ABC Soup

You may wonder... How did this soup got its name. What ingredient represents A, B or even C? My mum calls it ABC soup; my mum-in-law calls the same name too. Hmmm, I guess maybe because it is really, really easy to prepare and it is just as simple as ABC ^_^

Firstly, cut up some carrots, potatoes, tomatoes and an onion (heehee the words rhyme!). If you have Chinese cabbage in your fridge, you can chop some up too! The Chinese cabbage adds sweetness in the flavoring. 

Before that, boil a pot of water with some chicken or pork. Preferably parts with bones such as drumsticks, thighs, ribs or the porky's legs. Once done with the chopping, put all the veggies into the pot. Let it boil for about 20 minutes and turn down the heat to let it simmer for another 30/40 minutes. You can add in a chicken cube for seasoning, or salt / soy sauce is fine as well.

And that's it! Your soup is ready to serve and be eaten! XD

Have a great Thursday and weekend will be here sooner than you think. ^_^

Tata!

Express Baked Chicken & Mushroom Pasta!

Yup, you read that right... Express version. LOL! When I was trying to figure out how to make this chicken pasta, I searched over the Internet and found some useful recipes. But I thought, I'll try to keep it simple lah! Instead of creating my own white sauce, I've replaced with canned mushroom soup ^_^

Alright, so here's my cooking experiment...

First, slice up some onions and chicken meat. You can either buy canned mushroom that has been sliced, or the whole mushroom. If it is whole, just slice them up too! Marinate the chicken with some pepper. I used grounded black pepper but I think white pepper is fine. Just use whichever type of pepper you have okie?

Boil the pasta until it is al dente. If it is very soft, it might break into small pieces when we mix our ingredients. While the pasta is being cooked, in a separate pan (or wok), stir fry the onion until fragrant. Then tip in the chicken and fry them until they are quite cooked. Add some herbs - mixed herbs or thyme / basil are fine. I prefer stronger herbs so mixed herbs or oregano are okay for me. Remember to pour in the mushroom when the chicken is about 90% cooked. The canned mushroom is already cooked so that sort of saves time for me. 

Once the pasta is ready, drain them and pour them into the wok. Add in the mushroom soup into the mixture. Pour in some water in the can, maybe 1/3 in order to clean out the remainder that is stacked in it. Stir stir and mix mix everything until all ingredients are well coated. Yum! 

Oh yes, remember to heat up the oven before you use it. Turn it up to Gas 5 / 180c.

Last but not least, taste your pasta. Add some salt for seasoning... And taste again before you scoop 'em up into a casserole dish. Or a deep plate that can be placed in an oven.

Sprinkle on some grated cheese or cheddar cheese slices. Then place the dish into the oven for about 5 minutes or until the cheese has melted, or slightly brown. Ready to serve!

Sorry folks, I didn't manage to take a photo once the pasta is ready to be served. Had to put LittleMissPoochie to sleep because she was tired. Plus we were so hungry that we started to dig in : P

Nonetheless, I think it came out quite good. The pasta was well coated with the sauce. Perhaps a little more sauce would've been nice. Then it would give a creamier texture. 

TheLoyalFan says: "Really liked the mushroom taste. Cheese could be a little less strong though."

Hmmm, I think the cheese I used was a Parmesan. Not too sure myself. The block of cheese has been sitting in the fridge so I use it lor... I think my experiment turned out quite OK. The mini research that I did online helped me also - just to make sure what I have in mind on the methodology is reasonable (methodology... Bombastic lingo :P)

OK, tata everyone! Have a good week and keep cooking!

Black Beans Pork Ribs

Hey!

I found some black beans in my fridge and realized that some of the beans had gone bad. Mouldy. So I thought I'd try to make black beans ribs, like the dish you can eat at Dim Sum. Well, almost similar lah... and I googled a recipe that used a slow cooker to cook this dish. Thought I shall give it go ^_^

Let's get started!

First, ensure your ribs have been chopped into smaller pieces. Maybe 1 or 2 inches in length. Marinate the ribs with Chinese Wine and black pepper. Then pour in the black beans, chopped ginger and garlic followed by corn flour. As black beans are salty itself, there is no need to put soy sauce or salt in it. I've mixed about 2 tablespoons of black beans in my ribs (I made the dish for 4 pax). To reduce washing up, put all the ingredients and mix them up in the slow cooker pot. Haha!

Once all the ingredients have been well mixed, turn the knob to "auto" mode and let it simmer away for 3 hours.

Mmm... taste wise, it is quite good - not too salty. If you find the black bean's taste is too strong, you can either balance it with a dash of sugar and some water to dilute the taste. Mum said that I could be  a little more generous on the corn flour. I was afraid that if I put too much, the meat may be starchy. Perhaps 1 tablespoon or 2 of corn flour could create a smoother and juicer meat texture. And it would be nice to garnish some spring onion on the ribs.

TheLoyalFan says: "Was thoroughly yum yum. Even better with longer juicier ribs!"

-.-"""

Oh wells, I guess we could try to chop longer next time lor...

Till then, keep nomming!