Meal 107 - December 14th - Lamb Lollipops, Curry Sauce, Rice and Peas
Lolz got up very early this morning (well, early for a Saturday) to go and do her Christmas shopping and she assures me that everything she bought was for me, and she let me watch a truly abysmal game of football whilst she did the wrapping up, so I thought it only fair that I treat her to a nice 15 minute meal tonight. I decided to make lamb lollipops (slim pickings now with Lolz and her new found fussiness), which, continuing our recent gastronomic world tour, sounded like it might be taking us to some kind of Willy Wonka spin off business. I was excited and scared.
Showing posts with label South East Asian. Show all posts
Showing posts with label South East Asian. Show all posts
12 Nov 2013
Thai Chicken Laksa, Mildly Spiced Noodle Squash Broth
Meal 96 - November 12th - Thai Chicken Laksa, Mildly Spiced Noodle Squash Broth
Unlike many others, I can't help but feel the title of this meal is selling it short a bit - no sizzling or mighty or flashy or killer or crackin', just mildly spiced. It's almost apologetic. But to be honest everything about this dish looked appealing to me. The chicken in particular looked reminiscent of a certain sticky kicking chicken, and the soup, although not something I'd normally have on a weeknight, looked chunky and flavourful enough to just about fill me up. Plus the soup we'd had last week proved to be a massive winner.
Unlike many others, I can't help but feel the title of this meal is selling it short a bit - no sizzling or mighty or flashy or killer or crackin', just mildly spiced. It's almost apologetic. But to be honest everything about this dish looked appealing to me. The chicken in particular looked reminiscent of a certain sticky kicking chicken, and the soup, although not something I'd normally have on a weeknight, looked chunky and flavourful enough to just about fill me up. Plus the soup we'd had last week proved to be a massive winner.
1 Sept 2013
Sticky Squid Balls, Grilled Prawns and Noodle Broth
Meal 73 - September 1st - Sticky Squid Balls, Grilled Prawns and Noodle Broth
September for me has always been a bit of a watershed month. It signifies the end of the summer holidays. The weather gets cooler, the days shorter. The countdown to Christmas begins. It's normally around this time I start to think (cue the miniature violins) of all my unfulfilled new years resolutions and what I still want to do before the clock strikes midnight on December 31st. Today, I am particularly thinking of the 47 15 minute meals I still need to cook, at the rate of almost 12 per month. Given that I have never cooked more than 10 in a month, things are not looking promising. I was actually hoping to squeeze one more 15 minute meal into August in order to beat this record but unfortunately, my plan was scuppered by a night of semi-impromptu drinking, which ended with a trip to the chippie and a chicken shish kebab.
September for me has always been a bit of a watershed month. It signifies the end of the summer holidays. The weather gets cooler, the days shorter. The countdown to Christmas begins. It's normally around this time I start to think (cue the miniature violins) of all my unfulfilled new years resolutions and what I still want to do before the clock strikes midnight on December 31st. Today, I am particularly thinking of the 47 15 minute meals I still need to cook, at the rate of almost 12 per month. Given that I have never cooked more than 10 in a month, things are not looking promising. I was actually hoping to squeeze one more 15 minute meal into August in order to beat this record but unfortunately, my plan was scuppered by a night of semi-impromptu drinking, which ended with a trip to the chippie and a chicken shish kebab.
20 Aug 2013
Seared Asian Beef, Best Noodle Salad and Ginger Dressing
Meal 69 - August 20th - Seared Asian Beef, Best Noodle Salad and Ginger Dressing
I love a good surprise. Like when you find a fiver in your pocket that you didn't know was there. Or when someone brings cake into the office. Today I was not expecting great things from this seared Asian beef meal. The picture made it look like someone had been on a bit of a rampage around a greengrocers and chucked together whatever they could find, along with some noodles and rump steak. There was nothing about it which made me think it would have any wow factor.
I love a good surprise. Like when you find a fiver in your pocket that you didn't know was there. Or when someone brings cake into the office. Today I was not expecting great things from this seared Asian beef meal. The picture made it look like someone had been on a bit of a rampage around a greengrocers and chucked together whatever they could find, along with some noodles and rump steak. There was nothing about it which made me think it would have any wow factor.
4 May 2013
Sizzling Beef Steak, Hoi Sin Prawn and Noodle Bowls
Meal 41 - May 4th - Sizzling Beef Steak, Hoi Sin Prawn and Noodle Bowls
Ahhh, bank holiday weekend! After a long week of work I can't describe how excited I am about 3 days of lie ins, alcohol, football and of course 15 minute meals. With respect to the latter, we found ourselves watching an episode of the 15 minute meals TV show as we had lunch, featuring this particular recipe. Lolz gave me some nervous looks when she saw that the recipe needed 4 separate pans, but we both agreed it looked sufficiently appetizing to kick off a new month of 15 minute meals! Today is of course also Star Wars Day - time will tell as to whether this particular attempt was out of this world...
Ahhh, bank holiday weekend! After a long week of work I can't describe how excited I am about 3 days of lie ins, alcohol, football and of course 15 minute meals. With respect to the latter, we found ourselves watching an episode of the 15 minute meals TV show as we had lunch, featuring this particular recipe. Lolz gave me some nervous looks when she saw that the recipe needed 4 separate pans, but we both agreed it looked sufficiently appetizing to kick off a new month of 15 minute meals! Today is of course also Star Wars Day - time will tell as to whether this particular attempt was out of this world...
14 Apr 2013
Lucky Squid 'n' Prawns, Spicy Vegetable Noodle Broth
Meal 34 - April 13th - Lucky Squid 'n' Prawns, Spicy Vegetable Noodle Broth
With a disproportionate number of seafood dishes in the 15 minute meals book (26, compared to 16 chicken for instance) I knew I had to get in touch with my inner Rick Stein and cook some of them or risk a real fish frenzy towards the end of the year. Amongst those 26 dishes there are three squid ones which I'd been putting off making as, although I do enjoy a good calamari, my knowledge of cooking the things are quite limited.
With a disproportionate number of seafood dishes in the 15 minute meals book (26, compared to 16 chicken for instance) I knew I had to get in touch with my inner Rick Stein and cook some of them or risk a real fish frenzy towards the end of the year. Amongst those 26 dishes there are three squid ones which I'd been putting off making as, although I do enjoy a good calamari, my knowledge of cooking the things are quite limited.
12 Apr 2013
Killer Kedgeree, Beans, Greens and Chilli Yoghurt
Meal 33 - April 11th - Killer Kedgeree, Beans, Greens and Chilli Yoghurt
With THFC due to kick off their crucial Europa League second leg quarter final fixture against Basel at 20:05 I decided to set myself a one-off 15 minute meal bonus challenge today. I would attempt to run home from work and have dinner on the table in time for kick off. Basically I had two hours and five minutes to get changed, run 7.5 miles, shop, shower, prep and cook. I knew it would be tough - I remembered meal 22 when I only plated up in time to watch the second half of a game that night. Ever confident of my talents, Lolz literally laughed in my face when I told her of my plan.
With THFC due to kick off their crucial Europa League second leg quarter final fixture against Basel at 20:05 I decided to set myself a one-off 15 minute meal bonus challenge today. I would attempt to run home from work and have dinner on the table in time for kick off. Basically I had two hours and five minutes to get changed, run 7.5 miles, shop, shower, prep and cook. I knew it would be tough - I remembered meal 22 when I only plated up in time to watch the second half of a game that night. Ever confident of my talents, Lolz literally laughed in my face when I told her of my plan.
17 Mar 2013
Koh Samui Salad, Chilli Tofu and Thai Noodles
Meal 26 - March 17th - Koh Samui Salad, Chilli Tofu and Thai Noodles
When I cooked my broccoli pasta meal last week I was quite excited at the prospect of embracing occasional vegeterianism. I even cooked (sorry, we, it was a joint effort...) some Chinese leaf parcels for dinner on Friday night. Today's dish however, despite including a range of vegetables and that gastronomical enigma tofu (seriously, I have no idea what it is or where I might find it in a supermarket), is not actually vegetarian. And, ironically, despite my cluelessness surrounding tofu it was actually the prawns which proved the most elusive ingredient on the list. For some reason Waitrose were all out of prawns. Refusing to accept defeat though, I cunningly purchased a pre-made prawn cocktail pot, rinsed off the Mary Rose sauce, and hey presto - 100g of prawns!
When I cooked my broccoli pasta meal last week I was quite excited at the prospect of embracing occasional vegeterianism. I even cooked (sorry, we, it was a joint effort...) some Chinese leaf parcels for dinner on Friday night. Today's dish however, despite including a range of vegetables and that gastronomical enigma tofu (seriously, I have no idea what it is or where I might find it in a supermarket), is not actually vegetarian. And, ironically, despite my cluelessness surrounding tofu it was actually the prawns which proved the most elusive ingredient on the list. For some reason Waitrose were all out of prawns. Refusing to accept defeat though, I cunningly purchased a pre-made prawn cocktail pot, rinsed off the Mary Rose sauce, and hey presto - 100g of prawns!
2 Mar 2013
Asian Sea Bass, Sticky Rice and Dressed Greens
Meal 21 - March 1st - Asian Sea Bass, Sticky Rice and Dressed Greens
Towards the end of last year, Lolz and I agreed that we would move in together. Some 6 months later, having run out of delaying tactics, that day is finally upon us. Which means I have spent today cleaning, tidying, packing, sorting and throwing out. By the time I'd run the 7.7 miles to Lolz's in the evening, I was pretty knackered. And so my initial reaction upon being presented three whole sea bass was something along the lines of "Oh bugger"... It's not unusual for us to have fish on a Friday evening. It's just that normally it is of the battered, deep fried variety and this looked like something that could easily go wrong...
To be honest, that trepidation that I experienced last time I made a "proper" fish dish was still there. There's something about the smell and sliminess of a whole fish that causes a different reaction to when you are cooking, say, a whole chicken. Maybe it's the fact that the fish, even when scaled and gutted, still largely resembles a living, swimming fish in the way that a prepared chicken does not look like a live chicken. Maybe it's just the eyes. Anyway, with three huge sea bass, there was no way that, unlike last time, we would be lacking in fish.
Once again, the cooking of the dish is a doddle - everything just needs to be put in it's respective pan and left to do it's thing. I did however forget to include the sugar snap peas. The end result is pretty remarkable. It's not that it's necessarily the most delicious of all 15 minute meals that I've done so far (although it may well be). It's just that it's the first one that really seems like it should be more than a 15 minute meal. Dishing it up, it looks amazing.
Lolz gave the dish a thoroughly well deserved 10/10. Difficulty rating 4/10 - it's probably harder to eat than to make - thanks to Nikki for providing advice on how to eat whole sea bass without ending up with a mouth full of bone. Incidentally I accompanied this with a glass of Fuller's Bengal Lancer - highly recommended for any IPA fans!
Towards the end of last year, Lolz and I agreed that we would move in together. Some 6 months later, having run out of delaying tactics, that day is finally upon us. Which means I have spent today cleaning, tidying, packing, sorting and throwing out. By the time I'd run the 7.7 miles to Lolz's in the evening, I was pretty knackered. And so my initial reaction upon being presented three whole sea bass was something along the lines of "Oh bugger"... It's not unusual for us to have fish on a Friday evening. It's just that normally it is of the battered, deep fried variety and this looked like something that could easily go wrong...
To be honest, that trepidation that I experienced last time I made a "proper" fish dish was still there. There's something about the smell and sliminess of a whole fish that causes a different reaction to when you are cooking, say, a whole chicken. Maybe it's the fact that the fish, even when scaled and gutted, still largely resembles a living, swimming fish in the way that a prepared chicken does not look like a live chicken. Maybe it's just the eyes. Anyway, with three huge sea bass, there was no way that, unlike last time, we would be lacking in fish.
Once again, the cooking of the dish is a doddle - everything just needs to be put in it's respective pan and left to do it's thing. I did however forget to include the sugar snap peas. The end result is pretty remarkable. It's not that it's necessarily the most delicious of all 15 minute meals that I've done so far (although it may well be). It's just that it's the first one that really seems like it should be more than a 15 minute meal. Dishing it up, it looks amazing.
Lolz gave the dish a thoroughly well deserved 10/10. Difficulty rating 4/10 - it's probably harder to eat than to make - thanks to Nikki for providing advice on how to eat whole sea bass without ending up with a mouth full of bone. Incidentally I accompanied this with a glass of Fuller's Bengal Lancer - highly recommended for any IPA fans!
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