Strawberries and Whipped Cream

A nice dessert to match the sunny weather:

Strawberries sweetened with a bit of sugar, topped with hand-whipped Alpro whipping cream~

Egg-free Omurice

Unfortunately, the egg-free version doesn't look as pretty as this one. I made a real omurice (omelette + rice) for my cousin, who does eat eggs. It's stuffed with a fried rice that contains diced carrots, champignons, and fried tofu. The whole is flavored with ketchup, giving the rice a pretty red-orange color.

This is the egg-free version:

I experimented with an egg-free crepe recipe mixed with some curry powder to make my "omelette."  Since it was an experiment, I did not want to make too much. That's why I added more rice on the side, otherwise I would go hungry >_< . A few things to fix for next time:

• Make more batter for a bigger crepe
• Add some cornstarch to the mix for sturdiness
• Adjust rice seasoning better

When I have it figured out, I'll post the recipe~

Vegetarian Burritos

While doing groceries the other day (fridge was empty from Spring Break, so had to fill it a bit before market day came), I randomly decided we would have burritos for dinner yesterday. Probably was influenced by the two tortillas my friend gave me. Or maybe I just hadn't had any for too long. Whichever the reason, I was clear I was getting burritos done.

I made new white rice, in which I mixed some chopped cilantro (frozen from a few weeks back), and added some lemon juice in an attempt to replicate the Chipotle rice.

For the black beans, I just took a can of beans, stir-fried them a little with some salt, and then they were ready.

Chopped some lettuce and diced some tomatoes. Yesterday's version did not have guacamole, but I got some ripe avocados at the market today, so I made guacamole by mashing the avocado, adding some lemon juice and salt, and mixing it all together.

The grated cheese tastes like aged Gouda, which has a sharper flavor than the younger ones. I prefer the taste of aged cheese, and it was the cheapest grated cheese, in any case. I couldn't find sour cream, so I grabbed a tub of quark -- a good decision. It has a very nice flavor, and apparently, it has less fat than sour cream.

Pile the ingredients in whichever order, and wrap it up!

Curry Samosas

This is something I've been wanting to make for a long time, but I kept on being put off because the recipe I had gotten from a teacher involved deep frying. Unless I'm really motivated, I don't like dealing with deep frying, despite how good deep-fried food is.

Today, I had a bit of inspiration. What if I baked the samosas instead of frying them? That would solve all my problems! A quick Google search confirmed that it was possible, and I got to work.

First, I made the curry. I make it more or less like all my other curries before, except instead of leaving it watery, I simmered it down to a thick consistency. Incidentally, I also used up a lot of leftovers that were laying about. In this curry, I put:

• leftover cooked potatoes
• leftover green beans that were stir-fried with small tofu pieces and a bit of tomato
• 1 carrot, diced finely
• 2 tomatoes, diced
• some ginger, cumin seeds, dried chili
• curry powder

After cooking the curry, seasoning it to taste, then letting it cool, I took out some thawed spring roll wrappers. Each of these were cut in 3 and left between folds of a clean, damp towel. Then I put a bit of curry, folded it into triangles, then put them in a greased baking pan. Brushed the tops with a bit of olive oil, then baked it at 205°C (400°F) for about 24-25 minutes.

For the raita (salad), I simply grated some cucumber, added plain yogurt, and seasoned with a bit of salt and pepper. This salad adds a refreshing note after the heavier samosas (due to the potatoes and the heat).

Here is a picture of my first batch. They're not so pretty since I hadn't gotten the hang of folding the samosas just right, and the spring roll wrappers were not dampened enough and kept on breaking.

And an unedited picture (I only edit the lighting and colors a bit) of the samosas before I took a bite out of one to show how it looks inside:

Mapo Tofu

I got the recipe for this from a friend, and I had a lot of tofu to use up. My cousin was going to make it at first, but due to time constraints, I ended up making it.

Recipe as my friend sent it to me:

I didn't have light soy sauce, so I omitted it, and just put 3 tbs of dark soy sauce. Didn't have black bean paste, but had the actual black beans, so I mashed them with a bit of water to turn them into a paste. The tofu wasn't exactly silken, but it was soft enough. It was served with black rice with diced sweet potato mixed in.

Egg-free Tiramisu in 8 Steps

Start by gathering the ingredients (makes 8 servings):
- 250 g of ricotta (healthier and cheaper than the traditional mascarpone)
- 1 pack of speculoos cookies
- whipping cream (I used ALPRO soy-based)
- coffee
- sugar
- chocolate powder

Prepare the receptacles you will put your tiramisu in. Mine were 4 short glasses, but you can use ramekins, large oven dishes, verrines, etc.

Step 1: Brew a bowl or cup of coffee and let it cool.

Step 2: In a large bowl whip the cream until the volume increases, then whisk in ricotta until smooth. Add sugar, and a spoonful of coffee if desired.

Step 3: Quickly soak some speculoos cookies in the cooled coffee.

Step 4: Layer it at the bottom of your glass (or other receptacle). Repeat desired number of times (I made 3 layers of cookies each time).

Step 5: Spoon in some of the ricotta mixture. This will form the 2nd layer.

Step 6: Repeat steps 4 and 5 as many times as desired. End with a ricotta layer.

Step 7: Refrigerate overnight, or at least 4 hours until set.
Step 8: Sift on some chocolate powder. You can either cover the whole top with chocolate, or use a template to make a shape.

You can see the layers very well in this half-eaten one:

Potato salad

Potatoes were starting to grow things out of their buds... way time to eat them. I didn't what to make for dinner anyways.

Am I going to start blogging my college meal every day? I don't think so. Just these days, I'm getting some kind of food creativity/motivation, so I keep on doing things that are more than simply veggies and rice.

And I'm posting this more more for me to be able to find the dressing recipe again if needed.

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RECIPE

  Ingredients (amounts according to how much is required)

• potatoes
• carrot(s)
• cucumber (leftovers from yesterday's sushi night)
• 1 tsp mustard
• 1/2 lemon's juice
• 1 tbs mayonnaise/vegenaise
• salt and pepper, to taste

  Procedure

1. Dice potatoes, carrots (smaller than potatoes), slice cucumbers however you ant.
2. Steam or boil potatoes until tender. Steam or boil carrots until just cooked.
3. Refrigerate carrots and potatoes until cold.
4. Mix with cucumber slices.
5. In a bowl, mix mustard, lemon juice, mayonnaise, and season to taste. Multiply quantities as required.
6. Mix into the potato salad, careful to not mash the potatoes.

Norimaki (sushi)

When I have mozzarella and avocados, the first thing I think of is that I can make sushi with it. Like I've mentioned before, it has somehow become normal to put strips of mozzarella in my sushi...

I really liked the arrangement of the plate today, so I decided to make a blog post about it =D

Clockwise from the top left: cucumber, tofu, carrot, avocado, and mozzarella.

For a simple make-it-yourself dinner, we just set out the nori sheets cut in half, rice (black rice this time), cut up ingredients, and wasabi and soy sauce, and each of us rolls our own. I usually make a roll, cut in 4, and then eat it dipped in soy sauce and wasabi powder.

The two end pieces are not as pretty, but the middle pieces are nice! ^_^

Easiest Pasta

Here's another super simple recipe. It involves 2 ingredients (+ seasoning), plus whatever else you want/have around.

All you have to do is the following:

1. Cook any type of pasta to desired consistency.
2. Mix in some mayonnaise (vegenaise if you want it vegan).
3. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Add some extra stuff (in this one, cashews and tomato).

For step 4, you can really put whatever you want! The first time I've had this type of pasta salad, it was just toasted pine nuts. The second time? Canned corn. I've done it with some carrots, other vegetables, etc. Realy easy for when you want pasta but are too lazy to make a sauce, or if you just don't have a lot of ingredients around. What's best about this recipe is how versatile it is!

Lazy Student Casserole

What do you do when you cook for yourself and you're lazy to stand by the pot and stir? You make a casserole. (Stove-top one, I don't have an oven yet).

It's really simple really. Just slice your veggies, layer them in a pot, cook on low heat. DONE! If anyone's interested, I got the recipe from a manga (Cooking Papa), once again. Even though it's never sure exactly how safe it is to test recipes from fictional characters, I like getting inspired by them.

With the potatoes inside, you don't even need any rice or anything. The veggies will leak out some juice, so it's not bad to mop up with bread if you're still hungry enough. Feel free to change the veggie type, just make sure the potatoes are not the bottom-most layer.

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What do you do when you're lazy (not counting instant noodles and such stereotypical student food)?

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RECIPE (full meal for one person)

  Ingredients

• 2 small potatoes (or 1 large one)
• 1/3 zucchini/courgette
• 3 white mushrooms (champignon de Paris)
• 1/2 red bell pepper
• 1 piece tofu
• 150 g mozzarella
• salt, pepper, chili flakes, Maggi soy sauce, Provencal herbs
• neutral oil

  Procedure

1. Slice everything
2. Heat a small pot, then remove from heat. Coat the bottom with some mild oil (I used olive oil)
3. Layer your veggies (this is the order I used, the bottom-most one being the one at the bottom of the list):
                   Mozzarella
                   Tofu + soy sauce + pepper + chili flakes
                   Bell pepper
                   Mushroom
                   Potato + bit of salt
                   Zucchini + herbs
4. Return to the stove, close the lid, and let cook on low heat for 15-20 minutes or until all the veggies are cooked through
5. Enjoy~

Triple Dessert

Another friends' gathering dinner. I think it'll be a regular thing from now on on Saturday nights.

One of my friends made a 5-spice stew to eat with rice, which was delicious. Another friend provided some steamed vegetables. I opted for dessert, since that's what I enjoy making most.

I made three small desserts for each of us. First, I did something very simple, which was to make pudding out of a pudding packet (mix with sugar, add to hot soymilk, pour into containers, refrigerate). Next, I took a few kiwis that were getting very ripe. I cooked them up with some brown sugar and lime juice, and topped them with a crumble mix (mix of flour, butter, and sugar, pan-fried to create a crumbled cookie mixture). Last of all, I made a mug cake, with cinnamon and more brown sugar as flavoring.

You can tell it was originally a mug cake, but due to the depth of the mug, it was very hard to take good pictures. So I decided to take the cake out of the mug.