i write out on ME... by tiny lola

sorry for the long absence in my blog., havent been taking pictures lately and havent been cooking much at home., but here is an insight in to the culinary course im taking..,

part 1: waitering

http://galactics.livejournal.com/

Baked potatoes cut in pomme cocote style

This is a very tedious dish to prepare.. lots of hours although it is a very simple dish..
but as tasty as any baked potatoes u can find in establish restaurants..



Ingredients (pax of 5)
1. 2 kilo of potatoes

Seasoning
1. salt
2. pepper
3. italian spice (Mc cormick) / parsley
4. butter

Method


First peel the skin of the potatoes using a peeler, then cut into quarters. Then take each quarter and shape it so that it would look like a diamond shape, about 3/4 of it previous size.


then put all the shaped potatoes into a pot with water, just covering the top of the potatoes, and 2 teaspoon of salt for taste. Then heat the water up till its boiled. And when it is boiled, test the potatoes by poking the biggest piece with a small knife. If it feels easy to poke thru, then the whole batch should be cooked.


Then strain the potatoes. Then heat up a frying pan with butter, about 1 cm thick from a block of butter. Then when the butter is melted, add the strained potatoes into the pan. Saute the potatoes for a while before adding salt, pepper and italian spice or chopped parsley for taste. And when the outside of the potatoes look a bit browned, transfer the potatoes to a oven proof bowl. Before putting the potatoes into the oven, the oven should be preheated at 160 for 20-30mins, then after being preheated, put the potatoes into the oven and cover lightly with aluminuim foil. Bake for 30min at 170.


Best served hot.

Fettuccine Cabonara.

This is my version of the popular Fettuccine Cabonara. The Cabonara sauce is extra cheesy and not too thick. I'm sorry that this time the step by step pictures won't be so complete. This is because i had to cook this dish in an hour for my small brother before he goes to school.


Ingredients.
1. 1 packet of Fettuccine ( serves up to 5)
2. 1 packet of Romano cheese
3. 1 small bottle of cheese spread
4. 1 packet of full cream milk
5. 1 packet of salami
6. olive oil
7. some salt
8. a can of mushrooms, sliced
9. butter


Method.


Get a pot of water, add olive oil (enough to roughly cover 3/4 of the surface of the pot) to ensure the pasta doesn't stick together, add Italian spice mix, and a 2 pinch of salt.
Then add in the the pasta and the sliced mushrooms.
Boil till the pasta is el dante. ( just cooked, and not over cooked)


Heat up a frying pan or a pot and add in 1/5 of a block of butter.
Fry the salami pieces inside.
When all the salami is cooked, put back the all cooked the salami inside the pot.


Then add full cream milk in to the the pot with the salami.
Add a little more butter.


Then add Romano cheese and 2 1/2 tbsp of cheese spread.
And stir the mixture till both cheese melts,
immediately switch of the fire when the cheese melts.
If u like the sauce to be thick, u can add 1 tbsp of corn flour to thicken the sauce.

well i didn't manage to the end result on photo, was in a hurry till i forgot, but i manage to find a picture that looks similar to my end result.,

The Dish that left me in a giggle.

Mulberry Red Wine Sauce, with Oregano Seasoning Fried Chicken.


This dish will leave you giggling or blushing..., a good dinner party dish to get a dull crowd going through the night.

Ingredients
1. 4 pieces of chicken thigh, cut up into smaller pieces.
2. 1 potato, peeled and cut into smaller cubes
3. 1 carrot, peeled and cut into smaller cubes

Seasoning
1. oregano powder
2. 1 1/2 tsp salt
3. 1/2 a goblet of red wine
4. 4 tbsp of mulberry cider or sweet apple cider
5. corn flour
6. butter

Method


Get the shop where you buy the chicken thighs, to cut them into manageable sizes.
Then place the cut chicken into a bowl and evenly sprinkle oregano powder, so that it coats the top of the chicken pile and add a 1 1/2tsp of salt, and sprinkled evenly.
Mixed the chicken around so that the salt and oregano is evenly distributed, and then let the chicken marinade for 1/2 an hour.


After half an hour of marinading, the chicken is ready to be fried.
Coat each piece of chicken in corn flour throughly and then place it into a pot of hot oil to be fried.
Fry each lot of chicken for about 5mintues, on medium fire.
Make sure it is slightly brown before taking it out.
The fried chicken can be eaten alone, or with the mulberry sauce.



For the sauce, we are going to use mulberry cider and red wine.
The mix will bring a sweet and slightly bitter to taste, and for those not used to drinking, they would probably a bit tipsy.



Add butter into a pot, and lightly fry the potatoes and carrots.
After the potatoes and carrots are slightly brown, add the red wine and mulberry cider into the pot.
Add a cup of hot water too. Then leave it to simmer for 40minutes, or until the potatoes and carrots are cooked.


When the sauce is cooked, place the chicken in the middle and add the sauce with the potatoes and carrots on both sides.
Serve hot.

My Attempt At making Lagsane.

My very first attempt at making lagsane wasn't a very promising start. I did a few errors and had a setback when making the lagsane.



Here are the reasons why it went wrong, (cons)
1. I didn't know how to use the pastry for the lagsane.


2. I didn't add enough tomato sauce into it. ( i used 1 can, i think i should have used 2 cans instead)

3. My brother said i didn't add enough mozzarella cheese into the lagsane. Even when i had used a whole packet of mozzarella cheese and added some 1/4 of a bar of Kraft cheddar cheese into it. ( mozzarella is very expensive, the cheapest small packet was rm 10, not including the cheddar)


4. I didnt bake it long enough and hot enough. I baked for 45minutes at 150
(i worried the top layer would burn)

5. The minced meat i got at a nearby grocery market wasn't fine enough. Therefore it tasted like thinly slice meat more than it tasted like nice chunky mince meat. Also minced pork isn't the right type of meat for lagsane, aussie beef would have been better.


However, (pros)
1. The cheese combination, cheddar and mozzarella was rather tasty.
2. The tomato sauced i picked was the right type, so it did taste good in it. But, i need more of it.


well if i cant do it the right way the first time, try try again i will...

Traditional Chinese Longevity Noodles for Father's Day.

"Longevity Noodle" is a type of traditional Chinese noodle. As its long shape symbolizes longevity, the noodle is a must-have at every birthday banquet. In ancient times, having Longevity Noodle symbolized a wish for new born baby boys' living long lives and the custom has been passed on from generation to generation. It is a ritual that a piece of noodle has to be swallowed without cutting either by mouth or using a pair of chopsticks. In addition to meaning to live long lives, eating the noodle also represents showing of respect for the elderly. In a legend, it is said that Emperor Wang became immortal on the day of Winter Solstice in Han Dynasty. Since then, the noodle, also named "Winter Solstice Noodle," has been consumed every Winter Solstice Day to symbolize respect for the elderly. In fact, there are many stories about Longevity Noodle, and the aforesaid is just one of the many versions.

Vermicelli served on birthdays is called "Birthday Noodle." Vermicelli made in Fuzhou City is the most famous and it carries a variety of names: that given to children at their weddings are called "Happy Noodle", that to be consumed by pregnant women are called "Blessed Noodle", that presented to friends are called "Peace Noodle", and that for the sick and the elderly are called "Health Noodle." A legend said vermicelli was a very thoughtful birthday gift presented by Empyrean Fairy to her Queen Mother for her birthday. Because of this legend, noodle makers all worship Empyrean Fairy's statue in their homes. There are various kinds of Fuzhou vermicelli such as egg vermicelli, dragon-beard vermicelli and rice thread vermicelli.

(Extracted from "Anecdotes of Famous Chinese Food")

So to my readers, i hope you could try this dish out for father's day and also to keep the Chinese tradition alive.

Ingredients.
(1 person serving)
1. mee sua
2. 500g mince pork meat
3. 10 pieces of fish balls
4. 8 pieces of prawns
5. 2 stems of choy sam
6. 1 can of Fish Maw Soup

Seasoning. (minced pork)
1. 1/2 tsp sesame seed oil
2.1 tbsp soya sauce
3.1/2 tbsp of grounded pepper
4.1/2 tsp salt
5. 1/2 tbsp cornflour

Seasoning. (prawns)
1. 1/2 tbsp soya sauce
2. 1/2 tsp sesame seed oil
3. 1/2 tbsp cornflour
4. 1/2 tsp salt
5. 1/2 tsp sugar

Method.


Take the mince meat and add the seasoning in, and mix well in a bowl.


After mixing the seasoning with the mince meat. Roll the mince meat into meat balls. Let the meat balls to marinade for 5 minutes.


Peel the prawns and add in the seasoning. Stir well, before letting the prawns marinade for 5 minutes.


Wash and cut the choy sam into 4 parts per stem.


Wash the fish balls, to take any other residue left on the surface of the fish ball.


This is a an example of the canned Fish Maw Soup. You can get this easily at most supermarkets, and it is very easy to be used. It could be use as a stock base for most soups, therefore it is very versatile.


Empty the can of Fish Maw Soup into a wok or a pot. ( i prefer using a wok, its more managable)
Then, fill the same can for 1 1/2 times with hot water and pour into the wok or pot. Let the soup boil before adding the ingredients.


Gradually add the ingredient 1 after the other, beginning with the pork balls. The pork balls go in first to kill any remaining bacteria in raw meat. This is a good habit to be practiced in cooking.


Then add in the mee sua last, and let it cook for 5 minutes. Mee sua cooks the fastest of all the ingredients and if the mee sua is left too long in the soup, the mee sua will absorb the soup. When the mee sua absorbs too much soup, its texture will be too soft, and it will cause the soup to be cloudy.


After the mee sua is cooked, dish it out on a bowl and serve straight away.

The simplest chinese dinner for the laziest person.

This dinner is for you, if, or when you just are too tired to cook and elaborate dinner for 3 people or less, the amount of people can vary on the amount of ingredients you have.


So let us start of with the first lazy dish, Hoisin broccoli chicken.


Ingredients.
1. 1 chicken breast meat (frozen)
2. 1 stalk of broccoli
3. 3 tbsp of chopped garlic
4. 3 tbsp of chopped small onions

Seasoning.
1. Hoisin sauce (*black pepper sauce may be used as a substitute)

Method.


Cut the broccoli up in to small portions. if they are a bit dried looking, then put them in a bowl with water, like how i did, and then add a bit of salt, to bring its flavor out.


I would suggest u use a frozen chicken breast meat, but if you are a lazy person yourself, you would have already had it in the freezer. The reason i want you to use a frozen piece is its easier to be cut up. So de-fat the chicken meat.


Till it looks like this, then de-bone it. After the de-bone process, cut it in halves and slice as thinly as possible. Now then it is fresh, only a very sharp knife would be able to cut the meat thinly, but when it is frozen, a not so sharp knife would be able to do the trick.


The thinly sliced meat would look like this.


Then, chop up some garlic and small onions. This will bring some flavor and aroma to the dish.


put 3tbsp of oil, and when the oil is hot, lower the fire and put in your chopped onions and garlic.


Then add the the sliced breast meat, and then when the meat changes its color to a light brown,


Then you can add the broccoli. Then stir fry for 5minutes, before adding 2 1/2 tbsp Hoisin sauce.


Then serve hot.



The next lazy dish is, steam Dory fish with soya sauce and egg tauhu.


Ingredients.
1. 2 whole slices of Dory fish, de-boned
2. 1 whole tomato sliced

Seasoning.
1. 3 tbsp soya sauce
2. 1 tbsp of sesame oil
3. 1/2 tsp of salt
4. 2 tbsp chinese cooking wine

Method.


Clean the fish if you have to.


Then place the fish on a steaming plate, add all the other ingredients. The tomato, and soya sauce, salt, and sesame oil, but not the chinese wine. Put the fish into a wok or a steamer. Then let it steam for 7 minutes. After the steaming is completed, then you may add the chinese wine on top of the fish.



I Hope That This Dishes Will Be A Big Help To Many.....!!