoon of olive oil. and heat for a couple more minutes.

Meatballs

Ease of Cooking	Yummy Factor	Apprx. Cost
		HK$75 (US$10)

Ingredients (11 meatballs)
300g ground beef
60g parmesan reggiano, grated
1/3 cup parsley
1 egg
1 cup panko Japanese breadcrumbs
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 small red onion
1tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Salt ad freshly ground pepper

Directions
Mix all ingredients together until they're combined well and the mixture is nice and tight. Try not to knead the mixture to keep the texture of the ground beef.
Form golf ball sized meatballs with the mixture.
Place the meatballs in the tomato and basil sauce (above). Add about half a cup of water and simmer for 15 minutes.
Turn the meatballs, add another half a cup of water and simmer for another 15 minutes until they are cooked through. Add more water if sauce becomes too thick.
Serve with spaghetti!

Side dish: garlic bread

No-Bake Garlic Bread

2012-02-05T00:23:00.000+08:00

This, without there being need to say it, is incredibly simple. Without an oven, I pretty much just had the option of making garlic-infused butter or a melted mix. I went for the latter because it's much easier to apply and seeps right into the bread. All in all, super yum.

Ease of Cooking	Yummy Factor	Apprx. Cost
		HK$15 (US$2)

Ingredients (Serves 2)

1 loaf french bread, sliced

2tbsp butter

1tbsp parsley, minced

2 cloves garlic, minced

Directions

Combine butter, parsley and garlic in a bowl and microwave for a minute or two until the butter's melted.

Meanwhile, toast slices of bread.

Apply mixture to toasted bread and voila!

Khoresht Gheimeh (Persian Stew with Beef and Split Peas)

2012-02-04T01:16:00.000+08:00

Gheimeh is another classical Persian stew. The recipe is quite versatile with the option of adding either fried potatoes or eggplants. In some variations, both items are added to create a more complex taste, however, we only served the potatoes as a side this time. We've actually tried to make this a few times (succeeding sometimes and failing others) until we came up with this revised (and excellent) edition of the stew. It tasted yummy but the split peas were disintegrated to some extent probably as a result of soaking for too long. We should've been able to see them whole as they add a bit of a colour and texture to the stew, but it wasn't anything that stopped it from tasting good. Aside from this, the sweetness of the white onion played very well with the sour and aromatic tinge of lime juice (!).

Ease of Cooking	Yummy Factor	Apprx. Cost
		HK$50 (US$6.5)

Ingredients (Serves 2)
300g beef, diced
2 medium white onions, grated
2 medium potatoes
1 cup yellow split peas, soaked
4 tbsp tomato paste
5 tbsp oil
1 tbsp lime juice
1 tbsp turmeric
Salt and pepper

Directions
Soak the split peas overnight.
Fry onions with turmeric, salt and pepper until completely brown.
Add in the beef and fry for 10 mins.
Add the split peas and stir fry for another 5 mins.
Dilute the tomato paste in a cup of boiling water and add it to the mixture.
Let the mixture boil for another 10 min, stirring occasionally.
Transfer the mixture into a stew pot and add three cups of boiling water. Stew for 45 min on low heat.
Add the lime juice and adjust the spices if necessary and continue the stewing for another 45 mins.
Add water occasionally to compensate for water loss.
Serve with fried potatoes and garlic couscous or saffron flavoured rice.

Side Dish: Fried Potatoes
Cut the potatoes into thin slices and pan fry them with a bit of turmeric until cooked.

Khoresht Karafs (Persian Celery Stew)

2012-02-01T10:45:00.001+08:00

It is definitely true that most Persian food, no matter how delicious it tastes, looks absolutely horrendous no matter how much effort you put into presenting it. There's hardly a time that when you Google a Persian dish that you can find something that looks like you'd want to actually eat it, let alone cook it. Okay, that's a bit of an exaggeration. Truth be told, Persian cuisine is one of my favourites--except for the copious amounts of oil that most dishes use, the light aromatic fragrance of the food can really blow your mind away.

This stew is very similar to Ghormeh Sabzi, but with a considerably strong, but fresh, celery flavour. It takes just as long and uses about a bazillion tonnes of oil to fry up the vegetables, but being a tad bit health conscious, the oil this particular time was brought down to 4tbsp at least (after a lot of whinging and protesting, of course). Overall, the stew tasted great, despite what it looks like in the photos, but one thing that stopped it from getting 5 points was the slight bitterness it had in its aftertaste. Something that was probably the fault of the artificial/synthetic-tasting bottled lime juice we bought at the store last week (yuck).

Ease of Cooking	Yummy Factor	Apprx. Cost
		HK$70 (US$9)

Ingredients (Serves 2)
200g beef, cubed
300g celery, cut in half inch pieces
100g parsley, finely chopped
50g celery leaves, finely chopped
50g mint, finely chopped
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
1/4 cup lime juice
4tbsp oil
1tbsp turmeric
Salt and pepper

Directions
Fry the onion till its golden brown.
Add meat and stir fry for 10 mins.
In a separate non-stick pan, fry the finely chopped vegetables with turmeric, salt and pepper until their color becomes a very dark green.
Add in celery sticks to the herb mix and stir fry for another 5 mins.
Mix the fried vegetables, meat and three cups of boiling water in a stew pot. Stew on low heat for 45 mins.
Add lime juice and adjust spices if needed. Stew for another 90 mins adding boiling water, if necessary to compensate for the evaporation.
Enjoy with steamed Basmati rice.

Spaetzle (German Dumplings)

2012-01-31T09:17:00.001+08:00

This week, we decided to experiment with spaetzle, German/ Alpine flour and egg ~~noodles~~ dumplings. They make for a simple and light meal, served usually as a side dish, but with gravy (store-bought in this case), they were good enough for the main course. Instead of using a spaetzle maker, I used a large-holed colander. The dumplings were kind of tiny, but still tasted great. They were very soft, creamy, and filling; the nutmeg and pepper are definitely important to bring that extra something to the taste buds. The gravy (Gravox) was probably the only downer, but that's something that can be easily fixed next time.

Ease of Cooking	Yummy Factor	Apprx. Cost
		HK$25 (US$3)

Ingredients (Serves 2)
1.5 cup plain flour
1/3 cup skim milk
2/3 tsp salt
1/2 tsp nutmeg
3 eggs, beaten
1 pinch black pepper, finely ground

Directions
Combine and thoroughly mix all ingredients together until it becomes a smooth paste.
Boil some salted water.
Press the paste through a large-holed colander or grater into the simmering water.
Cook for about 5 minutes or until the dumplings come up to the surface.
Drain well, and serve with gravy (above picture), mushroom sauce, or by cooking it in butter with fresh parsley!

Recommended Side: We ate these with the baby buttered potatoes I made a couple of months ago, but this time, with less butter and more parsley. Also, instead of buttering whole potatoes, I cut them into bite sized chunks to give more surface area for the butter to coat them thoroughly so the boring taste of the potatoes goes bye bye. It looked a lot prettier too!

Zereshk Polo ba Murgh (Persian Barberry Pilaf with Chicken)

2012-01-30T12:29:00.000+08:00

Barberries are perhaps some of the best things to have come out of the Middle-East. The sweet and sour flavour of the berries is fun and playful on the palate, and is greatly complimented by the other ingredients in this dish. Barberry pilaf and chicken is one the most common dishes being cooked in a Persian kitchen. Unlike most Persian foods it’s both easy and quick to prepare. The meat unfortunately was a little stiff, but that's partially a problem with chicken meat in Hong Kong (it's a nightmare to get quality chicken for some strange reason!). Other than that, it was great.

Ease of Cooking	Yummy Factor	Apprx. Cost
		HK$20 (US$2.5)

Ingredients (Serves 2)
200g chicken fillet
1 cup basmati rice
1 medium onion
1 garlic clove
1 tbsp turmeric
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp butter
1 pinch saffron
Pepper and salt

Directions
Cut the onion in half and thinly slice one and place along with chicken, garlic, ½ tbsp turmeric, salt and pepper in a sauce pan.

Grind the saffron and add it to half a cup of boiling water. Leave it for 15 min so the color comes out.

Add the saffron juice to the chicken mixture. Also add a cup of water and cook on medium heat until the meat becomes completely tender. Add additional water if necessary.

Slice the other half of the onion finely and fry in a separate non-stick pan with butter, salt, pepper and ½ tbsp turmeric until it becomes golden.

Add barberries to the mixture and stir at low heat for 1 min.

Mix sugar and 2 tbsp boiling water and pour over the mixture while stirring vigorously for 1 min to evaporate the excess water.

Steam the rice and mix it well with the glazed barberries and enjoy it with the soft saffron flavored chicken.

No Bake Pumpkin Pie

2012-01-28T00:12:00.000+08:00

I absolutely love pumpkin pie and have been craving it for a good long while, but because of a lack of an oven and vanilla pudding mix that many stove top pumpkin pie recipes call for, I've only been able to grumble about wanting it rather than making it. So, I was pretty excited when I found a few recipes that didn't require either of these things, and here is the result!

Unfortunately, the most this recipe gets is a three out of five. It was a little too sweet, a little too grainy in terms of texture, and a bit too much like pudding in its consistency. The recipe, I think, asks for a little bit too much milk; a single can of evaporated milk should've been enough. Secondly, the eggs are a bit too much as well, and I think it the grainy texture might partly be the fault of eggs scrambling slightly when heating.

Apart from this, the mix of spices with the pumpkin was quite nice. I would love to give this another go with the modifications above, or with any suggestions I can draw, but since it's not all that cheap to make, I think a second shot is going to have to wait for a little while.

Edit: Turns out that a few more hours in the fridge made a pie a lot better than when I initially tasted it.

Ease of Cooking	Yummy Factor	Apprx. Cost
		HK$75 (US$10)

Ingredients
1 can pumpkin puree
1 can low fat evaporated milk
1 cup milk
3 eggs, beaten
1 1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp salt
1 graham cracker pie crust

Directions
Combine sugar, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, and salt in a bowl. Put aside.
Mix the pumpkin, evaporated and whole milk, vanilla extract, and eggs over medium heat.
Gradually add in the sugar and spice mixture and stir continuously until it's all dissolved in.
Reduce temperature to low for about 10 minutes or so, stirring frequently in between, until the mixture is thick.
Remove from heat and let it sit for 10-15 minutes before pouring into the pie crust.
Refrigerate for 3-4 hours before serving.

Blueberry Sauce

2012-01-22T09:00:00.000+08:00

Initially, I made this simple yet amazing sauce to try out with a cheesecake, but it goes great with pancakes, French toast, waffles, or basically anything that needs a bit of a sweet and sticky boost!. By thickening it a bit more, it can even work as jam, but i like it to be a little watery. They key really is to find ripe blueberries; I've made this sauce twice--the first time with young blueberries and second with ripe and the latter definitely tasted better, but I had to adjust the amount of sugar to compensate for the extra sweetness ripe berries add to the mix. The orange zest is something I decided to add in at the last minute just to have a bit of a zing, and it works very well!

Ease of Cooking	Yummy Factor	Apprx. Cost
		HK$20 (US$2.6)

Ingredients (Serves 6)
1 1/2 cups ripe blueberries
3/4-1 cup sugar to taste
1/2 cup water
1 tsp orange zest

Directions
Heat blueberries, sugar and water on high for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally to make sure it doesn't burn.
Reduce sauce until desired consistency is reached.
Turn off heat and add orange zest. Stir, and serve warm on pancakes, or add to a cheesecake before cooling.

Nutty Brussels Sprouts (Take 2)

2012-01-21T13:29:00.000+08:00

This was my second attempt at making this apparently delicious side dish. I personally hate Brussels sprouts so when I made them over Christmas using this recipe, I was surprised (and very happy) that they turned out to be so yummy! The Christmas version, however, was full of buttery goodness, so I wanted to see if a healthier version of the dish would taste just as good. Unfortunately, using olive oil instead of butter kept the bitterness of the sprouts, but the nuts again came to the rescue. It makes for a good accompaniment to a red meat dish but since we were eating a horrendous version of a store-bought Arrabiata at the time, our taste buds were already overloaded with peppery bitterness from the sauce. After ridding myself of the Arrabiata, I found the lightness of the sprouts, with the slightly bitter flavour coming from the sprouts and the roasted nuts, to be be somewhat pleasant. It's at least an excellent way to get rid of leftover Brussels sprouts after a Christmas meal!

Ease of Cooking	Yummy Factor	Overall Cost
		HK$30 (US$4)

Ingredients (Serves 2)
250g brussels sprouts, sliced thinly
2 tbsp olive oil
Handful of mixed nuts (walnuts, pecans, hazlenuts, almonds)
Handful of raisins
1 tbsp lemon juice
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions
Roast nuts in a hot pan on high heat. Stir them around to avoid burning.
Heat oil on medium-high.
Add brussels sprouts. Season with salt and pepper and stir.
Add nuts and raisins. Cook, stirring occasionally until brussels sprouts are crisp-tender.
Remove from heat, add lemon juice, stir, and serve!

Ghormeh Sabzi (Persian Herb Stew)

2012-01-19T10:19:00.000+08:00

This recipe is one of our favorites. It takes around 3 hours to make, excluding time taken to prepare the vegetables that must be chopped very finely. Though the recipe commands a hearty amount of oil to be added at the frying stage, the amount can be reduced to make a healthy and refreshing dish as well--though the oil certainly adds a considerable amount of flavour (just make sure there is enough oil in the pan to fry the vegetables without burning them). For a dish that takes so long to prepare, most of the processes in this stew are surprisingly simple--they just require a lot of patience! In the end though, it's well worth it!

Ease of Cooking	Yummy Factor	Apprx. Cost
		HK$110 (US$14)

Ingredients (Serves 2)

150g parsley, finely chopped

150g coriander, finely chopped

100g spring onions, finely chopped

50g spinach, finely chopped

250g sirloin steak, cubed

1 can kidney beans

3 limes, squeezed (or 4 tbsp lime juice)

1 dried lime

Salt, pepper and turmeric

Directions

Combine all greens together with an excess amount of oil, 1 tbspsalt and 1 teaspoon turmeric. Stir-fry until it becomes somewhatblackish.

Add beef and stir for another 5 mins.

Transfer the mixture intoa stew pot and add ½ liter of boiling water.

Cover the pot and let it boil onlow heat for an hour.

Add lime juice and 1 tbsp salt.

Separate the kidneybeans from brine and wash them thoroughly. Add to the stew.

Continue boilingthe stew for another hour. Add some boiling water.

Pierce dried lime with a knife andsink it into stew.

Adjust the spices to taste and let it stew for another half an hour until it reaches desired consistency (ideally, a little soupy).

Serve with steamed rice or couscous.

Kashk-e-Bademjun (Eggplant Spread)

2012-01-17T23:54:00.000+08:00

This Persian recipe was almost perfect except for the use of sour cream insteadof fermented whey (kashk), but since kashk isn't readily available in Hong Kong, sour cream had to do! It makes for a decent substitute, but generally does not have the thick consistency and salty flavour that whey has. It's also creamier than whey, which isn't necessarily a bad thing!

Ease of Cooking	Yummy Factor	Apprx. Cost
		HK$50 (US$6.5)

Ingredients (Serves 2)
3 medium eggplants

2 large onions, grated

3 tbsp sour cream

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp dried mint

3 slices pita bread, separated

Few leaves of coriander

Canola oil

Salt and pepper

Directions

Roast the eggplants on openflame until the skin comes loose.

Remove the skin and mash the flesh until itbecomes pasty.

Stir fry the mashed eggplant with olive oil for 3-5 mins.

Add sour cream and stir for another 5 mins.

Add enough salt to reproduce the saltiness of kashk (whey).

In a separate pan, fry the onions on low heat with an excess amount of frying oil. Constantly stir until it becomes dark brown.

In yet another pan, saute driedmint in 1/2 tbsp olive oil on low heat.

Garnish with coriander, and serve eggplant paste with fried onions, mint and heated pita bread.

Bread Pudding

2012-01-17T09:26:00.000+08:00

This is not your classic bread pudding and is based on modifications my mum. It's a lot simpler, tastes a million times better, and has been a family favourite for a long time. Unfortunately, I covered it and didn't let it cool down before putting it in the fridge, which meant that all the vapour condensed right into the pudding, making it soggy. Besides the consistency, though, the texture and taste were perfect.

Ease of Cooking	Yummy Factor	Apprx. Cost
		HK$20 (US$2.5)

Ingredients (Serves 4)
500ml milk
3 slices white bread, roughly cubed
1 cup sugar
1tbs custard powder

Directions
Add milk and bread to a saucepan and bring to a boil on medium heat.
Add custard powder and 3/4 cup sugar.
Stir for 15 minutes or so until the bread is dissolved and the mixture becomes thick. Add more sugar if needed.
In a separate pan, heat remaining sugar to caramelize. Stir the pan (not with a spoon!) constantly to make sure it doesn't burn.
Transfer caramel to mold and coat the bottom thoroughly.
Transfer the pudding mixture to the mold. Cool to room temperature, then place in fridge for at least an hour.
Tip onto plate, caramel side up and serve.

Sirloin Steak with Red Wine Sauce and Nutty Buttered Brussels Sprouts

2012-01-07T21:35:00.000+08:00

This was part of our modest Christmas ensemble this year. We normally hate brussels sprouts, but this recipe tasted great. Each of the elements complimented one another very well. Will definitely make it again.

Sirloin Steak with Red Wine Sauce

Ease of Cooking	Yummy Factor	Apprx. Cost
		HK$130 (US$17)

Ingredients (Serves 2)
2 x 220g sirloin steaks
10g black peppercorns, coarsely crushed
3/4 cup red wine
2 tbs butter
Salt

Directions
Season steaks with salt and pepper.
Heat a shallow frying pan over medium-high heat until pan is piping hot.
Add steak and cook until medium-rare for 3-5 minutes per side. Note: a hot pan ensures that the steak gets a great sear without the need for oil!
Transfer to a plate to rest.
Add red wine and butter to the pan used for searing steaks.
Stir and scrape the pan with a wooden spoon to deglaze the pan and melt the butter. Remove from heat.
To serve, spread brussels sprouts (below) on a plate. Lay the steak on top and spoon the wine sauce over it.

Buttered Brussels Sprouts with Mixed Nuts

Ease of Cooking	Yummy Factor	Apprx. Cost
		HK$35 (US$5)

Ingredients (Serves 2)
250g brussels sprouts, sliced thinly
2 tbs butter
Handful of mixed nuts (walnuts, pecans, hazlenuts, almonds), roasted
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions
Heat pan on medium-high and melt butter.
Add brussels sprouts. Season with salt and pepper and stir.
Add nuts. Cook, stirring occasionally until brussels sprouts are crisp-tender.
Remove from heat, add lemon juice, and stir.
Serve with steak (above).

Classic Cheese Fondue

2012-01-07T10:13:00.000+08:00

This was perfect! Easy enough to make, but as homely and hearty as it gets. We didn't have a caquelon and burner, so I just used a thin enameled bowl and a small camping gas burner underneath. The heat was a bit hard to control, so I would recommend just using a tealight for this amount.

Ease of Cooking	Yummy Factor	Apprx. Cost
		HK$70 (US$9)

Ingredients (Serves 2)
150g emmental cheese, grated
150g gruyere cheese, grated
1 clove garlic
1 cup dry white wine
1/2 tbs lemon juice
1 tbs flour
1 tbs brandy
1/4 tsps black pepper
Nutmeg to taste

Directions
Make shallow cuts in the garlic and rub the inside of a non-stick sauce pan with it. Discard the clove.
Heat up white wine and lemon juice on a low flame. These should be hot, but not boil.
Slowly add cheese while stirring until it's completely melted.
Add the remainder of the ingredients and stir.
If fondue is too loose, add more cheese. If it's too stiff, add more white wine.
Serve in an enameled bowl (rubbed with garlic!) and place on top of a low flame gas burner to keep the cheese melted.

To Dip
Day-old French bread and ham steak, both cut into bite-sized cubes.

Cinnamon Pancakes with Raspberry Jam and Maple Syrup

2012-01-07T10:03:00.000+08:00

This is some of our favourite breakfast, but I forgot to add a dash of milk to the pancake mix. It helps to make them a lot fluffier.

Ease of Cooking	Yummy Factor

Ingredients and Directions
Simple! Use Betty Crocker Pancake Mix, add a pinch of cinnamon to the batter, and follow instructions on the box. Serve with maple syrup, raspberry jam and a bit of butter.

Buttered Baby Potatoes with Parsley

2012-01-07T09:57:00.000+08:00

These potatoes were a little dry and boring towards the end, so a little more butter, pepper, salt and parsley would've helped. Still, they make a good side dish to a fondue or steak.

Ease of Cooking	Yummy Factor	Overall Cost
		HK$30 (US$4)

Ingredients
500g baby potatoes
1/2 cup parsley leaves, chopped finely
1 tbsp butter, chopped

Directions
Boil a pot of water with a pinch of salt.
Add potatoes and boil for 12 minutes or until potatoes can be easily pierced with a fork. Drain.
Add parsley and butter, stir, and cover until the butter has completely melted.
Stir again and serve.

Rösti (Potato Pancake)

2012-01-06T13:56:00.000+08:00

These are a taste of home for us. Not boiling the potatoes made for a very crispy rösti. Goes well with spinach pancakes.A tiny bit of sour cream to serve on the side wouldn't hurt either, but is unnecessary.

Ease of Cooking	Yummy Factor	Apprx. Cost
		HK$30 (US$4)

Ingredients (Serves 2)
3 potatoes, peeled
2 medium eggs, whisked
10-20g emmental cheese, grated
5g mature chedder cheese, grated
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 tbsp olive oil
Black pepper to taste

Directions
Grate potatoes lengthwise. Wash with water a few times to remove excess starch.
Wrap a handful of the grated potatoes into a dish towel and tightly squeeze to remove as much water as possible.
In a bowl, mix grated potatoes, eggs, black pepper and salt together.
Heat 1tbsp olive oil on medium heat in a frying pan.
Add half the potato mixture to the pan and using a spatula, level the potatoes evenly so they form a pancake.
Sprinkle in some grated emmental cheese. Cover, and cook for 6-8 minutes until the bottom surface of the potatoes is golden brown. Remove cover and cook for a couple more minutes.
Turn rösti to cook the top-side: cover the frying pan again by placing an upside down plate on top of the frying pan. Carefully tip the rösti on to the plate and place the pan back on the stove and coat with some oil.
Slowly slide the rösti from the plate back into the pan.
Cover pan and cook for another 6-8 minutes until golden brown.
Slide rösti out of the frying pan, straight on to a serving place. Garnish with a sprinkle of emmental and chedder and serve.

Spinach Pancakes

2012-01-06T13:35:00.000+08:00

The parsley and chili powder add a very much needed flavour to make these supposedly boring pancakes. Very yummy.

Ease of Cooking	Yummy Factor	Apprx. Cost
		HK$25 (US$3)

Ingredients (Serves 2)
3 tbsp all-purpose flour
2 eggs
1/2 pack spinach, chopped finely
1/2 cup curly parsley, chopped finely

1/4 tsp chili powder

1 tbsp olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

In a medium bowl, mix together flour and eggs until smooth.

Stir in spinach and parsley. Season with salt and pepper to taste, add chili powder, and mix.

Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat.

Drop mixture into the oil, one tablespoon at a time and flatten into patties.

Cook until browned on both sides.

Tom yum soup

2011-12-27T00:57:00.000+08:00

Very good--almost like what is served at the Tai Po Cooked Food Centre (our favourite Thai place), though it could have been a bit more creamy. Some Nam Prik Pao sauce as a substitute to the Thai sweet and spicy sauce would also add more of the reddish colour reminiscent of Tom Yum (at least in Hong Kong)

Ease of Cooking	Yummy Factor	Apprx. Cost
		HK$40 (US$5)

Ingredients (Serves 4)
4 cups of fine chicken stock
3 stalks of lemongrass, coarsely chopped
4 kaffir lime leaves
2 tbsp Thai fish sauce
4 Thai red chillies, coarsely chopped
A handful of cherry tomatoes
A handful of enokitake mushrooms
1/2 can coconut milk
1/3 cup fresh coriander, coarsely chopped
2 tbsp Thai sweet and spicy sauce
1 tsp sugar
1-2 limes, squeezed

Directions
Pour stock into a deep cooking pot on medium-high heat. Add lemongrass to the pot and boil 5-6 minutes, until fragrant.
Reduce heat slightly to simmer.
Add garlic, chili, lime leaves and mushrooms to broth. Simmer for an additional 5 minutes before adding cherry tomatoes. Simmer for yet another 5 minutes.
Turn heat to low and add coconut milk and fish sauce. Test soup for spice and salt, adding more chili and/or fish sauce instead of salt, or sugar and/or lime to reduce saltiness. Add more coconut milk to make soup creamier or to reduce the spicy taste.
Serve with fresh coriander sprinkled over.

Chilli and herb masala chicken with coconut rice

2011-12-15T00:37:00.000+08:00

Herb Masala Chicken

Ease of Cooking	Yummy Factor	Apprx. Cost
		HK$55 (US$7)

Ingredients (Serves 2)
1/2 kg chicken, cubed
1/2 cup water
1 small onion, chopped
2 cardamoms
2 cloves
1/4 inch cinnamon stick
2 tbs olive oil
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp garam masala powder
1/4 tsp black pepper
2 green chillies, chopped
1 cup fresh coriander leaves, chopped

Directions
Grind chillies, coriander leaves and garlic together and form a paste. Keep aside.

Heat oil in a non-stick wok on medium-high.
Once its hot, toss in the cinnamon, cardamom and cloves. Sauté for 30 seconds.
Add the onion and stir-fry until it turns golden brown.

Add the chicken and stir-fry for 5 minutes.Add the ground paste and fry till the herb masala leaves the sides of the wok and the oil floats on top.
Add salt and water and cook the chicken until tender and gravy thickens. Add more water if necessary.

Add pepper and garam masala and stir thoroughly.

Coconut Rice

Ingredients (Serves 2)

1 cup water

2/3 cup rice, preferably basmati

1/3 cup coconut milk

1/3 tsp turmeric

1/4 tsp salt

1 inch cinnamon stick

1/4 cup raisins

Directions

Rinse rice thoroughly to remove excess starch.

Bring water up to boil, and add in the rice and other ingredients.

Return to boil again, stir, and cover pot with towel before putting the lid on (it helps to steam the rice and separate the grains). Reduce heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes or until the rice is cooked and dry.

Take off the heat and allow rice to rest for 10 minutes.

Stir to fluff the rice, and serve.