Attempt #42: Quick and Easy Flavoured Water – with Fresh Mint and Lime

I am going through this lazy strike of attempting new recipes for the past couple of days ….or has that been more than a week?? *Gosh*

Well, in my defence, I have been pretty busy with my other jobs, chores…you name it and whipping up new menu for the dinner table isn’t in the priority list at the moment. But interestingly, I just felt that I want to at least attempt something simple just to spice the dinner table up. And what can be simpler than attempting new beverages/ drinks recipes by Jamie Oliver!! J

So, the next few attempts will be just around drinks! Pretty creative ideas from Jamie that we can use for that dinner parties or even among the family.

The result:

 

 

Literally, in just a couple of minutes, a plain jug of water was turned into something much more exciting and refreshing! Plus mint leaves is packed with loads of health benefits that helps with digestion, nausea, headache and cough and help opens up congestion of the lungs.

 

Ingredients

Water

I handful of Mint Leaves

1 Lime or Lemon 

Ice cubes

 

Method

Scrunch a handful of fresh mint in your hands to get the flavour going then add that to the jug with a squeeze of lemon or lime juice. If you're feeling a bit adventurous, add a few slices of cucumber too.
 

Attempt #41: Prawn & watermelon salad

Ahhh…. Just like eggs + bacon, pancakes + bananas and rum + coke, the combination of prawns + watermelons are also just meant to be. Safe recipe to attempt when having to bring a dish for those potluck dinners! J

The result:

Instead of baby spinach, I used ‘bayam’ (which is a different type of more popular known spinach in Malaysia) and I did blanch the ‘bayam’ first so that it is not so raw.

 

Jamie’s rendition:

 

Ingredients (serves 2)

zest and juice of 2 limes

• 12 raw prawns, from sustainable sources, ask your fishmonger, peeled
• 100 g unsalted cashews
• 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
• 1 small bunch mint
• 1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
• 2 handfuls baby spinach
• 400 g watermelon, seeds removed, cut into chunks
• 4 spring onions, finely sliced
• sesame oil
• sea salt
• freshly ground black pepper

Method

Put the zest and juice of one of the limes in a bowl and toss the prawns in it. Leave to marinate while you prepare the other ingredients.

Heat a wok or frying pan, then add the cashews and heat until lightly toasted.

Add the sesame seeds for 30 seconds until they start to brown and pop, then remove all the nuts from the pan. Crush lightly with the bottom of a saucepan and place in a big mixing bowl.

Add the mint, chopped chilli, baby spinach, watermelon and spring onion to the mixing bowl and toss with the toasted nuts.

Add the prawns to the hot pan with a splash of sesame oil, season with salt and pepper and stir-fry lightly for a few minutes until cooked through.

Toss the cooked prawns with the other ingredients in the mixing bowl and season with lime juice, sesame oil, salt and pepper.

Tip: If you can't find cashews, unsalted peanuts will do instead

Attempt #40: Tagliatelle with asparagus, crispy pancetta & Parmesan

This recipe is certainly quick and easy as Jamie had introduced it in his website. While you can’t go wrong with this recipe as it is really so easy, I find it lacking in sufficient taste. It doesn’t call for garlic or onions and you have to solely rely on the quality of your olive oil, parmesan cheese in (which too much isn't that healthy) and the freshness of your pasta. In this case I can now understand why the recipe calls for FRESH egg tagliatelle pasta. Note the word FRESH. J

NOTE: Tagliatelle pastas are long, flat ribbons that are similar in shape to fettuccine and are typically about 6.5 mm to 10 mm (0.25 to 0.375 inch) wide. Tagliatelle pastas are usually made from egg and can be served with a variety of sauces, though the classic is a meat sauce or Bolognese sauce.

The result of my attempt as below:

 

Not a recipe that I will try again unless I am ill in bed and need a mild concoction of carbohydrate J

Jamie’s rendition:

 

Ingredients (Serves 4)
1 bunch asparagus

• 12 thin slices higher-welfare pancetta, sliced into small strips
• 500 g fresh egg tagliatelle
• 40 g Parmesan, grated
• sea salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• extra virgin olive oil

Method

Snap the woody bottoms off the asparagus stalks and throw them away.

Cut off the top 4cm of each stalk, put to one side and finely chop the remaining stalks. Heat a wide frying pan and gently fry the chopped asparagus stalks in a little olive oil with the pancetta. When the asparagus softens slightly turn the heat off and mash them roughly with the back of a fork.

Cook the tagliatelle in plenty of boiling salted water, according to pack instructions. Add the asparagus tips for the last 2 minutes of cooking time.

Drain the pasta, reserving a cup of the cooking water, and toss with the mashed asparagus and pancetta.

Stir in most of the Parmesan cheese and season with salt and pepper. If needed loosen the pasta with a little of the cooking water. Serve with the last of the Parmesan sprinkled on top.

Tip: Cooking your asparagus with the pasta is a clever way to save on time and washing up.

Onions 101

Before I started my serial cooking attempts, I have never truly paid much attention to the different types and the price of onions. Usually, I just get the standard red medium sized onions that can be abundantly found in the local wet markets or most grocers / supermarkets here in KL.

 

However, with my Jamie O’s attempts and some of his recipes require yellow and white onions, I decided to google the difference between the red, yellow and white ones. And now I know! :)

 

Here's the low down on the different types of onions:

 

 

 

Yellow Onions

Yellow onions are the most popular cooking onions because they add excellent flavor to most stews, soups, and meat dishes. In fact, typically when a cooked recipe calls for onion, yellow onion is a safe way to go. Yellow onions have a yellow-brown papery skin on the outside and a white flesh.

Yellow onion has higher sulfur content which means it will make your eyes water faster. Because the yellow onion has such high sulfur content, it has a more pungent flavor and smell, which typically makes it too strong to eat raw unless there are other ingredients to counter-balance the flavor. Most people uses yellow onions in stews, soups, sautéed dishes, and shish kabobs as they have excellent flavor when cooked.

White Onions

White onions have an all-white skin and an all-white flesh. They have a slightly milder flavor than the yellow onion and are a great substitute if you’re in need of an onion flavor, but don’t want it to be too powerful. White onions are commonly used in Mexican cuisines.

Red Onions

You’re most likely to see red onions in non-cooked dishes, such as salads and sandwiches. Of the different colored onions, the red onion is the most mild, sweet onion. Red onions have the purplish-red skin which color is layered though it’s white flesh. Some don’t like to cook heated dishes with red onion because it doesn’t produce enough onion flavor to enhance the meal. (Cooking an onion diminishes its flavor, but increases the flavor of the food around it).

How to Pick a Good Onion

In general, when you’re choosing onions in the store, the best ones will be firm, have a crackly outer skin, and have a mild scent. If their scent is overwhelming it’s a good sign the onion is starting to spoil. Avoid onions with dark spots or mold as well unless you are going to use them right away. On another note, onions tend to store better in a slightly cooler, darker area, although the fridge is not recommended. The onion smell has a tendency to spoil the flavor of other foods in the fridge.

And if you need to chop an onion, this style of chopping an onion will help to reduce the ‘crying’ J  

 

 

Attempt #39: Asian pinch salad

Prawns or shrimps… while I don’t really know the difference, I know that they taste great on absolutely anything and everything! J

This is one recipe that is definitely a keeper. Would definitely  make this again for future dinner parties as it is extremely easy and most ingredients are easily accessible.

The result:

 

I omitted chilies and rice noodles as I made this to go with rice. I am not a big fan of coriander either hence I didn’t add that into the dish. Even then, it tastes great! Simple, healthy and yummy.

 

Jamie's rendition below:

 

 

Ingredients

• 24 frozen raw peeled jumbo king prawns, from sustainable sources, ask your fishmonger, defrosted
• 1 pinch Chinese five spice
• 1 thumb-sized piece of fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped
• zest and juice of 1 lime
• sesame oil
• 50 g fine rice noodles
• 1 fresh red chilli, deseeded and finely sliced
• 25 g sesame seeds, lightly toasted
• 1 small bunch fresh coriander, leaves picked
• 2 round lettuces, outer leaves removed and discarded, inner leaves reserved

Method

In a bowl, mix the raw prawns with the five-spice, ginger, lime zest and a splash of sesame oil, then leave to marinate.

Meanwhile, cook your rice noodles following pack instructions. Drain and toss in a little sesame oil. Allow them to cool then add the lime juice, chilli, sesame seeds and coriander leaves. Mix well.

Heat a frying pan or wok until really hot and stir-fry the marinated prawns for 2 or 3 minutes until cooked. Set aside.

To assemble your pinch salad, take a nice, cupped lettuce leaf and pile on a little of the noodle salad. Top with a couple of cooked prawns. Repeat until you have 12 little lettuce cups. To eat, pinch each cup together with your fingers and enjoy!

Attempt #38: Omelet

Eggs have two advantages over all other foods. First, they are procurable nearly everywhere; second, the most dainty person is sure when eating eggs that they have not been handled.”
extracted from - ‘A Book for A Cook’, The Pillsbury Co. (1905)

Eggs are truly a miracle ingredient. To me eggs are like talented actors – they can play the lead role or the supporting role. And when they do play the supporting role, they are actually the ones who pull the entire show (or dish in this case) together.

This recipe was a hit among my kids. EGGS + CHEESE = HIT WITH KIDS! And it only took 5 minutes prep time! J

 Ingredients

2 large free-range eggs

• sea salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• 1 small knob butter
• 1 small handful Cheddar cheese, grated, optional

Method

Crack the eggs into a mixing bowl with a pinch of salt and pepper. Beat well with a fork.

Put a small frying pan on a low heat and let it get hot. Add a small knob of butter. When the butter has melted and is bubbling, add your eggs and move the pan around to spread them out evenly. When the omelette begins to cook and firm up, but still has a little raw egg on top, sprinkle over the cheese, if using (I sometimes grate mine directly on to the omelette).

Using a spatula, ease around the edges of the omelette, then fold it over in half. When it starts to turn golden brown underneath, remove the pan from the heat and slide the omelette on to a plate.

Attempt #37: Perfect roast chicken

Tried this recipe again and this time, the lemon fits nicely into the chicken’s behind! J

 

The result :

And after numerous attempts at baking chicken, I have learnt that the temperature of the oven is important. The way Jamie suggested to heat up the oven to 240C and then to bring it down to 200C when you pop the chicken in works! You get a cripsy skin on the outside and moist tender meat in the inside.

 

Ingredients

• 1.6 kg higher-welfare chicken
• 2 medium onions
• 2 carrots
• 2 sticks celery
• 1 bulb garlic
• olive oil
• sea salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• 1 lemon
• 1 small bunch fresh thyme, rosemary, bay or sage, or a mixture

Method

To prepare your chicken
Take your chicken out of the fridge 30 minutes before it goes into the oven. Preheat your oven to 240°C/475°F/gas 9. There's no need to peel the vegetables – just give them a wash and roughly chop them. Break the garlic bulb into cloves, leaving them unpeeled.

Pile all the veg and garlic into the middle of a large roasting tray and drizzle with olive oil. Drizzle the chicken with olive oil and season well with salt and pepper, rubbing it all over the bird. Carefully prick the lemon all over, using the tip of a sharp knife (if you have a microwave, you could pop the lemon in these for 40 seconds at this point as this will really bring out the flavour). Put the lemon inside the chicken's cavity, with the bunch of herbs.

To cook your chicken
Place the chicken on top of the vegetables in the roasting tray and put it into the preheated oven. Turn the heat down immediately to 200°C/400°F/gas 6 and cook the chicken for 1 hour and 20 minutes. If you're doing roast potatoes and veggies, this is the time to crack on with them – get them into the oven for the last 45 minutes of cooking.

Baste the chicken halfway through cooking and if the veg look dry, add a splash of water to the tray to stop them burning. When cooked, take the tray out of the oven and transfer the chicken to a board to rest for 15 minutes or so. Cover it with a layer of tinfoil and a tea towel and put aside. Now is the time to make your gravy.

To carve your chicken
Remove any string from the chicken and take off the wings (break them up and add to your gravy for mega flavour). Carefully cut down between the leg and the breast. Cut through the joint and pull the leg off.

Repeat on the other side, then cut each leg between the thigh and the drumstick so you end up with four portions of dark meat. Place these on a serving platter. You should now have a clear space to carve the rest of your chicken. Angle the knife along the breastbone and carve one side off, then the other.

When you get down to the fussy bits, just use your fingers to pull all the meat off, and turn the chicken over to get all the tasty, juicy bits from underneath. You should be left with a stripped carcass, and a platter full of lovely meat that you can serve with your piping hot gravy and gorgeous roast veg.

Attempt #36: Stewed fruit

Strangely my 2 kids do not like apples much. Give them bananas, cherries, pears, mangoes or watermelon and they will chomp them down - but they simply don’t fancy apples. Hence, when I came across this recipe from Jamie’s website on stewing fruits, it gave me an alternative method to prepare apples to see if the kids will like them.

The result:

 

I burnt my pot while stewing the apples!

Little did I know, sugar laden water burns easily over a stove hence don’t let that pot out of your sight should you wish to try this recipe out. Good thing was that my daughter likes the apples being cooked this way (probably from the castor sugar) but it still wasn’t a hit with my son.

 

Cooking tips from Jamie’s website when cooking this recipe:

The really important thing to remember when you are stewing fruit is that it's best to decide for yourself how much sugar to add. For example, if your fruit is really ripe and sweet, you'll need less than. Just have a taste as you go along and add more if you think you need to.

Ingredients

500 g seasonal fruit, such as rhubarb, plums, apricots, strawberries or pears
2.5 cm piece fresh ginger, optional, for if using rhubarb

caster sugar, to taste

Method

Chop up all the fruit, discarding any stones.

Place the fruit in a pan. If using rhubarb, peel the ginger and finely grate it into the pan. Add the sugar – I usually add 3 heaped teaspoons to rhubarb and 2 heaped teaspoons to any other fruit, but just taste as you go along and add more if you think it needs it (please be careful when tasting as it gets really hot). Add 2 tablespoons of water and cook on a medium heat with the lid on.

Once the fruit has softened, remove the lid and let the liquid reduce – you want to end up with a fairly thick consistency.

Serve over cereal, yoghurt, pancakes, granola, muesli or even with roast pork!