Pate a la sauce

Ingredients

spaghetti noodles (serving 4)
2 packet of tomato puree
a handful frozen green peas
1 canned pitted black olive
3-4 fresh tomatoes - chopped
1 packet of shredded cheese
5-6 tbsp soya minced
some dried herbs (of your choice)
salt

Method

1. Cook the spaghetti according to the instruction. Drain and set aside.

2. Empty the excess water in the canned, grab a small handful of olives and keep aside. Chopped the rest of the black olive.

3. Prepare a pot, add some oil. Toss in the fresh tomato and chopped olives. Stir for 2-3 minutes. Add in the frozen green peas and mixed for another 1-2 minutes.

4. Pour in the tomato puree, sprinkle with some salt, dried herbs. Topped in the soya minced and 2 tbsp shredded cheese. Lower heat and keep stirring until the sauce starts to bubble.

5. Off fire. For serving, put some cooked spaghetti on plate, sprinkle some shredded cheese over and ladle the tomato sauce on it. Garnish with some olives at the side of the plate. Serve immediately.

Mini Palmiers

Ingredients
(make 20)

1 ready-made puff pastry
80 g sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Method

1. Add the cinnamon to the sugar and mix them together.

2. Take the pastry and sprinkle the cinnamon sugar over the top. Then gently spread it out with your hands.

3. Roll the rolling pin over the surface to press the sugar in completely.

4. Turn the pastry over and do exactly the same thing on the other side.

5. Fold up the sides of the pastry inwards by about 2 cm, and flatten with the rolling pin. Fold both sides over once more, sprinkle again with cinnamon sugar and roll.

6. Lastly, fold the pastry up completely and roll the rolling pin over for the last time.

7. Cut the folded pastry into strips, making at 20 individual palmiers. You can discard the untidy ends.

8. Transfer them on a try and put into the fridge and chill for 15 minutes.

9. Remove the palmiers from the fridge and arrange them on a baking tray lined with greaseproof paper. Leave about 2-3 cm between each one as they will expand and open up to form their 'palm like shape'.

10. Then place the tray in the centre of the oven and bake for 15 minutes.

11. Take the palmiers out of the oven and transfer them to a plate to cool down.

Baked rice

Ingredients
(serve 2-3)

2 cups of cooked rice
a handful of broccoli florets
some cabbage cut into strips
a packet of shredded cheese
1 wedge of pumpkin - cooked and meshed into puree
salt & pepper
some chopped fresh coriander
1 tbsp margarine
2 tbsp vegetable oil

Method

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees or gas mark 7 for 10 minutes.

2. Add cooking oil and margarine to a heated pan. Saute ginger till golden brown.

3. Stir in the vegetables for 1 minute and blend in the cooked rice.

4. Pour in the pumpkin puree, seasoned with salt and pepper and the chopped coriander.

5. Mixed well and cooked for another 1 minute. Sprinkle some shredded cheese. Off fire and transfer to baking tray.

6. Topped with more cheese. And put to bake for 30 minutes.

7. Serve hot.


(you can add in the vegetables of your choice)

Saute chou vert

Ingredients

1 chou vert
1 carrot
a handful konnyaku cuttlefish
1 piece vegetarian mock
soya sauce
pepper & sesame oil

Method

1. Discard the outer tough leaves of the chou vert, leaving the inner lighter green of the vegetables. Cut into strips, rinse and drain.

2. Prepare the rest of the ingredients, cutting them into strips.

3. Saute ginger in pan, stirred in the strips ingredients for about 1-2 minutes.

4. Toss in the chou vert strips and add seasonings.

5. Cover lid to simmer for another 2 minutes. Off fire and serve immediately.

Meme: 5 Facts About Me

I've been tagged by Do What I Like

Five facts about Me:

....I'm going to let my visitors decide what they would like to know about me. So here's your chance! Post your questions about me as a comment below and I will answer the first 5.

First Question:
Oh goody... I get to post a question... Let´s see.. Hmm... oh yes, i have one. How come I no longer see u in NK?! :)
>>The truth is I don't like you! Just kidding! ;P I've just been busy 'adjusting' to things. As you probably know, I recently graduated, traveled, then started culinary school. But everything is finally falling into its place, I'll be back in NK soon. :)

Question 2:
How old am I?
>>old enough.....:D I'm 22.

Question 3:
Who has been eating all the good stuff that you've been churning out?
>>They go to family and friends and sometimes...the trash can.

Question 4:
Do you ever consider become a TV chef or open your own catering business/ restaurants? Food network is dumped with French and Intalian cusine, and their food is not as attractive (to me) as ones you bring to the table.
>>Me? a TV chef? Honestly, I can't say that I haven't thought about it. BUT I think the chances are pretty low. Mainly because my philosophy/style in the kitchen is very low key, low profile. It seems like America is thirsty for seeing Vietnamese food or "Asian" food (whatever that is) as something that's sacred, complex and mystical. I have yet to see any Vietnamese cookbook written in english that isn't cashing in on that thirst by sugar coating and glorifying everything. I just can't do that and since I can't do that. I probably won't sell very well thus probably will never make it onto TV...which is fine for me since my passion is to be in the kitchen anyways. ;)

Question 5:
where do you get the original recipe from? What the average attempts for the food?
>>I get recipes the same way people have been getting for thousands of years. I learn from my elders, most of my recipes start out as ones passed down to me from my family, and family friends. I discovered cooking has become a lost art and most people are more than happy to pass down a traditional family recipe just for the sake of keeping it alive. It usually takes me about 2 tries (but sometimes up to 20) to get satisfactory results from a recipe.

The Meme rules:
1. Link to your tagger and post these rules.
2. Share 5 facts about yourself.
3. Tag 5 people at the end of your post and list their names (linking to them).
4. Let them know they've been tagged by leaving a comment at their blogs.

Five bloggers I would like to tag:
Yochana's Cake Delight
Food Lover's Journey
Foodcrazee
play-play in the kitchen
precious moments

Satay rice

Ingredients

1 packet satay gravy
kang kong
konnyaku cutterfish
rice

Method

1. Cook satay gravy according to instruction.

2. Stir fry kang kong and dish up. Set aside.

3. Blanched konnyaku cutterfish and drain.

4. On serving plate, put some rice. Topped with some kang kong and cutterfish, ladle satay gravy over it. Serve immediately.

Friendship Ball

I was given this from Edith and Jadepearl. Thanks for thinking of me! I am truly honored.

Friendship is always worth more if you pass it on, thus, I would like to to pass this ball on to:

Lily's Wai Sek Hong
East meets West
Pusiva's Culinary Studio
The Budding Cook
Zu's Kitchen
Yochana's Cake Delight

Cheers!

Steam Abalone mushroom

Ingredients

500 g fresh Abalone mushroom
ginger chopped
2 tbsp sour plum sauce
water
chillies

Method

1. Rinse mushroom and lightly squeeze the water out. Arrange onto a steam tray.

2. Sprinkle with chopped ginger and chillies (as shown).

3. Mixed 2 tbsp of sour plum sauce with some water.

4. Pour over the mushroom.

5. Put to steam for about 15 minutes. Remove and serve immediately.

Blanched cauliflower with cheese

Ingredients

1 cauliflower
1 packet of shredded cheese
salt
water

Method

1. Cut cauliflower into florets.

2. Bring a pot of water to boil. Blanched cauliflower florets for 10 minutes with some salt.

3. Drain and put on serving bowl.

4. Topped with shredded cheese and herbs. Serve hot.