King Prawns & Pak Choi with Honey, Lime & Soy

Original Recipe:

"Honey, lime & soy king prawns with pak choi" from BBC Goodfood Quick Suppers (Autumn 2011)

Original Ingredients (serves 4):

• 16 large raw king prawns, peeled and deveined
• 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
• 2 tbsp blossom honey
• zest and juice from 1 lime
• 100g or 2 baby pak choi, sliced
• 2 tsp olive oil

My Ingredients (serve 1):

• 190g small raw king prawns
• 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
• 2 tbsp manuka honey
• zest and juice from 1 small lime
• 1 large pak choi, about 230g
• 2 tsp corn oil
• a pinch of salt
• water

My Method:

1. Rinse the prawns and pat with a pinch of salt. Put into fridge for about 15 minutes.
2. Take out the prawns from fridge and pat dry on kitchen paper.
3. Pour dark soy sauce, honey, lime zest and juice into a non-stick pan. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer over a low heat until reduced by half and syrupy (it took me 3 minutes). Remove from heat & set aside.
4. Wipe the pan with a kitchen paper. Heat over a high heat for 1 min. Add the corn oil and heat for 30 seconds.
5. Add the prawns and stir-fry over a high heat for 15 seconds.
6. Add the syrupy mixture and stir-fry for a further 15 seconds.
7. Add the pak choi and 1 tbsp of water and cover the pan.
8. Allow to cook for 45 seconds or until the leaves are just wilted (don't overcook the pak choi as its water content will make the sauce too runny). Serve immediately

One-line Verdict:

A real quick supper! Honey, lime & soy go really well and gives an oriental hint!

Verdict:

• The original recipe asks to slice & stir-fry the pak choi. As I don't want pak choi to feel too oily, I borrowed a "half-fry-half-steam" method previously learnt from this dish.
• The original ingredients include 2 baby pak choi which on average weigh 50g each. I cannot find (and actually have never seen) any baby pak choi this small. Usually the baby pak choi sold in supermarket weights about 80-120g each.
• I increased the portion size of the recipe to satiate my craving for pak choi but made the amount of honey lime sauce same as original recipe. I found it quite enough.
• I didn't slice the pak choi (okay, I FORGOT), so the part near the root were a bit undercooked.
• Approximate cost of the main ingredients: £4

Brussels Sprouts with Bacon

Original Recipe:

"Brussels Sprouts with Bacon" from Heston Blumenthal at Home.

Original Ingredients:

• 5 smoked bacon rashers, cut into lardons
• 50g unsalted butter
• 400g brussels sprouts

Original Method:

1. Slice the bases from the brussels sprouts and carefully separate the leaves, pulling them off the sprouts.
   
2. Fry the bacon in a frying pan over a medium heat until soft but not coloured. Remove from the pan and drain on kitchen paper. Set aside.
   
3. Melt the butter with the bacon fat in the frying pan over a medium to low heat. When the butter is foaming, add the brussels leaves and stir to coat them. Add 2 tbsp water and cover the pan.
   
4. Allow to cook for 3 to 5 minutes, stir in the bacon and season with salt and pepper.

My Ingredients:

• 200g smoked bacon lardons (Waitrose Essential)
• 25g unsalted butter (President)
• 200g brussels sprouts (loose veg from Waitrose)

My Method: 

• Basically followed the recipe except reducing the cooking time of brussels sprouts from 5 minutes to 3 minutes.

One-line Verdict:

This is an easy recipe which only takes about 30 minutes to yield a very satisfying result.

Verdict:

• Sprouts are not really a very popular vegetable because of the unpleasant boiled-cabbage bitterness. However this is mainly due to overcooking, especially the exterior. The key to this recipe is to separate the leaves of the sprouts instead of to cook them whole. Ideally every leaf can be evenly cooked and sweet.
• Separating the leaves was very laborious, it took me about 20 minutes to separate 10 sprouts. But it really worked and the resulting sprouts were sweet and delicious.
• As what I bought was called lardons, I didn't do any further cutting or dicing -- okay, I simply forgot. However the photo on Heston Blumenthal's book showed neatly diced cubic lardons. If I do this dish again, I'll try to remember to dice the lardons into smaller cubes.
• Approximate cost of the main ingredients: £2.4 (serves 2)

(Additional information) How to choose brussels sprouts?

(from Wholefoods Market)

• Choose firm, small, compact sprouts with a good green color and stem ends that are clean and white.
• When possible, select sprouts of uniform size for uniform cooking. Avoid those with wilted or yellowed leaves or that feel spongy.
• Sooty smudges or small holes in the leaves may be an indication of worms or plant lice.
• Old Brussels sprouts acquire a strong cabbage odor.
• Brussels sprouts are most abundant in autumn through early spring.

Hoisin sauce Chicken Drumsticks

Recipe:

My personal "Just wing it" recipes... (blush blush)

My Ingredients:

• 1kg, about 12 pieces of Chicken drumsticks
• 6 heaped tbsp of Hoisin Sauce (Lee Kum Kee, 李錦記)
• 2 tbsp of water
• Salt & Pepper

My Method: 

1. Marinate the chicken drumsticks with Hoisin sauce, water, salt and pepper. Leave them in fridge for at least 2.5 hours.
2. Pre-heat oven at 180C. Bake for 30 minutes. Rotating midway through baking.

One-line Verdict:

Good for a lazy evening.

Verdict:

• Another variation is: Bake for 15 minutes at 200C. Take the tray out and cover with foil. Return to oven to bake for another 15 minutes. It will result in a crispier exterior.
• Approximate cost of the main ingredients: £5 (serves 4)

Creamy pasta with mushrooms, parmesan & lardons

Original Recipe:

"Creamy Pancetta pasta with mushrooms & parmesan" from Lorraine Pascale's Home Cooking Made Easy. Also on BBC.

Original Ingredients:

• 400g/14oz pappardelle
• 100-200g/3½-7oz cubed pancetta
• 175g/6oz chestnut mushrooms, finely sliced
• 225ml/8fl oz double cream
• 75g/3oz parmesan cheese, grated
• freshly ground black pepper

Original Method:

1. Cook the pappardelle according to the packet instructions.
2. Meanwhile, fry the pancetta in a frying pan over a medium-high heat for about five minutes. When it starts to brown, add the mushrooms and cook for 2-3 minutes, then add the double cream.
3. Once the cream is hot, add the parmesan and stir together well.Once the pasta is ready, drain and return it to the pan. Add the pancetta mixture and stir through well. Season with some pepper (I find it does not usually need salt because of the salty parmesan and pancetta).

My Ingredients:

• 200g fusilli (corkscrew shaped pasta)
• 90g cubic bacon lardons
• 200g chestnut mushrooms, finely sliced
• 110ml double cream
• 38g parmesan cheese, grated
• freshly ground black pepper

My Method: 

• Basically followed the halved recipe but substituting pancetta with bacon lardons, and pappardelle with fusilli. (The only reason for substitution is I already have lardons & fusilli at home).
• I increased the portion of chestnut mushroom as we both love it so much. The original portion just won't be enough!

One-line Verdict:

Super easy and fool-proof. Ideal for mid-week quick dinner.

Verdict:

• Quick, easy and delicious. Very happy as long as I don't think about the calorie and fat intake.
• Approximate cost of the main ingredients: £5 (serves 2)