Lasagna ala Marketchow

Friday nite, while I was coloring Shaun's hair, David was doing what he does BEST -- making something of what ingredients we do have in the refrigerator... after taking out a few things, he realized we happen to have enough for a SPINACH LASAGNA... Freestyle that is, as he was making do of what's available...
The Challenge: Spinach Lasagna ala Freestyle
Available Ingredients: Tri color Pepper, Onions, Garlic, Bayleaf, Carrots, Spinach Pasta & Sauce.Layers of Spinach Pasta filled with the sauteed veggies and sauce.
The Tasty Result, complete with slices of Baguette.

surprise! surprise!

YOWZA!!! I never even knew there was such a thing as Open Faced Pancakes!!!

When David told me he was making pancakess for breakfast one morning; then I was served these flat croissants; I thought for sure he had messed up somewhere.... and that he was just making it up when he kept calling them Open Faced... so I had to google it later on, and Lo and Behold, they do EXISTS!!!
and I can honestly say, I like this version sooooo much more... it was tasty and endless possibilities as to what to eat them with....

so keep the surprises coming, Marketchow!!!

seems easy enough.... but not!!!

okay, first and foremost, I have to say that I plated my dinner as best I could tonite - in order to take a nice photo and redeem myself from the previous entry's photo.... am sure you will all agree that this is, albeit far from being professionally plated, not a bad looking presentation....

So another long day at the office, another quick meal to prepare.... what seemed like a quite easy noodle and veggies dinner turned out to be a laborious task after all.... but a task that ended up being worth all the trouble - as it just turned out better than I had expected....

Making pasta or noodle meals have always been some of the easiest and fastest way to satisfy one's hunger... but if you really think about it - it is not that simple... yes, boiling anything is easy but one must know that it is all in the timing.... over boiling would make the noodle/pasta too soft and soggy.... under cooking would make it turn crunchy and lets face it, no matter what kind of sauce you have to go with it - it will still taste uncooked! so it has to be boiled just right...

Then comes the sauce or the side dishes to go with it -- to make it more appetizing... For tonite we opted for blanched Batchoy and sauteed mushroom, onions, garlic & cherry tomatoes... throw in some canned tuna for added flavour.... Simple Enough you say.... WRONG! First up, for cooking novices like me, you must know that, according to wikipaedia: "Blanching is a cooking term that describes a process of food preparation wherein the food substance, usually a vegetable or fruit, is plunged into boiling water, removed after a brief, timed interval and finally plunged into iced water or placed under cold running water (shocked) to halt the cooking process." So as you can see, this part alone is laborious already!!! It is really all in the art of how you do things to make all the flavors and texture work together.... and timing plays a key role. Then we are already a step closer to a $50 cuisine meal... hehehehehe

While boiling the pasta/noodle; the onions, garlic and mushroom are sauteing in the oil from the canned tuna.... adding a splash of olive oil adds just the right amount of extra flavour... A few minutes before it is all done, the cherry tomatoes are added..... canned tuna goes in last.... Once the noodles/pasta are done, you can then blanch the batchoy in the same boiling water you just used for the noodles... this adds flavor to the batchoy. So all these should be finsihed pretty much the same time... and VOILA - dinner is served.

who knew???

...last nite, after our run, we were trying to whip up something fast..... basically, the idea was to just cook something simple and fast.... and use whatever is in the fridge... it meant basically carrots, potatoes, onions, pumpkin & garlic.... so what the hell -- slice them... dice them.... saute them.....

and it all would have been great 'cept we forgot to take into consideration that the potatoes takes longer to cook that everything else..... so we gave up, set it aside and instead went out to eat.... hahahahaha

-but that is not the end of the story for that dish... today during lunchtime, i got the remnants of last nite's supposedly meal.... added some seaweed paper from KOREA.... put it in the steamer for 10 mins and VOILA!!! INSTANT DELICACY!!! aaah, the WONDERS of STEAMING!!!! it was truly tasty and flavorful, if I may say so myself.... it was a blend of rich flavors from the garlic, onions, pumpkin & seaweed... the carrots and potatoes were just right... cooked but not mushy..... and the pumpkin almost just melts in your mouth..... no meat even added to this dish.... and was still good and filling enough....

so LESSON learned is that - NEVER GIVE UP... there is always HOPE!!! and BTW, the old saying "Do Not Judge A Book By It's Cover" applies here.... it really tastes much better than it looks.... an you are just going have to take my words for it!!!