Pork Chops and Stuffed Peppers
Last week we bought some long, red peppers that we thought would be nice stuffed. We didn’t get round to using them during the week so had them last night with some pork loin chops. The chops were rubbed with our usual garlic, rosemary and bay mix before being expertly fried by Stephen.
The peppers were roasted slightly before being filled with a mixture of cous-cous, pine nuts and spring onions. We finished them in the oven for about 15 minutes before serving.
The chops were very tasty and the combination of cous-cous and peppers worked well but the stuffing went a bit soggy. It has potential though.
Thai Steamed Fish
A few weeks ago I bought some green peppercorns without really having a plan for what to do with them. They languished in the bottom of the fridge until tonight when, quite coincidentally, the recipe that I looked up for Thai steamed fish call for them. And just in time too, as they were a bit past their best and would already have been consigned to the bin had Kerri found them.
So, in our newly purchased bamboo steamer, I placed tuna steak that had been rubbed with a mixture of ginger, garlic, black pepper, soy sauce and oyster sauce. I placed chopped ginger, chopped shallots and a sprig of rescued green peppercorns on top of it and then steamed for about ten minutes. Half way through, I put in some pak choi as well.
Served on some noodles (not the right sort really; I wanted vermicelli but didn’t have any so used egg noodles) with the pak choi. It was really good; the flavours all combined well during the relatively short cooking time. Definitely something to try again soon.
Pea Shoots
Tonight we made a rather disappointing stir-fry, we used the same method we used here but substituted chicken for beef. Something went wrong though because it just didn’t work, the flavours didn’t come together properly and I ended up having Marmite toast instead.
We did however have some interesting pea shoots that we stir-fried with garlic. We bought them at Oriental City at the weekend…along with this pretty plate.
Thai Green Curry
Not all that exciting because we make this a lot but this was a particularly good example. We used the reduced fat coconut milk again and I don’t think I’d have been able to tell if I didn’t know as the liquid was really creamy and tasty. We added some small, purple aubergines that we bought at Oriental City but sadly the yard-long beans were past their best.
Fish Pie
We’ve cooked fish pie a few times in the past but always with varying success. Today’s method was slightly different and more successful. Rather than poaching the fish in milk as we usually do we added it to the dish raw with some white sauce (which had been steeped with celery, carrot, shallots and capers), it seemed to make a difference to the flavour of the fish as well as the texture.
120g salmon
240g cod
Broccoli
250ml white sauce
2 large potatoes, mashed with butter and milk
50g cheese
Arrange fish and broccoli in an oven-proof dish, cover with white sauce and mashed potatoes. Sprinkle with grated cheese and bake for 20 minutes.
We served this with more broccoli, green beans, carrots and brussels sprouts.
Next time I’d like to try it with some smoked fish, perhaps instead of the cod. The salmon was tasty but the cod was quite bland. Parsley would be a good addition too.
Tomato and Basil Soup
We had some leftover tomatoes languishing in the bottom of the fridge so I turned them into soup for lunches next week.
Roast some tomatoes, red peppers, red onions and garlic in the oven for about 40 minutes.
Add some vegetable stock and basil.
Blitz until smoothish.
Eat 🙂
Oriental City
Last night we went to Oriental City in Colindale with friends of ours. We had never been before, and as they are due to close down some time next year for development into something less interesting, we’ve been wanting to go for a while. We went along for an evening of shopping and eating dim sum in the food court. Some pictures from our visit:
A chef making noodles at one of the stalls in the food court.
Thai style steamed squid. Very good, yummy.
Steamed seafood roll. Nice, but I burned my tongue on one when I first tried it.
Rice wrapped in lotus leaf. This contained some rather overcooked chicken in it, which wasn’t what I was expecting. And not just normally overcooked, but the sort of chicken that has been used to make stock and has very little flavour left.
Steamed scallop dumpling. The scallop was a little slice of scallop on top, but inside was mostly prawns. A sprinkling of roe on top too.
Prawn and chive dumpling. Lots of tasty garlic in it with the chives.
Pineapple buns. These were dessert but I was too full by then so just had a small taste.
Fried squid. Really long strips! Tasty but quite oily.
Prawn and chive cheun fung. We unintentionally went a bit overboard with the whole prawn and chive food group in our selections; there was another type of prawn and chive dumpling too which we don’t have a picture of. We also had some greens with oyster sauce and some chicken spring rolls. All in all, very tasty and I was rather stuffed by the time we finished.
After dinner, we did some more shopping and went to the supermarket, where we bought a bamboo steamer and also various ingredients. We also bought some interesting crockery, which will probably make an appearance in pictures on Dinner Diary soon.
It’s an interesting place to visit, so it’s a bit sad that it’s due to disappear soon. It has an air of a place that has limited time too. For example, only one of the sliding doors at the main entrance, and even that only opens half way. The two giant ceramic lions at the entrance don’t seem too worried though.
Fishcakes with Lemony Leeks
We’ve had these in the freezer for a while and thought they would be nice and easy for a Friday night. And they were except I left them in the oven a little too long.
We served them with lemony leeks which were a good contrast: leeks braised in some chicken stock and lemon juice, cooked in the oven on a low heat for about an hour.
Spaghetti with Mussels
A quick and simple dinner tonight. We sweated some garlic and shallots, then added parsley, wine and mussels. After a few minutes, the mussels were done and we served them with pasta, sprinkled with a little more parsley. Quick, simple and tasty.
Fish, Potatoes and Tomatoes
We made this recently and were both pleased about how quick and easy it was. We decided to do it again tonight and add some red peppers and olives. The olives didn’t work very well but overall it was ok. Not as good as last time but ok.
