Braised Brisket with Blue Cheese Pear Salad

\ Leave a Comment \ by

_MG_0087

I’ve just come back from my holiday with in-laws today. We went to Sydney and Melbourne to celebrate my mother-in-law’s 60th for a week. Walking around the city, shopping, cruise on NYE, catching up with Dan’s family, etc. A week has gone so fast and now back to 40 degree heat in Perth!! Yep..holiday is over though I’m glad to be back home since I struggled with food while traveling. I find it is hard to stay healthy when you have to eat out for a week although you try to make good choices such as salads and sushi. It is just not the same as I wouldn’t know all ingredients, seasoning, sauce, etc in there. Especially being gluten intolerant and sensitive to fatty foods, my stomach can go very wrong and take a long time to recover >.< I seriously need any kind of vegetables for a week! Craving for greens at the moment. Anyhow I’m all unpacked now and settling back in my home.

I braised a big beef brisket in wine and some spices for dinner about a week ago just before we went off to Sydney. I put the leftovers in the freezer so that I don’t have to think about what to cook or rush to make something when we come back. You just need to make some vegetables or salads to go with it. You can see here a succulent and huge piece of beef on his plate and slices of tofu on my plate further up, though we shared same salads. I love a combination of crunchy walnuts, sweet pears, bitter greens, salty blue cheese and sour balsamic reduction. It is by far one of my favorite salads. I used Gorgonzola cheese here, but any kind of blue cheese would work depending on how strong you want it to be. Ooh..makes me hungry:)

Posted in: Dinner, Gluten Free, My recipes

Dinner Party2

\ Leave a Comment \ by

Lunch11

Another dinner with my friend’s couple last night. I have to admit preparing dinner party two days in a row is a bit too much. Though I really enjoyed having people over and feeding them. Menu from last night was similar to the night before, but since my friend and his girl friend both like Korean spicy food I added spicy rice cakes, green bean salad and bean pancakes.

– Green Bean Salad: simple fresh salad consisted of poached green beans and mixed salad dressed with balsamic vinegar and topped with toasted garlic chips and sesame seeds

– Bean Pancakes: blend cooked chick peas, black eyed peas, sundried tomato, black olives, basil and one egg. Shape them to little balls. cook in the pan with coconut oil

– Spicy Rice Cakes: stir-fry rice cakes, cabbage, spring onions and carrots with red chili flakes and paste. Season with salt and pepper. I added a little bit of cheese on top to add creaminess

– Bulgogi and Cold Udon Salad: same as night before

_MG_0080

Posted in: Dinner, My recipes

Dinner Party

\ Leave a Comment \ by

Lunch10

I had my friend and her husband over for dinner yesterday. I cooked up five main dishes and one dessert menu. Since it is summer over here, I didn’t want anything too warm or hearty so it was mostly cold salads and finger foods. Such a good night with laughs and chit-chat over 4 hours. It is always nice to have good food and company. It couldn’t be better!

– Mediterranean Bites: home-made bread topped with apricot cream cheese, sundried tomato, black olives, basil and truffle oil

– Bulgogi: Korean style marinated thinly sliced beef with enoki mushrooms and spring onions

– Cold Udon Salad: poached udon and fish balls with grated zucchini, carrot, coriander and parsley dressed with soy sauce and sesame oil

– Cheese Parcels: grated cheese wrapped in filo pastry with sweet and sour sauce

– Honey Roasted Carrot and Lentil Salad: honey roasted carrot on beds of green beans and mixed salads topped with ricotta cheese, roasted walnuts, cumin seeds and drizzle of infused honey

– Earl Gray Custard Slice: earl gray tea infused custard slice with pear puree for dessert (no photo)

Lunch9

Posted in: Dinner, My recipes \ Tagged: , , , ,

Braised pork with rice and crunch salad + coconut bread

\ Leave a Comment \ by

Lunch

I’m not a big fan of eating meat (pork here) though I try to incorporate a variety of protein in my cooking for Daniel.
I cooked braised pork shoulder in Asian barbeque sauce. It just fell apart when I tried to pick it up with tongs after being cooked in the oven for about 3 hours. You know that is a good sign as well as a nice smell around the house 🙂
For the salad, I mixed grated carrots, beetroot, red cabbage, bean sprouts, coriander and parsley.
So crunchy and refreshing – goes well with hearty meat dish like that.

Pork is considered as quite fatty meat, though depending on what cut you buy and how you cook, you can eat them healthy.
Pork is high in vital nutrients such as phosphorus, selenium, zinc, potassium and copper. Vitamin B1 found in pork helps the growth and repair of muscles and nerve tissue. Riboflavin for skin health, vitamin B6 for metabolism, iron for energy, zinc for immune system, protein for building muscles. So if you choose unprocessed lean cuts and trim most visible fat, it is good for overall health.

I also baked a coconut bread which turned out to be so moist inside and crusty outside. I’ve become a huge fan of coconut after studying nutrient.
Well..I was scared of having any fats in my diet. I used to have everything non-fat or diet products just because “fat” sounded so bad and fattening to me.
It turned out I was totally wrong. You need GOOD fats, not BAD fats in your diet. Coconut is one of the good ones. Yes, it has a high saturated fat content (about 92% of the fatty acids). But you need good quality saturated fatty acids for the health of your bones, protecting your liver and heart.

Coconut stabilises your blood sugar, lowers cholesterol, hydrates you. Also lauric acid found in coconut oil has strong antifungal and antimicrobial properties.
It is extremely stable in heat, which means, unlike other types of oils, it doesn’t get oxidation and release free-radicals (causing cancer) while cooking. On top of all that, it can be used for pretty much everything e.g. cooking, baking, moisturiser for your skin and hair, etc. So I always keep a jar of coconut oil next to my stove for cooking and also under the basin to use on my skin after shower.
It smells amazing when you bake with coconut flour or flakes. It tastes good and fills you up because of its high fat content and dietary fibre.
So try to use more coconut products – coconut water, coconut oil, coconut flour, coconut flakes, coconut butter, coconut cream, never ending…….

Lunch1

Posted in: Baking, Dinner, Lunch, My recipes \ Tagged: ,

Sushi

\ 2 Comments \ by

_MG_1496

Sushi (well..a.k.a Kimbap in Korea) used to be a special meal for me when I grew up.
We had a picnic day in Spring and Autumn twice a year when I was at school. Sushi was a must dish that everyone brought in their lunch box and compared whose tastes and looks better. I liked that excitement the night before, waiting for a picnic day, sometimes sleepless night with a big smile on my little face. Mum used to get up really early and made noises in the kitchen to make my lunch box when I was still sleeping in bed. Then I wake up and walk to the kitchen. The kitchen bench is a full of colourful ingredients like a rainbow. Spinach, carrot, pickled radish, ham, cheese, eggs, some herbs, etc. My family ends up having mum’s sushi for breakfast, lunch and dinner that day. She made the prettiest sushi in the world and it, of course, tasted delicious! Ah..nostalgia..my childhood food 🙂

I know sushi has become a big trend of healthy take-away food. To me, though, western sushi has so much rice and no flavour compared to Korean sushi. And did I mention it is a bit pricy for a small roll of sushi >.<
I normally make one myself home because it is so easy and fun to make. If you haven’t done it before, it may look a little intimidating task but trust me on this! You just need to practice a couple of times until you get the hang of it. Always the first one is the ugliest, exactly like when you make pancakes. I used two cups of sushi rice and some vegetables to make two big rolls. A bit of chilli sauce to spice it up as well. I find it helps to have the sharpest knife you’ve got at home in runny water before you slice them up so that rice doesn’t stick to your knife and ruin your beautiful sushi. Writing this post…I think myself I really should call this Kimbap, not sushi!!!!

_MG_1497

Posted in: Dinner, Gluten Free, Lunch, My recipes, Vegetarian