marion grasby's singapore laksa

An unintentional 10 month hiatus from this blog has left me fumbling around with the computer keys and re-familiarising myself with all buttons that you need to press to get a blog post up. Fortunately, like riding a bike, it seems to be coming back to me and I present you with my first post for 2014; an absolutely scrumptious dinner from last night using the Singapore Laksa kit from the Marion Kitchen's range (on sale this week at Woolworths for $4). Anyone that has been following me on this blog will know that I'm a big fan of Marion and have been following her range for a while now. In addition to the Singapore Laksa, she's also recently launch some Indian curries which I'm keen to get my hands on; though the boy seems to think she's not Indian so asked me to err on the side of caution (but after eating this last night and being full of compliments, I think he might've changed his mind).

Singapore Laksa in its signature orange box.

It's an easy 3 step dinner. Fry off the laksa paste that comes with the kit in a little vegetable oil (be warned that it will splatter so a pot is probably better for the task rather than the saucepan which Marion advises), add the cococonut milk (also part of the kit) and add 2 cups water. Once it comes to a simmer, add approx. 500g of your preferred meat (I used sliced chicken breast) and how can you not have a laksa with fried tofu puffs! The puffs soak up all goodness of the sauce. Then serve with your favourite noodles which in my case is Hokkien noodles for Laksa though I did sneak in some rice vermicelli with it for double the texture. The pack comes with a chilli sambal paste which compliments the laksa just perfectly.

From start to finish - allow about 20 minutes and voila; dinner is served! And why not some hard boiled eggs while you're at it.

Coming from a Malaysian background, the boy thought the laksa was quite authentic (and perhaps even better than the one his grandma makes at home and thank goodness, the grandma doesn't read this blog). The soup is a little on the thick side but not to the point where you think you're about to have a heart attack eating a bowl of this. As for serving 4, I'd say the pack comfortably feeds two hungry people i.e. me and the boy. I know I can be fickle but this is definitely my favourite from Marion's range to date.

the thai place restaurant @ beecroft rd., epping

I love those days when you don't know what to eat, you wander into the closest restaurant and end up having a awesome meal. The Thai Place in Epping is where we found ourselves one Saturday lunchtime and no doubt will be back for a feed. If you're after tasty and cheap Thai food, look no further!

We ordered off their lunch menu (which is a limited version of their full dinner menu). Every meal comes with a free entree - in our case, our choice of a curry puff each was indeed very tasty.

My all-time favourite Pad Thai. Did you know that in the Thai language, this translates to 'Fried Thai'?

My number one dining companion.

Pork Spicy & Basil Noodle might just be my next all time-favourite Thai noodle. Perfectly spicy and just that little bit different with pork.

Their dinner menu is actually a lot more extensive so will need to report back when I pay them a visit. If you're keen, their menu is on their website here: http://www.thaiplace.com.au/Cuisine.html.

marion grasby's singapore noodles

So here it is, Singapore Noodles from Marion's Kitchen range. Took me awhile to get to this one as it didn't seem all the supermarkets stocked it but thanks to Woolies and their weekly specials, nabbed this one up and voila - I've now tried out the entire range.

Here it is - signature yellow packaging which the boy remarks is a little hard to read.

Follow the simple steps on the packet and 20 minutes later, you have a wokful of noodles. (FYI: We had chicken thigh, green beans and chinese cabbage in our version of Singapore Noodles)

Noodles ready to serve.

Best eaten fresh. The boy took some for work the next day but ends up being a little soupy.

And my final verdict - to be honest, probably my least favourite from the entire range but for a quick 20 minute meal, you really can't ask for much more.

marion grasby's san choi bow

So by now you know about my fascination with the Marion's Kitchen range so let's cut to the chase, her 'San Choi Bow' is pretty awesome. All you need to add is some minced pork, washed chinese cabbage leaves, sliced spring onion and you have a cracker of a meal.

I thought this was the last one I had to try in her range but alas no, I have one more post to come on her Singapore Noodles.

The finished product in about 20 minutes. If you were having people over, this would make a great starter and honestly, this isn't your regular meal out of jar, it actually tastes like you've cooked it from scratch.

Technically all her packet mixes are meant to serve 4 but when you have two hungry people in the house, it's really not all that hard to finish this between the two of you.

marion grasby's pad thai

It seems Coles and Woolies have been taking turns to put Marion Grasby's Kitchen Selection on special and between the two supermarkets, I've managed to scoop up the rest of the range which I was hoping to try.  It's actually not that expensive at full price but you know me, I do love a good bargain! Introducing my new favourite from the range - Marion's Pad Thai.

Pad Thai in it's signature red packaging. Everything except for the meat/seafood, egg, spring onion and lime wedges come inside this tiny pack.

We've been breaking in our wok and safe to say, after cooking most days, the wok is nicely sealed and no longer sticks anymore! There's something about cooking in a wok that makes Asian food taste that bit more authentic, I think it's what Chinese people called 'wok air'.

Takes less than 20 minutes to prep and cook this for dinner which is perfect for those days when I'm running home and don't have too much time to cook and trying to be good and not eat take out.

The final product looks pretty authentic to me!

Really enjoyed this one and even had enough for the boy and I to take work the next day. I really do enjoy cooking from scratch but some days, this is a real treat (cuts down the time and tastes absolutely perfect). A thumbs up to Marion Grasby on this one!

drunken rice noodles

I discovered Gourmet Traveller magazine back in the latter half of my uni days and since then, I've been a solid follower with copies of the magazine living at my parent's home, where I live now and every month, there'll be a day you'll find the latest copy curled up into my handbag for some blissful reading on the train. I have to be honest here and very rarely have I actually cooked a recipe from the magazine; you can say it's one of those magazines which I look to for inspiration but the recipes have always either seemed to hard or too much work; but really it wasn't so bad when I went about to cook their Drunken rice noodles from the recent October issue.

Heat 40mL vegetable oil in a wok until smoking, add 2 sliced chicken thigh fillets and stir fry until cooked (about 3-4 minutes). Add 2 thinly sliced long red chillies, 4 cloves crushed garlic, and stir fry for another minute. Add 2 cups Thai basil, 1 kg fresh, wide flat rice noodles, 100mL fish sauce, 2 tbsp sweet soy sauce, 1 tbsp caster sugar, and 1.5 tsp ground black pepper. Toss until the basil wilts.

The boy used some pretty hot chillies so these noodles had my mouth on fire for the most part but hey, what we managed to cook doesn't look all too different from the pic in the magazine.

Guzzled the noodles down with my favourite sparkling water 'Antipodes'. I've kept the bottle in the hope of using it as a jug for some flowers (now I need to hint to the boy that I just need some flowers).

There's a few other recipes I've earmarked from the October Gourmet Traveller issue which I'm hoping to get around to this month. The Naxi pork ribs with chillies and cumin being one of them and hopefully I'll return to a bit more baking in November and try those Jammy Dodgers and a rather luscious looking lemon pound cake. Had a few crazy weeks back there so glad life has returned to something a little more manageable. Can't believe it's almost Christmas!

rice with spicy pork & snake beans

It was back in August that I read an article about how you could live to 100 if you incorporated more pork in your diet. Then I kept hearing the radio ads in the car telling people to get some pork on their fork and before you know it, I was on the lookout for pork cuts each time I went to the supermarket. Two things: 1) I admit that I'm a bit of a health nut and love reading articles on health but unfortunately don't always follow through 2) Off the back of number one, I do try.

So this is one of many pork recipes which I'll share; it's a Thai style fried rice and it's really your all-in- dish; bit of carbs, bit of meat coupled with your vegies.

Heat 2 tbsps vegetable oil in a work and stir-fry 3 tbsps red curry paste for 3-4 minutes until fragrant. Add 375g sliced pork fillets and stir fry for 4-5 minutes. Add 250g cut green beans, 1 tbsp clear honey and stir-fry for another 5 minutes. Add 750g refrigerated cooked rice and 1.5 tbsp fish sauce and stir-fry for 4 minutes more. Taste and adjust the seasoning if required.

The finished product.

The fascination with pork has even driven the boy to suggest making our own BBQ Pork (Asian style) though I did shut that one down when it was suggested and in the end bought some from the BBQ shop. Yes I might have preferred the ones you get at the BBQ shop but little would you know, the price of pork fillet is somewhat dear; it's actually much more cost effective to buy the ones already cooked at the shops. Anyhow, if this pork craze sticks, BBQ pork will make it to this blog!

marion grasby's thai red curry

So this week is a week of quick/easy to make meals (life is a little busy this week) so thought I'd get around to posting my next installment from Marion's Kitchen - a real life saver when it comes to cooking quick weeknight dinners. I'm actually two-thirds of the way through Marion Grasby's Kitchen Selection after trying her 'Thai Red Curry'; just two more to go - Sang Choy Bow and her Singapore Noodles. Secretly waiting for the last two to go on sale so I hope they do so soon!

So here's the packet in case you're looking for it at the supermarket.

Follow the steps on the packet; the only things you'll need to add is a little bit of meat and about 2 cups of vegies.

Serve with rice.

And there you have it, a cooked meal in about 20 minutes! Four boxes of Marion's Kitchen later, I'm still a big fan. Will keep you posted on the last two when I get to them.

massamun curry

I often wonder if I ate enough potatoes I might actually turn into a chip; chips are amongst my top five of favourite foods. Lately though it's been eating and cooking a lot of Thai food and well, for the moment I haven't quite turned Thai yet and you know what, I've discovered its one of those foods which you don't get sick of cooking. Adding to our repetoire is this scrumptious Massamun Beef Curry;  and yep it does have a sprinkling of potatoes in it to satisfy those potato cravings!

Heat 2 tbsp vegetable oil in a saucepan and lightly brown 2 finely chopped shallots for 2-3 minutes. Add 2tbsp massamun curry paste and 50g roasted unsalted peanuts and stir fry for 3-4 minutes. Add 500g diced chuck steak and cook for 4-5 minutes. Add 400g coconut milk, 150mL chicken stock, 2 tbsp fish sauce and 40g brown sugar. Simmer for 15 minutes or until the meat gets tender. Add 150g diced potato, 1 sliced onion and 2.5 tbsp of tamarind puree and cook for another 6 minutes until the potatoes are tender. Adjust to taste with extra fish sauce, sugar and tamarind puree.

Spoon into bowls and garnish with shredded kaffir lime leaves and chopped chilli.

There'll be one day when I'll actually make my own Massamun curry paste but for the moment I'm more than happy to buy the pre-made ones from the supermarket. In this instance, I've used the Valcom branded one and it tastes pretty good (being the first one I've tried and all). Have to say curries reheat and taste even better the next day so I was more than happy to sit behind my desk at work the next day and gobble this one up!

marion grasby's thai basil & chilli stir-fry

It's rather handy having a supermarket near work. In my case, it's Coles and more often than not on a lunch time, you'll find me in there browsing the aisles topping up my snack stash at work or picking up last minute dinner items which yes, I ever so casually forget to buy on the weekends. Anyway, it's healthy to get away from the work desk at lunch time and doing your home grocery shopping is a good form of stress relief!

If you read my blog, you've probably seen a handful of posts from me for Marion Grasby's packet Thai food. On this particular wander, they had them going for $5 each (from the usual $6.99) so I grabbed another two to try.

I've found these packet mixes are great for those days when you want a quick, lazy dinner that doesn't require much effort. All the sauces/packets in the box are labelled in order of when they should go in. This one even comes with jasmine rice and the only things you'll need is some meat and vegies.

Dinner is served in about 20 minutes, that includes all the prep work.

The boy and I both cook up a rather mean stir fry these days (practice makes perfect!) so found this packet mix almost a little quick to make. It's bizarre; somehow or other we got past that barrier of not wanting to cook and we're all that much better for it. Still a big fan of Marion though and well, you need to reward yourself with some lazy days in the kitchen to enjoy cooking on the whole.

thai style tofu fried rice

It was actually dad who bought me my first Annabel Langbein cookbook; I didn't think much of it at the time and in fact, the book probably sat on my shelf for a good couple of months before I actually opened it up. The first time I used one of her recipes was after reading about Annabel on another food blog and it was the story about her that got me to give the recipes a go (she's from New Zealand and her career in the food industry has spanned more than two decades). Trust me, I haven't turned back. Since moving out, the boy and I have been cooking our way through Annabel's 'Free Range in the City' cookbook which offers a wide selection of everyday meals and we have yet to find a bad recipe!

This recipe for Thai style tofu fried rice requires some day old rice so best to cook a bit more rice the night before (otherwise you'll probably get a sloppy fried rice if you use fresh boiled rice).

Place 300g sliced tofu in a bowl with 1 tbsp soy sauce and stir to coat evenly. Set aside to marinate for at least 10 minutes. Heat 2 tbsp oil in a wok and fry tofu on high heat until lightly browned. Add 2 cloves crushed garlic, 1 tbsp grated ginger, 1 sliced capsicum, 2 thinly sliced spring onions and 1 red chilli and sizzle for 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Lightly whisk 2 eggs and 2 tsp fish sauce together in a bowl and add to the pan, keep stirring. Add 3 cups day old rice, 2 handfuls of chopped bok choy and 2 tbsp soy sauce and cook until heated through (about 5 minutes). Add 2 tbsp toasted peanuts and 2 tbsp chopped coriander.

As Annabel puts it, makes enough for some today and some left over for tomorrow.

This recipe is absolutely amazing! A few bites in and you'll find yourself wanting more - something about the chilli and the fish sauce which gives this recipes a real tang to whet the appetite. I have a whole load more recipes from Annabel to post but out of all the ones we've tried so far, this is probably my favourite. If you get around to trying this recipe, let me know what you think!

transparent noodles with prawns

The average Asian supermarket is full of wonders, you never know what you might find down those aisles and well, I probably spend too much time perusing those shelves and buying way too many things (as one does of course). So you see, I was particularly excited to discover the big bags of dried black fungus on a recent shopping trip to New Yen Yen Supermarket in Eastwood. First of all, I love mushrooms and black fungus is one of those things I've grown up eating in stir fries, braises, casseroles and to this day, it's one of those things I'd pick out of a dish just because I love it so much. Put me with a dish of black fungus, I can polish it off for you too easily.

So it was that I wandered off home with my bag of black fungus in hand and found this recipe for transparent noodles with prawns - thought I'd throw in a bit more black fungus than the recipe actually asked for; which makes perfect sense when you love black fungus.

Defrost 200g medium-large raw prawns. Soak 125g Korean vermicelli in boiling water for 4-5 minutes or until soft. Drain the noodles and set aside. Soak a big handful of black fungus in boiling water for 4-5 minutes or until soft, then drain. Heat 1 tbsp of sunflower oil in a wok and stir fry 2-3 cloves chopped garlic over medium heat for 1-2 minutes or until lightly browned. Add the prawns with 3 tbsp lime juice, 1 tbsp light soy sauce and cook for 2-3 minutes or until the prawns turn pink. Add the vermicelli and fungus and cook for another 3 minutes. Remove from the heat, add 2 tbsp of lemograss paste, 3-4 finely chopped shallots, 2 chopped chilliies, and mix together.

Top off with coriander leaves and a few slices of red chilli.

This dish is like a salad (refreshing and comes with a slight chilli bite) but yet decently filling to serve up as a meal at dinner time. Recipe has been tweaked slightly from Hamyln's '200 Thai favourites' which is my latest go to book for meals - going through a bit of a Thai food phase at the moment and absolutely loving all the recipes in this book; everything has turned out spot on and they're quick recipes to make too. Anyway, more recipes/cooking adventures to follow!

marion grasby's thai green curry

When we first moved out, both sets of parents seemed to be immediately concerned about what we were eating and whether we were eating at all. It's been a good couple of months now and to be honest, not a whole lot has changed. Every trip back has us leaving with bags of fresh food, reheatable food and things we can chuck in the freezer. Somehow or other, the parents seem to coordinate themselves too - we rarely get double of the one thing! If that's coincidence or prearranged - we're only left guessing.

And as anyone with a day job will know, it's often tricky to come home and be all that energetic to prepare a meal so those reheatable meals do really come in handy. That's not to say though that we've just been eating reheatable food, mum did suggest a few easy meals we can cook but also suggested, Marion's Thai Green Curry as something we could try - nice and tasty plus being quick too (apparently my auntie; mum's younger sister, is a big advocate of Marion's Thai Green Curry and has been getting everyone to try it out)

Found this on a trip to Coles.

You'll need one pack of Thai Green Curry to which you add, green beans, capsicum and chicken thigh. Everything else you need is in that neat little green box.

Serve with steamed rice and if you are me, a serving of bok choy (because you can never eat enough vegies).

Thumbs up to Marion Grasby and her Thai Green Curry! It was a meal that was so easy to whip up and tasted fantastic (on par with any green curry you might get if you eat out). I've since actually gone on to try her Chicken Satay (mum actually gave me the box on a trip back home) and well, let me save that for another post. There's a Sang Choy Bow and Pad Thai packet in her range which look like they'd be worth trying too.

thai pork with noodles

Whilst the boy and I have yet to find a place which we can officially call our home, our temporary apartment doesn't scrub up too bad. The only thing I'll say is that there's just not enough space in the kitchen; where cooking something a little more complicated involves reshifting things around to create that extra bit of bench space (and yes, with the two of us in the kitchen, it's a bit like us dancing - dancing with two left feet). 

Over the last 4 months, we've been pretty good and have actually cooked most nights (as opposed to eat out). Admittedly exhausting for the first two months but we're now a well oiled machine to the point that we've even cooked tomorrow night's dinner; we can come home and just reheat (is that pretty good or what?) Often it comes down to keeping it simple, just like this Thai pork with noodle recipe from Donna Hay.

Heat a non-stick frying pan over high heat. Add 500g pork mince and stir fry for 5 minutes until golden and cooked through. Place the mince in a bowl and mix with 1 stalk finely sliced lemongrass, 2 long red chillies (seeded and chopped), and 1 thinly sliced red onion. In a separate heatproof bowl, soak 150g vermicelli noodle in boiling water for about 5 minutes. Drain and toss in with the pork mixture. To make the sauce, mix 60mL fish sauce, 60mL lime juice and 1 1/2 tbsp brown sugar until well combined in a jug. Pour over the noodles and top with mint.

Recipe says this should feed up to 4. Reality says that 2 hungry individuals can polish this one off quite nicely.

Can you see in the photos how little bench space we have? And yes, I might've gotten a little excited and purchased a lot of spices and sauces which crowd up most of the bench space (but in my defence, we do use it for cooking!)

thai noodle hut @ victoria rd., gladesville

The boy and I have been venturing further afield to look for good places to eat. Our latest suburb seems to be Gladesville where we've been to Been Read and now Thai Noodle Nut which I thought was rather damn good. The boy was a bit skeptical at first as not soon after we stepped in and sat down, the exhaust fans to the kitchen didn't seem to be working and the whole restaurant seemed to steam up and we were looking at each across the table through a mist of fog. I'm not even exaggerating here. Our vision either improved or the steam actually went away but once the food came to the table, we got busy eating so did forget about it.

A generous serving of Pad Thai. Slightly drier in texture than most other Pad Thai's I've had but delicious nonetheless.

A fiery bowl of jungle curry. I love spicy food and the more spice the better. My nose always runs when I eat spicy food so I look a bit stupid but at least I'm enjoying my meal!

Tom Yum Soup - I really want to learn how to make this. Again a spicy choice but packed with lots of seafood and mushrooms and a soup I wish came in a bottomless bowl.

The great thing about eating Thai food is that it's never expensive and you always get a meal that is packed full of flavour and leaves you with just the right amount of fullness - Thai Noodle Hut was certainly no exception. The restaurant was packed the night we went - lots of families, couples and plenty of people stepping in to grab some quick takeaway. From ordering, the food doesn't take long to get to the table. To be very honest with you, there's not much service here, you order and pay at the start and once they bring the food to the table, they don't really interfere with you. We actually left the restaurant feeling a little odd thinking we should at least say bye but the waitresses were busy behind the counter doing their own thing. But I guess sometimes that's what I'm after in meal, a good meal and very little interference from the staff asking me how my meal went - well let me just say now, it went fine thank you!

red spoon @ top ryde shopping centre

I've been so busy at work lately that I can hardly hear myself think. Everything has become rather robotic and seems like I go through the motions of doing something but I have no idea what I've actually done! Can't be good!

Anyway, channelling my thoughts to things that make me happy - food! Loving all the restaurant additions to Top Ryde Shopping Centre and in particular Red Spoon. Have been here twice now for dinner and the food is absolutely scrumptious. There's plenty on the menu for me to come back for but in the meantime, these are a few things which are worth trying...

Duck Green Curry.

Seafood Pancake.

Chicken Chilli Basil Noodle.

Banana Blossom Salad.

And my favourite of them all is the Sticky Beef Ribs - could eat this anyday!

To accompany the meal, I suggest you order one of their mocktails - The Lemongrass Smash (it comes served with a stalk of lemongrass) and is rather refreshing. Should your stomach allow, dessert is an option. There's only a few to select from but they are a good size (won't leave you too full) and definitely worth trying. 

The service here is really friendly. Only downside is the lighting at the back of the restaurant. You might need to squint at the menu a little bit and as the night progresses, you might get this feeling that you are eating in the dark.