Interesting the one by two kitchen dishes pictures to keep you entertained!

Hello again everybody!


I decided to be more active for the one by two kitchen blog in 2011, and here comes the second post of the year!


This one is not a recipe post, though. This is an overview of what I have been creating and cooking in the past week. During the past week I have somehow found myself being filled with constant rush of creativity (especially in creating new recipes and getting inspired!) At night time I often think about new recipe dishes. I guess this must be because of my current obsession of staying slim with less carbs; this seems to intrigue the creativity side of me to find new dishes that are appealing and carb-less.. Anyway since not everyone here knows me personally on Facebook (I use Google Analytics to analyse my blog's popularity and such and found that the people who read my blogs actually come from everywhere), I decide to post this picture+blog collections!


So if you're a fan of carbohydrates, please put up with me! Next week I shall be introducing healthy carbs back to the blog!


First and foremost - seafood. Have I mentioned how big of a fan I am of seafood and especially of prawns?

King prawn medley with tomato and spring onion; served with miso soup! 

I've always loved king prawns, and this is the first time that I got king prawns with tails while in the UK (M&S Food store). The taste of this dish reminds me of the Mediterranean sea and of the beaches in Bali. Yum!

Onto the second one then! This is chicken breast filled with cheese slices wrapped with Parma ham (better known as Prosciutto!) and served with asparagus (one of my favourite vegetables of all time).

Chicken breast and asparagus, each wrapped in Prosciutto and served with tomato. Chicken breast is filled with cheese slices.

Notice the singularity. Tomato. That's because my personal view on this dish is that since the prosciutto would make the chicken and asparagus rather salty, the tomato should add a bit of tanginess to the dish and thus lessen the saltiness. I might be wrong, Gordon Ramsay might laugh at my idea if he must, but I can only say good things about this recipe. It makes me want more, although I'm still working on how to minimize the saltiness. The reason I did not choose bacon and use Prosciutto is because of the high fat content of bacon! I'm going to experiment more about this dish, perhaps using mozzarella and other type of hams!

Seafood, tick. Chicken, tick. I'm also a big fan of extra lean meat. Although I'd be honest, I don't eat red meat or pork that much. However I got hold of extra lean pork in Sainsbury's and, at one night, this inspiration comes. I'm still very proud of this dish that I found, I simply love the taste. What else can I ask?

the one by two kitchen take on Buta no Misoyaki with lettuce and egg!

Basically they're made up of two extra lean porks, egg, lettuces, Japanese soy sauce, and miso paste. I'll post the recipe of this (I think I've made it to close-to-perfection by my standard). The picture above is when I'm cooking the dish (it looks beautiful!) Here's another picture (after balancing the lights).

And below is the picture of when it is served:

That's Buta no Misoyaki ala the one by two kitchen for you!


Second to last is another take of pan-seared tuna steak, this time served with Mascarpone sauce. Alright I did not make the Mascarpone sauce, ok? Gordon Ramsay made this sauce and sold it for Comic Relief and I happened to pass by this product in Sainsbury's! Still - what a nice dinner for me!

And below is the close-up look of my Pan-seared Tuna with Mascarpone sauce (and asparagus!)

Right - and I'm finishing off with a vegetarian (not vegan) dish! It's Quorn chicken with mushroom , pan-fried with lighter than light Flora butter!


PS: Super amazing way to start off your day!

ALRIGHT - that's about it for now! I'm going to post more recipes as soon as my brain starts working (I'm gonna be brutally honest - I am going crazy with my university's research project going now, I mistook socks for my clothes, misread stuffs and just went brain-crazy the whole day today).


Leave me some messages and comments. Or subscribe to this blog!


I shall want you to read more interesting posts later!


LOVE. the one by two kitchen.

Pan Seared Tuna Steak

Hi everybody!


Firstly a big happy new year hugs to you all! 2011 should be more fun, better and full of love to you all!


Sorry for taking ages of updating my blog.. Basically, I truthfully, whole-heartedly blame this on the amount of coursework I've been having (I only have time for Facebook and Twitter, believe me or not but going online on MSN or Skype are for the sole purpose of asking questions about my never-ending coursework!)


Now that I'm free from all those horrible days (and horrible, crappy and unhealthy food), I'm back to cooking and blogging and taking awesome pictures too!


The good thing is that I recently bought myself a new camera. It's a digital compact camera (Pentax RZ10) with good optical zooms (precisely what I need) and so all the pictures from now on would look better (hopefully!) I'm still trying to master the camera so hopefully soon I'll be able to produce good pictures for the one by two kitchen!


After the holiday (end of year holiday) and especially Christmas, a lot of us (including me) would really fancy some fix to our waist length after all those merry foods we've been eating. I was in Spain, and was in love with the Paella, the Tapas, the gelatos, sangria, cocktails, more cocktails and more wines. I know I needed to get back in shape so last week I started on dieting.


I've always been a big fan of the SBD (South Beach Diet) simply cos it works for me. Simply put, cut out the unhealthy carbs, eat the healthy ones, and eat more veggies/lean protein.


That's why one of my newly found recipe is the Pan Seared Tuna Steak, inspired by Manchester's The Second Floor restaurant at Harvey Nichols!

The overall impression of my pan-seared tuna steak!

It's fairly easy too. These days I tend to use butter instead of my usual oil. However if you're watching your waist, make sure that it's a low-fat butter or lighter than light butter (mine is Flora, lighter than light).


For my dinner, I made it half-done/medium-well, simply because I'm a huge fan of everything that is medium-well. However if you have doubts over the freshness of your fish, do cook it thoroughly.


Alright, I'll stop the talking and get you ready for this low carb/high protein meal!


Makes 1 Serving


Ingredients:

• Tuna steak - around 200 grams (FRESH ones please! I got mine from M&S)
• Japanese Teriyaki Sauce (around 4-5 tablespoons for marinating)
• Low-fat Butter (you may substitute for oil)
• Spring Onions (2)
• Fresh Lettuce (a handful)
• Tomatoes (two medium-sized)
• Lime (half)

How to Prepare:

• Cut lightly, vertical and horizontal, on one side of the tuna steak. Do not cut deeply, this is merely to marinate the tuna steak
• Pour 4-5 tablespoons of teriyaki sauce in a bowl and marinate your tuna steak
• Leave it for 3-5 minutes or until you finish cooking the tomato/lettuce stir-fry
• Chop the spring onions to small pieces
• Chop the lettuces to small pieces
• Cut the tomatoes to eight small pieces
• On a pan, smear butter on the pan and put the spring onions in, sizzle for 1-2 minutes
• Put the lettuce and the tomatoes in
• Sprinkle lightly with the teriyaki sauce
• Stir-fry until the lettuce and the tomatoes are cooked to your liking
• Remove the stir-fry from the pan to a plate
• You might want to clean your pan at this time, I choose not to
• If your pan is very dry, lightly coat it with butter or oil and wait until it sizzles
• Place your tuna steak on the pan
• Sizzle for around 3-5 minutes if you are on a medium heat, or until one side turns opaque (don't wait until it turns opaque to the centre of the steak if you want it to be medium-well)
• Flip and sizzle for another 3 minutes until the other side turns opaque
• You might want to hold the tuna steak while cooking the thin side of the steak, do not overcook!
• Move the steak on top of your stir-fry
• Sprinkle Shichimi (Japanese chilli powder) on top of the tuna
• Garnish with lime
• Serve!

This is what you want to achieve if you're doing medium-well

That's it! How easy can it be? How lovely can it be too! I simply love the taste and the half-doneness of the dish. Remember to choose fresh tuna from a good store. I found mine in Marks and Spencer, very fresh and quite good. However you might want to cook the tuna well-done if you have doubts against the freshness/healthiness of eating raw food.

Leave the one by two kitchen some comments or send me messages! Greatly appreciated!

LOVE. the one by two kitchen.