Sweet Nectarine and Rocket Salad

Ingredients :

1 nectarine (remove stone and sliced as thin as possible)

a handful of rocket leaves

a handful of mixed salad leaves

8 cherry tomatoes (sliced thinly)

1 small red onion (peeled and quartered)

Dressing (mied in a screwtop jar) :

1 clove garlic (chopped finely)

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1/2 tsp Dijon mustard

1/2 tsp sugar or Maple syrup

a pinch of salt

dash of freshly ground black pepper

Pour dressing onto salad and serve cold.

Warm Roasted Pumpkin and Aubergine Salad with Modena Balsamic Dressing

One of our favourite salads - easy to prepare yet delicious. Inspired by a salad of roasted eggplant and rocket leaves I once had in a quaint restaurant in Fremantle.

Ingredients :

200gms pumpkin - 2 cm cubes
200 gms aubergine (long) - sliced 1/2 cm thick
50gms baby spinach
1 red onion - quartered
1 tomato - quartered
5 large cloves garlic
5 to 10 pcs of sundried tomatoes (cut to 1/2 cm strips)
50 to 100gms of drained cocktail feta
1 tbsp Modena balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp olive oil
salt and black pepper pepper to taste

Method :
1. Preheat oven to 190 deg C.
2. Toss pumpkin, aubergine, red onion, tomatoes and unpeeled garlic cloves with 1 tbsp olive oil, some salt and pepper.
3. Lay the vegs in a baking pan lined with baking sheet. Roast in oven for 45 mins or until pumpkin and aubergine are done.
4. Once vegs are done, turn off oven and toss baby spinach onto the hot vegs.
5. Squeeze out garlic and mash with fork if necessary. Mix well with 1 tbsp of balsamic vinegar and 1 tbsp olive oil.
6. Place vegs onto salad bowl and top with drained feta and sundried tomatoes.
4. Pour dressing over and toss salad. Serve warm.

Gnocchi with Sliced Mushroom and Beef Ragout

We had a lovely dinner of potato gnocchi with hearty beef ragout with sliced button mushrooms and fresh spinach.

When the beef ragout has reached a simmering point, stir in sliced button musnrooms. Turn off heat.

Place spinach on top of the warm gnocchi and spoon the ragout over. Enjoy!

Hearty Beef Ragout

I made a beefy ragout in advance last night knowing that I had to rush out earlier today to view an apartment.

My nephew (previously a non-beef-eater-now-a-convert) rated it a 9 while Barry gave it 9 1/2...10; 0 being inedible and 10 being PERFECT!

Here is my recipe (I eyeballed the quantity actually) :

HEARTY BEEF RAGOUT

300gms beef chuck cubes
1 yellow onion (peeled and diced)
1 tsp sugar
100gms streaky bacon
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
About 300 to 350ml beef stock
1 tbsp tomato paste
5 peeled canned pomodoro tomatoes (must be Italian origin - I like La Valle)
3 cloves garlic (crushed)
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1 bay leaf
3 green chillies (de-seeded and cut into broad strips)
1/2 to 3/4 cup red wine
2 tbsp olive oil
salt
freshly ground black pepper

1. Season beef cubes with salt and pepper (not too much).
1. Heat olive oil in a heavy pan over medium heat. Add in diced onion. Stir till fragrant but not browned. Add in streaky bacon.
2. Stir in beef cubes. Fry lightly to just seal in the juices. Drizzle in the flour to coat the beef evenly. Add in sugar. Stir.
3. Add in stock, chillies, garlic, tomato paste, tomatoes, Italian seasoning and bay leaf.
4. Allow mixture comes to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for an hour, stirring constantly and breaking up the canned tomatoes at the same time.
5. Add in red wine and continue to simmer till mixture has reduced by about half, or depending on how thick you like your stew.
6. Discard bay leaf if not consuming ragout on same day.

So, I came home from work today and heated up the ragout and boiled a pot of water with some salt at the same time.

Sliced carrots, cut broccoli into florets and sliced some capsicum while (some button mushrooms would have been great but I didn't have any) while waiting for water to come to a boil.

Tossed the cut vegs into boiling water with some olive oil, carrots in first.

Removed vegs after a minute or two and let drain. Let water boil again and tossed in angel hair pasta (paperdelle would be better though but I was in a hurry - angel hair pasta cooks fast!). Removed pasta from water and let it drain.

Placed pasta onto plates. Topped with the vegs and ladled ragout over.... Dinner ready within 15 minutes!

Also good with potatoes, polenta, crusty bread or even on its own! A rich, thick brown stew with fork-tender gravy-soaked beef cubes with a very slight tang and a hint of spiciness from the near-mush green chillies. The red wine adds depth and dimension to the ragout while the Italian herbs, bay leaf and garlic provided the flavour balance.

A great comfort food. Perfect on a cold wintry night. DELICIOUS!

Crunchy, Creamy, Meaty, Nutty Goodness!

Am dreading the uploading of photos from Japan... I reckon it would be a slow process. So, here's a little appetiser (literally) for a start...

I present you.... CHICKEN CELERY SALAD!

It's one of our favourite salads - I kid you not. We have this very often. Why? Cos it's easy, healthy (if you use just a smidgen of mayonnaise), it keeps well and if you love celery, you would likely enjoy this.

It's great as sandwich filling which means it will be quite a complete meal - chicken for protein, bread for carbs, raw walnuts and mayonnaise for fats and celery for daily vegs intake.

There is also the flexibility to increase or decrease any one of the ingredients too!

I first made this salad when I got back from visiting Barry' family in Canada. Barry's sister, Alisa made this one day and I happened to be at her place when she was making this salad. I fell in love straight away with this simple yet (ful)filling concoction.

I did tweak the recipe a little bit though with the addition of chilli powder for that extra kick and raw walnuts for more crunch.

Ingredients :
1 skinless chicken breast
chilli powder
freshly ground sea salt
1 tsp olive oil
10 raw walnuts (coarsely chopped)
2 stalks of celery (finely diced)
freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 tbsp mayonnaise

Season chicken breast well with chilli powder and freshly ground sea salt.

Heat the olive oil and fry the chicken till browned and cooked - turn once. Set aside to cool before cutting into bite-sized pieces.

Toss the walnuts, cooked chicken, celery, black pepper and mayonnaise in a wide bowl. Sprinkle more chilli powder if desired. Serve slightly chilled.

Simple Panfried Salmon with "Greek" Salad

I bought a very pretty bottle of salt.... It's Australian. Would prefer French fleur de sel.... and best if it comes with a salt grinder... Anyway, that has to wait until my next trip to France.

Salt is not created equal....
The first thing I made was a simple piece of salmon rubbed with garlic and the "gourmet" salt (broken down to bits with pestle and mortar) and panfried with very little olive oil on a non-stick pan. I gave a few shakes of chilli flakes on it as I was turning the sides.

I had the panfried salmon with a "Greek" salad... cos we are having a wine & cheese party tomorrow. Hence, the feta is omitted here since we are going to be on a cheese binge. Barry had a baked potato in addition to the fish and salad.

The salad pictured here is made based on Barry's "secret" recipe (which he said can only be given to his wife - but his sister, Alisa sent me the recipe. Bless her.) The main difference between Barry's Greek salad and mine is the vinegar used. His calls for white wine vinegar while mine, red wine vinegar.

Verdict : This very much more expensive salt gave a better flavour to the fish.... don't know if psychological or not... And now, really no desire to even touch my 1-pack-for-RM0.70-salt. They do look very processed!

Dinner of Salmon with Bell Peppers and Nutella Cupcakes

We are trying to eat healthier stuffs... cut down on bad fats and carbs.

I just read in the book "Body for Life" that fruits are considered carbs. Yes, these innocent healthy fruits are loaded with sugars which are basically carbohydrates. The good side is that they are not refined sugars but still, it is a form of carbohydrate. Hence, if you take a banana, an orange or a mango for example, it's best to reduce other forms of carbs like rice, pasta or potatoes.

So, I made salmon with bell peppers and mango and avocado salad (have to use up the last mango and last avocado before they are too ripe) for dinner tonight. No rice, no pasta, no potato, no bread....



Ingredients :
2 pieces of salmon
1 small bell pepper (best is red but I only have green, so green pepper it is)
2 cloves garlic (chopped finely)
2 tsp olive oil
salt to taste

Method :
1. Heat oven to 250 deg C.
2. Rub salt and 1/3 of the chopped garlic all over salmon. Place on baking dish greased with 1 tsp of the olive oil.
3. Grill pepper until burnt. Place in a plastic bag to allow skin to loosen. Remove skin and seeds. Chop coarsely.
4. Mix chopped pepper, remaining 2/3 of garlic and 1 tsp of olive oil. Add a teeny weeny pinch of salt if desired. After all, the fish are already seasoned with salt.
5. Spread pepper/garlic/oil mixture on top of salmon evenly.
6. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes.

Anyway, so much talk about cutting down bad fats and sugars.... and I gave in to temptation and made 12 Nutella Cupcakes - This blogger makes me want to bake and bake with her baking.

Baking the cupcakes was a last-minute decision but trust me, this has been on my mind since the weekend. I didn't have any liners at home - so, I improvised by using squares of aluminium foil. Not so beautiful but tastes great!


As usual, I like to deviate a bit (I know, using aluminium foil instead of proper liners is already a great deviation). Instead of swirling Nutella with a toothpick, I covered the Nutella with more cake mixture cos didn't want to waste the extra. Thus, the Nutella in my cupcakes are pretty much hidden and it won't do justice if I call them Nutella Frosted Cupcakes.

I had one cake after dinner shared with B. B was dying to have more but can't as he has just started his no-sweets diet. The rest will be distributed to friends as I enjoy baking but have no sweet tooth.

Mango and Avocado Salad

Since I had this at Shannon and Oscar's, I have been hooked. Of course, my recipe is not 100% the same as I did not get it fom Shannon.. Just improvise as I usually do... You can always change the ratio - I love mangoes, so the mangoes will always be big in volume. And if you are eating alone and not entertaining, or everybody else does not mind the pungent goodness, just load up on the onions and garlic.


1 just-ripe sweet mango (too ripe and it gets mushy)
1 just-ripe avocado (ditto)
1 red onion the size of a golf ball(love those Aussie ones)
2 handfuls of mixed salad leaves

1 clove garlic (chopped finely)
4 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp white wine vinegar
a touch of Dijon mustard (what is happening to Maille Dijon? Can't find a single jar at the supermarket shelves)
1/2 teaspoon sugar (omit if mango is very sweet)
a pinch of salt
black pepper

a. Cut mango, avocado and onion into cubes. Mix into salad leaves.
b. Mix garlic, olive oil, vinegar, mustard, salt and sugar well.
c. Pour onto the mango-avocado-onion-leaves and toss just before serving.
Top with freshly ground black pepper.

It really is an easy and refreshing salad... Goes really well with BBQ chicken. Enjoy!

Pesto Alla Calabrese Stuffed Chicken

I had cherry tomatoes, bell peppers, half a bottle of Calabrese pesto and chicken breast to finish up.

So, pesto alla Calabrese stuffed chicken it was for dinner with tomato and corn salsa.

Ingredients :
3 skinned chicken breasts

Filling (mix well together) :
1/2 of 185g bottle pesto alla Calabrese (I use Agnesi)
1 green bell pepper (very finely chopped)
4 tbsp breadcrumbs
4 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese

Tomato and corn salsa (mix all ingredients and cover with cling wrap and place in fridge) :
1 can of sweet corn kernels (drained)
10 cherry tomatoes (quartered)
1/2 lemon (squeeze juice)
2 shallots (chopped finely)
2 cloves garlic (chopped finely)
A pinch of salt


Method :
1. Heat oven to 220 deg C.

2. Cut chicken breasts in the middle of the thickness but not all the way so that it opens up to an almost rectangle (I find this easier than flattening the meat with a mallet). Do use the back of a cleaver to flatten the meat slightly.

3. Season meat all over with some black pepper - no salt is required.

4. Place 2 to 3 tbsp of filling on the chicken. Either roll or wrap like a parcel. Secure ends with oiled toothpicks.

5. Place the stuffed chicken rolls/parcels on oiled baking tray and bake for 20 mins at 220 deg C. Remove and spoon oil from baking tray onto the chicken and bake for a further 10 to 15 mins till slightly brown and crisp at the edges.

6. Serve the stuffed chicken with the salsa and crusty bread.

Chicken, Fennel and Orange Salad

Wanted a very refreshing dinner after the weekend binge. Not that I am on diet or what, just like to balance up the heavy meals over the weekend.

The recipe is copied from Women's Weekly Great Fast Recipes cookbook with some modifications on the amount of chicken meat. I used less of chicken meat (200g) as I wanted to eat more veg than meat. And no olives as I ran out of olives (not a fan of olives in salad but like them on their own like Kalamata olives in olive oil).

Ingredients :

1 tbsp olive oil
30g butter
500g chicken fillets, sliced thinly
1 fennel bulb (550g), sliced thinly
1/2 cup seeded black olives, quartered
3 green onions, chopped coarsely
2 medium oranges (480g), segmented (I used navel oranges as they are sweet!)
80g rocket (aragula) leaves

Dressing (combine in a screwtop jar) :
1/2 cup orange juice
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 teaspoon sugar

Method :

1. Heat oil and butter in large frying pan. Cook chicken, stirring until well browned and tender; drain.
2. Combine chicken (wait till cool a bit - I was in a hurry, so my veg were a bit wilted as a result of the hot chicken), fennel, olives, onion, orange, rocket and dressing in a large bowl; toss gently.

Serves 4.

Very citrusy and refreshing for a hot day.

We always have leftovers of salad which we really enjoy the next day when the dressing is really soaked through the salad.

Warm Lamb, Beetroot and Chives Salad

Lamb is our perennial favourite meat. So, I was thinking of different ways to have our lamb from the usual roast, curry, BBQ and such at the same time, to use up the stuffs in the kitchen purchased over the weekend. Since it was for just the two of us, I have decided to make a 1-dish meal with protein and fat from lamb, carbohydrate from bread (I did go crazy when I went to Hiestand, the Swiss bakery by getting poopy seed, multigrain, foccacia and onion buns + an onion bagel for Barry) and vitamins & minerals from veggies. So, lamb salad it is. Ingredients : 250gms Lamb leg chops - season very slightly with Maggi Seasoning 4 cloves of garlic (minced) 1 bundle of chives (with flowers) - cut into 1 1/2 inch lengths 1 tsp olive oil 1 beetroot (size of a fist) some olive oil to coat beetroot

Dressing (mix all) : 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 3 garlic clove, minced (or roasted then mashed) 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 tsp honey 1 tsp Dijon mustard 1/2 cup raw walnuts

Feta cheese, crumbled (I like Lemnos; the goat cheese version - though in picture I used cubed cocktail feta) Salad leaves mix/plum tomatoes for garnish 1. Wash and top beetroot. Coat with oil and wrap with aluminium foil. Bake for about 45mins to 1 hour till tender at 200 deg C. Cool and peel and cut into wedges. 2. Season lamb with Maggi Seasoning and minced garlic. 2. Heat a non-stick pan. Cook lamb chops till cooked. Remove and leave to cool. 3. Continue to heat pan and add 1 tsp of olive oil. Add in chives and 2 tbsp water and cook till wilted about 3 mins. Remove and set aside. 5. Cut cooled lamb chops into 1/2 cm slices. 6. Place salad leaves onto 2 plates. 7. Place lamb pieces atop the leaves followed by chives. Place cooked beetroot on the sides around the plate.

8. Sprinkle crumbled feta(watch the amount as it is salty) all over salad followed by chopped walnuts. Drizzle the salad dressing all over and garnish with plum tomatoes.

Enjoy with bread. *Updated 8th June 2007*

Balsamic Vinegar Chicken Salad

We had Balsamic Vinegar Chicken Salad as starter for dinner tonight followed by a medley of beef, bell peppers and mushroom for main course and finished off with toasted blueberry Pop Tarts.

Very low carbs - we wanted a light meal.

Am not proud of the beef as I had left it to warm for far too long while waiting for Barry who was playing chess at the pool with our neighbour, Tim.

Anyway, here is the recipe for the Balsamic Vinegar Chicken Salad which I made - enough for 2 person. Should have used my plain white plates - didn't intend to blog about it...




Ingredients

Chicken :
1 boneless and skinned chicken breast (cut criss-cross on both surfaces)
Extra virgin olive oil (I like Colavita)
Salt
Coarse black pepper

Dressing (shaken in a screwtop jar) :
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon of Dijon mustard (I like Maille)
2 tbsp of balsamic vinegar (I use Borges)
1/2 teaspoon sugar
2 cloves of garlic (minced)
coarse black pepper

Salad leaves (butterhead, mizuna, baby romaine, lollo rossa, red chicory)
Cherry tomatoes
Teardrop tomatoes

Method

1. Marinade chicken with just a wee bit of olive oil, salt and pepper for about an hour.
2. Brush some dressing on the chicken before grilling in a pre-heated oven at 250 deg C for 10 minutes. Remove and turn the chicken pieces. Brush dressing again and grill for a further 5 mins.
3. Cut chicken pieces when cooled to 1/2 cm slices.
4. Arrange chicken slices on a bed of cold salad leaves. Decorate with cold halved tomatoes.
5. Brush some dressing onto the tomato halves and drizzle the balance all over the leaves.

The dressing went well with mushrooms, bell peppers and beef too!!!