Braised pork in dark soya sauce

Serves 3-4

Ingredients
- 500g pork shoulder meat (cut into big chunks)
- 10 chinese mushrooms (pre-soaked)
- 10-15 dried chestnuts (pre-soaked)
- 8-10 pieces of dried oysters (pre-soaked)
- 1 star anise
- 2 cloves
- 1.5 whole cloves of garlic (with skin and lightly bruised)
- 4 eggs (pre-boiled till cooked and shell removed)

Seasoning
- Light soya sauce
- Pepper
- Dark soya sauce
- Sesame oil
- 1/3 tsp of five spice powder
- Rock sugar, 4-5 small pieces

Method
- Pre marinate the pork with light soya sauce, pepper and sesame oil.
- Heat the stew pot with cooking oil, and dry fry the meat till half cooked.
- Remove from pot and set aside, leaving the meat juices in the pot to saute the garlic cloves till fragrant. Add more oil if too dry.
- Add the mushrooms and fry for 2-3 minutes. Combine with pork, dried chestnuts and dried oysters. Season with pepper, dark soya sauce, five spice powder. Add enough hot water until the meat is fully submerged. Simmer for 10mins in medium heat. Turn down the heat to low and simmer for 2hours till the meat has softened and the sauce has thickened in texture. If the sauce runs low, add more hot water. You can also add rock sugar half way through the cooking.
- If you will like to add vegetables like carrot and potatoes, add them after 1-1.5hours.
- If you like it saltier, add more dark soya sauce. If you like it sweeter, add more rock sugar. If it's too salty, add more water.

Pesto Pasta with Tomatoes and Sausage

Serves 2

Ingredients
Fresh basil leaves - 30g
Pine nuts - 100g
Parmesan cheese - 50g (grated)
Extra virgin olive oil - 1/4 cup
Garlic - 1 clove (peeled)
Salt
Pepper
1 medium sized tomato - cut into smaller pieces.
Pasta - 200g
Parsley - for garnish

Method
- Dry fry the pine nuts in a frying pan on low heat. Set aside to cool abit.
- Using a food processor / mortar and pestle, combine the basil leaves, garlic, pine nuts and the olive oil until a thick paste forms.
- Add parmesan cheese, salt and pepper to taste. (If you don't like it too cheesy, you can reduce the amount of cheese). The paste will be coarse and thick but avoid adding too much olive oil. Set aside.
- Cook the pasta (I used tagliatelle) until al dente, reserve about 3/4 cup of pasta water.
- Toss the cooked pasta and (raw) tomatoes in a large mixing bowl with the pesto, adding enough pasta water to moisten the pesto and let it coat the pasta evenly.
- Serve while hot and garnish with shaved parmesan cheese and parsley.

Comfort food - Porridge

Yesterday was a busy work day for both myself and the hubby. He wasn't feeling too well, so I decided to cook something simple and nutritious for dinner, with whatever ingredients I can find in the fridge.
It turned out really tasty and satisfying.

Ingredients

- 1-2 carrots (grated or chopped up)

- 5-6 dried scallops (pre-soaked till soften)

- A handful of wolfberry seeds (washed)

- 1/3 cup of corn nibblets (I used those frozen pre-packed ones)

- 1.5 to 2 litres of pork bone / chicken stock
- Uncooked rice for 2
- Salt and pepper

Method
- Rinse the rice and cook with pork / chicken stock in a pot over medium heat. Add the scallops.
- When it boils, turn down the heat to low and add the grated carrots.
- When the porridge is about cooked, add the corn and wolfberry seeds. Continue cooking for another 10-15mins. Add more stock or water if the liquid dries up.
- Add salt and pepper to taste and serve while hot.

Honey Baked Cod + Orange Arugula Salad

Honey baked cod

Ingredients 
4 cod fillets (about 600-700g in total)
2 tsp light soya sauce
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp dark soya sauce
1 tbsp honey

Method
- Pat dry the cod fillets before marinating.
- Marinate the cod and set aside for about 15mins.
- Pre-heat the oven to 200 deg C.
- In a frying pan, add a tbsp of oil and when it's hot, pan fry the cod fillets (skin side down) for about 2mins. Leave the remaining seasoning in the baking dish.
- Transfer the cod fillets into the baking dish (skin side up) and bake for about 10mins until cooked.

Orange Arugula Salad

Ingredients
4 cups arugula leaves (Washed thoroughly and drip dry)
1 orange (Cut into small pieces)
Half a yellow capsicum (Cut into small pieces)
10 cherry tomatoes (halved)
1.5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1.5 tbsp good quality balsamic vinegar

Method
- Place all the vegetables and fruits in the salad bowl.
- Drizzle with olive oil and vinegar.
- Toss and serve.

Roasted Potatoes & Sweet Potatoes

Serves 2

Ingredients
4 small potatoes (I used red and yellow potatoes)
1 mid size sweet potato
1 red onions (cut into bite size)
3 cloves of garlic (rinsed, bruised, leave the skin on)
1 sprig of rosemary leaves (chopped up)
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp good quality balsamic vinegar
sprinkle of salt
sprinkle of cumin seeds (optional)

Method
- Pre-heat the oven to 200 deg C.
- Washed the potatoes thoroughly and cut into smaller pieces.
- Washed and de-skinned the sweet potatoes, cut into smaller pieces.
- Combine the potatoes, sweet potatoes, garlic and onions in a baking dish.
- In a separate bowl, mix together the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, rosemary leaves and cumin seeds.
- Drizzle the dressing over the vegetables and toss to coat well.
- Roast in oven for about 45mins. The potatoes will be blackened because of the balsamic vinegar; they are not burnt.

Tomato-based Baked Pasta with Ham and Mushroom

Serves 2 - 3

Ingredients
300g spaghetti (or any other pasta of your choice)
3-4 slices of ham (cut into smaller pieces)
1 red onion (diced)
50g chestnut mushrooms (diced)
1 canned tomatoes
80g tomato paste
350ml chicken stock
Olive oil
Mozzarella shredded cheese
Salt & pepper

Method
- Preheat oven to 180 degree C.
- In a big boiling pot, cook the pasta according to package instructions. Do not overcook.
- Remove spaghetti from the pot, add 2 tbsp of olive oil and 1 tsp of salt and mix well.
- Fry ham with a dash of olive oil until fragrant. Remove from pan.
- Sauteed the onions in olive oil. Then add the mushrooms and fry until fragrant.
- Add the canned tomatoes, tomato paste and stock. Put to a boil, add the spaghetti and mix well.
- Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Pour the spaghetti into a baking dish, spread the ham pieces on the top and lastly, sparingly sprinkle mozzarella cheese till the surface is covered.
- Bake for 10 minutes till the cheese turns golden brown.

Blueberry Muffins

Makes about 6 - 8. 

Ingredients
1 1/2 cup plain flour
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
1/3 cup milk
1 cup blueberries (washed and pat dry with a kitchen towel)

Method
- Preheat over to 200 degree C. Grease muffin tray / line with muffin liners.
- Combine the dry ingredients, flour, sugar, salt and baking powder in a mixing bowl.
- Pour the vegetable oil into a 1 cup measuring cup; add the egg and enough milk to fill the cup.
- Mix the wet with the dry ingredients.
- Fold in the blueberries and take note not to over mix.
- Fill the muffin cups to almost full and  bake for 20 - 25 minutes in the oven. The muffin is cooked when a toothpick inserted in the centre of the muffin comes out clean.