Toothache-induced headache

Apparently you can get headaches as a result of a toothache. That would explain the blinding pain in my skull right about now....

Can't wait till I see the dentist on Tuesday

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

Dedicated to my colleague who lent me the DVD and is also himself a tinker, a tailor, a soldier and definitely a spyyyyyyyyy. It may not be immediately obvious what it means since most of it concerns inside jokes, but if you know a certain Matt Eckold do ask him ^_^

You know....

You know your roast duck recipe is an epic fail when the feedback you get is "OH that's DUCK?! I thought you seriously overcooked the chicken!" -__-"

LADIES: If you're in the middle of eating a rendang and your husband starts batting his eyelashes at you, you know he wants you to cook a sambal to go with it.
MEN: If you live overseas and your wife is cooking rendang in the middle of the week for no celebratory reason, you know she is stressed. Why are you asking her to cook sambal!

Roasted Pork Ribs

This dish is beyond description - yummylicious should sum it up quite nicely! Tender pork ribs with a slightly spicy, salty and sweet marinade - easy to cook, amazing to eat. Another stunning recipe courtesy of Rosalind Hon!

Roasted Pork Ribs
Ingredients
1 kg rack of pork ribs


Marinade
8 Shallots

8 cloves garlic

1 to 2 tblsp. lat tau ban cheong  (chilli bean sauce)

1 to 2 tblsp. oyster sauce

Some Sesame oil

1 teaspoon Salt

2 teaspoon Sugar

1 tblsp. Cornflour

3 teaspoon soya sauce

100 ml apple juice (or juice extracted from 1 apple)

Seasoning
Black pepper
Melted butter.


Coarsely chop the shallots and garlic, then mix the marinade ingredients together to form a chunky paste. Marinade the pork ribs in this for a few hours (best overnight). Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 6 (180 degrees on a fan oven).
Transfer the ribs to a baking tray, and drizzle melted butter and freshly ground black pepper. Roast in the oven for 1 hour. (You may want to turn the ribs over after half an hour, but personally i prefer to allow the top section to char slightly because it looks better and tastes awesomeeeeeeee). Serve hot with rice.

Note: If you are not keen on the smell of pork, blanch the ribs in boiling water before applying the marinade.
Note 2: Any leftover marinade should be pan fried/cooked and stored. You can reuse it on other cuts of meat, or freeze it for later use.

Smoked Salmon and Pepper Pasta

Sweet, rich, creamy, sharp, and very boozy, this dish is a delight to prepare - it has but few ingredients and requires very little preparation, but is luxurious and velvety on the tongue. Throw in an optional fresh chili for some extra bite. 

If, like me, you inevitably end up with a post-Christmas pack of smoked salmon in your fridge (bought with the good intention of serving, but seldom actually ends up on a plate because everyone else has brought too much food anyway), this is the recipe for you. (If you don't actually have smoked salmon handy and have to go out and buy one, allow me to recommend the cheat method of buying smoked salmon trimmings instead - it is much cheaper and saves you having to slice your smoked salmon.

Smoked Salmon and Pepper Pasta  (Serves 2)

Ingredients
A little bit of olive oil
A little bit of honey (for drizzling)
Salt
2 smallish peppers/capsicum, in bite-sized chunks
100 g pack of smoked salmon/smoked salmon trimmings, sliced into small strips
15-20 g of salted butter
1-2 tbsp good brandy or whiskey (I have not tried any other liquor yet....)
1/2 an echalion shallot (or 1 normal shallot), thinly sliced.
150 ml single cream
150 g spaghetti or linguine (I usually allow 75 g pasta per person, but that's because we eat a lot...)

Drop the pasta into boiling water (remembering to check frequently and drain when the pasta is al dente). In the meantime, drizzle a little bit of olive oil, salt and honey onto the peppers, give it a good mix, and grill until slightly brown and caramelised. Heat butter in a pan. Once butter is foaming, lightly saute the shallots until soft, then stir in the cooked peppers. Add the liquor, allowing the alcohol to evaporate before adding in the cream. Season with black pepper if desired. Mix well, then pour in the pasta, allowing the warm cream to coat the pasta. Plate the pasta, then mix in the smoked salmon (or pile the smoked salmon atop the pasta, which is what I usually do to keep the smoked salmon from cooking).Voila!

You may have noticed that the sauce is unseasoned - that is partly because the butter and the peppers have been salted, but also because smoked salmon is salty anyway and the sweet (but bland) cream sauce will offset that nicely. If you don't have a grill, roast the peppers in an oven at Gas mark 6 for about 15-20 minutes, but if that's the case put the peppers in the oven first before you start boiling the pasta. For an extra spicy kick, add some fresh red chilli slices when sauteing the shallots.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Gosh it's been such a year. I finally got my PhD, Cent Hope is doing okay (will post a feature on it sometime soon, I reckon), Simon passed a few exams and my pretty boy is growing up so quickly... Lots to thank God for.
Maybe it's a post-viva phenomenon, but I'm feeling ridiculously sentimental and mildly sappy. I guess maybe it's finally hit home that I am actually going to be leaving the ORC. Not sure how I feel about leaving so many precious people behind :P
But anyway I thought I'd share some Christmassy pictures I made some time ago. Feel free to re-use them, but PLEASE do not remove the copyright sign or the url to the Cent Hope site!

Merry Christmas, everyone :)

Poetic Injustice

In his room my son lies dreaming
But even in his perfect bliss
He can still hear his mother screaming:
"SOMEONE'S EATEN ALL MY CRISPS!!!!"

- A lament by a hungry mummy