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.
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.
