Watching : Master Chef vs Hell's Kitchen on FOX

Via


I became an avid fan of MasterChef, the cooking reality TV show on FOX, when i started rooting for one of the competitors in Season 3 - a blind lady from Houston. Christine Ha is now one of the final 7 contestants remaining in the show. It blows my mind how she manages to cook, much less come up with amazing looking (and i bet, delicious) dishes all the time.

And not to mention i love watching Gordon Ramsay on this show. He is mostly constructive with his criticisms for the competing home cooks. This is in stark contrast to the other cooking reality TV show, Hell's Kitchen, where there's too much cussing, too much drama and too much bitching for my liking.

Also, MasterChef presents different challenges each night. I like the Mystery Boxes, where the competitors each get a box of unknown contents. One night they got Paula Deen in the Mystery Box and the challenge was to use Southern ingredients to come up with their best dish! On another night, they each got an aquarium of live prawns. It's amazing how many different things you can whip up with the same ingredients! I love the creativity of some of these contestants!


Still, as the two shows are back to back on Monday and Tuesday nights, I sit through both shows religiously every Monday and Tuesday night! And i NEVER watch TV!! This has got me hooked!

Recipes: What to do with too many roma tomatoes -- Tomato sauce!!!

My gawd.

The J-man would be so proud of me. For 4th consecutive day I've been cooking, using ingredients mostly from the garden.

Just don't tell him it's cause i had to use up those stupid tomatoes. Too many already! (I have a feeling i'm going to get beat up for complaining about having too much food...)

This morning i just gave away a big bag of tomatoes, bell peppers and squash. And i still have leftover for myself.




We bought a dehydrator so i can dehydrate stuff. but I have ENOUGH dried tomatoes, so i had to look for recipes to make something other than sun-dried tomatoes.

So here's a recipe for easy tomato sauce for your favorite pasta. And remember, if i can do this, it's a no brainer for you!



Ingredients:

Roma tomatoes
Onion
Garlic cloves
Basil leaves
Pepper and salt
Chilli flakes

I didn't use any measurements, just eyeballed the amount. But if you need the measurements, i got the recipe off here


Method:


Cut a slit in the tomato skin before putting the tomatoes in boiling water and let boil for 1-2 minutes. No more than that! or the tomatoes get too squishy to peel

Place all boiled tomatoes into a bowl of (optional: ice) cold water to cool. Now the slit you have made before makes it easier for you to get the skin off after the tomatoes have cooled.

While waiting for tomatoes to cool, chop the other ingredients : dice onion, finely dice garlic cloves and also the basil leaves. Set aside

Heat oil in medium sized frying pan. Saute onions for about 5-7 minutes before adding the garlic.

Meanwhile, you can start peeling the skin off the tomatoes, and dice them into halves or quarters.

Throw all chopped up tomatoes into a strainer and drain all liquids. Sprinkle salt all over the tomatoes.

When the onions and garlic are done, add tomatoes to frying pan. Add basil leaves and chilli flakes, more salt and pepper to taste. Stir to mix well, then let simmer over low heat for about 30-35 minutes.

You can boil your pasta while simmering the sauce. When they both done, just pour sauce over the noodles. I like to add shrimp to my pasta, so i would blanche some store bought cooked shrimp in the hot water used to cook the noodles, and add them to the dish.






All set and ready for dinner!! (and leftovers for tomorrow's lunch!!)

Weight watching and Calorie counting!

So, the J-man decided to get in shape before his Philippines trip in July. He is on a boys only vacation with his buddies he had met in Shanghai. And he's going to be gone THREE WEEKS. Yucks.


Anyway...

My friend S at work introduced me to this website My Fitness Pal. It's a free site, anyone can join, so I thought I'd join in the fun. I've never really paid any attention to the food I eat. I'm not picky. I grew up eating whatever that was served to me at the dinner table. My mother was strict that way, we were not allowed to pick and choose favorite foods. And so I stayed that way. Of course I do have foods that I dislike more than others, but when I'm hungry, food is food is food.


What I meant to say is that we have started to really started to watch what we eat, so J can get in shape before his beach vacay. Although I don't think I am at the point that I need to start losing weight, I think it is pretty interesting to pay attention to calories and carbs and see how that'll work out for us!

On this site, you decide on your goal : to lose weight, to maintain etc. You punch in your height and weight and they calculate how many calories, carbs, proteins and fats you are allowed to consume in a day. Then you keep an online journal of your meals everyday, as well as a record of the exercises you do. A very simple process that takes less that 5 minutes, and at the end of each log, it estimates what you'll weigh at the end of 5 weeks if you eat according to that day's consumption.

I like it because after I punch in the numbers, I can decide at the end of the day if I have any leftover calories to consume a chocolate bar or drink a soda. That's my "treat" for eating well during the day! And sometimes it's alarming to find out how many carbs / calories are in certain foods. For example, I drink a cup of Dunkin' Donuts K-Cup coffee at work everyday. That's at 10 calories. Pretty low right? But the crunch comes when i add 3 tablespoons of liquid creamer, then BOOM i add 10 times the calories to this drink!

I mean, it makes sense, I just wasn't THAT aware all this time.


So, I guess this is a good exercise for me personally. I encourage everyone to be more aware of your food consumption too! Eat well!!

Crafting: Appliques and facings

Now I told you I bought a bunch of patterns off Etsy!

The J-man has been waiting for me to make him something. He complains that I make gifts for everyone and forgets him. So he requested for me to make him something with the Chicago Bears emblem on it. Because he loves to cook, i decided to make him an apron.


We discussed the details, and he decided he wanted it simple, with just the signature "C" with orange pockets in the front. And then we took a trip to Hancock Fabrics together for him to pick out his blue and orange fabrics. This was exciting for me because I got the chance to show him around my crafting 'turf'. He could never understand why I loved to make trips to the fabric store, but after his own experience, he was pretty impressed. :)

Once the fabrics were chosen, he left me to work, but i had to occasionally bother him with fittings.



Now i know i'm probably infringing copyrights. I got the letter "C" printed off the internet for a template. BUT i figured this is for personal use, and it's not like they have Bears' aprons for sale. So i traced the letter onto the orange fabric and some sturdy interfacing, edgestitched the layers together and zigzag stitched the letter to the apron. Really proud of this because it looks real profesh!


I doubled the layers of the apron body to hide the applique stitches on the back. And for the first time, i find out about facings. So yes, i think i know ALL about interfacings. But facings? What?

According to Wikipedia, facing is fabric applied to a garment edge, on the inside.

I had to google and youtube all about sewing facings! Thank gawd for the internet. You can learn almost anything online these days. This site was very useful to help me visualize the instructions.

And this video is AWESOME! It explains the use of facings, how to pick the right facings, and how to sew a facing from start to finish!!!




So yes, the apron is complete with bright orange facings on the inside, down the sides.
Here he is, testing out the end product with some outdoor stir frying. But I think he loves it. :)

Holiday Recipes: Roasted Peperoncini Antipasto

O-kay. So you all know I hate cooking. But somehow, with the holiday season around the corner, i find myself looking up recipes to try out. What with all the parties going on, I have to whip up something new for each one. So. I look for the easiest recipes possible. Which means... if you hate cooking just like me, and are in need of easy recipes, i have the solution for you!




The recipe that I'm sharing today is my all time favorite Italian antipasto -- the roasted peperoncini. The J-man and I 'stole' this recipe from my ex-boss' Italian husband, who by the way, hosts the greatest Italian dinners... We miss you, Piero!!!


For this dish, I used:

6 bell peppers (red, yellow and orange)
1 can of anchovies.
1 Tbsp Capers (or as much as you wish)
Olive oil
Chopped garlic

Note: not everybody is a fan of anchovies, so use amount as desired (or un-desired) :p


Place peppers on a pan and roast them in the oven until their skins turn black. Like so.

I put my peppers in the oven for an hour at 350deg F.

Let them cool. After which, you'll have to gingerly peel the burnt outer skins off. Nobody wants to eat the burnt bits (well, except maybe me...) But guess what? I've figured out a perfect way to do it!

Pull off the top (the stalk of the peppers). They should come off very easily, now that they're soft. Turn the pepper upside down, so all the seeds on the inside drip out of the hole left by the stalk. Use your hand, or a spoon to scrape the insides of the pepper to get rid of the rest of the seeds. When that's done, peel off the skin very gently. After the 3rd pepper you should have nailed the technique.




Place peeled peppers in a container. Add a dash of olive oil (depending on individual taste). Sprinkle chopped garlic, anchovies and capers over. Mix well and then cover. Leave the dish in fridge to chill overnight and you're good to go!

Now wasn't that simple?

I'm taking this to my co-worker's Christmas party tomorrow night!

I MADE THIS!

and i don't even cook! So you can totally master it. It's perfect for the oncoming coldness! BRRRR!


I guest posted this recipe on Tongue Tied in Awe and did a tie-in giveaway, so head on over and give me a shout-out! xoxo


But also, DO NOT forget about the September giveaway -- the pretty awesome Rainbow Winged Pegasus Brooch that ends September 30th!



Woot woot!

Mid-Autumn Festival

Via



I am officially homesick!

This is what is happening around the corner.
Firstly, on September 12, it is my dad's birthday. He is 58 this year (OMG! it never really sunk in how he is going to be the big 6-0!) In my mind, he is 48 going on 50.

On the very same day, it is also the Mid-Autumn Festival, a harvest festival some 3000 years ago, which evolved to become a day of family reunions (much like Thanksgiving). The Mid-Autumn Festival takes place on the 15th day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar. On this day, the moon is at its fullest and roundest.

Many legends revolve around this festival, the most popular being the Chinese empress who sacrificed herself by taking the elixir of life before the tyrant king had a chance. She floated away to the moon where she lived forever, lonely and miserable, with only her pet rabbit as company.

As i type this, i have a strange feeling I've blogged about the festival one year ago... I probably did, but i really miss home when this time comes around. Not to mention the traditional mooncakes that families gift to one another. These pastries are stuffed with red bean paste, lotus seed paste, and in these modern times, even ice cream (which i luuuuurrrve!)

Click on the above image to find a link to a mooncake recipe. I'm still wondering if i am brave enough to attempt...

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival m'dears! May you have a lovely reunion with your loved ones this day!

xoxo

News from the garden: Bountiful Harvests

New harvests from the garden!


There's a pumpkin, lots of tomatoes, and an eggplant.


Then we have the Armenian cucumber.


The Chioggia is next!


We made a salad the other day with our cucumbers, tomatoes and store bought onions (need to grow these too), added a generous dash of ranch dressing and ooh-lala it was so so good! The J-man calls it his 'Ghetto Garden Salad' because it's so haphazardly put together.

Salads are so refreshing in the summer! LOVE!

Thrifting: Martha's Vineyard Community Yard Sale

In case we decided to go on a shopping spree, we limited our yard sale budget to $20.

We spent every dime of it, but in return we got


Another fabric stash! *YAY*


Hitachi Rice cooker!

And a juicer that i forgot to take a picture of.
Oh! And the Chime-o-Matic Rice Cooker makes a sound *diiing!* when it's ready! Too cute! I love it!

Butwe both got everything we needed, so money well spent!

News from the garden: The gods must be listening

Oh little baby, our precious eggy-plant!

And credit also goes to the busy buzzing bee seen here.



We harvested this too!


And with all that zucchini and crooked neck squash, the J-man battered and fried into tempura - Japanese style! Except we dipped them in ranch dressing. It was divine!!

Day Trip: NoDa All Arts Market

Sorry Zhingy, I didn't take any more photos other than this one. :(

I was too excited checking out all the booths set up inside. And there were more little stalls set up by the roadside too.

NoDa is an area that is home to a collection of galleries, restaurants, stores and performance venues. Situated on North Davidson St at 36th, it is peppered with little quaint houses, complete with vegetable gardens and trees filled with nests! What a lovely little place to live in! Every 1st and 3rd Friday, NoDa hosts a gallery crawl that encourages people to check out the lively and unique street scene. There was this one cute little shop (I forgot its name!) but it sold little traditional trinkets across different cultures, like nacho libre masks, turkish evil eye charms and even chinese golden piggy banks. Very interesting!

Here is how I persuaded the J-man to accompany me downtown.



He was like a kid in a candy store in this Asian mega-mart, called New Century, located a couple miles away from the NoDa area. Time to stock up on the kim chee and the sambal belachan! We bought some spring roll skins and this was what transpired.



Spring Rolls before deep flash-frying. We added carrot, cucumber, ginger strips as well as shrimp and some wild wood ear fungus, freshly picked!

One yummylicious and adventure-filled day off! WHEEEE!!

How does your garden grow?

Pretty well, I must say.

The first half of the garden, we planted from scratch. And the second half at the back, is what I call our "play-cheat" garden. We bought decent sized ones from Lowe's to be replanted in our back yard.


Our planted from scratch zucchini going crazy after a few heavy showers, thunderstorms and fish poo fertilizer.


Our store bought tomato plant growing out it's first few crazy looking tomatoes.


This is either a brussel sprout or broccoli plant (we forgot to mark them out and they look so similar!) but I think it's more like the leaves of a young broccoli plant.


Picked some basil leaves and rosemary and oregano just because! They smell wonderful!!!! We might make a meal of stir-fried chicken with basil and chillies tonight! Yum!!!

10 things i did on my day off

1. Got my driver's license (FIRST thing in the morning)
2. Prepared ingredients for chicken casserole supper
3. Vaccumed and dusted the house
4. Started reading 20000 Leagues Under the Sea!
5. Bird watched for a bit (saw a hummingbird!)
6. Watered and weeded the garden
7. Did the laundry
8. Updated my blog!
9. Finished a 500 piece puzzle in 2 hours (with MIL's help!)
10. Called my parents (because I didn't do it over the weekend)


Phew! That was one busy day! I felt so accomplished! I think I rather like waking up so early in the morning, I get so many things done!

Oyster Mushroom Heaven

Okay, so this is the recipe for the killer cream sauce mentioned in a previous post.



Oyster Mushrooms in Cream

Serves 2:

1. Wash and prepare 10 oz oyster mushrooms. Drain 2 oz sun-dried tomatoes in oil, cut into thin strips. Wash and prepare 2 scallions and cut into pieces 3/4 in long.

2. Heat 2 tbsp oil in a pan. Add the mushrooms and fry briskly over high heat for 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes, onions, and 1/2 cup whipping cream. Bring to a boil, then add 1/2 tsp thyme and season with salt and pepper.

Prep time: 15minutes!!

These creamy, aromatic mushrooms can be served with a baguette as an awesome appetitizer. Sure to impress, but so easy to make! I'm not sure how it would taste if you substituted with another type of mushrooms. My friend's mom tried it with portobello, but it turned out a little wrong. We haven't really experimented with any other types of mushrooms yet, but when we do, I'll let you know the results!


Dryad's Saddle

By the way, I ate some freshly picked Dryad's Saddle, and felt nauseated the whole day. It might be a combination of mind tricks, but even though it's an edible type, it apparently didn't agree with my stomach. Yucky-poo! J, however, heartily gobbled up his share (and what's left of mine).

Alright, till next time. Please pray I live to tell my foraging experiences.

Oishii ne!

We miss our Japanese food!

Back in Shanghai, there was a nice little hole-in-the-wall eatery called 有马 (i guess that must be kanji) that is within walking distance from our apartment and from my school. princesszhing  do you know how to say that in japanese?

We would spend our Sunday /Monday lunch money there just because it was such great food at great prices. For about 50RMB (which is about SGD$10) you get a salmon don bento box set which includes a miso soup, a potato salad, 2 small appetizers and a great big bowl of salmon don. It's best to go during lunch because of the set lunches. Dinner is a la carte, and prices are a little steeper, but once in a while J and I will indulge ourselves in pure sashimi heaven. It was so good i could almost eat it every day! My work mates and I would go there on Saturdays (again!) for lunch before our afternoon classes. They have an upstairs section where you sit on tatami mats, but can cheat a little if your legs got tired / numb (they have a hollow under the table for you to stretch your legs out).

Best of all, you know that the food is authentic and Oishii! when the owner is 1) Japanese , 2) his customers are Japanese, and 3) they get super busy during dinner time even with the prices.

So everyone was sorely disappointed when the owners decided to up and move to another location, out of our walking range. We were happy that they were expanding their business and opening a bigger restaurant, but we really did want to keep our little Japanese delight close at heart (and at hand).

Here is a tribute to the owners of 有马 and to their awesome food:


Home-made oyakodon


And premix miso soup (sans shellfish)

Ratatouille

This is what transpired after an attempt at healthy grocery shopping and healthy eating (in keeping with our new year's resolutions! *ding ding*)

Healthy eating recipe #1: Ratatouille



The desired dish



The ingredients





The results





YUMS!! *thumbs up*

The J-man should so go to culinary school.