Happy Mother's Day!
To be honest, I don't usually buy a lot of things for mom nor do many things for her. I know.. treats should not be limited to Mother's Day only, but since today is Mother's Day and mom is a `sucker' for special occasions.. hehe, so I wanted to put in that extra effort to do something for her.
I cooked for her! I also went out to buy her presents that she wanted - as she only told me last night..!
A few days ago, I asked where she would like to go for dinner.. or would she rather eat at home and try my cooking? She chose the latter. It was actually a better idea since grandma is not mobile and we wouldn't want to leave her at home!
So I pored over my recipe books for two days and by lunch time today, decided what I would cook. Mind you, I am hardly a culinary expert and I hardly cook for that matter. But the few times that I tried, the dishes turned out pretty good I would say. hehe.
Mom let me choose so I selected the feasible and tasty-looking ones. Creamy mushroom soup and grilled steak with capsicum. Yes, am going Western since we eat Chinese all the time. There were quite a number of ingredients that I needed to buy - from the meat and vege to sauces, vinegars and fresh herbs such as thyme and chive (which I honestly could not tell by their look!)
Oh, mom's specified gift was two lipsticks of particular shades to replace her current ones.
After lunch, I went to KLCC - for a change as I always go Bangsar. I decided that I would shop for her lipsticks at Parkson and the groceries at Isetan's supermarket.
While the lipsticks were the tougher ones to choose as I had to get the shades as close to her original ones.. the food stuff was easier. Isetan has a very good selection of food stuff and ingredients, thank goodness.
I reached home slightly after 5pm and started cooking right away! The soup took quite some time to make.. what with chopping, boiling, blending etc.. The steak was easier, just marinate with a few sauces but preparing the capsicum was time consuming! Especially after grilling, I had to peel off the skin (as according to the recipe) before mixing with garlic, vinegar and herbs..
As I forgot to get loaves, I improvised and cut the oatmeal bread at home into strips and toasted them, to dip into Balsamic vinegar and olive oil.
The taste? Well, the mushroom soup in particular was very yummy and mom had two big bowls! However, the steak turned out too tough, as they were grilled and not fried. Could not gage the timing. We liked the capsicum too.. and mom loves the bread and Balsamic vinegar
Overall, I was quite pleased with the results and mom thought the dinner was delicious. Guess she was a bit surprise that her daughter could actually cook! ;)
8 comments:
Wahhh! Looks good. Maybe next time you cook for us? I still prefer to pan fry my steaks - easier to monitor if they are done. Yeah, I love bread with olive oil and balsamic vinegar esp foccacia bread.
Boo, thanks. but how could i dare to even attempt to cook in front of an culinary expert like u? ;) (you should cook and i just assist you!)
do make the mushroom soup for us when we are back next time. but the steak... hmmm... no thanks...
chin.
nice to see some updates here
chin: why no thanks - the dish is actually quite nice but i will fry the steak next time rather than grill it in the oven. i think the recipe meant grill stove.
adrian: well, am kinda addicted to my blog :p
actually i reckon toughness of meat has little to do with pan frying or grilling. its the doneness of the meat which is easier to monitor by frying, not necessarily tenderness. if you buy those meat contracted to dunlop, you can do anything, but finally, you can still use it for your tyres. and then, with good cuts, it would take an idiot to foul that up. but your mushroom soup looks yummy. aiyo, how long does it take to grill and skin capsicum???
hmm..thanks for all the ingenious tips. well, i had my maid to help me skin half the capsicum so i don't think i took that long. the whole dinner preparation took about 2 hours plus.
yummy..the steak looks delicious man...make me feel like eating...haha:)
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