Writing this post at 12am in the morning is really not a very good idea! Just looking at the picture makes me very hungry...I must resist the temptation to eat late at night! But this cold wintery February really is the best time to have some wholesome slow-cooked meals.

I do enjoy spending hours in the kitchen making food. Sometimes, I just too lazy to bother to cook, but I don't really want to eat pre-packed supermarket food. This oven slow-cooked pork shoulder steaks is easy to prepare and almost effortless. Very delicious with steamy hot plain boiled rice!

Ingredients:

1. 1.5kg Pork shoulder steaks (Roughly cut into chunks)
2. 3-4 Large carrots (Roughly cut into chunks)
3. 500g Closed chestnut mushrooms (Sliced into thick slices)
4. Few large cloves of garlics (minced)
5. Large piece of ginger (minced)
6. 2 large shallots (Roughly sliced)
   
7. 2 Generous heap tablespoonful of whole grain mustard (LOT OF IT)
8. 1 Tbsp smoked paprika
9. 500ml Alcoholic pear cider
10. Roughly 2-3 tbsp olive oil
    
11. Large bunch of flat leave parsley (Roughly chopped) (Chop the stalks a bit finer and set aside)
    
12. Salt and pepper to taste
13. Finely sliced spring onion (for garnish)

Pre-heat the oven to 180'C. In a deep oven-proofed pot, heat the oil under medium heat, and gently fry the shallots, ginger and garlic until lightly caramelised.

Add the pork chunks and parsley stalks and fry until the porks are lightly browned. Add the mustard, mushroom and carrots to the pork and cook for further 5 minutes. Stir in the paprika and season to taste. 

Pour the pear cider to the pork and bring the liquid to a boil. Remove the pot from the stove and put it in the pre-heated oven and slow-cook it for at least 2.5 hours until the pork are tender and soft.

Remove the pot from the oven after 2.5hrs, check if need further seasoning. Stir in the chopped parsley and mix well.

Done! When it is ready to be served, garnish the dish with sliced spring onion and enjoy it while it is hot!

Still HUNGRY...but I have to resist the temptation!!! I must to resist the temptation!!!  I must to resist the temptation!!!

These were the food I cooked in the new tiny and basic kitchen for the past 2 months. I have been a bit lazy to write down all the recipes but I have learnt a lot of the new pastry and bread making skills. I particularly like the mango jam tartlets and the meringue pie. With a little turmeric added to the pastry dough, the result is a lovely vibrant yellow tinted tart case. 

The piped meringue tart with mango jam filling was a Christmas present for my friend, Chris and his family. I think it feasted the eyes with interesting texture as well as filled the stomach..

I made the salmon custard tart for my Boxing day lunch. I added chopped dills to the pastry dough. It was really eye pleasing with those tiny green bits in the pastry. 

I am also very pleased with the outcome of the ciabatta challenge. It was fiddly to make, but it was real fun! Really tasty with just balsamic and olive oil dip.

The mushroom risotto pie with goat's cheese was quite tasty too according to Chris and Clive. It was specially make for a movie night at Clive's. A vegetarian pie that in par to any meat-filled carnivorous pies.

If I tell my little nieces and nephew that I cooked a rabbit...I think they will cry! 
Some supermarkets used to have rabbit on their selves, but I have not notice them for a long time. Wandering at the local butcher yesterday, I thought a whole rabbit for £2.99 is rather cheap! I thought maybe I can make a Ragù sauce and share this dish with a friend, but then I thought maybe eating rabbit is not really everyone's cup of tea! The taste and texture of rabbit meat is actually quite similar to chicken!

I made up this "Ragù" recipe myself, probably not an authentic Italian way! But it tastes quite good..and quite simple to make too..

Ingredients:

1. Whole rabbit (washed and cut into large piece or just half) 

       (I saw dead rabbit with fur and skin on at the butcher, but I don't think it is a good idea to get one of those!)

1. 3 Large carrots (peeled and cut to chunks)
2. 2 Large onions (roughly chopped)
3. 1 Bulb of garlic (separated with skin on)
4. 1 Stalk of leek (sliced in chunks)
   
5. 1 Whole red chilli (with seeds)
   
6. 1 Package closed chestnut mushroom (roughly sliced into large  pieces)
7. 6 Large fresh tomatoes (cut into quarters)
8. 2-3 tbsp Oilve oil
   
9. 2 Sprigs rosemary
10. 500ml Alcohol-free pear cider (alcohol version could be nice too)
    
11. A bunch of spring onion
    
12. Large bunch of flat leave parsley (roughly chopped)
    
13. 2-3 tbsp Tomato paste
14. 1 Zest of a lemon
15. Juice of half a lemon
16. 1 tbsp Smoked paprika
17. Salt and pepper to taste
    

Process:
Pre-heat the oven to around 160'C -170"C.

In a deep cooking pot, fry the garlic, onion, leek, rosemary and some of the spring onion in the hot oil until soften. Add the rabbit pieces and fry until lightly brown and the sauce is lightly caramelised. Season with generously with salt and pepper.

Remove the rabbit pieces from the pot and set aside. Add the carrot, chilli, mushroom and fresh tomatoes into the pot and fry for 5 minutes until the tomatoes are soften. 

Arrange the rabbit pieces back into the bottom of the pot. Pour the pear cider to cover all the ingredients. Lid on and bring the liquid to a boil. 

Remove the pot from the stove and put it into the pre-heated oven and slow cook for at least 2.5hours (check occasionally). (Best do this dish in the evening) After switching off the oven, leave the pot in the oven overnight.

Once the pot is cooled in the oven, remove it from the oven. Take out the rabbit pieces and remove all the bones with your hand. 

Reunite the meat with the tomato and carrot sauce. Mix gently and re-heat the sauce. Add the paprika, tomato paste, lemon zest, lemon juice, chopped parsley and spring onion to the sauce and cook for furtherfew minutes until the sauce is heat through completely. Season it with salt and pepper to taste. 

A wonderful sauce for fresh pasta. A hint of spiciness with sweetness from the chilli and pear cider...mmmmmmm....

Life has been a bit busy since moving to Brighton. I must really get back to my routine to cook more and get fat by eating all the food by myself!)

This year I wanted to explore food and the aspect of cooking much further than just feeding myself. I am hoping to maybe make it part of my future career!

Still, I am going to continue making and cooking colourful food! I really think a plate of colourful food really could make you feel better by just looking at it!

This roast corn-fed chicken was specially made for my Chinese New Year Meal. The twist was....the vanilla essence..! I think it was a rather nice experiment..A very gentle hint of vanilla give the chicken a lift in the sense of smell and a touch of festive fragrance.

The quick chilli jam was also rather nice! But I can't really remember the recipe now! All gone, the jam!

This is my first post in 2012! Relocated to Brighton last December, looking to do something different in my life! Maybe something food related...(quite obviously)

Bought a lovely cookbook "How To Make Bread" by Emmanuel Hadjiandreou from a local bookshop and now I am testing a few of his bread recipes. It is a very useful recipe book, detailed visual instructions and beautiful pictures by Steve Painter. You can clearly feel his passion of bread making and his willingness to share it with other people. 

The pizza dough takes 24hrs to proof, which is longer than other pizza dough recipes I have tried. So if you are in a rush or very hungry, this is not for you! 

I think, why order pizza from takeaway? Make it at home, it is so much fun and satisfaction! (I understand that you might not have the time or lazy or can't cook...) but really, nothing beats the homemade pizza. It is full of freshness! or you can order from me!

For the topping, I used sausage meat balls, thinly sliced onion, fresh chopped tomatoes, tomato paste with olive oil, mozzarella and some dried Ghormeh Sabzi mixed herbs.

Ps. I think it won't do any justice if I just copied Emmanuel's recipe on here. I would recommend you to get on hold of the book. It will be a good investment!

This sweet and savoury bacon jam was inspired by a discussion on a Facebook food page. I never thought of savoury jam, I have also associated jam with fruits. The past few weeks I have been making some fruit jams and marmalades for Christmas, this bacon and tomato jam with cocoa powder will add to that jam collection for this year!

I was surprised how a small teaspoon of the cocoa powder could lift the flavour of the jam to a different level! I can imagine this jam will work wonder in sandwiches....yum..I think they are really delicious..a bit smokey, slightly sweet, and a hint of sourness...

Ingredients: (make large 2 jars)

1. 300g smoked bacon (roughly cut into chunks)
2. 200g carrot (finely diced)
3. 2 shallots (finely diced)
4. 1 bulb of garlic (finely diced)
5. 2-3 tbsp olive oil
6. 500g cherry tomatoes (whole)
7. 1/3 cup unrefined can sugar
8. 4 generous tbsp golden syrup
9. 1 tbsp cinnamon powder (could be nice with smoked paprika)
10. 1 red chilli (cut into rings with seeds)
11. Juice of 1 lemon
12. Zest of 1/2 lemon
13. 1 tsp cocoa powder

Firstly, heat the oil in a pot, gently fry the shallots, and garlic until soft and colourless. Add the bacon pieces and fry the bacon until nicely caramelised.

Add the cherry tomatoes and stir well and cook it lid on until the tomatoes almost disintegrated. Add the golden syrup, sugar, carrots, cinnamon powder, zest of lemon, and lemon juice. Then cook the mixture under medium heat until the sauce is lightly darken and thicken. Finally stir in the cocoa powder and mix it well very well.

Store the bacon and tomato jam in sterile jam jars. Seal immediately and label them when cooled.

This recipe is very similar to the Pandan and Coconut Kuih I made last time, but a much simplified process.
The "deep" coconut taste really intensify the South East Asian flavour. These kuih also have a lovely honey colour, slightly translucent against the light.

Ingredients: (make 8 cup-size kuih)

1. 70g rice flour
2. 150g tapioca flour
3. 1 log of coconut palm sugar
4. 500ml coconut milk
5. 1/2 tsp salt
6. 1 cup of water

In a pan, bring the water to the boil and dissolve the coconut palm sugar and reduce it to slightly syrupy. Add the coconut milk and cook for further few minutes. Set aside. Keep hot.

This soup is inspired by a Korean oxtail soup recipe, great flavoursome but a simple winter warmer. 

It is a great idea to try different cuts of meat if you can find them in your local butcher. I always find the range of meat cuts available in supermarket rather predictable and boring. I love going to the local butchers to see what is available, although the smell of the shop can be overpowering sometimes, but you will be able to get a wider range of meat cuts at a more reasonable price.

Ingredients:

1. 1 whole oxtail (chopped into chunks)
2. 5 carrots (peeled and sliced into chunks)
3. 2 large whole onion (sliced into chunks)
4. 2 Cinnamon sticks
5. 1 Star anise
6. Generous fresh ginger root (roughly sliced)
7. 1 tbsp black pepper corns
8. 1 leek stalk
9. Salt and pepper to taste
10. 1 tbsp oil
11. 2 litres water

Bring at least 1.5 litres water to the boil in a large pan. Wash and trim off any fat from the oxtail. Put the oxtail in the boiling water and cook for few minutes. Remove the tail from the water and wash with cold water. Discard the water from the pan.

In a deep pot, heat the oil and fry onion, cinnamon, star anise and ginger until soften. Add in the oxtail and lightly brown the meat.

Add the water to the pan, and all the rest of the ingredients. Cook the soup under medium heat until the meat is soft and tender.

Strain the soup and discard other ingredients except the oxtail (obviously) and carrots. (of course you can eat the rest of the ingredients too if you don't like to waste the food)

I have done it yet again! A quick round in a Chinese supermarket always ended up with more items than I was planning to buy! I really should learn to just sticked with my shopping list!

So amongst the things I bought, I have a package of  rice noodles, some frozen prawns, bean sprouts, carrot etc. A very much fried rice noodles ingredients I then realise! Naturally, I can't wait to make myself some fried rice noodles with prawns as Saturday's lunch. (Fried noodles also commonly served as breakfast in Malaysia too..)

For this version of fried rice noodle, the ratio for the vegetables is higher than the rice noodles itself! So it is a healthy lunch.

Ingredients: 3-4 servings

1. 1/2 a package of dried rice noodles (socked in cold water until soft and drained)
2. 2 eggs (beaten)
3. 1 package of bean sprouts
4. 2 sticks of carrots (shredded)
5. A bunch of coriander (roughly chopped)
6. 1 package of fresh of frozen prawns
7. 1 shallots (sliced)
8. Few cloves garlic (roughly chopped)
9. 1 -2 tablespoonful fresh chilli paste
10. Spring onion  (chopped) (optional)
11. Pickled chillies (for serving)
12. Approximate 4-6 tbsp (or more)
13. Salt and pepper to taste
14. A teaspoonful of dark soy sauce

Firstly, in a hot wok add some oil and a pinch of salt. When the oil is hot, pour the beaten eggs and let it cook until lightly brown. Remove the egg from the heat and set aside to let cool. Once cooled, slice the egg into strips (for serving). In the same wok under high heat, add more oil and stir in the shallot, garlic and chilli paste. Fry until fragrant. Add the prawns and stir fry until the prawns are just cooked.

Then add the rice noodles, shredded carrot and bean sprouts and stir until all ingredients are roughly distributed. Add the dark soy sauce, salt and pepper and fry until the bean sprouts are just slightly cooked. Add the coriander (leave some for garnishing) then stir to distribute the green roughly into the rice noodles. Done! On a serving plate, arrange the fried rice noodle in the middle and garnish it with pickled chillies, fresh coriander leaves and sliced fried egg. Serves it hot (and spicy!).

ps: wow....can you see a little stickman in the central of the photo (on top of the prawn)?!!