During my trip in Chengdu, China, I went to the breeding centre to see pandas for the very first time. They are very adorable and clumsy too.  The breeding centre itself is a beautiful attraction with breath-taking lakes and parks. I sure hope I will visit it again. Here are some photos I took there:

A young panda

Another young panda

An adult panda

A young panda cub

Yours truly,

A.T.

There are times that you just want a good plate of steak right on the table. I like my steak medium rare as always. Honestly, I can't remember how long it'd take to cook a medium rare steak. Usually, after searing the steak I'd finish it off in the oven for 10-15 minutes. During that time I would check on the doneness from time to time. The trick is to compare the firmness of the steak with your palm. The palm can have different firmness depending on the number of fingers that you bend. I have been relying on that for a couple of years now. I will demonstrate you a simple steak recipe with gravy and mash.

  Here is the recipe for one serving ;

A

1 beef sirloin portion

1/2 tsp oregano

S&P

Olive oil

B

1 shallot –sliced

1 clove garlic –sliced

1 tbs butter

3/4 water

1 tbs corn flour

1 thyme

S&P to taste

C

1/2 cup broccoli florets

french beans

1/2 shallot -sliced



D

2 clove garlic

2 tsp parsley

2 potatoes

1 tbs milk

2 tbs cream

S&P 

1. Use items in A to prepare the sirloin and over medium heat, sear it for 3-4 minutes on each side for a medium rare steak with the garlic in D (unpeeled).
2. Now that you have made the steak, put it aside and let it rest. 
3. In the same pan, add the shallot and garlic from B with butter and stir until slightly golden.
4. Add thyme and water. As water begins to bubble, take some of it and mix with corn flour and add the mixture in the pan. Season well and your sauce is done. 
5. Boil your veges in C and the potatoes in D together. As the florets turn deep green, take the florets and beans out and let the potatoes continue to boil until tender. 
6. Sauté the greens in step 5 with the shallot in C. Season to taste and your veges are done. 
7. Once the potatoes are soft, strain and mash them in a bowl. Mix in the garlic you have seared the beef with -this time peeled- with the parsley and milk. If the mash is already so creamy, add 1/2 to 1 tbs of cream. Otherwise, go ahead and put 2 tbs of cream. Season mash with salt and pepper.  
8. Now put the beef, veges, mash and gravy together!

Yours truly,

A.T

I was so lucky to see the sakuras in Japan a year ago during spring. These photos were taken in Tokyo, Osaka , Kyoto and Nara. Again, I travelled with the same travel companion that you may have seen in my first entry under 'Photography'. She is Kak Nina. We were travelling in Japan for two weeks- Osaka, Kyoto, Nara, Nagano and finally Tokyo. 

Pink sakuras in Kyoto

Pink sakuras in Nara

White sakuras in Tokyo

Kak Nina and sakuras in Osaka

Yours truly,

A.T.

I love fish. Lately, I have been buying only fish in the supermarkets. I can't fathom why I no longer tolerate the aftertaste of chicken. And since I am aiming for a healthier lifestyle, I'm trying to restrain my urge to eat red meats. So I'd like to share a really simple fish recipe that I always have. It is quick, simple and scrumptious of course!

 The method of cooking used is grilling or pan-frying. Here is the recipe for one serving ;

A

1 salmon portion

1/2 lemon

1/2 tsp dill

S&P

Olive oil

B

1 shallot –sliced

1 clove garlic –sliced

1/3 cup double cream

1 tbs butter

2 tbs water

S&P to taste

C

1/2 cup broccoli florets

1/2 carrot - sliced

1 potato - halved

S&P 

1. Use items in A to prepare the salmon except the olive oil.
2. Heat up a non-stick pan on medium heat and grease it with olive oil.
3. Pan-grill the fish skin on for a minute and then on the other side for another minute.
4. If the fish is not cooked through, you may repeat step 3 for less than a  minute on each side. Otherwise, in a pre-heated oven, cook the fish at 170 for about 7 minutes. Always check on your fish in the oven to prevent over-cooking. 
5. With the same pan, grease it with butter and then add garlic and shallot from B .As the condiments begin to change in colour just slightly, add water. 
6. As water begins to bubble quickly stir in cream and stir well. Season with salt and pepper. Your cream sauce is done.
7. Sauté pre-boiled veges in C in the same pan. You could add some garlic or shallots. Sometimes I would just boil the veges and not pan-fry them later. Season veges with S&P.

Voila! Your pan-grilled salmon is ready!

 

Yours truly,

A.T

I was in Sichuan province of China in Spring 2014. I had the chance of visiting Jiu Zhai Gou, a UNESCO World Heritage Site nature reserve and national park. Here are some stunning views I managed to capture.

The Panda lake

My travel companion at one of the lakes

The duck at the Panda Lake

Yours truly,

A.T.

I love being at home mostly because I get to cook. And cooking ,as always, is a therapeutic routine. In most occasions,  I would cook pasta because it's quick , healthy and tasty.My family loves pasta and Fettucine Alfredo is one of our favourites. And so on a fine and sunny Sunday, I prepared the recipe together with home-made croutons and dried chili condiment. It is a simple, easy and quick recipe. It's something you can do as you roll out of bed- kid you not!

The recipe is as below:

A

500g chicken carcass

5 stalks of celery (remove and put leaves aside)

4 tbs of olive oil

3 tsp of salt

1 medium sized pot of water

B

3 NOS chicken breasts

750ml of heavy cream

1 NOS big onion - chopped

2 stalks of celery - sliced thinly

1 can of button mushroom - chopped

4 cloves of garlic - coarsely chopped

1/2 tsp italian herbs

1/2 tsp oregano

1 NOS bay leaf

S&P to taste

1. Start by making a chicken stock. Over medium heat, boil water with all ingredients in A. Once boiled, turn the heat off and put it aside.

2. To make the sauce, firstly,over low heat sauté the onions, celery and garlic with the bay leaf.

3. Until the onions turn slightly golden, add the mushroom in.

4. While sautéing, take the carcasses out of the stock's pot and add in the chicken breasts. Over medium heat boil it until cooked.

5. Add a few ladles of stock into the sauce mixture and leave it to simmer for about a minute then add in the heavy cream little by little. Stir continuously.

6. Once cooked, remove the chicken breasts from the stock and shred the flesh in strands. Add them all into the cream sauce.

7. Stir the sauce continuously while adding oregano and italian herbs. You may need to add more stock to get a nice consistency for the sauce ; not too thick that when you raise your spatula, it would take 4 seconds for sauce to drip. Add in parmesan cheese to replace salt ,if you like, then season well with pepper.

You may refer to my recipe 'Perfect Salad' for croutons and as for the chilli below, simply chop dried chilis and toast them on a pan for a minute or so. And then put them in a small bowl, with about 3 tbs of olive oil.

Serve fettuccine with this sauce as well as the croutons and chilli, and you will love your creamy indulgence!

Yours truly,

A.T.