eve dying for adam by ~coffee-and-pepper ; deviantart
i tried two new recipes this week (yay, two more than usual!) and i must say both came out just delish.
the first one is one of those i'm-alone-at-home-don't-want-to-spend-money-don't-want-to-go-out kinda of thing. the other, totally spend effort, money and time to get this perfect.
do note that i'm a "感覺“ ("feeling") kind of accidentally cook so i tend to just taste test my food rather than go strictly by ingredients. i believe everyone's palette is different so just go with the flow or just "隨便“（"going with the flow")
find the recipes after the jump :)
numero uno - comfort ala creamy, chunky macaroni with cajun chicken and parsley
easy peasy meal meant for those rainy days that you don't feel like taking out more than one pot and a bowl.
serves 2
- Macaroni pasta - about 200 grams
- Campbell Soup - 1 1/2 Cans (i use chicken mushroom cos i'm greedy and want both, but just use your favourite flavour)
- Any leftover meat you have - about 1 cup (i used last night's cajun chicken; i find normal fried luncheon meat tastes phenomenal too.)
- Water - 1 cup
- Dried Basil - a pinch
- Dried Parsely - for garnish
- Cook the pasta according to instructions. Cook them till al dente cos later on it'll be cooked through.
- Pour in the campbells into a pot NOT on the stove yet. Many people add the campbells paste into a hot pot and end up having a nasty burn at the bottom of the pot. you can taste and add more campbells later.
- Pour in the water
- Now, turn on the fire to medium heat.
- Use your ladle or spatula to kind of chop through the chunkiness of the paste + water. do this until its smooth like soup and slightly bubbling.
- Once starts to bubble, add in meat and basil.
- Stir and heat up the meat.
- Finally, add in the pasta.
- Heat the pasta through and serve with sprinkled parsley.
numero duo - Pho Bo (Vietnamese Beef Noodle Soup)
this recipe takes patience, time and loads to love. I add carrots to my recipe because i love the natural sweetness it brings to the broth. heaven!
ingredients
serves 4
Broth
- Leg/Knuckle Bones or Oxtail - 2 kgs
- 200grams of Chuck Beef
- Carrots - 2 mediums, chopped anyway you like.
- Fish Sauce - 1 1/2 Cup
- Sugar - 2 - 3 tablespoons
- Water - 12 cups of water (give and take)
- Spice packet - 1 cinnamon stick, 5 star anise, 6 cloves, 1 cardamom seed, 1 tbsp fennel seeds, 1 tbsp of coriander seeds. (tie them all up in a mesh bag = best!)
- Dried Basil - 2 - 3 tbsp
- White Onion - 1
- Ginger - 1
- Salt + Pepper
To serve
- Rice noodles - 4 bunches
- Sirloin - about 200grams (i put my sirlion in the freezer 15 minutes before i cut it, it makes it so much easier!)
- Fresh Basil - a handful
- Bean Sprouts - a handful
- Fresh Cilantro - a bunch
- Limes - 2, sliced into halves
- Fresh Red chillies - 2 mediums, chopped
- Fish sauce
- Hoison Sauce
- Char your onion and ginger by either a) putting it in your oven's highest rack for about 10 mins or until the onion turns black on the top; b) be extremely lazy like me and stick them into the microwave for a minute on 70% strength. The smells of the ginger and onion should be HEAVENLY.
- Meanwhile, parboil your bones to get rid of the funk. Boil enough water to cover all the bones and once the water is rumbling, pour in the bones and boil vigorously for 10 mins.
- Pour away funky water and wash the pot.
- Fill the pot with clean water and bring to boil.
- Once boiling, put in ALL BROTH INGREDIENTS except the Carrots. Carrots cook fast, so put them in last. sneak a few into your mouth, you deserve it.
- Simmer for 1 1/2 hours, uncovered. every now and then, check the water levels. Pour in more water when the meat is not covered. for every 2 cups of water, add a dash of fish sauce.
- After 1 1/2 hours, remove chuck beef and do a taste test. Add in more sugar/fish sauce to taste.
- Simmer for another 1 1/2 hours covered, without chuck beef.
- At the last 15 minutes, add in carrots and basil.
- While the soup is becoming awesome, cook your rice noodles according to instructions.
- Cut the sirloin, against the grain, into the thinnest slices that make size 0 models self conscious.
- ok, now the fun part: put your cooked chuck beef at the bottom of the bowl, then rice noodles then strips of uncooked sirloin.
- Do a final taste test of the broth - add salt and pepper to taste.
- Now, ladle some boiling broth into your prepared bowl - watch that sirloin cook!
- Allow your guests to add in as many veggies and condiments as they like. and indulge.
