Pork Rolls with Bechamel Sauce

I'm sure you guys have seen this around and for this dish, you're right , its not entirely my original idea. In fact there's a few version of it available online. Pork rolls also known as Flamenquines in Spanish; a delicious tapa. I've been searching for the origin but there's not much info available but it  was said to have relation to the term "flamenco", which means any colourful dish to the native of Andalusia.

You must be wondering why am i serving it with a bechamel sauce instead of salsa, like how the Spanish would. I actually got the idea from a recipe i came across on Flamenquines. In the recipe, we're suppose to dip the rolled pork into the bechamel sauce and then coat it with breadcrumbs and deep fry it. Since i know that i don't have that skill to dip in anything creamy and coat it with breadcrumbs, i opted to serve it as a dipping sauce instead.

Ingredients

PORK ROLLS
* 10 slices of pork loin sukiyaki
* 10 slices smoked black pepper ham
* 10 strips of cheese
* Some minced garlic
* Some minced parsley
* 1 egg, beaten
* Flour to coat
* Breadcrumbs

Method:
1) Place a slice of ham on top of the pork loin and add a strip of cheese on the ham and roll. Secure with a toothpick if needed.
2) Coat the rolled pork with flour and dip it into the beaten egg mixture and coat it with the breadcrumbs mixture; add the minced garlic and parsley into the breadcrumbs.
3) Heat the wok with oil and deep fry until golden.
4) Remove and drain it on a paper towel.
5) Cut about 1/2 inch across and serve.

Note:
I ran out of flour therefore i substituted it with chickpea flour. I add bout 3 tablespoon of chickpea flour and some water to make it into a paste and coat the rolled pork. Instead of breadcrumbs,i added the minced garlic and parsley into some chickpea flour and with the coated rolled pork , i coated it with the garlic-parsley mixture before deep-frying it.

Result, well i think its a little too hard, especially the chickpea coating, i'll definitely use breadcrumbs instead the next time around..  Also, instead of mixing the garlic and parsley together , i think it would be better to spread it on the pork loin instead. Oh well , another round of experiment for me! :)


BECHAMEL SAUCE
* 2 1/2 tbsp butter
* 2 tbsp flour
* 2 cups low- fat milk
* 1/8 tsp nutmeg powder
* Salt to taste
* Pepper to taste

Method:
1) Melt the butter in a sauce pan.
2) Add flour and keep stirring with your whisk.
3) Add the heated milk and stir further.
4) Keep stirring while you season with salt, pepper and nutmeg.
5) If its too thick to your liking, add more milk until it reaches the consistency you like.

Note:
For those that wanna skip the warming up the milk step, like i did, due to sheer laziness :) . All you need to do with the cold milk from the fridge is to add a tablespoon or two of milk at a time into your butter-flour mixture until you finished up the milk and keep stirring with your whisk and you'll get a smooth and somewhat thick sauce.

You can add more nutmeg powder and ground pepper to give the sauce more flavour.

The classic French version of this sauce, they uses white onion that is studded with cloves ( take the cloves and stick it into the onion),instead of adding ground nutmeg . The onion-cloves combination give the sauce a unique flavour.

Corned Beef Fusilli Casserole

I've been doin a lot of food research, be it American dishes or cuisine of Argentina. I was very much intrigued by all the foods i came across. I've been meaning to try my hands on some casserole dish and finally today's the day. Since i've a new packet of rainbow fusilli in the kitchen cabinet so pasta casserole it is then.

I'm not so much of a cheese person but i couldnt help but prepare this dish for the family. I'd wanna know how it really tasted like though. From all the reading and the research of recipes i finally wanted to try out my version of casserole. Being part of my family means lab rat indirectly :P

I was feelin happy when i was preparing this dish. Perhaps its somethin new to me and i was like a lil girl, eagerly anticipatin for the final outcome of the dish.

I wanted to use some mince meat but too bad i couldnt get my hands on any, so i replaced it with corned beef. By preparing this dish im somewht breakin one of the household rules. My granny believes that those who practices Buddhism shouldnt be consuming beef. Me being the "black sheep" in the family, i decided that corned beef isnt as bad as the whole chunk of beef. Besides i dont really believe in what can we or can we not eat. Food is all the same to me.

INGREDIENTS:
* corned beef
* chopped onion
* finely chopped garlic
* butter
* Prego Sauce - (Tomato with Basil and Garlic)
* fresh chopped parsley
* shredded carrot
* chopped tomatoes
* freshly ground black pepper
* salt
* mozzarella cheese ( I used low-fat mozzarella cheese)
* cheddar cheese
* water/chicken broth
* rainbow fusilli
* virgin olive oil

Method:
1) Boil the pasta according to the packet instructions, 8-10 mins or until al dente and drain
2) Heat olive oil on a non-stick and add a bit of butter, saute the finely chopped garlic and onions
3) Add in the shredded carrot and corned beef
4) Add in some water/chicken broth and simmer it
5) Add in the can of Prego Sauce, chopped parsley and freshly ground black pepper
6) Let it simmer, add in some butter if you like
7) Lastly season with salt to taste
8) Pour the drained fusilli into the non-stick and coat it with the sauce
9) Grease your bakeware according to the instructions and transfer the pasta into in it
10) Top it up with any choices of cheese ( I used mozzarella & cheddar)
11) Bake bout 20mins in the preheated oven, and you're ready to serve

I served this with some crunchy Romaine lettuce and chopped tomatoes.

Quesadilla

Ah..finally i've got my fav quesadilla up here! My first time takin pic of it. All this while i'd prepare it for the family but never once get down to takin pics of it. Its funny how i can jst have it at any time of the day. I've had it for breakfast, brunch, lunch, tea , dinner and even a supper snack! I guess i can make do with this my whole life. Its been a while since i make this and today's quesadilla was jst so good cuz there's so much for the filling! I've prepared some black pepper and spicy mince for the fillin and also i managed to get basil last night! For the wrap, i got the traditional and the potato tortilla, wanted to get the wholemeal but i doubt my mom n bro's up for it.

These are the one with the meat filling in it. In this pic, i've prepared both the black pepper mince and the spicy mince filling for the photo takin session. Basically you can have your fav fillin in this wrap , you can even have tuna, bacon or roast chicken in it!

For the filling, i've chopped romaine lettuce, sliced tomatoes, black pepper/spicy mince and cheese! You can use parmesan or a mixture of the cheese. I used cheddar cheese for all the quesadillas i made. i jst love the combination of cheddar and tortilla. I'm also a big fan of basil so there you have it i used a lil of the chopped basil as the decorative item.

To make this its really simple, all you need is a non-stick pan, your fav tortilla wrap and fillings. Place the tortilla on the non-stick pan and heat it over a very low fire, while you're at it, arrange your fav fillings on one side of the tortilla. First i arranged the tomato slices then some chopped romaine lettuce then the stir-fried mince and covered it up with cheese. When you can see bubble formin on the tortilla then its time to cover up the side with the ingredients on. Leave for a few seconds then flip to another side and then its ready to be served. Pay attention of the fire for you dont wanna end up gettin ur tortilla burnt.

Next, its my turn to savour my version of the quesadilla. Both my mom n bro love the meat version better. They dont fancy the smell and taste of basil so i've got all the chopped basil for myself. So wht i've got in the wrap are : slices of tomatoes, romaine lettuce, chopped basil and cheese. If you like , u can put a lil butter or marjerin before placin the tortilla on the non-stick pan. For those who loves garlic, you can also get the garlic tortilla to go with any of your fav fillings.