Tuna Pasta - Another Pasta Dish Hiding in the Pantry

Mark Bittman, The Minimalist (of The New York Times "A Pasta Dish Hiding in the Pantry") saved this post! Really. Coz' it is not the first time I made this and I have also blogged about it. But just because I have done similar, does not mean I cannot do it again. He posted his in time and I "saved" mine in time. "Repeat if it is a worthy trick" is my mantra for today. ^0^

This is also another macaroni calling-out-loud...well, the other has ridges while this does not. "Repeat if it is a worthy trick" is my mantra for today. Didn't I just say so?


Who has the time, energy and inspiration to cook everyday? I salute people who can cook every day, 3 meals a day! It is no easy job! 

When I feel like something quick and relatively effortless, I'll make this - Tomato-Chili Tuna Macaroni!

If the recipe ingredients and directions can be done in these few sentences, it IS easy cooking! Here goes *TAKES DEEP BREATH*: Canned tuna (AYAM* brand, tomato-chili); Choy Sum - Cai Xin (blanched whole leaves and cut into small bits); Macaroni (cooked, and set aside). Add in tuna and vegetables bits into the macaroni, toss well, and make a carbo + protein + fiber dish, out of everything. *desperately exhale*

I have this as a one-dish (semi- homemade) meal but you could call a salad out of it. Found some corn in the pantry as well? Add them in coz' it kinda sweeten up a savory-spicy pasta. Mark Bittman, The Minimalist claims that there is A Pasta Dish Hiding in the Pantry and I so agree with him; though I have made a far more inferior selection on the "fish" here using tuna instead of sardines but hey, I am keeping my pantry canned sardines for something else, ok ?And I use fresh green vegetables - he, onions.

A spoon could do all the feeding. Let us all have some "spoon feeding" at Presto Pasta Nights hosted by Ruth of Once upon a Feast.


Share with me your all-time quickest, most effortless homemade meal (which passed the taste buds, of course).

*AYAM brand: Ingredients are acceptable to me except not knowing what the thickener is.


Tag: tuna, pasta

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Roast Chicken with Ginger and Garlic, Spiced yet not Spicy

This is the roast chicken wings recipe, for what I served here. While the stove was occupied cooking other dishes...the oven served me well, proceeding in parallel. If you follow my blog, you might have noticed I like adding spices such as cumin, fennel, turmeric in some of my recipes. That is because I love the flavors of Indian cuisine infused in my dishes including this Spiced (but not Spicy) Roasted Chicken Wings recipe.


Spiced (but not Spicy) Roasted Chicken Wings
Ingredients: 4-5 chicken wings; pinch of cumin, fennel, turmeric each; 1/2 tbsp curry powder; pinch of salt and black pepper; 1/2 tsp dark soy sauce (note: for color purpose);1tsp of honey; 1/2 tsp brown sugar; 1tsp minced ginger with juice or 3-4 tiny knobs of ginger crushed with juice; 4 gloves garlic, crushed to smaller pieces.

Directions: Add all the ingredients in a deep mixing container and marinate the chicken wings for at least 45 mins (note: make small slits on the chicken wings so that the marinade get in there faster). When ready, pre-heat oven at 225deg C. Then roast in oven for about 20 mins to cook completely. You can increase oven temp to 250deg C and roast for another 3-5mins for lightly crisp skin.


Not the prettiest chicken wings but utterly finger-licking and superbly good :)  ...Oh, and the caramelized ginger and roasted garlic in honey and spices, is a bloody tasty aftermath.

Tag: roast, chicken

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Spicy Meat Sandwich with Cheese and Pineapples - "Roti John" makeover!

I commented at Noobcook's Pita Pizza post that the way she pans out her pizza reminded me of the dog gone days (it was in 2007, my god!) of me making Pita Pizza. Pita bread as the base, slather with tomato pasta sauce, then top with choice of favorite ingredients. Voila!

Pita Pizza, made 2007, topped with Spicy Italian Sausage, cheese, pineapples

Then, I have to revive an old draft of mine - hiding among others...awaiting 1tbsp of inspiration, and one bowl of writing efforts (time). Unveiling the New Age Roti John Pizza Sandwich. Saving you from the argument to be classified as Pizza (open dough) or more appropriately, Calzone (turnover, enclosed dough), it depends on how you want to eat it.

What (or who) is Roti John? You may not be familiar with this name "Roti John" which appeared to be a name derived during the British Colony when sandwiches were prepared for the Englishman whom people like to address as "John". Roti (meaning Bread) John means "Sandwich for John". Roti John as I have tasted before has spiced minced meat (lamb) filling, served on baguette (French bread) usually like a Pizza: open-face (sometime partially egg-dipped) toasted baguette topped with curried minced meat.

With the Turkish Pide Bread, slice it open-face and ...toppings...fillings!

The "makeover": The New Age Mr. Roti John I have created, harps new notes from some of my favorite pizza toppings - cheese and pineapples. And I swear the combination of cheese and pineapples is perfect on the fried curried minced meat.

Curried Minced Meat Sandwich with Mozarella Cheese and Pineapples ...(poooof...mouthful)
Ingredients: Minced meat; tomato, cut into bite-size; garlic, minced, onion; minced; egg, whisked; pinch of cumin and fennel powder; pinch of turmeric, 1tsp curry powder; salt and black pepper to taste; mozarella cheese to sprinkle; pineapples cubes

Directions: Heat oil (or butter) in pan. Add cumin, fennel, turmeric and curry powder, garlic and onions and fry till fragrant. Then add the minced meat and fry briskly on medium heat. Add the tomatoes and continue frying. Add the whisked egg gently into the minced meat mixture and continue frying till the meat mixture is  cooked. Add salt and pepper to taste and more curry powder if you prefer more curry flavor. Set the meat mixture aside.

With the Turkish Pide Bread (note: substitute for Baguette), slice it open-face and sprinkle cheese on it. Then top with fried meat filling, then sprinkle more cheese, top with pineapples, then more cheese. Toast it till the cheese melts.

Pack your lunch: And because I always enjoy more filling, and the convenience of take-along, I sandwiched the filling with another layer of bread (THAT...can enclose and wrap more filling and easier to eat like a sandwich!). If you wish to prepare more portions to bring along for next day's lunch, you can repeat the above "decorations" without toasting it. Wrap the prepared sandwich with aluminum foil (See? I told you a sandwich is easier to wrap since the fillings are now protected...inside!) and before you want to eat, toast the sandwich (already in the foil) in a toaster oven. Voila! Unwrap and eat!


Have you tried something similar? Maybe Sloppy Joe is the wetter American version of the above similar ?

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Tag: sandwich, pizza, roti

Roasted (Parboiled) New Potatoes with Herbs and Shallots

I love the shape (round) and size (small) of these new potatoes - the young potatoes! I don't have to cube them further like what I did in this roasted potato recipe. With these young-lings, I rinse them quite thoroughly in running water (cos' I will be eating thy skins), then boil for about 10 minutes or less, to slightly cook it (about 70-80% cooked).

When cooled, I make slight cuts and crosses on each potato so that my seasonings can get right in. Yay!


It's not early. In a couple more months, it will be summer. How about doing this on a Camping Grill ?


Roasted New Potatoes with Shallots and Herbs
Ingredients: Potatoes prepared as above; garlic, minced; shallots, minced; rosemary, oregano, basil (I use a mix of dried herbs); unsalted butter; salt and pepper

Directions: Mix the potatoes with seasonings in a bowl (put everything in a deep mixing bowl, cover bowl with a plate and give it a good shake while holding the plate to cover the bowl). Place everything on a lined (with foil) baking tin or tray. Wrap the potatoes partially in foil and roast them in a pre-heated oven (to finish cooking) at ~200degC for about ~10mins


Partially boiling the potatoes before roasting/baking them render them moist after oven roasting! The sequence will be parboil -- make "cuts"-- season -- roast. For outdoor camping, you can skip the parboiling step. Make sure the potatoes are clean, poke some holes on them using a fork, then use the same recipe above to season, wrap them in aluminum foil and put them on a camping grill.

These Roasted Potatoes can be served with either Roasted Chicken , Baked Fish Fillet or Fish Kebab together with either Roasted Cauliflower, Spicy Green Beans or Sauteed Celery and Carrots.

Mr Potato: Do you know your potatoes well? 
Do you get a particular variety for a specific recipe? Yukon or Russet? Red or Yellow?

Me: I do not know my potatoes very well. I admit. I hardly buy potatoes to make a dish on its own. Usually, I get potatoes when I want to cook chicken curry and I go for Russet-type potatoes for that. Did I do it right?


Tag: new potatoes, potatoes

Pickled Green Chili Condiment with (Any) Dry Noodles

There is a major difference when a Singaporean and a Hong Konger eats her noodles: Wonton Noodles, Fried Rice Noodles with Gravy (Hor Fun, 河粉), or Fried Rice Noodles in Egg Gravy (Wat Dan Hor).

Condiments.

Choice of sambal chili/garlic-chili/red chili in soy sauce/pickled green chili.

I am for Pickled Green Chili with Shredded Chicken Noodles,


with Fried Vermicelli,


with Wonton Noodles


Apparently, this is something unique to South Asia. I enjoy it because the sour, spice and that hint of sweetness are well-balanced and somehow, magically, the greasy feeling is gone. I even like pickled green chili with fried rice!

How to make Pickled Green Chili: Fresh green chilli, seeded and sliced; some white rice vinegar or distilled white vinegar; sugar, salt, water. Mix, then store in air-tight or vacuum-sealed container and refrigerate.

Which condiment do you like, with the noodles above ?

Tag: green chili, pickles

Vegetable Biryani (Briyani) + Giveway in Fan Club

Other than the Chinese food I whipped up for my dad, I also cooked vegetable biryani when their helper was away. I have cooked vegetable biryani many times (I love Indian food! I must say biryani is one of the easiest, most fragrant one-dish rice meal) and it even got the thumbs-ups from my Indian friend.

The point is - I learn this recipe from this same Indian friend's mom who told him the ingredients (only ingredients, no quantity given) over the phone; and my friend passed it down to me through a separate conversation. I am not sure about the misses in this recipe while passing the "parcels". I did some reconstructions along the way, piecing up the vegetables, spices and the estimated quantity I would need in proportion to one another. Well, it was a hit at the end! No misses. ^o^

Vegetable Biryani/Briyani
- you cook the entire dish start to finish on the stove-top -- are you this ?
- you partially cook the dish on the stove-top and finish it off in the rice cooker -- or this ?
- you cook the entire dish in the rice cooker... -- or this ?


oh YES...did I say the entire dish in the rice cooker? This will be one recipe featured in my upcoming cookbook, Fall 2010 (August 2010)  - The Everything Rice Cooker Cookbook.

For now, let my dad enjoy this dish...



In conjunction with the cookbook, join my Facebook Fan Club - An Escape to Food - and win a giveaway. Details will follow in the Fan Club.

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I'm actually a gone-case in Facebook and I don't even tweet. Embrace the social media, tell me about it, for I only log into Facebook to play my Bejeweled game. Not only a gone-case. A nutcase too. But with this Fan Club, I will be doing more. For you only - latest blog updates, my cookbook previews and giveaway.

Tag: rice, one dish, biryani,vegetable biryani

Loofah (Luffa) with Ginkgo and Mushrooms

I know some of you don't enjoy eating loofah (luffa) or cooking loofah (luffa) as a dish, based on the comments gathered in my loofah (luffa) posts . Maybe it is that spongy texture and feeling that you dislike, just like how some people dislike sea cucumber due to its gelatinous slimy feel ? I enjoy sea cucumber and loofah, both totally different tasting and textured ingredients but end up priceless for me as food. Loofah (luffa) has got its reputation as anti-aging (or beauty) food due to the Vitamin Bs' content, Vitamin C and minerals. According to Chinese classification of healing food, loofah (luffa) is a "cooling" food - it clears away "heatiness" in your body, reduces phlegm, "cleanses" the blood ("detox" the body). Good yea?

Other than loofah (luffa) soups that I enjoy, and a simple stir-fry (with shrimps and drizzle of sesame oil) that some of my readers have inspired me to try, this is another wholesome recipe of mine - Loofah with Ginkgo and Oyster Mushrooms. Very simple too - three ingredients, absolutely delicious and totally vegetarian.


Ginkgo (Ginkgo Biloba) is known to treat memory loss and slow down aging of the brain. It also contains flavonoids and terpenoids antioxidants. Better yea? And mushrooms - have minerals such as potassium and selenium that keep regular bodily functions in check. Best yea? All very healthful.

Loofah (Luffa) with Gingko and Mushrooms -  丝瓜白果炒菇 
Ingredients: 2-3 thin slices of ginger; luffa, peeled and sliced into slightly thick chunks; oyster mushrooms (note: try other fresh mushrooms as a variation), roughly sliced; ready-to-use ginkgo (store-bought, usually in a sealed pack or can);  3-4 tbsp water; drizzle of sesame oil; salt and white pepper to taste

Directions: Heat a little sesame oil in the pan and fry the ginger till fragrant. Add luffa and mushrooms, and mix well. Add water (so that mixture does not dry up so fast), and allow the mixture to come to a slight simmer, then add in ginkgo. When the luffa is almost cooked (turns slightly soft), add salt and white pepper to taste and finish off with a drizzle of sesame oil. (note1: Do not overcook luffa. You can identify overcooked luffa when it turns brown. note2: I intentionally wanted more gravy for this dish - so I added more water and did not reduce the gravy further  You can add less water if you prefer a drier mixture)

The loofah goodness goes to Yasmeen - Healthnut, the host for Weekend Herb Blogging this week. I hope more people get to know this lovely ingredient and try it when they see it, find it and don't forget this member of the squash family.

Tag: loofah , luffa, squash

Chicken (Green Onions) Macaroni - Soup Leftover Revival !

There is nothing new. I adore chicken soup and has been gradually more fond of it. I do many versions of chicken soup lately and seldom have leftovers. If bumped into leftovers, I like to "freshen" it within days (less than a week) by making another simple one-disher. Macaroni always calls me home.Am I a kid or what?


A little (garnish idea) goes a long way. I remember having Japanese Ramen with lots and lots of green onions, so nothing is simpler than reviving a leftover chicken soup by using lots and lots of green onions and make the chicken soup taste a little different (but still good) on the next day.


So there is chicken macaroni soup with green onions garnish; and chicken macaroni soup with green onions as the star ingredient.

Chicken and Green Onions Macaroni Soup
Recipe (Ingredients and Directions) available here. A lot of green onions are added for this, that's all.


There is also chicken macaroni soup that I love to garnish with red chili slices and fried shallots. Woooo...so good. Leftover Presto Pasta Nights goodness Served with Love (this week's host).

What is your favorite way of garnishing a good chicken soup, if you really bother to garnish? ^o^

Holy Macaroni,
This is one comfort food for me;
Carrots and celery do some trick,
There is no secret and hidden tip.

Tag: chicken soup, macaroni, green onions, chicken macaroni

Lemongrass Prawns (Shrimps) à la mode Sugarcane Prawns

I enjoy eating sugarcane prawns (shrimps), very fond indeed. The use of lemongrass is such a god-send, as lemongrass is more easily available in the supermarkets. You could get sugarcane in the traditional wet markets too, but well, my preference lies in convenience.


This is good utilization of the remaining top-half of lemongrass especially after the bottom white half of lemongrass is typically used. Helpless no more - "I can be a naturally perfumed skewer". ^o^


Hold on to the lemongrass skewer, start smelling the lemongrass fragrance even before nibbling on the shrimp cakes. Continue sniffing that citrus aroma on your little fingers....linger...linger...lemongrass fingers.... I don't even want to wash my hands now.


The recipe is from My Kitchen Snippets. I adapted it a little, sans the garlic and fish sauce. I also do not have a food processor to grind all those ingredients - instead I use a heaver Chinese chopper/cleaver to mince the shrimps, green onions and cilantro, red chili; then mix the shrimp paste mixture with egg white, pinch of salt, sugar and pepper in a deep mixing bowl; and started molding and shaping that shrimp cake onto the lemongrass skewer.

Perfect starters! You will get a WOW!

Tag: shrimp cake, lemongrass, sugarcane

Steamed Hairy Gourd with Meat Stuffing - 毛瓜蒸肉馅

The last time I wrote about this prickly gourd was in 2007! WHAaat?! So long?! Does that mean I have not used this gourd for almost 3 years!? YESSssss, as I really cannot remember when was the last time I used it for my cooking. As I have said..."Fairy God Mother's magic wand *bling* will not turn a hairy gourd into a golden carriage for Cinderalla"  but YOU - the Hairy Gourd Mother (sorry, I said you are hairy) with your chopsticks (or wand) *bling bling* can always turn thy gourd from this:

to this:


Hairy gourd(毛瓜, Mao Gua) (you can read their other names here ) is sometimes known as the Little Winter Melon - 冬瓜 . I love them in soups, stir-fries and sometimes, steamed with meat stuffing. I do this steamed meat stuffing thing with bittergourd too and enjoy the dish very much. There goes this Hairy Gourd to Weekend Herb Blogging and this week, we have our host, Huan at Eat.Read.Live.

Steamed Hairy Gourd with Meat Stuffing - 毛瓜蒸肉馅
Ingredients: Hairy Gourd, peeled, cut into 3-cm chunks, remove seeds from the center of each chuck to create "hole" for meat stuffing; Minced Chicken/Pork; [Marinade]: salt, white pepper, soy sauce, Chinese cooking wine, sesame oil; wolfberries for garnish

Directions: Prepare the hollowed gourd chucks on a plate. Marinate minced meat and spoon the minced meat into the hollowed chunks. You can allow about 20-30 mins marination time by leaving entire plate of prepared gourd chunks in the fridge. Set the wok or steamer for steaming. Steam for about 12 mins depending on how "thick" the meat stuffing is. (Note: You may have leftover minced meat - they can be used in Seaweed Soup or Watercress Soup).


Mom was asking what I cooked for Dad some time ago:
妈 : 煮什么?
我: 毛瓜, 南瓜, 丝瓜, 佛手瓜...
妈: 没有傻瓜啊 ?
我: 哈哈哈!

For my readers who do not read Mandarin - I was having a Mandarin conversation with Mom about the food I prepared for Dad. I spouted a list of gourds such as pumpkin, loofa, luffa, marrow squash, chayote - belonging to the gourd/squash family - gourd/squash , in Mandarin, is 瓜 (Gua).

She then said something which sets me laughing. She asked "how about 傻瓜 (Sha Gua)?"

傻瓜 (Sha Gua), in Mandarin, also ends with 瓜 (Gua) if you notice, and it means "A Fool" in English.

Tag: hairy gourd, gourd

Home recipes for balanced nutritious meals - what I eat, my dad eats

While my parents' helper was away for 2 weeks in the month of January and I happened to be in town for a visit, I decided to take over and cook lunch for my father (yes, my father has the luxury of lunch-ing at home as a semi-retiree). No special staging - I cook what I always would at home (sometimes, rice or porridge with side dishes; and sometimes one-dish meals of rice, noodles and pasta). With the red cargo and brown rice grains that I interchangeably cooked as congee (porridge) and rice, there are a couple of side dishes I also prepared.

Side dishes for Congee (Rice Porridge); clockwise from top-left: Chayote Salad, Steamed Brussel Sprouts seasoned with salt, black pepper and cumin, Stir-fry Cabbage and Carrot and Wok-Fry Shrimps with ginger and green onions.


Side sides with Rice; clockwise from top-left: Aloo (potatoes) Gobi (cauliflower), Roasted Honey-Spice Chicken Wings, Bok Choy.


Do you think it is a balanced and nutritious meal ?



Tag: rice, vegetables,roasted chicken

Cooking tips: Sweet pea shoots, 清炒豆苗的秘诀

Oyster sauce or any other common stir-frying sauce will not do the magic, especially when stir-frying these sweet pea shoots (豆苗, Dou Miao). If you like garlic, add them. But that ingredient (or seasoning) that makes your home stir-fry sweet pea shoots taste "restaurant-style" is Chinese Cooking (Huadiao/Shaoxing) Wine! Yes yes! Is that considered a secret?


I'm sharing some tips and secrets of making the perfect pea shoots stir-fry, over at Weekend Herb Blogging and this week, we have our host, Susan at The Well-Seasoned Cook.

Of course, we need: Oil. High Heat. Chinese Cooking Wine.

Further, to ensure the sweet pea shoots not too fibrous when cooked:

(1) No Overcooking.

(2) Do not store the shoots in the refrigerator for too long. Use it almost immediately (perhaps less than 3 days) after purchase . When stored for too long, sweet pea shoots lose the tender firm (crisp) texture. It gets too fibrous - hard to chew after they are cooked.

(3) Also, pluck away those "curly shoots"

Share your tips and secrets with us.


Tag: pea shoots, vegetables, stir fry

Stir-Fry Noodles with Vegetables

Since it is PPN's three-year-old birthday, I've decided to present a noodle dish for this event as noodles signifies longevity and often enjoyed during birthdays. Long live Presto Pasta Night - PPN. Thank you, Ruth from Once Upon a Feast.

Stir-Fry Noodles with Vegetables
Ingredients:
Cabbage, shredded; carrot, shredded; onion and garlic, thinly sliced; red peppers, sliced; blanched broccoli, cooked noodles; 1tsp curry powder; pinch of cumin, fennel, turmeric, salt and pepper (black and white) to taste

Directions: Heat oil in a deep pan or wok. Add in cumin, fennel, turmeric, curry powder and fry till aromatic. Add in onions and fry till fragrant, followed by garlic, cabbage and carrots, mixing well with the spices. When cabbage and carrots turn slightly tender, add red peppers, then add in the cooked noodles. Mix thoroughly. Add in broccoli, then add in salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately.

Tag: noodles, vegetables