Strawberries & Balsamic Vinegar, served with Toasted English Muffins & Peach Sherbet

Vinegar = Piss.
That's what I thought, classic me.
During my first year in Hong Kong, I was so busy trying to avoid vinegar, which is really popular in wonton noodles shop, and naturally, I always mistakenly poured some on my food instead of soy sauce, thanks to my ignorance.

Maybe that's how I got kinda "trained" to appreciate vinegar now.

Balsamic vinegar is a whole other thing.
I bought a bottle out of curiousity.
Blame it on me watching too many Jamie Oliver's shows.
Balsamic here, balsamic there...so I bought a bottle and instantly fell in love with its fragrance.
I use it making salads, roasted potatoes, meat, etc etc etc...but of course, would never use it for something sweet.

But I heard how everyone said that strawberries + balsamic vinegar = top notch!
I heard it, you've heard it, we've all heard it.
Again and again and again and again.
That's it. I gotta give it a try.

One of my main principal is, if everyone likes it, I probably will too.
I'm pretty mainstream really :)
...and not much of a pioneer either :D

So I did.

This is again, an almost non-recipe.

(adapted from here)
- 1 cup of strawberries, cleaned, removed top, halved
- 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 1/4 cup of caster sugar
Mix everything in one bowl and let it be for at least one hour, max 4 hours.

That's it, after one something hour, I gave it a taste and...
I swooned!

This is THE perfect treatment for those mediocre, el-cheapo, not-so-sweet strawberries!

I am not much of a scientist, but all I know is, this combo does amazing things to my blah strawberries. They now taste fan-freaking-tastic! I could've just consumed the whole bowl of sweet, syrupy strawberries myself, but I had a leftover of half an English muffin (that's right, half), so I did this...

Butter (salted) and sprinkle some sugar on English muffin, place it on a hot pan. It will sizzle and you'll get this gorgeously golden, buttery toasted muffin with a hint of sweetness....Now, we're gonna bring it to the next level, and all you need to do is...assembling.

Top toasted muffin with an ice cream of your choice (I only had Dreyer's peach sherbet), place balsamic vinegar strawberries on the side and drizzle with the sweet and sour syrup from the strawberry "marinate".

It looked so glamorous, I almost felt bad I consumed this with bare hands~
Almost ;)

Oven Baked Yoghurt Chicken Strips and Mushroom Balsamic Potatoes

What if you miss fried chickens so dearly, but not allowed to have some?
Oven bake them.

What if you love chicken legs so much, but not allowed to have some?
Tenderize, juicify, and flavor up those breasts.

Like how?

Marinate boneless, skinless chicken breasts in yoghurt (to tenderize) and some spices (to inject some flavors. I used garlic salt, sugar, paprika, dried oregano, black pepper, lemon zest, tiny wee bit of olive oil), refrigerate for a few hours or overnight. You don't even have to whack them flat (Who likes flat breasts? Well, I believe many people do. Wat?!! They were lying???!!!). They'll be amazingly tender.

Before serving, drench them in a mix of breadcrumbs, garlic salt, sugar, paprika, dried oregano, lemon zest, and black pepper. Preheat oven to 200C, lay chicken breast pieces on a baking tray brushed thinly with olive oil.

Bake until gloriously golden.

I served them with potato cubes and mushrooms cooked with balsamic vinegar, garlic, salt, pepper, sugar, and dried oregano. Simply saute aromatics, add mushrooms, add potatoes, cook covered until tender and serve.

Squeeze some lemon juice on them..and oh my!
Flavorful, tender, juicy, tasty...everything I love on breasts.
Yum!
These are super satisfying...

....but PS. It does not mean that I now don't want fried chicken legs.

Potatoes 2 Ways: Fries with Black Pepper plus Italian Herbs and Roasted Potatoes with Garlic, Herbs and Balsamic Vinegar

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I was feeling rather spuddy the other day. All I wanted was potatoes, potatoes, potatoes...yellow, orange, purple...deep fried, roasted, mashed, baked...if only I could have them all in one night! Plus...I just got myself this bitchin' slicer from the market.....

The super convincing sales lady demonstrated how the device works by gingerly using it to slice and cut various fruits and vegetables into those cute, adorable shapes!!!...and you could do all that...with just HK$30 (less than USD4)!!! WOW!!! It is idiot proof and comes with a safety holder which makes it absolutely safe! You don't have to worry about losing a nail or two in slicing catastrophes!!!...the lady said...

I was impressed...but still contemplating whether or not I should get it, as normally I don't have any luck with any magical products I've bought off street demonstrations. They generally fell apart or wouldn't work in my hands. But this time, I was wowed by those lattice cut veggies! What the heck! Wouldn't it be awesome if I could make my own lattice cut fries at home?

As if!

Fries with Black Pepper & Italian Herbs

From a whole big potato, we only managed to lattice cut these teeny tiny bowl of spud. The rest crumbled into pieces. The slicer was difficult to manouver, the detachable bit always pops out of place, it is not sharp enough, and the safety holder made it even more annoying to operate. HAHAHA!

Recipe
- 1 potato, sliced into any desired shape of fries
- oil for frying
- salt, black pepper, dried italian herb mix (rosemary, thyme, sage, oregano)
Wash and peel potato, sliced, pat dry, fry in hot oil, lay on kitchen towel to drain excess oil, sprinkle with salt, black pepper and mixed herbs.

Roasted Potatoes with Garlic, Herbs and Balsamic Vinegar

After the slicing blooper, I was not about to slice these babies into any funny shapes anymore. I just wanted the ordinary good 'ol thick chunks i can bite into.

Recipe
- 1 potato, sliced into thick chunks
- olive oil, a bit of butter
- salt, pepper, dried rosemary and oregano
- balsamic vinegar
- 3 cloves of garlic, crushed, leave skin on

Preheat oven to 200C. Throw potatoes into a tray, drizzle olive oil, throw in a bit of butter, season with salt, pepper, and herbs, drizzle balsamic vinegar, scatter crushed garlic, give them a little rub, bake until golden brown and a bit charred. My whole flat was perfumed with delicious scents when I was baking these babies.

Will I stop using the slicer? Nah, I'll give it another try...
I guess it's either "practice makes perfect" or "if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is" hehe

Pork Teriyaki Stew & Roasted Zucchini with Balsamic Vinegar

Against all Halloween odds, tonight our celebration doesn’t involve pumpkin, candies or any other spooky-cutey-halloweensy food. We’re going to a Chinese HOT POT joint! Awwww!!!

I stopped by a costume shop yesterday night…and boy! It was a total chaos! All kinds of slutty nun, dirty school girl, naughty nurse, sexy policeman, chubby skeleton, and kinky emperor wannabes were so close to groping each other while trying to grab anything (and anyone) in sight. There were at least 10 languages being shouted to and from every direction and there was almost no more red devil horns head gear by the time I elbowed my way in.

After dodging flailing bloody arms, scary masks, kinky costumes, and neon colored wigs, I got my horns…and the food devil was born…

I was sooo close to wearing the free cut-out mask from yesterday

This dish below has nothing to do with Halloween, but the food devil just loves teriyaki sauce. It is her poison of choice.

Pork Teriyaki Stew & Roasted Zucchini with Balsamic Vinegar

Recipe
Pork Teriyaki Stew
- 1 lb pork ribs (I had some with soft bone)
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1 onion, thinly sliced
-1 cm ginger, crushed
- teriyaki sauce, pepper, olive oil, hot water
Saute garlic, ginger and onion in hot oil, add ribs, add teriyaki sauce, add hot water, stew for 2-3 hours until the meat’s tender. If you have a pressure cooker...grrrr...I am green with envy!

Roasted Zucchini with Balsamic Vinegar
- 2 zucchini, peeled, sliced into 1 cm thick slices
- 4 cloves of garlic
- balsamic vinegar
- salt, pepper, olive oil
Preheat oven to 200C, arrange zucchini in a tray, scatter garlic, rub some oil, add balsamic vinegar, season, roast until zucchini pieces are a bit charred.

Now, ready or not...here I come!