Flaugnarde aux poires et à la noix de coco (Pear and coconut flognarde)

To test out my newly aquired Pyrex flan dish, I made this coconut pear flaugnarde. 

Pear and coconut flognarde

Carne asada

I discovered that the butcher I usually go to carries flank steak a while ago. The price was appealing, so I picked up a slab and made carne asada with it.

Carne asada is a fairly simply dish to make. The trick for great flavour is to let the flank steak soak in the marinade for at least four hours and preferably overnight.

Carne asada with baby gems and sautéed potatoes

Peanut butter cake

This is a peanut butter cake I made by frosting a yellow cake with peanut butter cream cheese. I've written about the yellow cake, adapted from a wonderful recipe I found in Dr William Davis's 'Wheat Belly Cookbook'. 

Peanut butter cake

Coconut fenugreek curry with lamb meatballs

Inspired by a cooking presentation that a friend took me to a few weeks ago, I made this lamb meatball curry from scratch a few days later. 

Coconut fenugreek curry with lamb meatballs

Napa cabbage au gratin

Years ago, I asked Husband-then-Boyfriend to pick up a head of cabbage on the way home from work. I thought this would be fairly straightforward for an Irish lad. He came home with cabbage alright, but rather than the green or white variety that's commonly found in Ireland, he presented me with a head of napa cabbage. When I asked him how come he picked this 'exotic' variety, he said, rather logically, that he assumed I'd want it as I was Asian ...

So years later, whenever I see napa cabbage in the shops, I'm reminded of the incident and would enjoy an inner chuckle.

A few weeks ago, I picked up a beautiful head of napa cabbage and smokey cubed pancetta. For dinner, I made a dish that my mum used to make when I was a kid -- napa cabbage au gratin, complete with homemade, wheat-free Bechamel.

Napa cabbage au gratin

Nectarine salsa

For a light accompaniment to my pan-fried sea bass fillets and barbecued garlic chicken, I made a nectarine salsa with whatever was already available in my not-so-full fridge. So technically this is not a salsa in the strictest sense, but nonetheless refreshing and complemented the mains well.

Nectarine salsa

Caprese salad

I started growing basil out of a tin a few months ago. By the end of July, three stalks had sprouted and reached 20+ centimetres. A couple of stalks had also started to bloom. So last weekend, I pinched off the blooms, harvested the leaves, and pruned back the stalks. 

The leaves I harvested was more than enough for me to make two generous plates of caprese salad.

Caprese salad, with homegrown basil

Tarte au citron (Lemon tart)

I hosted a coffee morning a couple of days ago and made a lemon tart as part of the food offerings. 

Basic grain-free sweet tart crust (2)

This is a revision of basic grain-free sweet tart crust (1).

Rhubarb custard tart

It's right in the middle of the rhubarb season here in Ireland. But rather suspiciously, the rhubarbs I see in supermarkets have more green bits than pink/red along the stalks. Still, I picked up a bunch to make this custard tart.

Rhubarb custard tart

Basic grain-free sweet tart crust (1)

This is a sweet tart crust that can be pre-baked and finished later with your choice of fillings.

Sweet tart crust

芋粿巧 Sticky savoury taro cakes

After talking to an old school friend from back home about Taiwanese street food, I was hit with a hankering from 芋粿巧 ("o gui kiao" in Taiwanese), a type of savoury sticky taro cake. So I forked out nearly 7 euro for a 600g fresh taro from Thailand at the Asia Market to make some myself. 

Fried sticky savoury taro cakes with sriracha

Honey sriracha chicken

Watched how sriracha sauce was made on 'Food Factory USA', and it inspired me to make honey sriracha chicken legs for dinner.

Honey sriracha chicken

Louisiana barbecue chicken

Louisiana barbecue chicken drumsticks with grilled pineapple, broccoli, vine tomato

Cinnamon rolls

This is a recipe adapted from the Wheat Free Market. 

Cinnamon roll with cream cheese frosting

Steak on the bone

I picked up what was billed as T-bone steaks from the butcher's last week. When I was preparing them for dinner last Sunday, I wasn't quite sure what I was given was in fact T-bone. I mean, where is the T in the bone? 

Grilled steak on the bone, roasted garlic, potato wedges, steamed broccoli

Easy beef pot roast

I treated myself to a 29cm oval Le Creuset casserole a couple of weeks ago. The first dish I made with it was the Taiwanese three-cup chicken, a nod to my roots. But to really test out the cookware, I made a simple pot roast with neither bells (herbs/spices) nor whistles (thick gravy). 

Beef pot roast

Pan fried gurnard with lemon butter

In the spirit of trying something new (and having fish at least once a week), I picked up a few fillets of gurnard and pan fried them for dinner. Apparently, gurnards are bony and lacking in flavour and so they are usually quite cheap to buy. And indeed, at €8.90 per kilogram, they were the cheaper ones on offer at my local fishmonger. However, while bony and lean, they were still quite flavourful. But that may have to do with the knobs of butter and dashes of fresh lemon juice I used.

Pan fried gurnard with lemon butter, served with brown rice spaghetti with garlic, courgette, pesto

Roasted pork tenderloin

This is a quick and easy way to prepare a delicious pork main. You can mix your own blend of spices.

Roasted pork tenderloin with pickled cabbage and carrots

Lemon chia muffins

This is adapted from the Wheat Free Market's recipe for lemon poppy muffins. It can be doubled to make a dozen muffins. 

Lemon chia muffins

Banana silver dollar pancakes

I wasn't going to observe Shrove Tuesday but I thought Husband might miss it, so I made a stack of silver dollar pancakes after dinner as dessert. These pancakes are simple to prepare, requiring just two main ingredients and a couple of pantry staples. And they are fluffy and delicious!

Stack of banana silver dollar pancakes, layered with dried coconut flakes, topped with maple syrup, pecan, walnuts

Matcha pistachio cupcakes

I attended a chanoyu (茶の湯 or Japanese tea ceremony) a couple of weeks ago at House of Tea. While not a lover of ceremonial preparations and presentations per se, I have been interested in matcha and its culinary application for some time now. 

Last November, I made a loaf of matcha pistachio bread (recipe and pictures to follow). It was quite a success. This time, adapting a recipe from Wheat Belly 30-Minute (Or Less!) Cookbook, I made a batch of matcha pistachio cupcakes complete with frosting, which Husband helped to pipe! 

Matcha pistachio cupakes

Baked Mediterranean salmon

Dinner on 15 January 2016 was a darn of baked Mediterranean salmon, half of a spicy roasted whole cauliflower, and peppers stuffed with cheese.

Daikon cake 蘿蔔糕 (1)

I've been on a daikon roll for a couple of months now. And seeing as the lunar new year is just around the corner, I decided to try making daikon cake, an item commonly eaten at home during the celebrations. This is my first attempt.

Steamed daikon cake