SRC 2018 Reunion – Sweet Chili Pork

by Trisha Vaz
I feel so immensely happy as I type this post and I owe it all to our SRC Reunion event. Those of you who’ve been around here for a while, will know that I was part of this super fun group called the Secret Recipe Club. This was a lot of fun, sort of like Secret Santa for food bloggers. You were assigned a partner and you had to pick and cook a recipe from their blog and all the members would post about it on a pre-determined day called Reveal Day. I was part of the SRC right from June 2011 to November 2016, a little over 5 years. So when we wrapped that up, I knew I would missed this bunch of bloggers.

Early last month, Sarah of Fantastical Sharing of Recipes, who happens to be our SRC boss lady 😉  called out to all the club members and announced an SRC reunion event. Of course, I signed up for it and for this event, I was assigned Micha’s blog, Cooking Mimi. Micha’s blog is packed with great recipes. I had an absolute blast going through her blog and picking a recipe for today. After a lot of looking around I narrowed my choices down to this Hawaiian Pork, Potstickers (she even makes her own potsticker wrappers), Quick and Crispy Pork Cutlets and her Sweet Chili Pork. Have you spotted the trend here? I somehow happened to be zeroing in on Pork recipes. So this much was clear, I knew I was making Pork. When I saw her recipe for Sweet Chili Pork my mind was made up. This is what I was going to make.

Before we move on to the recipe, let’s talk about this Sweet Chili Pork, shall we? This dish has it all with juicy little pieces of pork tossed in a sweet sauce with mild heat from the Sweet Chili sauce and the crunch of the onion and capsicum just rounds it off beautifully. I could not believe how easy this recipe was. I wanted to try it just to see if a recipe this minimal would hit the spot. And hit the spot it did. I am so glad I tried this out. My husband is not a fussy eater but he is my biggest critic and helps me work on recipes and tweak them. He was floored by this recipe. And I agree with him 100%. This recipe is very similar to the kind of takeaway meals we got back in Bombay, albeit not with pork, but with chicken. Thank you Micha, for an absolute stunner.

I only made a couple of minor additions to the original recipe. I added some finely chopped ginger and garlic and some pieces of capsicum (green peppers) to the recipe. We served this up with some fried rice, but this would work very well with some noodles too.

 



Don’t forget to see what the others have whipped up for our 2018 reunion –

SRC 2018 Reunion - Sweet Chili Pork
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SRC 2018 Reunion – Sweet Chili Pork

Recipe by Trisha VazCourse: MainsCuisine: American – ChineseDifficulty: Medium
Servings

4

servings
Prep time

10

minutes
Cooking time

20

minutes

Juicy little pieces of pork tossed in a sweet sauce with mild heat from the Sweet Chili sauce and the crunch of the onion and capsicum.

Ingredients

  • 1/4 kg boneless pork

  • 1 egg

  • 1/3 cup flour

  • 1/4 cup cornstarch

  • 1/2 cup + 1 tbsp vegetable oil

  • 1 large onion, cut into cubes

  • 1 /2 green capsicum, cut into cubes (similar in size to the onion cubes)

  • 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

  • 1/2″ ginger, finely chopped

  • 1/2 cup sweet chilli sauce

  • Salt, to taste

  • 1 tbsp lime juice

Directions

  • Heat 1/2 cup of oil in a skillet over moderate heat.
  • Crack the egg into a small bowl, whisk it and set it aside.
  • In another bowl, mix the flour and cornstarch.
  • Cut the pork into bite sized pieces.
  • Toss the pieces in a little salt and lime juice. Toss the pork pieces in the flour mix. Then dip them in the egg and in the flour mix again .
  • Fry the pieces of pork in batches for about 3-4 minutes a side or until golden brown and crispy. Drain and set aside.
  • Heat 1 tbsp of oil in another pan.
  • When the oil is hot, add the onion and capsicum and stir fry till the pieces have just started to soften. I like mine a little crunchy. Cook it to your desired level of doneness.
  • Add the finely chopped ginger and garlic and stir it around.
  • Add the sweet chilly sauce and the fried pork pieces. Stir to coat everything in the sweet chili sauce. At this point, if you want a little more sauce in the dish, add some more. Toss well.

    Serve hot.

    Enjoy!!!
     

Trisha Vaz

This post was posted in Mains, Pork, Recipes

SRC: Strawberry Oat Smoothie

by Trisha Vaz
This month for my SRC reveal, I was assigned Leslie’s blog, La Cocina de Leslie. If you haven’t visited her blog yet, let me ask to go over right now and check it out. Don’t worry, this post will still be here when you get back. I was amazed at the collection of delicious recipes on her blog. I found myself drooling at all the Mexican fare on her blog. I can’t wait to try a few of them out. The way things worked for me was there were a few things at play – work is super busy at the moment, that coupled with the usual chores at home, I haven’t have the time to stop and breathe. At the same time, the weather has warmed up quite a bit at the moment. We seem to have jumped from winter to summer in about a week. I would’ve liked a longer Spring. But this means we have lots of delicious berries to work with. I needed something yummy and quick to make. So when I saw Leslie’s post on Strawberry Oat Smoothies, I knew I had to try it.

Usually my husband is the one who whips up the smoothies in our house. I have also consciously started taking some juice or a homemade smoothie to work over the last couple of weeks. Its been a nice change and has helped me lay off the coffee and give me a burst of energy that I need. I just made a couple of changes to the recipe for this smoothie like leaving out the cinnamon and I also cut down the honey to half. You could adjust the sweetness to your liking. I would like to try it soon with the cinnamon and see how that turns out. Let me tell you a little about this smoothie. Even though it didnt have any cream, yogurt, ice cream or avocado, it turned out nice and creamy and that was a pleasant surprise. I reckon I have the oats to thank for that. They also give the smoothie good substance and a glass of this great stuff will keep you going for a while. I have a punnet of blueberries that I will use to make another batch of these smoothies. Thanks Leslie for introducing me to a great new twist on the smoothie. 🙂



Strawberry Oat Smoothie
(Makes 2)

1 1/2 cup cold milk
12-15 strawberries
4 tbsp. dry oats
2 tbsp. honey

Place all the ingredients in the bowl of a food processor and puree till smooth.

Pour out into a glass and enjoy!!!

Trisha Vaz

This post was posted in Beverages, Breakfast, Recipes

SRC: Blueberry Muffins

by Trisha Vaz
I’ve just about recovered from a bout of fever, and while the fever seems to have left me, what I seem to be stuck with are the blues. So while I was researching my assigned blog this month, Love and Flour, I came across LeAndra’s post on Blueberry Muffins. Oh they looked good! Imaging my surprise when I read her post and realized that she whipped these up on a day when like me, she was a little blue. I loved the idea of the warmth that the ginger and cinnamon added to the recipe. So I decided, then and there, that this was going to be my post for the SRC reveal this month.

Mind you, with a blog like Love and Flour, LeAndra has a ton of recipes that will take you by the hand, lead you to the kitchen and urge you to make them. Before I decided on these muffins, I was considering the Banana Rum Cake, Marbled Chocolate & Vanilla Quick Bread, Tiramisu Bread Pudding (I still intend making this soon), or on the savory side this Corn Pudding and these Crab Cakes. I was torn between these choices so I was really glad when the Blueberry Muffins spoke up 🙂

The muffins were easy to make. The batter came together really quick and then all it took was 20 minutes in the oven. I pretty much stuck to the recipe except for the cinnamon powder. I used it but just reduced the amount compared to what the original recipe called for. I couldn’t seem to figure where it went, so I just added it to the sugary topping mix. Another thing I noticed was that the ingredient list had white sugar mentioned twice, I considered that a typo. Also, something I was really excited about was, for a change, I managed to get the actual yield that the recipe suggested. Happy days!!!

On another note, check out these cupcake liners I picked up at the supermarket a couple of days ago. They look like so much fun. I baked the muffins in these liners and I think it would be a fantastic way to add muffins to a kids birthday party dessert spread.

Back to the muffins. These blueberry muffins were amazing. They weren’t too sweet, just the way I like it. I loved the flavor that the cinnamon added. And those bursts of delicious berries with the light crunch of the sugary topping were something else altogether. In all, I’d consider this the perfect muffin. Its everything I look for in a muffin and so much more. Do yourself a favor and make them soon.

And don’t forget to hop on over to LeAndra’s blog and say Hi.

Blueberry Muffins
Makes 12

1 1/2 cups All purpose flour
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup granulated sugar, divided in half
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
Zest of 1 lemon, divided in half
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup milk
1 egg
1 1/2 cup frozen blueberries
1/2 tsp cinnamon powder

Preheat the oven to 200°C. Line a muffin pan with paper liners.

In a small bowl, mix the topping ingredients – 1/4 cup granulated sugar, the cinnamon powder and half the lemon zest.

In another bowl, mix the dry ingredients – the flour, brown sugar, 1/4 cup granulated sugar, baking powder, salt and 1/2 the zest.

In a large bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients – the milk, oil and egg.

Stir in the dry ingredients till combined.

Fold in the blueberries.

Spoon the batter into the lined muffin tin, filling almost to the top.

Sprinkle with the topping mix.

Bake at 200°C for 20 minutes or till a toothpick pierced through the middle comes out clean.

Enjoy!!!

Trisha Vaz

This post was posted in Breakfast, Cakes, Cakes, Cookies & Desserts, Recipes, Snacks

SRC: Spinach Stuffed Omelette

by Trisha Vaz
Hello everybody! Last month sure flew past. All of a sudden it was time for yet another SRC reveal. Don’t know what SRC is – well, its only the coolest foodie club around. We are a group of bloggers who come together each month for what we call an SRC reveal. Each month we are assigned a blog from the group and we pick out one recipe from the assigned blog, make it ourselves and post about it on reveal day. The only catch it, you cannot disclose which blog you’ve been assigned till the reveal day. Its so much fun. I’ve been a part of this fun group for a while now, and it is so much fun. If you’d like to join, you can find more details here.

This month, I was assigned Beth’s blog – It’s Good to be the Cook What a fun name for a blog! Not surprising, since Beth sounds like a fun girl too. She cooks up some serious yum and strongly believes in eating healthy and exercising. She loves her sports and a 100% dog person (that’s what she calls herself). I totally get that – I’m a 100% dog person all the way. I totally fell in love with Stella May, her really adorable little dog. Go on over and say hi to Beth and Stella, will you!
For this months reveal, I had quite a few options. What I really love about Beth’s food is that apart from being healthy, it is also no fuss and big on the flavors – something I look for in food. I narrowed my options down to this Italian Hoagie Dip, Beth’s Springtime Tuna Salad, Sriracha White Bean Dip and this Onion, Tomato, Spinach Scramble. There’s plenty more great recipes on Beth’s blog, so make sure you stop by. I decided to go with the Onion, tomato, spinach scramble. The weather in Sydney has cooled down considerably and there’s nothing better than starting the day with a nice hot brekkie. This is the perfect option for a nice weekend breakfast. I’ve made a lot of omelettes in my lifetime, but this one was different. You saute the onion and tomato before adding the egg, and this intensifies the flavors and makes it extra yum. That coupled with the baby spinach stuffed in it results in something stunning. Pretty and colorful to look at and so tasty, not forgetting your getting some greens in as well. This one is simple but hits the spot.
If you have trouble getting the little folk in your house to eat up their greens, this is an ideal way to get some in their diet. The spinach doesn’t alter the taste of the omelette, but it adds all of its goodness to their diet. Here’s the spinach, before you can flip half the omelette over the other side.
Spinach Stuffed Omelette
Makes 1
2 eggs, beaten
2 tbsp chopped onions
2 tbsp chopped tomatoes
A little chopped green, red chillies, to taste (optional)
A small knob of butter / a tsp oil
Salt, to taste
Freshly crushed black pepper, to taste
A handful of baby spinach, roughly chopped (I might’ve used approx. 15 leaves, you can use as much as you’d like)
Heat some butter or oil in a pan.
Add the onion and chilly (if using) and saute till the onions soften up a bit.
Add the tomato and stir fry for a minute. Season with salt and pepper.
Add the beaten egg and let it set on one side.
Place the spinach on one half of the omelette.
Carefully, flip the vacant half of the omelette over the other side.
Let it cook through. Flip over and let it cook on the other side too.
Cook to you liking.
Serve hot with some toast and a nice hot cup of coffee.
Here’s a peek of what it looks like cut into. See the spinach peeking through –

Trisha Vaz

This post was posted in Breakfast, Recipes

SRC: Blueberry Pancakes

by Trisha Vaz

Here we are at October’s SRC reveal. How I love reveal days! I’m happy to say that this month’s reveal treated me to the yummiest breakfast in a long, long time. For this month, I was assigned Kim’s blog, Everyday Mom. Kim’s blog has so much deliciousness packed in one place, I was spoiled for choice. She cooks and bakes with her 3 gorgeous children and you will see them featured in her posts. I was torn between quite a few of her recipes, like this Crunchy Kale, and this Chicken Satay Salad, and the yummy Mango Panna Cotta, these super fun Tortilla Bowls, Zuchinni Fries and these Black Bean Sweet Potato Quesadillas. Can you imagine the dilemma I was faced with? It was hard to pick one for the reveal. I will be making a few of these in the coming days but for the reveal I went with an absolute winner – her Pancakes. Now if you’ve been around for a while, you know I’ve posted pancake recipes in the past, namely my Coconut Pancakes, these Almost Vegan Pnother aancakes and Nigella Lawson’s Pancakes. So why another post on pancakes, you might wonder. Well, until now, I’ve never had the opportunity to make pancakes using buttermilk. And for the first time I had access to some yummy blueberries, that I’d picked up on a trip to Sydney’s Paddy’s Market at Haymarket.

An easy recipe to put together and a treat for breakfast, this recipe ticks all the boxes for me. The buttermilk does its magic and makes such fluffy pancakes, I was thrilled. Never before have I had such fluffy pancakes. I stuck to Kim’s recipe but halved it, since it was for just the two of us. I made some plain buttermilk pancakes (just incase my husband wasn’t feeling like the blueberry ones – he’s undecided on whether or not he likes blueberries). To the rest of the batter I added a handful of blueberries, but no other changes were made. We had the pancakes with some honey drizzled on top. They were so delicious, even my ‘undecided about blueberries husband’ enjoyed them. This will be my go-to recipe for pancakes from now on – Thanks Kim.

In the pan – on its way to becoming some brekkie deliciousness
Here are some of the plain buttermilk pancakes. You will notice the all of the pancakes are a little more on the brown side. We absolutely love the light crunch and caramelisation that this adds to the pancakes. You can pull them off the pan earlier to suit your liking. 

And last, but definitely not the least, some blueberry pancakes.

Blueberry Pancakes

1 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tbsp sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 1/2 cup buttermilk
2 tbsp butter, melted
1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste / vanilla extract
Maple Syrup, to drizzle over
A handful of blueberries (Approx. 1/4 – 1/3 cup)

Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl.

Combine the wet ingredients and add to the dry ingredients. Whisk together till combined.

Gently fold in the blueberries.

Heat a pan, spray some oil to coat the pan.

Pour a ladlefull of batter onto the hot pan. Leave some space for the batter to spread a little.

When you see bubbles appearing and bursting on the top, flip the pancakes over and cook till done.

Serve with some maple syrup! Yumm!!!

Thanks Jane – The Heritage Cook for hosting our very own Group A month after month and April – Angel’s Homestead for making sure that our fun Group here at the Secret Recipe Club runs smoothly and continues bringing a ton of yum to our tables every month. 

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Trisha Vaz

This post was posted in Breakfast, Recipes

SRC: Caramel Popcorn

by Trisha Vaz
Hey, I’m back with SRC this month. After last months technical goof-up ended up with me having to sit out, I can’t tell you how happy I was to receive this months assignment. I can tell you this much, once you’ve been with SRC this long, having to sit out even for a month while the others play on can be a little bit of a dampener. It however was a lot of fun visiting the others. Thank you Jane for making it happen for us month after month here in Group A.

To check out my previous SRC assignments, click here.

Anyway, on to this month’s assignment. This was the first time ever I’ve been assigned an Australian blog, actually, I think its probably the first time I’ve spent this much time on one. My assignment this month was Leigh’s Chit Chat Chomp. What a fun name! And what a beautiful blog. Hi Leigh! I really enjoyed looking through your blog space this month. Leigh is from Melbourne and loves travelling and food. Her travelogues are very interesting. Though I didn’t have the time to go through them all, with Easter prep and stuff, I’ve bookmarked them to read through later. I think I could plan a lovely trip to Australia with tips from this lovely blog. Go on and visit her! You’ll have fun!!! Not to mention you’ll be drooling over her lovely food clicks and recipes. It was fun having so many lovely options to choose from. Oh did I mention that Leigh has a little weekend catering venture that she runs. I have a more than a few recipes I want to try out and I’m sure once you head on over there you’ll be in the same boat with me 🙂

For my assignment this month, I was on the lookout for some feel good food. I just got back from a 3-day weekend trip to Panchgani. More on that later. But coming back to the city had me down with a severe case of the blues. So when I saw Leigh’s caramel popcorn, I knew I was going to make it. Popcorn and caramel – two of my favorite things in one. Its tried and tested comfort food that makes you feel better instantly. Who am I to disagree?  Its simple and quick to put together and I enjoyed every bit of it. I halved the recipe this time around since I knew I’d have no problem polishing off the whole lot and didn’t want to be faced with that kind of temptation. And I was right to do so! What a treat this caramel popcorn is! I had to try really hard to keep myself from finishing it off. Lovely caramel flavor, with a tiny hint of honey! I’m so glad I now have a recipe like this in my arsenal. This will be perfect for parties and around Christmas!

Caramel Popcorn


40g popcorn kernels (I used a pack of Act II – classic salted)
1 tbsp butter
1/8 cup honey
1/4 cup caster sugar
1/8 tsp bicarbonate of soda

Cook the popcorn according to the manufacturers instructions.

For the caramel sauce, place the butter, honey and sugar in a saucepan over low heat and stir it till the butter melts down.

Turn up the heat to a medium and bring the mixture to a boil for 3-4 minutes or until it turns golden and has thickened.

Take off the heat and add the bicarbonate of soda and stir well to combine.

Pour the sauce over the popcorn, mix to coat the kernels well and spoon onto a lightly greased baking tray to set.

Break into pieces and serve.

Check out these little chunks of deliciousness!!!

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Trisha Vaz

This post was posted in Recipes, Snacks