Feel Good Congee

It's Wednesday. I consider that halfway through the week. Once Wednesday is gone, you only have to get through Thursday and it'll be TGIF. It certainly has been a bad week for me so far. Decisions, decisions.

A friend asks you to help her with her smoking problem and keeps asking for her lighters back. How many times are you allowed to say no? Every time you say no, are you taking away her right to decide for herself? If you say yes, what kind of friend are you? Who is judging?

Ask someone an obvious question. How many sarcastic answers does it take before you stop asking? I'm sorry my stupidity offends you. 

You are being considered for an internship that you want really badly. Do you tell you sponsor and ask permission to change course now or later? What do you do if you've switched courses but did not get the internship in the end? What happens if you're not allowed to change?

How does one go about making choices that will cause the least casualty to oneself and others?

So feel good congee. Because I cannot man up and therefore I escape through books, exercise and eating. 

Ingredients:

Serves 1 person in need of a perk- me- up

1 cup Thai Jasmine rice (because it smells amazeballs)

2 chicken thighs (skin off)

2 tbsp sesame oil

water

salt/ soy sauce

pepper

Optional:

1 inch ginger ( about the length of your thumb) thinly sliced

1 green onion (chopped)

Method:

1. Soak the rice for at least 30 minutes. *
2. Put about 3-4 cups of water and bring to boil. Then add the chicken thighs and leave it to simmer  on medium heat for about 20-25 minutes. 
3. Wash the rice three times or until water runs clear ( if you need to occupy yourself)
4. Once the chicken is cooked**, remove it and put the rice and ginger into broth. 
5. Leave it to cook until the rice has melted. (about 1-2 hours)
6. Meanwhile, shred the chicken. Can be skipped if you can't be bothered.
7. Once cooked, add the chicken and give it a good mix. Season to taste and add the sesame oil to it.
8. Serve with chopped green onion.

* Some people leave the rice to soak overnight. I usually don't.

**Check by cutting through the thickest part of the chicken, if the liquid runs clear, it's good to go.

Sometimes I feel like someone should teach me the appropriate response to certain situations but hey this is life. You make a million good, bad and silly choices and then you die. So I'll have feel good congee for now and hope I make a choice that I won't regret. I hope this recipe helps with lifting your mood from whatever is bothering you. This blog post certainly hasn't. 

xoxo

Angel

Coffee. Me.

Here's the thing guys, coffee makes me tired instead of perking me up. So I decided to google it up. I am now convinced my insulin and adrenal glands are not working properly, I'm dehydrated and don't get enough sleep. Not cool internet...

Anyways,  let's talk about coffee. I'm no coffee expert but I usually can tell the difference between good and bad coffee.

Good coffee:
1. Smells like coffee (gotta know what you're drinking there!) No, I mean seriously, coffee that smells strong like it means business usually is good coffee. Why? It's because high quality coffee beans contain more fragrant oils than the meh ones.

2. Flavourful. I know this doesn't seem helpful but if you drink amazing, full bodied coffee from a good coffee shop and then drink for example, instant coffee, there is a difference. HQ coffee has higher acidity giving it its flavours whereas LQ coffee tastes of nothing because it lacks acidity.

Crema- the thick, dense red brown foam layer you find on your espresso- does NOT tell you if the coffee will taste good or not. It just tells you how fully extracted your coffee is i.e the darker it is, the more solubles there are in the cup.

You can read more about crema here.

I only actually started drinking coffee only because housemate #1 drinks coffee on a daily basis and I thought why not?

Now, I wouldn't say I'm addicted or anything, but I'd say I'll enjoy a cuppa if given the choice. When I visited Mr Bombastic in Edinburgh,who knew I appreciate good coffee, brought me to the Black Medicine and The Brew Lab on two separate occasions.

My V6 coffee from The Brew Lab. Tasted quite light and fruity. Yum~

Mr. Bombastic's Mocha

This is actually my hot chocolate from Black Medicine HA.

I love the both of them. I went to Black Medicine alone a few times because I had the time to kill and I love love love LOVE the atmosphere and the interior of the shop. It has this tiki feel to the decorations and somehow always make me feel like I'm in a secret forest and can people watch in peace. LOL no, I'm not creepy at all. I've tried their iced Mocha before and that was good. The Mocha had a good balance of coffee and chocolate taste to it. Not those kind of Mocha that is diabetes inducing. Also, the hot chocolate is amazing. I'm not sure if they made it using cocoa and brown sugar or with chocolate but it was delicious, creamy and made me feel so cosy. I remember the day I tried it, it was raining and I brought a book with me (Girl with a Dragon Tattoo?). Life could not have been better.

The Brew Lab has a similar feel to the black medicine but interior-wise it made me feel like I was in an underground coffee shop. It is quite nice and the staff were really helpful. The Brew Lab brews 2 different blends of coffee everyday and uses quite unconventional brewing techniques. I have only been there once and my V6 came without milk, which was fine because I drink black coffee most of the time anyways. At first, the coffee tasted sour to me and I was like "Huh?" then the taste sort of blossomed into a fresh fruity note and the texture of the coffee was quite smooth. All in all, I enjoyed the coffee and it seemed like a great place to just chill out with your friends in. Tip: Try the brownies. They are ORGASMIC. 

Oooohh one more thing. I make my coffee in a cafetiere i.e a French press. Not as fancy as it sounds, housemate #4 had one with her so housemate #1 and I borrow it from time to time. I found a brewing guide. It seems pretty solid. Link is right here if you wanna try it out or wonder why your cafetiere brewed coffee tastes sour/bitter/tasteless. I had no idea there was a technique to it! I'm am not wise in the ways of coffee. =(


xoxo
Angel

Spaghetti Bolognese my way

Spaghetti bolognese and me: 

It was my first successful attempt in cooking any sort of western cuisine. My sister loved making Shepherd's Pie and that's her forte. So I've always never found the need to try and make bolognese sauce because someone in the family has that covered. 

Then I went overseas to study. School would always serve it but it usually comes in the form of " Hi, I'm bolognese sauce but I'm quite runny and doesn't taste of anything. Bon appetit."

No.

To me, bolognese is suppose to be this rich and hearty dark red sauce that is born out of long hours of simmering. I would have bolognese because it is a comfort food and reminds me of home. Then when I eat runny bolognese sauce, it just ruins it. So NO!

Here's my take for bolognese sauce. It's a bit different but it's mine.

Ingredients:

Serves 2

2 cloves garlic

1 onion (tennis ball size)

1 carrot (15cm ruler)

1 tsp dried oregano

1 bay leaf

500g beef

or 250/250g lamb/beef 

or 300g beef and 3 bacon strips (cut into small pieces) 

1 tbsp Worcester sauce

1.5 tbsp tomato puree

1 tin chopped tomatoes

Olive oil

salt 

pepper

Optional:

5 whole mushrooms

1 celery stick (not the whole thing!)

3 fresh tomatoes

50-100 ml wine

3 tbsp Balsamic vinegar

1 tsp cocoa powder

1 capsicum (green is more bitter and red is sweeter)

Need:

Chopping board (Housemate #3 uses a plate)

1 medium sized pot for the sauce and another for cooking your pasta in

1 knife

1 wooden spoon (doesn't have to be wooden. You can use metal ones or silicon ones. Just whatever you have in handy)

Instructions:

1. Chop the garlic into pieces. The smaller they are the faster they burn in oil. Grate the onion and carrot. ( you can chop them into small pieces if you can't be bothered to wash the grater) If you are using any of the optional veggies, you need to cube them.
2. Heat up about 1-2 tbsps of olive oil in the pan. Put the garlic in, let it turn into a golden colour then add the onion, carrot and any optional veggies. Sauté until the onion turns translucent.
3. Season with worcester sauce, a bit of salt and pepper.
4. Make a well. Add the tomato puree and let it cook for about 30 seconds. Then add the meat to the centre of the well and stir it until all the meat is browned.
5. Add the wine and let the alcohol boil off i.e. 2-3 mins of inhaling alcoholic smell.
6. Add the chopped tomatoes. Also the time to add the cocoa powder and/or balsamic vinegar***.
7. Let it simmer for about 30-45 minutes (or 1.5-2 hours if you have the time)* and season according to taste**.
8. Cook the pasta according to packet instructions.
9. Serve with grated cheese on top (or not. I personally use extra mature cheddar if I have it)

* The longer you boil, the richer the taste.

**Sometimes I crush a beef stock cube and add it with the tinned tomatoes. Then I won't add salt at all. 

***You can try adding marmite into the sauce as well. Cocoa/ marmite adds some depth to the sauce. Try it. I was skeptical when my housemate added it to hers. I gave it a go and decided I quite like the taste. If you are not a big marmite fan, I assure you, the sauce won't taste like marmite unless you add like three tablespoons into it. Tested and tried on housemate #2 who hates marmite.

I hope you enjoyed this recipe. All my measurements are approximated because I don't like washing up and would use as little equipments as possible. Efficient is what I am! HAHA just kidding...

xoxo

Angel