Can Instant Food be home cooked?

Have you tried Macaroni & Cheese - the ones where you can buy from the supermarkets, just add water, milk & butter? I love eating Mac & Cheese! Ever since the day I tried it back home, I sort of fell in love with it.

Lately I was thinking whether this miracle instant food can be cooked from scratch. So I thought I would give it a try, using my own imagination on what ingredients manufacturers use. Hehe, a 'food factory' experiment!

And so it begins with these ingredients - macaroni, cheese, water, butter, salt & pepper.

Pour 1 cup of water and half cup of macaroni into a sauce pan. Let them simmer on medium heat and add in about 1/3 cup of milk, followed by the a good knob of butter. Stir up everything. I used the same cup for all measurements : )

While waiting for the macaronis to be cooked, season it with salt & pepper. I think the simmering will probably take about 6 - 10 minutes, depending on the quality of the macaroni.

Once the macaroni is thoroughly cooked, mix it grated cheese. I used cheddar cheese. While mixing the cheese, remove the pan from heat in order to avoid your sauce from splitting.

Finito!

I can't believe that my experiment actually worked! Hahahaha... So happy with the result. Some things to take note though: If I want to make the sauce dryer, I could reduce my water measurement. Perhaps the next time, adding another type of cheese (say, Mozarella) should take better. And, I think the next time I can add in some herbs. So far, I'm inclining to basil but I'll need to test it out the next time : P

So it turns out that we can actually cook Mac & Cheese on a hob too! Looks like a simple instant food can be home cooked and it takes the same amount of time to prepare as well : )

TheLoyalFan says: 'Ten times nicer than the instant version! The cheese tasted real, beacause it was! It didn't have an artifical taste and wasn't overly creamy. Just nice!'

Ooo... yes it was!

Till then, keep nomming : ) And have fun watching the opening ceremony for London Olympics!

Kiwi & Peach Crumble Crunch

What do you do when your kiwis are hard and still not ripen after a week? Well, I decided to chop them up and learn to make a compote out of it : )

Basically, compote is a mixture of fruits that were boiled in sugar syrup. This method was orginated from France some time in the 17th century. So I thought that perhaps this method can help make my kiwis edible : P

And here goes...

First, I sliced up the kiwi into small pieces and place them in a pan. Then I added in sugar and some water. This is the most basic compote. From what I've gathered via the Internet, you can add in vanilla pods and lemon juice to make it tastier. Let the mixture simmer on low heat and stir it occasionally to avoid the fruits getting burnt. This would take about 10 minutes, or depending on the amount of fruits.

When the kiwis are soften, pour in the sliced peaches. For the peaches, I cheated by using the canned ones. Hehe... Fresh ones will do just fine as well but you'll need to boil them together with the kiwis. When the compote is ready, remove the pan from the stove and let it cool down.

In a separate bowl, crunch some digestive biscuits into rough crunchy bits.

Next, whip up a tub of double cream until it creates medium peaks. Then fold in a tub of low fat yogurt and we are ready to assemble our crumble crunch.

Using some glasses (or bowls), place a layer of digestive biscuits. Then scoop up some compote and followed by a layer of the yogurt mixture. Keep repeating until you have reach to the brim. Place the glasses into the fridge to set for about 2 hours and it is ready to serve : )

Simmer simmer, pound and pound, let them set and ready to eat!

The outcome of this dessert was interesting and yummy. I mentioned interesting because while I was cooking the compote, the kiwis started to change colour and I panicked. Hahahaha, silly me! It is completely natural for fruits to change colour, more so for the kiwi. Thankfully I had TheLoyalFan to help out and calm me down. I really liked the combination of the crumble crunch. It is not too sweet and neither it was a heavy dessert. If you can't find double cream, I think vanilla ice cream would be splendid too! My sister made a dessert for my mum and myself once with ice cream, cornflakes and fruits. It was delicious too!

TheLoyalFan says: 'Very, very, very yummy! Tasted like cheesecake.'

Yummy indeed! Nom Nom Noms...

Steamed Ribs

This week it is back to Chinese food and while we were planning what to eat, we suddenly thought of steam ribs, those you'd eat at Dim Sum. The ribs would be steamed with ginger, black beans and finely sliced red chillis. And so, we decided to give it a try, with a twist : P

Because our stay in the UK is coming to an end soon, we didn't wanted to buy black beans. Instead, we modified our ingredients. First, marinate the ribs with pepper, Chinese cooking wine, soy sauce and corn flour. The corn flour will give a smooth texture on the rib when it is cooked. Leave the ribs to marinate for about 5 - 10 minutes. Then slice up some garlic and ginger and scatter on top of the ribs. Using a pair of scissors, finely cut the dried chillis and scatter all over the ribs too!

Once the garnishing is completed, steam the ribs for 30 to 45 minutes.

Ready to be served!

At first, I wasn't sure whether it would turn out nice as this is my first attempt at cooking pork ribs. To my surprise, it tasted quite nice actually. The dried chillis were replacement of the black beans and they complimented with the ribs rather nicely. Plus it gives you a slight spicy taste to it, and made the ribs more refreshing, leaving you wanting more. Sadly, we only had 8 pieces of ribs. We will definitely make this again and the next time, must remember to buy more ribs! Hahahaha...

TheLoyalFan says: 'Veli Veli Goods! Super good with rice, tasted super chinese! Got transported back home, for a short while, hehehehe.'

Till then, keep nomming!

The Western Week - Day 7 (Finale)

Asian Chicken (yep, you read that right : P) served with tomato & cucumber salad. Sorry folks, I can't think of a proper title for my chicken. Hehehe...

With limited ingredients at home, I was not sure what kind of flavour to prepare for dinner. Herbs were out, and the only ingredients available were my Chinese sauces. So, I marinated the chicken with pepper and a dash of fish sauce. While searing the chicken in a hot pan, I poured some Shao Xing wine and later on glazed the chicken with honey & soy sauce mixture.

For the salad, it was seasoned with pepper, salt, finely chopped garlic and some cooking oil.

The outcome for this round of dinner was nice. However, the chicken was a bit too salty. We suspected that TheLoyalFan dashed 'too much' of fish sauce. But I think if we remove the soy sauce from the honey mixture, it should turned out alright. I wanted to try to make a Char Siew glaze (watched it from "Gok cooks Chinese"), but it didn't tasted as I'd imagined. Nonetheless, the chicken was really juicy and tender. The salad was quite refreshing, wished I had some black pepper as that would create a different taste than the white pepper : )

TheLoyalFan says: 'Tasted very fushiony. It actually reminded me alot of our BBQ marinated chicken at home. It looked a little different at first, but it turned out pretty well and i enjoyed it very much!'

* * * * * * * 

Finally, our Western Week has come to an end. Reflecting back to the objectives that I've set out at the beginning of this, I think we managed to survive just western meals for dinners. To be honest, we cheated. We had Chinese food for lunch : P Guilty as charged! Ho Ho Ho. If we didn't have Chinese lunch, I think we would have died! Yup,  we're true Ching Chong Ling Longs! (hopeless!)

As for the budgeting, I think having Western meals can be cheaper if chosen the right ingredient. For example, if one were to buy chicken, the breast is usually the most expensive compared to thighs or drumsticks because it doesn't have any bones. So that would be a saving. Just to share with you, our usual weekly groceries are average of GBP20 which includes lunch, dinner, snacks and desserts after dinner. However, for our western week challenge, it was GBP 22.00. Not a very big variance mainly because we usually buy the 'in season' vegetables or those with promotion. The reason of the slight increase is the frozen breaded cod. That alone costed GBP 2.00.

Nonetheless, I had great fun with the challenge. I've learnt to appreciate and understand (roughly) a common Western food, at the same time, I also learn't not to take Chinese food for granted. Both are yummy and great!

Mmm... Time to treat ourselves with some Asian food. Hehehehe...

Till then, keep nomming!

The Western Week - Day 6

Phew... We're now at Day 6 and there's one more day to go for our Western Week Challenge. Yay! Am quite looking forward to the end of my self initiated challenge : P

Day 6 dinner was a simple one - Spaghetti Cabonara!

TheLoyalFan says: ' This cabonara was a little too cheesy for me. I also would have preferred smoky bacon. Other than that, it was very good. Noms!'

Yum yum yums... 6 days have came and gone. And the final day is coming soon too!

Cost for Day 6: GBP 1.20 for 2 pax.

The Western Week - Day 5

Sorry everyone for backlog post... Anyways, day 5's dinner is...

*Drum rolls*

Pan fried breaded cod served with chilled potato salad and fresh green vegetables. Plus a homemade tartar sauce.

We had a free drink too! Well, sort of - TheLoyalFan looted from our Hall's summer party. 

Another really simple dish. The breaded cod was bought in a box at the frozen section and just pan fried them. Wished I had an oven and that would be much easier... That way, I wouldn't be cleaning the newly 'decorated' kitchen with oil splatters : )

Other than that, the sides were repeats from previous dinners... hehehe. Fast and simple for me! ^_^

As for the tartar sauce, it was an attempt to finish up our big bottle of mayonnaise. I've added some finely chopped pickled gherkins in a bowl and squeeze a huge dollop of mayonnaise. Then I seasoned it with some salt and  pepper. I also poured a teaspoonful of juice from the pickled gherkins. Mixed them up, et voila!

The cod was erm... hmmm... quite okay... Well, it was like having fish & chips at our local western food stall back home. Very simple and edible lah! The tartar sauce was kinda chunky because I chopped too many gherkins... but I like it! Yum Yums! Perhaps I should squeeze some lemon juice the next time when I make tartar sauce.

TheLoyalFan says: 'I was slightly disappointed with the fish fillet, it tasted like a huge fish nugget.  As a result, it tasted really oily. The tartar sauce was great though... Never knew it was so easy to make.'


Cost for Day 5: GBP 3.00 for 2 pax.

The Western Week - Day 4

Spicy Garlic Mushroom Spaghetti! Finally, something different : )

This is a new recipe I found on the Internet and thought of giving it a try since it is quite easy. So here goes...

First, fry some garlic, onion, dried chilli and mushroom in a pan with some cooking oil. For budgetary experimental purposes, I bought sliced mushroom in a tin. Hahahahahah! Plus, this can save some slicing time for me too! Once the onion & garlic are fragrant, pour in carrots and other vegetables that you'd like it in your sauce. Celery and olives should taste great and add colour in it as well.

While frying these ingredients, remember to boil the spaghetti too!

After frying for about 5 minutes, pour a tin of chopped tomatoes and give it a good mix. Add in some herbs such as parsley or... mixed herbs. However, I'm out of mixed herbs so I used basil instead : P  Season the sauce with salt and pepper. Let the sauce simmer in low or medium heat until the sauce has been reduced and thicken. Pour in the drained spaghetti and give it a good toss!

Done!

Toss Toss Toss!

Ready to be eaten, with some cheese! Yummie!

TheLoyalFan says: 'Tasted alot like Puttanesca. It has a more fusiony Asian twist though. I liked the spicyness... noms!'

"Fusiony Asian Twist"? o.O!!!

Well, I think it turned out quite nice. Wish there were more mushroom and more of it! Hehehehe.

Cost for Day 4: GBP 1.70 for 2 pax

The Western Week - Day 3

Better quality sausages served with home made sauce. Plus potato salad and fresh greens with home made honey & mustard dressing. Yums!

TheLoyalFan says: 'Much better sausages... I actually prefer the green salad as a side compared to the first time. Nonetheless, nom noms!'

And noms noms indeed! Weee! 3 days have passed and we're still going strong without rice! Hahahahahaha!

Cost for Day 3: GBP 2.50 for 2 pax

The Western Week - Day 2

Butter & Herb Chicken glazed with honey. Served with potato salad and refreshing cucumbers.

I used chicken thighs as they are much cheaper than breast. First, I removed the chicken skin and some fatties around the chicken. Then, using a knife, I gave some 'slits' onto the meat so that the marinate can seep into the meat and to ensure the meat is thoroughly cook too. Rub the meat with mixed herbs and season with salt and pepper, both the top part and the bottom part of the thigh.

Once the pan is hot, pour about a tablespoon of oil just to baste the base. Then place the thighs onto the pan, as flat as possible. Sear both sides for a couple of minutes and put a big knob of butter into the pan. Swirl the pan to ensure all meats have absorb the butter. Close the lid and cook it for 15 minutes.
Occasionally, turn the meat so that both sides are evenly brown. When the chicken meats are cooked, serve. With the remaining oil in the pan, melt a tablespoon of honey together with the oil and glaze the chicken.

The potato salad was made in advanced on Day 1. So we just took it out from the fridge - nice and cold! Yums!

It turned out quite nice, I must say : ) I think if I have an oven, it would probably turn out more moist and yummy too! Cooking with a pan can make the stove area quite messy though : P Nonetheless, it was yummy!!!

TheLoyalFan says: 'I love the chicken. Mmm... it has a very nice roasted herby flavour. Am very surprised that it tastes so good considering that it was pan grilled. Suggested to Souschef that the marinate to be used in barbeques in the future!'

Hmmm... that's a good idea! When we do our next barbeque lah ok?


Cost for Day 2: GBP2.50 for 2 pax

The Western Week - Day 1

This week, I'm taking on a new challenge for our dinner meals. I would like to find out a couple of things and have decided to write my experience thru my blog. Here are some of the things:

1. Can we (The Souschef and The LoyalFan) survive on western meals alone?

2. By preparing western dinners, how does it affect our budgeting? Will it be cheaper than usual, or, more expensive?

I know this sounds a little weird, but hey, let's bring some fun into this challenge, man! TheLoyalFan and myself are Malaysian Chinese, so let's see whether we can survive this... or not : P

Alrightie then, let the challenge begins!

*Drum roll begins, ends with a clash of cymbal*

Our first western dinner - Sausages with potato salad & stir fried sugar snaps

I have made the potato salad in advanced so that it will be chilled. Cut potatoes into little chunks and boil it until it is cooked. Drain the water and season the potatoes with mayonaise, salt, pepper and some mixed herbs (Chives would be lovely!).
If you have lemons, squeeze in  some lemon juice and it will give a refreshing taste!

For the sugar snaps, it was a chinese fusion... hehehe (Asian seasoning is considered as... seasoning, not as a meal ^_^). Stir fry the sugar snaps with or without oil, and season it with some soy sauce & fish sauce.

The sausages we've bought are one of the cheaper brands in the supermarket. It is very easy to cook, just fry it in a pan! Yippie! We also made sauce to compliment with our sausages. With the leftover oil from the sausages, stir fry sliced onions until fragrant. Then pour in some wine, we used our little bit of port and pour in half a bowl of corn flour water. Season it with some HP sauce and sugar. 


Done!

It does nice on the plate, eh? The sausages were... well, okay lah! Abit too salty and the meat was quite processed. Nonetheless, our 'experimented' sauce turned out quite nice!

TheLoyalFan says: 'Tonight's sausages weren't as good as the premium ones we had the last time. Sauce was good though, the port gave it a very nice ehhh ermm... fruity flavour. Noms!'


Alright! Day One's complete and six more days to go...

Cost for Day 1 : GBP 3.30 for two pax