What is lamb flank? Anything labeled as flank is usually a tough cut of meat taken from the abdomen or lower chest. Lamb flanks are normally used in soups and stews where they are slow-cooked over a long period of time to get tender and release all the lamb-y goodness. I first came to…
Category: Mains
Scottish Style Lamb Liver & Bacon with Red Wine Gravy
Whatever happened to liver and bacon? Liver and bacon used to be a popular dish amongst home cooks back in the 19th and early 20th century. Other than my grandmother making the occasional liver and onions dish, I can’t remember my mother ever touching the meat. It seems that it has gone out of favor…
Turkey stuffed with black pudding and pear
Turkey: the unforgiving bird Turkey is one of those meats that is hard to pull off. No matter the brine, method of cooking or quality of the farm it was raised on, you will always struggle with the inevitable dryness. So why do we bother? Because it’s tradition! Can’t do Thanksgiving or Christmas without a…
Slow Roasted Pork Belly with Chorizo Cassoulet
What’s a cassoulet? Cassoulet is just a fancy French word for casserole. However, this is not your neighborhood weird casserole made from condensed soup and God knows what else. No, this is a FRENCH casserole with meat and white beans slowly cooked together in a, you guessed it, casserole dish which is a traditional deep…
Crispy chicken thighs stuffed with apple and bacon
What’s on your shopping list? For me, I always buy chicken thighs. No offense to the rest of the chicken, but these parts are effortlessly sumptuous. Not only that but thighs (and dark meat in general) are budget-friendly, versatile, culinarily forgiving and beloved by kids. Chicken nuggets are great and all, but crispy roasted chicken…
Grilled Thai Lemongrass Pork Jowl / Pork Neck
Pork Shoulder, Belly or Jowl? Which part of the pig is the most flavorful? Well, pork shoulder is always a tasty treat either slow-cooked in a ragu or stir-fried with king oyster mushrooms. It provides just the right amount of hearty meat to fat ratio that makes it oh so delicious. Then again, you can’t…
The Tastiest Homemade Crispy Chicken Tenders
My favorite comfort food Chicken tenders are my weak spot when it comes to food. I simply can’t resist them. As a child, they were my favorite and even now as an adult, I still crave that long chunk of chicken heavily coated in crispy batter and dunked in a creamy ranch sauce. The only…
Mediterranean Lamb and Rice Stuffed Bell Peppers
Lamb stuffed peppers are something that my husband has been bothering me to make for quite a long time. It’s not that I was averse to making them. I simply just had no idea of what kind of direction he wanted the recipe to go in. What kind of peppers? How to season the filling? …
Authentic Restaurant Style Chicken Tikka Masala
The Chicken Tikka Masala Origin Story Chicken Tikka Masala was supposedly born in Glasgow when a customer complained about his chicken curry being dry. To remedy this situation, the restaurant chef added some tomato soup to the mix and VOILA! This British-Indian dish was born. Many people speculate on whether or not this is actually…
Chinese Crispy Beef and Broccoli Stir-Fry
Beef and Broccoli: a Chinese-American hybrid Growing up in Seattle, beef and broccoli was always my favorite go-to for Chinese takeout. I loved the tenderized beef with broccoli florets that so perfectly soaked up all that brown gravy. Ideal to eat when it was fresh and hot but still good cold the next day for…
The Perfect Crispy Skin Salmon Salad with Avocado
The extraordinary lightness of a delicious salmon salad Perhaps it’s the constant heat here in Malaysia or perhaps I simply have had enough with cleaning dishes piled high but recently I have come around to a nice salmon salad for dinner. For one, it’s easy to throw together after a long day. No slow cooking,…
Paprika, Thyme and Yogurt Marinated Spatchcock Chicken
What is spatchcock chicken? ‘Spatchcock’ is just a funny word for butterflied. You basically just cut the chicken down its backbone and flatten it. What you get it one whole chicken laid flat for your cooking and eating pleasure. Why would I do this? There are several advantages to spatchcocking chicken….
Andy’s Restaurant Style Spicy Chicken Balti
A curry here, another curry there… Compare a local mamak (eatery) here in Malaysia with an Indian restaurant back home and you will be puzzled. Granted, a mamak serves a wide range of different Malaysian foods from three (or more) different ethnic groups, not just food from the subcontinent, but if you fancy a curry…
The Best Restaurant Style Rogan Josh with Lamb
What is a Rogan Josh? Rogan Josh is a delicious red curry most notably made with lamb or mutton. The name, Rogan Josh, literally means ‘stewed in butter’. No wonder I love it so much. I can’t think of anything that I wouldn’t like if it was slow-cooked in butter. Especially if that something was…
Pork Shoulder and King Oyster Mushrooms Stir-Fry
How do I describe this pork and king oyster mushroom stir-fry? Well, it’s difficult to put in words. Have you ever eaten something that made you question why you don’t eat that exact same thing every day? A food that is so tasty, so layered in flavor, succulent, juicy, salty and just a little…
Roasted tomato, anchovy and garlic spaghetti
Carbs Rule We’re big fans of carbs in this house. Can’t get enough of them. I know in this day and age, a statement like that can be controversial given the popularity of low carb diets and cauliflower everything. However, my husband is an avid cyclist who needs to (seemingly constantly) carb load for…
Shanghai Noodles with Shitake Mushrooms and Pork
China is a great place for food. Cumin dusted lamb and noodles in the West, spicy cuisine from Szechuan province, fried delicacies in Yunnan, dumplings in the North…I could go on but I get too hungry to finish the list. However, if your taste runs more to the sweet than savory, you might want…
Curry Laksa with Chicken, Fish Balls and Tofu Puffs
The birth of Curry Laksa Laksa is the result of two cultures coming together. The story goes that when Chinese immigrants settled in Malaysia, they married locals who learned to cook Chinese recipes but put their own twist on them by using local ingredients. Hence, Peranakan cuisine (aka Nyonya cuisine) was born and still remains…
Seafood Stir-Fried in Thai Chili Paste (Nam Prik Pao)
What is Nam Prik Pao? Nam Prik Pao, or Thai chili paste, is a delicious concoction of mild red chilies, garlic, shallots and a tad of shrimp paste. Sweeter than it is spicy, Nam Prik Pao can very easily be transformed into a sauce that can rescue even the dullest of dishes. Stir fry…
Slow Cooked Beef Brisket Braised in Beer
The genius of slow cooking beef brisket in beer. Slow cooking a chunk of beef brisket in beer for hours is a great idea. Some could say, a ‘genius’ idea as it tenderizes the meat while enhancing the brisket’s natural flavor making it taste oh so beefy. Add to this fact that this is…