Meal plan week commencing 23rd January 2012

I haven’t been enjoying cooking since I came back to London from my holiday in Malaysia.  I miss food courts!  We ate out all weekend and gave grocery shopping a miss, bar buying a fancy tomato and organic squash from La Fromagerie in Marylebone earlier. 

• Monday – salmon and lentils
• Tuesday – grilled lamb steaks, roasted butternut squash, tomato and beetroot salad
• Wednesday – squash and beetroot soup
• Thursday – ayam masak merah, okra stir-fry
• Friday – lamb meatballs in tamarind sauce

Learning to drive – leson #30

Reversing around a corner – the bane of my existence.  I made a dog’s dinner out of all attempts during my lesson this morning.  After my lesson, I drove out to find some corners to practice on, with Hubby in tow.  I will get tested on 1 out of 4 manoeuvres.  Please don’t let it be this one.

I then did some independent driving along the test route.  I broke the speed limit of 30mph and did 32mph instead, but still the car behind me kept driving up the rear of my car.  I was tempted to brake suddenly.  Driving gives me road rage.   Someone once told me ‘better late than dead on time’.  I think I’m going to get that made into a car sticker. 

Lessons learnt today:

• Don’t panic – you end up makin stupid mistakes
• Do plenty of observations when parking/reversing
• Don’t rush – give yourself time to think

 

Beetroot pot barley risotto

Beetroot rarely make an appearance in my shopping list.  I do like the earthy-ness in their flavour, but I just don’t buy them.  In any case, this blog is all about stretching the boundaries, and that included tucking a bunch of beetroot in my shopping trolley last week. 

I decided to make a roasted beetroot risotto using pot barley for dinner on Thursday last week.  I left work on time for a change, but by the time I got home, I was cream crackered.  I decided to go ahead with meal plan anyway, but it wasn’t going to be a risotto that required a lot of stirring.

My beetroot risotto turned out delicious, much to Hubby’s surprise. 

Ingredients: (serves 2)

• 2 small beetroot (or 1 medium)
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 yellow onion, peeled and chopped
• 1 clove of garlic, peeled and chopped
• 3/4 cup pot barley
• 550ml vegetable stock
• 1/2 cup dried porcini mushrooms, soaked in hot water for 20 minutes and drained
• a knob of butter
• salt and pepper to taste

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven at 200 degrees celsius
2. Place the beetroot on a foil-lined baking tray
3. Roast in the oven for 30 minutes, until the flesh is soft when you prick it with a fork
4. Once cooked, leave to cool for 10 minutes.  Peel away the skin and dice the beetroot. Keep aside while you cook the risotto
5. Heat oil in a heavy based pot
6. Over a medium heat, sweat the onions with a pinch of salt for 2 to 3 minutes until translucent
7. Add the pot barley, followed by half the stock
8. Put the lid on, and leave to cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally
9. After 15 minutes, pour in the rest of the stock and leave to cook for 20 minutes (with the lid partially on) or until the stock has evaporated
10. After 20 minutes, add the diced beetroot and drained porcini mushrooms.  Stir gently for a minute until the risotto turns red
11. Add the a knob of butter and stir it into the risotto
12. Season with salt and pepper before serving

 

Learning to drive – lesson #29

I knew the national speed limit for a single carriageway was 60mph. I just didn’t think I had to do the speed today.  My instructor told me that we needed to cover one last route just in case it came up in my test.  The roads weren’t overly busy this morning but people were out and about.  I get nervous driving at 40 or 50 mph so to do 60mph was a big deal.  I did it, and got over it, but not before I asked the instructor to cover his brakes just in case.

We only had time for one manoeuver today, but I more than made up for it when I drove Hubby to our favourite garden centre for brunch.  I ended up tailing a little milk truck and couldn’t overtake for at least a minute.  I saw traffic building up behind me and I could feel telephatic message sent my way from those cars egging me to overtake.  I finally got a chance and put my foot on it to overtake.  We had a lovely brunch and as I drove out of the garden centre, guess who was ahead of me.  The same milk truck.

Lessons learnt today:

• when approaching a junction, brake gently and ease into a lower gear, rolling into a stop.  Don’t speed up to the line and brake suddenly.  The latter was something I did all week in our little car
• plan ahead – if there is a bus stopped to let passenger off, overtake only if the road ahead is clear
• stay calm, don’t panic and don’t rush

Lesson #30 tomorrow.

Lemon drizzle loaf

 

The KitchenAid is back in action in my kitchen after a long hiatus.   I found an easy recipe for a lemon drizzle loaf in Bill’s Basics, and with the thumbs up from Hubby, was elbow deep in flour and polenta for an hour on Sunday afternoon.  The cake, as I kept referring to it, was ready in time for afternoon tea and we both enjoyed a few warm lemony slices. 

Here is the recipe for ease of reference.

Ingredients:

• 225g butter, softened at room temperature
• 225g caster sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla (not in original recipe)
• 100g ground almond
• 100g plain flour
• 100g polenta
• 2 tsp baking powder
• zest and juice of 1 lemon
• zest and juice of 1 lime
• 200g blueberries
• juice of a lemon plus 60g icing sugar for the lemon drizzle

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven at 180 degrees
2. Grease a 1kg loaf tin (I used a medium-sized one), and dust with flour
3. Cream butter and sugar until pale and light
4. Add the eggs into the butter/sugar mix one at a time ensuring the mixture is well combined before you add the next egg
5. Fold in the ground almond, flour, polenta, baking powder, zest and juice of lemon and lime
6. Gently fold in the blueberries (try not to bleed them berries)
7. Spoon the mixture into the loaf tin
8. Bake for 40 minutes
9. Cover the tin with foil and bake for another 20 minutes
10. Stick a toothpick into loaf (the middle especially) and if it comes out clean, then the cake is cooked
11. Once cooked, remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tin
12. Turn out the loaf onto a wire rack
13. Mix the lemon juice and sugar to make the drizzle
14. Pour the lemon syrup onto the loaf and leave to soak in
15. If your Hubby isn’t pestering you for a taste, leave the loaf for a while before serving!

Poached chicken and beansprouts

This dish was inspired by ‘Ipoh Taugeh Chicken’ which we had back in Malaysia over Christmas.   Taugeh chicken as I know it is poached chicken (with a lovely soy/sesame seed dressing), served with beansprouts (also in a similar dressing) and kuey teow noodle soup.  

For dinner tonight, I poached chicken supreme and then stir fried the cooked chicken with beansprouts.  The dish is devoid of any strong flavours and perfect if you’re feeling slightly under the weather.   I cooked rice with some of the poaching liquid, which I then served with the chicken and beansprouts. There’s plenty leftover tomorrow for Hubby’s dinner.   

Ingredients: (serves 2)

• 1.5l cold water
• 1 inch ginger, peeled and crushed
• 1 clove of garlic, peeled and crushed
• 2 chicken supreme, skinless
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 serving portion of beansprouts (roots removed)
• 2 tbsp kicap manis (dark soy)
• 1 tbsp oyster sauce
• 1 tbsp chinese rice wine
• a pinch of sugar
• a pinch of ground white pepper
• salt to taste
• a good handful of chopped coriander

Method

1. Pour water in a medium pot and add in the ginger and garlic
2. Place on the stove, turn on the heat and bring to a boil
3. Once water is boiled, place chicken in the pot, put the lid on and turn off the heat.  Leave to cook for 20 minutes
4. After 20 minutes, remove chicken from the pot (reserve poaching liquid to cook rice or for stock) onto a plate
5. Slice the chicken into bite-size portion
6. Fish out the garlic and ginger from the stock and slice them
7. Heat oil in a wok and fry the garlic and ginger for 30 seconds
8. Add the chicken and beansprouts
9. Add the soy, oyster sauce, rice wine and about 50ml of the poaching liquid
10. Stir for a minute, season with sugar, salt and pepper
11. Give the chicken and beansprouts another stir for a minute
12. Turn off the heat and garnish with chopped coriander
13. Serve with rice

 

 

Chicken pilaf

I stumbled upon a recipe for Chicken Pilaf in Bill’s Basics cookbook earlier today.  Bill Granger’s recipe calls for apricots and pistachio.  I omitted both and added cashew nuts instead.  Whilst it is a simple recipe, it isn’t one I’d hope to attempt for a midweek meal as it took a good hour between prep and cooking the dish. 

The rice has a subtle kick and the chicken was very tender.  I flash fried the chicken pieces in a frying pan after fishing them out of the pot of cooked pilaf as they looked a tad anemic and I like my chicken to have a bit of colour.

All in all, a good recipe and one I’d bookmark for weekend dinners.  Here is the recipe, modified very slightly, for ease of reference.

Ingredients: (serves 4)

• 2 tbsp olive oil (plus extra)
• 6 chicken drumsticks (this is all my butcher had), skin removed (marinated in 1 tsp turmeric powder, a pinch of salt and freshly ground pepper for 10 minutes)
• 1 large yellow onion, peeled and chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
• 4 cm ginger, peeled and grated
• 3 tsp ras el hanout
• 400g basmati rice, washed
• 550ml chicken stock (the original recipe called for 750ml but my rice turned out slightly overcooked)
• 1 tbsp honey
• zest of a lemon (original recipe called for orange zest)
• 1 tbsp sherry vinegar
• salt and pepper to taste
• a handful of frozen peas
• a handful of cashew nuts
• a handful of chopped coriander

Method

 

1. Heat 2 tbsp oil in a large cast iron pot
2. Brown the chicken pieces for 2-3 minutes and remove to a plate
3. Top up the oil if necessary and fry the onions with a pinch of salt for 1 minute
4. Add in the garlic and ginger.  Fry for a further minute
5. Mix in the ras el hanout spice and leave to cook for a minute
6. Add the rice and chicken to the pot
7. Pour in the stock, followed by the honey, lemon zest and sherry vinegar
8. Bring the pot to boil and then reduce the heat to low
9. Put the lid on and leave to cook for 35 to 40 minutes until the rice is cooked.  Remove pot from the heat
10. Remove the chicken pieces from the pot, shaking off any rice
11. Add in the frozen peas to the pot and put the lid back on.  The peas will cook in the residual heat
12. Heat about 1 tbsp oil in a frying pan and brown the chicken pieces for 2 minutes (optional)
13. Remove the chicken from the frying pan and place on a plate lined with kitchen paper
14. Check for rice seasoning and add salt and pepper as required
15. Scatter cashew nuts and chopped coriander onto the rice
16. Serve the rice with chicken

 

Meal plan week commencing 16th Jan 2012

• Monday – parsnip soup
• Tuesday – poached chicken, bean sprouts
• Wednesday -beetroot risotto
• Thursday – leftover risotto
• Friday – chili con carne

Learning to drive – lesson#28

My head wasn’t screwed on properly this morning.  I messed up when reversing around the  corner, turned the wheel too soon when attempting to parallel park and cut out a few times!

Later, hubby and I went driving in the new little car with me in the driving seat.  The roads were busy and I got extremely nervous behind the wheel.  I’m still struggling with my judgement of the brake and gas pedals, therefore, the car did jerk forward a lot!

The only way around this hurdle is to keep driving a couple of times a week, whether it is a quick trip to the shops or a drive to the tube station.  At the moment, driving isn’t much fun, but hopefully this feeling is only temporary.

Carrot, apple and coriander soup

I was going to make my usual carrot and coriander soup when I spotted a lonesome apple in my fruit bowl.  I decided to toss it into the soup along with the carrots and hope for the best!  The flavour of the apple comes through quite subtly – the soup is sweet from the carrots and the apple adds a sling zingy-ness to it.

Ingredients: (serves 2)

• Fry lite spray
• 1 large yellow onion, peeled and sliced
• 4 large carrots, peeled and cut into chunks
• 1 red apple, peeled, cored and cut into chunks
• 600ml vegetable stock
• a handful of chopped coriander
• salt and pepper to taste

Method

1. Spray Fry lite into a pot (large enough to handle 1 litre liquid)
2. Brown the onions for a minute and add in the carrots and apple
3. Pour in the stock and leave to cook over a medium heat for 30 minutes
4. Turn off the heat and check if the carrots and apple and soft using a fork
5. Once the liquid has cooled slightly, pureé using a hand-held blender
6. Season to taste with salt and pepper
7. Mix the chopped coriander into the soup
8. Serve with crusty bread