Meal 78 - September 17th - Green Tea Salmon, Coconut Rice and Miso Greens
I don't often venture east on my holidays but a few years ago I went to Japan where I got to experience all the culinary weird-and-wonderful-ness that they have to offer. My staple diet on that trip, like that of most Japanese people, was rice, noodles and soup. There were however two paticular things that stick out in my mind. One is staying at a ryokan in Kyoto where the proprietor (who was also the chef) insisted on cooking us a "Western" style breakfast every morning. His interpretation of a Western style breakfast would be, for example, a boiled egg with some chopped tomato and a side of sliced apple. Individually, all the elements would be quite typical "western" foods, but they would be things that you would never typically put together. Despite all the amazing, fresh, cheap sushi I ate, those breakfasts were probably the culinary highlight of the trip. The other is that everything seemed to be available in green tea flavour.
Showing posts with label white rice. Show all posts
Showing posts with label white rice. Show all posts
30 Apr 2013
Beef Kofta Curry, Fluffy Rice, Beans and Peas
Meal 40 - April 30th - Beef Kofta Curry, Fluffy Rice, Beans and Peas
Now here's a thrilling statistic: according to the Office for National Statistics around 92 percent of UK households own a microwave. Lolz and I are one of the 8 ish percent who rely on more traditional cooking techniques. Therefore, these 15 minute meals are about as fast as it gets when we are looking for a speedy dinner. As I got to Waitrose on my way home from a crazy day at work I was torn between doing a 15 minute meal or taking advantage of their curry themed dinner for two for £10 deal. I wasn't exactly overflowing with enthusiasm but, given that our lack of a microwave meant that "ready meals" would take longer to cook than the Jamie alternative I decided to opt for the former.
Now here's a thrilling statistic: according to the Office for National Statistics around 92 percent of UK households own a microwave. Lolz and I are one of the 8 ish percent who rely on more traditional cooking techniques. Therefore, these 15 minute meals are about as fast as it gets when we are looking for a speedy dinner. As I got to Waitrose on my way home from a crazy day at work I was torn between doing a 15 minute meal or taking advantage of their curry themed dinner for two for £10 deal. I wasn't exactly overflowing with enthusiasm but, given that our lack of a microwave meant that "ready meals" would take longer to cook than the Jamie alternative I decided to opt for the former.
27 Mar 2013
Pork Masala, Porcini Rice and Spring Greens
Meal 29 - March 26th - Pork Marsala, Porcini Rice and Spring Greens
Almost a quarter of the way through my challenge I must say I'm surprised how well it's going. Lolz, despite being only too happy to complain when something is not to her taste, has given me an average score of well over 8/10, and her lowest mark, a 3/10, was awarded only because of her aversion to bananas. It's inevitable that something was going to give, and at one point I thought this rather innocent looking pork dish would be that something.
Almost a quarter of the way through my challenge I must say I'm surprised how well it's going. Lolz, despite being only too happy to complain when something is not to her taste, has given me an average score of well over 8/10, and her lowest mark, a 3/10, was awarded only because of her aversion to bananas. It's inevitable that something was going to give, and at one point I thought this rather innocent looking pork dish would be that something.
25 Mar 2013
Keralan Veggie Curry, Poppadoms, Rice & Minty Yoghurt
Meal 28 - March 23rd - Keralan Veggie Curry, Poppadoms, Rice & Minty Yoghurt
I've been getting pretty good lately at maintaining some degree of order in the kitchen as I cook my 15 minute meals. Occasionally this is at the expense of going very slightly over 15 minutes but I've definitely developed a bit of a technique for minimizing mess. And so I was surprised when, taking a step back to survey the damage and assess the amount and difficulty of washing up that lay in store for Lolz, that the kitchen resembled some kind of bomb site. The picture below I feel does not really do it justice, but the rather large glass of wine is telling.
I've been getting pretty good lately at maintaining some degree of order in the kitchen as I cook my 15 minute meals. Occasionally this is at the expense of going very slightly over 15 minutes but I've definitely developed a bit of a technique for minimizing mess. And so I was surprised when, taking a step back to survey the damage and assess the amount and difficulty of washing up that lay in store for Lolz, that the kitchen resembled some kind of bomb site. The picture below I feel does not really do it justice, but the rather large glass of wine is telling.
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!
17 Jan 2013
Pork Steaks, Hungarian Pepper Sauce and Rice
Meal 6 - 16th Jan - Pork Steaks, Hungarian Pepper Sauce and Rice
Looking in the fridge, Lolz decided the fact we had half a fennel bulb left over meant I had to attempt this rather hearty and rustic looking pork fillet number. Finding no reason to object, I got my "15 minute meal head on" as Jamie puts it and realised that, just 17 days and 5 meals into this challenge, I really have developed a 15 minute meal head. Thinking back to my attempt at Rosemary chicken back on the 6th, I remembered cooking equipment and discarded packaging strewn all over the kitchen and numerous health and safety guidelines being willfully flaunted. Today the kitchen is a picture of calmness, ingredients and equipment ready, and various space saving solutions implemented.
The recipe is very simple; cook the rice, chuck all the sauce ingredients in to a pan and let it simmer while you griddle the pork. My only mistake was not sufficiently pre-heating the griddle pan before slapping on the meat. Lesson learned. The end result is basically sweet n sour pork with a twist, with the sauce packed full of veggie goodness. Would probably also work well with sausages in place of the pork fillet.
Lolz gave the dish a "surprising" 9/10. Difficulty factor 3/10.
Looking in the fridge, Lolz decided the fact we had half a fennel bulb left over meant I had to attempt this rather hearty and rustic looking pork fillet number. Finding no reason to object, I got my "15 minute meal head on" as Jamie puts it and realised that, just 17 days and 5 meals into this challenge, I really have developed a 15 minute meal head. Thinking back to my attempt at Rosemary chicken back on the 6th, I remembered cooking equipment and discarded packaging strewn all over the kitchen and numerous health and safety guidelines being willfully flaunted. Today the kitchen is a picture of calmness, ingredients and equipment ready, and various space saving solutions implemented.
The recipe is very simple; cook the rice, chuck all the sauce ingredients in to a pan and let it simmer while you griddle the pork. My only mistake was not sufficiently pre-heating the griddle pan before slapping on the meat. Lesson learned. The end result is basically sweet n sour pork with a twist, with the sauce packed full of veggie goodness. Would probably also work well with sausages in place of the pork fillet.
Lolz gave the dish a "surprising" 9/10. Difficulty factor 3/10.
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