The first time I had swordfish steak was about 7 years ago, in Spain. I love the meaty structure & mild flavor (the inner-health conscious of me screaming "it's low calories & rich with omega-3 fat too"). I like my swordfish fish simple, grilled or pan-fried.

I cooked swordfish 3 days ago and served it with grilled vegetable pasta. I normally use ready-made grilled veggies (known as antipasto). Sandhurst has a good selection of antipastos and I especially love their artichoke. Unfortunately, I can't find Sandhurst products where I live at the moment. I therefore have to grill my own vegetables (lot's of hard work). There is probably other brand that makes the same stuff, just be careful not to buy the one with vinegar in it. The sour antipasto is great for salad but not with pasta (at least I don't think it goes well with pasta).

Ok enough yapping, let's cook. For the pasta you need about 200g tagliatelle (fresh or dried), about 150g of each of the following grilled: aubergine/eggplant, pepper/capsicum, mushroom, artichoke and 6 cherry tomatoes, olive oil, 1 clove of garlic, fresh basil and salt.

For the fish, you need swordfish fillet (you can use other fish if you like). Wash the fish & pat it dry with a paper towel. Rub some olive oil, crushed black pepper & salt on the fish. Grill the swordfish for 3 minutes on each side. The grill pan needs to be very hot before you start grilling otherwise the fish will stick to it. Put the fish steak on an oven proof dish and keep it in a warm oven with aluminum foil cover to prevent it from drying out (nobody likes dried out fish, right?).

Boil 2 liter water (cook every 100g of pasta in 1 liter water to prevent it from sticking to each other) with a little salt in a big pan to cook the pasta. In the meantime heat oil in another pan and add in garlic, stir for few minutes (don't burn them) and then add all the grilled veggies & salt to taste. Cook for about 5 minutes before adding tomatoes. Cook for another 5 minutes and turn the fire off.

Cook your pasta in the boiling water (cooking time for fresh pasta is about 4 minutes & 12 minutes for dried one). When cooked, drain the paste immediately and throw it in the veggies, add more olive oil. Add in some chopped basil leaves and warm the whole dish once again on low fire for a few minutes. Serve the grilled swordfish on top of the pasta. Finally, drizzle some lemon juice & olive oil on the dish.

I've Been aTAGged!

I’ve been tagged by Mr. Sweety and seriously, I don’t even know what tag is (*chuckle*), let alone on how to tag others. I'm new in this blogging business so pardon me for being ignorance, though ignorance is bliss ;).

The Need to Knead

I have recently bought a pasta maker and am enjoying myself making (and eating) fresh pasta. I hope by the end of next month I'll have nice sculptured arms from all the dough kneading I've been doing. Pasta dough needs to be kneaded (preferably with violence) for at least 15 minutes to activate the gluten in the flour. Gluten makes the dough elastic, so it won't tear when you roll them out. I find kneading is a great way to release tension. You can punch, fold, throw, stretch, etc. and the dough never hits you back.

You can't use just any flour you like for pasta. The flour needs to contain more gluten in it. I use grade 00 flour (the one Italians use for their pasta). I don't know if the flour is easy to get, I bought mine at this small Italian delicatessen around the corner.

Ok, let's see what you need to make your own pasta. For every 100g of flour, you'll need 1 egg (make sure the egg is at room temperature when you use it). Let say you are making pasta for 2 people, then you'll need 200g flour, 2 eggs, salt and some water. Make a "vulcano" with your flour (see above), put the egg(s) in the middle, add some salt if you like. Use fork / finger to break the yolk and mix the whole thing until it mixes well together. Now you need to get down and dirty, start using your hands to knead and fold the mixture until you get a smooth & elastic dough (it takes about 15 minutes to get to this consistency). If your dough is too dry add a few drops of water and if it's too wet add some flour. Leave the dough in a cold place for about 30 minutes before you can start working with it (cutting and shaping it to any kind of pasta you like).

So, there you go, fresh pasta. Fresh pasta only needs about 4 minutes cooking. Be careful not to overcook it as it will turn soggy & soft. Good pasta is cooked 'al dente', soft but a bit chewy in the middle.

ps.: The picture of me kneading was taken with a tripod & selftimer, in case you're wondering.

I Love Mr. Hines

I have been slaving for hours over the hot stove to make this chocolate cake (it looks good, doesn't it?). You need to measure the amount of ingredients you use carefully. Nah!!! Actually this one is my cheat chocolate cake. All you need is Duncan Hines ready cake mix & follow the instruction on the box. LOL. I don't bake. I have yet to successfully make cake from scratch. Though I did the icing myself (actually it is from Hines too, but I put it on myself & still need a lot of practice to get the smooth, shiny looking icing). Ready mix or not, this cake is delicious. Give it a try and thank me later ;)

I Cook Therefore I Flip

Another thing I love other than food (and cooking) is cookbooks. I have a vast collection (is 65 cookbooks qualified as "vast collection"?) of it. I hardly use them recipe though. I just flip over them and look at the pretty picture and drool. Some people read porn magazine, I read cookbook. Whatever get you going right?

When I get a bit homesick, I'll flip through my Malaysian food collection. Thinking of my Mom's & Gran's cooking (and of course of them too). They are the best cook in the world. No one can do Malay meal like those two (to me at least) and unfortunately the talent stop there. I can't cook Malay food. I did try (and fail miserably). Maybe because I'm so used to my mom & gran cooking so anything else taste like shoe (or crap). I would love to learn how to make a proper Malay meal but I'm just too lazy. All that roasting your spice, grinding, marinating etc. So much work! I say, leave the Malay cooking to the pro.

Ok, I'm off to read some cookbook now. Till the next meal!