Pasta Carbonara with Leeks & Mushroom

After a long bento hiatus, Buu finally requested a bento for Monday. ;p

We shopped for some ingredients on Sunday and decided to experiment making pasta carbonara with 蟹味菇.

Brown Clamshell Mushroom, also known as Hon- or Buna-Shimeji, is termed as 蟹味菇 in Mandarin because of its distinctive mild shellfish flavor. To think I was cracking my head trying to figure what was 蟹味菇 in English when it was those dainty shimeji all along. Baka.

The ingredients are fairly simple:

• 3 cloves of garlic (minced)
  
• Mushrooms (I used buna-shimeji)
  
• 1 stalk of leek (sliced diagonally)
  
• Prego mushroom carbonara sauce (1 can)
  
• Ground/ Crushed black pepper
  
• Parmesan cheese powder
  
• Cooking oil
• Pasta of choice (I used my Simpson's pasta. Try fettucinne or penne)

Heat up some oil in a pan. Once done, saute garlic, leeks and the mushrooms.

In another pot, boil some water and cook pasta according to its package til al dente.

After 5-8 minutes, empty carbonara sauce from can to the sauteed mixture and give it a good stir around.

When it starts bubbling, take it off the hob.

Serve hot by ladling the carbonara sauce over your desired pasta.

Top with some crushed black pepper, parsley and parmesan cheese.

Cabbage Rice and Nori Omelette

I love grocery shopping. But having plenty of groceries at home only means that food will go to waste if I do not utilise them. Sensibility told me to put my stocks to good use. My cabbage will be wilting soon if I do not finish them up. Uhm, cabbage is normally a hardy veg but because fridge is still in ICU.. my veges have to be finished fast.

Since I'm partially vegetarian now, I decided to fix something meatless for tomorrow's bento. At the same time also, kau-tim my dinner. With whatever I had at home, a simple and healthy vegetarian cabbage rice came into mind.

I also had plenty of eggs left which I did not wish to waste. Therefore I attempted to make Nori Omelette, whose recipe happened to be conjured purely out of my imagination. haha. I was expecting the worse but hey, the omelette managed to turn out fine. I like the whiff of seaweed smell that comes with it. If you're adventurous, do give it a go :)

Cabbage Rice

• 2 cloves of garlic
• 2 slices of ginger
• Dried mushroom (soaked)
• Cabbage
• Rice
• Oil
• Sesame oil
• Soy sauce
• Dark soy sauce
• Dash of pepper

1. Heat up minimum oil in wok. Add a dash of sesame oil.
2. Saute garlic and ginger till fragrant, then add in mushroom and stir fry for a while.
3. Add stir fries into rice cooker which is filled with the uncooked rice.
4. Add in the liquid reserved from soaking the mushrooms into the rice. Top up with sufficient water to cook rice.
5. Season with dark soy sauce for colour, dash of pepper and soy sauce for taste. Add more sesame oil if you like. Stir well.
6. Arrange cabbage on top of rice and proceed to cook rice as per norm.
7. For non-vegetarians, you may add some waxed sausages into rice to cook once the liquid appears dry.
8. Once cooked, serve with some fried shallots and garnish with spring onions.
   

Nori Omelette

• 2 eggs
• Fish sauce and white pepper to taste
• A slice of nori

1. Break 2 eggs into a bowl and season with some fish sauce and white pepper.
2. Tear up some nori into desired size. I tored mine up into a child's palm-sized pieces.
3. Fire up your wok.
4. Pour in half of the egg mixture.
5. Scatter nori on top.
6. Cover with the remaining egg mixture.
7. Brown well and flip the omelette.
8. Serve hot.

Note: Delicious with some Lingam's chilli for dip.

This is what I call killing 2 meals with 1 rice-cooker. Dinner settled. Tomorrow's lunch also settled :)

Hope everyone had a nice dinner.

Tri-Shroom Soup

Today's lunch is no homemade fare but still earns a satisfying accolade. Some days I just sleep in more than usual instead of jumping up to prepare breakfast, relishing in the warmth of curling under my patchwork blankie. Do you do the same? :)

After the little indulgence, I shook off the fuzziness and made myself an omelette for work. On the way to office, I made a little detour to pack an economy noodle takeaway for lunch. I also brought a little juicy pear for an after meal nibble. Twas a pleasant surprise when mrs manager brought back a chocolate sundae for each person during lunch. It really hit the spot as the day was sweltering. A heavy meal usually makes me sleepy. So here I am, washing down all my food with a cuppa black java and immersed in a sea of jazzy tunes. bliss~

Lucky is me when I'm with Buu. Or lucky is me for staying near Tesco.

Why? Me boughtz:

• Baby portobello - RM 0.89
  
• Mix of button, swiss brown and portabello - RM 1.10
  
• Button mushrooms - RM 0.60

*都快笑掉大牙了*

With these, a mushroom soup was definitely in the making as I'd been hankering for a taste of cream soup for quite some time. What more with mushrooms, an all time pleaser for me. This is a backdated post as I bought the shrooms 3 days ago and made the soup 2 days back. My apologies though as no measurements are provided as I did it in the agak-agak way again.

Tri-shroom Soup

Ingredients

• Button mushrooms (sliced)
  
• Baby portobello mushrooms (sliced)
  
• Swiss brown mushrooms (sliced)
  
• Butter or oil
  
• Plain flour
  
• Chicken broth
  
• Low fat milk
  
• Dash of pepper
  
• Pinch of organo
  
• Grated Parmesan cheese (Parmigiano-Reggiano)

Instructions

1. Heat up butter or oil in a pan. If using non-stick pan, the fats used can be minimised.
   
2. Add in the three mushrooms and saute till mushrooms give out their earthy juices.
   
3. Add in chicken broth and milk and let simmer.
   
4. Be generous as you sprinkle in the parmesan cheese and mix well. The cheese will lend some natural salt to the soup as well as flavour.
   
5. After simmering for approximately half 20 minutes, scoop out 3/4 of the mushrooms.
   
6. Pulse the mushrooms till coarse in ablender. Caution not to blend them too fine lest they lose their bite.
   
7. Re-add the mushrooms into the soup and stir well.
   
8. Add a dash of pepper and a pinch of oregano for seasoning.
   
9. Dissolve flour in some water and add the mixture into soup while stirring the soup gently.
   
10. Simmer the soup till it thickens to preferred consistency and it'll be ready to serve.

*** For a more creamy soup, you can substitute the low fat milk with whipping cream.

*** Instead of parmesan, you can substitute with cheddar for creaminess.

*** If you're a big time fan of mushrooms, you can add in other mushrooms such as shiitake as it really lends a richer taste to the soup. If you have an experimental streak, you can also try adding some eringi.

My experimental Tri-shroom Soup was a surprising success as all my gambles paid off. Being the worry wart, I'd fretted that the soup would not thicken or would actually taste weird with the substitution of low fat milk for whipping cream. I'd also switched Cheddar for Parmesan as I did not have the former. The baby portobello contributed a hearty taste to the soup with its meaty flavour while the buttons and swiss browns provided the bite and mellowed the soup's flavour with their delicate taste. Next time round, I'd like to add some shiitake for more oomph but not too much because it'll overpower the soup.

Do share with me if you've made any mushroom soups or have any suggestions for improvements. Would love to hear from anyone. Cheers!

Bopping to: Sleep All Day (Jason Mraz)