Sunday, November 16, 2008

Baked Pork With 3 Mushrooms

It's been quite hectic days lately for me. I tried to cook some quick meals for the family and made sure that there's at least once a week, we eat home cooked meals. It's fun not to wash pots and plates but in the long run, I felt bored with the eateries' menus... :-P Talk about being fussy LOL! Don't you ever said to yourself that what you ate at the restaurants, you can cook it at home too? In current economy situation, it's time for us to make efforts being frugal. So, let's make use those 3 ingredients or 4 ingredients cooking books hidden away gathering dust in the cabinet :-P I had one book like that and recently I added a new one to my collection.

This recipe is one of the ideas of using what's left in your pantry and fridge. I nearly forgot that I froze a pack of pork shoulder meat (among others in the freezer) and some mushrooms left from previous cooking hence the 3 types of mushrooms I used in this recipe. At first, I thought it's weird and not sure how the dish will taste like especially the strong flavoured Shiitake mushrooms. Will it over powered the other mild mushrooms? My family liked it very much but let me know your feedback ;-)


Baked Pork With 3 Mushrooms
Serves 2-3

100 g Enoki Mushrooms (Golden Mushrooms)
2-4 White Button Mushrooms
2 Shiitake Mushrooms
½ Red Onion
2 cloves Garlic
200 g Pork Shoulder (or any tender chicken meat)

Seasonings:
1 tbsp Rice Wine
1 tbsp Dark Soya Sauce
1 tbsp Oyster Sauce
1 tbsp Cornstarch
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Sugar
¼ tsp Black Pepper

Method:
1. Rinse or wipe fresh mushrooms from grits. Remove any discolored parts or hard stems and cut into shreds. Rinse the Enoki mushrooms and cut off tail-ends. Peel and slice garlic and red onion.
2. Preheat oven at 200 ºC. (For those who have oven with higher set of temperature than stated, preheat oven to 250ºC.)
3. Rinse meat thoroughly ad cut into bite size pieces. Marinate with seasonings for 20-30 minutes. Transfer into a ovenproof casserole and top with all the sliced ingredients.
3. Cover with aluminum foil and transfer to preheated oven. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until tender to your preference. (If your oven's at 250ºC, bake the dish for 20 minutes.)
4. Remove aluminum foil and serve.

Note: If you don't have an oven, this recipe can be cook in a heavy pot on stove as well. Besides pork, you can also use chicken like fillets, thighs and breast meats. Serve this recipe with rice or noodles of your choice. I tried it 'dry' and as soup on cooked yellow noodles (with extra water added to the gravy)- it turned out surprisingly tasty too. I also add extra sliced spring onions, julienned carrot and red chillies as garnishing as you can see in the picture. Actually, I separated the recipe into halves because I have a guest who's not a fan of chillies (it made him upset stomach.) With the other half I added extra chopped chillies, julienned carrot and lots of sliced spring onions. Mixed it all up nicely, just before serving. It's yummy that way for me! Tell me what you think...

Enjoy!

~ Tagged: 7 Facts About Myself ~

I was tagged by CK Lam recently which is the 1st time for me since I started blogging. Frankly, I'm quite confused about this meme and tag thingies. It's like a kind of confession about yourself and since it's nearly end of the year, perhaps this tag may help me for my new resolutions! I also received few requests from those I tagged before though. It's no obligation and feel free to pass my tag(s) :-)

1. My 1st lesson in cookery was frying an omelette at age of 9.
2. I never owned Barbie Doll... I don't know why I don't have interest like some of my neighbourhood girls about Barbie. Maybe the price or I'm not blonde and skinny... :-D
3. I love books... My favourite... science, thriller, children's stories of magical world, Art & History, Famous Five, Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, Sherlock Holmes, 3 Investigators, languages ... the lots! Plus board games like Mastermind, Othello/Reversi, Congkak ( a version of Mancala) and many more...
4. I have phobias of swimming (no, no, no, not because of JAWS!) and driving. I need to troubleshoot the later though...
5. I love travelling... the most memorable event was flying in the Swiss Alps. I felt so timid, speechless and at awed the wonders of Mother Nature created. At the same time, my soul was peaceful thousands of feet above sea level looking down at the Matterhorn and Mont Blanc.
6. My best working life was seeing my design on TV worn by Silver Medalist in Men's Single Table Tennis in XXV Olympic Games in Barcelona. I followed the player and created the sportswear collection until I retired in 1998... LOL
7. I need to do 'fridge cleaning' (a term given by Food4tots) more often then I'm doing now :-P

Monday, November 3, 2008

Sweet Pumpkin And Lily Bulb Soup

What you do with left over pumpkin(s) in... let's say half an hour? I had some pumpkin chunks left over from the soup I made previous days :-) I thought of stir-fry with some shrimps or just with plain with garlic or onions but changed my mind which I don't even know why. Then as I browsed the net for ideas, I realized that it was Halloween judging from all the pumpkin posts on foodies blogs! To all my friends, I wished you 'Happy (belated) Halloween!' I don't celebrate it but it's kind of fun seeing bloggers and friends having fun around you and it also reminded me that Winter is just around the corner!

Besides the pumpkin, I also found my pack of 4 pcs Lily Bulbs which I can't recalled when I bought it. I have to make mental notes not to buy things or ingredients that I don't intend to use early. I did a post about Fresh Lily Bulbs before - you can have a look at how the bulb looks like. The thing is, if I don't buy it now, I may not seeing them anymore on the shelves. It's either off season or last of the lasts. I have to wait next year again! You faced such predicament to buy or not to buy??? Until I find a bigger home for larger refrigerator, I have to content with what I have now... :-( Now, for a quick dessert, yes, I'm using the pumpkin and Lily Bulbs as dessert, for a change.


Sweet Pumpkin And Lily Bulb Soup
Serves 2-3 portions

150 g Pumpkin
50 g Fresh Lily Bulbs
30 g Rock Sugar (or to your taste)
400 ml Water

Method:
1. Wash and cut pumpkin into small chunks. Set aside.
2. Wash and remove any yellow petals from Lily bulbs. Separate bulb into petals.
3. In a pot, heat the water until it boils.
4. Add in the pumpkin chunks and let it cook for about ½ hour or until soft. Add in the rock sugar and Lily petals. When the rock sugar dissolves, remove the pot from heat to avoid over cooking the Lily petals. Serve hot or cold (you can add some ice cubes if you like.)

Note: If you can't find rock sugar, you can use your daily sugar or raw cane sugar. I'm not sure if you can find Fresh Lily bulbs in your regions (please check with your local delis, florists or Asian supermarkets) but you can use the dried lily petals. Soak the dried petals, preferably overnight and boil it until soften. Then add it into the pumpkin and syrup mixture.

Enjoy!

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