Lamb in the tajine

I was in Marrakech recently and the food there was mainly made using the tajine.

I got one to try at home and made my own variation of lamb kleftiko, a dish that my grandma used to make at home.

So i got a rack of lamb and cooked it for 3 hours and a half and it was heaven.

What i used for the lamb:

Zest of lemon and its juice
Plenty of garlic
Oregano
Bay leaves
Olive oil
Salt & black pepper

Crush together the garlic cloves and salt using a pestle and mortar. Add the herbs, lemon zest, some black pepper, crush a little more, then stir through 2 tbsp of the olive oil.

Using a sharp knife, create lots of holes all over the lamb, and rub in the paste, pushing it deep into the holes. Transfer the lamb to the tajine, pour in the lemon juice.

Seal the lamb in the tajine and then roast it long and slow. Around 150 degrees in a fan oven around 3-4 hours. You can also add potatoes to soak up the juices.

Enjoy!!

I Had Five Guys!

So I know I've been MIA for the last 3months or so.  Both Mary and I have been busy with our move to different parts of the world again.  Her to London and me to Chicago.

I've been cooking up a storm almost everyday just cos it's much cheaper to cook than to eat out.  Then again I'm in the land of amazingly good "Junk" food.  Don't ask me why but Coca cola and burgers just taste good here.  Mac was ok...KFC was pretty dry and gave me sore gum after that.  Then there was FIVE GUYS....OOoooo FIVE GUYS was amazing.  I've had Five Guys... 5 times since I arrived in Chicago .... Wait....just before you all get too excited...I did not literally had FIVE GUYS.....

Really...Five Guys had me at FREE delicious ground nuts.  The minute you enter.  U see boxes and boxes of Ground nuts and sacks and sacks of fresh potatoes.  So you know it's not shitty fries you're getting.  It's a REAL potato!  And on top of that there is a whole list of stuff that you can chose to have with you burger.  U can have them all if you like.  From Mushtrooms to pineapples to Jalepenos...these are just a few I can think of.  Bacon burger is a MUST TRY.  Those who know me will know how much I dislike Bacon...but I'd kill for the bacon burger at Five Guys.  It's fried till crispy and not as salty as regular bacon which is what I love about it.  The smokiness did not over power the chargrilled patties.  It was just PERFECT.

Their Cajun fries is absolutely TO DIE FOR.  Best fries ever.   Thou they definitely don't the the most fanciful packaging.  (Burger wrapped roughly in foil)  But it sure hell is quality fast food!

I'm going to pen off now and go prepare ingredients for Katsu Kare tonight.  And I promise that will be the next item on this blog you'll see. :)

Bon Appetit

Monica Eng

Playing with Food - The Spagheddog!

My love for food started from young.  It all started with me and my cousin Clare's obsession with Playing with our food.  Perhaps it's the fact that I was brought up in a very food centric family/country. Every Sunday we had a huge feast at my grandma's house.  Clare and I both had games on creating the Perfect mouthful.... making the perfect plate.  Trying to wrap a little bit of everything on the table into a piece of green, carefully drizzling the different gravy onto our little parcel.

As an adult, I still love playing with food.  Once I was making Pineapple tarts with my friends Michelle...started of with real pretty flour shaped tarts....slowly we got bored and started to make "unmentionable" tarts.  U don't want to know what we made but everyone had a good laugh and it was especially well received by our gay friends.  

Well not long ago I came across a fun idea for hotdogs.  I shared the idea with my friend Andy from Chicago, he was amused and suggested we both have a cooking date and make the same thing in our own version and shared the recipe here.   We call it the Spagheddog!   The images below is self explanatory! :)  

Here is my Spagheddog, you can use any sauce you like for your spagheddog or just eat it on it's own.  I made a Bob Marley with my Spagheddog...but i kinda lost him in the sauce and accidentally ate him.....well I remembered my sad looking octopus before eating him....ok looks kinda gross cos I had to lick the cream sauce off his face so u can see his eyes and mouth for the photo.....

 Here is Andy's Spagheddog aglio olio,  he did a much better job than me considering he had a Hotdog scarecrow... which was suppose to be him on a swing with his dog Rupert somewhere nearby.

Bon Appetit

Monica Eng

Cyprus

Banana Cottage Cheese cake

Spinach Tart and Barramundi roll

Nyonya Laksa

I have cooked this many months ago in Singapore but haven't posted it as I wasn't entirely happy with the end result, while it tasted pretty good, I felt it was a tad too spicy... and the paste could be a little finer.  But since I have been in Europe for last 1.5months and as all Singaporeans abroad...am really craving for some Laksa... it looks amazing right now.  So here you go!

You can consider Laksa as the National dish of Singapore.  Laksa is a popular spicy noodle soup from the Peranakan culture, which is a merger of Chinese and Malay elements found in Malaysia and Singapore

Ingredients for Rempeh A (Chilli paste for the stock)

10 dried chilies (soaked in warm water for it to soften)
5 candle nuts (Buah Keras)
A thumb length of gelengal/wild ginger [Lengkuas]
1 whole garlic
15 pieces of shallots
2 lemon grass (Just the whites)
1 1/2 tablespoon of dried shrimp paste [Belacan]
A thumb length of fresh turmeric root
2 fresh chilli

Ingredients for Rich Laksa Gravy B

1 liter of coconut milk (equivalent to 2 coconut)
1.5 liters of chicken stock
5 sprigs of Laksa Leaves
Fresh shrimps
Shredded chicken
Fishball
Fishcake
Beancurd puff (Tau Pok)

Condiments

Noodles (Rounded Thick vermicilli)
Shredded chicken
Hard boiled eggs, halved
Shrimps
Bean sprout (Optional)
Chopped laksa leaves



How to make

Pan roast Belachan (dried shrimp paste) till fragrant and kinda crispy

Grind or pound ingredients A into a fine paste.  I prefer to use a pestle and mortar as I like my paste to have a little texture

This is a very crucial step.  Heat up wok and fry chilli paste with lemongrass on low fire till it darkens.  The paste has to be fried till fragrant otherwise the stock will not be nice.  The oil and the paste should seperate when it is ready.

 Add in Coconut milk and let it simmer for a while.  Add chicken stock and salt to taste.  Lastly add in the beancurd puffs.  Leave to boil for a while and switch off fire.

 In a bowl arrange noodles and condiments according to your preference.  Pour hot laksa gravy over and sprinkle with some laksa leaves.

Bon Appetit

Monica Eng

Egg Plant Rolls

Last weekend, Mary brought me to an exquisite Greek restaurant in Nicosia for lunch.  We ordered a couple of amazing appetizers for lunch.

Spinach Mille Feuille with cheese and walnut

Rocket Salad with mushrooms

Zuchinni stuffed with cheese

And my favouriate of the lot was Eggplant Roll

Eggplant is one of my absolute favourite "greens" to eat and after this amazing meal last weekend, all i could think about was eggplant rolls for many days.  I decided to attempt a Meaty version of this egg plant roll with whatever I can find in the fridge.

Ingredients  (Serves 2)

A handful of Mince pork

1 Eggplant
1 medium size onion Chopped
1 teaspoon tapenade
Tomato puree diluted with a little water to form a nice thick tomato sauce
1 teaspoon homemade chilli puree (blend of Chilli, lime, garlic, salt)
1 chopped Fresh tomatoes
Halloumi cheese
Grated feta (We ran out so I just used some random grated cheese in the fridge)
Chopped cilantro
A dash of oregano
A dash of salt to taste

How to make

Heat pan with olive oil and Heat Oven
Sauteed chopped onions with Tapenade and oregano till caramalized
Add in mince pork and stir fry till 3/4 cooked
Add in half of the chopped tomatoes
Add in tomato diluted puree.  Cook on low heat for 20mins and Add Cilantro and let it simmer.
Slice eggplant to about 1cm thickness












Drizzle baking pan with olive oil, Lay the eggplant on the baking pan,  drizzle more oil and sprinkle some seasalt.  Bake till it's soft but not too soft.  U have to be able to roll them

Fill eggplant with meat sauce, fresh tomatoes and sprinkle on some cheese.  Roll.

Lay out rolled eggplants in a baking tray, fill up pan with remaining sauce and a slice of halloumi cheese on top of each roll.  Bake for 10-15mins.

Serving suggestion

Bon Appetit

Monica Eng

Cyprus