Home made pasta with roasted vegetables, topped with oven-crisp bacon

I've always loved the taste of fresh pasta. I find that it is more flavourful and has a better texture to it. And then it hit me - I should make my own pasta, and that's exactly what I did.

I found this link with a video to show you the step-by-step process of making fresh pasta.

Here's my dough after kneading it for a good 20 minutes.

After letting it sit for 15 minutes, I flattened it out and cut it into long strips.

Then, I rolled each strip into little pinwheels before cutting them up.

And finally, I unrolled each pinwheel and dust them with flour before keeping them in Ziploc bags.

You can freeze it for 2 months, and when you need to use it, just thaw them out.

Ingredients to make roasted vegetables:

1 cup string beans
1 cup red peppers
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
A generous dash of Italian seasoning
A generous dash of dried parsley
Salt and pepper, to taste

Method:

1. Preheat oven at 375 F. Line baking trays with foil.

2. Mix all ingredients into the vegetables. (I used string beans and red peppers because they were all I had, but zucchini and squash are good vegetables to roast too).

3. Place vegetables into baking tray and cover with foil.

4. Bake in the oven, covered, for 15 minutes, and uncovered for another 10 minutes.

To make oven-crisp bacon:

(This is a healthier alternative to frying the bacon up in a skillet)

1. Place 4 strips of bacon on a lined tray.

2. Bake in the oven, uncovered, for 20 minutes.

3. You can bake this together with the vegetables. That way, the vegetables will absorb the wonderful fragrance of the bacon.

4. Drain oil off the bacon strips. Tear them up into pieces, like this.

Ingredients for pasta:

1 lt of water
3 cloves garlic, chopped
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
A dash of roasted red peppers
A dash of Italian seasoning
A dash of dried parsley
Salt and pepper, to taste

Method:

1. Bring water to a boil. Season with a pinch of salt. Cook freshly made pasta for 3-5 minutes. Drain.

2. In a skillet, heat up extra virgin olive oil. Saute garlic.

3. Add in cooked pasta into the skillet. Give it a little toss. Add in roasted red peppers, Italian seasoning, dried parsley, salt and pepper.

4. When the herbs are all incorporated into the pasta, add in the roasted vegetables. Give it a quick stir. Turn heat off.

5. Dish up and top the pasta with oven-crisp bacon.

Beef stew with homemade garlic bread

This is a fairly simple recipe that basically cooks on its own. A hot piping bowl of stew is all I need to combat the cold weather. And of course, hiding indoors!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lb beef, chuck meat
Celery, quantities as desired
Carrots, quantities as desired
Potatoes, quantities as desired
2 bay leaves
A dash of Worchestershire sauce
A dash of Italian seasoning
A dash of dried parsley
1 can of peeled tomatoes, unsalted
1 1/2 cups of beef broth (or chicken broth if you prefer)
2 tbsps cornstarch mixed with 3 tbsps of water
Salt and pepper, to taste

Method:

1. Cut all the vegetables into wedges and put them into a crockpot. Put all the beef into the crockpot as well.

2. Add in the can of peeled tomatoes. Add beef broth.

3. Season with Worchestershire sauce, bay leaves, Italian seasoning, dried parsley, salt and pepper.

4. Set crockpot on 'low' and cook for 8 hours.

5. Add in cornstarch and set crockpot to 'high' and cook for another 2 hours. Turn off crockpot.

6. Let the stew cool off. Then keep in the refrigerator. (I think it tastes better this way).

7. In a large pot, bring the stew to a boil before lowering the heat to a very slow simmer. Let it simmer for 2 hours.

8. Serve hot with garlic bread.

Ingredients:

6 slices of bread (I used whole grain, but you can also use white bread or even baguette)
Butter
Garlic powder
Salt

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.

2. Butter the bread and sprinkle some garlic powder and salt onto it.

3. Bake for 15 minutes, or until the breads are crispy.

4. Serve with stew.

Roast chicken with vegetables

The weather has been getting colder and nothing beats cranking up the oven and warming the whole house up. I concocted this roast chicken recipe from the ingredients I have in the kitchen.

Marinades for the chicken:

4 chicken thighs
4 tbsp Worchestershire sauce
A few dashes of paprika
2 tbsp Italian seasoning
2 tbsp dried parsley
4 cloves of garlic, finely minced
Salt and pepper, to taste
Juice of 1 lemon

Ingredients for the vegetables:

1 eggplant, cut into wedges
1 zucchini, cut into wedges
2 tomatoes, cut into wedges
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp Italian seasoning
2 tbsp dried parsley
Salt and pepper, to taste

Method:

1. Preheat oven tot 400 F.

2. Clean and pat dry chicken. Rub the Worchestershire sauce onto the chicken, followed by the paprika, Italian seasoning, dried parsley, minced garlic, salt and pepper. Rub some under the skin as well.

3. Squeeze the lemon juice onto the chicken thighs. Put the chicken thighs into Ziplock bags with the lemon in it, and leave in the refrigerator to marinate for 2 hours (or more).

4. Line baking tray with aluminium foils. Season the vegetables with the extra virgin olive oil, Italian seasoning, dried parsley, salt and pepper. Cover with aluminium foil.

5. On a separate baking tray, line it with aluminium foils. Arrange the chicken thighs so that they don't overlap one another. Put the lemon onto the tray as well. Cover with aluminium foil.

6. Bake the chicken thighs and vegetables at 400 F for 45 minutes.

7. After 45 minutes, remove the aluminium foil covers from both the trays, and put them back into the oven at 375 F for another 30 minutes, or until the skin on the chicken thighs turn brown.

8. Serve hot.

Asia @ Cafe

Don't expect Asia Cafe to be a fancy dining place because it is not. It's a tiny shop in South Philly owned by an Indonesian, so you will expect to see quite a few Indonesians here.

Thanks to the chilly weather, I had a craving for a clear broth and so I ordered this.

Fish ball soup $ 3.75

Nothing to shout about, really. The soup was slightly peppery in taste, probably made from one of those cubed seasonings. But what really made this soup absolutely delicious was this...

Sriracha HOT chili sauce!!! I tell you, this is one really spicy chili sauce. And I am one who eats jalapeno pepper like it's candy, so mark my words. It's VERY spicy! It sure did add oomph to my otherwise plain-tasting fish balls.

Here's another dish of soup.

House wonton soup deluxe $ 5.75

The soup base is the same as the fish ball soup. As for the wonton, I didn't taste it. This soup came generously with vegetables - broccoli, carrot, snow peas, cauliflower and cabbage -, some straw mushrooms, shrimps, char siew and wonton (of course).

And the dish that I've been waiting for...

Char kway teow $ 7.00

Taste wise, it still lacks the wok hei. But I like that they use the thicker kway teow compared to Penang's thin version. At first bite, it has a strong hint of the kicap manis (sweet soy sauce) that Indonesians often use in their cuisine. Then again, this is an Indonesian-owned restaurant so that pretty much explains it. It is still not spicy enough (at least to my liking) but it sure tasted better than Penang's version.

Chicken with cashew nuts $ 8.25

I frankly won't rave about this dish because first of all, the chicken slices weren't well-marinated at all. I do love all the beautiful colours bursting forth though, so that makes up for the lack of taste in this dish. I think I can do a better dish than this. *ahem*

So there, my hunt for the perfect plate of char kway teow in Philadelphia is still on. If you know of any great place, please, do let me know for my craving is getting stronger each day!

1030 8th Street
Tel: 215-627-7316

Villa di Roma

This place is located in South Philly, in the heart of the Italian market. It is your genuine Italian ristorante, owned by the De Luca family. Nothing pretentious about this place, really. Its setting is akin to that of one's dining room, which makes Villa di Roma very homely and authentic. Most of the wait staffs are Italian, so naturally they are very gregarious and may I say, motherly.

We started off with a loaf of bread.

Nothing special about this bread, except that they are very generous with their butter. But, this same loaf of bread came in very handy towards the end of the meal.

For starters, we ordered the steamed clams in white sauce.

The clams were exceptionally fresh, with a good dose of oregano and garlic. The sauce was a little too oily for my liking but it was good sauce nonetheless. It's got a good hint of lemon in it.

I had the Pasta di Linguine.

It was perfect! I've never had a more delicious pasta dish than this. The linguine was done al dente. It was a huge portion, with clams, mussels, huge shrimps, crab meats and fish. Thanks to all these seafood, the sauce was so sweet and flavourful. Yes, I scooped the sauce out and licked my plate clean.

My partner had the Veal Bella Bucca.

The veal was done tenderly, with two pieces of veal sandwiching some cheese and ham in the middle, coated with bread crumbs, and deep fried. Then, it was basked in a delightful brown sauce with spinach and a hint of lemon. Remember the loaf of bread? Yup, it is useful to soak up all the delicious gravy to the last drop.

Villa di Roma is a cash-only restaurant but there is a bank nearby if you need to get cash. I've read reviews on their fried asparagus, so the next time I am there, I am definitely ordering that. I can't wait!

936 South 9th St,
(Between Christian & Carpenter St)
Philadelphia 19147
Tel: (215) 592-1295

Union Jack's Pub

I never thought that food in a pub would be good, but boy, I've been proven so wrong since I got here!

Bar food can be absolutely, fantastically, finger lickin' good!!!

It's become a ritual to come here to Union Jack's every Monday. If you're a true-blooded American you'll know, but if you're not, let me tell you. Football is on every Sunday and Monday, and what do you associate it with? Hanging out with your mates with some beer and the good old Buffalo wings!!!

I've been having quite a bit of Buffalo wings around Philadelphia, and I must say that Union Jack's are THE best. They're done just right, with the perfect amount of hot sauce, and oh, blue cheese dipping! How could you not love blue cheese?

Buffalo wings in hot sauce

Blue cheese dipping

Don't expect a fancy place because Union Jack's is your typical bloke's hangout place. It's not loud and rowdy per se, but it's just your typical friendly neighbourhood pub with good food and sports playing all day long.

PS: This is a cash-only pub. But there's an ATM inside, if you needed to withdraw cash.

2750 Limekiln Pike
Glenside, PA 19038-2203

(215) 886-6014

Cravings for spicy food - satisfied!

Gertrude has been amazing. She cooks up a storm for me and knows exactly what I want. Last week, she made me nasi lemak, with the most delicious beef rendang, and sambal ikan bilis. They were just perfect - the right flavour, and spicy! She also made a dish of stir-fried vegetables, not forgetting the rudiments of nasi lemak - cucumber and hard boiled eggs.

Behold the pictures!

Beef rendang

Sambal ikan bilis

Stir-fried vegetables

Sliced cucumber

Hard boiled eggs

I went to bed smiling that night! Thanks Gertrude!