Monday, November 21, 2011

More food!

In case you can't tell, I do love taking pictures of food...especially of the ones I've made. Haha, I know I sound so self absorbed. I recently started taking to food presentation aka taking more care with plating dishes. I am definitely still a work in progress! Plating is actually quite a delicate art and takes quite an amount of time. So everytime I get something that looks halfway decent I feel so proud of myself haha.

My bf thinks I am mad for being so anal with plating but there is really a sense of joy of eating off a well arranged dish. Food is such a big part of life, you should take every effort to enjoy all aspects of it...taste, texture and visual!

Breakfast one morning: Scrambled eggs ala Gordon Ramsey style with sliced tomatoes and onions! I'm usually not a fan of scrambled eggs but I loveee Gordon Ramsey's recipe! So very simple yet so surprisingly flavorful. Definitely a keeper! I did some slight modifications to the recipe and used creamy cheese instead of creme fraiche.

Here's the Youtube video if you are interested.


Simple lunch: Quick pasta salad with shrimp and onions and diced tomatoes. Toss with a little (I mean VERY little) mayo and salt,pepper, some applesauce for sweetness. Topped with fried shallots..yums!

Dinner: Fried pork belly with sweet soy sauce+garlic! This was SOOOO GOOD. OMG I LOVE FATTY FOODS! They taste so good but they are so bad for you. Served with rice and salad of tomatoes and onions(in a weak attempt to be healthy).

Another day of quick lunch: Fried rice with shrimp and shredded butternut squash. Can't really see the butternut squash in here. I was experimenting with leftover squash but I was surprised to find how the richness of butternut squash took the fried rice to a whole new level.

Crockpot turkey chili. Brother in law's secret recipe.

More leftover lunch: Scrambled eggs ala Gordon Ramsey style(ok, this one was not leftovers), leftover rice, and leftover grilled butternut squash.

And for a random bonus, here is a pic of my new pet Bentley:
Say hi to my new red-footed tortoise! He was a unexpected addition. The bf found him while walking home one day lol. It was so cold outside that the bf was afraid that he would freeze to death so he took him home. Well, Bentley has been a permanent fixture in our house since lol.

Here's a video of Bender meeting Bentley for the first time....

Friday, November 4, 2011

Food collage

Meals I've had over the week:
Yayyy, Indomee!! I love my wonderful 30-pack box from Amazon! Nomnom. Whenever I am too lazy to cook, Indomee comes to the rescue! I love to eat mine with raw onions (yes, dragon breath ftw) and cucumbers.

Garlic fried rice, stir fried minced turkey with egg and tom yum soup.

One of my favorite home "cooked" meals: raw salmon and ahi tuna on rice. Drizzled with home made sesame soy dressing. Add some cucumbers and cut up seaweed sheets. Very healthy and yummy! And so easy to make!

Simple lunch: Udon noodles with shrimps in tom yum soup. Used bottled tom yum paste.

Stir fried black pepper udon with chicken. I sliced up a tomato as a veggie side to the meal.

Another favorite: Stuffed poblano peppers with gallo pinto (translation: the spotted rooster). Gallo pinto is essentially black beans and rice, a traditional dish from Costa Rica. One of my staple favorites ever since I visited Costa Rica! Such a simple dish but so hearty and delicious!

The stuff poblano on the other hand is something I rarely make because it is so time consuming. Between the prep work, the baking, the time it takes to cook the stuffing items individually, the time it takes to stuff the peppers...this dish is only something I will make when I'm in a good mood and have the time.

Last night's meal: Indian butter chicken. Yums! A surprisingly simple dish to make. Next time I'll try with paneer or with tofu for a vegetarian option. Basic recipe here. Mine was slightly modified as I didn't have all the ingredients on hand.