RECIPE: LEGGO'S PASTA BAKE - TUSCAN GARDEN VARIETY

Thank you Mamafami (and happy belated Birthday!) and Ummi for your kind words on my blog. Unfortunately, after all that praise, the G household did not produce any spectacular results in the kitchen today for two reasons – sheer laziness that was caused by gluttony at the workplace!

Today is my colleague P’s birthday. We had cake (yummy Peach Upside Down Cake - recipe to follow when S passes it on to me) and chocolate fondue. It was totally decadent and the chocolate dip was from France, courtesy of N who just returned from Paris for work, lucky fellow! Then we all went out for lunch and had Thai, followed by more cake and chocolate. I would have burst if I had to eat another full meal!

So pasta bake it was. And the kids enjoyed it. Mr G had steak instead.

What we normally do is cook the pasta bake according to the instructions on the jar but we always add more ingredients. With the chicken, we sauté fresh diced chicken meat with 2 cloves of garlic, add a few drops of Worcestershire sauce and freshly cracked black pepper. The rest is according to the instructions on the jar but we add more cheese.
Serve with grilled meat, salad or crusty bread. Enjoy!

RECIPE: VG'S CHICKEN CURRY I

We had chicken curry with STIR FRIED CHINESE CABBAGE for dinner tonight. This is a version of my chicken curry.

Ingredients
2 big coriander plants #
3 spring onions #
3 large red onions #
1 very large tomato #
Half a head of garlic #
Thumb size ginger #
1 chicken - cut into bite sized pieces
4 medium sized potatoes - quartered
1 large cinnamon stick *
6 cloves *
6 cardamoms *
2 sprig curry leaves *
1 tomato - cut chunky
1 large sprig coriander and 2 spring onions - sliced thinly
1/2 to 1 can coconut milk
3 heaped tablespoons Malaysian made MEAT curry powder (Parrot or Baba Brand) - can be found at Asian grocery shop. The reason I stressed meat is that there is a different curry powder blend for seafood. If you like your curry hotter, you can add more curry powder.
Salt to taste
Water
2 to 3 tbsp veg oil

Method
Grind together in a blender or processor all the # ingredients in a bit of water – make sure you don’t put too much water it would take a longer time to render the mixture down.

Heat oil until hot. Add spices and curry leaves (*). Then add ground ingredients (#). Cook for 5 to 6 minutes until ground spices form a paste.

Add in curry powder. Mix well. Add about 1 cup of water. Turn heat down to medium, stir constantly. Cook until oil releases from the paste and the paste is slightly dry (around 5 mins or so).

Add chicken. Coat well with paste. Cook for about 3 to 4 mins. Add about 1 cup of water and salt, and cook till chicken is nearly tender (half way through this process, put in the potatoes - you don't want your potatoes to crumble, or do you?). You may want to add more water if you like your chicken curry to be runny. Add coconut milk. This depends if you like your curry hot or mild. The more coconut milk you add, the milder it will be. Cook till chicken is tender. Before lifting, add in tomatoes. Cook for a minute. Add in coriander/spring onions.

Serve with rice or bread.

I normally have a side dish of stir fried vegtable and a cucumber/pineapple/onion salad or cucumber raita with this.
I know the process is long……but the experience is pleasurable! Happy trying!

RECIPE: SIMPLE STIR FRIED CHINESE CABBAGE OR WOMBOK

Ingredients
½ of a small wombok – cut to desired size
2 cloves garlic – minced
½ cube Maggi brand ikan bilis/anchovies stock (optional or you can use chicken stock)
Water (if required)
Salt to taste
1 tbsp veg oil
Sesame oil

Method
Heat oil in work and fry garlic until cooked. Add in wombok and mix through the garlic.

Add in salt and stock. Moisten with water if desired. Cook until veg is done. Add in a few drops of sesame oil. Serve.

NATTER: MY SCOOTER

I feel as if I am writing a composition for school but I love my bike and what it means to me and I would like to share and show it off to everyone, so that’s that! To me, my scooter is my stand and fight against increasing petrol prices, green house emissions and against the ACT Government for charging paid parking to only certain people and places in the ACT. It is also my answer to my mid life crisis!

I believe it is blatant discrimination that public and private sector employees should pay for parking in the city centre precincts within the ACT, be it Civic, Woden, Tuggeranong or Belconnen but those in the Parliamentary precinct and Defence establishments are exempted.

Yes, I am only getting on my high horse now because it affects me….I should have voiced an opinion sooner. But what is angering me at the moment is that I heard a rumour that the ACT government is in the process of converting the free parking at the Futsol (off Commonwealth Avenue) to paid parking because too many people are parking for free and are not using the paid areas. The cheek, I say. Although I don’t park there everyday, the parking area has been a source of convenience when I can’t (more like won’t) ride my bike; especially when it is raining or when I was getting over my flu.

Anyway, with my scooter, I don’t have to pay for parking because it is free parking for motor bikes in the ACT (actually I don't utilise any public parking because I actually have my own parking spot at work) and it costs me around AUD$6.00 to $7.00 to fill up my tank which lasts me for 6 days. I would be paying AUD$30.00 for the same amount of travel in my car.
So, I present to you my scooter…..it is a125cc BOLWELL. I was going to buy a REAL Bike but bikes do not have much storage space compared to a scooter. With my scooter, I could literally pack the kitchen sink in it. It is now 8 months old and I paid around AUD$4 100, including on road cost and my kit (helmet, gloves and full armoured jacket). The insurance is around AUD$19.00 a month.

My only issue with riding my bike – ACT drivers. If you think they have no regard to other car drivers, think again. Their courtesy is virtually non existent when it comes to bike riders. To be fair though, I have seen some moronic riders out there too; having no regards to road rules and speed. :(