Dinner on 2/02/10

Menu: Natto & Avocado on Sushi Rice, Miso Soup

I had way too much beef this week, and I didn't want to have any meat. So, I made a simple dish and enjoyed it very much. I sprinkled some sesame seeds on top. No photo of the soup - sorry.

Lunch on 26/02/10

Menu: Taco Rice with a couple of glasses of Sangria

I had my friends over for lunch and made Taco Rice for them. Have I written about it here on this blog? That's an Okinawan-born dish and very popular with many. Some of you might be familiar with it, especially if you used to live there. It was created near Camp Hansen, one of the United States Marine Corps bases in Okinawa. Okinawa has been influenced by other countries over the years, and this is one of the Okinawan dishes which describe our culture well. Our culture is mixed with Chinese, Japanese, America and so on.

I've just found a good article on this topic. Click here if you are interested.

Personally, I'm not proud of Spam being one of the popular ingredients over there, but it is commonly used in stir-fries and so on.

Dinner on 24/02/10

Menu: spaghetti bolognaise and French beans

Looking into the fridge, I found loads of mushrooms to be used, so I made bolognaise sauce. I could've enjoyed it a bit more if I hadn't had much meat for the last few days. It was nice though. I thought I didn't want to have beef for a while.

Dinner on 23/02/10

Menu: wholegrain penne & roast dinner with gravy sauce

Does it look strange to you? Well, actually it tasted nice. I just mixed pasta with leftover roast dinner, along with steamed broccoli, carrots, fried onions and fresh mushrooms!

Dinner on 22/02/10

Menu: natto, avocado, cucumber and tuna on sushi rice, miso soup

We had a huge dinner the previous day, and I wanted to have something light. I know many people here don't like natto unlike me and my daughter, who love it, but it's really good for your health.

The soup was lovely as well! I put in sliced onions, carrots, parsnips, lettuce and wakame.

Dinner on 21/02/10

Menu: Sunday roast!! (roast beef, roast potatoes, roast parsnips, sage & onion stuffing, Yorkshire pudding, steamed vegetables)

Traditionally, here in England, they have Sunday roast. I quite like the idea of having simple dinners during the week, and have something special on Sundays. I do love roast dinner!!! Actually it's my favourite British food :) I enjoy any type of roast meat except for lamb - sorry, baby sheep. I'm not too keen on your taste. My friends and family back home would ask me what British food is like, and the first thing I mention is roast dinner. Unfortunately, British food has a bad reputation over there. I think it's because British food tastes the best when cooked at home, in my opinion. Most tourists don't have a chance to try out British home cooking unless they have a friend to cook for them. I always love down-to-earth type of food rather than fancy food. Of course, it's nice to have fancy food every now and then, but I would get bored if I have it too often, and it wouldn't be so special. My favourite food has always been my mum's cooking.

I didn't cook this dinner, by the way - my husband did. I enjoy cooking, but I'm not good at cooking roast dinner... I'm not good at cooking under pressure, to be honest. With roast, everything has to be perfect, it seems. It doesn't matter so much if the meat is ready before anything else, as it can be wrapped up in foil. However, other things such as roast potatoes & parsnips and Yorkshire pudding have to be ready right before the dinner being served. Beforehand, meat has to be carved nicely, and vegetables have to be cooked. Not to forget, gravy sauce as well! To me, it's absolutely madness. My husband doesn't seem to mind cooking roast, so I always leave it to him. Maybe I will learn to cook roast one day.

Dinner on 20/02/10

Menu: Sweet & Sour flavoured chicken, sauteed vegetables, fried asparagus on rice, and miso soup (I didn't take a photo of it though. It was still in the pot when this was taken).

My husband wanted something Oriental, but didn't know what to have, so I showed him photos of dinners here on this blog. He pointed at this saying "I might want something like this". Well we didn't have pork, so I used chicken instead. Originally I was going to make chicken teriyaki, but I changed my mind. What did you think I used for the sauce? I used rice vinegar, honey and soy sauce. I browned the chicken with a little bit of vegetable oil, and added some vinegar, honey, some water and cooked for 10 min or so. I put in some soy sauce and cooked for another 15min or so. When the sauce was reduced, I added some more soy sauce and cooked until the sauce became fairy thick.

I lightly cooked onions, carrots, red peppers and cabbage, and cooked asparagus separately. I would've steamed them, but didn't bother today. We all enjoyed our dinner!