From Our Weekend Kitchen

In my attempt to make a further dent to clear my fridge and pantry, I did a quick stock take and realised that I have quite a few odd stuff sitting around. So I ended up making foods that doesn't go with each other. Does it make sense? No? Well, see below and see if you can figure out what I meant.

~ Marinated Sun-Dried Tomatoes ~

I had once made sun-dried tomato butter and it was really delicious. But the bad thing was that the butter had to be consumed within a week (yes, all 125 gm of it!), that's why I haven't the courage to attempt it again. Then recently, I partook a nice roast chicken pita sandwich onboard a plane and it had a nice and juicy piece of sun-dried tomato in it. The combination was really wonderful and made me yearn to taste it again. So here's my marinated sun-dried tomatoes.

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Marinated Sun-Dried Tomatoes

(adapted from RecipeSource.com)

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120 gm sun-dried tomatoes (not packed in oil) - available at cold storage

3/4 cup red wine vinegar

3/4 cup water 30 gm fresh basil leaves, chopped coarsely

1/8 tsp red pepper flakes

3 cloves garlic, sliced

A pinch of salt

1 cup of olive oil, or more to cover completely

1. Combine water and vinegar together in a non-reactive saucepan and warm the mixture slightly. Toss in the tomatoes and make sure that all the pieces are completely submerged. Soak for 2 to 3 hours. Drain on kitchen towel and pat dry.

2. Combine all the remaining ingredients together (except the oil). Toss rehydrated tomatoes into the mixture and mix well. Scrape into a cleaned glass jar and cover completely with olive oil. Press down to rid of the air bubbles. Best made a day before serving.

~ Apple Coleslaw ~

Any thing drenched in mayonnaise taste good to me. Be it a carrot and raisin salad or coleslaw or potato salad. Every time when I ordered a chicken chop or a pork chop from a Western food stall, I will look scornfully at the miserable amount of coleslaw decorating my plate. So I thought that coleslaw must be very labour intesive, hence they penny-pinched. But now I know better! Here's my version of a very yummy coleslaw which I think beats most of the coleslaw I have tasted so far and it is really simple to make!

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Apple Coleslaw

(adapted from Allrecipes.com)

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1 small head of green cabbage

1 medium carrot

2 red apples, cored and peeled

1/3 cup brown sugar

Juice of half a lemon

Mayonnaise

1. Shred cabbage, carrots and apple in a food processor.

2. Drizzle lemon juice and sprinkle brown sugar over shredded slaw.

3. Stir in enough mayonnaise to the consistency of your preference. Best made a day before serving.

~ Shrimp Fettuccine with Wine Sauce ~

I stubbled upon this recipe a long time ago at Epicurious.com and this is one of mine favourite pasta recipes. I think of it as a more "adult" version of pasta dish.

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Shrimp Fettuccine with Wine Sauce

(adapted from Epicurious.com)

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1 tbsp olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

500 gm white button mushrooms, sliced

1 cup dry white wine, or more for more sauce

1 tsp dried basil

1 1/2 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp corn starch

500 gm shrimps, shelled and deveined

2 medium tomatoes, diced

Salt and pepper to taste

1/4 cup parsley, chopped

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese, to serve

1. Heat oil in saucepan and add onions. Saute onions till it is tender, add garlic and mushrooms. Saute till mushrooms have released its juices and re-absorbed.

2. Combine wine, basil, oregano and corn starch. Pour mixture into the pan.

3. Stir in shrimp and cover for 3 min, or till the shrimps turned pink. Stir in tomatoes and continue to cook till tomatoes are softened. Season with salt and pepper. Remove from heat.

4. Stir in parsley and served with Parmesan cheese on top.

~ Potato Salad ~

I have made this before and I always like to have this in my fridge for those just-in-case situations. Did a slight variation to the previous recipe but throwing in some red peppers. Adds colour and a crunch to it.