Throwback in the kitchen

A few dishes that I cooked over the last few weeks.
It is so cold over here. I guess winter has really set in now. So try to keep warm and stay healthy by eating plenty of fruits and vegetables.

 

 

Another round at Ko Sing restaurant

I will start with my all-time favourite dish which is, of course, the peking pork.

I love the crunchy texture and the sweet sauce with which the pork pieces are coated. I must however (innocently) add: to eat in moderation.

 

No need to mention the name of this dish: Japanese sizzling tofu.

 

This is the sweet and sour pork dish. The dish in itself was good, but not amazing and definitely not memorable.

  

This is a new dish we recently tried: garlic sizzling beef. This was so good. I extremely enjoy the flavour combination. There was some celery slices (though you cannot see in the photo) and I was pleasantly surprised to see how they go so well with the dish. Usually I would put celery only in soups as I found it can be too overpowering in chop suey or stir fries, but I guess I found the solution which is  to just cut in a bunch on two- it will bring just the right flavour.

Quiz

Question time

Question 1:
Are these apples or pear?
Tricky one ey?

How about pear apple or apple pear?

Verdict: Both tasted like pear.

Question 2:
What are these bright yellow fruits which accompanied my chicken avocado turkish bread?

 

 Answer: Yellow cherry tomaoes

Honestly, I would say these taste more like grape tomatoes since they are really sweet (which is perfectly to my liking). Normally cherry tomato can be more acidic, more like normal tomatoes and I would rather have grape tomatoes for these sweeter taste.

Alright, this leave us to the last question which is ( I hope you would guess) about the issue of genetically-modified foods. How do you feel about crops being manipulated by selective breeding? Do you think these crops could constitute some health risks or even more, environmental risks?

Oats (two-way)

Did you know that oats is a superfood? I bet you did not. If you think about it though, it appears to me that every food item is a super food on its own. Personally I feel there is no reason why  we should classify them when each of fruit/vegetable/meat/grain/oil has its own nutrients and benefits. My say is that healthy eating stems from creating and maintaining a balance of what you eat. Yes, you need sugar and fat in your diet, not necessarily in large amount but both are definitely essential to sustain your health. Plus, by eating different dishes and trying need flavours, you open your taste-bud.

Back to the topic of this post, I had a box of uncooked oats on hand and after some thinking, I decided to create 3 dishes. First is some homemade muesli, second condensed milk cookies and finally granola bars.

You will see what I am talking about with the pictures below:

Drizzle some oats, nuts, seeds and apricot with maple syrup and put in the oven (180 degrees) for about 15 minutes (mixing halfway through) until golden.

These cookies are made with condensed milk and are super delicious.

Mix your muesli mix with condensed milk and bake for about 30 minutes until the top is golden crisp and you'll end up with homemade granola bars.

Breakfast and cheese

Here is a few snaps of my weekend breakfast. As it has long been said, breakfast is the most important meal of the day and  I definitely reinforce this. Eating breakfast in the morning gives your body the energy it needs to go through the day.

During the week, I usually have milk and cereals if I am on the go. If I have more time (because it is winter and admittedly it's hard to get out of bed), I will also have toast- jam/ cheese spread on bread. However on Sunday, we have baked beans and eggs (sometimes bacon) with toast and cheese.

Now the point of this post really is to bring forward two of my all-time favourite cheese spreads from Mauritius- La vache qui rit (Laughing cow) and Kiri. I was pleasantly surprised to spot them at the supermarkets. I used to have cottage cheese (Bulla brand) here which is equally good, but there is nothing better than the creamy texture from the spread cheese, especially Kiri. I only realised that the two are from the same company, since they both have slightly different taste. No wonder they are both equally good. The good thing about the packaging is that both come with individual bite size which means that not only you get to eat reasonably (no indulgence even if you want to), but it will also last longer than if you opened a jar of spreadable cheese.

Throwback to mum's dishes

Here is a photo compilation of a few dishes cooked by my mum while she was staying over. Mother's food are always the best and I must agree with this since they make use of The secret ingredient to every good dish: love.