Author: Adriana

Gochujang Tofu

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Week 6 – 2021 This is another post from the series “I tried something new this week”. I have tried for a while now to cook tofu in different ways and this week I decided to use one of the sauces I bought recently – Gochujang. In case you haven’t cooked with it before, it’s a red chilly paste popular in Korean cooking. I like it because it has a good balance of savoury, sweet and spicy. The recipe I tried this week is very simple but it makes a delicious meal. Ingredients 250g tofu 200g rice Gochujang paste Kimchi oil soy sauce mirin ginger garlic salt pepper white sesame seeds Method Step 1 Preheat the oven at 200°C. Start boiling the 200 ml water for the rice. Wash the rice and add it to the pot. It depends a bit on the rice but if I use basmati I boil it for 10 minutes and then I leave it covered to rest for another 10 minutes. Step 2 Cut the tofu in 2cm cubes …

Salmon with Shiitake & Peppers

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Week 5 – 2021 This is another post from the series “I tried something new this week”. If you like simple dinners than this recipe is definitely for you! It takes maximum 15 minutes to prepare. Ingredients (2 portions) 2 salmon fillets 1 red pepper 1 pack of shiitake peppers (100-150g) 2 medium size potatoes 3 tbs soy sauce 3 tbs sesame oil salt pepper olive oil Method Preheat the oven to 200°C . Cut the potatoes into wedges. Brush the potato wedges with olive oil and season them with salt and pepper. Put them in the oven and set the timer to 35 minutes. In the mean time add the salmon fillets to an ovenproof dish. Cut the pepper into slices and add them to the dish, then add the shiitake mushrooms. Season with a bit of salt and pepper. Mix the soy sauce and the sesame oil and add to the dish. When the potatoes have been in the oven for 15 minutes, sink the temperature to 160°C and put the fish in …

Green Smoothies

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Week 4 – 2021 This is another post from the series “I tried something new this week”. Lately I have been trying to minimise food waste as much as possible. In general, I try to minimise waste of any kind but throwing away food is something that I hardly tolerate. Yes, we have everything at our fingertips, from takeaway food to grocery deliveries. But it’s hard to find vegetables with a good shelf life. During the lockdown I tried to organise my groceries by ordering deliveries for staples and go to the local market for fresh ingredients. This way I get to support the local market as well. And even when I organise the food well I still end up with a surplus of vegetables or fruits sometimes. I found a really good way to prevent any fresh vegetables or fruits go to waste, I do smoothies. They make a great breakfast or afternoon snack and they keep well in the fridge for at least one day in a sealed jar. I am going to …

Snow Flakes & Memories

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Week 3 – 2021 This is another post from the series “I tried something new this week”. But this week is a bit different, I am not writing about something new that I cooked, or tried, I am writing about something new that I experienced. Every morning this winter I have been hoping for either blue skies or snow. Granted that snowing doesn’t happen very often in South West London, one can only hope right? This morning I woke up to the same grey sky that makes every day look the same. The grey is in perfect sync with the monotony of the lockdown and yet it seems like is mocking you every day with it’s passivity. It’s this feeling that you get when you look up, that no sun, moon or stars ever existed. The clouds are not even clouds anymore, they are just a thick blanket that puts the landscape around you in a non flattering light. I have my morning coffee thinking about ways to make today different and I almost miss …

Mirin Marinated Tofu & Lime Rice

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Week 2 – 2021 This is another post from the series “I tried something new this week”. I like to do very simple recipes for lunch, mostly something fresh and light. The recipe I am writing about this week makes a really good lunch and it was also an opportunity for me to try a new way to cook tofu. This is the first time I used both silken tofu and mirin. Mirin is a sweet Japanese rice wine that makes a great marinade for tofu. Here is what I tried and what I would improve for the next time. Ingredients (2 portions) 150 basmati rice 1 lime 250g silken tofu 4 tbs mirin 4 tbs soy sauce 4 tbs honey salt pepper cooking oil a knob of butter radishes cucumbers sweet red peppers Method Wash the rice and cook it with a pinch of salt and a knob of butter for 10 minutes. When cooked, let it stand for 10 minutes. In the mean time cut the tofu in 2cm cubes and gently fry …

Tuna Steak with Bulgur & Beetroot

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Week 1 – 2021 This is another post from the series “I tried something new this week”. I started this year with a lot of inspiration! I have been watching a lot of cooking shows lately and my partner and I have decided to buy more food that we never cooked with. Every time we go to the local market we get a vegetable that we never used before. We also started to get ingredients that we are not comfortable cooking with. So we really pushed ourselves lately and is fun! This week we created this recipe and I thought of sharing it with you because it turned out great. We did tuna steaks with a bulgur salad and roasted beetroot and fennel. Ingredients (2 portions) 2 tuna steaks coriander seeds black peppercorns sea salt olive oil 1 lemon 100g bulgur 1/2 red onion a few plum tomatoes mooli radish 3 fresh beetroots 1 fennel parsley Method Step 1. Preheat the oven at 200°C, Peel the beetroot and cut it in wedges. Cut the fennel …

Sriracha & Honey Chicken Wings

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Week 53 – 2020 This is another post from the series “I tried something new this week”. It’s the last week of the year and my partner and I decided to try and do chicken wings at home. We like them but we didn’t know we can actually grill them at home the way we want to. We don’t have a barbecue so we decided to use the oven. They turned out really delicious so I am going to share with you how we’ve done them. Ingredients chicken wings sriracha honey salt pepper American BBQ Spice mix oil Method Preheat the oven at 180°C on the fan setting and prepare a wide tray with a grill on top of it. We used one of the grills that came with the oven. It’s a good idea to lay foil on the tray because the fat from the wings is going to drip. Season the chicken wings with salt, pepper and the spice mix. We used the bbq spice mix but you can mix your favourite spices, …

Crispy Rye Bread

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Week 52 – 2020 This is another post from the series “I tried something new this week”. Lately I have been watching some cooking shows and have been inspired to bake more. I like crispy bread because you can use it for canapés or for breakfast, it’s very simple to make and delicious. I am going to share with you a super simple rye crispy bread recipe. I used a Swedish sifted rye flour but you can use any rye flour, you can even mix it with barley flour if you like to use that in baking. Ingredients 25g fresh yeast / 12g dry yeast 1 teaspoon salt 250ml lukewarm milk 5dl rye flour Method Mix the yeast with the lukewarm milk in a bowl and when the mixture is smooth add the salt and the flour. Then use a hand mixer to make the dough. After the dough is mixed divide it in 10 equal parts. Each part should be around the size of an egg. Leave the dough under a tea towel for …

Udon Noodle Miso Soup

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Week 51 – 2020 This is another post from the series “I tried something new this week”. My partner and I like to try a lot of new recipes and new techniques when it comes to food. Every now and then we pick something that we are not comfortable cooking and we try to do it. We always put our own twist to it and if turns out ok we iterate on it, we alter the recipe after our own taste and we just make it better after a few tries. This week we made a soup with udon noodles and miso. When we saw this recipe we thought that some of the ingredients in this soup have never actually made their way into our cooking. A good reason for us to try. It turned out really well so I am going to share our adapted recipe here. We made 2 generous portions of soup. Ingredients 2 spring onions 250g shiitake mushrooms 1 Pak Choi 300g cooked udon noodles 1 tablespoon grated ginger 3 tablespoons …

Stopping the Time with Short Stories

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Week 50 – 2020 This is another post from the series “I tried something new this week”. I have written a few blog posts about trying something new each week and they were mostly about food but last week was a bit different. I wanted to start focusing on something that I wanted to do for a long time – learning how to write short stories. I am a big fan of short stories, I read anything that I can my hands on. From Chekhov to Neil Gaiman. I recently re-read some of the Grimm stories. I am particularly passionate about mythology and folklore stories. And I always wanted to learn how to write my own. In all honesty, I am not sure I am good at it, I have started to write and develop quite a few ideas, from stories that I heard as a child from my grandmother to fantasy stories that I came up with during my travels. There is only one way to find out if I am any good at …