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Wednesday, January 13, 2016

Seafood Bisque Spaghetti

I have been storing my prawn shells and heads in the freezer each time I cook prawns when I deshell them. So I have accumulated about 2 ziplock bags full of them. So decided to take one bag out today to cook seafood bisque spaghetti for the first time as I also had cooking cream, canned tomato paste and fresh herbs lying in my fridge since christmas party. It turned out unexpectedly tasty! I was amazed at how easy it was!

Ingredients:
-canned tomato paste
-onions minced
-prawn heads/shells
-mussels
-fresh herbs- thyme/mint to give freshness
-garlic minced
-cream
-white wine (optional) - I used white wine vinegar to cut through the heaviness of the bisque
-spaghetti - cooked it in salted boiling water
-butter
-olive oil
-salt/black pepper to taste
- bay leaf
-prawns

Steps:
1) Fry prawn shells/heads and mussel shells with butter/olive oil in pan till you can drop dead smelling the lovely fragrance.
(Note: Remember, you have to be generous with your shells for a tasty broth)
2) Throw in the onions and garlic. Keep mixing until translucent and fragrant.
3) Add water, tomato paste, bay leaf and herbs. Let it boil then simmer.

4) Once its tasty enough and after simmering for quite long, put through the sieve into another pot.
My 7 year old stirring the bisque after sieving

5) Taste it. Add butter to bind all together.
6) Add cream
7) Add salt/ black pepper to taste
8) Finally throw in the prawns and mussels (deshelled) to cook
9) Serve over spaghetti (I added peas for veggies. Yes, I am that mum who has to have veggies in a meal no matter what)
10) Topped with parmesan cheese and Italian Parsley.

Enjoy!







Braised pork with tomato ketchup and pineapple

My first helper from Phillipines cooked this dish and my children loved it so much. After she left, she taught my parents' Indonesian helper until I decided to learn from her as I missed the dish so much. It is a bit like sweet and sour pork dish but the healthier version because it is braised.

You can either use pork ribs or pork belly for this dish.

Ingredients:
- pork belly/pork ribs
- pineapple (cut into small pieces)
- tomato ketchup
- garlic (minced)
- shallots (minced)
- carrots (shred)
- dark sauce
- black pepper/sugar/salt to taste

Steps:
1) Panfry the pork ribs/ pork belly first for the colour (a bit brown)
2) Remove it and throw in the garlic and shallots into the oil
3) Then add the shredded carrot and continue mixing
4) Then add the pineapples, tomato ketchup and water
5) Finally, throw the pork ribs/pork belly back in to mix with the tomato gravy
6) Add dark sauce and black peper and let it simmer
(Initially, it may be watery but after simmering, the gravy would thicken up and you might need to add more water after that. Keep tasting to make sure you have that rich tomato gravy that is tangy and sweet)
7) Add salt, sugar to taste if needed.

Enjoy! Excellent with rice!