This is the first time I cooked and tasted this kind of cocktail. I am still not sure why this dish is called "cocktail", but finding that the dish seems to be refreshing, I thought: it’s quite simple, why not make a try?

There’s no way I got dissappointed at this dish. It was really great to serve as an appertizer. The colors of the whole cocktail cup were eye-catching with the red and green in harmony with the fine color of the "dressing" or "cocktail sauce"? It had a tangy taste that impressed me right at the first bite. It’s better that you use live prawns (now in Vietnam, I can easily buy live prawns right at wet markets) as they are fresher and the texture is firmer. 

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I was curious after I read the recipe and found out that this creamed tuna could go well with steamed rice. Of course this way of cooking is not typical at all in Asian cuisines. However, using milk, flour and cream is quite popular in Western food. But when the author recommended to serve this tuna dish with steamed rice, I really wanted to try its taste. 

And I was not dissapointed by this dish. This creamed tuna is so creamy (of course!). It is quite light with the mild sourness of the sour cream. The toasted almond flakes go perfect with the creamed tuna. The parsley adds more flavor to the dish. I have to agree that this one really goes well with rice. 

Ingredients (serves 3-4)

- 2 tbs finely chopped onion

- 3 tbs butter

- 3 tbs plain flour

- 1/4 tsp salt

- 1/8 tsp ground black pepper

- 300ml milk

- 120ml sour cream

- 200g cooked tuna or canned tuna, break into small chunks

- 2tbs sherry or red wine 

- 3tbs chopped parsley

- 2 tbs roasted almond flakes

Cooking:

- In a saucepan over low heat, melt the butter and cook the onion until softened. Add the flour, salt and pepper, stir to smoothen. Gradually pour in the milk, stir constantly until the mixture thickens. 

- Stir in the sour cream. Add tuna, sherry and parsley, cook until heated through, do not boil.  

- Spoon into serving bowl, sprinkle with almond flakes. Serve with hot steamed rice. 

These stuffed cherry tomatoes with tuna mixture definitely challenge your patience.  It’s takes time and requires some dexterity. If you are in a hurry or don’t want to make it so complicated, you can just half the tomatoes and top each half a little tuna mixture. 

I don’t have a tool that makes the task easier and faster. I had to use the handle of a small spoon to take out the seeds and the pulp inside the tomatoes. Then again, I used the end of the spoon handle to insert the tuna mixture, little by little, into the inside of each tomato. I could manage half of the tomatoes, the rest I just cut into halves and topped them with tuna mixture. 

These tuna stuffed tomatoes do worth your time and patience. They are very refreshing and tasty. The cherry tomatoes are firm, sweet and juicy. Put the whole tomato into your mouth, take a firm bite and you will feel the mayonnaise tuna coming out and blending with the tomato. It is very interesting experience. The tuna mixture should be chilled for the flavor and taste to be leveraged, becoming even tastier.

The cute little stuffed tomatoes really motivated us to take more photos of them.  

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I tried a new pasta dish with tuna and tomato sauce. Simple, fast to cook yet delicious pasta dishes always inspire me into cooking and trying new recipes. 

This pasta using angel hair is really fast to cook. It took only several minutes for the angel hair to be cooked al dente. The sauce was also quite simple. The true taste and texture of the tuna were preserved as it was. The lemon zest added a special fragrance into the dish. For me, this pasta is quite healthy, which made me very happy and comfortable after finishing the meal. 

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I only could afford only the small tuna, which is about 2 or 3kg each whole fish. So, when making this seared tuna, I had to cook it until done. Fresh sashimi-grade tuna should be cooked rare. My tuna was not fresh either. I kept them in my freezer and de-frosted before cooking this dish. 

However, this tuna dish still brought a good taste to our meal. It was fast to cook and fast to finish the whole dish too. We couldn’t eat too much, so this only one fillet was enough for us. 

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I was expecting a heavy rain for a few days and it is raining heavily now. I like sitting inside the house, looking out through the windows and see the raindrops falling down, trying to catch one another. For many people, cold and rainy weather is unpleasant. For me, it may be wet but I like the mood, the feeling on rainy days. 

Since the air is a bit cool down now, I am wiling to have something heavy for my lunch. (for me, anything that uses too much oil in cooking is considered heavy). For two people, I often cook with 10 large prawns or 12 medium prawns, which is also a large serving for each of us. In order to save the oil when cooking deep-fried dishes, I use a small saucepan which can fry only one or two pieces at a time. Cooking for two people is often faster too.

I like these prawns coated in parmesan and breadcrumbs as they are very crispy outside while still tender and juicy, very tasty inside with the worcestershire and lemon juice applied to them earlier. Just eating them like this without any other dipping sauce is delightful enough. 

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I bought a large squid and seeing that after I cut the its body into rings, they look so nice that I decided to make these fried squid rings.

In Singapore, it is not so convenient for me to go shopping frequently. I really want to plan the menue for a week ahead, so when I go shopping, I just grasp all the ingredients in my list. However, it is not always as such easy, especially when it comes to fresh ingredients such as seafood or meat because these ingredients are not always available fresh on the day I visit the supermarket. So, it often happens to me that when I go shopping, and there, the fresh squids are available, I will buy some. Or there, the prawns look so fresh and they are on promotion, then I will buy some. Coming home, I will look into my books or search on the Internet to see what I can do with the ingredients I got for the week. 

These squid rings are covered with seasoned flours then deep-fried. I am not a fan of deep-fried stuffs, so I just made a few rings out of the whole squid, just to provide a new taste and flavor to our appetites. It’s interesting to eat these rings. They are chewy inside and crispy outside. I used a small saucepan so that I still could deep-fry the squid without using a lot of oil. The left-over oil, if not to be used with other dishes, would be a waste, and I really don’t like that feeling of wasting something. 

This dish is suitable as an appertizer dish for a dinner party. I followed the recipe in my book about appertizers and party foods. 

Ingredients (serves 2)

- 115g prepared squid, cut into rings

- 2 tbs seasoned plain flour

- 1 egg

- 2 tbs milk

- oil, for frying (if affordable, use olive oil for healthier)

- lemon wedges, to serve

- mayonnaise, to serve

Cooking:

- Toss the squid rings in the seasoned flour in a bowl or strong plastic bag. Beat the egg and milk together in a shallow bowl.

- Heat the oil in a large heavy frying pan. 

- Heat the floured squid rings, one at a time, into the egg mixutre, shaking off any excess liquid. Add to the hot oil, in batches, cook for 2-3 minutes on each side, until evenly golden all over. 

- Drain the fried squid on kitchen papers. 

- Serve when still hot or warm with lemon wedges or mayonnaise. 

These prawns in skewers are very tasty and flavorful. They are coated in breadcrumbs mixed with herbs and spices, which make the prawns crispy outside yet the moisture is perfectly retained inside the prawns. 

These skewers can be baked in the oven, or grilled. I do not hava a griller, so I placed them in the oven and baked until they turned golden.  

Ingredients (serves 4)

- 900g-1kg large prawns, peeled and deveined

- 60ml (4tbs) olive oil

- 30ml (2 tbs) vegetable oil

- 75g (1 1/4 cup) breadcrumbs

- 1 garlic clove, finely chopped

- 1 – 2 stalks flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped

- salt, pepper

- lemon wedges, to serve

 Cooking:

- Clean the prawns and pat dry with kitchen towels. 

- In a large bowl, mix the prawns with oil, garlic, breadcrumbs and parsley. Season with salt and pepper. Mix well to coat each prawn with breadcrumbs evenly. 

- Cover the bowl and marinate for 1 hour. 

- Insert the prawns into skewers. 

- Cook the prawns skewers in the oven, or over hot grill or charcoal until the prawns are cooked. 

- Sprinkle lemon juice over the hot prawns and serve.