Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Easy Peasy Mashed Potato

scrumptious homemade mashed potato

the Ingredients:
A dash of Mixed Herbs

a handful Crinkle Cut chips, a straight cut also can

a dash of chicken granule

a bit of salt (optional)
a dash of ground black pepper
chopped fresh herbs: mint/basil/rosemary (optional)


How to Cook:
  1. add plain water to a cup of crinkle/straight cut potato. amount of water is depending on how moist (or lembik) you want your mashed potato to be. boil or microwaved for 2 mins.
  2. strain a bit of the water if you want your mashed potato to be thick. mash the chips with spoon so it became a soft texture. if u like, you can spare a few chips from being smashed entirely so that it will be of different texture.
  3. add mixed herbs, black pepper, chicken granule and some salt (optional) or chopped fresh herbs (optional) and stir evenly. it's done!
Serving: depends on how much fries you mashed

Preparation time: 3 mins at most.

Note:
i discover this recipe one fine night when i felt hungry with nothing much left in the fridge to cook for a proper meal. with some crinkle cut fries left, instead of frying (unhealthy owh!), i turned it into a filling impromptu snack. as usual, i substitute salt with chicken granule. if you like, you can add a topping of potato gravy (you have to cook it la), but to have this mashed potato on its own is enough to tide you over until your next proper meal.

Spaghetti Bolognese Sauce

Spaghetti with Meatballs in Bolognese Sauce



What's the Ingredients:

400g of minced meat
1 spoon of mixed herbs/oregano
5 diced garlic

1 diced capsicum (optional)

2 spoons of Nando's Hot sauce

a dash of mixed herbs powder

2 packets of  instant mushroom soup


a dash of chicken granules

1 tin of baked beans (optional)

a dash of salt

1 tin of sliced button mushrooms

1 sliced carrot

2 chopped fresh tomatoes

2 tins of plain water

500g of pre cooked meat balls (optional)

chilli sauce and tomato sauce

a dash of black pepper powder

3 big spoons of olive oil


How to Cook:
  1. Heat the olive oil with diced garlic. once the aroma floats, put in the the minced meat and stir evenly. add  chopped fresh tomatoes.
  2. Add dashes of black pepper powder, salt and mixed herbs powder. Put 1 spoon of mixed herbs a dash of chicken granules. usually if i used chicken granules, i tend to lessen the amount of salt, sometimes i don't add it at all just to have a less salty sauce.
  3. Add water sparingly to even out the taste. add chilli sauce, tomato sauce and 2 spoons of Nando's Hot sauce. if you prefer it to taste much hotter, do add capsicum and adjust the sauces to reflect your preference. Nando's sauce will give the tangy taste and it must be added carefully so that it won't ruin the general taste of the bolognese sauce.
  4. Add sliced button mushrooms and carrots. if you prefer a more filling bolognese sauce (or if your minced meat is not enough), do add baked beans or meat balls. i usually microwaved the meat balls for 2 mins first so that it won't taste raw.
  5. As the sauce simmer, add the instant Mushroom Soup. this will thicken the sauce. if you prefer a thick sauce, you might want to add an additional packet.
  6. Leave the sauce on the stove for 5 minutes so that the taste will blend nicely. and it's done!

Servings: 10 - 15 people

Preparation time: 30 mins

Note:

This is my favourite dish in case friends drop by short noticed. it's simple to prepare. In 6 easy steps, basically I'm just throwing the ingredients and mashing it up in the pan to create a signature dish. To me it is cost-saving as i don't have to use instant bolognese mixture which is a bit price-y and available in bottles/packets. no cheese is added either but the cheaper instant mushroom soup often came with cheese in it.

Just Notes #1

Salam.

Welcome to Campak-Campak Je (just throw it), an alternative blog with basic approach to cooking your favourite dishes. Culinary fans beware, the recipe is definitely of your own personal creation and creativity, i'm just lending some tips to help you cook at home even when the fridge supplies are running low.

this blog shall list out the necessary must-have items in the fridge (Kitchen Must-Have). the list will be useful when u go out for groceries and definitely be of most help when friends'family come knocking for a dinner together at night.

bon apetit and happy cooking :)