Chilli con Carne

Posted by gmirage1 on Dec 10, 2011 in Chili | 25 comments

 I am not much a fan of spicy food, hubby is and the kids took that from him. Wasabi peanuts? Go ahead, they’ll munch on those as they would popcorn. If there’s one chili dish to exempt, it would be chili con carne and when I cook it, it’s not really that spicy. Actually I am missing the chilli hotdog that hubby and I like from 7-11, a 24-hour store back home. Being often out late due to the nature of our work (publishing), 7-11  has become a favorite hangout when we get hungry in the middle of the night.

For the recipe I follow this one I found online sans the yogurt and coriander garnish. I also had to put less spicy ingredients, the kids and hubby could spice theirs later. I dropped in red beans too and since I removed the yogurt, I topped it with cheese instead.

–

for:

Food Friday

Gnocchi, Tuna and Ricotta

Posted by gmirage1 on Dec 3, 2011 in Italian, pasta | 9 comments

I’ve recently found a food fondness (alliteration not intended) that has been long forgotten. Gnocchi, those thick, soft dumplings I like eating with tuna sauce reintroduced itself in our kitchen after a year of absence. ^_^

I think I’ve been overlooking that particular shelf…hmm more of I can’t see it for the height of me. Yep, I sometimes ask someone to help me get the item from up the shelf. I’m 5’3″ and shelves are made for taller people. hihi.

So as simple as this recipe gets you’ll need:

a can of tuna
a can of tomato sauce
ricotta
a pack of gnocchi (you can make them too)
garlic
onion
olive oil
basil leaves
pepper
quattro formaggi (optional)

If you bought gnocchi, simply follow the cooking instructions.  If you’d like to make them on your own, here’s Mario Batali’s Gnocchi recipe. There are gnocchis that have ricotta already so if you get those then opt the ricotta out.

Saute garlic and onion on olive oil.
Pour tomato sauce and let simmer.
Stir in ricotta and tuna flakes.
Flavor with pepper and set aside.
Pour sauce mixture over gnocchi, garnish with basil leaves and cheese.

Serve as is or with baguette.

—

Food Friday

Beef, braised

Posted by gmirage1 on Nov 19, 2011 in beef | 12 comments

Back when hubby and I are still dating we would have favorite restaurants and certain dishes that we order in pair like our palate and tummies are synchronized. ^_^ There was a restaurant, whose name now lost in memory, that served a dish we still remember – it’s savory aroma still reminiscent of our visits. They have the best braised beef – a side dish of carrots and green onions on top of rice – that we often have for dinner. Been attempting to duplicate it since we moved here but to no avail.

I did at one time followed a recipe I found online and posted it here, it tastes more of the Chowking version. It wasn’t easy to do too…so when I found this braised beef sauce at the Asia shop I was relieved and ecstatic. We were having braised beef often ever since.

Braising is a long process. Here is a detailed procedure, complete with photos that I found online. What I do, for lack of time or for laziness as well, is to put the beef in a pressure cooker – a lot of them actually in different cuts meant for stew and gulasch. After half an hour of cooking, I’d let the meat cool down and marinate it with the special sauce (would check the brand later) for 20 minutes or so. I then heat up oil and put the marinated meat in, cooking until the sauce somewhat looks it’s been absorbed and pour all sauce in. I turn off the heat then and let the sauce thicken up.

Hubby often asks for boiled egg and carrots for side dishes but mashed potato and broccoli are the kids’ request. Serve with rice, and yes, so tender are the meat you can use chopsticks for them! ^_^

–

for:

Food Friday, Yummy Sunday

Mohr im Hemd

Posted by gmirage1 on Nov 10, 2011 in Austrian, Desserts, Featured | 9 comments

Mohr im Hemd is an Austrian dessert of chocolate cake pudding served with hot chocolate and whipped cream and most of the time, ice cream. Its basic ingredients are chocolate, bread crumbs, sugar, egg yolks, almonds and red wine and has the shape of a small Guglhupf but the above form is acceptable too. ^_^ Like the plum  pudding, it is cooked in water bath, doused with hot chocolate sauce and garnished with whipped cream and some berries of your choice.

Mohr im Hemd means moor in a shirt. The term Moor (black man) is used only rarely, and today – often perceived as negative – because of its colonial and racist partial use. The dessert is so named because the whipped cream is often put on top of or around the cake…pertaining to being worn.

For this post, I don’t have a recipe to share as this was something that son1 asked me to buy prepared, I only did the heating and plating…He loves this dessert to bits and I won’t say no either — you know how I’ve always said Austrian cakes are sour…this one is an exception.

—

for:

Food Friday, Thursday Brownies

Simple Carbonara

Posted by gmirage1 on Nov 4, 2011 in Featured, Italian, pasta | 14 comments

I would like to call this simple dish four-ingredient Carbonara but counting everything in – including pasta, there’s actually more and I forgot to include  two other ingredients in this photo – parmesan and pepper. So let’s say four-ingredient Carbonara sauce. ^_^ Italian Carbonara doesn’t have cream; that’s what I’ve been reiterating in my posts and I’m sorry I just have to say it again. Then again, it always gets creamier with well, cream…and that’s perhaps what we we’re used to having.

Carbonara sauce has 4 basic ingredients, that’s egg, bacon, cheese and black pepper. Going more particular, the bacon used is either guanciale or pancetta but hey any bacon is ok. For the cheese, Parmigiano-Reggiano/parmesan is preferred but I sometimes use the more similar Grana Padano.

Here’s what you need:

250g pasta of your choice (I often have Spaghetti or Tagliatelle)
100g bacon
100g parmesan
2 eggs
pepper

additional:

olive oil
garlic
onion

To cook, saute bacon in olive oil. Prepare pasta per package directions. In a bowl combine raw eggs, a drop of olive oil, cheese and pepper, mix well.

Put pasta in pan while still hot but remove the pan from heat. Stir in raw eggs mixture with pasta. Season with salt and pepper but I find the bacon salty already so I opt to leave out salt. Top your Carbonara with lots of parsley.

This is where your preferences come in. You can add peas, mushroom, broccoli or other vegetables. I sometimes put in tuna in lieu of bacon. Will have to share that recipe too. Enjoy your meal!

–

for:

Food Friday, Yummy Sunday

Cupcake Sprinkles & WBFC 27

Posted by gmirage1 on Oct 30, 2011 in Cupcakes | 23 comments

Long overdue post. The kids and I made cupcakes and our favorite cream cheese frosting one Sunday morning. To engage them doing it with me I made design their cupcakes with candy sprinkles (above is done by youngest). I still use my basic cupcake recipe which you can find here.

We’ve adjusted for daylight savings today but I still feel lazy to do stuff for that extra hour added. So for now, I’m joining Weekend Blog Follower Caravan # 27 – Facebook page liking. If you haven’t done yet, please do like Mahlzeit’s page.

Hubby arrived yesterday from his 3-week vacation so we’ve been cooking a lot since. Today though, we’d be lazying a bit. Enjoy your Sunday!

Oh! Join WBFC by clicking badge below….this week’s sponsors are Work at Home Wife and Mother and Stay at Home Wife and Mother.

—

Better Berries

Posted by gmirage1 on Oct 26, 2011 in Fruits | 4 comments

Summers are supposed to be fun…for the kids particularly. I can’t say I enjoy it as much as they do but I try. I’ve often said how my body changed when I moved here. Summers tend to be really hot for me even at the 25°-28° range when I grew up having them at 30° up.

I totally lost the will to go out and walk around the city like I used to…and so the kids and I would end up baking, going around the neighborhood buying fruits…Fruits are a few of what I enjoy about the summers. There’s this Piña colada yogurt drink that I always buy from the grocery and it’s sold only until the end of September. There’s papaya too which are brought in from Brazil, different sized berried, nectarines, plums, cherries, satsumas, clementines and watermelons too – all loved by the kids.

Among the fruits, strawberry reigns as the most loved. They’d eat them as is, for that’s how strawberries are best eaten. They’s have strawberries as shakes, as cake addition, as ice cream and yogurt topper or fondue…I think strawberries are totally versatile.

 So for today, I’m sharing this simple vanilla cream recipe that goes well with strawberries.

Vanilla cream:
220 grams mascarpone  at room temperature
120 grams whipped cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2/3 cup granulated sugar

How to:

Combine mascarpone and vanilla extract in a bowl and mix on low until soft and peaks form. You can dip your berries or chop them up and combine with the cream mixture.

To store: cover mixture with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to use (just beat again).

–

They’ll have strawberries anytime alright, but dawty loves them as a smoothie!

For:

Ruby Tuesday
Wednesday Whites
Food Quote