Eats: Pancakes all over the world

I have to confess: I'm not a big fan of pancakes in the morning, even Sunday mornings. But that does not mean I don't like dough in the morning. Crumpets, I love. Them cripsy crunchy "pancakes", slightly salted, with their pie-eyed holes and lopped with butter oozing out of their pores.

I found this interesting article about muffins, crumpets and pikelets and their different names across Britain (and across the Atlantic). English muffins are American pancakes (but with yeast). American muffins are English buns/smallcakes. "Dinner" in London is "tea" in the North etc. It's all very confusing.

Did I say? I love crumpets.

Wikipedia

Anyways, thought I'd put the name of a fantastic pancake mix I got. My batter never turns out with pleasing air holes blinking at me, so it's much easier using a mix. Maple syrup, my aunt in Canada brings me. Happening!

Clearly, the Boy's home.

Recipe: Sweet Watercress Drink (Sai Yong Choi Shui)

I have a Cantonese mother so, as my dad puts it, I will be drinking soup until the day I die. Which is not as bad as it sounds, cos I happen to like soup. The Chinese do not distinguish between food and medicine. For them, food is part of the healing and rejuvenating process. Many of the so-called "health foods" that I ate as a child have only recently become popularised in Western culture, like goji berries (medlar seeds or kei zi). And I think that's great!

A drink that my mother often prepared for my brother and I when we were children (actually, she still does even now that we are slightly older) was sai yong choi shui, which roughly translated, means Watercress Drink. It has a honeyed taste, and is completely au naturale. I'm going to ask my mother what exactly the health benefits are and update this post - I know it's good for coughs - but as any good chinese mother will say, "Just drink it, it's good for you."!

Hence I decided that it would be as good an excuse of a welcome home present for The Boy.

For further reference, I have included links (with pictures) to some of the more "exotic" ingredients.

RECIPE: SAI YONG CHOI SHUI (SWEET WATERCRESS DRINK)
1kg watercress (sai yong choi) - both leaves and stems
1x luo han guo, cut in two
10x chinese honey dates (mud jo) - I substituted this with dried red dates
handful of sweet apricot kernels (mung hung) - optional

1. Bring 2 litres of water to boil.
2. Add ingredients, washed, and boil on high for 15 minutes.
3. Lower heat and simmer for 2 hours.
4. Cool to room temperature, or cool in the fridge.

Yields 5 bowls.

Simple dinners

Something smells fishy!

Pan-fried cod, with dill and capers,
accompanied by a small rocket & tomato salad

Tesco's fish cakes (cod and haddock),
accompanied by a small rocket salad

Recipe: Salmon bagel

This is my variation of Tamasin Day-Lewis' British Classics. Did you know salmon bagels are Jewish? Also that you should look for visible white fatty lines in smoked wild salmon but not smoked farmed salmon. Just a few tips from Tamasin.

RECIPE: SALMON BAGEL

Just stack them in the following order:
Bagel, toasted.
Cream cheese, with chopped dill or chives and a squeeze of lemon juice
Capers
Smoked salmon
Onion rings, thinly sliced
Tomato, thinly sliced (the Tamasin touch)
Black pepper

A delicious quickie meal! Good for those late nights in the office, or a light snack.

My spiritual home

My second home

From the heights

London horizon

More rose pictures

Roses are so fragrant too, like our prayers to God.

My roses, the next morning

Classic rose

Unusual rose

1st Anniversary Roses

From The Boy, from across the pond. Huge bouquet. Huge. The roses are lavish, luscious, and luxuriant - just like God's blessings on us.

More fun with icing

For Matt & Becky's engagement party.

Al Gore wins Nobel Peace Prize?

The fact that it was a JOINT win between Gore and the IPCC is only evidence that it was the ISSUE that won, not the man.

I am afraid of falling ill in Britain

The recent case of hospital bugs has escalated to an investigation into potential criminal prosecution of one NHS trust. And whatever Alan Johnson says, targets - another big government idea by the Labour party - are the problem. It's very simply really. Results-based policies never work if they are not accompanied by a set of incentives and values. Put in another way, if you make hospital staff meet centrally-imposed targets and quotas on the threat of sanctions, without paying doctors and nurses and cleaners more and/or developing a culture of professionalism, which of the two do you think is going to be more important to them - meeting targets or doing a good job? It is always easier to look good than to actually be good, and targets emphasize exactly the wrong sort of values. You pay peanuts, I work like a monkey.

Which is why I believe in small governments and the value of economic competition. But that's another story.

So my girlfriend C and I have made a pact: if either of us falls ill and is hospitalized, the other will promise to come daily to DISINFECT and CLEAN surrounding areas and bring NUTRITIONAL FOOD - homecooked - for meals. She won't buy medical insurance on principle, cos she says that defeats the whole purpose of paying high taxes to fund a national health system. Although I have to admit, I'm beginning to waver on that one... though from personal experience (hence not generalising here), private health care in London, although much more pleasant and plush than the NHS, isn't anywhere as good or technologically advanced as it is in Singapore or the US.

I want to say, however, that there are many good medical professionals - many of whom are my friends - out there. The problem is systemic, it isn't them. And it's very unfortunate that they get painted with the same tar brush.

Sleeping aids

I've been suffering from insomnia for the past coupla weeks. Mum suggested some sleeping aids. Now, it's been a long time since I've had Milo, or Ovaltine, or Horlicks. I remember loving Nestum as a kid, but I haven't seen that on British supermarket shelves. It's kinda like porridge, and I suspect it's different from Nesquick, which is available in the UK. Anyways, due to my memory lapse, I thought I would get my hands dirty as always and buy all three and find out which one I like! I'll always remember Julia Roberts doing that with eggs in Runaway Bridge, and I think it's a wonderful way of finding out what foods you like.

Anyways, my favourite bedtime drink is Horlicks, as it turns out. Some facts:
Horlicks - most malt, least sugar
Milo - least malt, most sugar, and there's cocoa (good for mornings!)
Ovaltine - in between the two in terms of malt and sugar content, and unfortunately, taste too

Incidentally, I got my hands dirty with English mustard and Dijon mustard today as well, and discovered that I actually prefer English mustard with my meat!. It's grittier and sharper... if you can get over its non-natural canary yellow colour. Hm.

Recipe: Pasta Carbonara

With leftover pasta and chives

I've been watching a lot of late night tv on The Boy's huge projector screen, which includes Gordon Ramsay, Kylie Kwong (beautiful fingers) and Tamasin Day-Lewis (I love her aga!) - magnified. I love watching other people cook. But I always wonder if I could be bothered to do all that at home, when I get back to work. I guess that's why people like Rachel Ray are popular - 30 minutes and you have a meal - but that's only if you want to live exactly like her, have exactly the same larder as she does (clearly we would all like to look like her too if that were possible).

I guess I wonder if cooking could be a lot more... spontaneous? One of the most spontaneous dishes you can make at home, because it is so basic, is pasta carbonara. As you might already guess, I love eggs, particularly half-cooked ones. So a good carbonara is definitely a favourite.

RECIPE: PASTA CARBONARA
(serves 1)

Pasta

Olive oil
Pancetta/bacon
White wine
1 egg + 1 egg yolk
2 tbsp shaved parmesan
dollop of double cream/creme fraiche (optional)
pinch of nutmeg (optional)
pepper

1. Cook pasta.
2. While that is bubbling in its pot, heat some olive oil in a pan. Brown pancetta. Add wine and simmer.
3. Beat the rest of the ingredients in a separate bowl - no salt since the cheese and bacon are salty already. That's your carbonara sauce.
4. When wine has been reduced for a coupla minutes, add cooked pasta and mix. Turn off flame - you don't want omelette! Add carbonara sauce and toss. The aim is to coat every inch of pasta with the gooey, eggy, yellowy mixture, letting it be cooked by the heat radiating from the pasta itself.
5. Serve with shaved parmesan. I like to fry the remainder egg white and serve on top too, but that's just a personal habit.

Leftovers

Bah Ku Teh (pork ribs in peppery broth)

(with leftover pasta - proof that pasta is Chinese?)

Quickie lunch omelette
(with leftover chives and mushrooms from Steak Diane)

Update: The End Game

The Boy was on the phone from the US today, and complaining that I've been cooking a lot lately when he's not around, and he's jealous. I took that as a compliment. =) The truth is, cooking isn't the only thing I've been doing a lot of recently. I've also been writing a lot (rather, trying a lot to write), reading a lot, practising the piano a bit more, surfing the internet too much, watching too much tv, and sleeping waaay too much. In fact, I've actually been suffering from insomnia for the past 3-4 weeks.

I've also been running a lot. It's strange how running sometimes suppresses your appetite. After my run tonight, I just couldn't stomach the thought of any carbs or meats. I did contemplate a caesar salad, but dressing of any sort just put me off. It happens sometimes.

So I had Mueller's cherry yoghurt (one portion of fruit guaranteed in every serving!). And a tequila shot.

Finally, finishing a PhD thesis is scary. The end game.

Well, that's all I have to say for now, folks. Ugly Betty is on E4+1.

Steak Diane (Flambe)

OK. I saw Gordon Ramsay eat a Steak Diane, flambed, on tv last night and, well, it was steak, so I immediately started craving one myself. Never having made Steak Diane in my life, I decided to do some research and experiment.

So, note I have not listed this as a "recipe", cos it isn't. It's an experiment. There's a difference.

Here's what I did after cobbling different recipes together:

1. Saute 3 shallots (chopped), 1 clove of garlic (chopped) in 3 tbsp of butter.
2. Add 1 tsp of Worcester sauce and 1 tbsp of lemon juice and bring to a simmer.
3. Add 1/2 punnet of mushrooms (sliced) and continue saute-ing.
4. Season steak with salt and pepper, then spread dijon mustard on one side. Push above mixture to one side and fry steak on high heat for 1 minute, mustard side down. Spread dijon mustard on top side, turn and fry steak on the other side for 1 minute.
5. Fry both sides of steak on low heat for a further 1 minute on each side (2 minutes if you like your steak well-done).
6. Using a fork, poke holes in the steak and turn over. Add 3 tbsp of brandy (I mistook and thought I had written 1/3 cup - oops!). Cover and simmer for 1 minute.
7. Now, this is the fancy bit you do if you have guests. Light heated brandy and (technically) flambe!
8. Take steak out.
9. Add chopped chives and parsley (optional). I love the way the chive flavours mingled with the brandy actually.
10. Add 1/3 cup heavy cream (I use creme fraiche to feel healthier).


As you can tell from the pictures, my first attempt was not perfect. Too many mushrooms and greens - cos the recipes were for TWO steaks. Duh! Too much brandy too, but oh well, life is full of small challenges. =)

Plus, the steak was way overcooked. For two reasons: (1) I was on the phone again (duh duh!!), (2) At the crucial moment, I started running around the apartment looking for matches, lighter, live wires, whatever!, anything flammable to do a flambe. Nada. So, no flambe. But looking on the bright side, there was brandy!


And it was yummy yummy...

Recipe: Making your own tomato based pasta

I have pasta cravings. And Mac cravings, that is, the burgers, not the laptop that I'm typing on. Tonight, I had a pasta craving. So, I decided that was what I was gonna have tonight.

My approach to making pasta sauce is: What do I have in the fridge? Obviously, some basics are needed:

1. Onion, one, chopped finely - fry in 2 tbsp of olive oil for a few minutes till soft.

2. Garlic, one clove, finely chopped - fried together with onions.

3. Bacon, I use a pack of pancetta cubes - add and fry till cooked.

4. Tomato puree, 3 tbsp.

5. Ketchup, one or two squirts.

6. Water or stock. I also like to add a little creme fraiche for a creamy touch, because I don't like the sharp tanginess of pure tomato based sauces. Milk was used tonight as I didn't have any creme fraiche left in the fridge.

7. (5)-(6) make up the base of the sauce. Other touches that I like (optional): oregano or mixed herbs, chilli powder, roasted peppers (you can get those in jars at Waitrose).

8. Pepper and salt to taste.

9. Cooked pasta.

Those are the basics. My favourite things in pasta are:
- Carrot, one, chopped into small cubes.
- Zucchini, one, chopped into small cubes.
- Mushrooms, 1/2 punnet, chopped into small cubes.

Tonight's pasta had a can of clams, brine drained, in it too, and was made with angelhair pasta.

Finally, I have a little habit which The Boy finds disgusting. I love eggs, with runny yolk. So after mixing the ready-made pasta sauce and pasta in a pan, I top the whole lot with an egg like in a fiorentini pizza, cover, and let it cook on the stove until the whites are done but the yolk is still runny. I think it's 3-4 minutes, but I usually just watch it until I'm happy. I think the Japanese have a version of this with fish eggs that they call Mentaiko pasta - Chubby Hubby's picture of it here is to die for. That's why I like a good carbonara too - half-cooked eggs again!

Yummy!