Reunion with Dad

Last Monday signalled the arrival of Dad in Perth and what better way to reunite with him than to whip up a simple yet delicious home-cooked meal in the comfort of a cool room amidst the sweltering heat of the nasty summer.



My pesto spiral salad. Well-drained fusilli tossed with dollops of basil pesto, cherry and sundried tomatoes, peas and corn kernels, then drizzled with the simplest of olive oils. This is a real summer delight, sophisticated-looking but yet, so quick and easy to prepare. Eaten cold or warm, the pesto itself is the centre of attention. Pasta salads are equally flexible, so if you don't fancy peas or corn, feel free to substitute it with any garden vegetables that you like or maybe even capers or anchovies. For my salad, I love to use sundried tomatoes as the subtly scented infused oil tends to give the flavour an added boost.



Lemon honey chicken. I have to admit this fell short of my expectations. Using a mixture of lemon juice, golden syrup and rosemary to marinade the chicken, I should have used less lemon juice, while increasing the amount of honey to sweeten the meat. Well, one has to fail in order to succeed doesn't it? Nevertheless, despite the less than exciting flavour, the chicken was cooked perfectly with no pinkness in sight.

Overall, it was a good meal with Dad's safe and blessed arrival. Good food, great company, what more can i ask for?

Martha Stewart's Beef Stew

After much idleness in the kitchen for the past few weeks, owing to pain-in-the-arse projects and whatnots, living on packets of instant korean noodles to satisfy an increasingly ravenous stomach, my body finally protested and declared it was time for some healthy, brow-sweating, time-consuming home-cooked dinner.

Searching for a suitable recipe was another matter. I wanted to do something new, but not entirely new when one doesn't have a proper kitchen or equipment, like a food processor or a dutch oven. Hence, I finally settled for Martha Stewart's Beef Stew. The essential reason was the fact that I only required a large pot or a slow-cooker, and there is no doubt that a good pot of stew would definitely fill up a much carnivorous girl. As rustic as it sounds, I would think that the method of stewing meat in a water-based broth would have hailed from centuries ago, being prepared in so many ways, from an Irish stew to a Hungarian goulash.

This particular stew, showered with love and care, was a delight to make. It's operandi was hardly demanding. However, the result reaped was oh, so gratifying. The warm, slightly dense gravy was a matchmake to a spoonful of fluffy white rice. Soft tender chunks of beef chucks paired with the softest of potatoes and carrots made the palate craved for more.

Beef Stew - Martha Stewart
3 pounds of beef chuck
1/3 cup tomato paste
3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
salt & pepper
1 pound medium onions, cut into 1-inch chunks
1 pound small white or red new potatoes, halved
1 pound carrots, cut into chunks
6 garlic cloves, smashed
2 bay leaves

In a large pot, combine beef, tomato paste, vinegar and flour, season with salt & pepper.
Add onions, potatoes, carrots, garlic, bay leaves and 3 cups of water.
Stir, making sure all the flour on the bottom of the pot has dissolved, otherwise you'll get burnt patches of flour.
Bring to a boil. Simmer till meat is cooked for about 2 to 2 1/2hours.
Do check on the stew at least once every 15 minutes to skim off the scum formed on the surface.
Season with salt & pepper to taste if desired.

Serves 6.

Hog's Breath Cafe - The Real Deal

Have you ever tripped over yourself, just trying to find the perfect steakhouse for a perfect slab of good ol' char-grilled meat?

Well, look no more, that is, if you're in Perth. (Or any aussie state for that matter)

Yesterday, Sam and I had a good opportunity to dine with Uncle Paul and Aunty Lily (friends of my father's), and an earlier decision was made to lunch at Hog's Breath Cafe at Northbridge.



Stepping into the surroundings made me feel like I was back in the 1960s, with cowboys and ranches and Clint Eastwood for that matter. The entrance was one of a vintage entrance to a typical cowboy's pub - very Hog's Breathish and no fuss-like nonsense. Wooden chairs and tables line the premise with old signboards and vintage car plates punctured here and there on yellow-washed walls.

Hog's Breath Cafe's specialities are undoubtedly their prime steaks, slow-cooked for up to 18 hours in a hot oven and char-grilled at the end to seal in maximum flavour. But for those not particularly fond of steaks, they do serve burgers, wraps, sandwiches, and other meat like poultry and fish. However, don't expect any vegeterian options, except for the salads, Hog's Breath is definitely for the carnivorous of appetites.

Whilst Uncle Paul & Aunty Lily opted for the Hickory Smoked Prime Rib, I opted for the Blackened Prime Rib. Sam, not a big fan of steaks that day, went for the Hickory Lamb Shank.

We decided to go for a serve of their garlic and herb bread for the appetizer, and boy, was it fricking good.



I love their garlic bread immensely. The garlic scent wasn't overpowering as compared to other garlic bread I've tasted. I liked how the bread was firm but not overly crispy and tough in texture. Just perfectly soft in the middle. One's definitely not enough for this greedy girl.



Hickory Smoked Prime Rib - I didn't get a taste of this so no views about it, but from how frequently it gets ordered by Uncle Paul & Aunty Lily whenever they patronise Hog's Breath, it must be something good, isn't it? Topped with Hog's Breath own smoked BBQ sauce and an accompaniment of curly fries and fresh veggies.



Sam‘s Hickory Lamb Shank according to her was fall-off-the-bone tender and utterly delicious. Acompanied by side dish of Dianne-amite sauce, mashed potato and fresh veggies.



Oooh, just looking at this picture makes me hungry again. Ordering the Blackened Prime Rib left me with no regrets. Deliciously moist and tender, this steak definitely puts all the other steakhouses to shame. Seasoned with Cajun spice, the salty flavour of the meat just permeates through my tastebuds upon chewing a chunk from my fork. The cut definitely has a good balance of fats and meat, and oh goodness, the fat immediately melts in your mouth with a salty, smoky flavour. Mine was medium-well, and I got what I ordered, so props to that. Accompanied by a special side dish order of mushroom sauce, mashed potatoes and fresh veggies.

I was enormously bloated nearing the end of my dish so we didn't have the chance to order any desserts but apparently, the mud cake is totally wicked as well according to Sam, so I shall be ordering that at my next visit!

One thing to note though, although Hog's Breath Cafe has a few franchise outlets in Singapore, reviews of the food served at the Singapore outlets doesn't look really appetizing and a blow to Hog's Breath Cafe's reputation as Australia's best steakhouse yet. Once again leading to me, shaking my head heavily, and wondering whether steakhouses in Singapore are capable of cooking perfect steaks. No one wants a steak rock-hard on the outside and all red and raw in the middle do they?

Ready-Made Roast Chicken & Balsamic Salad

Have you ever had days when you're just absolutely reluctant to drag your lazy self to the kitchen and make a satisfying meal from scratch? Well, yesterday was one of those 'on strike' days for me.

Yesterday found myself browsing the aisles of Woolies after a day at uni. I thought of making gnocchi for dinner, but then you have to get the minced beef, the packet of gnocchi, the herbs and spices, and suddenly, it wasn't very appealing. All of a sudden, some Woolies staff announced that they were selling whole roasted baby chickens at $5.50 each, and I drooled, yes upon the price, but not least the smell of these ready-made darlings.



For a side, I made some salad (baby rocket and mini roma tomatoes) with balsamic dressing (recipe below) to go with the roast chicken. I adore balsamic vinegar and therefore cannot do without my frequent dosage of balsmic dressing with simply any kind of salad.



Absolutely heaven and easy on the bucks.

Balsamic dressing
olive oil (or extra virgin)
balsamic vinegar
wholegrain mustard
salt & pepper

Mix concentrations of ingredients above to taste. Drizzle on salad.

Home-made Steak

I made these delicious home-made steaks for the second time in a row ever since buying a couple of scotch fillet steaks with Dad whilst he was in Perth.

And boy, do scotch fillets taste good! Juicy, tender and most importantly, a balanced steak. Balanced steak meaning juicy and pink on the inside, firm but most definitely not overwhelmingly hard on the outside. I once had a most unbalanced steak ever at a restaurant, where the outside was hard like a rock, and the inside was pretty much uncooked to the point of rawness. (blood was oozing out like a waterfall, *shudders*) And the funny thing was, we asked for medium-well.

I marinated the fillets with a simple garlic-soy marinade (marinade recipe below). Dunk them in a ziploc bag, and leave them in the fridge for about 2 hrs. Easy-peasy.



To accompany the steak. I blanched some broccoli in boiling water and fried up some mushrooms in a buttery sauce. Simple but really good.



My steaks were fried for about 3-5 minutes on each side. You don't have to put too much oil as the fats will give off their own. Lastly, I made the sauce using leftover marinade with a bit of water to remove the saltiness, simmering it to the taste of my choice. Drizzle the steaks with the sauce and tuck in!

Garlic-Soy Marinade (Kudos to Dad)
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp sugar
1/2-1 tsp minced garlic

Give them a good mix and pour the marinade all over the steak. Refridgerate for at least 2 hrs.