Steamed asparagus with kaiser fleish and garlic

Steamed asparagus with kaiser fleish and garlic, originally uploaded by yongtze.

I decided to steam the asparagus quickly and then mix with pan-fried kaiser fleish (kind of like smoked bacon) and garlic. I have been eating steamed vegetables recently for its simplicity, speed and obvious health reasons.

Another reason is that as I always cook rice on the stove – when the rice is being boiled and cooked, just wait until most of the water evaporates and little holes appear in the surface on the rice, throw in the cut vegetables onto the rice and put the lid back on. While the rest of the water continues to boil and evaporates as the rice is being cooked, the steam cooks the vegetables in 2-5 minutes. So I get the rice and the vegetables cooked in the same pot and around the same time, extremely simple, fast and less washing-up to do!

 

 

Sauteed mushroom, aglio olio e peperoncino style

I was thinking of cooking some mushrooms as a side dish for dinner tonight. I like simple sauteed mushroom with butter or olive oil, but I wanted a bit more flavour so I added some chopped garlic and sliced chillies.

Incidentally, “garlic, oil, and chillies” is just exactly what “Aglio olio e peperoncino” is in Italian and it is a very traditional sauce for dried pasta – what a coincidence.

The whole mushrooms cooked this way are just lovely and absolutely satisfying in each bite. It takes a bit longer to cook whole mushrooms instead of sliced or quartered but it is worth the time. (Forgot to take pictures because simply couldn’t wait to eat them).

- 2 cups of white mushrooms, leave as whole
- 3 cloves garlic, chopped (not too fine or it will burn easily)
- 2 chillies, seeds removed and thinly sliced
- salt and pepper to taste
- olive oil

Combine 2 tablespoons of olive oil, garlic, and chillies and whole mushrooms in a small skillet and saute over lowest possible heat until the mushrooms are cooked. Season well with salt and pepper. Toss every 1 minute. Add more oil if it gets dry. It should take about 10-15 minutes, depending on the size of the mushroom. Be careful not to burn the garlic or it will give a bitter flavour.