Hello lovers (single or otherwise)!
Happy V-day weekend / lonely hearts club.
I lived in a bachelorette apartment for 2 years as I was gearing up into my cooking career. I always felt compassion for those living on their own who wanted to cook healthily, but were frustrated by the idea of cooking for one - all the dishes, leftovers, the food waste, what's the point!? etc.
Graveyard
I love using up leftovers. We get loads to take home from cooking at school so I invented a Thai Red Curry Moules et Frites with Blood Orange Slaw. Check out the recipe below!
Charles Fort, Kinsale. Or is it Game of Thrones..??
Kinsale Harbour
Barbershop in Kinsale
Fish and Chips at Fishy Fishy
Scallops with Spinach Risotto & Cheese Crisp
But first.. my time here is over the hump.. as in I have a little over one month left of the course. We had our midterm exams and I'm feeling more and more confident in my cooking abilities.
Sourdough! Fini!
Trying to make a Gluten Free Sourdough starter.. wish me luck! It needs a few days to ferment.
I'm also fully into playing music again. I had my first gig in 3 years - not singing originals (unlike before when I was adamant about it). There is so much to say about the parallels between cooking and music when creating the two.
All of your apprehensions need to be suspended just for the moment in order to gain your own trust in intuition to create something beautiful. Like taste in food and music.. it is also all relative, but there is a certain foundation that one could use to make the process more enjoyable and less frustrating.
goats!
Wood-fired pizza made every Saturday at the school.
Philip doing the pizzas.
DSC01376
Pizza ingredients.
Every week we have a new teacher and each of them have taught me some essential tips:
1. Have a 'garbage can' for vegetable peelings, meat scraps, etc while you're cooking. It clears space on your cutting board. 2. Sharpen your knife every time before using. A sharp knife is actually safer to use and makes prepping way easier. 3. As you cook, clean up around you - the clean area helps you focus and a zen environment makes cooking less stressful. etc.
Make Moules et Frites with home made mayo as below:
Mussels
1 lb mussels (making sure they're still alive - refer to the video above)
Add them to an empty pan and turn on the heat. Cover and steam for 3-4 min until they open up. Allow to cool. You can reserve the juices from the pan for a fish stock or sauce.
Frites
2 medium waxy potatoes, sliced in 5mm x 5mm strips
olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
Preheat oven to 475. Toss fries in about 2 tbsp olive oil, salt and pepper to taste. Bake in an oven for 20min, flipping them once after 10min.
Thai Red Curry Mayo
250mL mayo
1-2 tbsp Thai Red Curry paste (to taste)
dash of lemon
Mix ingredients in a bowl and add more or less curry paste to taste.
Blood Orange Slaw
2 cups shredded purple cabbage
1/4 finely chopped red onion
1 clove garlic, crushed
zest of 1/2 blood orange and 1 tbsp of its juice
1/3 cup mayo
salt and pepper to taste
Shred cabbage. Mix the rest of the ingredients together to make a dressing. And combine with shredded cabbage adding more or less mayo to taste.
Been missing home lately. Was kind enough to be surprised with this little gem at a convenience store. 4 weeks left!!
