Debt and Lifestyle - Cut cloth according to means

Most things have a good and a bad side, it all depends on the individual circumstances. For instance, an apple is healthy but for someone who have bad front teeth, it can damaging. Debt is not all bad, it can be a good debt if it is spent on something that can transform life completely for the long term, such as mortgage and student loan; bad debt is usually taken out to spend on objects to fulfil an acquisitive desire, where the individual does not have the financial ability to meet the repayments.

 

An annual holiday abroad, latest gadgets, designer fashions etc are 'luxury', items that are 'nice to have' but not a 'must have'. According to the BBC, 9 million Britons are in 'serious debt problems'. Perhaps in some cases it is not of their own doing but plain unfortunate, but it is a well-known fact that the developed Western societies do not have a habit of saving and for decades,  the West have been building their economy primarily on consumerism.

 

This could be a wake up call to the masses that we should learn how to live within means and understand saving is a virtue. Of course we all deserve a nice treat now and then but again, the bottom line is no matter what you choose to spend that hard-earned money on, cut cloth according to means. It may not be the latest iPhone but be proud of having the ability to own something outright instead of having the latest but constantly being in the red and worry about the next repayment date.

Chinese Roasted Pork Belly (燒肉)

Mmmmm.... a piece of well seasoned and crispy roasted pork belly is a fantastic treat. Ok, it is not the leanest cut of meat (hence it is a treat!), but meat with layered of fat is often more succulent and flavoursome.

This recipe is very simple and when it is crackling away in the oven, your kitchen will soon be filled with the delicious smell of the marinate.

Serves 2

500g pork belly
1 tbsp Chinese 5 Spice
1 tsp ground ginger
3 tbsp salt
1 tsp Shaoxing wine
pinch of ground white pepper

1. In a bowl, mixed in all the spices and wine.

2. Pat dried the pork belly with kitchen towel (especially the skin if you fancy some crispy crackling)  and rub the marinade all over.

3. Leave the meat to absorb the marinade overnight.

4. Next day, heat the oven up to 220 degree. Ensure any excess moisture is dried up before putting the meat into the oven.

5. After been in the oven for 20 minuets at 220 degree, reduce the temperature to 200 degree and carry on cooking for a further 40 minutes.

And voilà! Best to serve it with some chilli dipping sauce or Hoi Sin sauce.

One Pot Sausage Casserole

Sausage casserole is one of my favourite winter dish. Simple and economical to make, perfect to share with friends and family, as well as some leftover to take to work the next day! A sandwich van visit my work each morning and I must say they do amazingly nice sandwiches, pastries, cake etc but in this temperature, nothing beat a hearty hot meal at lunch time!

Instead of using Blythburgh's free range sausages, debbie & andrew's Perfect Pork sausages was used in this recipe. I was rather surprised to find how pricey processed meat costs at supermarkets, even their own brand 'finest' sausages were over £3 per pack! Of course it is all about the meat content but that is more expensive than free range ones from the butcher! Since debbie & andrew's was on special I thought why not give these a go? 

As mentioned, % of meat is very important in sausages. Anything less than 80% meat  content really is not worth purchasing as you can imagine they are bulked up with all sorts of substances other than meat. These Perfect Pork sausages contain 40% pork shoulder and 40% pork belly - interesting. Never through of stuffing pork belly into a sausage casing, what a great idea as the fat should make it more juicy! Let's get cracking with this casserole. 

 

Serves 2

6 pork sausages

1 onion, roughly sliced
2 dried whole chillies 

2 stalks of celery, finely chopped

1 carrot, finely chopped

3 garlic gloves, crushed

1 tin of chopped tomatoes 

100g pearl barley 

350ml chicken or vegetable stock

2 tbsp tomato puree

2 bay leaves 

Salt & pepper, to season  

1.  Heat some oil in a cast iron casserole dish, brown the sausages. Remove to cool on a plate.

2. In the same casserole dish, stir in the crushed garlic,  dried chillies, onion, celery and carrot. Cook for 10 minutes or until soft. 

3. Pour in the chopped tomatoes, stock, pearl barley & bay leaves. Bring to boil. Mix in the tomato puree and sausages, leave to simmer for an hour or until the barley is soft. Keep an eye on the liquid level, add more boiling water if needed.

4. Season to taste.

I did not serve it with anything else but casserole on its own as it has the protein, fiber and carbohydrate altogether!

Enjoy.

The Bury Black Pudding Company - Chilli Black Pudding

Black pudding is often consumed as part of a traditional full English breakfast or in a battered deep-fried form from some chip shops. I often have it as a hot snack when I fancy something warm and flavoursome. OK, some might think the idea of eating a 'blood sausage' is gross but really, it does not resemble the taste of blood at all.

I was given this chilli black pudding made by The Bury Black Pudding Company the other day - did not realise there are flavoured black pudding out there! You definitely learn something new everyday. Must give these bad boys a taste ASAP so I pan fried a few slices (5 minutes on each side, just to be sure!) straightaway...

They looked like ordinary black pudding but goodness, they were SPICY and I can usually take my spicy food pretty well! The chilli was so overpowering that you can barely taste the black pudding itself which was rather disappointing. Nonetheless, the good thing about these is it contains only 3% of fat and I must say it really did not release as much oil as other black pudding I have tried.

It is good to try new things out but I think I will stick with original flavoured black pudding from my local butcher.

Moroccan Aubergine Tagine with cous cous

Aubergine, as known as eggplant, is one of my favourite fruit for cooking (Yes, it really is a fruit NOT a vegetable! Oxford Dictionary will tell you so). There are a number of varieties of different size and colour, some are white, yellow and stripy; these are becoming widely available in most supermarket.

It has a rather meaty texture which makes a good substitute to meat and therefore, it is particularly popular in vegan and vegetarian dishes. The fruit is also fantastic in absorbing flavour of the cooking sauce, especially tasty in a delicious tomato sauce or spicy curry and this recipe demonstrates this quality very well.

Serves 4

2 red onions, sliced

3 garlic cloves, crushed

2 red chilies, deseed and sliced (or 2 dried chilies, left whole)

2 tsp coriander seeds, toasted and crushed with mortar and pestle

2 tsp cumin seeds, toasted and crushed with mortar and pestle

2 tsp of sugar

3 aubergines, quartered lenghways

2 tins of chopped tomatoes

Bunch of fresh mint (leaves only), roughly chopped

Bunch of fresh coriander (leaves only), roughly chopped

Plain cous cous

1. Heat the oil in a tagine, add the garlic and onions and saute until brown.

2. Add the chilies, coriander and cumins seeds and the sugar. When the air is filled with the aroma of the spices, add in the aubergines and stir well.

3. Pour in the chopped tomatoes, bring it to boil and simmer gently for about an hour or until the aubergines are tender.

4. Season to taste with freshly grounded salt and pepper, add in the fresh mint and fresh coriander, cover to simmer for another 10 minutes.

5. Meanwhile, cook the cous cous in accordance to the packet instruction. Tip: Fork is the best instrument to fluff up cous cous. Anything else will turn it into a mushy texture.

And there we are!

Thai Green Turkey Curry Noodles

Thai is one of my favorite cuisine. Spicy and flavorsome, what's not to like? Most supermarkets nowadays stock all the essential ingredients such as lemongrass, fish sauce, shrimp paste and coconut milk. And of course for those who have less time on their hands then ready made Thai red or green curry paste is also available.

Turkey in a Thai curry may sounds rather uncommon, but the result is  absolutely delectable and may I emphasised with the help of a food chopper/processor, it is definitely worth it to make your own curry paste.

  

Serves 4

500g turkey minced

Enough rice noodles for 4 people

Ground white pepper

A splash of sesame oil

A splash of Soy sauce

A splash of Shaoxing wine

1 tsp of corn flour

400ml coconut milk

0.5L vegetable stock

Seasonal vegetables

For the curry paste:

1 stalk of Lemongrass

2 cloves of garlic

A thumb of ginger

4 stalks of spring onion

A bunch of fresh coriander

Splash of fish sauce

1 tsp of shrimp paste

2 tsp of sugar

Juice and zest of 1 lime

2 tsp of Thai chili paste (or a few dried chili)

1 tbsp of oil

Few kaffir lime leaves

1. Put all the curry paste ingredients into a food chopper/ processor and blitzed till refine enough.

2. Marinate the turkey minced with ground white pepper, sesame oil, soy sauce and Shaoxing wine. Mix in the corn flour to help the mixture to bind.

3. Using cleaned hands to shape turkey mixture into small balls and fry in an oiled pan until they are golden. Place on a plate to rest.

4. In the same frying pan, cook the curry paste or 5 minutes. Add in the coconut milk, vegetable  stock and the turkey balls, bring to boil and simmer for 20 minutes.

5. Meanwhile, prepare noodles as per packet instruction.

6. Cook the seasonal vegetables (I used cabbage and carrots) in the curry broth and mix in the noodles just before serving. 

Labskaus - A German regional speciality

German cuisine perhaps is not the most refined in comparison to the French, but its national dishes are definitely just as famous as boeuf bourguignon and confit de canard: Schweinshaxe, Eisbein, Sauerkraut and of course a huge variety of wurst. Bratwurst, Currywurst, Fränkische Bratwurst to name but a few.

Labskaus, a Northern speciality delicacy and is especially common in Hamburg, probably is a lesser known dish in the European culinary scene. I first came across this dish when watching Rick Stein's German Bite on BBC 2 back in August, in which he showcased a number of less renown Germanic dishes and Labskaus was one of them (4 minutes or so into the video below):

At first I did not know what to make of this rather gloopy looking dish but curiosity took the better of me and I have decided to make and taste it to form my own opinion on this dish.

Serves 2

Knob of butter

2 cloves of garlic, crushed

Medium onion, chopped

A tin of corned beef

A pack of ready-to-eat cooked beetroot, chopped

Reserve the beetroot juice from the packet

2 medium potatoes, boiled and mashed

300ml beef stock

Handful of gherkins, chopped

2 free range eggs

Salt & pepper, to taste

1. Boil the potatoes in salted water, drained, mashed and season to taste.

2.  Heat the butter in a large frying pan and cook the crushed garlic and chopped onion until soft.

3. Stir in the corned beef and chopped beetroot, cook for 10 minutes.

4. Mix in the potato mash and slowly pour in the beef stock and the reserved beetroot juice. Fold the mixture well and cook for 20 minutes.

5. Meanwhile, use a smaller frying pan, heat some oil and pan-fried the eggs.

6. Serve the Labskaus with a sprinkle of chopped gherkins and fried eggs on top.

It is incredibly easy to make and to my surprise, I thought it was rather nice if you can overcome the baby-food like consistency. Perhaps just think of it as a really think soup.....

Enjoy!