Tuesday 30th Oct '07

ROAST BEEF & VEGETABLES
Tonight when I came home from work I took Simba for a walk, did some exercise, and then set about preparing roast beef for dinner. I seasoned the roast with olive oil, fresh chopped garlic, rosemary, chilli and thyme (one of my favourite combinations of spices!). Our oven is currently being repaired so I used the electric frypan. The meat cooked for about an hour first, then the vegies were added and I drizzled the rest of the oil marinade (that I had used for the beef) over them. Later I added some red wine to reduce with the pan juices to make a yummy red wine jus.

Later that night I made some garlic prawns. I had peeled the prawns last night while watching TV and so they were ready to go. Olive oil, lots of garlic, basil, chilli, and some white wine.

Monday 29th Oct '07

SPAGHETTI MARINARA
Even though I've always been more of a night owl and actually prefer the late shifts at work, I do believe one of the advantages of the morning shifts is being able have time to do things when I get home from work. I love to drop in at the shops to do some grocery shopping on the way home from work. I sometimes try to plan a few meals in advance so I can save time by not having to stop at the shops everyday, but part of my after work relaxation routine is to browse the supermarkets and come up with an idea of what I'm going to cook for dinner that night.

I absolutely love seafood. One of my alltime favourites is pasta marinara. Marissa's mum has made me her marinara and it's absolutely yummy!! She even goes to the trouble of stuffing little baby squids! Being allergic to prawns (WAH I love prawns...I still eat them - I just pop an antihistamine when I do), I don't buy the marinara premix from the shops because they have prawns. It's fresher and better to buy all the ingredients separately. I usually get baby octopus, baby squid, a good fillet of fish that won't crumble when it's cooked, scallops with the red/orange roe, and cockles. I used to use mussels but when I discovered cockles, I have not gone back! I can't wait till the cockles are back in season in a few weeks' time!!
My marinara sauce simmering

the spaghetti is added
I always cook the scallops but take them out and add them back to the pasta when I'm serving it so that the roe does not get mushed up. A generous sprinkle of parmesan and chilli, and a glass of wine =P~

Sunday 28th Oct '07

BBQ at the South Foreshore

The weather was threatening not to clear up today for the BBQ I had planned but once we got to the foreshore, things were starting to look good. The sun was starting to make its way out from behind the clouds.


After the BBQ, I headed back to Sarah and Ben's place and all three of us fell asleep watching TV. I woke up and found myself alone in the lounge room...they'd both gone to bed! Sarah and I felt all meated out from the BBQ so we made a fresh caesar salad for dinner. Afterwards, we enjoyed some chocolate fondue with fresh fruits.

Sarah and Ben with their Caesar Salads...getting ready to eat!

Conan and a banana. You figure out which is which.

Ben getting artsy with my camera

Saturday 27th Oct '07

IRON CHEF NIGHT - ROUND 2 - SALMON
Tonight was our second "Iron Chef" night at Ling and Shallen's place. Being the winner of our first round (mushrooms!!), I chose the ingredient salmon. It was unbeknownst to me that neither Meng nor Shallen actually like salmon!! We also finally opened the bottle of wine, that I had bought at the Wine & Food Festival earlier this year, that goes very well with salmon.

Shallen setting the table
Up first was Meng and Yen Chen's dish - Smoked Salmon Spring Rolls with a Crushed Cashew Sauce.

The second dish was mine. I like to name my dishes the way they do on the TV show 'Ready Steady Cook', so the title of my dish is
"Like a deathcharger to a submarine,
I'll blow you away with my smoked salmon and mascarpone terrine"
I got a few ideas from looking up some recipes online. You line some ramikins with smoked salmon (you can also use raw salmon); combine mascarpone cheese with some chopped fresh dill and use this to fill the ramikins; refridgerate and serve by tipping them out onto a plate - they looks gorgeous!! I garnished the terrines with some salmon caviar, capers, mascarpone, a sprig of fresh dill, and a drizzle of olive oil infused with dill and lemon zest.

Kong's Salmon with Pinenuts Stuffing dish came out of the oven nice and warm. He "stuffed" slices of salmon fillet with a mixture of crumbs, onions and pinenuts to form gorgeous little salmon roses.

Ling and Shallen served up a deliciously light Salmon Souffle.

We vote on three things - presentation, overall taste of the dish, and how well we have incorporated the ingredient to create a gourmet sensation.

AND THE WINNER IS...KONG

Wednesday 24th Oct '07

BENOIT'S READY STEADY COOK - ROUND 2
This is our second 'Ready Steady Cook' night at Ben's house.

I brought the following ingredients:

Mushrooms
Dutch Carrots
Zucchini
Mandarins
Pork Belly

The finished dishes...

Roasted Vegetables with Pork Belly marinated in Soy & Honey
Parmesan Toast
Pork Belly in an Asian Style Soy Glaze

Bon Apetit!

Monday 22nd Oct '07

Being on the 4-midnight shift all week usually means I start getting into the leftovers and canned soups since I'm usually too tired to cook when I get up, especially if I've been out on call all night. I wasn't on call tonight though, so when I got home I made my version of minestrone soup. I usually use whatever vegetables I can find, but the usual staples of my minestrone are: Garlic, Rosemary, Tomato Paste, Tomatoes, Zucchini, Carrot, Champignons (they maintain their form better than button mushrooms), and Pasta.

I love my soup! And because I'm always using a different variety of vegetables to make it, this is one of my favourite dishes that I can never get sick of.

Thursday 11th Oct '07

Ben and Sarah came over for dinner. On the menu was:

Rosemary, Thyme, Chilli & Garlic marinated Lambchops
accompanied by
Balsamic & Rosemary Roasted Vegetables
See if you can spot 'COLES' stamped onto the meat!

Us sitting down to dinner

The finished dish =P~

We took dessert over to Noel and Fleurette's place to enjoy while watching TV.

Vanilla Ice Cream served with
crumbled 'Ripple' Chocolate Cookies and a Wildberry Coulis