​Where should I start? Meatballs, as simple as it is, it's one of those dishes that I have a love-hate relationship with. 

I tried to make meatballs possibly two times and both were not good ones. Consistency was good but the seasoning part is where I always make a mistake. Unfortunately, meatballs, like burger patties, you won't really know if you did the seasoning right, until it's cooked. I guess you can still salvaged it but for avid cooks like me, that's just masking the error. At the end of the day, it still means the seasoning was not done right.

This time around, I was able to do it right, well at least half way. I tell you why it was half way. I bought a ready-to-cook Italian sausage. Just because in Dubai, Italian ground sausage somehow is not easy to find. I had to improvised. That being said, it still means I had to play around with the seasoning because the Italian sausage that I got is already seasoned and I have to mix it with an unseasoned ground beef. So it was still a success, albeit half way.

Tip 1: This is exactly how my meaty meat sauce was done, without the meat since this has meatballs
Tip 2: If you have a sauce that your family particularly like, you can just add the meatballs part to up the ante
Tip 3: Get your kiddos involved. Sure there will be funny shapes, it won't be uniform but you and they will have fun.

Ingredients for the meatballs:
3 slices white bread, crusts removed and diced
2/3 cup cold water
1 lb ground beef
1 lb ready to cook Spicy Italian Sausage (taken out from casings)
1/4 cup grated parmegiano regiano
6 cloves garlic, minced finely
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1-2 tablespoons white sugar (depending on your preference)
1 large egg
3/4 cup all-purpose flour to dredge meatballs
Light olive oil to saute

Ingredients for the sauce
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp cooking oil
1 large onion, diced
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium green capsicum, diced
2 (6-ounce) cans tomato paste
2 (8-ounce) cans tomato sauce
1 (14 1/2 ounce) can stewed tomatoes
​1 tbsp Italian Seasoning (ready made or make your own)
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp sugar (to cut the acidity, especially good with young eaters, but if they are very much into the authentic Italian sauce, no need to add sugar)
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup water

Instruction for the meatballs:
​1. Place bread pieces in a small bowl, add cold water and soak for at least 5 minutes then mashed with fork
2. In large mixing bowl, add beef, pork sausage, parmegiano regiano, garlic, salt, pepper, sugar, egg and mashed bread. Mix until well combined.
3. Form into 1 inch meatballs (about half a scoop of ice cream), but if you want big meatballs, oh please go big by all means!
4. Dredge/roll meatballs in flour, dust off excess flour
5. Heat a large skillet over medium heat with 3-4 tablespoons olive oil.
6. Add meatballs in batches without crowding the pan. Saute until brown on all sides (turn every minute). Don't worry about not cooking the them through, it will be cooked fully when it's added to the sauce.
7. Set aside

At this point, if you followed the size of my meatballs, it should actually be cooked through by this time. The one you should worry about are your kids stealing them before you are able to make the sauce. 

Instruction for the sauce:
1. In the same pan, saute onion and capsicum in butter and oil, until onion is tender, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and saute 30 more seconds.
3. Add tomato paste, sauce and stewed tomatoes, seasonings and water.
4. Simmer for 15 minutes. 
5. Add the meatballs
6. ​Simmer for another 15 minutes.

I have to confess, because I made small meatballs, I did not add them all into the sauce (thinking I will make more sauce later on). The problem with that was, my kids ate the ones not in the sauce when I went to work. Apparently, according to my nanny, they ate it with rice and were even fighting over it. 

That for me is a clear translation of success.

Happy Eating!!!

There's nothing better than easy to make meals packed with lots of flavours.

Tip 1: It's better to pan fry your potatoes with butter, salt and pepper. I know because I tried it and it has way better flavours.
Tip 2. You can have your kale baked until it becomes a crispy chip or you can have it stir fried. Whichever it is you prefer.

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons olive oil
6 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
6 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon salt plus more to taste
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper to taste

knob of butter
10 pcs baby potatoes, halved
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, pounded to even thickness
Bunch or two of kale toss in olive oil, salt and pepper

Instructions:

• Preheat the oven to 400F
• Whisk together 2 tablespoons olive oil with honey, Dijon, garlic, oregano, basil, salt and pepper.
• Reserve 3/4 of the sauce for later.
• Marinate the chicken with the remaining 1/4 sauce for an hour.
• Line the sheet pan with foil
• Spread a little sauce on half part of the foil. Lay the chicken on top of the sauce 
• Generously drizzle the reserved sauce all over chicken
• Bake 20 minutes. Add the kale leaves on the other half of the pan and continue baking for another 15 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.
• In a pan, fry potatoes in a knob of butter until brown
• Serve chicken with potatoes and kale chips

My kids love, love, love this dish. The sauce is the key. It kept the chicken moist and flavourful. Granted I took poor shots of the dish, I promise to re-create this with the buttered pan-fried potatoes next time and re-take the shots.

My boys have been asking me to make this again, make again I will :)

Happy Eating!

I'm not kidding, it is as easy as counting up to 5!

Tip 1: I love panchetta and I usually add them to any dish that calls for bacon, or just to up the ante for any stir fry veggie
Tip 2: Please only use the real deal parmigiano reggiano. I will not recommend using a substitute or the powdered in a bottle one. I have made a mistake of buying one before, never again.
Tip 3: Have everything ready. Mis-en-place you all! I might be an organised chaos lady but I usually have my ingredients arranged according to its order of use.
Tip 4: Cut the ingredients in half if there's only 4 of you. We're only 5 but my Jason eats for 3. No lying, he ate 3 plateful of this for dinner and even had the left over for lunch the next day.

Ingredients: 
500 grams spaghetti
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups grated Parmigiano Reggiano
4 slices of streaky bacon, diced
154 grams of panchetta (small pack)
8 garlic cloves
Freshly ground black pepper
​Salt

Serves 8

Instructions:
Cook pasta as per package instructions. Drain and reserve a cup of pasta water.

In a medium size bowl, whisk eggs. Once done, add grated Parmegiano and combine with fork. 

Slowly add a tablespoon of pasta water into the egg and cheese mixture, one at a time.  2-3 tablespoons is a good ratio to bring the temperature up. This is to temper the egg and ensure it does not cook as scrambled egg later on. 

In a frying pan, fry your bacon and panchetta on its own fat. If you only have bacon, just double the amount and you are good to go. Once it's brown, depending on how cook you like your bacon bits. Fish it out of the pan and set aside.

Use the fat in the pan to fry the minced garlic. Once it becomes fragrant, add pasta.

Switch the flame off and move the pan to the unused stove top. You will finish cooking your carbonara using the residual heat. This will also ensure your egg does not get scrambled.

Slowly add the egg mixture and quickly toss pasta and egg continuously until pasta is well coated. 

Add more pasta water to achieve the sauce consistency you prefer.

Add the bacon and panchetta bits, pepper and a little bit of salt. I use my Himalayan salt to complete this dish, not too much though because panchetta is salty enough. Serve hot! 

You can add parsley, or other type of herb you feel like having.

Happy Eating!

As I said from the first Spaghetti Challenge issue, Super Meaty Spaghetti, this combination can either wow you or repulse you! 

Tip 1: You should cover your panini or sandwich press with aluminum foil.
Tip 2: The more meat in the filling, the better 

Ingredients:
3 garlic cloves, pressed
slices of bread
shredded cheddar cheese

Instructions:
Place butter and garlic in a small bowl. Cover it with clingfilm before melting the butter in the microwave.

Brush both sides of the bread and toast.
​
Top the bread with cheddar cheese. Add spaghetti and meat. Put more cheese on top. Top with second piece of the bread.

Finish it off in a griddle or panini press. 2 minutes each side to ensure the the cheese has melted.

Slice it in half and voila! no more left-over!

I have been meaning to resurrect my blogging which means resurrect my relationship with the kitchen and what better way but to put myself on a challenge.

I thought, why not make as many spaghetti dishes as possible?

Who does not like pasta? One might not love pasta but for sure like it on some level. Actually, I do not know anyone who does not eat pasta at all!

So here we are on my 1st week of Spaghetti Challenge and I decided to do a super meaty sauce that calls for minced chicken, beef and pork. The result was yum!

So far so good. Now I'm all hyped up and excited to think of what variation I will go for next week! 

Tip 1: if you are to create one of the ingredient, then please do it before you start cooking
Tip 2: if you would like your spaghetti with lots of meat, then by all means, increase the quantity of your meat.
Tip 3: if you do not like sugar, then just add one tablespoon. By the way, sugar is a natural food enhancer. I don't use MSG in my cooking but do use sugar from time to time. 

Ingredients:
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp cooking oil
1/2 lb minced chicken
1/2 lb minced beef
1/2 lb minced pork
1 large onion, diced
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium green capsicum, diced
2 (6-ounce) cans tomato paste
2 (8-ounce) cans tomato sauce
1 (14 1/2 ounce) can stewed tomatoes
​1 tbsp Italian Seasoning
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup water

Servings: Perfect for 500 grams of pasta.

Instructions:
Brown the meat in a heavy bottomed pot.

Add onion and capsicum and saute until onion is tender, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and saute 30 more seconds.

Add tomato paste, sauce and stewed tomatoes, seasonings and water.

​Simmer for 30 minutes.

While this sauce is simmering, in a separate pot, cook spaghetti according to packet instructions.

Personal preference:
I like to keep the sauce and pasta separate. I get a pan and just mix as many pasta to sauce or vice versa I like. That way I can make it spicy if I want to or keep it as is depending on my mood. 

This is what I did with the left over... either you will love it or you will be disgusted. Nothing in between!

Happy Eating!!!

It's one of those recipes I saw in my FB timeline. 

Let's just say this is as easy as counting 1, 2, 3. With three kids, one under one year old, full time work and a house to manage, as much as I want to I really can't spend too much time making dishes.

Tip 1: Use a cupcake liner, I learned it the hard way. Trying to take it out of the mould was not fun
Tip 2: Use a thicker type of bread, I know I would! Thin bread is much too less for a yummy concoction like this
Tip 3: Cook the bacon in advance, keep it in your fridge like one of those reserve
Tip 4: Will be yummy with Garlic Mushroom on the side or buttered asparagus!

Ingredients
3 slices of thick white bread
6 eggs
6 bacon strips, cooked but not crispy
Cheddar cheese shreds
Dash of pepper

Direction:
Pre-heat the oven at 400 F

Line the pan with cupcake liner

Cut the bread in 6 circle shapes to fit the bottom of the liner

Place the bacon on top of the bread as a wall for the egg

Add as much or as little shredded cheddar cheese on top of the bread

Crack the eggs in the middle

A dash of pepper

Bake it for 15 minutes

Serve with sauteed garlic mushroom in butter or buttered asparagus and you'll have a one of a kind brunch on your hand! Baked egg cushioned on a bed of cheese and bread deliciously hugged by bacon 

When I was young, every time I hear my mom's orders to fry rice, I get heart palpitation. 

Cooking rice on its own was already complicated, frying rice was like the death of me. I just couldn't do it right! It becomes one soggy, oily mess and I have no clue why she keeps on torturing me with the never ending "Nina! Fry the left over rice". 

Fast forward to now, becoming a mom myself, to two beautiful boys (who eat like monsters)... I've grown to love frying rice. What's not to love? Rice don't go to waste. Left over food can easily be a part of breakfast's orchestra with no fuss. It has indeed become my ultimate go-to saving concoction for days when the fridge is packed with left-overs. 

Tip 1: Keep your left-over rice in the fridge. Cold rice, when fried does not absorb as much oil as when it's warm.
Tip 2: Use as many or as less garlic as you want.
Tip 3: Keep the pan or wok very hot and keep tossing. Don't go wandering about anywhere, you don't want to burn your rice.

Ingredients:
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 eggs, seasoned with salt and pepper, beaten
5-8 cups of cooked rice
3 cloves of garlic, minced
Garlic salt or plain salt
Left over meat, chicken or veggies

Serves a hungry family of 4

On a medium heat, put the oil in the pan. Add beaten egg until cooked. Take the egg off the pan and set it on a chopping board. Chop it to uneven bits, go karate kid on it, it's okay. Take that aggression out, the more bits, the merrier!

In the same pan with the same oil, saute garlic until it's aromatic. Add a few dashes of garlic salt (or salt). Don't go bananas with it, you can always add more later on if your rice needs more saltiness... you can never take it back though if it becomes way too salty at an early stage... so... rein your horses for the time being. 

Immediately add your cold rice and turn up the heat to high. Start tossing the rice and stay put! Do. Not. Leave. After 7-10 mins, you can lower the heat to medium or even moderately low. Add the chopped eggs and chopped left over meats. Add more salt or garlic salt if necessary. 

*Sometimes I add 1/4 cup oyster sauce diluted with 1/8 cup water for a change of colour and depth in taste. 

Enjoy your fried rice with sausage, egg sunny side up, bacon, fish, or any dish you fancy.

HOW EASY WAS THAT?!

Croissants in our house do not really go stale because my boys are huge lovers of croissants. If I buy a box of it in the morning and do not tell the boys to calm down the munching a bit... it will be gone by sundown. It's that serious.

It's not that they'll lose appetite in main meals, they're growing boys, it's just that I'm all about moderation when it comes to their meals? (I'm not saying it applies to me and hubby alright?).

Trying to make this recipe made me buy 3 boxes of croissants because every single time I want to make it stale, the bloody bread just disappears into thin air!

In the end, I told the boys to leave me at least four and they can eat everything including the box. That solved it. :P

Ingredients:
4 stale croissants
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons water
a drop of vinegar
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons Bailey's Creme Caramel
1/2 cup whole milk
2 eggs, beaten

Serves 4-6 hungry diners

Preheat oven to 350F.

In a medium size baking dish, tear the croissants into pieces. Set aside.

In a saucepan, put the sugar and water. Swirl the water around to wet the sugar. Place the pan in a medium high heat and let it bubble away. Add a drop of two of vinegar to avoid sugar from crystallizing. It will turn into a deep amber, about 5 minutes. DO NOT STIR and DO NOT WALK AWAY. Let the bubble caramelize on its own. 

Once amber colour appears, take the pan off the heat. Whisking continuously  add the cream, Baileys, milk and beaten eggs, in that order. If the caramel seems to get stuck at the bottom of the pan, put the pan back to a low heat and continue stirring until it's fully dissolved.

Pour the mixture all over the croissant pieces in the baking dish and leave it for 10 minutes to get absorbed.

Bake for 20 minutes. Take a slice or two, add whipped cream or vanilla ice cream on the side and voila! Stale turned simply delicious.

This could easily be a picture recipe to be honest. It's that simple.

Tip 1: You can skip the lemon since your sauce is already with lemon.
Tip 2: Smudge butter like I did.
Tip 3: You can make your lemon-butter sauce thicker by adding 1 teaspoon cornstarch dissolved in 2 teaspoons COLD water.
Tip 4: Put on your chefy hat, it's your fish! It won't complain whatever you add in the packet!

Ingredients:
2 white fish fillet
1/2 lemon Slice (optional)
Salt
Pepper
Olive oil
2 butter cubes (optional)
2 Baking paper or parchment papers cut to the size of each fillet


Serves 2

Pre-heat the oven to 150F

Make sure fillets are de-boned and skinned. Rub olive oil all over fillets.

Place fillets in each baking paper. Sprinkle salt and pepper.

Close packets by folding the ends together.

Bake for 15 minutes or until parchments are a bit brown.

Discard juiced in packet and serve with lemon butter sauce. Recipe below.

Related Recipe: Lemon Butter Sauce

Halloween is just around the corner and this recipe is perfect!

I have made petits choux before but not this traditional one, it was an updated one with AcousticChef stamped all over it. A combination of hot and cold filling with a crunchy casing.

BUT of course this traditional recipe is a right of passage and to be honest, it tasted equally great as my experiment.

Tip 1: Practice makes perfect, once you find the right piping tip and the right size of piping, it'll be so easy the next time around.
Tip 2: You can use your hand mixer and bowl if stand alone is not available. If that's not available too, a wooden spoon will also do the trick though for sure you'll have bigger biceps after :)
Tip 3: If you have no piping bag and tip, use a ziploc bag and cut the tip or plop a heap of batter using a teaspoon.
Tip 4: You can make your puffs as small or as big as you want but the bigger the size, the longer it will take to bake.
Tip 5: Don't go greedy and eat all the pastry before it's filled!

Pastry Ingredients:
2 cups water
1 cup unsalted butter
2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 large eggs

Kiwi Cream Filling Ingredients
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups milk
2 pureed Zespiri Kiwi
4 egg yolks
1 greed Wilton food colouring (no taste)
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla or in my case, pinch of vanilla powder

Makes 72 decent sized petits choux

Preheat the oven to 400F and line your baking sheets with parchment paper.

To make the creme:
Combine pureed kiwi and milk. Set aside.

In a decent size saucepan, over medium heat, combine sugar, flour and salt. Pour milk mixture in a slow stream while continuously stirring the flour. Mixture will become thick.

Turn the heat down, stir for another 3 minutes then remove from heat. In a mixing bowl, place the egg yolks and slowly pour a slightly hot milk mixture while whisking continuously so that the egg doesn't scramble. Once fully combined, return the mixture to the pan.

Gently bring to a boil and let it bubble for 2 minutes. Add a tiny teeny drop of your green food colouring. Finish it off with butter and vanilla. 

Transfer the mixture to a shallow bowl to cool. To prevent a skin from forming, position your cling film or plastic wrap right on top of the cream. Refrigerate until cold.

To make pàte à choux or puffs
In a small bowl, combine flour and salt.

In a medium size saucepan, bring water to a boil. Add butter and let it melt. Add flour mixture and stir vigorously. Continue stirring until mixture forms a ball and no longer separate. Cool pan slightly off the heat.

Transfer the dough to your stand alone mixer's bowl (like KitchenAid). Using the paddle attachment, mix at slow speed. Add eggs one at a time, making sure it's blended well before adding another one. 

Transfer batter to pastry bag fitted with a medium size star tip. Pipe circles on the parchment papers, about 2-3 inches. Pipe outside in.

Leave good enough space in between piped doughs. You need that for even baking and proper air circulation. 

Bake for 20 minutes then cool them on cooling racks.

Cut a small slit through the puff using the tip of your knife ala samurai... hi-ya!

Using piping bag and star tip, or ziploc bag, transfer enough cream to the bag Squeeze enough creme inside the puffs opening until it overflows and looks like a gooey green blob is coming out of puff's mouth. 

Cut mini marshmallows in two, stick choco chip on it and position it on top of the puff. You then have an alien-looking puff drooling green blob... Dust the whole plate with icing sugar to finish it off.

Happy yummy Halloween!!!

For Yummy Creepy Crawlies Spider Cupcakes Recipe, click here.


-AcousticChef, cookin' one tune at a time!