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labour day in the US is adamantly not on the 1st of May… and since i couldn’t get away from my work-misery and the twin-cities over the long weekend (my escape plan to NY didn’t materialise… maybe next time!) … i decided to bring the party into my wee apartment instead… well, it’s just a wee little dinner get-together with a few of my colleague-friends. but it meant i could kinda say ‘thank-you’ to one of them who’s been very kind with letting me use his car to practice driving… and also an excuse to watch “The Fiddler On The Roof” with some company… and it gave them the opportunity to taste some asian-homecooking… well, almost!
those who have actually seen me messing about in a/the kitchen will realise how dyslexic i am in following recipes… whether it is pure dyslexia or pure obstination in following ‘orders’ or that i don’t always have everything i need… i tend to exercise quite a lot of creative license in my cooking… just because. well, call it a genetic disposition! but i quite like this rather non-conformist drive in me, particularly in the kitchen… =C) …

“cooking without a recipe
While some people like the ‘certainty’ that comes from following an exact recipe, others rarely bother with them. [...] This does not always mean that [those latter people] are particularly experienced cooks — it may be that they have an instinct for what might go with what. A feeling for their food. They may also have read or heard that x is good with y, or vaguely remember something they once ate and enjoyed. Whatever sort of cook you are — or want to be — there is nothing quite so rewarding as following your instincts and finding that they pay off.” (Nigel Slater, APPETITE, pg 34-35)

i often browse through recipe books to find inspiration, or gain them through my mummy’s cooking, or by learning from what other people do, or quite simply from trial-and-error… and from really screwing things up! but hey…. it’s really not a big deal. at least i don’t think so… some people get really stressed out about screwing up… and in some ways, jeopardise the enjoyment that goes with the whole affair…
i think it is fun to have people helping you with your messing-about-in-the-kitchen; especially those who have a penchant for all things foodie… this hands-on activity is also a good way to prepare your ‘guests’ for what they will be eating! haha…
apart from the braised pork and tofu stew which i served with steamed rice (cooked on top of the gas-stove) and garlic-stir-fried broccoli, i thought it would be fun to include a version of vietnamese spring-rolls as appetiser which i got the guys interested into making two rolls for everyone… while i made the whipped-mascarpone-cream for the layered fruit-compote and amaretti-mascarpone dessert (shown in the top left picture)… and tried to fit all the goodness into a red-wine glass for each of us! we all had a lot of fun… so much so that we didn’t really snap any pictures; busy preparing, busy keeping everyone occupied with something (so much to the extend of handing one of them my english-chinese/chinese-english dictionary so that he could try to say something in mandarin! it was hilarious…) busy eating, busy enjoying the silly but otherwise ‘intellectually-stimulating’ exchanges of food-talk.. and i am glad they found the food edible!
i so much enjoyed cooking for/with my friends that i got even more inspired to try new ‘recipes’… and subconsciously, i picked out 2 cookbooks (pictured left) from Barnes&Nobles on tuesday… and i am so chuffed with my purchase! i’ve always wanted a book that would tell me about different herbs and spices and how they have been traditionally used, prepared, combined, and also what they are good with… and i’ve always loved a good hearty soup! particularly ruth’s soups… and so any inspiring ideas for soup-brewing and herby or spicey endeavours are indeed gems to be sought!
in fact, i was so excited by the many different things i could do with my favourite cilantro/corriander herb, which i make a point to get regularly… that i tried the corriander chutney recipe, modifying it only ever so slightly by adding a touch of sweet japanese mirin… and i am guessing that this would be splendid with seafood, and grilled meats… complementing the meat or grains with a subtly spiced but sweet experience and something i could bring along to the bbq-party this coming sunday!
oh… i can’t wait to try other herb-spice concoctions… and make me a warm soup real soon!

this was the result of having a packet of fresh soft Philadelphia cheese that was crying to be used yesterday… i attempted to follow the blueberry cheesecake recipe offered on the cardboard carton but had to modify it because a) i didn’t have any sour-cream and didn’t want to go to LUNDs to get it, b) i couldn’t bring myself to make the biscuity base from scratch because it was nearly 10pm and c) i found a box of ready-made mini tartlet crusts on my kitchen shelf which i have been saving for a random treat…
this is my sketchy recipe, concocted on the spot… so perhaps there’s something else which might be missing… oops!
INGREDIENTS:
- 1 packet of (8 oz. each) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
- 1 wee tub of Danone French Vanilla jogurt
- 1 large free-range brown egg
- 1 teaspoon of bourbon vanilla essence
- approximately 1/2 cup of frozen blueberries, thawed, strained and pureed
- a handful of thinly chopped almond slices
after mixing the soft cheese and jogurt, mix in the egg (the whole thing) and the vanilla essence. you ought to end up with a nice smooth creamy thick emulsion. dullop about a spoonful of the mixture to each empty tartlet crust that has been hibernating on a flat baking sheet, just enough to fill not-quite to its brim. then using a pair of chopsticks (if you will!) add a little lump of the pureed blueberry into the middle of the creamy filling of each tartlet. sprinkle or artistically place a few almond slices on the top and bake in a preheated oven (to 350degF / approximately 200degC, methinks!) until the cheesy filling looks just golden brown or that the crust is golden brown (approx. 20mins perhaps!). remove from the heat and let the wee tartlets cool and breathe… chill (for about 2-3 hours) before serving… over-a-cuppa… of course! haha.
… because i wanted to share it with my colleagues at the office/lab, i had made a promise to myself (a while ago when i discovered about it, and whenever i can help it) not to forget one of them who is allergic to wheat which is the main ingredient of the mini tartlet crusts… and since i had some creamy mixture left, AND! a box of scottish Walkers Oatcakes, which are wheat-free, i attempted to make a small portion of crust-base using my hand-me-down bric-a-brac ceramic japanese tea-cups as containers because i don’t have any tartlet moulds…
carefully crushing a wee sub-pack of the oatcakes (maybe there were 5 oatcakes in there?) in a small ziploc with a wooden spatula, i added about 2 teaspoonsful honey and approximately a wee knob of unsalted butter of thickness 2x the size of my thumb (maybe?)… but it looked and felt rather grainy still after adding the honey and butter so i dumped the mixture into my small nifty Braun food-processor to blend it and that did the trick. i layered each of my wee teacups with a little sheet of aluminium foil and then pressed the blended crumb-mix to the inner sides to make a crumb-base ‘container’ for the creamy filling… then i repeated what i did before wrt the filling and bake these 4 other random wheat-free versions of the tartlets while i cleared up the mess in the kitchen!
the idea of using the little ceramic teacups seemed to work fine… and everyone at work seemed to like the randomness too… and best of all, just as i was vexing about it because of my hay-fever symptoms, i have been trying to avoid diary products in the hope that i might feel a little bit more alive, i used up my cream-cheese! phew.

what will you do to have something like that??? and you are far from where it originates?
i say, make it from scratch! my mummy used to say, if you are not bothered by the effort of making your meal, you will have something to eat… i say, in addition to that, if you can tolerate delayed gratification… you’ll most likely enjoy a lovely meal… harha.
i’ve been wondering how Tabouleh is made since the sys admin brought it as a contribution for the lab potluck some months ago… i’ve had it once or twice before at wine-nights, when it was served with flat pitta breads or crackers, and i see it being sold at the local supermarkets… but i didn’t really know what went into it except that i gathered it might be similar to couscous salads that i enjoy a lot and concoct my own versions too.
i didn’t know that Tabouleh originated from Lebanon… or so it is said. my only encounter with Lebanese food was many many years ago when i first visited uncle Albert and auntie Helena in Adelaide… it was one dinner meal that they took wee me to and i was truly intrigued… i’ve not had any since but i hope to do so again some day… for middle eastern food has a very unique assortment of flavours that are perculiarly fascinating to my taste-buds.
i love food with a myriad of flavours, both strongly or subtlely spiced or aromatized… but that doesn’t mean i don’t appreciate the more bland and plain things of life… i am just partial to interesting combination of flavours, either because i can taste some of the different bits of things that go into the whole or that i enjoy the global essence of it… i have had to learn that not everyone appreciates food the way i do… it just depends on whether you are a ‘super-taster’ ( an unfortunate misnomer for those who do not appreciate myriad combinations of flavours and prefer their foods plain) or not, or somewhere in between, or both…

tabouleh… that which is spiced… is made with bulgur wheat or cracked wheat and mixed as a salad with chopped fresh juicey tomatoes, cucumbers, lots of finely chopped parsley, fresh mint, spring-onions or shallots, and carressed with olive oil and awakened by some sprightly lemon juice, sea-salt, and freshly grounded pepper. my version was adapted along the lines of those listed (off the top of my head) ingredients and i had the great satisfaction of seeing the outcome of chopping, as well as enjoying a lovely home-made version of taboleh salad with some lovely warm fajita pancakes… (btw, a splash of soya sauce or a dash of chopped dried chillies made it even more interesting!)
… and especially enjoyable after a long day of sedated chair-warming eyes-damaging activity that involves lots of number-crunching!

i got to host the first of the occassional ‘traditional’ wine-tasting nights this year at my apartment on friday evening after work… what that entails really is that people will come to taste some bottles of wine that the established group of side-ways wannabes had acquired before i appeared here and whatever that the new crowd of people might fancy and since it’s at my humble abode, i decided to invite people i like too instead of just mingling with only the ‘elite’ crowd of side-ways wannabes…
and of course… i couldn’t resist making mulled wine too for it is the perfect season for the lovely drink! … and chipping in 2 very lovely bottles of wine: a 2003 Riesling i found at the wine-store near my place and a 2002 bottle of red Zinfandel from the Napa Valley, California, a gift i received for xmas… why people think i know my wines or appreciate them is complete mystery to me… i hardly drink and only with a meal or something to nibble with… unlike what my brother seems to think (a closet alcoholic, which i vehemently protest!)… i like to think i am better acquainted with wine than he is (hee!)… and i think it’s a good thing to be able to appreciate good wine and to find one you enjoy… yup… indeed… i would like to be learned in every way! in any case, i do find it a little odd i should be receiving so many gifts of wine… is this a very american thing?!
and to think hosting wine night is a good way to make use of the wine…. oh no no no… i still have about 8 bottles of potentially very good or mediocre wines hibernating on the shelf…

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this was my contribution to today’s lab pot-luck buffet… the vegetarian version (front) was a much preferred option (cf the smoked salmon version at the back)… the baked mushroom filling did the trick, i suppose…