My Cooking Adventures: Aglio Olio

Have been cooking quite a bite this week and this was my 2nd attempt at Aglio Olio with some of my favourite ingredients. The boyfriend gave it two thumbs up and I thought it tasted fabulous!

So here’s the recipe!

Recipe: Aglio Olio tossed with Sundried Tomato and Feta Cheese
Serves: 2 – 3
Prep Time: 5 mins for chopping garlic and bacon
Cooking Time: 15 mins
Ingredients

100g of Bacon
3 – 5 cloves of garlic
2 Servings of Pasta
15 cubes of Feta Cheese
50g of Sundried tomato
3g of black olives
1 tsp Garlic Powder
1 tsp Black Pepper
1 tsp Cayenne pepper powder (for spicy lovers)
5 tbsp Heinz Chicken Stock (Other brands are fine too)
A pinch of grounded dried basil leave 

1. Stir fry garlic and onion for 1 min on low heat
2. Add bacon into the mix and fry till browned
3. Add in 5 tablespoon of chicken stock
4. Add in cooked pasta
5. Keep frying to make it well mixed
6. Add in garlic powder,black pepper, a dash of hot cayenne pepper to the ideal spiciness
7. Once all stock has been absorbed into the fire, take it off heat
8. Add in sliced Sundried tomatoes. Feta cheese and black olives and give it a good mix
9. Sprinkle a dash of grounded dried basil leaves and voilà your dish is complete!

Optional: Some Parmesan cheese can also be add too

Phuket Travelogue Day 1: Weekend Night Market & Jungceylon

Boyfriend and I itching for a getaway together so we decided to have a short and relaxing 3D3N holiday in Phuket =)

Hopped onto a 7am flight out of Singapore and we had Mr. Mark from Mr. Mark tours picking us up from the airport. Headed towards to his agency and booked our tours for the rest of the days in Phuket.

Was too early for check in and we went exploring around the Patong Beach area looking for a place to settle our rumbling tummies!

Planning your Japan Itinerary

While planning my Japan trip, I had asked around and surf online for information which are useful to navigate you around Japan. Thought it would be best to share it!

1. Tokyo Metro Map
2. Tokyo Train Fare & Transfer Planner  Tokyo Metro or Hyperdia (Recommended)
3. Disneysea (Check local tour agencies which might have offer advance tickets at cheaper prices)
4. Tsukiji Market: All about the tours, opening and closing hours
5. Japan Bullet Trains:  Durations, Cost and Frequency
6. E- Voucher for Kyoto Day Trip

Information on places to go in various parts of Japan, and what is recommended, go to Japan-Guide.com. You can even participate in the forums like I did to ask locals questions on hotel and itinerary recommendations!

My Itinerary for the 5D4N in Japan

Day 1 – Shinjuku
Day 2 – Asakusa , Ueno, Roppongi Hills, Ropping Cityview to see the night view
Day 3 - Shibuya, Salt & Pepper Museum, Harajuku, Meiji Jingu Shrine, Akihabara (Maid Cafe), Golden Gai
Day 4 - DisneySea (Full Day Trip)
Day 5 - Tsukiji Market (Full Morning)

Tip #1

Leave at least half a day to explore Asakusa which is brimming with many local delights and sights! It is my top recommended place to go as there are many famous ramen stalls and a famous silk pudding which my travel buddy found and rave about it like mad! (http://www.testarossacafe.net/silkpurin/index.html)

Tip #2 

Instead of going to Tokyo Tower for the cityview, head over to Roppongi City View which offers a much much better view where you can see Tokyo Tower in its full glowing glory at night!

Tip #3

Although Shibuya and Harajuka are near, my travel buddy and I chose to walk between stations as we were visiting the Salt & Tabacco Museum. I would suggest taking the train cause there is LOADS of walking you have to do in Japan and you dont want to tire yourself out like we did.

Tip #4

Unless you understand Japanese, and like seeing ok-looking girls in anime maid costumes; talking to you in high pitch kiddish voices, and willing to pay 100 dollars for omelette rice meal. I would advice against stepping into a Maid Cafe.

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Best of luck in exploring Japan!

Tokyo Travelogue Day 5: Tsukiji Market

The last day of my Japan trip and I gotta end it with a bang right! So off to Tsukiji Market we go!

Didnt bother going for the fish auction cause we were dead beat from the walking at DisneySea the day before and we didnt want to wake up at 4am to “try” to get tickets. Smart me even forgot to charge my camera so thus having to grab them from Kai.

This was apparently the most popular stall in Tsukiji Market that had Japanese queuing up infront of it for their breakfast!

We had time constrains, so we settled for second best =)

Best Party Dish Ever – Easy & Yummy to Boot!

Cook an awesome meal *buay paisei* when I hosted a small get together at my house yesterday

Scooped it into Taco Shells and it was cheesy, melty goodness which is so easy to make!

Receipe: Chilli Corn Carne + Sloppy Joe Inspired Dish
Serves: 4-6
Prep time: 10 minutes for all the chopping
Cooking: 20 minutes

500g of Beef / Pork
1 bowl of carrot (about 1.5 cups worth in small litle cubes of 5mm)
1 bowl of onion (about 2 onions in small little cubes of  5mm)
2/3 Cup of Tomato Ketchup
400g canned tomatos
1 tsp of garlic butter
2 tsp of garlic
2 tsp of grounded black pepper
2 tsp of hot parika powder
2 tsp of mustard (non-hot)
3 tsp of brown sugar (flat)
1 tsp of garlic powder
1 tsp of grounded basil leaves
6 sundried tomatoes, sliced into strips (optional)
50g of grated white & orange cheddar cheese

1. Melt the garlic buttter into a big frying pan over medium fire
2. Fry the onion and garlic together for about a minutes of so
3. Throwing in the beef/pork and carrots into the frying  plan and lower to small fire and
4. Stirring and mashing the ingrdients together with a fork so the meat wouldnt be in thick chunks
5. When meat is slightly brown, transfer over to a small pot and mix in the rest of the ingredients one by one.
6. Let simmer on small fire until the carrots are soft and meat is well done (approx 10 – 15 mins)
7. Pour it out into a ceramic / porcelin bowl and top the entire dish with white and orange cheddar cheese.
8. Microwave it for abour 2-3 mins and voila it is ready to serve!
9. Eat it usin taco shells, toasted bread, wraps, burritos and even tortilla chips

Tip #1: Sprinkle and microwave the dish only when you are ready to serve
Tip #2: You can substitute it will Mozzarella cheese as well
Tip #3: Keep tasting the sauce as you are cooking to see if it suits your taste!

Served with Roasted Parmesan Potatoes as sides, I do hope you will enjoy it as much as I did!

Inspired by the following two receipes:
Chilli Con Carne: http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/3228/chilli-con-carne?pager.offset=180
Sloppy Joes: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/sloppy-joes-ii/