I feel a bit dodgy for posting this, since I didn’t exactly make the puff pastry from scratch. It was an impromptu thing. I had to leave the house to get my blood pressure meds, onions and some fruits. At the grocery store I had a sudden urge to get puff pastry sheets. Then I came home, and in a crazy fit, started drafting out a short story set in the golden age of the Yrole Triptych that’s been sitting in my brain since last June. Well, okay, originally the story itself was set in Lumen Procellae, but I decided to set it in the world of The Yrole Triptych instead. The result is this: making the sort of Spiced Meat Rolls I imagined the people of my protagonist’s village would eat. The filling is minced meat, mashed potatoes, minted peas. I cooked it with caramelized onions, ginger-garlic paste, garam masala powder, some paprika, some fresh coriander, curry leaves, spices (cloves, black mustard seeds, fenugreek, cinnamon flakes, cardamom, jeera), a tablespoon of Malaysian curry powder and a tiny bit of lemon juice, just enough for flavour, not sourness.

Anyhow, I probably shouldn’t be drafting short stories when I’ve got academic deadlines, but reading about writing and scifi/fantasy literary criticism in general just makes me want to write instead of just writing about others. I’ll get back to the grindstone after this post-prandial drowsiness wears off.

I don’t know which worries me more, that I’ve been spending each weekend in a frenzy of cooking and baking, or that I’m dorky enough to cook stuff from my stories.

I woke up with a yearning for a cake with honey and grated cinnamon in it and so, I had to bake it. I was very pleased with the results. I used half the butter I used last week, supplemented with some soy margerine and added an extra egg. No, I don’t use measurements. I suppose I should, but that would require me to buy things to measure with! But I haven’t made a bad cake yet so I must be doing something right! It’s also less sweet than last week because I used less sugar (which is low-GI, unrefined cane sugar) and a bit of honey. It rose beautifully today, better than my effort of last weekend, but it’s also a lighter, dryer cake, which means it’s not going to disappear quite as fast as last week’s dark, moist and sinfully dense chocolate treat.

Having baked a sinful chocolate/walnut/cinnamon treat last weekend, I decided to have three nights of boiled vegetables, this week. However, I did amend that to “boiled and stir-fried vegetables” by the third night! Here’s what I had: snow peas, cauliflower and carrot, one boiled potato that I drained and then shook about in a pot with continental parsley. I also marinaded eggplant, one buttom mushroom and tofu in teriyaki sauce before cooking them in the same pan w/ garlic and a teeny bit of rice-bran oil. I must note that apart from italian or continental dishes, I use rice-bran oil for just about everything because it’s lighter, tastier and healthier. Otherwise, it’s fruity extra virgin olive oil with just a dab of butter. I would rather use butter than most spreads, but I do love the soy margerine that I have as well.

Of course, now that it’s the weekend again, there shall be culinary naughtiness, and there goes penance! My plans for Friday night include cooking lamb peratal with pilau rice, and baking a honey, cinnamon and vanilla cake that will be both fluffy and moist. Oh dear.

Having cooked more than one, fairly elaborate meal during the course of the week that’s just past, the body now craves simplicity, and so, I heeded its demands. Hence, tonight’s dinner. Apart from the tomatoes, everything was boiled and lightly seasoned. I didn’t really plan the arrangement, it was an automatic thing before I realised what I was doing.

I’ve had meals like this before, and I consider them deeply satisfying, on various levels.

I’m exhausted from running around doing errands as well as tearing my hair out over academic stuff. Cooking, as usual, is one of my favourite forms of therapy and I have been cooking a great deal more lately, both for necessity and for pleasure. Living alone, it’s more convenient to just cook one dish for dinner. In an Asian household, we’d probably have 3-4 dishes accompanying rice at each meal but I often find it quite an effort. However, every now and then I do try to be more traditional, though shortcuts help a lot, as you may see with the following dishes.

Since I could not decide between the photo above and the one below, you guys get both!

Chilli Prawns

Instructions: Blend 1/2 a red onion (or 2-3 small eschallots), 2 cloves garlic, half a stalk of lemon grass, 1-2 centimetres worth of fresh turmeric, a handful of dried chillis softened with hot water, a teaspoon of roasted belachan, 2 teaspoons pan-roasted sesame seeds. This mixture can freeze pretty well and you can use it for a lot of stuff. I froze a full cup’s worth, but saved some for my chilli chayote dish. Heat oil flavoured with some sesame oil in a wok or good frying pan. Gently fry the prawns (still in their shells, but deveined) in the oil. Remove from the now-aromatic oil, and add the sambal paste. Wait till it sizzles, add a bit of sugar. Add salt. Let it simmer and bubble for a bit more before adding tomato sauce. Squeeze a small bit of lemon or use tamarind juice instead. You should probably taste it and adjust the seasoning to your liking. Some people prefer it sweeter, but I like a balance of flavour along with sourness and just a subtle amount of sweetness that doesn’t detract from the other ingredients. Add the cooked prawns gently, along with some wedges of fresh tomato. Cook till all the fresh, blended ingredients have amalgamated and the flavour is rich and fragrant. Serve with fresh coriander.

Mussels with Lemongrass and Coriander

I looked up some advice online before I started cooking these. Apparently, if they’re open prior to cooking, tap them. If they close, they’re still alive. If they’re still gaping open, they’re dead and should be thrown away. It was a bit intimidating and I felt a bit like a murderer but they were oh-so-tasty.

Directions: Chop onions (red onions or eschallots best), 2 cloves garlic, some lemon grass, fresh coriander and one bird’s eye chilli (finely, add more if you’re brave). Heat a small bit of oil flavoured w/ sesame oil. Add the ingredients. Stir. Add the healthy and cleaned mussels. Run away to the next room if you’re like me. Peep around the corner – if they’re all gaping wide open now and cooked with that aromatic steam, add stock. You could use fish stock or fish sauce, or, like me, use a broth made with anchovies and lemongrass (I had a fresh batch of this from my midweek Yong Tau Foo adventure). Just add enough for some gravy. Season it with a bit of soy sauce, freshly grated pepper and a squeeze of lemon. When they’re cooked, arrange the mussels in a nice bowl before pouring the gravy in. Garnish with some fresh coriander.

Chilli Chayote

A seafood feast still required a vegetable dish, and I decided to cook a chayote in chilli paste, with some more of the anchovy broth.

Directions: Peel the Chayote (Choko) and cut uniformly. Finely mince some coriander and mix it with the chopped chayote. Heat oil in a frying pan. Add a small bit of sambal paste to the heated oil. Add a tiny bit of sugar, as before, and some salt. Drop the chayote in this mixture and stir. Use some of the anchovy broth to moisten the mixture and to provide body. I added 2-3 ladles of this broth, slowly, as the chayote absorbed the moisture. Season with soy sauce and a bit of pepper. Once everything is soft, and glistening, turn the fire off.

And just for a sense of proportion, here’s the feast, as it were. I had it all with a small scoop of jasmine rice. More than enough leftovers for weekend snacking, apart from the mussels that vanished! Like magic!