A potato bake has to be one of my all time favourite foods… It has all the ingredients which I absolutely love and its very tasty!!!
As my job is only to eat and not to cook, it will not make very much sense for me to explain in detail on how its made, so onto the pics!!!
Lovely ain’t it??? Oh and cheap too… Just RM 2.00 per head!!!
10 mins??? Yup, that is all it takes to make a hearty bowl of soup noodles that tastes way better than its instant cousins… Not only that, this is healthier (and 80% organic too)…
All you need are some:
Here is a look at the end product…
And a close up to make you drool…
Now tell me that is not gonna taste better than your packet of instant noodles…
“Alio Olio Pepperoncino” simply means garlic, oil and pepper… I can have this pasta EVERYDAY!!!… It’s sooo easy to make and it saves my day when the cupboard is almost bare… This sauce is so versatile that anything can be added to it… bell peppers, mushrooms, aubergine, sausage, sun-dried tomatoes and the meal is instantly transformed!!!…
A serving normally costs less than a ringgit and a more fancy version just slightly more… I added salmon today since it was on promo @ Jusco supermarket… Besides, I also added some enoki and oyster mushrooms…
Spaghetti Aglio Olio E Peperoncino
Ingredients:
| 500g spaghetti |
| 4 cloves garlic, sliced |
| 2-3 whole dried chillies or 1 tsp chilli flakes |
| 1/3 cup olive oil |
| 1 tblsp chopped parsley (optional) |
| Salt and black pepper |
| Chicken stock (optional) |
Method
Cook pasta until al dente according to manufacturer’s instructions. Meanwhile, heat a saucepan and add olive oil, garlic, parsley and dried chillies for 1 min. Do not overcook as the garlic will taste bitter. Remove chilli if using whole and add stock if using.
When pasta is ready, drain water and add to the saucepan. Toss well and season with salt and black pepper.
Serves 4-6
Note: The dish will taste better if you use chicken stock or even better, white wine…
Pan-seared Salmon: As for the salmon, I just season the fish with some salt, black pepper and lemon juice and pan-fry in a non-stick pan in a little oil until 90% done. I prefer to eat it a little under-cooked…
Cost/Serving: RM 5 with salmon and RM 0.90 without. In my family, a packet of 500g pasta can feed 6 so I calculate my cost accordingly…
Miss Cook Alot loves a good hotpot treat and we were lucky to be introduced to a little gem in the heart of Pudu, The Xiao Fei Yang Restaurant…
The restaurant is extremely popular and we were advised to get there early to avoid disappointment… There is a mind boggling choice of combinations for the soup bases and rather than stress over the ordering, we left it to our trusty food guide, Deric…
Based upon the Deric’s recommendations, we got a herbal soup base and a pepper soup base…
According to Deric, almost everything that they have for the hotpot is either made from scratch or cut up upon ordering… Therefore, we just had to get the following items!!!
While waiting for the food to cook in the hotpot, Deric guided us on how to mix the sauces for dipping and it was fabulous!!!
As you can see there are no pictures of any cooked food as it all disappeared too quickly for me to capture… Everything was fresh and seasoned well… Nothing stood out more than the other as everything was as good as the dish that preceded it…
Pricing wise, we paid RM 160.00 for a sumptuous meal for three… It may not be the cheapest hotpot meal around but its definitely one of the best you can get… Miss Cook Alot and I will surely go and visit this wonderful gem in Pudu again!!!
Wat-Tan-Hor (Kuey teow with creamy egg sauce) is a popular local ‘tai chow’ dish… The kuey teow is fried in oil and seasoning before topping it off with a thick egg-based gravy… I made a dish similar to ‘Wat-Tan-Hor’ but with half the fat and made with homemade chicken stock… Since I don’t use MSG or similar seasonings, I always have real chicken stock in my kitchen to give flavour to my dishes… Every time I have extra chicken bones and carcasses, I will boil some stock for 3-4 hours and reduce it to a gelatinous consistency and freeze in ice cube trays…
Good thing about quick meals like the above is that we can throw in whatever we have in the fridge… I have some oyster mushrooms, Chinese cabbage, prawns and meat balls in my fridge… Great… We have a balanced diet!!!…
Cost/serving: RM 2.80
What do you want for lunch?… “Something soupy”… That’s my standard answer to Sir Eat Alot every time he asked about my preference… More often than not, I will crave something soupy… Noodle soup, herbal soup, chicken soup, minestrone etc… You name it I’ll eat it… There’s something about the hot spoonfuls of soup that is so appetizing and satisfying…
Potatoes make really good soup… Potato soup is the perfect comfort food and makes a delicious compliment to any gourmet meal or served as the main dish… Sometimes, potatoes are added in a recipe and blended to thicken the soup…
Some people dislike the taste of leek… In this soup however, the leek taste is somewhat subtle… I used starchy Russet potatoes in this recipe… If you like, you can fry some bacon and crumble as topping for the soup instead of croutons…
The following recipe serves 4 hungry people and 6 as starters:
Potato and Leek Soup
Ingredients:
| 2 leek, cleaned, sliced (use white part only) |
| 1 white onion, chopped |
| 2 large Russet potatoes (about 160g), cubed |
| 2-3 tblsp butter |
| 1 tblsp olive oil (to prevent butter from burning) |
| 1 tsp dried basil leaves |
| 1200ml chicken or vegetable stock or water |
| salt and black pepper to taste |
| whipping cream |
| chopped parsley for garnishing |
| chicken stock granules ( optional) |
Method:
Melt butter and olive oil in a heavy-based pot over medium fire. Sweat onions and leek for 5 mins. Add basil and potato and cook another 5 mins.
Add in stock/water, cover and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and gently simmer for another 30 mins until potatoes are soft.
Blend the soup in a blender, return to pot and bring to a boil. Season with salt and black pepper. Serve in a bowl and drizzle a tblsp of cream and sprinkle some croutons on top.
Note: For a richer taste, you can add more cream and/or milk into the soup. Chicken granules will make the soup taste better if you’re using water. I'm quite a health freak and I maintain a MSG- and chicken granules-free kitchen…
Parmesan Garlic Croutons
Cut 4 slices of thick French bread (or any bread that you have) into 1/2 inch cubes. Melt 1/4 cup butter in a pan. Remove from heat and stir in 3 tblsp parmesan and 1/8 tsp garlic powder (I used finely minced garlic). Add in bread cubes and stir until cubes are coated with butter mixture.
Spread cubes in a shallow baking pan and bake in the oven at 150 degrees C for 10 mins. Cool before use. Keeps for a week in an airtight container. Makes about 16 servings.
Cost/Serving: RM 1.50 (4-pax recipe), RM 1 (6-pax recipe)
As Miss Cook Alot has been cooking up a storm at home for the past week, I decided to give her a break on Saturday and head over to the Lemon Garden to try their BBQ Buffet!!!
Here are some of the highlights of the dinner…
As you can probably tell from the pictures, we had a lot to eat on Saturday night and we left the restaurant with smiles on our faces even though the price per head was $128.00 ++… It was primarily because everything we sampled was either good or it was fantastic, nothing disappointed… Miss Cook Alot and I are definitely going there again!!!
