Fish finger sandwich

A little backstory on fish fingers from my nostalgic archives. The first time I ever had these was when I was little, nay, wee, hardly a sapling of sorts and my dad had ordered a plate of fish fingers and it was the first time ever I’d set my eyes on something that literally looked like fingers, smelled like fried food and came crumbed in crunchy bits of golden deliciousness.

I had only to bite into them to begin a life long, albeit clandestine love affair with all things crunchy, fried and finger like.

I’d no idea something coming from the aquarium could ever taste so wonderful, and of course as I grew up I since learnt that fish from aquariums aren’t meant to be eaten (usually) and that ones that grow up in rivers and seas are far better, and I’ve since then had a good share of fish fingers tucked in my belly (they sometimes show on weekends) and also gained more insight that as wonderful as they are on their own, they taste even better sandwiched between slices of delicious bread. It could be a carb thing, but fish finger sandwich is a more complete meal, whereas fish fingers are, umm, finger food.

So, for days that need to be substantially filled with something comforting, something extravagant and something out of the ordinary, fish finger sandwich is the answer.

You need a boneless fillet of any sturdy fish. This is a commonly found basa fillet

that I’ve cut into finger wide pieces and lightly salted on both sides. This not only flavours the fish from inside, since there will be many coatings on it, but also helps tighten the raw fish a bit, so it can stand the shallow frying without breaking apart.

Now it’s just a question of assembly. Something of a conveyor belt procedure. I have here a plate of flour, eggs and breadcrumbs

and this is also the part where you can season this dish. I like to season bread crumbs, because that’s the first element to come in contact with your mouth once you bite into these fish fingers. So a cracking rain of fresh pepper.

imbued with the redness of smoked paprika. It’s these colour from paprika that’ll come through in tones of red orange once the fish fingers are fried.

so the eggs are beaten, the crumbs are seasoned.

and thus begins the first layering, wherein salted fingers of sliced fish are first placed in flour

to be coated generously on both sides, Be sure to shake off the excess flour

and dip in beaten eggs for the second coating

followed by a burial in gravel like seasoned breadcrumbs for the third and final coat.

This is what all my fish fingers looked like, I let them sit before frying so the final stage could be executed with all the efficiency of a kitchen virtuoso, who could hardly wait to get her hands on these sumptuous lovelies.

One could deep fry them, but shallow frying is just so much easier, not to mention safer. Fry in a couple tablespoons of oil on a medium high flame.

I used a fork to turn them on all sides to get an even tan, and added more oil when needed. Never said it was a low calorie recipe.

This was the first fried batch, and I let excess oil drain out on a paper towel. Somewhere around this time I also realized that one single fish fillet ended up making a good many fish fingers and that meant leftovers! Praise be lord.

whip out your favourite bread. I used a whole wheat mini baguette for no reason other than I had this on hand. Spread copious amounts of butter. yes, butter is important.

Now if only someone had at this moment told me that my plate of choice is totally the colour of fish fingers and that it’s going to camouflage the entire sandwich in pictures, I’d have kissed that person on the mouth I tell ya..alas, no help was forthcoming since I was alone and my cat wouldn’t warn of incoming death let alone suitable plates.

spread generously some mayonnaise, a layer of greens (spinach in my case) and tomatoes. In short get all the fixings you’d like in a sandwich. You could be as elaborate or minimal as you like. This is YOUR sandwich.

layer on them fried fish fingers and voila! You have the most fabulous fish sandwich ever. It’s absolutely out of the world. Crunchy, filling with the distinct flavours of a well cooked fish encased in crispy crumbs entombed in buttery bread with all the fixings. This makes for such a lovely meal that you’d be left reminiscing this moment during your darkest hours. I speak from experience.

But wait! this isn’t the end. What do you do with the remaining fish fingers.

WEll, you can have them as is, or make another breakfast sandwich the next day.

which is precisely what I did. A no frill white bread sandwich, with a layer of butter, a slice of cheese and remaining fish fingers.

breakfast of ever fattening gods.

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Ingredients

Standard boneless fish fillet : 1

Salt: 1/2 tsp (or more to taste)

Pepper: 1/2 tsp

Paprika: 1 tsp

Flour: 1 cup (120gms)

Eggs : 2

Breadcrumbs: 100gms (1 cup)

Oil for frying: 3-4 tbsps

For sandwich

Slices of bread or a baguette

Spinach or lettuce leaves: 3-4

Tomato: one small

Butter: 1/2 tbsp

Mayonnaise: 2 tsp

(you can customize this sandwich to your liking. Add mustard or cheese slices or pickles)

Recipe instructions

Cut finger wide pieces of fish and lightly salt on both sides. Keep aside.

Arrange three separate dishes for flour, eggs and breadcrumbs. Season the bread crumbs with paprika and pepper and beat the eggs well.

Coat each fish slice with flour. Shake off excess flour and dip into eggs until well coated and finally coat with seasoned bread crumbs till all fish fingers are well crumbed

Shallow fry on medium high heat in enough oil to make it golden and crunchy. Don’t add too many fish fingers in one pan. Add more oil as needed.

Once evenly fried and golden on all sides take them out and let drain on a paper towel.

Smother bread slices with butter and apply a layer of mayonnaise for sandwich. Add a layer of crunchy spinach and juicy tomatoes and top with as many fish fingers as your sandwich can accommodate.

Fish finger sandwich is now ready.

Enjoy!

Tuna salad

If you have any love for anything tuna; tuna salad, tuna sandwich, cats, then this recipe is for you, however if you do not favour tuna nearly as much, then stick around still for the visual appeal.

This isn’t a born again, recherché, renaissance time tuna salad recipe. Nothing fancy or fantastical to it, except that it’s quick, easy and exceedingly delicious for something that takes mere moments to come as one.

In fact so easy that I didn’t even click a list of ingredients, because I didn’t think it’d be featured on this blog, but the straightforward easiness of this recipe had me lunging for the nearest camera, and thusly it finds itself here.

One does need a can of tuna for this. It kind of gives a rather cat food vibe but we know how magical this oddity tends to be. Just regular tuna packed in water not oil.

2 eggs finely chopped.

Into a bowl, finely chopped onion, celery and eggs.

and contents of tuna can

with some mayonnaise and good whole grain mustard, for the effects and flavour

good squeeze of a sprightly lemon

with a pinch of salt and a smattering of black pepper

give it a good mix until everything is incorporated and here we have our no frill tuna salad, which is perfect as it is, but if you want to make a meal out of it then there are a lot of options to dabble with..

For example mix it with some cooked pasta or sandwich between bread,

or spread generously on a toast

beginning with a large leafy portion of lettuce.

a layer of tomatoes

blanketed with our tuna salad.

taking which a little by further by gilding the lily. This is freshly grated parmesan

sprinkled generously and baked at 200°C for 5-7 minutes

Lunch as lunch should be.

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Ingredients

1 Tuna can : 120 gms

Boiled eggs: 2

Onion: one small or half

Celery: 1 stick or 2 tbsps

Mayonnaise: 1 tbsp

Whole grain mustard: 2 tsp

Salt: to taste

Pepper: 1/2 tsp

lemon juice: 1/2 tsp

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To make into an open faced sandwich

toasted bread: 1 slice

lettuce leaves :2 in nos

Tomato sliced: 2-3

Parmesan: 2 tsps

Recipe instructions: chop finely the onion, celery and boiled eggs. Mix together with tuna, mayonnaise, mustard,lemon juice, salt and pepper.

Tuna salad is ready to eat.

To make into an open tuna salad sandwich: Toast a slice or piece of bread. Layer with lettuce leaves, thinly sliced tomatoes. Spread the tuna salad mixture and finally top with parmesan cheese or cheese of your choice. Bake into an oven at 200°C for not more than 5-7 minutes, until the cheese begins to melt and the salad is warmed through.

Enjoy.

Mushroom noodle soup

This isn’t the first noodle soup recipe on this blog, and most assuredly, not the last; this however is (as immodest as it may sound) the alpha and the omega of soupy noodle world. Meatless magic in all its crimson glory. The red blush that stains this fantastic broth is courtesy ‘Gochujang’; that vividly red Korean paste of hot peppers, easily available at your nearest Asian grocery store.

To stave off unwarranted hunger pangs at odd lunch hours, this soup is the way to your soul. Calm cooking, languorous eating, dangerously addictive. A big bowl of hearty sustenance and full bodied flavours , almost as piquant as you’d wish your dreams to be.

Greens of choice. I’m using Chinese lettuce here. Coriander, mushrooms, green onions, ginger and garlic, noodles, soy sauce and gochujang.

Use whatever mushrooms are handy. I’m using a mix of oysters and white beech mushrooms.

Mince or chop together ginger and garlic

as well as the white part of green onions. Save the green tails for later.

In a pan or wok of choice, heat some oil and add the chopped/minced ginger+garlic+white part of green onions.

cook until fragrant, or just about translucent

add in the mushrooms

and give it a good tossing about in the oil.

add in a bunch of coriander into the pan with mushrooms. Save the rest for later.

add water/stock to the pan.

followed by a bit of salt. Only a bit.

cover and let it come to a boil, letting it rapidly boil for 5 minutes.

Chop the green ends of the spring onions

and the coriander.

add in an unapologetically fat glob of gochujang to the boiling mushroomy broth

ah, the fierce redness. Let it come to a boil before adding in the noodles.

cook noodles in the broth until they’re done.

add the green ends of the green onions in the bottom of a serving bowl and douse liberally with soy sauce.

layer on the lettuce

upend the cooked contents of the pan. Broth and noodles.

blanket the surface with chopped coriander

slurp hot!

Ingredients

stock/water: 750mls (3 cups)

mushrooms: 200g (2 cups)

green onions: 2

garlic: 1 clove

ginger: 2-3 cms piece

coriander: small bunch

gochujang: 60g (4tbsp)

soy sauce: 2tbsp

noodles: 1 nest

lettuce leaves: 3-4

salt to taste

*this recipe is a single serving big bowl. Increase or decrease as per requirement

Recipe instructions

Heat two tbsp oil in a wok/pan and add in the chopped ginger, garlic and green onions. Cook until translucent and add in the mushrooms. Saute for a minute, add a few strands of coriander and add in water/stock. Sprinkle salt if needed.

Cover and let bubble for 5 minutes. Add in the gochujang paste and let it come to a boil before adding in the noodles. Let the noodles cook in the mushroomy broth.

Add to the serving bowl the chopped green onion tails and soy sauce. Layer with lettuce leaves and tip the contents of the cooked noodles in broth into the bowl.

Garnish with chopped coriander. Serve hot.

Enjoy!

Salmon, baked potatoes & pea puree

This might look like a chaotic blip of technicolour profusion, but I promise you it’s wholly edible, and not just edible, but lip smacking zen level scrumptious. Zen because it isn’t overloaded with fat or an orchestra of varied spices, and lip smacking because eating so many different colours will only infuse your insides with digestive rainbows, and since when did that become a bad thing?

If you’re still on the healthy eating bandwagon and haven’t budged yet from your new years resolution then as annoying as you might be, this is the perfect recipe for you. It’s fish, it’s potatoes and peas..just three simple instruments to serenade you into making a fantastical composition that looks good and tastes even better. You can make a solitary meal for one or fancy meal for many, either which way it’s just as easy and delicious.

just potatoes, peas (I use frozen), a clove of garlic, salmon fillet and olive oil.(salt and pepper not pictured)

let’s prep the potatoes first, since they will take the longest to bake. So peel ’em

halve them

half each half into half or quarter it as some might suggest

dice each quarter into equal pieces.

line on a baking sheet

drizzle oil

salt and peppa!

arrange and bake at 190°C for 30 minutes, or until they turn crisp and golden and gorgeous.

in the meanwhile as the potatoes bake, bring a pot of water to boil, and add a clove of garlic

followed by peas. I use frozen peas, but use whatever you have handy.

let ’em boil until the peas are fully cooked, not just tender but totally absolutely tender.

fish them out and puree them into a blender or food processor along with the now cooked garlic. Don’t make it into a soup, keep the nubbly texture..it should gloop off a spoon, not drip.

finally, salt and pepper on both sides of the fish. (I just have the salt one, but imagine there’s pepper in it too). Try and use a good salt if you can. I’m using Maldon salt.

cook on a very hot pan, about 3-4 minutes each side.

turn it over. Mine took about 3 minutes each side, but depending on the thickness of your fish you might have to decrease or increase the timings.

in the meantime let’s have a look at them potatoes.

plate it as you want. I like the pea puree to form the base for the fish to settle on and potatoes on the side. There isn’t much in terms of seasonings and flavourings, and that’s what makes this taste exactly how it should. The peas are sweet with the slightest hint of garlic, the salmon is light and flaky, just enough salt blending with peppery depth, and the potatoes work as a robust accompaniment to these delicate flavours. All in all, a great light meal for anytime of the day.

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Ingredients

olive oil : 1-2 tbsp

garlic: 1 clove

potatoes: 2 medium

salmon fillet: 1 (150g)

peas: 150g (1 cup)

salt and pepper to taste

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Cooking instructions:

peel and quarter your potatoes lengthwise. Cut each segment into equal parts. Line on a baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil, add salt and paper, mix well and bake at 190°C for 30 minutes or until crisp and nicely browned.

In a pot of boiling water add garlic and peas and cook until they’re tender. Blend into a nubbly puree.

salt and pepper the salmon on both sides and cook on a very hot lightly oiled pan for about 3-4 minutes until bothe sides are nicely browned and the fish is cooked through.

Arrange on a plate with peas and potatoes and Enjoy!.

Tomato & chorizo spaghetti

That time of life when you question the meaninglessness of gyms, stare at your sad plate of wilting salad and hear the lovelorn cries of bread ignored into the icy depths of your freezer.

You stare out at the bleak weather outside, wonder why March is freezing cold and why you can’t break free of your grossly regimented dull routine for just once. You stare at your thighs and get back to pushing salad in your mouth; suddenly it hits you like a brick that you have but one life, and possible reincarnations won’t necessarily bring you back as human because you’ve kind of ignored Karma all your life.

No time to waste, you have a lot of catching up to do. Make peace with yourself and earnestly promise an extra hour of aerobics, that is if you ever shake yourself out of this fabulous food induced slumber.

No laughing matter this, you need to gratify your insides with something comforting, something meaty and something carbs..and this is exactly where this chorizo and tomato spaghetti comes into existence.

Very recently I’d chanced upon some seductive chorizo, beckoning me with their naked meaty plumpness and I had no choice but to give in to their pleas and buy them without a second thought. These were raw and not those paprika coloured cured red ones, but did I care?

This recipe happens to be just one of those miracle cures when even the thought of salad makes you want to hurl, and making a bowl of this is easier than chopping vegetables for your salad.

the ingredients for this are oh so simple.Just spaghetti or any pasta you love, chorizo sausages, chopped onions and garlic, tomato pulp (or use chopped tomatoes), paprika, garlic powder, salt, sugar and oregano.

note:- this tomato pulp is really just fresh tomatoes cooked for a few minutes and skinned and mashed.

Take the chorizo out of their casings .

like so

heat some butter and oil

add in the skinned bits of chorizo

break them into smaller bits using a wooden spoon

cook for a couple of minutes until they very lightly brown, you don’t have to bother about cooking them completely at this stage.

add in the chopped onions and garlic and stir them well, cooking for just about a minute or so

add in the tomatoes

followed by paprika, oregano, garlic powder and sugar

and salt

cover and let it cook for about 20-25 minutes on medium low heat, keep stirring occasionally and add a tasblespoon of water if it sticks to the bottom.

look at this fabulous transformation after 20 minutes.

add in your cooked spaghetti.

and a bit of this pasta cooking water.

to not only thin the sauce, but also to ensure that each spaghetti strand is coated with the sauce and the starches in the water helps bind and make a slicker coating for better taste.

mix well

and serve!

Ingredients

Chorizo sausages uncooked: 450 g

Tomato pulp/ chopped tomatoes – 350 g (3 medium sized tomatoes)

Onion- 1 medium size

garlic- 3 cloves

paprika- 1 tsp

oregano- 1tsp

garlic powder- 1/2 tsp

sugar- 1 tsp

salt-1 tsp

black pepper- 1/4 tsp

spaghetti

Butter- 1 tsp

olive oil- 2 tsp

Cooking instructions

Remove the chorizo from their casings and cook in a pan with olive oil and butter. Break the chorizo into smaller pieces using your wooden spoon and after a minute of cooking add in the chopped onion and garlic.

cook for another minute and add in the tomatoes, paprika, salt, garlic powder, oregano, pepper and sugar and stir to combine. Lower the heat and cover and cook for another 20-25 minutes. Keep stirring occasionally and if it gets too dry, add in some water but don’t thin the sauce.

After 25 minutes add the cooked pasta to the chorizo sauce and 200 mls (3/4th cup) of pasta cooking water. Mix well and serve hot.

Note*- if you’re using cured chorizo then you can reduce the cooking time.

Chinese pancake sandwich (hangover cure & stoner’s grub)

These are by no means an innovation that ever appeared in gastronomic heaven, but in fact a hearty street food staple very commonly found in China. There are many a variations to it, but I’m sharing the one I find in my locality.

Before I begin let me just tell you how incredibly fantastic these street food pancakes are; sold mostly out of a small shop or mobile stall, and usually eaten after a drink too many or breakfast and even as a not so light snack.. they’re crispy, fried on a hot pan without skimping on the oil and meat. The pancakes are flaky, almost like a puff pastry sheet, slathered with a thin coating of viciously hot sweetness, a layer of egg, meat of choices, bundled up and wrapped in a packet. Every bite is a steamy, meaty, spicy morsel wrapped in flaky pancake heaven. Every bite a revelation! I usually buy these sometime around tea time from a very kind lady near my house. She has a stall decked with small jars of condiments and spices, and an array of meat. The most popular combinations are eggs+bacon+spam with a generous brush of her homemade spicy sauce.

I’ve tried to recreate something similar here which is gratifyingly delicious and stunningly delectable but absolutely no match to what she whips out of her 5 feet x 3 feet stall.

So here it is.

the ingredients are straight and simple. Just frozen Chinese pancakes which are easily available in any supermarket, lettuce leaves, eggs, fried bacon and ham (instead of spam) and sriracha.

I’ve cut ham into thick coins and very slightly charred them on a hot pan to recreate those smoky flavours that emanate from the street stall’s seasoned skillets.

these are what the pancakes look like. They come frozen and neatly wrapped in wax paper on both sides. These pancakes are smaller than the street food stall ones, but work just as well.

I slightly charred the lettuce as well on a very hot pan for that burnt crisp texture. This step is entirely optional.

ok, so in a pan on medium heat add some oil. This is about a teaspoon and let it coat the pan.

once the oil is evenly heated, slap on your pancake and let it be. The trick is knowing that you can not and will not flip it until the underside is done, or else you will break, tear and ruin your pancake.

this is how you figure out if it’s done. It’ll start turning translucent as it cooks. So the sides are cooked but the middle isn’t. Give it another few minutes

there you go. It’s ready for a flip

see.. so nice and golden and cooked.. now while the other side is cooking

crack en egg

mutilate it with a fork to let it evenly spread

and flip! for maybe half a minute until the egg is cooked

flip it back to let the egg face you

add sriracha or your favourite hot sauce, and paint it all over the egg

now we have to start layering. start with lettuce

followed by bacon

followed by ham

followed by folding over, to form a sort of pancake sandwich, which is also weirdly the name of this blog post.

and just like that you have a hearty meal to satisfy your inner glutton. Perfect for curing hangovers and stoner hunger pangs.

Ingredients

Frozen Chinese pancakes: 2

eggs: 2

bacon: 4-5 strips

ham: 4-5 slices

sriracha: 2 tablespoons

oil: 2-3 teaspoons

(of course there’s no particular recipe, you can make as many for a lot of people or just a couple for solitary indulgence. Change the ingredients to make a Chinese pancake BLT or even a vegetarian version)

Cooking directions: On medium high heat, coat the surface of a pan with some oil. Once hot, lay the pancake gently so as not to tear and let it cook for a couple of minutes. Once its surface is translucent flip over and crack and egg on the cooked side. Break the yolk with a fork to coat the pancake and flip over to the let the egg cook for at least half a minute.

Flip again to spread some hot sauce over the now cooked egg and start layering with lettuce, bacon and ham on one side of the pancake. Fold over the other end to form a sort of half moon.

The sandwich is now ready to be devoured. These are easy to make and quick to eat. You can make plenty for a crowd or just a couple for lunch.

Enjoy!

Korean style noodles

After binge eating and covering my innards with cheese, chocolate and butter, these Korean style noodles feel like an almost instant cleansing ritual. They taste fresh, spring like and the sharp spicy flavours almost feel like they’re exorcising all the fat away.

The reason I call these Korean style noodles and not Korean noodles is because they aren’t. This is a recipe that was created by moi, after I fell in love with and bought a big vat of Gochujang . It’s a Korean hot pepper paste, so vividly red and so flavourful that I’ve been adding it to almost everything I cook nowadays. After a stroke of greedy inspiration I came up with this noodles recipe, and as usual this is a recipe so forgiving and delightfully easy that you can make it your own using whatever ingredients you have handy and your fridge has to offer.

the ingredients are rather humble and easy to find. Chives, spring onions, chili, mushrooms, ham, chicken stock (I’m using powder you can use regular stock), gochujang and noodles. (also not pictured are soy sauce and sesame oil..sorry!)

These noodles here are something called (Hongshu Fen) sweet potato noodles. They’re a very popular noodles type from the Chinese province I live in (Hunan), but you can use any noodles that you have/find. I just happen to have/love these and that’s what I’m using.

begin by chopping your spring onions and chives and reserve the dark green parts and keep them separate.

chop your chillies.

chop your mushrooms and try to keep them into equal sized chunks.

nice pile of vegetables. I feel healthy already.

chop your meat..er.. ham! I shopped mine into fairly small squares because I was feeling so efficient.

now put your noodles to boil and here’s a close up of these noodles. They’re translucent and silky.

see what I mean. slippery noodles! yum!

once boiled, strain and remove them to your serving bowl.

add in the reserved greens from onions and chives and splash a bit of sesame oil. ah, this aroma.

find your favourite, most used, most tragic looking wok and pour in some oil

once it’s really really hot, throw in your vegetables

give them a good mix for a minute.

pour in some soy sauce

and finally, for the star of this show…our red as hell gochujang.. yummm

oooooh just look at this baby. There’s something rather poetic about the way it sounds and the way it gloops. oooh mama!!

mix it all until it’s red and looks dangerously tasty.

finally in with the ham.

add in your chicken stock if you’re using, I simply poured in hot water and added the chicken stock powder I had.

let it all come to a bubble like so.

and then pour it on your noodles to get this!! yes my lovers this is better than that, and any of that you were thinking of making because this has a kick, it’s a storm, it’s fire, it’s tangy, it’s full of such beautiful layers of flavours that you’d be reeling your head and wiping your tears of joy and some sweat.

Make this!!

Ingredients

Gochujang: 2 tablespoons

mushrooms: 3-4 large

spring onions: 4-5

chives: 3-4

red chili: 1

ham: 3-4 slices (or use meat of choice, boiled chicken is good or leave out the meat and make it vegetarian)

chicken stock: 350 mls (1.5 cups)

soy sauce: 2 teaspoons

sesame oil: 1 teaspoon

noodles: 1 nest

oil: 2 teaspoons

salt to taste

Cooking instructions: chop the vegetables and ham into small dices keeping the mushrooms a bit chunky. Reserve the green parts of the chives and spring onions.

Boil the noodles strain the water and keep in serving bowl. Add in the reserved greens and pour over the sesame oil.

In a hot wok add oil and once it starts shimmering add in all the vegetables and cook for a minute. Add the soy sauce and gochujang and cook for a minute. Add in the stock and let it come to a boil.

Pour this over the cooked noodles and serve hot.

enjoy!!

Breakfast quesadilla

These beautiful mounded beauties that you feast your eyes on, are my put together in a jiffy breakfast quesadillas. There’s a certain delicious hum to the word ‘Quesadilla’, like uttering an exotic mantra for a cheesy sandwich. Well, that’s what it really is..it’s cheese in a tortilla and while I confess these are not completely authentic or remotely Mexican, I assure you that these are delightfully tasty to eat and offensively easy to put together. This is the kind of dish that requires minimum efforts with maximum rewards.

This dish belongs to the ‘lazy day special archives’. It happened simply becauseI was in no mood for chopping, cutting, baking, cooking or even lingering around the stove. I just wanted to settle with a bag of chips when I saw some leftovers, cheese, and ham in the fridge and it was nothing short of a divine revelation when I decided to myself that this is SPARTAAA!! no not really though! I just decided that I’d make meself some quesadilla. This is how it began..

wholewheat tortilla, pepper, mozzarella and parmesan cheese, ham, leftover sauteed mushrooms and some leftover chopped onions and dijon mustard.

Before I begin, let me tell you that you can substitute these ingredients with whatever you fancy, or whatever leftovers you have in the fridge. Fried eggs, baked potatoes, leftover chicken, crispy bacon are all good. Anything that suits your mood or your appetite can be turned into this quesadilla. Just raid your fridge and go nuts.

a good heap of dijon mustard, for what would be life without this goodness?

spread it liberally. I might have gone overboard but you know how you like it.

Mozarella

leftover sauteed mushrooms and onions and a sprinkling of pepper.

cover with some more cheese, in this case parmesan.

fold over the plain side on the fillings to form a half moon.

on a hot dry pan (you don’t need any oil) let it cook for a couple of minutes and flip once it’s browned a bit.

In the meantime lets build another quesadilla..Again with some cheese

hap hazard placement of ham

leftovers of leftovers

finally some cheese, form into half moon and on a hot pan.

let brown on both sides and this is pretty much done.

I like to slice them into three wedges

like so

to form something like this

oooh this melting hot cheese. This is sandwich heaven right here.

this cheese!! can you see all the melting richness?

these are so unbelievably gorgeous. It’s the breakfast to end all breakfasts. The quesadillas of oomph!! This took me about 10 minutes to make. Couched with a flask of hot tea, this breakfast made in moments was also one of the most satisfying ever.

Ingredients: this doesn’t have any set of ingredients or measures, since it’s something you just put together according to your own tastes and what you have available in the fridge..however,

Tortilla : 2 wholewheat (or use any you have handy)

pepper: 1 teaspoon

Mozarella: 50 g (3-4 tablespoons)

parmesan: 30g(2 tablespoon)

ham: 2 slices

sauteed mushrooms: 50 g (3-4 tablespoons)

chopped onions: 2 tablespoons

dijon mustard: 1 tablespoon

How to: Lay out the tortilla and spread some mustard. On one side layer the cheese, the vegetables, sprinkle some pepper and add some more cheese. Fold to form half moon and transfer on a hot pan to brown and melt the cheese. Cut into 3 wedges and serve.

Repeat the same steps and add ham either cut into thinner strips or just as whole slices. If you wish you can add the remaining vegetables and transfer on a hot pan to let cheese melt and tortillas brown and crisp.

This is just an interesting idea to prepare a feast like breakfast without any effort. Of course by all means, eat it any time of the day and it’d still taste as delicious.

Enjoy!!

Chinese fried rice

Zen, pure and a work of moments. These fried rice are a breeze to make and their savory, mellow, fresh taste makes it a delight to eat. They are nutritious, low-fat, versatile and catapult your leftover cooked rice into a delish meal.

This dish can be cooked using whatever leftover vegetables you have in your fridge and somehow it never goes wrong. This recipe was given to me by my Chinese friend and it is as much a pleasure to cook as it is to eat. Try this and you’d never want another recipe for your fried rice.

The ingredients are really up to you and what you have in your fridge, but this is as basic as it gets. Spring onions, Chinese chives, leftover mushroom & onion mix from my sandwich (this is optional), peas, carrot, red pepper, sugar, ginger, soya sauce & egg (not pictured)

I’m not using any garlic here, because my Chinese friends tell me that if a recipe includes spring onions there is no need for garlic.

Starting with pepper

De-seed, de-vein

and chop into about 1/4 inch dices

I used half of that carrot I showed in the picture simply because this was a solitary meal and how much can a gal eat?

carrot into two segments. each segment into three segments.

chopped into chunky small pieces.

ditto with green onions.

I reserve the white and light green part for the initial cooking as a flavour base and the green ones to put in later for flavour enhancement and garnish.

and these Chinese chives. I have a soft spot for these, and end up putting them in everything I cook.

As with the green onions, I use the lighter part for initial flavour base and the green part for second flavour layer and garnish.

Here we are with our chopped vegetables and the pictured egg.

Oil into your favourite wok, as you can see mine is pretty old and has seen many a burnt foods and adventures and I love it to bits. It’s my moms actually, I stole it from her and carried it to China.

while the oil is getting hot, here is my rice. It’s not much, but enough to feed me.

make sure the oil starts smoking before you add in your vegetables. The oil has to be ferociously hot. In a big swoop add in the peppers, carrots, white part of the chives,finely minced ginger and spring onions. It’ll sizzle and you’d salivate.

in with the peas

pepper, lots of it.

leftovers.. mushrooms in my case

pinch of sugar and this doesn’t sweeten anything but rather balances all the flavours.

finally half of the soya sauce

bring it all together and mix well for a few seconds.

add in the rice. I have here some beautiful jasmine rice, but use any rice you have.

mix well until most of the rice is slicked with vegetables and oil

now grab a handful of the green parts of the spring onions and chives and add to your hot wok. This boosts the flavours and brings together this entire dish

Now crack in the egg.

Mix until it’s scrambled and coated each rice strand.

Add in the remaining soya sauce

another handful of greens and mix and adjust for seasoning. If you need more salt and black pepper, now’s the time. My soya sauce was very salty and I really didn’t need any more salt but make sure this dish isn’t under salted. Mix well and it’s done.

how easy was this? rich rewards with minimum effort. You have to make this.

Ingredients

Rice: 1/2 cup
spring onions: 3-4
Chinese chives: 2-3
mushrooms: 4-5
egg: 1 large
peas: 60g (about 1/4cup)
carrot: 30g (scant 1/4 cup)
ginger finely minced : 1 teaspoon
red pepper: 1 medium size
soya sauce: 1 tablespoon
black pepper: 1 teaspoon
sugar: 1/4 teaspoon
salt: to taste
Vegetable oil: 2 teaspoons

(this recipe doesn’t really need measurements since it’s up to you, how much or how little vegetables you need. You can double or triple the amount of rice and ingredients to suit your needs)

Recipe: Chop the vegetables into 1/4 inch thick chunks. Reserve the green part of the chives and green onions for garnishing and later layer of flavours.

In a wok, heat oil and once it nearly starts smoking add in your ginger,vegetables, except the green parts of the chives and spring onions. Mix well. add the pepper, sugar and half of the soya sauce. Mix until well combined. Add in the rice and mix until the rice is slicked with oil and vegetables. Add in half the green part of spring onions and chives, crack in the egg and mix again until the rice is fairly coated with scrambled egg. Finally add in the remaining soya sauce and the remaining green parts of chives and spring onion, adjust for seasoning and serve hot.

This is not a very pungent, or overwhelmingly flavourful dish. It’s a very mild, subtle and fresh tasting rice dish. It’s pure and simple and a perfect light lunch or dinner.

Enjoy!!

Stoners grub: Sausage, mushroom & cheese sandwich

When thoughts are dull, days are cold and pleasures scarce, it’s always the food we turn to for comfort. There are days when even the idea of having something virtuous like smoothies, salads and fruits makes you want to launch a crusade against health food, you turn to sustenance. Hearty, innocent, full-bodied food that’d make you tuck in like a tapeworm, food that’d make you cry with joyous tears.

This sandwich is the stuff that voluptuous dreams are made of. It’s the kind of food you’d want to have after a night of crazy drinking or a joint too many. For days when you want to carelessly binge, for moments when you want to feel fueled and for times when you have the munchies for planet portions of feel good food, this sandwich is a life saver.. and it’s easy enough to throw in a matter of moments.

This is a pretty versatile affair. You can stuff it with whatever you want, but I did mine like so… butter, cheese (emmental & cheddar), cured sausage, onion, mushrooms & bread.

Now before I start this, I’d like to mention that this is just my version. You can make this anyhow you want, using whatever cheese, whatever meat, whatever mushrooms, in fact whatever whatever. Just make sure its got plenty of meat and cheese and butter.

I started with the sausages and sliced them like so.

into a hot pan for a few seconds just to let them warm through. These are cured so they don’t really need any cooking. That makes this recipe so much easier.

Now very carefully because this step call for being an incompetent chopper, chop your mushrooms. Be very casual about it, because it’s not a gourmet sandwich meant for a Michelin table.

In a pan or skillet, heat a tablespoon of butter along with some oil.

add in the mushrooms because we want to cook them and turn them brown and get rid of their water. We don’t want a soggy sammy!

while that’s cooking away, in a similar incompetent fashion chop the onion. Make sure there’s nothing pretty about it.

check your mushrooms. add some crushed black pepper (entirely optional) but oh so good!

while the mushrooms are cooking up, grate your cheeses. In hindsight I realized I should have used a box grater because it took me forever to grate this but it doesn’t matter, the important thing is grated cheese.

checking the mushrooms they looked good and almost done.

add in the onion and just stir it in the mushrooms. We don’t really want to cook the onions just slightly soften them. This step is done.

This step is essentially building up your sandwich. I have here some hearty brown bread ( I don’t know why though), but use any bread you prefer.

Layer on the cheese

Pat it down so that it doesn’t bulge up and form a hump. then layer with your mushroom onion mixture.

like so.. and sort of flatten it a bit to prevent a dome formation.

layer your sausages and while layering I realized that the sausages were a lot more than the rest of the ingredients but you shouldn’t let trivial things like these matter, so build away. Finally top it with the remaining cheese.

Gently place the other half of your bread on top if this structure. Press down a bit, but honestly if you stuff your sandwich to this point some meat or cheese is bound to ooze out in the most gratifying way.

If you have softened room temperature butter then please violently slather it on your bread, I however had very cold butter which I simply dotted all over the top.

Melt a generous amount of butter in a pan

place your bread on it and move it around a bit to let it absorb all the butter. Once you feel it’s done from the bottom, carefully flip it and cook the top side. There might be some spillage in the process but i don’t think it matters.

There you have it, a meal fit for the gods of carnal pleasure. Get your munchies on, get rid of your hangover, binge eat and give up yourself to some sin. This is seriously good. Eat these with some delightful baked potato fries

Ingredients

cured sausage or meat of your choice diced into small pieces (crisped bacon, yesterdays chicken, can of tuna, anything you love) – 100-150g (mine was 1/2 cup)
sandwich bread slices
Emmental and cheddar cheese (or any cheese you love and have readily available) – 1/2 cup
mushrooms – 5-6 medium size
onion -1/2 of a big one or 1 small
butter – 4 tablespoons or more
salt & pepper to taste

Recipe: dice the sausages into pieces and let them warm through on a hot skillet. Keep aside.

Melt one tablespoon of butter with some oil and add in the chopped mushrooms till they are cooked and their water has evaporated. Add in the chopped onions and pepper and salt and cook for another minute. You don’t have to cook the onions completely.

For the assembly, start with layering the cheese, followed by the mushroom onion mixture and then the sausages. Press down a bit after every layer to prevent the formation of any bulges.

Heat some butter in a skillet and place your sandwich on it and move around to help it absorb all the butter. Also butter the top part of your sandwich and once the bottom is nicely browned flip it over carefully.

If there is any spillage, you can always push them back into your sandwich.

Make this!!!

Enjoy.

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