Pork Stroganoff

And today's quick and easy meal menu is... Pork Stroganoff :)

Total Time:

40 min

Prep

10 min

Cook

30 min

Ingredients:

• 375 g (12 oz) fettuccine
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
• 2 teaspoons poppy seeds
• 500 g (1 lb) pork fillet, cut into strips
• 8 ounces sliced mushrooms
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 medium onion, halved or quartered and thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup flour seasoned with 1/2 teaspoon salt, dash pepper, and 1/4 teaspoon paprika
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 can (14 ounces) cups beef broth
• 3 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 cup sour cream

How To Cook:

1. Cook   fettuccine in boiling water in a large saucepan following packet instructions. Drain and toss through olive oil, minced garlic and poppy seeds (I used sesame seeds as an alternative as poppy seeds are not available here in Dubai) Set aside to keep warm.
2. Sauté sliced mushrooms in butter in a large skillet until just tender. Remove to a bowl; set aside.
3. Toss pork in seasoned flour to coat, shake off excess. 
4. Add oil to skillet; brown pork with onions, stirring frequently. Add back the mushrooms, the beef broth, ketchup, and Worcestershire sauce. Simmer briskly for 5 minutes. Cover and continue to simmer over low heat for 20 minutes longer.
5. Stir in sour cream and heat through. Serve immediately with fettuccine. 

Enjoy and Happy Eating! :)

Orange Pork Chops

I know..I know...I haven't been on since no one cares how long, but now I'm back so let's get down to business and cut the crappucino LOL! :p

I am by no means an expert in the kitchen. In fact, this is one shortcoming that really plagues me as a mom. Luckily, my hubby is one helluva great cook (master chef in his past life as he says although he's not really good in clean ups :p) but I really did learn quite a lot from him. So recently,  I’ve made it a personal goal to cook more, and to experiment in the kitchen, to put more wholesome, home-cooked meals on my family’s table. And to keep myself accountable I am going to be blogging about this journey. Woop! =D>

So here's a quick fix meal I prepared for tonight. I hope you enjoy this recipe, just as my family did! 

Total Time:

30 min

Prep

10 min

Cook

20 min

 Orange Pork Chops

Ingredients: 

• 5 Pork Chops
• 250 mL (8 fl oz) orange juice 
• 2.5 tbsp ground coriander
• 2 tbsp orange marlmalade
• ground pepper
• 1 tbsp oil
•  15 g (1/2 ox) butter

How To Cook:

1. Combine coriander and black pepper and sprinkle over chops. 
2. Heat oil and butter in a frying pan and cook chops over high heat for 2-3 minutes each side.
3. Add orange juice and marmalade and cook for 10-15 minutes longer, or until chops are cooked through and sauce thickens slightly.
4. Prepare vegetables of  your choice to accompany Orange Pork Chops

 
Optional Desert:
Melon Salad
Ingredients:

•  250 g (8 oz) natural yogurt
• 1 teaspoon lime juice
• 2 teaspoons grated lime rind
• 1/2 melon, peeled, seeded and sliced
• 3 tbsps honey
• 3 tbsps chopped walnuuts

How To Prepare:

1.  Combine yogurt, lime juice and lime rind in a small bowl
2. Arrange melons on individual serving plates. Spoon yogurt mixture over fruit, drizzle honey and sprinkle walnuts.

Happy home cooking! Until next time... /bye

Virgo-gos Road Trip

Awesome weekend getaway with two of my best girlies, Therese and Tracy! And here the best highlights of the first of many road trips to come:

1.       Hotel Hopping: Switching hotels all around Abu Dhabi in attempt to find restaurants/bars serving alcohols which didn't came too easy considering it's the Holy month of Ramadan

2.       Speed Craze: Drove the Ford Mustang GT hitting 210km/hr speed on our way to Liwa.

3.       Cheeky Weather: Experienced sandstorm then rain showers in a scorching 117 degrees summer heat within 10 minutes ;)

4.       Sands of Liwa: We got stuck in the sand attempting to find a great spot for taking pictures. Two men with a pickup truck came but failed to help us out. Luckily a tanker truck carrying sweet water finally pulled the Mustang out. Fact: people from the Western Region are very generous and really helpful without expecting anything in return. But then of course we insisted to give them some money for the trouble we've caused them; not to mention eating probably a handful of sand grains during the attempt but hey so did we plus stiff, brittle and dry hair!

  

@Aloft Hotel - our dwelling for one night

@Le Meridien Hotel

@Capital Gate Hyatt

Roaming around Abu Dhabi

@Emirates Palace Hotel

@Hakassan- Emirates Palace Hotel

candid shot taken by Tracy

photo taken by: Tracy :)

photo taken by: Tracy :)

somewhere in the middle of Liwa Desert

 
 Therese made this beautiful, movie-like masterpiece video (naks!) so as to keep the good times rollin'! Cape girls, c'est la vie!!!