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Lin & Jun Profile Lin's Kitchen Dining Out Archives July 2007 September 2007 Taggy |
Friday, June 29, 2007 Rustic Fungi Alla Bolognaise Spinach Stir-Fry with Garlic, Oyster Sauce & Chilli Padi Red & Green Apple + Strawberry Juice. We really loved the Chicken & Mushroom Alla Spiral Pasta Bolognaise I made on Wednesday.. So I decided to make a very similar pasta dish but just using mushrooms...Really didn't feel like meat today so to make up for iron, I made a stir-fry Spinach with garlic, oyster sauce & chilli padi. The chilli padi was very potent! YUM. Rustic Fungi Alla Bolognaise  Spinach Stir-Fry With Oyster Sauce, Garlic & Chilli Padi  The Beautiful Juice Made by my Sister, Jun. Red Apples, Green Apples & Strawberries.  And Not Forgetting One of Our Favourite Chocolates, With Jun's Cat as the Ambassador... Presenting Haku & Kit Kat Mint  Okay so there we have it. A few nights ago I had a really weird craving and just had to have it for supper. It was really random and weird because usually people crave for like bad stuff for like chocolates or Maccas or some oily/fried stuff... This was what I craved for... What was it I got up to cook, freezing my butt off in the middle of the night for that random craving?  It's Grilled Terriyaki Glazed Atlantic Salmon... What a craving to have in the middle of the night! It was SOOOO yummy!  Okay.. I will end today's post with another cat picture... The Black Cat, Kuro, born on Halloween last year.  With Love From Lin's Kitchen, Jun's Yummy Juice & The Cats. Wednesday, June 27, 2007 Chicken & Mushroom Alla Spiral Pasta Bolognaise. As I have mentioned in the very first post we were saving up to get a camera. A few of you have also commented on how my food lacks luster because of the poor quality of my mobile phone's measely camera. A few days ago I bought Andrew one of the cameras he has been eyeing for. The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ8 I bought that for him, a high-speed card and a wrrantee for 5 years.(Our Dream camera however is the Canon 400D) But this camera I bought him = LOVE. Beautiful Quality. Beautiful Pictures. Powerful. This is how the camera looks like:  Click here for an online review of the camera. Dinner Tonight: Chicken & Mushroom Alla Spiral Pasta Bologanise.  Strawberries Throughout the Day...  And Finally a picture of my much loved cat, Kiki!  With Love From Lin's Kitchen Sunday, June 24, 2007 Japanese Cold Soba Terriyaki Glazed Chicken with Caramalized Onions Spicy Terriyaki Celery Stir-Fry Wanted to make a simple Japanese dinner....So here goes: Japanese Cold Soba with Shallots  Dipping the Cold Soba into Zaru Soba Tuyu (Sauce for Soba noodle)  Terriyaki Glazed Chicken with Caramelized Onions, Sesame Seeds & Shallots  Spicy Terriyaki Celery Stir-Fry with Chopped Chilli Padi  There was alot of left over Soba... So for lunch tomorrow I made: Stir-Fry Chicken Terriyaki Soba  After Dinner: A Good Pot of Japanese Genmai Cha  And: Yummilicious Japanese Biccies (taste just like my fave pastry - Palmier)   We really enjoyed our dinner...more tomorrow! With Love from Lin's Kitchen. Friday, June 22, 2007 Azabu Japanese Restaurant Katsu-Don I decided to take Jun out for dinner at the Japanese Restaurant near our place. Heard lots of good things about it and I didn't hear wrong. It was good, even their miso soup was authentic. Jun had Katsu-Don (omg, I LOVE katsu don and I LOVE theirs, it's simply one of the best I have tasted!), I had Unajyu (Grilled Unagi with Rice - Not shown), and we both had miso soup. YUM. I'm definitely going back and definitely going to take pictures of every dish. Here's the Katsu-Don  "A katsudon (カツ丼) is a popular Japanese food; it is a bowl of rice topped with a deep-fried pork cutlet, egg, and condiments. Variations include sauce katsudon (with Worcestershire sauce), demi katsudon (with demi-glace and often green peas, a specialty of Okayama), shio katsudon (with salt, another Okayama variety), shōyu-dare katsudon (with soy sauce, Niigata style), and miso katsudon (a favorite in Nagoya). Beef and chicken can substitute for the pork. The dish takes its name from the Japanese words tonkatsu (for pork cutlet) and donburi (for rice bowl dish). It has become a modern ritual tradition for Japanese students to eat katsudon the night before taking a major test or school entrance exam. This is because "katsu" is a homophone of the verb 勝つ katsu, meaning "to win" or "to be victorious"." - Wikipedia. Dined At Azabu Japanese Restaurant Shop 18/ 165 Moggill Rd Taringa QLD 4068 ph: (07) 3371 7605 Tuesday, June 19, 2007 Grilled Italian Meatballs alla Bolognaise The Italian Meatballs With Herbs, Garlic & Spices  The Dinner: Grilled Italian Meatballs alla Bolognaise  I made the Italian Meatballs alla Bolognaise for Jun and Andrew. The Spiral Pasta held the sauce very well. My bolognaise sauce is slightly spicy to enhance the taste of the tomatoes, I used a good dash of rich red wine, lots of onion, freshly chopped garlic, four seasons peppercorn and other spices....My sister, Jun was very delighted, and When my partner Andrew got back from work he was all smiles and gobbled it all down. Happy Diners = Happy Cook. I made a vegetarian style pasta for myself with the same sauce base but I made it spicier. Below was my dinner for tonight. Spicy Spinach & Eggplant Spiral Pasta alla Bolognaise  With Love From Lin's Kitchen Monday, June 18, 2007 Chargrilled Chilli Beef /w Herbs, Four Season Peppers & Garlic Spinach Stir-Fry in Oyster Sauce & Garlic Sambal & Dark Soy Eggplant with Chilli Padi, Onion & Garlic Fresh Grape Tomatoes Served with Warm Rice Topped with Nori Fumi Furikake 海苔のふりかけ  I made the Chargrilled Chilli Beef for both Andrew and Jun, but I'm trying to keep on lean meats and fishes so below's dish was for me. Although Andrew ended up with 3 of those chilli beef "steaks" and made burgers out of his. (no pictures). Spinach Stir-Fry in Oyster Sauce & Garlic Sambal & Dark Soy Eggplant with Chilli Padi, Onion & Garlic Served with Warm Rice  Tomorrow I'm making Italian Meatballs with Spiral Pasta alla Bolognaise for Andrew and Jun, I'm thinking of making Grilled Fish Provencale for myself with Spiral Pasta alla Bolognaise. Friday, June 15, 2007 Tasmanian Salmon Grilled on a bed of Sliced Ginger Topped with Garlic, Four Seasons Pepper, Mixed Herbs & Garlic Salt Served on a bed of Garlicky Alfredo Pasta Side of: Baby Lebanese Cucumbers & Grape Tomatoes. I was very tired when I came home today, didn't actually feel like food but got really hungry an hour later. so I decided on a simple dinner. The Alfredo Pasta isn't made from scratch by me, it's actually instant Alfredo Pasta by Continental. I just added some extra seasonings/flavourings/herbs to it and it turned out fantastic! I bought the baby lebanese cucumbers after work today it was beautiful. I prefer grape tomatoes to cherry tomatoes anyday. It's sweeter and has more flavour to it. One's got to try it to understand. Didn't take long at all. Who says a good balanced meal takes alot of effort? Tasmanian Salmon Grilled on a bed of Sliced Ginger Topped with Garlic, Four Seasons Pepper, Mixed Herbs & Garlic Salt Served on a bed of Garlicky Alfredo Pasta  Baby Lebanese Cucumbers & Grape Tomatoes  With Love From Lin's Kitchen. Tasmanian Salmon Grilled on a bed of Sliced Ginger Topped with Garlic, Four Seasons Pepper, Mixed Herbs & Garlic Salt. Resting on a bed of: Spinach Stir-Fry /w Garlic & Oyster Sauce And Stir-Fried Bean Sprouts with Cripsy Salted Fish, Chopped Chilli, Garlic & Oyster Sauce  With Love From Lin's Kitchen Sunday, June 10, 2007 My First Attempt At: Korean Bibimbap 비빔밥 Jun and I had a huge craving for Korean Bibimbap since yesterday. So we went to a korean restaurant in Fortitude Valley to get yesterday and it was okay.But didn't satisfy our carving for the real deal. Almost everything here is westernized. We went out today to get some ingredients for my first attempt at bibimbap making. It was alot of work!But the end result! MMMMmmmm-MMMM! Me and Jun are all smiles now!  (I used: Premium Minced Beef, Carrot, Bean Sprouts, Shitake Mushroom, Spinach, Cucumber.And Egg, which I fried till the sides are crispy!) After Mixing it with Gojujang  Gochujang 고추장 - To use Gochujang with Bibimbap, Mix with A little water and Sesame Oil Until smooth.  Gochujang (고추장、苦椒醤) is a spicy Korean condiment, made from glutinous rice powder mixed with powdered fermented soybeans, red chili powder, and salt, and fermented, traditionally in the sun. Other grains can be substituted for the glutinous rice, including normal rice, wheat, and barley. A small amount of sweetener, such as sugar, syrup, or honey is also sometimes added. It is a dark, reddish paste with a rich, spicy flavour. It has been used in Korea since the 16th century, after chili was first introduced. It is used extensively in Korean cooking; for example to flavour stews (jjigae), or to marinate meat. In the Sichuan cuisine of China, a similar paste is called doubanjiang (豆瓣酱)." - Wikipedia Bibimbap 비빔밥 is a popular Korean dish. The word literally means "mixed rice" or "mixed meal." Bibimbap is served as a bowl of warm white rice topped with sauteed and seasoned vegetables, beef, a fried egg, and gochujang (chile pepper paste). The ingredients are stirred together thoroughly just before eating. It can be served either cold or hot. Vegetables commonly used in bibimbap include julienned cucumber, zucchini, carrot, mu (white radish), mushrooms, doraji (bellflower root), and laver, as well as spinach, soybean sprouts, and gosari (bracken fern stems). Dubu (tofu), either plain or sauteed, or a leaf of lettuce may be added, or beef may be substituted with chicken or seafood. Many areas of Korea typically serve a vegetarian version of the dish which may well be the more traditional alternative. A variation of this dish, dolsot bibimbap (돌솥 비빔밥, "dolsot" meaning "stone pot"), is served in a heated stone bowl, in which a raw egg is cooked against the sides of the bowl. Before the rice is placed in the bowl, the bottom of the bowl is coated with sesame oil, making the layer of the rice touching the bowl golden brown and crispy." - Wikipedia  With Love From Lin's Kitchen Thursday, June 7, 2007 Brekky Style Dinner Pan-fried Chicken w/ Melted Cheese & Salsa Toasted Jaffas with Double Melted Cheese & Truss Tomatoes. Creamy Mash Potatoes with Herbs We had some random stuff in the fridge so I made this "brekky" style dinner for Andrew and Jun. I am watching the carbs so I ate what i ate last night again (Sambal Chicken & Eggplant And Stir-Fry Spinach Leaves & Sauteed Garlic. - Made it super spicy agan!)  With Love From Lin's Kitchen. Wednesday, June 6, 2007 Sambal Chicken & Eggplant With Stir-Fry Spinach Leaves & Sauteed Garlic. It's been raining since last evening so it's pretty cold today, around 18 degrees mid-afternoon. Overcast and dark all day...I love days like that. Everyone decided to prepare their own dinner which worked well because I wanted something really spicy to warm my body up. So I made a Sambal Chicken & Eggplant dish with chopped chillies, garlic & onion and a Spinach stir-fry. I enjoyed every mouthful...YUM  With Love From Lin's Kitchen Tuesday, June 5, 2007 Sashimi Platter Andrew took me out for some Japanese today, I didn't feel like much so I had this Sashimi Platter (From: Sushi On The Run, Fortitude Valley) with Miso Soup. Not sure if I was allowed to take photos but stole one shot of my dish. (Some places are very particular about taking photos of their food here.) I loved the sashimi platter.  It contained: 刺身 Sashimi: 鮭 Sake (Salmon), いか Ika (Squid), えび Ebi (Cooked Shrimp), まぐろ Maguro (Tuna), たこ Tako (Octopus) & ほたて Hotate (Scallop) Others: Salmon Roe, Fresh Nori with Sesame Seeds, Shredded (Daikon, Carrot, Spring Onion.), Slices of Avocado & Lemon. "Sashimi (Japanese: 刺身) is a Japanese delicacy primarily consisting of very fresh raw seafoods, thinly sliced into pieces about 2.5 cm (1 inch) wide by 4 cm (1½ inches) long by 0.5 cm (¼ inch) thick, and served with only a dipping sauce (like soy sauce with wasabi paste and thinly sliced ginger root, or ponzu), and a simple garnish like shiso and shredded daikon radish. The name sashimi literally means "pierced body." "刺身=sashimi" consists of "刺し=sashi(pierced/sticked)" and "身=mi(body/meat)". It may have come from the former practice of sticking the tail and its fin of the fish on the slices, to let it be known which fish one was eating. Another etymologic idea is that because 切り身=kiri-mi(cut body/meat) is reminiscent of cutting a person with 刀=katana(Backsword), the word sashimi was chosen intentionally instead." - Wikipedia With Love, Lin. Sushi On The Run Shop 4 Cathedral Place 41 Gotha St Fortitude Valley Queensland, Australia. Monday, June 4, 2007 Japanese Chicken Curry & Rice   Lin's Note: This was Sunday & Monday Night's Dinner!Mmm-Mmm. I used whole baby potatoes, Chicken thigh pieces, Carrot, Chopped Celery, Chopped chilli, Onion and Garlic. Japanese curry is thicker then our normal indian/malay curries....(read below for more information) "Curry (カレー, karē?, sometimes called カリー karī) is one of the most popular dishes in Japan. It is commonly served in three main forms: curry rice, karē udon (thick noodles) and karē-pan (bread). It is usually thicker, sweeter and milder than its Indian equivalent. A wide variety of vegetables and meats are used to make Japanese curry. The basic vegetables are onions, carrots, and potatoes. Sometimes grated apples or honey are added for additional sweetness. For the meat, pork, beef and chicken are the most popular, in order of decreasing popularity. In Tokyo, pork is the most popular meat for curry[citation needed], while in Osaka, beef is the most common[citation needed]. Katsu-karē is a breaded deep-fried pork cutlet with curry sauce. Curry was introduced to Japan during the Meiji era (1869 - 1913), at a time when India was under the administration of the British East India Company. Because of that, curry in Japan is categorized as a Western dish instead of an Asian dish. Although introduced earlier, the dish became popular and available for purchase in supermarkets and restraunts, in the late sixties." - Wikipedia With Love from Lin's Kitchen. Sunday, June 3, 2007 Some Dinners I made... With a Side of Garlic bread   Fresh Garden Salad With Italian Dressing and Tasty Cheese  "Bolognese sauce (ragù alla bolognese in Italian, also known by its French name sauce bolognaise) is a meat based sauce for pasta originating in Bologna, Italy. Bolognese sauce is sometimes taken to be a tomato sauce but authentic recipes have only a very small amount of tomato, perhaps a couple of tablespoons of tomato paste."-Wikipedia   With A Side of Potato Rosti   "Donburi (丼, lit. "bowl", also frequently abbreviated as "don", thus less commonly spelled "domburi") is a Japanese "rice bowl dish" consisting of fish, meat, vegetables or other ingredients simmered together and served over rice. Donburi meals are served in oversized rice bowls also called donburi. Donburi are sometimes called sweetened or savory stews on rice. The simmering sauce varies according to season, ingredient, region, and taste. A typical sauce might consist of dashi flavored with shoyu and mirin. Proportions vary, but there is normally three to four times as much dashi as shoyu and mirin. For oyakodon, Tsuji (1980) recommends dashi flavored with light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, and sugar. For gyudon, Tsuji recommends water flavored with dark soy sauce and mirin." -Wikipedia. And Miso Soup   Chicken Thigh Fillet Peices (Shou Niku Yakitori) And Potato & Carrot, Mushroom, Cherry Tomatoes Yakitori   Lin's Note: (All Terriyaki sauces are homemade with the best quality sake. Makes a huge difference!) Terriyaki Sauce: Sake, Mirin, Shoyu (Japanese Soy Sauce) and Sugar. Someone asked me "What makes 'Yakitori' different from other types of meat/vegetables on sticks?" - The grilling process. While Grilling, one has to constantly turn the sticks and constantly brush on the sauce. It is a bit of a pain sometimes but the taste is worth the effort. "Yakitori (焼き鳥), lit. grilled bird, is a Japanese type of skewered chicken. It is made from several bite-sized pieces of chicken meat, or chicken offal, skewered on a bamboo skewer and barbecued, usually over charcoal. Diners ordering yakitori usually have a choice of having it served with simply salt (and sometimes lemon juice) or with tare sauce, which is basically made up of mirin, sweet sake, soy sauce and sugar. The sauce is applied on the skewered meat and is grilled until delicately cooked and is served with the tare sauce as a dip. Yakitori is a very popular dish in Japan. Many working people grab a yakitori and a beer from yakitori stalls on the way home from work. Yakitori is also a common, cheap accompaniment to beer in izakayas. Strictly speaking, the term "yakitori" refers to those consisting only of various chicken parts and vegetables. Similarly skewered grilled food made with other ingredients such as beef, pork, fish or seafood is usually available at yakitori establishments and are known as kushiyaki (串焼?), lit. skewer grill, in Japan. However, outside of Japan, and even in some areas of Japan (in particular Kyūshū, Higashimatsuyama city and parts of Hokkaidō) these would also be referred to as yakitori." - Wikipedia "The word 'teriyaki' is a combination of two Japanese words, teri, "luster", and yaki, "to grill or broil". The mirin in the sauce gives a good lustre to meat as it is cooked. Traditionally it was used with fish. It is used for cooking fish, chicken and pork. It can also be used to marinate meat. The ideal meats to use are chicken and fish." - Wikipedia "Mirin (kanji: 味醂; hiragana: みりん) is an essential condiment used in Japanese cuisine, with a slightly sweet taste. It is a kind of rice wine similar to sake, but with a lower alcohol content. In the Edo period, Mirin was drunk as a sweet sake. Otoso (お屠蘇 おとそ?), traditionally drunk on Shōgatsu (正月 - Japanese New Year) was made by soaking a spice mixture in mirin. In the Kansai style of cooking, mirin is briefly boiled before using, to allow some of the alcohol to evaporate, while in the Kantō regional style, the mirin is used untreated. Kansai-style boiled mirin is called nikiri mirin, literally "boiled-over mirin." Mirin is used to add a bright touch to grilled (broiled) fish or to erase the smell of it. A small amount is often used instead of sugar and soy sauce. It should not be used in excess however, as its flavor is quite strong. It is sometimes used as a sushi accompaniment." - Wikipedia "Japanese soy sauce, or shō-yu (しょうゆ, or 醤油, 正油) - is traditionally divided into 5 main categories, depending on differences in their ingredients and method of production. Japanese soy sauces include wheat as a primary ingredient, and this tends to give them a slightly sweeter taste than their Chinese counterparts; they also have a somewhat alcoholic, sherry-like flavor. Japanese and Chinese soy sauces are not really interchangeable in recipes; Chinese dark soy sauce comes closer to the Japanese one in overall flavor, but not in the intensity of the flavor or the texture." - Wikipedia "Sake (Japanese: 酒; pronounced [sa.kɛ]) (also saké and saki in English) is a Japanese word meaning "Japanese rice wine" (also called Nihonshu 日本酒) or "alcoholic beverage". In English, this word has come to refer to exclusively to the former. This article uses the word "sake" as it is used in English. Sake is widely referred to in English as "rice wine". However, this designation is not accurate. The production of alcoholic beverages by multiple fermentation is more characteristic of beer than wine. Also, there are other beverages known as "rice wine" that are significantly different from nihonshu." - Wikipedia And A Rice Vermecilli Stir-Fry  "Stir frying is an English umbrella term used to describe two fast Chinese cooking techniques: chǎo (炒) and bào (爆). The term stir-fry was introduced into the English language by Buwei Yang Chao, in her book How to Cook and Eat in Chinese, to describe the chǎo technique. The two techniques differ in their speed of execution, the amount of heat used, and the amount of tossing done to cook the food in the wok. Cantonese restaurant patrons judge a chef's ability to perform stir frying by the "wok hei" produced in the food. This in turn is believed to display their ability to bring out the qi of the wok." - Wikipedia Grilled Terriyaki Glazed Mushrooms Creamy Mash Potato with Honey-Glazed Ham  With Steamed Vegetables  "Steaming is a preferred cooking method for health conscious individuals because no cooking oil is needed, thus resulting in a lower fat content. Steaming also results in a more nutritious food than boiling because fewer nutrients are destroyed or leached away into the water (which is usually discarded). It is also easier to avoid burning food when steaming." - Wikipedia (Homemade Marinate using 22 different type of sauces and herbs) Baked Potato & Carrot in Garlic and Herbs.  Spicy Stir-Fry Bok Choy Shitake Mushroom in Oyster Sauce  "The Shiitake (Lentinula edodes) is an edible mushroom native to East Asia. It is generally known in the English-speaking world by its Japanese name, shiitake listen (help·info) (kanji: 椎茸; lit. "shii mushroom," from the Japanese name of the tree that provides the dead logs on which it is typically cultivated). In Chinese, it is called xiānggū (香菇, lit. "fragrant mushroom"). Two Chinese variant names for high grades of shiitake are dōnggū (Chinese: 冬菇, "winter mushroom") and huāgū (花菇, "flower mushroom," which has a flower-like cracking pattern on the mushroom's upper surface); both are produced at colder temperatures. Other names by which the mushroom is known in English include Chinese black mushroom and black forest mushroom. In Korean it is called pyogo (hangul: 표고; hanja: 瓢菰), and in Thai they are called hed hom (เห็ดหอม, "fragrant mushroom")." - Wikipedia Spicy Vegetable Stir-Fry Sweet and Savory Mirin Egg   Well folks, that's it for today... Hope you enjoyed my homecooked dishes... More soon. Next... Japanese chicken Curry. With Love From Lin's Kitchen. |
