When I want something that cooks fast and taste good, one of my choice will be prawns/shrimps. Simple seasoning and you will get tasty prawns.
While waiting for the bread to finish baking, I took out some prawns and was thinking how to prepare it since the main course for the evening is Wagyu beef stew. Looking through the spice cabinet, I took out 5 ingredients -
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp oregano flakes
Salt & black pepper, to taste
Method
1. Remove the shell and deveined the prawns. Leave the tail on.
2. Mix the onion powder, garlic powder and oregano flakes together.
3. Coat the prawns well in this spice mixture.
4. Heat pan with 1 tbsp of butter and olive oil. Once pan is well heated, place the prawns in the pan. Do not overcrowd them in the pan. Once the prawns change colour, grind some salt and black pepper onto the prawns. When the prawns turns orange on the side facing down to the pan, turn the prawns to the other side. Remember not overcook it.
Mashed potatoes is always my love. Oh...I just love the creamiest of this mashed potatoes.
I have tried a few times before Mr W concluded this recipe will be the one I will make in future. But I am still thinking of altering it. *Lol. We shall see how it goes.
Ingredients (Serves 4)
5 large russet potatoes, peeled & cubed
80 ml sour cream
3 cloves of garlic, finely minced.
1 cube of chicken bullion
100g cream cheese
100g butter
Salt & pepper, to taste
Oregano flakes, to taste
Method
1. In a large pot of boiling water, cook the potatoes, garlic and bouillon until potatoes are soft.
2. Sieve the potatoes and garlic, place them in a large bowl. Reserve the water.
3. Mash the potatoes. Add in the sour cream and cream cheese; incorporate them into the mashed potatoes. Add the reserved water to it, if needed.
4. Add the butter and mix well. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
5. Sprinkle the oregano flakes before serving.
Simple and easy.
Note: 1. This dish can be prepared a day ahead. Place the mashed potatoes *without adding butter into a slow cooker and allow it to slow cooked on low. Before serving, add in the butter and season it with salt & pepper. 2. To achieve a smoother mashed potatoes, you can whisk it.
This side dish is so simple. Transforming the ordinary can of baked beans to a yummilicious one.
Ingredients 1 can baked beans ¼cup brown sugar
¼ of a yellow onion, chopped
1 tbsp ketchup
1½ tsp English mustard
½ tsp Worchestire sauce
½ tsp red wine vinegar
Salt & pepper to taste
2-3 slices of bacon
Method
1. Combine the above except bacon in a baking dish. Bake it at 150°C for 30 minutes. Remove from oven.
2. Bake the bacon separately. For crispy bacon, please refer here for the recipe. Once baked, remove from the oven and cut the bacon to smaller pieces.
3. Sprinkle the crispy bacon on top of the oven baked beans.
You will love the savoury beans with a light crunch of the bacon.
It is rather difficult to find a good rack of ribs at a reasonable price, so I decided to try one at home and it turned out to be surprising good. The dry rub on the ribs is important. You can find the ingredients for the dry rub here.
The picky Mr W likes the seasoning of the baby back and the only thing he thinks I ought to reduce is the amount of BBQ sauce I added, which I agreed.
*Update - 19 May 2020...
I have added honey into the BBQ sauce for a nicer glaze and not overpowering BBQ. Mr W said the taste is just right. I have a picky husband. Hard to please. This time I used St Louis Pork Ribs which are bigger compared to the last time (I used baby ribs). So the temperature and baking time defers. I will indicate in the Method.
Ingredients (Serves 4)
2 pounds of baby back ribs/1 rack of St Louis Pork Ribs
1/2 cup of BBQ sauce
1/4 cup of honey Dry Rub
Method
1. Using a butter knife to remove the membrane at the back of the ribs. *By doing so, you will definitely get tender ribs.
2. Apply the dry rub all over the ribs and wrap the rack in a non-stick baking sheet and then another layer of aluminium foil.
Foil below and baking sheet on top
3i. Here are my St Louis Pork Ribs after removing the membrane & applying of the rub.
St Louis Pork Ribs
St Louis Pork Ribs
3ii. This is the baby ribs.
Place the marinate dry rub baby ribs on the baking sheet
4. Wrap the ribs up with the baking sheet and then the aluminium foil like this.
Wrap it up! *This is not a baguette!
5. Place them in a ziplock bag before putting them in the fridge to be marinated for a minimum of 6 hours or overnight. *because the meat will "sweat".
6. Remove from the fridge.
7. Preheat oven at 150°C/160°C for 10 to 15 minutes. Bake the ribs (still in the foil) in the oven at
i) for baby ribs - 150°C for 2 hours
ii) for St Louis Pork Ribs - 160°C for 2.5 hours (this is due to the thicker bones & mass)
7. While they bake in the oven, stir in the honey to the BBQ sauce.
*Note: I made my bbq mixture based on our liking. So after stirring in the honey, do a taste test to see how you like it. You may add more BBQ sauce or honey to your own preference.
8. Remove the ribs and lay them on the tray.
9. Spread your BBQ mixture on the front and back of the ribs, continue to grill them (bones up) in the oven at 175°C.
9ii. Remove and turn over the ribs (this time meat up) and apply the mixture again. Grill for another 15 minutes.
*Note: you may also just apply the BBQ mixture and baked for a straight 30 minutes without removing it from the oven. I did this method with the baby ribs.
What makes me wanna write this entry is because most of us don't know that dry rub is pretty important for meats. Be it chicken, pork or beef...even mutton. So far I have use this dry rub for my pork rib and chicken. it is absolutely delicious. In the beginning, I was somewhat skeptical about it because of the cayenne pepper and paprika powder. But the end result was amazing.
Ingredients ¼ cup brown sugar 1½ tbsp paprika 1 tbsp kosher salt 1½ tbsp black pepper 1 tsp garlic powder 1 tsp onion powder
¼ to ½ tsp cayenne pepper (depends on your preference)
Method Combine the above mentioned ingredients and mix well. *Note: you can make this dry rub in advance. Keep it in a airtight container. It can be kept for a month.
