Thai style Crispy Pork Lettuce wraps.

This dish is inspired by what I saw on Gordon Ramsay's Ultimate Cookery course.

Thai style Crispy Pork Lettuce Wraps with chilli Corriander dressing

Here is what you'll need

For the mince stirfry:
300 Grams minced pork
4-6 garlic cloves - chopped
2 stalks spring onion - sliced
juice of half a large lime
lime zest
drizzle of Thai fish sauce
1 teaspoon sesame seed oil
cooking oil for frying
1-2 stalks of large chillies - sliced
1 bunch Baby romaine lettuce

For the dressing:
1 tablespoon sesame oil
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon light soya sauce
2 teaspoons Thai fish sauce
2 teaspoons brown sugar (regular sugar works too)
Juice of the other half of the lime
1 bunch coriander - roughly chopped
1 stalk of large chilli - sliced

Tiger Shrimp Tagliatelle

I was thinking, bacon works with shrimp, bacon works with asparagus, why not put all 3 in a pasta dish? So I went out and got some shrimp, bacon and asparagus and made dinner for 2 =).

Tiger Shrimp Tagliatelle

We enjoyed the end result. This works with almost any store bought pasta. I just happened to have some tagliatelle at home.

Here's what you'll need to serve 2:

180 grams Tagliatelle
300-350 grams Tiger Prawns (I used king tiger prawns.) - shelled, keep the heads aside
2-3 rashers streaky bacon
150 grams asparagus - cut into 1 inch lengths, separate the tips from the rest.
2 cups chicken stock (you can use water if not available)
1/2 cup white wine
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
4 garlic cloves - sliced
1 sprig of thyme - leaves only
Parsley for garnish

Bacon & Egg Breakfast Ciabatta Sandwich

I found some Ciabatta bread in the supermarket one day, thought I'd try a breakfast sandwich. It was rather satisfying and most importantly, a joy to eat.

The Breakfast Ciabatta

Here’s what you’ll need for 4 sandwiches

For the spread:

4-5 tablespoons mayonnaise

2 cloves garlic - Finely minced or grated into a mince

1 stalk spring onion - finely chopped.

 Salt and pepper to taste

The rest of the stuff:

4 Ciabatta Buns (Or you can get a whole loaf and cut it up)

4 eggs - Beaten

8 rashers of streaky bacon - Cooked on a fry pan or in the oven till cripsy

4 sliced of cheddar cheese (halved, so that they fit better)

1 tomato – sliced

½ red onion, sliced

Handful of rocket

Steps:

1. In a bowl, mix the mayonnaise, minced garlic and spring onion. Add salt and pepper to taste.

2. Cut the Ciabatta across lengthwise and lightly toast the Ciabatta in an oven or on a pan and set aside.

3. Heat a frying pan over medium low heat with some oil/butter. Scramble eggs in the pan. When eggs are one, dish eggs into a bowl/plate and aside.

4. Spread the mayo mix onto the cut sides of the buns.

5. Now for the assembly. For each sandwich, place in this order (I find it more stable in this order). 2 rashers of bacon, 1 halved cheese slices, couple spoonfuls of scramble egg, tomatoes, onion, rocket, and the other half of the bun.

6. Enjoy! 

Who needs Egg McMuffins anymore? Who am I kidding, I'll probably still grab a McMuffin every now and then.

Open Faced Ham and Cheese Sandwich with Mushrooms and Poached Egg

Made this a couple of weekends ago for breakkie. Its similar to the previous eggs benedict recipe. Differences are the addition of mushrooms on the ham & cheese and just plain bread instead of French toasts.

Poached eggs on Shooms and Ham & Cheese

This combo makes for a rich, hearty and earthy breakfast dish.

Here is what I used to serve 2

4 slices of bread
4 slices of ham (I used honey baked, you can use your preferred type)
4 slices of cheese (Cheddar was used here)
4 poached eggs (poached eggs video by an instructor from CIA)
150 - 200 grams white button mushrooms - sliced
1/2 yellow onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic finely sliced
1/2 tablespoon butter
1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves (or replace with your favorite herb)
Oil for frying
Salt and Pepper to taste

Mushroom, Red Pepper and Spinach Fritatta

We really enjoyed the last time we had Fritatta at home, so I decided to do it again. This time changing around the ingredients I used a little. By the time I was done, I realized that I made a vegetarian Fritatta.

Mushroom, Red Pepper and Spinach Fritatta

Ingredients:
200 grams white button mushrooms - sliced
0.5 - 1 cup baby spinach
1 medium sized red pepper - diced
1 medium sized yellow/white onion - diced
150-200 grams cheddar cheese
6-7 eggs
50 grams mozzarella cheese
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan
1 stalk spring onion - sliced (optional for garnish)

Potato, Leek and Bacon Hash with Pan Roased Asparagus.

This is one of my favorite hash brown recipes to make for breakfast. A great way to have bacon and eggs in the morning! 

Potato, Leek and Bacon Hash with Pan Roasted Asparagus, topped with poached egg

Here is what you'll need to serve 2.

For the hash:
200-300 grams russet potatoes - Sliced into discs or thin wedges.
About 1 cup sliced leek (White and light green parts only) I used about 2 leeks.
4-6 rashers of streaky bacon, cut into about 1 inch pieces.
Cooking oil for frying
Salt and pepper

For the Pan Roasted Asparagus.
About 200 grams Aparagus, washed and bases trimmed
2 teaspoons butter
2 sprigs of thyme
4 garlic cloves - sliced
Cooking oil for frying
Salt and pepper
2 x Poached egg

Spaghetti Aglio Olio with Bacon and Onion

This simple yet tasty dish is one of my favorites when home alone. Its a variation of the basic Aglio Olio (which basically means garlic oil). It may look plain, but its deceptively tasty. This dish can be done in like 20 minutes or less.

Spaghetti Aglio Olio with Bacon and Onion

The salty bacon, combined with the sweetness of the onion and garlicy aroma meld together into a very enjoyable flavor for the dish.

Here's what I used to make enough for 2

180 grams spaghetti
2-4 chilli padi (bird's eye chillies) sliced
5-6 rashers of streaky bacon (about 150 grams) cut into smaller pieces
5 cloves of garlic - sliced
1 yellow onion - sliced
Handful of rocket leaves or parsley for garnish.
1/2 cup chicken stock (optional - use the water from cooking the pasta if stock is not available)

Pan Seared Salmon with Mashed Peas

I was walking around Cold Storage, looking for something to cook dinner. The Salmon fillets look nice and I thought sure why not? I had half a pack of frozen peas that have been in the freezer for a while, so I thought I might as well use them. Peas and fish usually go well together. This brought me to my next thought "sauce". I decided on a simple white wine butter sauce. Then I thought, why not throw in some shrimp in the white wine butter sauce. So one thing led to another, which led to dinner being served :)

Pan Seared Salmon with mashed pea, white wine butter shrimp and double baked potatoes

Just gotta love the crispy salmon skin. Wifey thought it was good, so that's a win for me. :)

Here's what you'll need for a meal for 2:

2 Salmon fillets - about 180 grams each, de-boned

Mashed Peas:
200 grams peas (frozen will do fine)
1 yellow/white onion - diced
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1/2 cup milk (optional)
1 tablespoon olive oil

White wine butter shrimp.
100grams shrimp - shelled
2 cloves of garlic - sliced
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1-2 tablespoons dry white wine
2 sprigs of thyme (leaves only)
salt and pepper to taste

Salmon Rillette

Inspired by something I saw on Food Network "Best thing I ever ate" segment. After seeing how it was described, I had to try it.

Salmon Rillettes on toasted Focaccia slices

A rillette is actually cooked meat in seasoned fat, which is then shredded to a consistency that is spreadable and almost paste-like. It is a very traditional method of preserving meats.

My resulting attempt was a creamy, rich, chunky and savory spread. Works great as a starter or appetizer. (Which is what we didn't do. We liked it so much, we ate it as a meal) I don't think mine is anywhere near Chef Keller's standard but it was enjoyable nonetheless. We had it with leftover Focaccia I baked the other time.

About 200-300 grams fresh salmon fillet
About 200 grams smoked salmon - cut into chunks
Salt and pepper
230 grams unsalted butter- softened at room temperature (1 pack)
1/2 cup shallots - finely chopped or minced
Juice of one lemon
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 egg yolks, lightly beaten
1/4 cup chives - finely chopped (about 1 pack would do)

Rosemary Focaccia‏

Been wanting to try this for a while now. The fragrance of freshly baked bread and rosemary is awesome. I had bread flour, rosemary, yeast leftover from the recent pizza session, so I decided to try this.

Rosemary Focaccia‏

Here's what I used: (Adapted from Gordon Ramsay's recipe)

500g bread flour
1.5  tablespoon semolina
15 grams dried yeast
50ml olive oil, plus a little extra
2–3 rosemary sprigs, leaves only
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Thai Inspired Stir-fry Beef Noodle

Gotta love a plate of spicy fried noodles. Thought of this idea when I was thinking of a way to use the frozen steak left in the freezer.

Stir-fry Noodles with Beef - Thai style

It may be hard to tell but I actually used Angel Hair Pasta.

Here's what you'll need for my version of Thai Beef Noodle Stir-fry.

Marinated Beef:
250 grams sliced beef
2 teaspoons light soya sauce
2 teaspoons sesame oil
1 teaspoon cornflour
Generous dash of ground black pepper

Stir-fry Sauce:
1 tablespoon Thai fish sauce
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons sesame oil1 tablespoon light soya sauce
Juice from half a large lime (or 3-4 small ones)

The rest of the stuff:
180 grams Angel Hair Pasta (Cooked according to package instructions)
1 cup bean sprouts
1/2 yellow onion - sliced
2 chilli padi (bird's eye chilli) - sliced
5 stalks of Khoo Chye - Cut into finger length strips
6-8 garlic cloves - sliced
Ground black pepper
2 eggs - beaten
2 eggs - sunny side-up (optional)

Oven Baked Breaded Chicken Thigh

I had a hankering for crispy fried chicken one evening, but deep frying at home is not very practical when it comes to oil usage and clean up effort.

Oven Baked Breaded Chicken Thigh with Potatoes and Red Peppers

So I did the next best thing, I used the oven to bake a couple of breaded chicken thighs. So I got my fried chicken fix without actually deep frying, awesome!

Here's what I used for a meal for 2

For the Chicken Thighs:
2 boneless chicken thighs
1.5 cup plain flour
2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves (or dried herb of your choice)
Black pepper and Salt (about 2 teaspoons of each)
1 egg beaten