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

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

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

Baked garlic chilli chicken drumsticks

Garlic chilli chicken drumsticks with mixed leaf salad and steamed baby potatoes

Taiwanese 3-cup chicken 三杯雞

One of my favourite dishes from home is 三杯雞, or, literally, three cup chicken. Cooked in sesame oil, rice wine, and soy sauce with a load of whole garlic cloves, fresh slices of ginger, and Thai holy basil (九層塔), this dish is always a reminder of how an over-abundance of flavour can work. Thai holy basil can be hard to find, but my local Asian market sometimes stock it.

Three cup chicken

Pizza with courgette crust

I've been flat out with work for the last few weeks. That and also it's been rather warm, I've been doing a lot of salads and fish for dinner. When I wrapped up a case yesterday afternoon, I decided to take a breather and head out to get the necessary ingredients to make pizza at home.

Pizza with courgette crust, topped with ventricina salami, chorizo, roasted red peppers, chestnut mushroom, red onion marmalade, goat cheese, and baby spinach 

Aubergine lamb rolls with tzatziki

We were on holiday in Abu Dhabi for 10 days in late June. The hotel was lovely and the food wonderful, fresh and very high quality. After returning home, I wasn't in any mood to cook, so we lived on shuǐjiǎo (boiled dumplings) for a few days. Even though they were tasty, the wheat used to make the pastry didn't agree with me (I don't need to say more...).

When I finally put in an order for grocery, I decided to extend the holiday feel a bit and make tzatziki, something that was available at breakfast and dinner in the hotel, to go with lamb. And the resulting dish was grilled aubergine rolls stuffed with lamb and feta, drizzled with tzatziki. 

Grilled aubergine lamb rolls with tzatziki

Lamb vindaloo

After a visit to Asia Market and sourcing lots of wonderful spices and herbs, I decided to make curry from scratch for the first time. I was able to find lamb stew meat at the butcher's, so I went for a lamb vindaloo. Again, my mini chopper proved to be a terrific buy. 

Lamb vindaloo with wholegrain basmati and blanched green beans

Mala soup base 麻辣湯底

A couple of weeks ago, I was teaching a course on Chinese history, culture, and business and in the last class, I talked about Chinese cuisine. As I went through the Eight Culinary Traditions and explained the different flavours and textures, I was hit with a serious craving for Sichuan mala spices that demanded to be satisfied. So after class, I promptly visited Asia Market and got the necessary ingredients to make my version of mala tofu hot pot (麻辣豆腐鍋).

Mala tofu hot pot with mung bean sheets

Trio of pepper torta

Wanting something vegetarian for dinner tonight and to use up the bell peppers that had been sitting in the fridge for a few days, I made a trio of pepper torta (like the Spanish tortilla but sans the patatas).

Slice of trio of pepper torta

Spicy Korean beef with avocado lime rice

Spicy Korean beef with avocado lime rice and steamed sugar snaps

Chicken Kiev (2)

Last weekend I tried my hands at an old standby, chicken Kiev. Encouraged by the wonderful flavours but not entirely happy with the filling, I opted to make it again yesterday. This time, I decided not to take the (somewhat failed) shortcut and butterfly the chicken fillets. I also made garlic herb butter, again, my first ever attempt. 

Chicken Kiev with buttery green beans

Chicken Kiev (1)

Chicken Kiev was a staple in my early days as a doctoral student. The local supermarkets often had specials (a couple of packs of 2 for €5) and a Chicken Kiev or two made for a tasty dinner. But I stopped buying them after a couple of years when I decided to eat less processed food.

Chicken kievs with sautéed herby mushrooms and garden peas

Ginger braised chicken wings 薑燒雞翅

Grilled mackerel with garlic, chilli & lemon

Cheesy garlic biscuits

After trying to make my first savoury baked goods in the form of flatbreads for a venison burger and not being entirely convinced that it was a like-for-like substitute for buns, a friend posted on her Facebook pictures of low-carb cheddar biscuits she made and inspired me to attempt another savoury bake.

Lamb leg steaks with sautéed kale and spicy roasted Rooster potatoes

Honey garlic spare ribs 蜜汁排骨