Saturday, September 27, 2008 Y
When we were eating the chicken kebabs, I told the family that next week(which is today) I wanna break and not cook. But then very soon, a few days later I started thinking of what to cook. Of course, I didn't make a big deal out of it, nor did I make it the centre of my universe. Cos' I really forgot about it as time goes by.Then this late morning my mom suggested we cook tonight, and she wanted to cook Pork Chop. Of course I'm stoked! I totally forgot about the words I said the night abt a week ago, on me not wanting to cook. Seriously, when mom suggested cooking today and wanted to find recipes, the cooking fever ran through my body and I felt really excited about it, and a lil' rejuvenated even.Spent a while browsing through the web for Pork Chop Recipes. It's not that we don't know how to cook. My mom and grams make the best Hainan Pork Chop. And being a Hainanese, we love to eat that. But we always eat that! Nt to mention we had leftovers of the herbs we brought for the roast chicken, so we were looking for ways to use them before they turn bad. Lucky stars were shining on us, cos' the herbs remained fresh! ^_^ So we went to get Jamie Oliver's recipes once again. I find that I like his recipes and his way of cooking and everything: From ingredients to methods to serving the meal. Papa Constantine(the chicken kebab recipe which we consulted last week - That was just not for our family) .Anyway... reached Grams house and immediately went to work after lunch. Not the pork chop, but my Honey Joys! It was a total hit with the kids! According to the teacher on the kids' reactions, and their reactions and thanks. It just made my day even brighter that day, cos the day I gave them the treat was on my birthday itself! ^_^
And I had gathered answers from verbal surveys, and the kids wanted more of it for Children's Day. I personally wanted to make them more on that day, plus another class, and my friends. Quite a number of batch of Honey Joys. But I don't mind the work, cos I love being in the kitchen, esp Grams' kitchen.
Her kitchen's big and spacious, with good storage space and transition from one place to another is easy as breezing through the whole area. So the atmosphere is set, the mood is right and it's bonus for me to cook there and feeling happy and enjoying myself, doing the things I love and loving what I do.So basically the pork chop we cooked tonight wasn't done by me, cos i wasnt around for that part. Had lesson. I did the corns though, cos it wasn't in the recipes. It was something I kinda sorta improvised: EVOO instead of Butter or Margarine like we use during BBQs, salt and ground black peppercorn. Peppercorns, not black pepper. You can still taste a lil small bits of peppercorns. I wasnt really thinking when I added the pepper, until I actually added it in. But the flavours are pretty nice, and it's nice when you ate the peppercorns with the corn.. Natural sweetness with a hint of salt and a smaller hint of peppercorn for the scent and flavor. =)Today's Pork Chop was my Mom and Grams' work and their credits. They combined Jamie Oliver's method with their own methods: The usage of Thyme as well as Honey. Thyme was suggested by Jamie. And Honey? Well, Honey was suggested by Grams, cos that's what she likes to use if she's marinating poultry. It's delicious having a combi of Western and Asian flavouring! A twist of the recipes but not a drastic twist to ruin the recipe. Instead, it sorta tune it into our channel of taste buds for us Chinese! ^_^ SWEET!!!!!!!! =D
The recipe included potatoes, parsnip and pears, so we went to NTUC Fineness before we headed over to Grams to get the necessary ingredients. I'm totally in love with that place. You can find almost anything there fresh! From asian food ingredients to a whole selection of herbs that are not easy to find in SG to a whole wide range of Cheese and other stuffs!
Thinking of making grilled fish for next week... Had chicken and pork. No lamb or beef cos I wanna cook something that appeals to everyone. Even the fish I had to consider, cos some of the family isn't "fish" ppl(including myself at times). Hehs~
PS: If anybody know the chinese name for "Parsnip" let me know... Family asked me what was it, I said it was parsnip and nobody got it. I didn't know anything abt parsnip, cept I keep hearing it so I know it's a kind of veg. Thx~ =)
~Pics below~
Labels: Bloated, Happy~, Satisfaction
Y The Lady @
11:31 PM
