Magic in the Kitchen : Tomato, Beef, Lentil Soup

Just a lazy Saturday afternoon,  doing my office work at home.  Let's make something hot to slurp.  I am craving for them warm bread at Charlie's Place BBQ and Grill!  They serve the best bread selection ever!

While I crave for good food...  Let's make Tomato Beef Lentil Soup!

Ingredients :
Half palm sized cheap beef
1 onion
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 cup lentil
1/2 cup tomato
1" Cinnamon
1/2 star anise
1/2 teaspoon black peppercorn
1/2 teaspoon coriander seed
1/2 teaspoon paprika powder
Salt to taste

Method :

Wash and boil lentil till soft.

In a different pot,  melt butter.  Add cinnamon,  star anise,  coriander seed,  black peppercorn.  Add and brown beef. Add tomatoes and cook till mushy. 

Remove beef from pot.  Deglaze pot with boiled lentils and boiling liquid.  Blend to your desired consistency.

I like extra crunch in my soup, so I usually add 1 tablespoon of chopped almond to my soup.  

Add everything to slow cooker with beef.  Cook on auto for 3 hours. Salt to taste and serve with bread.

Magic in the Kitchen : Clear Beef Soup with Baby Potatoes and Winter Melon

I am not hungry though my craving is all over the place.  Been putting off making this clear soup since...  I can't remember but just now I was hit with a pang of craving for something beefy,  soupy and winter-melon-ey... 

So let's bring out the slow cooker and let 'em  simmer!

Ingredients :

3/4 kgs of the cheapest,  toughest beef money can buy

1 small winter melon

1 handful of baby potatoes

1 small onion

1 inch cinnamon

1/2 star anise

1/2 teaspoon black peppercorn

Method:

Brown beef in a pan.  Add cinnamon, star anise and black peppercorn. 

Add onion,  winter melon and potatoes till fragrant.  Add to slow cooker. 

Cover with hot water and cook on high till boiling and switch to low/auto. 

Simmer for 4 hours.

*kitchen tips -  when using a slow cooker,  buy the cheapest,  sinewiest meat cut,  but avoid fat!

Liquid in slow cooker does not evaporate significantly,  keep that in mind when adding fluid.

When using a slow cooker,  anything higher than 3/4 full is considered overfilled!

Do not add salt until everything is almost well cooked as the flavour of the ingredients will leach out.  Taste when done and only then add salt to taste.

The medium sized slow cooker works the best for me!

I'm Wide Awake : This is so stupid... Am going to stop... Let's make perfect Dippy Eggs

You know sometimes the simplest of thing can be pretty hard to achieve,  consistently.  

Like perfectly boiled hardboiled eggs (non-rubbery delicious hard boiled eggs with bright yellow firm yolks) ,  perfectly boiled soft boiled eggs (non-rubbery whites with soft/runny yolk) and my favourite -  Dippy Eggs (hingus/snot consistency!)

So let's make them Dippy Eggs

Ingredient:

Eggs

Method :

Bring enough water to cover eggs about 1 inch. 

Slowly add room temperature eggs to water (I avoid using refrigerated eggs because they have a tendency to Crack in hot water). 

Boil eggs exactly 2 minutes. After 2 minutes,  remove from heat,  cover pot and leave for 2 minutes. 

Once the 2 minutes is up... Remove from water,  Crack open and enjoy with toast and marmite...  Adoyai!

I'm wide awake: Let's Make Pancakes!

I craved for them,  I made them...  Simple as that...  In life...  You can't be too dependant to other people. Relatives,  friends or otherwise...

So let's make Pancakes.

Ingredients:

1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup milk
2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp melted butter / vegetable oil
2 tspn baking powder
1/2 tspn salt

Method:

Mix everything and fry on lightly buttered pan. Makes about 4 pcs.  Serve with Maple syrup,  honey,  strawberry jam,  salted butter.  Done.