Baked Fusilli Pasta

I bought a packet of fusilli pasta today, wanting to create something that makes me and CY happy.


Ingredients:
1 cup of fusilli pasta
1 bay leave
5 cloves of garlic, finely sliced
3 strips of bacon, chopped
1 can of diced tomatoes
2 tbs of tomatoes puree
A pinch of sugar and blacked pepper
1 chunk of Mozzarella cheese & parmesan cheese
Salt to taste

Methods
Preheat oven to 250 degree. Put pasta into a pot of heavily salted water, cook till al dente or slightly soft. Pour away water, with a new pot, fry bacon till brown with a bit of oil, then brown garlic till fragrant, put in the bay leave, pour in tomatoes and puree, stir in a bit of water, season with salt, sugar and pepper. Pour into a container, cover with Mozzarella cheese & parmesan cheese. Bake for 15 minutes till golden brown.

Fish Wrapped in Banana leaves with Ginger, Cilantro, Chilli and Milk

We watched Jamie Oliver in Oliver Twist not long ago and were instantly inspired by this fish fillet wrapped in banana leaves. Seriously, I tried banana leaves flavoured dessert before, especially those Thai desserts or Malay inspired ones but I had never used it in cooking. When I ate those desserts, somehow I couldn't seperate the banana leaves flavour from the rest of the ingredients. I mean, which is which? I am quite stupid in that sense until this one, it really tells me how does a banana leaf taste like!

The leaves that I bought were not so fresh so I could only use some of it and throw the rest away! Luckily, it costed only 35 cents. I am glad that I bought 2 big bunches of cilantro/coriander that gives it flavours an omp~ so I am happy overall.

Before grinding:

This is before going into the oven. It's recommended to marinate a bit before baking, about 30 minutes.

After baking:


Adapted from Jamie Oliver's recipe:

Ingredients
4 large banana leaves or vine leaves (since the banana leaves were not so good, I recommend to use aluminium foil to wrap an outer layer over it to prevent spilling.)
A little olive oil
2 fresh red chillies
2 sticks lemon grass, outer leaves removed, centers finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
2 good handfuls fresh cilantro/coriander, roughly chopped
2 limes, juiced and zested
50 ml Carnation milk
1 tablespoon sesame seed oil
A drizzle fish sauce
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 heaped tablespoons finely sliced fresh ginger
4 (6 to 8 ounce /170 to 225 gram) pieces white-fleshed fish

Directions
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C/gas 8).
To make the banana leaves more pliable, hold for a few seconds over a gas flame. Leaving aside the fish and herb sticks, pound the rest of the ingredients in a pestle and mortar to make a thick paste and spoon a little onto each banana leaf. Place the fish on top and then spoon the rest of the paste on the top. Bringing the sides in and spiking it with a rosemary sprig or bay leaf stick to secure it. This will look lovely and it is natural, but I have been known to use a clothes peg or string to hold it all together. It won't be a perfect seal but this allows it to breath and steam, letting the flavors infuse, so gutsy and tasty. Put the parcels on a tray and bake for 15 minutes, then remove from the oven, and allow to rest for 5 minutes.

My verdict:

Jamie is really an adventurous celebrity chef that I admire. You can tell his passion about food and professionalism in cooking in this dish. Like what he said, "You can impress your friends and family with this dish."

Haha...With this on the table, can anyone possibly tell that you can't really cook?!

Smoked Salmon Sandwich

For those who watched Donald Duck cartoons when we were young, the story went like this: he would go for a picnic, unveil a disproportionately tall sandwich, flatten it up with a single squash of the hand before enjoying it. He would then be ‘terrorised’ by Chip ‘n’ Dale, the two chipmunks, for just being at the wrong place and the wrong time. This time round, we are trying to replicate his tall sandwich, and learnt a few points to share with all.

Smoked Salmon-Avocado Sandwich

Ingredients (serves 4)
1) 8 slices whole-meal bread
2) Butter
3) 150 g smoked salmon
4) 4 medium tomatoes, sliced
5) 1 avocado, sliced
6) 1 lemon
7) Salsa
8) Salt and black pepper

Steps

1) Spread butter onto bread slices, i.e. 1 slice for each sandwich.
2) Toast bread in oven for about 3 min. We put on grill for 4.5 min and dark-browned 2 pieces of bread – unpalatable. So watch the bread.
3) On toasted bread, place tomato and avocado slices. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. We came up with 2 variations – one with salmon and the other without. Omit salt for the ones with salmon, as smoked salmon is salty enough.
4) Layer salmon slices. Squeeze some lemon juice over.
5) Spread salsa on top. We added yoghurt with salsa for some creaminess. It worked!
6) Piece on the other slice of bread. Enjoy!

We use whole-meal (multigrain) bread as much as possible. They not only contain more vitamins and fibre, but taste better the more you chew into it. Whole-meal bread tend not to become mushy like white bread, i.e. holds its shape better in sandwiches.

We have to admit the yoghurt is actually an improvisation – we were out of mayonnaise! It has actually become a tasty and healthier choice on our menu! Crème fraiche and low-fat mayonnaise are other possible alternatives.

When putting ingredients on sandwich, we are often guilty of piling up more than what our poor bread can hold. A good rule of thumb is to place ingredients such that they are about a slice of bread thick. I did try the ‘Donald Duck squash’, but it never turned out good. If the tomato slices are already slipping off the top, it is time to top up the bread and start off with a new bottom piece.