I feel like chicken tonight, like chicken tonight!

I was looking for a change from the usual burgers I make, and stumbled across this recipe from taste.com.au - which is, by the way, a great website!


Of course, once again, I couldn't get all the ingredients I need; damn you Japan! So I made many adaptions. Here they are:


First of all, I replaced the fresh basil and mint with a good sprinkling of dried basil and mint.


Second, I don't have a food processor in which to make breadcrumbs, so I just used some bought ones.


Furthermore, I don't like the idea of putting yoghurt all over my burger, so I made my own sauce - mayonnaise mixed with sweet chilli sauce. Very yummy!


Finally, I halved the recipe so that it just serves two, not four.


All in all, it worked out ok, but the hubby and I found it a bit too lemony. Next time, I won't use all that lemon rind.


Anyway, this is a good idea for something different, and quite filling served with a few chips and some extra mayo/sweet chilli sauce.

Cook up a slice of magic!

You know, due to my well stocked pantry and freezer, it's great to know that there is almost always something delicious that I can cook up at home when I'm feeling tired, lazy and depleted of fresh ingredients.


Here it is: pizza!



I use a tortilla as the base - I always have a stash of these in the freezer. Then, I put pasta sauce all over the base. I think this is much more flavoursome than using tomato paste. For the toppings, I use fried sliced chorizo sausage (I always have them in the freezer), chopped ham, sweet red peppers from a jar, sliced spring onions and plenty of cheese.



I cook this in the toaster oven until the edges are crispy and the cheese is all bubbly.



Very satisfying with a glass of red! Not to mention, it's faster and cheaper than take-away.

Thai Pork Stir-Fry

I am absolutely crazy about Thai food. I think I must have been a Thai in a past life. I could probably eat it every day of the week! I love the spiciness, the mix of robust flavours, and the use of crunchy fresh vegetables.

Here is a recipe which I created myself, perfected by adapting it each time.

Ingredients:

about 300g lean pork (fillet is best, I think), thinly sliced

half an onion, thinly sliced

a clove of garlic, crushed

about an inch of grated ginger

mix of your fave vegies; I used snow peas, capsicum, baby corn, carrot, and bok choy

a quarter to half a cup of chicken stock

a handful of cashews, almonds, or both

Sauce:

half a cup of chicken stock

2 tsp cornstarch

3 tsp oyster sauce

1 tsp soy sauce

2 tsp fish sauce

1 tsp brown sugar

a splash of lime

1 chopped dried chilli (2 if you like more heat)

some dried lemongrass

about 2 shredded dried karrir lime leaves

Method:

First, heat a bit of canola oil in a wok or frying pan. Stir fry the onion, garlic and ginger for about a minute. Then, add the pork. Stir fry for about 2 minutes, or until the pork looks cooked. Remove all of this from the pan and set aside.

Then, throw in the chicken stock. Basically, you are going to steam your vegies. Add the vegies, starting with the hardest ones first, briefly covering the wok with a lid so that your vegies steam in there.

In the meantime, prepare the sauce. First, mix the cornstarch with a little of the chicken stock to form a paste. Now, add the rest of the chicken stock and all the other sauce ingredients.

Back to the vegies. Once they are just about done, all you do is throw it all together. Add to the pan the reserved pork, the sauce mixture and the nuts. Give it all a big stir and cook briefly until the sauce is thick and hot.

Serve over steamed jasmine rice, and add a garnish. This portion serves two!

Viola!

You should note that it might be nice to add some fresh corriander to this. Unfortunately, I can't buy fresh corriander at any supermarkets near me, hence my reliance on dried ingredients for the Thai flavour. But it works pretty well!

Mini Chocolate Croissants

Well! I've been wanting to try out this recipe for quite some time, but I was waiting for a rainy Saturday afternoon when I had nothing better to do. Finally, I decided to give it a go. They turned out not half bad - a 9 out of 10 from the fussy one in the household.

It's a Nigella recipe, and you can find a copy of it here.

As I don't have an oven, I simply followed the recipe but whacked them in the toaster oven.

They were oh-so-delicious with a big old mug of strong coffee.

A tidal wave of good cooking coming your way!

Hello everyone and thanks for stopping by!

For those who don't know me, I'm Mel and I live in Japan. Inspired by my fellow Facebook addicts, I've decided to keep a photographic cooking journal. Because Facebook has its limitations, I decided that starting a blog was even better!

I don't have an oven and I can't always buy my favourite ingredients, but I do the best I can to feed myself and my overly fussy husband.

So thanks for checking out Comely Cuisine, and join me on my zany adventures in my cramped Japanese kitchen.