The Occasional Cook

Rack of Lamb

October 19, 2010 7shasha7

We happened to pass by a Halal butchery cum deli which was highly recommended by a colleague. I insisted that we go in and once in, I was hooked. In the end, I bought a frozen Frenched rack of lamb. All I had to do was marinade and cook.

On Saturday, I didn’t marinade it. I simply put salt and plenty of black pepper, browned the meat and put it in the oven. I’ve never cooked rack of lamb before and it was a pleasant surprise when I found out that it was a relatively simple meat to prepare; the pieces came off easily with a swipe of the blade.

I baked it in the oven until it was still quite rare. I didn’t want an overcooked meat but it was too rare for The Hubby and so I toasted his portion in the toaster. I served it with Greek yogurt drizzled with good quality honey, a salad and fried butter rice with sausages and raisins. It was a delicious lunch but one I suppose laden with so much fat because immediately after eating, I had a dull throbbing in my head for a few hours.

Asian Dishes, Poultry

Teriyaki Chicken

October 11, 2010 7shasha7

I wanted to serve my Onigiri with some Japanese-inspired protein. Salmon was too expensive so the best bet was chicken. I got chicken fillets and proceeded to the bottled section for some ready made Teriyaki sauce or marinade. Unfortunately, not a single one of them was halal. Many had alcohol listed as the ingredient. I found one Made in Malaysia which did not have anything suspicious in it but as it did not have the halal logo, I felt uncomfortable.

Lucky for me, I had copied a recipe of Teriyaki marinade from all-recipes.com. Of course it had mirin and sake in it, both I omitted (duh) but the outcome was just as good. Oh, I added just a splash of distilled vinegar into the recipe.

Recipe

1. 1 tbsp fresh ginger, minced or pound fine

2. I clove garlic, crushed

3. 3 tbsp sugar

4. 2 cups soya sauce (I used a bit of light and a bit of dark soy)

5. a splash of vinegar

After marinading, place chicken pieces on a roasting tray and top with a slice of leek and then grill in the oven till done. Once chicken is done, spoon the drippings over the chicken and serve. Yummy! 🙂

Asian Dishes, Rice

Japanese Rice Ball – Onigiri

October 11, 2010 7shasha7

I trawled the internet for this recipe and they all read the same thing: rice, seaweed. So I made them exactly as I read them. Unfortunately, without any seasoning, the rice was very bland but I think Onigiri is meant to be just that- plain rice that has just been formed into balls.

I made three cups of rice (because that’s how much my rice cooker can accommodate) and then cooled it. Once cool enough to handle, but still warm, I wet my hands with salt water and formed them into a round shape, made an indentation, filled the dent with tuna and then rolled it again to form a triangle. Ah, the trickiest bit of it all. Forming them into triangles! I mean, how, how, how? I tried and tried but it always turned out lopsided or at most a very deformed triangle. LOL. So, in the end, most I made into round balls.

My NTUC does not have a good selection of Japanese products so I couldn’t get black sesame seeds. I’m going to make my own variation of Onigiri next time using seasoned rice and bonito flakes, sesame seeds and Japanese chilli flakes.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA — Onigiri - with a leek at the side.

Asian Dishes, Soups

Toddler Food

October 11, 2010 7shasha7

I remember someone asking me to post about baby food. Erm, that was a year ago. How time flies. A few days ago, I decided to finally make my 18 month old boy lunch. I seldom make for him food. In fact, for this whole year, like never. Ever since we had a domestic helper, I’ve left practically all the cooking of baby food to her.

My boy has molars. Two of them. What that means is that he has long weaned from eating soft mushy food and I must say with some pride, is a man’s man. Man, can that boy eat. ;p

I made healthy rice in the cooker and then in a saucepan, I fried one garlic clove, added water. Then, I added two teaspoons of ground toasted ikan bilis. And then vegetables – carrots, potatoes, broccoli and finally soft tofu. He didn’t want me to feed him but he ate with relish the entire bowl when The Girl fed him. Sigh. This is what happens when Mommies go out to work.

Salads and Vegetables, Sides

Egg Salad Sandwich

October 10, 2010 7shasha7

Growing up, my mother loved to pack for me egg sandwiches for recess. Every school excursion without fail, I’ll have these sandwiches for my break. Needless to say, because of this, the very first few things I learnt to make was ‘egg sandwich’. Besides, it’s so easy to make and so tasty.

I learnt to make these using margarine, salt and white pepper.

Then, recently I watched a show on the Food Network and Ina Garten made these egg salad sandwiches for lunch. What amazed me was that she used a food processor to mash up the eggs – all 12 of them. She added mayonnaise and fresh dill.

I used her recipe the next time I made an egg sandwich sans the food processor bit. I used a fork instead. Ha. Also, I didn’t use fresh dill but the dried one. It tasted good.