I do not often cook risotto, however, so far, the risotto recipes I’ve tried to cook all satisfied me. Cooking risotto is a totally different approach to the way we, Vietnamese people, cook rice. When I haven’t been so familiar with cooking risotto steps, I often have to examine the recipe thoroughly before actual cooking.
This time, cooking this risotto, I also want to test a new experience of how to cook a perfect risotto, that the risotto should be able to "relax" on the dish – speaking in chef Gordon Ramsay’s word. And no mushy but the rice must be al dente and keeps the shape of rice grains.
Read the rest of this post >>
I cooked pasta again. Pasta now is often in my cooking list of the week. I never thought I would be in love so much with pasta like this before. Just by a proper way of cooking pasta with basic principles about the nature of pasta in mind, we can always make a good pasta dish.
Once I hosted a year-end party with around 20 friends at my home, most of whom are Vietnamese students studying in Singapore. That time I treated them with only pasta, pizza and wine. I made three kinds of pasta and three kinds of pizza. They were all finished much faster than I could imagine, which caused me think whether I had prepared enough or not 
That’s one good memory about pasta since I started to venture into this interesting section of food. I’m often eager at trying new pasta dish and revisit the most amazing recipes when I want to treat my family and friends. This pasta with asparagus and peas is also very easy to eat, very refreshing with the crunchy texture of the asparagus. Some cream is used helping to combine all the ingredients harmoniously. Pasta with veggies is never out of fashion for me.
Read the rest of this post >>
There are very complicated pasta recipes, yet there are many simple pasta recipes. When I need to cook something simple and quick without having thinking much, I often end up cooking some kind of pasta.
Cooking pasta is somehow quite flexible. Adding one more ingredient, or omitting one ingredient, you may have a new pasta dish with different flavor and texture. That’s what I like most about pasta where creativity is never limited.
This pasta can be cooked with or without cream. However, without cream, the pasta may be a bit dry.
Ingredients (serves 4)
- 2 cups asparagus, cut into 3cm pieces
- 2 tbs butter
- 2 medium onions, chopped
- 200g ham, cubed or chopped
- 240ml heavy/whipping cream
- salt, pepper
- 400g short pasta (such as macaroni)
- grated Parmesan cheese, to serve
Cooking:
- Cook the asparagus in boiling water until just tender. Drain.
- Cook the pasta until al dente. Drain and keep warm.
- Heat the butter in a large saucepan, add the onion and cook until softened. Add the asparagus and ham, season with salt and pepper, cook for another 2 minutes.
- Add cream and cook until heated through.
- Divide the pasta into serving dishes and pour this sauce over the pasta and sprinkle with grated parmesan. (or mix the pasta with the sauce before plating).
Not feeling like eating so much, I only wanted to make something simple, plain and quick. I asked my fiance if he had any suggestion or if he wanted to eat anything special. My fiance told me to cook anything I liked, and he would eat everything. Looking into my fridge, seeing some slices of ham in the chill room, some fresh asparagus in the veggie room, I thought this dish would bring back my appetite.
So, I only made this dish for my quick dinner. Nothing else. We did enjoy the meal and finished them very quickly, then returned back to our everyday’s tasks we had to finish before the day ended.
These roll-ups were very interesting to eat. The asparagus were still juicy, crunchy and fresh. After being baked for a short time in the oven, the ham slices became a little drier and more chewy. What a wonderful combination of the texture! Serving together with cheddar sauce was perfect as well. Just a small issue that the sauce was too much for us and we only finished half of it. These roll-ups can be eaten with the sauce poured over them or you may want to keep the sauce separately and dip the rolls in after each bite. So, if you prefer less sauce, just reduce the ingredients for making the sauce. And enjoy!
Read the rest of this post >>
This way of cooking asparagus turned out quite strange to my taste. I was not surprised by the dish for its amazingly deliciousness, still I enjoyed it to the last pieces. I liked the freshiness of the vegetables even after cooking, since both the asparagus and the bean sprouts were cooked until just tender. In my mouth, I could feel clearly the crunchiness of the vegetables. The roasted almonds were slightly fragrant and offered a little buttery taste and also added texture to the dish.
The dish should be served while hot or warm or it would lose the best taste when cooled.
Read the rest of this post >>
Enjoy this dish of pork and mixed vegetables for a diversed texture of the different ingredients.
Read the rest of this post >>
After a long day at work, I returned home when my fiance had already made this simple pasta. When I might be late at work, my fiance often cooked me something. And his forever favorite food is pasta. Only with just a few ingredients and simple cooking process, we can have a very appertizing pasta dish.
