Trying new things and what to cook when you’re not home
I rarely eat out, but when I do, I like to eat things I don't know how to cook myself or really just have never tried.
For a while now, I had been craving steam buns and an Indonesian curry called Beef Rendang. I have never made either of these things, and only ever eaten beef rendang two times in my life, but if you've ever had it, you will know how memorable it is!
Though steam buns are often filled with pork or veg and beef rendang served with rice, I decided to satisfy my cravings and put the two in one. (I told a Chinese colleague this, and he said I committed a felony, but to be honest, he doesn't know what he is missing out on haha)
They turned out way better than I even imagined, so I have to give you my tweaked recipe for the sourdough steam bun dough so you can have fun with different fillings.
For the beef rendang, I honestly had no idea where to even start so I followed a recipe with no question to make sure I got exactly what I was craving. What I didn’t think about was how much food the recipe actually yielded, so by the third day of eating beef rendang, I had to do something.
What to do when you have too much leftovers?
Freeze it
Gift it to a friend
Swap it with a friend
Turn it into something else
These stir-fried noodles on the left, were made using beef rendang, sesame seeds and brussel sprouts.
I was house-sitting this week and, once again, found myself in an unfamiliar kitchen, so I made some easy mid-week quickies that don't take much and don't make much dirty.
Sausage with resemary parsnip and sauteed kale
I thought of making a parsnip mash but decided to simply boil and pan-fry the parsnips instead. Make sure to get good quality sausages from your butcher - it makes a huge difference. My butcher also makes different flavoured sausages so I try a different flavour whenever I want sausages!
Change it up!
If you're not a fan of sausages, a pan-fried chicken breast or steak would also do the trick in this instance.
A lot of people's biggest mistake when cooking pasta is assuming that they only have two options for sauces: a passata based sauce (think bolognese) or Pesto (self-explanatory).
If you are someone who also struggles to know how else to sauce your pasta, I hope to inspire you through this newlsetter.
Store-bought Ravioli with buttered cherry tomatoes, zuchinni and mozzarella
This week’s pasta 'sauce' was simply made by melting delicious butter on a pan, browning at least a couple sides of some zucchini I cut into cubes and salted generously, then adding a few cherry tomatoes sliced in half and letting that all come together while the tomatoes soften and become sweeter when embracing the butter they have been paired with.
Unfortunately, I had no herbs on hand but if I was at home I would've added a few sage or basil leaves to compliment the dish when adding the tomatoes to the pan.
Pepper generously when plated and top with some mozzarella if you choose.
Change it up!
I only bought Ravioli because it was on special and it was an easy, almost instant meal to make in an unfamiliar kitchen. The Ravioli had some beef filling, so in my head, I felt like I was covering all my bases at least well enough, considering the circumstances.
If you choose to make this sauce to go with unfilled pasta, I would consider serving it with a side of pan-fried chicken breast or adding some white beans or spinach to the dish if you're vegetarian to make it even more filling and cover all your bases. I'm no nutritionist, but this is just how I tend to think/ look at my meals.
And that is a week in my shoes of cooking! I did eat out a couple of times this week. I had a birthday party I went to and there was a day I drove past my favourite bakery and couldn't help myself but stop and get some pastries hehe.
What did you cook this week?
