2 Pre-Exam fuel

Year 3 Sem 2 Final Exams, here I come!

Status: rushing to complete a 3000 word essay due on Wed (which has currently morphed into 5000+ words and counting), and unrevised work for my other modules are mounting, but not feeling a tinge of stress. Now, I'm stressing over why I don't feel stress.

Gluttony got the better of me and after my 17th seed of durian over the span of just three days, I'm starting to feel the effects of heatiness, bloatedness and maybe, sore throat. That makes 6 durian seeds a day! If I'm ever going to gain weight, I think it would have to be through durians. However, I just weighed myself and the scale has not budged. This reinforces my growing suspicion of a metabolic enzyme dysfunction in my system.

Anyway, to relieve my symptoms of durian overdose, I had in mind a simple dinner: a salad made out of leftover carrots, patty pan squash (its name is just too cute!), and red peppers. But the plan derailed - for the better. Initially wanted to just roast the peppers. Then I thought roasting the carrots would be a good idea too (think sweet caramelized carrots!) Seeing some fresh (wilted) thyme in the fridge, I used it with olive oil to coat the veggies. At the last minute I threw in a cute patty pan squash. And then, to feed my latest obsession, roasted garlic, I drizzled olive oil into a head of garlic and that went into the oven too. Meanwhile, I had some leftover yellow onions from last week's bolognese and attempted to caramelize onions. I also spied a box of scallops in the freezer. And so, 45 minutes later, my "simple salad" had evolved into a plate of yumminess:

Roasted Medit Veggies with Intense Garlic Toast

Ingredients

2/3 carrot, chopped

1/2 red pepper

1 patty pan

1/2 tsp fresh thyme

1 head garlic

1/2 small yellow onion, chopped

1 tsp raspberry balsamic vinegar

2 frozen scallops

1 tsp sunflower seeds

Olive oil as needed

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 200 C.
2. Coat carrots with olive oil and thyme.
3. Cut away the top part of garlic and drizzle some olive oil. Wrap the garlic head with foil.
4. Place carrots, pepper, patty pan and wrapped garlic into baking tray and roast for 30-40 min.
5. Meanwhile, caramelize onions. Heat pan, drizzle some olive oil and pour in onions. Intermittently, add a teaspoon or so of water to prevent burning. Watch closely!
6. Once onions are done (~30 min), pan-fry scallops, then sunflower seeds.
7. Toast a hunk of bread (Cedele wholemeal ciabatta)
8. Squeeze out the roasted garlic cloves (as many as you want) and mash.
9. Spread generously on toast.
10. Assemble the veggies and toast and enjoy!

With the roasted root vegetables, it was a very Mediterranean meal and harked back to lovely days in Turkey. It was also my first time roasting patty pan (instead of steaming) and I say roasting does amazing things to intensity the fragile flavors of the mini-saucer-like squash! And finally, roasted garlic has got to be the most amazing thing I discovered this year. The easiest and simplest "recipe" (does it even warrant to be called a recipe?) but delivers potent and robust flavors. It's pure garlic without the butter. I showed that to mum, and she warned me not to eat too much because of blood pressure lowering properties. Haha.

Thursday will be arriving!

(Should I take MRT or bus to school tmr? In light of recent events, I think I'd better play safe and take bus.)

0 Skewered on lemongrass

The marinade is all that matters. This Vietnamese-inspired marinade is assertive but not overpowering, salty but nicely balanced with a touch of sweetness. It is so good it will knock the feelers of your shrimps (if they were still living!).

This is one of my few times handling fresh shrimps and what a pain it is. First you need to dehead them, followed by peeling and deveining. Removing innards is NOT appealing. In addition to the intestinal tract on the dorsal side, I had also realized there is another vein running on the ventral side - the ventral nerve cord (CNS of the shrimp). Some people may choose to leave that on (saves the deveining time by half), but I don't want to be eating any CNS matter so I removed that too.

For a creative flair, I skewered the seafood onto the remaining lemongrass stalks. (Nothing goes to waste!)

Shrimp and Scallop Lemongrass Skewers

Yield: 4 servings (8 skewers)

Ingredients

16 large shrimps/prawns (~300 g), cleaned

16 scallops (I used frozen), cleaned
Marinade

1 large lemongrass stalk, sliced into 5 cm pieces + 8 more as skewers

2 cloves garlic, chopped

2 limes, juiced

2 small birds eye chilies, sliced (I sub-ed with red chili, though not as piquant)

2 tsp grated ginger

1/4 cup fresh coriander (chinese parsley)

3 tbsp fish sauce

2 tbsp palm sugar (sub-ed with 3/4 tbsp white sugar)

2 tbsp vegetable oil

Directions
1. Mix all ingredients for the marinade and process to form a paste.
2. Marinade shrimps and scallops for at least 1 h.
3. Make a cut in the shrimp and scallop and skewer alternately through a lemongrass stalk.
3. Preheat oven to broil setting (or use a grill).
4. Broil for 4 mins each side or until red.

I can't help but rave about this marinade! It was a tad bit salty. Maybe a little less fish sauce next time.