Monday 14th Jul '08

Tonight's dinner was steak!

Sirloin with sliced garlic and chilli
served with broccolini and corn


The steak I cooked medium as per usual. When cooking steak, you want to cook one side, then turn it over to cook the other side and then take it off the heat to let it rest before serving. I know it's time to turn my steak over when the sides have started cooking just over halfway up the thickness. I turn it over to cook and I know when it's ready (medium) by pressing down on the centre of the steak with the tongs and guaging how the meat feels. The tougher or harder it feels, the more cooked it is.

I cooked my steak with sliced garlic, dried chilli flakes and a sprinkle of thyme. The corn was steamed earlier so I just cut the kernels off the cob and tucked a bit of butter underneath so it would melt into the kernels when I reheated it in the microwave. I steamed the broccolini and then fried it quickly in the pan juices from the steak, adding a squeeze of lemon juice, a dash of balsamic vinegar and some chopped almonds.

Later, I went into cooking mode and made a few different soups to pack in takeaway containers to take to work and keep in the freezer there for those nights I get the munchies or when I don't have anything to bring for dinner.

Potato & Leek Soup


1) Fry some garlic and onion in some olive oil, then add chopped leek and fry until they're soft.
2) Add some chicken stock and bring to the boil.
3) Throw in diced potato, season with salt/pepper and cook until they're done.
4) Mash the potato up with a potato masher (while it's still in the pot cooking).
5) If you're serving it immediately, you can stir in some milk or cream to make it creamy. I freeze mine like it is and when I reheat it, I stir in some milk.

Mushroom Soup


1) Fry garlic and onion in olive oil until browned.
2) Add portabello mushrooms and some butter to cook until they're softened.
3) Sprinkle some plain flour over the mushrooms and stir it in to form a roux.
4) Add some chicken or vegetable stock and bring to the boil.
5) Blend mixture.
6) Add cream or milk if serving immediately, otherwise if you're freezing it, add the milk or cream when you reheat.

Chicken & Corn Soup


1) Brown some diced chicken thigh in olive oil.
2) Add some chicken stock and creamed corn.
3) Bring to the boil.
4) Add some egg white while stirring quickly to break it up in the soup so that it does not cook as one big chunk of eggwhite.
5) Add pepper and serve.

I used shredded roast chicken that was leftover from yesterday and the remainder of the fresh corn that had been steamed earlier. It tastes much better with creamed corn! You can thicken the soup up with cornflower. This is what they do at Chinese restaurants, but I find that if you use creamed corn, it will make the soup thick enough without being gluggy.

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