Favorite recipes
 

Ok so, one of the few good things about this pandemic and on and off again lockdowns is that it has really forced me to expand on my cooking repertoire, being forced to cooked 2 meals per day and all. So in the interest of continuing on this epicurean journey of discovery and personal advancement, maybe we can share some of our favorite recipes.

For example. I love pastas. And my absolute favorite is amatriciana. Which can be super simple to make, if you live somewhere where you can buy the two most important ingredients: pecorino cheese and guanciale (pork cheek). Unbelievably, they have both in Malaysia so I love to make this every once in a while. Here's the original Italian recipe video I found:



I guess you can do an approximation with some salty neutral hard cheese and bacon.

I've made this recipe many times and it's absolutely delicious and fairly easy to make. Created by chef Oliver Glowig (and presented here by Jamie Oliver), individual stacks of fried aubergine (eggplant) layered with both smoked mozzarella (scamorza) and buffalo mozzarella, parmigiana and tomato sauce, topped with matchstick-cut fried skins of the aubergine. I may make this again this weekend.

Recipe: https://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/...ine-parmigiana



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWeraFyWz1s

Ohhh, I love parmigiana! Never tried to make it at home. It seems doable! The scamorza might be a problem to get though.

This may be sacrilege, but if you can't find the scamorza, aged provolone can be a good substitute. Also, if you can't get buffalo mozzarella (which is what the recipe technically calls for), you can use 1/2 regular whole milk mozzarella and 1/2 low moisture mozzarella (to substitute for the scamorza, which is low moisture) - although that won't be as flavorful.

By the way, I couldn't play your video here in the U.S. :( I did try amatriciana once as a teenager, when my friend's mother made it (in an Italian/Croatian household!), and it was delicious. Thanks for bringing back that nice memory.

Ahhh...I just saw that the one italian deli they have in KL has scamorza also! So I think I'm gonna make it this weekend, it really hits the spot, thanks ribbons! I'll let you know the results. :)

Sorry about the video, I thought restrictions only work for third world countries like Malaysia! There are other videos out there but here's the gist of it: if you have guanciale (and I guess if you could find the scamorza you can find the guanciale) just cut it up into smallish strips, fry it up, add some white wine, let it evaporate, take it out, do the tomato sauce (fresh tomatoes), add salt, pepper, a bit of red chili pepper, put back the guanciale, add the peccorino cheese (a lot of it) to the sauce and then later on top of the pasta, your choice of pasta (I think the standard is bucattini but I find them a bit unwieldly) and bob's your uncle!

^ Thanks for the gist, adi! Luckily, they have guanciale in our neighborhood Italian deli. I try to be an ovo-lacto vegetarian but occasionally fall off the wagon. I may intentionally lapse and make amatriciana soon - it's too tempting! I'll let you know how it turns out - thanks again!

Cool that you were able to find the scamorza in KL. Hope you enjoy if you're able to make the aubergine/eggplant towers this weekend. :)

Did it!!

https://i.ibb.co/tmVMTQ9/20210214-220640-3.jpg

Came out amazing for the first time. Taste is great! The only thing I screwed up is the fried skin, it was too wide and oily. I couldn't figure out how to slice it thin! Am stupid. Next time it will come out better. :)

Thanks Ribbons! A great addition to my repertoire!

In your honour, a vegetarian favorite (so you don't have to fall off the wagon! ;)), Shakshuka (eggs with tomato and loads of other things):

How to make the perfect shakshuka

https://i.ibb.co/pLjY2Px/3648-1.jpg

Have made it many times, it's yummers! Loads of different flavours going on! But be careful with the cayenne, for some reason every recipe that calls for cayenne puts spoonfuls! I find that even a slight touch of cayenne makes it considerably spicy! Maybe my cayenne is extraordinarily spicy??

Mostaccioli
 

This is about the yummiest thing I have ever had... (My mom started making this in the 80s (Recipe adjusted so it tastes the same as it did then))

Ingredients:

1/2 chopped green pepper (1/2 of a pepper chopped up)
1/2 chopped onion (1/2 of an onion chopped up)
1/2 lb ground beef
1 lb can tomatoes
6 oz can tomato paste
1/2 cup water
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 lb mostaccioli noodles
2 or 3 packets of VELVETTA CHEESE from Kraft Shells and cheese original dinner
bay leaf
1 Jar of Speghetti Sauce (The "Flavoured with Meat" Kind) (Add about 1 cup)

Prep:

In oil,saute onion & pepper until tender. Add meat & cook until brown. Stir in tomatoes,tomato paste,water,salt,pepper,bay leaf. Add Speghetti Sauce, Simmer.

Cook Mostaccioli noodles as directed. Pour velvetta packets in.. (In a 2qt casserolo,arrange alternate layers of noodles,sauce and cheese.)

Bake @ 350 for 30 mins

The Result:

The Best tasting dish you'll ever have!!!!!!!!!

I hope many will enjoy this as much as I do...............

Beautiful!! Glad it turned out well on the first try - bravo! Thanks for the pic! I love your elegant plate, btw. Nice presentation! I had exactly the same problem with the fried aubergine skins the first few times I made it - turned out all soggy and yucky. I always turn up flame quite high for a minute or so before I place the skins into the oil, so that the skins get *sealed* and don't absorb too much oil. Another trick is to take your time and not try to slice the skins too quickly; matchstick-slice them more deliberately and slowly. Knife skills don't develop overnight, lol. Great job, adi - it really looks very professional! :)

Oh this looks so delicious! I've heard of shakshuka but have never made it (I have the Balaboosta cookbook here, which I note has a recipe for shakshuka). Thanks so much for the instructive article and recipe! Very much appreciate your adding a vegetarian recipe to keep me on the straight and narrow, lol. I'll definitely make this and report back. And I'll be sure to keep a light touch with the cayenne, as I'm sensitive to that stuff (I don't think it's your cayenne that's the problem, lol).:wavey:

Thanks for the compliments! My partner likes nice design, those are hand crafted plates from Japan.

I will take your advice for the skins for next time...can't wait! :)

Cool to see a recipe from your Mom, Dude! Always interesting reading family recipes. :)

I was thinking the plate looked hand crafted, and perhaps Japanese. Looks elegant and rustic at the same time - lovely! Your partner is going to be spoiled with your cooking when he gets home. Hope he's doing well! :wave:

:laughing: He's getting slightly upset, he's the chef in this household...;)

This has got to stop, adi. You're cheating on him with recipes and playing with fire! :laughing:

Gracious!!

Please let me know if ya try it :)

^ Hi Dude - I don't eat beef but am wondering if a meat substitute might work with this recipe. We shall see! Maybe I can experiment. Thanks again for sharing your Mom's recipe! :wave:

Just wanted to let y'all know that baking your salmon in foil (or cooking paper) is a gamechanger. So much more soft and juicy than just plonking it in the oven on the tray.

Check it.

https://www.wellplated.com/baked-salmon-in-foil/

yes foil I use when cooking any meat or chicken even cover a casserole as can dry out....
I have cooked differently since changing Countries..learning curves have made good dishes into heaven dishes...
Juices and Gravyies give such great flavours... make or break a happy partner..joking food is not the only thing of course...

No matter the cooking method, the key is not overcooking it. If you're going past 125 F (~51 C) with salmon, you're now going into dry territory irrelevant of what you do outside the meat itself. A lot of preventative measures can be foregone by simply cooking to the right temp and no further.

The moisture is in the fish and that's where it should remain. Temperature decides how much of that moisture is liable to escape via muscle fiber structural changes due to heat. Personally I like a quick hot sear on each side then a slowly up-temp of center to 125 F / ~51 C and finally letting it rest off-heat will get it up to ~130 F / ~54 C then back down delicately which is important.

The natural temp backdown will pull the liquids back into the muscle before they all run out and it will be juicy when you're ready to serve. This is all similar to basic steak technique, just different temps.

That's interesting. I may give this searing technique a try, although I imagine it would create a bit of a hardened texture on the outside and especially with salmon, I prefer only a soft buttery texture.

Maillard reaction. Depth. Just the outers.

Discovered cayenne pepper recently and now I put it on everything, including in my salad dressing (which until now has been olive oil, lemon juice and turmeric)

Wow. Spicy salad, bizarre.

If you add just a little bit it makes it piquant rather than spicy (my gf didn't even notice it was there and she's normally not a fan of my experiments with the spice cabinet)