Easy Aglio Olio

Serve 2

Ingredients:

150g spaghetti (cook the spaghetti with 2 tbsp sea salt and a little olive oil for about 15 min. Drain and rinse with cold water. Set aside) 

1.5 bulbs garlic (minced finely)

4 chilli padi (deseeded and chopped)

2-3 tbsp olive oil

Sea salt

Optional:

Italian parsley leaves (chopped finely)

Coarse black pepper

Methods:

1. Heat the olive oil in a non stick pan. Reduce the heat.

2. Sauté the garlic and chilli padi till the garlic is slightly browned. Turn the heat off.

3. Toss the spaghetti with the garlic and chilli padi. Sprinkle some sea salt.

Chicken Chop With Pasta

This is our dinner for tonight. I bought 6 chicken thighs from the wet market today. I asked the stall holder to debone the chicken.

The chicken thighs turned out to be juicy and tender. I made the same dinner for my brother (the one who had chickenpox) with minimum marinade. But he said it was delicious. Well I guess as long as he can eat chicken, it will taste awesome to him!

Ingredients:

Chicken chop:
1 chicken thigh (deboned)
1tbsp soy sauce
A little oyster sauce
A dash coarse black pepper
1 tsp cooking oil
100ml water

Vegetables (1 cup):
Broccoli
Baby carrots
Yellow bell pepper
Sea salt / garlic salt

Mashed potatoes:
1 potato (washed and peeled)
1 tsp butter
1 tbsp milk
Salt

Pasta:
Spaghetti for 1 pax (cooked)
2 tbsp minced onions
1 cup sliced shiitake mushrooms
1 tbsp butter

Methods:

1. Marinate the chicken with soy sauce, oyster sauce and black pepper for at least 30 minutes.

2. Cook the baby carrots with a pot water for 5 minutes. Add the broccoli and cook for another minute. Remove the vegetables and transfer them into a bowl of cold water. Drain and set aside.

3. Cook the potato with a small pot of water until soften. Mash the potato and stir in the butter, milk and salt. Set aside.

4. Heat the oil in a non stick pan. Pan fry the chicken thigh. Try to flatten the chicken as much as possible. Pan fry about 5 minutes each side. If too dry, add a tablespoon of water each time.

5. While pan frying the chicken, sauté the vegetable at the side of the pan. Sprinkle a little seasalt or garlic salt on the vegetable. Remove the vegetables and place on a plate with the mashed potatoes.

6. Once the chicken is cooked, remove and place on the same plate.

7. Prepare the gravy with the same non stick pan. Pour in 100 ml of water into the pan (for pan frying the chicken) and let it boil. The gravy should be in nice brown colour. Thicken the gravy with a tbsp of starch water. Pour the gravy on the chicken chop and mashed potato. Sprinkle some coarse black pepper.

8. For the spaghetti, heat the butter on a pan. Sauté the onions.

9. Add the shiitake mushrooms and cook.

10. Pour in the pasta sauce and simmer for few minutes. Add the spaghetti and toss. Place the spaghetti on the plate.