This is the Best Lasagna

.. that you've ever done, mon coeur." said H.
Hah! I used the recipe from the Barilla box and it didn't disappoint.
But also because of the modifications cheats I did :)

This is the recipe.
Start by charring one red/yellow bell pepper.
Put it in oven over 175 C for about 10 mins.
Dump into a box with lid, let it steam. Peel and thinly slice.

In the meanwhile.. 

Diced onions, carrots, celery, bay leaves: browned over olive oil.

Half way through, add in the minced garlic. Toss another 2-3 mins.

Add in the minced beef. I used about 400 gr. 

Add in 1 glass of white wine (or more ;)).

Cook till the wine wine has dried up.

Instead of tomato paste + veg broth + flour, I use 1 can of tomato sauce with parmesan :) 

*this is cheat #1*

Toss, toss, toss.. supposedly over medium fire for 1 hour.

But after 15 mins, my tomato sauce starts to become dry, so I turned off the fire altogether. 

Call it quit.
I added in the cherry tomatoes (quartered) and the charred red bell pepper (sliced).
Salt + Pepper + Clove + Nutmeg = Toss, toss, toss!!

*Cheat #2* 

Instead of making bechamel sauce, I use cream of 3 cheeses.

Start layering.

First, buttered up the pan. 

First layer is cheese sauce, followed by lasagna, then tomato sauce..

followed by another layer of cheese sauce, then shredded cheese.

Recipe dictates for Parmigianno Regianno. 

As you can see, I use Emmental ready shredded cheese :)

Repeat the process. 

By the 3rd layer, I ran out of tomato sauce. Alamak!!

Heck care, I add another layer of cream sauce, another layer of emmental

.. and grated pecorino :)

Baked on 200 C for 22 mins, and this is what I have

The house smelled heavenly. 

And this is what we have for dinner AND lunch tomorrow :)

Sometimes life is really great :)

Buon Appetito!!

Ramblings & Update

After my amounting frustration with this country, the worsening condition we experienced lately, my roller coaster emotion from promises broken abruptly made up with even bigger promises, I have to admit that I'm feeling much much better after last weekend's party at C&N's apartment. It was my first gathering that's not full of people from H's company. In fact, there were hardly any people from H's company. It was nice to finally chat with so many people from different background, about places they have lived in, the things they have encountered. It's good to tell my story and listen to their stories, it's comforting to know that our circumstance is hardly unique. It's good to be reminded to be grateful.

H is not someone who enjoys meeting new people. He doesn't actively search out people's company. I think he's a stay-at-home kinda guy. He's perfectly contented by resting at home throughout the weekend. On the other hand, I crave talking and gossiping with others, being active. If not because of transportation issue, I would have moved around more often. But for now, I need to be satisfied with a car pool from H's company.

Anyway, I think one of these days I'm going to break away from my normal routines and force H to accompany me. I heard about Luanda Hash (Aberdeen Hash, Addis Ababa Hash, Balikpapan Hash..) when I first came, never really had the guts to go alone. But now that I've met a Venezuelan lady who has been participating for 2.5 yrs, I'm more convinced to join. Maybe I can slowly train for a 10k run again. I also heard about Vinyasa yoga group somewhere in Luanda Sul, that'll be nice especially since I brought my mat with me.

And today is the day that we've been waiting for the last 6 months, the day that we're finally going to see our future abode. I am excited but nervous at the same time. We are not asking much, but please please please let it be a normal house. I'm hopeful.

My flu is getting better, my voice is no longer deep throaty (and sexy) and H had a LOT of rest. We certainly have a lot to be thankful for. Have a great week ahead, guys!

Bisous.

Pesto Pizza

In case you don't know yet, Africa is running on generator most of the time.
I'd say Angola is lower, probably about 70% of the time.
Many offices of large enterprises actually rely on generator 24x7. They can't afford to have electricity cut off that happens every so often. It is not unusual to have a power cut two to three times a day.
On weekends, one can expect the generator to run from Friday night up till Monday morning.

So when we heard our generator's pump is spoilt, we know doomsday can't be any closer. 

And as expected, our frozen food is rapidly thawing, including my precious pesto sauce.
So once I got back into my kitchen after evacuating to another guest house, I thought why don't we do pesto pizza for once. Just to know how it tastes. 

I've seen many version of flat bread with pesto, so why not with pizza?

I first prepared the minced beef, sauteing with onions, carrots & mushroom. 

Peppered with cloves, nutmeg, salt & black pepper. 

Hmm... a little bit too dry.

Add in the shredded cheese (I used emmental)

And a glug of olive oil

Into the oven, 175 C for about 10 mins.

And lunch is ready. 

Verdict: I'm not sure that pesto makes a good base. It's too dry for our liking. 

To use pesto as a base, I think one would need a creamy cheese like gorgonzola. Even camembert will be helpful (Ha! baked camembert :))

I am not sure I'd do this again. 

Maybe I will just keep the pesto for pasta. 

Or  baked chicken breast meat :) whaddaya say? ;) 

Mom's egg tart

A dessert I made for a party last weekend. Safe & reliable. Easy to make & never disappoints. 

Mom's egg tart

Ingredients:

* 1 pâte brisée sans the salt

* 4 eggs + 2 egg yolk

* 1/2 can of condensed milk

* 1 tsp vanilla essence

* 100 ml water

How to:

* Preheat oven to 175 C. Bake the pâte brisée for 15 mins or so, till half baked. Don't forget to poke the dough to release air. 

* In a medium bowl, mix all ingredients. Whisk till well incorporated. Filter before pouring into the dough.

* Bake for about 20-30 mins, till the middle part is firm and doesn't move when you shake it.

Ginger, Onion & Sesame Beef Ball

I made this as a party snack last weekend. I thought it's a smart way to introduce Asian food to the guests :) A conversation starter. Original recipe is from Kalyn's Kitchen here and here's how I modify her recipe.

Ginger, Onion & Sesame Beef Ball (makes 52 balls)

Ingredients:
* 650 gr minced beef
* 1.5 tsp minced ginger
* 5 shallots, minced
* 3 large garlic cloves, minced
* 1.5 tbsp cilantro, minced
* 2 tbsp Sriracha Chili Sauce (You can use other chili sauce too)
* 1/2 cup bread crumbs
* 1.5 tbsp sesame seeds
* 1 tsp sea salt
* 1 tsp black pepper
* 1 egg, beaten

How to:
* In a large bowl, add in all ingredients and mix well with your hand. Keep in the fridge for about 30 mins to let the ingredients get to know with each other.

* Preheat oven to 175 C. Form meatballs with your hands. I used 2 tsp to form 1 ball.

* Grease the baking pan before lining the balls. Drip some OO on the balls, and turn them to let it coat with some oil.

* Bake for about 7 mins each side. Turn/ toss and put back for another 5 mins. Serve warm.

Verdict: the balls disappear quite quickly. They are surprisingly moist, though I'm tempted to put some cheese next time round to make it less dry. But then it won't be Asiatique anymore. H suggests making a dip which I completely agree.

Day 21: Pineapple Fried Rice

H has been having busy week and hasn't returned home for lunch for quite some time. So I've been sending him off with 'lunch box full of love'. That's how he calls it. I swear. So the other day, I cooked pineapple fried rice with squid and fish which I sauteed separately, added last.

I copied the recipe from the always reliable Rasa Malaysia here and modified based on what I have. I have to admit I'm a little bit disappointed with the result. I used the pineapple from a can. And it's bland. Bleh. So you better make sure you found a really sweet one, otherwise it beats the purpose of cooking this dish.

Pineapple Fried rice (serve 1)

Ingredients:
* Cooked rice for 1
* 2.5 rings of pineapple from a can. Cubed
* 1 small clove garlic, minced
* 1 tsp chili shrimp paste
* 1/2 red chili, deseed and sliced into small pieces
* 5-6 long beans, chopped into bite size pieces
* 1 tbsp fish sauce
* 1/4 tsp dark soya sauce
* 1/2 tbsp pineapple juice (I didn't have this, so I omitted it)
* Optional: prawn or fish fillet

How to:
* In a pan, heat up some oil and stir fry the garlic, shrimp paste and chili.

* Add in the long beans. If you are using prawn or fish fillet, add them here too. Stir fry till half cooked.

* Add rice & pineapple cubes, toss. Add in fish sauce, soya sauce and toss some more. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed. Serve warm.

On hindsight, I should have added pineapple juice (not the juice from canned pineapple) to enhance flavor. And choose a very, very, good pineapple.

Verdict: for H, this is already borderline too spicy for him, while I would have liked to add 1 more tsp chili shrimp paste that I bought in Mauritius ;)

Duck Fat Trivia

Long overdue promise, here's what I found:

1) Duck fat is the healthiest animal fat out there. The fat composition is said to be closer to Olive oil, than butter or worse, pork lard.

2) Research claims that duck fat is high in unsaturated fat, the good fat that's supposedly help you lower your cholesterol level.

3) 40% of duck fat content is oleic acid, which is a monounsaturated fat, that is often abundant in OO.

4) Many like to use duck fat as a substitute to butter when frying or sautéing. Not only because it's claimed to be healthier, but it gives another layer of flavor that butter cannot emulate.

5) In Gascogne region, South West of France, where D'Artagnan of Les Trois Mousquetaires (The 3 Musketeers) was originated from, it is said that people slab on duck fat on their bread, the way we often spread butter on our bread.

6) In fact, Gascogne-ian snacks on fried duck skin. But this is not a surprise knowing that the Japanese munch of deep fried fish skin, the Vietnamese chicken skin, the Chinese Peking duck and crispy pork belly.

7) Despite the diet in high fats (duck fat, foie gras, butter), heart attack occurrences amongst the french are relatively lower than say Americans, resulting in confusion among medical scientists, also known as Le Paradoxe Francais.

Having said that, it is imperative to remember that duck fat is still FAT. There is a lot of downside when consuming food high in fat content. Though many drawn similarities between OO and duck fat, it is no where near OO. In case you didn't know yet, the benefits of OO are rendered useless, even harmful, the moment you heat the oil up above a certain degree. Hence if you notice, one never deep fry with OO.

Duck fat is certainly tasty, but it is far (more like never) from making it to the healthy food list.

Health is important, living dangerously is fun.

But living dangerously everyday is reckless.