QED: Lemongrass Pork on Vermicelli Salad

Cold noodles are refreshing and perfect for warm summer weather. Hiyashi chuuka and zaru soba are two of my favourites! But today I decided to try out my own version of Vietnamese cold vermicelli. It turned out alright, although the pork wasn't as good (pan fried) as it could have been on a barbeque. Mmm burnt bbq bits...
Hmm in hindsight, a bit of ginger and garlic would have been good as well, but I was feeling lazy =P

Ingredients:	Marinade/sauce:
any cut of pork, sliced stalk of lemongrass vermicelli a carrot half a cucumber a few leaves of butter lettuce	fish sauce lime sugar light soy chilli

Firstly, combine lime juice and sugar to get a good balance, then add a generous amount of fish sauce and a touch of light soy. Use some of this to marinate the pork. Keep the rest for later. Smash up and chop lemongrass finely (remove the hard outer layers), then add to the pork marinade. Fry the pork til cooked through, then leave to cool.

Boil vermicelli, drain and wash to cool. Chop up carrot, cucumber and lettuce. With the rest of the sauce marinade, add chopped chilli and then mix it through the vermicelli. Top with the salad vegetables and cooked pork.

All done!

QED: Bill's Famous Scrambled Eggs

I got so excited about Bill's scrambled eggs that I'm writing this as the title dish is slowly digesting in mah belly. Or perhaps I need to get this out before I die of a heart attack thanks to 80 mL of heavy cream.

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Fate is a funny thing. Take Bill Granger, an art student/part-time waiter who chanced his arm by opening a restaurant in Darlinghurst in Sydney at the age of 22. Now he's an internationally renowned chef with three Sydney cafes, two in Japan and very soon a new joint in London.

And all because of scrambled eggs. I'll leave you to read up on his story.

The new Bill's gourmet food shop in Cambridge, right outside my house. But it's not Bill Granger, but some other Bill it seems.

As fate would have it for me,
1) I recently noticed that a new Bill's shop is opening up just outside the bike store gate on Green St, right next to where we live (I thought it was the same Bill but actually it isn't);
2) I had 80 mL of spare cream in the fridge thanks to yesterday's Matcha ice-cream exploits;
3) Sunday morning.
---> Perfect time to make Bill's famous scrambled eggs.

Bill's scrambled eggs (with blue cheese wilted spinach)

I couldn't resist putting up another photo of the same thing.

Ingredients:
2 eggs 80 mL cream pinch of salt a sliver of butter	100-150 g baby spinach small wedge of soft blue cheese black pepper

It's all too easy, 5 minutes is all it takes.

Starting with the spinach, throw a chunk of blue cheese (I use Castello Blue, mmm creamy goodness) and a lot of spinach into a pan over medium heat. When the cheese has melted and the spinach has just wilted, add some cracked black pepper and set aside.

For the eggs, mix with cream and salt until just combined. Melt butter in the pan, and when it bubbles, add the eggs and let the bottom cook for 20 secs. Using a wooden spoon, draw in the edges to the centre and let the eggs cook for another 10 secs. Draw the edges in again, take pan off the heat and serve immediately. The eggs will continue to cook with the residual heat, so be careful not to overcook them.

Toast some bagels, get some parma ham. Mentally prepare for deceptively light but seriously artery clogging deliciousness.

All I need now is a good coffee...

Tips:
- I read somewhere Bill says it works best with a non-stick pan (that's the only one I own...)
- I also read don't do more than 2 eggs at a time otherwise it won't cook properly

QED: Chicken and Vegetable Clear Soup

OK so this is not particularly glamorous, but for me it's comfort food because its warm, fully of chunky goodness and it's home cooking in a sense (except that Mum is much better than me). Plus it's really healthy.

If there are any organic chemists out there, this soup is awesome because:
- It's a one pot reaction
- Done in aqueous solvent
- On kilogram scale
- No workup or purification needed.

Ingredients:
5 chicken thighs or drumsticks 10 potatoes 10 carrots light soy sauce	6 tomatoes 3 onions generous handful of dried wolfberries

Procedure:
1. Trim the fat off the chicken. Immerse in half a pot of cold water. Add wolfberries (you can find these at most Asian stores)

2. Bring to a very low simmer and skim off the oil and foamy stuff that floats to the surface.

3. Whilst the chicken is simmering, chop vegetables into relatively large chunks. Add first the potatoes and carrots. Keep skimming if oil/foam accumulates. Simmer on low for a while (~30 min) then add halved or whole tomatoes and onions. Add a dash of soy sauce.

4. Put a lid on it and go do something else for an hour or two. I went to the graduate BA rooms to watch the latter 2/3 of Hot Fuzz. Good movie.

5. Add salt/pepper/soy sauce to taste.

That's pretty much it. Dinner for the next 4 days...

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On other things, you should all check out this fantastic food blog also from Trinity! Plus this food blog just mentioned a cafe in Cambridge that does lamingtons - now added to my wishlist =P

New Series -- QED: Zucchini omelette

 

This is the first post of a new series called QED. No, it is not quantum electrodynamics and we don’t prove a mathematical theorem in cooking science. With this series, we want to show that it is possible to cook Quick, Easy and Delicious meals with the limited kitchenware and fridge space available to the average student in college. The QED series shall become a collection of simple recipes that doesn’t necessitate a load of fancy ingredients or hours of cooking.

This dish is one my mom used to cook in summer with the fresh zucchini from our garden. I like this dish so much because of its taste of gently stir-fried zucchini and because, apart from the zucchini, usually I have all the ingredients in my kitchen cabinet. For two people you will need:

• 2 zucchini
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup of milk
• flour
• herbs (e.g. rosemary, oregano, provencial herbs)
• a clove of garlic
• salt and pepper
• oil
• parmigiano cheese

Whisk the two eggs with the milk and add the flour a little at the time, trying to avoid the formation of lumps. Add as much flour as needed to obtain nice omelette batter, not dense and not too liquid. Press the garlic into the mixture and add the herbs, salt and pepper to taste. Fresh herbs are preferred but any dried herb you can find in your kitchen will do. Don’t be afraid to use quite a bit of herbs, it makes the omelette more savoury.

Cut the zucchini lengthwise in half and then into semicircles. Gently stir-fry them in a hot pan with little oil. Don’t cook them to death, they are best when they start to get just slightly brown but they are still “al dente”.

Fry the omelette on both side till golden brown and top one half of it with the zucchini. Fold over the other half. Finally place on a nice plate and serve with some grated parmigiano on top. Bon Appétit!

PS: If you like you can add small pieces of cooked ham to the batter, which makes the omelette even tastier.

PPS: As I child I loved to eat it with ketchup. It might sound outrageous, but it tastes quite good. Try it. The noble alternative is to decorate the plate with halved cherry tomatoes.