Couscous Salad

I thought I have blogged this before and was quite surprised not to see it in the index of this blog. The current warm weather has prompted me to remember this keeper of a recipe as a great accompaniment to barbecued meats. It's very easy to assemble. Once you've done some of the simple preps all you do is toss it together. Taste.com.au has the recipe that I adapted this from.


Couscous Salad

200 g  couscous
200 ml  chicken stock
1 cup diced and seeded cucumber
2 tomatoes - seeded and diced
1 yellow bell pepper - seeded and diced
2 Tbsp chopped red onion
2 Tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp hummus (optional)
sea salt
freshly grated black pepper

1. Combine the chicken stock and 1 Tbsp of olive oil in a saucepan and bring to just boiling point.
2. Immediately pour over the couscous in a heatproof bowl. Cover and let steep for 10 minutes.
3. Fluff couscous and season with salt and pepper. Let cool completely.
4. Combine the remaining olive oil, lemon juice and hummus in a bowl and set aside.
5. Toss and mix all the remaining ingredients with the couscous.
6. Add the olive oil dressing and stir well to combine.

Lumpiang Togue

This is actually a lumpiang gulay (vegetable spring roll) but since the dominant veggie is the togue (beansprouts) so I've decided to call it same as that snack you get from roadside shacks or in markets in the Phils. I've been trying to adapt this recipe from Huang Su-Huei's Chinese Cooking For Beginners for years. But always my problem is the lumpia wrappers getting soggy hence getting holes or breaking up during frying. I've tried so many different tacks from draining for a whole day to actually laying on paper towels just to get it drier but to no avail. The problem stems from the fact that the procedure calls for blanching the vegetables with boiling water for a few seconds and that's where all the water comes from. So this time I decided to stir fry it for a few seconds in oil then drained it well (for a few hours actually). That's when I had a breakthough of having fully fried lumpias with no holes. What I like about this recipe is the flavouring of sugar and sesame oil at the end. It gives it a nice sweet-savoury finish. To make this fully vegetarian, substitute the meat with mushrooms. The combination vegetables here can be varied as well according to your taste. If you're not too excited by togue then by all means replace it with shredded cabbage and/or throw in some woodears or shiitake mushrooms, etc. The variation is limitless.

Lumpiang Togue
(Beansprouts Spring Rolls)

1/2 cup minced pork or chicken or beef (optional)*
1 tsp cornstarch
1 tsp cooking wine
1/4 tsp salt
4 cups togue (beansprouts) [about 400 g]
1 stalk celery - shredded
1 medium carrot - finely julienned
8 big egg roll wrappers (about 9 inch x 9 inch)
2 Tbsp oil

*Seasoning:
1 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp sesame oil

*Flour Paste:
1 Tbsp flour
1 Tbsp water

*Dip:
2 Tbsp vinegar
2 Tbsp soy sauce
1 garlic clove - smashed

1. Mix all seasoning, flour paste and dip ingredients separately. Set aside.
2. In a bowl, mix the cooking wine, salt, and cornstarch. Stir until salt is dissolved. Add the meat into it and mix to combine.
3. In a wok, heat the oil. Tip in the meat mixture and cook until meat changes color - about 3 minutes. Making sure to mash it from time to time to separate the meat.
4. Turn heat to high and add in all the vegetables. Stir fry for 2 minutes.
5. Remove from heat and transfer to a colander.
6. Mix in the seasoning. Leave to drain in the colander for several hours or until completely cool and fully drained.
7. Place the egg roll wrappers on a clean working surface. Put about 3 Tablespoonful of the vegetable mixture on the wrapper. Fold and roll like an envelope.
8. Seal with the flour paste.
9. Deep fry for a few minutes or until golden brown. Drain vertically on a small colander or sieve or on paper towels. Serve warm with the dip.

Note: You may replace the meat with shredded mushrooms or omit it altogether. The vegetables can be varied as well according to your taste as long as you keep the volume/amount the same.

Jacket Potato

First time I heard the name, I had in my head an image of a potato in a dinner jacket swanning around in a party. When the lady in the counter handed it to me I thought - why it's baked potato! And so that was another English lesson for me. Jacket potato or baked potato is one of those sublime comfort food that you would want to have on a chilly day. Simple, basic but very satisfying. My favourite topping for this would be crispy fried bacon on melting grated cheese, while my youngest daughter loves baked beans on the same. There is a large variety of toppings available in local sandwich shops ranging from the simple grated cheese or tuna mayo sweetcorn to cream cheese with smoked salmon. The humble potato is of course great source of carbohydrates, rich in vitamin C, B, and other minerals like potassium and magnesium. That is mighty fine unless you're in a low carb diet then you'll have to eat this less frequently. Still there's nothing like tucking into a piping hot jacket potato on a cold day.

Suggested potato varieties to use are those of the 'baking' type. Usually in supermarkets they have labels on the shelf or the package saying if it is baking potato. Here in UK the more popular ones are King Edward, Maris Piper, and Desiree. You would want your potato to be floury to give you that fluffy inside once you slit the skin and opened it straight from the oven.


Jacket Potato
(Baked Potato)

baking potatoes
oil (optional)
ground sea salt (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 190°C/fan 170°C/375°F.
2. Pierce potatoes all over with fork.
3. [Optional] Put one or two drops of oil on the skin and spread it all around. This will make the skin very crispy.
4. [Optional] Sprinkle (or roll) the oiled potato with a little salt.
5. Bake in the oven for about 1 1/2 - 1 3/4 hours or once a knife or skewer can be easily pushed in the middle of the potato.
6. Take out of the oven and make 2 slits on top made in a cross fashion. Push gently from the sides to open up the cross. Fluff the potato a little and top with butter (optional) and topping of choice.