Dinner and Breakfast Tempeh

I was very surprised not many people know about tempeh. I first heard of it when I was in college. A couple of Indian friends were eagerly anticipating this thing that Hanisha was going to bring back from Indonesia. "What is it?" I asked. My college mates were astonished. "You don't know tempeh?" As if I had committed the greatest sin. Then they went on to describe at length what a delicious delicacy tempeh was. I learned that day tempeh was an Indonesian thing. Period.

Two and a half years ago, when I got married to Adrian and subsequently moved to Bangkok, I started cooking. Back then with little to zilch experience in the kitchen, I visited 101 Cookbooks religiously. Everything I cooked was from Heidi Swanson. I'm proud to say I have outgrown that phase. Nevertheless 101 Cookbooks still serves as my inspiration from time to time.

One of the recipe I took from 101 that I liked very much was this TLT Sandwich recipe. I have always wanted to make it again since then. Unfortunately for reason unknown to me, tempeh was only available during the Thai vegetarian month. I waited. A year later, no sign nor sight of tempeh anywhere. Have they stopped selling? I was very disappointed and frustrated. Local people whom I asked have no clue what I was talking about. Some good-hearted ones directed me to the Vegetarian Society in JJ Market but to no avail. Sigh.

From left: Adrian tucking in to his famous Malaysian foods, mamak-styled. Me savoring local nyonya foods at an antique house in Jonker Street.

(L) Old man preparing teh tarik ("pulled tea"). (R) Haven't seen this boiler for ages!

When Adrian and I went back to KL to visit my family, we took a detour to Melaka - the historical state of Malaysia that was adorned World Heritage site status by the UNESCO in 2007. The trip started in order to satisfy Adrian's curiosity about this place - many people have mentioned it to him. It somehow ended as a history refreshment course for me. There were a few things that upset me, such as the building of shopping malls on the once recreational field near Porta De Santiago (which was wrongly called A'Farmosa by Lonely Planet, said our tour guide at the Red House museum). Its short fall was compensated by the boutique hotel - Courtyard@Heerem - that we stayed a night at, and the guided tour at the museum.

The Geographer Cafe and the curried tempeh.

There was also the sampling of nyonya foods and not to forget a tempeh dish from Geographer Cafe. It was a kind of finger foods, fried with curry powder. It was so good it reignited my desire for tempeh, and I vouched to buy some to bring back to Bangkok.

Unlike traditional tempeh, which is made from fermentation of cooked soya beans, this is of black beans.

Upon our return to KL, our first stop was to Just Life organic store. There, right in front of me, was 5 packets of freshly made, newly arrived organic black bean tempeh! I was ecstatic. I took all of them. Naturally I had been excited to cook with tempeh since then.

I took a quick search in 101 and found a couple other tempeh recipes that I wanted to try. I decided to make the Orange-pan Glazed Tempeh. This recipe features a simple ginger and garlic-spiked orange glaze that smells like a gingered duck dish that my grandmother used to make. Adrian thinks it's just like teriyakki chicken. The beans also make the tempeh looks awfully a lot like meat.

I was so excited about the TLT Sandwich that I couldn't stop smiling the whole night. I even asked Adrian if he could guess what's for tomorrow's breakfast, just to tell him "I'm not gonna tell you. It's gonna be real good."

As Adrian watched me assembling the sandwich, he said "I don't think it's going to make a sandwich." I crudely replied "It's an open-faced sandwich!" No one is dampening my enthusiasm for the breakfast that I'd been waiting for two years!

As it happened, we both loved this two tempeh dishes a lot. Off I go and scavenge for more special tempeh recipes. 3 more tempehs awaiting in the fridge!

Goat Cheese, Roasted Tomatoes and Chives Stuffed Portobello Mushroom

I bought a packet of large portobello mushrooms the other day. Nothing specific in mind. Just that the big ones don't come often, and they are good for stuffing. It wasn't a very clever purchase since I am about to leave Bangkok for three weeks, and there isn't much dinners to make in the coming days. I didn't want to buy another bunch of greens and Camembert to make another pesto for stuffed mushroom although we did like them very much. Anyway I bumped into this recipe that uses goat cheese, which happened to be one of the four cheeses that Pi Soo gave me and that I'm yet to use. In the recipe it uses Pancetta (a kind of cured pork belly), not very vegetarian-friendly. I thought sun-dried tomatoes would go well with goat cheese but the last bits went to this morning's breakfast. Therefore I roasted some cherry tomatoes, which also needed to be rid of before Tuesday.

This is a very strong savory dish. Personally I liked it. Although I can imagine how some people may get turned off by the pungent goat cheese. If you are making this, I suggest to use big button mushroom instead of Portobello - you'll get a big enough well to hold up the stuffing when the stem is removed. Portobello mushroom is kind of flat. The stuffing sort of melt over the place while baking. Nothing major really.

Ingredients:

• 4 large Portobello mushrooms, stem removed, washed and dry
  
• 2 oz cream cheese (soften at room temperature)
  
• 1.5 oz goat cheese (soften at room temperature)
  
• 4 cherry tomatoes, halved
  
• 1/2 red onion, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
  
• 1 small bunch fresh chives, minced
  
• Breadcrumbs
• Sea salt and ground black pepper

1. Preheat oven at 180C.
   
2. Toss and coat tomatoes with enough olive oil and sea salt. Bake in oven at 180C for about 45 minutes - tomatoes will shrink in size.
   
3. Place mushrooms bottom side up on baking pan. Sprinkle with sea salt.
4. Blend together cream cheese and goat cheese. Set aside.
   
5. Saute onions and garlic till fragrant. Stir into the cheese mixture. Add roasted tomatoes, chives, salt and pepper.
6. Divide filling into 4 and spoon over mushrooms. Top with breadcrumbs and drizzle with olive oil.
7. Bake in oven for 15 - 20 minutes, until the top is nicely browned. Top with chopped chives if desired.
   

Spinach and Goat Cheese Pizza with Garlic Oil

When I was in Chiang Mai, Adrian sent me a SMS from London that says "just had the BEST pizza! "Padana Pizza": spinach, goat cheese, red onion, caramelized onion and garlic oil!" It was from Pizza Express. I managed to find a few online pizza recipes that use spinach and goat cheese as ingredients. I then googled for homemade garlic oil and Voila!

You may want to start from here for your own homemade dough. I was short of all-purpose flour and hence substituted half the flour with organic rye flour.

I started with making caramelized onions, using the recipe from a previous post. The onions reduce in size considerably when cooked. Adjust amount needed to approximately one onion per person. Use white or yellow onions instead of red. I substituted lemon juice with apple cider vinegar; it worked fine. I was skeptical of it at first thinking it looked too dark and soft, but Adrian said it taste just like the restaurant's. :)

As the onions were being cooked, I set out to making garlic oil. I took one head of peeled garlic and 1/2 cup of olive oil to simmer over medium low heat. The garlic turned brown as it cooked in the hot oil. This took about 15 - 20 minutes.

Now here's to assemble the pizza:

• Spinach leaves, tossed and coated with olive oil
• 4 ounces goat cheese, grated
  
• 1 red onion, sliced
• Caramelized onion
• Garlic oil
  

1. Preheat oven to 250C.
   
2. Go here for pizza crust.
3. Brush the base with enough olive oil and sprinkle generously with grated Parmesan cheese. Bake the crust for 10 - 15 minutes.
4. Remove baked crust and turn the oven down to 180C. Layer the crust with olive oil-coated spinach leaves, follow with goat cheese and red onions. Drizzle with garlic oil. Let bake until cheese melt.
5. Drizzle with more garlic oil and serve with more fried garlic.
   

Spicy Polenta Roasted Vegetable Pesto Terrine

Ingredients:
(makes 2 servings)

• 1/2 cup organic polenta
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• pinch of sea salt
• 1/2 cup Parmesan, grated
• Sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
• Fresh thyme and oregano, minced
  
• Roasted vegetable pesto
• 1/2 cup goat cheese, grated

1. Grease baking dish. Preheat broiler at 180C.
   
2. Bring water, milk and sea salt to boil. Stir in polenta to cook. Remove from heat wheng liquid is fully absorbed.
   
3. Add Parmesan, sun-dried tomatoes and herbs. Stir to combine well.
4. Pour half the cooked polenta to the prepared baking dish. Smooth out to a even layer. Let cool slightly. (if you are going to make bake egg, bake the cooked polenta now.)
   
5. Top the bottom layer with pesto and grated goat cheese. Cover with the other half of cooked polenta. (or eggs) Smooth out and let cool.
   
6. Lightly brush the surface with olive oil. Broil for 10 minutes or until the top turns golden brown. (Broil until the eggs are cooked to desired consistency.)
   
7. Cut into individual serving sizes to serve.
   

Barley Grilled Vegetable Salad with Avocado Dressing

Finally the long awaited house-warming/ Christmas party at Sandra and Nico's was here. It was aptly themed "Bring your own food". Clever hosts. I thought I would bring some dessert but Francois said he was bringing something sweet. Gate also mentioned raspberry crumble. What a bummer. What can I bring that I could prepare in advance, ok to be served not warm?

I thought about making a fruit salad with maple-spiced nuts. Then I remembered there was a pack of barley that I cooked and freeze in the freezer a while back. Maybe I should make a big bowl of something like the Barley Pilaf, which I did and made a few changes to make the preparation easier. I remembered a avocado dressing that I made before, which Adrian liked and decided to use that as a dressing for the grilled vegetables. I added hard-boiled eggs for that extra protein for the vegetarian Yogis and Yoginis. There's also the roasted cashew for the texture and goat cheese for the distinctive taste.

The dressing ingredients would most likely make more than what you need. We used the extra as nacho dipping; worked as guacamole. For some reason, besides Adrian, I knew Sandra would approve the dish. She did. I was pleasantly surprised that everyone else did too! I don't get to cook for many people all the time. Sometimes I think Adrian may be just acting out to keep me in the kitchen. It's good to know others enjoyed my cooking too.

Ingredients:

For the dressing:
(you may not need all of this)

• 2 avocados
• 2 cups coriander leaves
  
• 2 cloves garlic
• juice of 2 limes
• 1 cup yogurt
• 1 cup sour cream
• sea salt to taste

1. Blend all the ingredients together to a smooth consistency. Set aside in the refrigerator.
   

For the barley:

• 2 Cups cooked barley
• 1 onion, minced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced

1. Saute onion with a generous pinch of sea salt until translucent. Add garlic, fry until fragrant. Stir in cooked barley. Toss to coat. Set aside.

For the tomatoes:

• 10 Cherry tomatoes, halved
  
• 4 TB extra virgin olive oil
• 2 TB Balsamic Vinegar
• 1/4 teaspoon each of cumin, paprika, cayenne pepper, chili flakes and ground coriander
• Natural cane sugar

1. Preheat oven at 200C.
2. Whisk together olive oil, vinegar and spices. Toss in tomatoes to coat.
3. Arrange tomatoes on baking pan with cut sides up. Sprinkle sugar over tomatoes.
4. Bake until tomatoes are shrunken, about 20 minutes.

For the vegetables:

• 2 red bell pepper, seeded, cut into wedges
• 2 yellow bell pepper, seeded, cut into wedges
• 2 zucchini, cut into 1" thick coins
  
• 1/2 Cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 Cup Balsamic vinegar
• 1 teaspoon sea salt

1. Whisk all ingredients together. Toss in vegetables. Bake in oven until tender.
2. Remove from oven. Cut zucchini coins into quarters. Cube vegetables.

To assemble:

• 4 hard-boiled eggs, sliced into coins
• 1 cup cashew nuts, roasted and chopped
• Goat cheese, crumbled
• coriander leaves to garnish
  

1. In a large serving bowl, toss barley with 1/4 of the avocado dressing.
2. Top with grilled vegetables, tomatoes, eggs, cashew nuts and goat cheese. Drizzle more dressing over. Garnish with coriander leaves if you wish.
   

Blossom Your Taste Buds to Vegetarian Wonders

Mia and I had this joke about the overt Anusara expression. So when I half-jokingly requested for a theme for the home-cook dinner at her house, she replied with "Blossom Your Taste Buds to Vegetarian Wonders/ - Anusara Mia". John Friend would have been proud.

Mia and Fredrik make the prefect Swedish couple I know. Everything about them just seem so perfect: the tidy white apartment (less so now that Ludvig is in their life), perfect manner, charming charisma, well dressed.... everything about them is just so..... CLEAN. They are like the couple in 70's Sci-fi movies. Like this (except they have blonde hair):

It was a fun night with great companions (and charming baby) where I gladly played Chef de Cuisine and Mia the Sous Chef, Fredrik the Chef de Plunge, and Adrian the Food de-Vourer. I simply can't bear the sight of the mess I made. God bless the dishwasher.

I didn't take the pictures of the dishes - didn't want to creep them out - hence the use of my old photos. Here's a rundown of our dinner menu:

Couscous and Spinach Pilaf with Labneh and Chili-roasted Tomatoes

Exactly the same recipe as Barley Pilaf with Roasted Vegetable and Deep Fried Goat Cheese. We made these changes:

• Labneh instead of deep fried goat cheese. Mia and Fredrik prepared homemade labneh the night before. It's flavored with minced garlic.
• Zucchini instead of pumpkin.
• Organic wholewheat couscous instead of cooked barley.

Again, this dish takes a while to prepare but works well with planning and it never fails to impress even the carnivores. Despite the rainbow combination of colorful vegetables and herbs, the unassuming, darkly colored, cinnamon-spiced lemony caramelized crispy onions always win. My Swedish friends were talking about making this for their non-vegetarian parents back in Sweden during Christmas.

Veggie Inside-out Lentil Burger

An adaptation of the Veggie Chickpea Burger. The patties are made up of lentils, eggs, onions and homemade breadcrumbs. Use black lentils if you may - they hold up the shape better than red lentils. We (or rather Fredrik) sliced the patties into two halves and used Couscous Pilaf as the filling. If you have extra labneh, spread them generously over the cut side of the patties. Mia liked the idea of turning patty into burger bun and called it the inside out burger.

Vegetarian Tortilla Soup

The combination of roasted tomatoes, sun-dried tomatoes and goat cheese sends everyone into ecstasy. The oven-toasted tortilla shell (or taco shell) gave it an interesting crunch.

Vegan Coconut Chocolate Pudding

I was talking to Dan (our chef friend) the morning before and he mentioned "no matter what you cook, how good the main course is, dessert ALWAYS wins". Coming from a pro chef with years of experience, he must be right. This is a relatively easy dessert that you can make in advance. The secret is coconut milk. YUM~ I seriously need to work on my measuring skill: there were 3 large servings left at the end of the night. I took home one. It never hurts to have more chocolate.

Pumpkin Goat Cheese Salad with Walnut and Cranberry Orange Vinaigrette

The key to this salad is the cranberry orange vinaigrette dressing that come with just a tinge of ginger. It is rather simple provided you have homemade cranberry sauce (not that you can't use commercial brand but why would you?) at hand. You can make a big batch of it and use it whenever you need that delicious dressing for your greens. When in hurry, simply omit the roasted pumpkins, and use fresh goat cheese instead of deep fried - I'm just in the mood for it since I made it with the Barley Pilaf. For aesthetic reason I spooned the dressing into the orange halves. You can dress it any way you like.

This dressing is a keeper.

Ingredients:
(makes 2 sides or 1 large)

Vinaigrette Dressing:
1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
1/2 cup homemade cranberry sauce
1 teaspoon fresh ginger, peeled and finely minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon natural cane sugar
sea salt and Pepper to taste

1. Whisk the juice and cranberry sauce together in a large bowl until thoroughly blended.
   
2. Add in the ginger, olive oil, vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper to taste and mix. Keep refrigerated until ready to use.
   

Salad:
Salad greens
1/4 large pumpkin, peeled and cut into wedges
4 tablespoons olive oil
pinch of salt
2 tablespoons chopped walnuts
2 tablespoons dried cranberries

Deep Fried Goat Cheese: (optional)
60 gram goat cheese, freeze and cut into bite-sized chunks
Unbleached all-purpose flour
1 egg, beaten
Breadcrumb

1. Preheat oven to 180C.
2. Coat pumpkin wedges with olive oil and salt. Bake in oven till tender.
   
3. Place flour, egg and breadcrumbs in three separate plates. Coat goat cheese with flour, egg then breadcrumbs.
4. Heat a pan with pure coconut oil. Fry coated goat cheese for 2 minutes on each side.
   
5. Pile the salad leaves either on one large bowl or two individual plates. Top the greens with roasted pumpkins, walnuts, cranberries and goat cheese.
6. Drizzle vinaigrette over to serve.
   

Barley Pilaf with Roasted Vegetable and Deep Fried Goat Cheese

This was an adaptation of one of the very first dishes I made when we moved into our current apartment. I made this dish many times in the beginning because it was very good and I wasn't that much of a skilled recipe-hunter then. Looking back, it was courageous of me to cook this pilaf as a novice - the recipe itself requires quite a lengthy preparation and proper planning ahead, to top that, I added roasted vegetables. I have tried this recipe with homemade labneh, cream cheese, and yogurt. This time I put deep fried goat cheese and cooked barley into it to come to this Barley Pilaf.

Want to know what Adrian said? "if there were a restaurant that serves this, I'd be eating there everyday" =) This is a really good recipe. It has a very intricate and complex taste: we like the compliment of lemony caramelized onions with chili-roasted tomatoes. There's also the subtle hint of mint with very bite. Although the deep fried goat cheese was good on itself but it didn't seem to fit in with the rest.

I prefer to make part of the dish in advance; the chili-roasted tomatoes (and optional roasted vegetables) may be served hot or cold over the pilaf. If you are going to make deep fried goat cheese, remember to freeze it before hand. Now, I'm going to try and make the whole thing looks as clear as possible by breaking the steps down into its elementary preparation. Have fun!

Ingredients and Methods:

For the tomatoes:
12 cherry tomatoes, halved
4 TB olive oil
2 TB balsamic vinegar
1 - 1 1/2 tsp harissa*
2 tsp natural cane sugar

(*Instead of using harissa, I used a mix of cumin, coriander, chili flakes and cayenne pepper)
They can either be hot or at room temperature when you add them to the pilaf, so you could do this part in advance.

• Preheat oven to 150C.
  
• Mix together the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, harissa, some salt and pepper, and pour this over the tomatoes. Turn them over, making sure they get coated, ending with them cut-side up. Sprinkle the soft brown sugar over the top and put in an oven. Cook for 30 - 35 minutes, until the tomatoes are shrunken and sweet.
  

For the Roasted Vegetables: (optional)
1 red bell pepper, cut into wedges
1/4 large pumpkin, cut into cubes
1/4 C olive oil
2 TB balsamic vinegar
Pinch of sea salt
This, too, can be prepared in advance.

• Preheat oven to 200C.
  
• Toss vegetables with olive oil, vinegar and sea salt.
• Roast until vegetables are tender and cooked through, tossing occasionally.
  
• Remove and cut bell pepper into cubes.
  

For the Pilaf:
1 onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves
1 C cooked barley
10 1/2 oz spinach, leaves only
leaves torn from a small bunch of mint, torn

• Saute chopped onion with a generous pinch of salt. When the onion is soft and translucent add garlic and cook for another couple of minutes. Tip the cooked barley into the pan, toss to coat evenly. Remove from heat.
  
• Immediately stir in chopped spinach leaves and let cooked in the hot barley.
  

For the onions:
2 onions, very finely sliced into ring
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp natural cane sugar
juice of 1/2 small lemon
sea salt and pepper

• Quickly cook the finely sliced onions in very hot oil till golden brown and crispy. For the last minute of cooking time, add the cinnamon and brown sugar. Stir this around and, once the sugar has melted and begun to slightly caramelize, add lemon juice and some salt and pepper.

For the Deep Fried Goat Cheese
Goat cheese, frozen and cut into bite-size
Flour
1 Egg, beaten
Breadcrumbs

• Place the flour, egg and bread crumb in 3 different bowls. Dip the cheese in the flour, then egg and finally the breadcrumbs. Place carefully into the hot skillet. Let cook about 2 minutes until brown on the bottom, carefully flip over & cook the other side another 2 minutes.

FINALLY!!!

Layer the different components in a broad, shallow bowl: tip in the barley + spinach, sprinkle on half the mint, then the tomatoes and roasted vegetables, then the rest of the mint. Now strew the onions on top, followed by goat cheese, and serve.

PHEW~!!

Fig with Goat Cheese and Almond

What a simple, straight forward and yet elegant way of making appetizer. The flavors of figs, tangy goat cheese, salty almonds, sweet honey, and balsamic vinegar contrast to make these a delicious and very pretty appetizer. Serve it as it is or over a bed of rocket.

Ingredients:
4 figs (dried or fresh)
Goat cheese, crumbled
Almonds, whole or sliced
Balsamic Vinegar
Honey

1. Preheat oven to high
2. Carefully cut a cross over the dried fig to make pocket space, making sure the bottom remains intact. Stuff crumbled goat cheese to the pocket space. Top it with almonds. *if using fresh fig, cut fig into half, top with cheese and press almond onto cheese to push cheese into the fig.
   
3. Broil in oven until cheese melt and almonds turn golden brown.
4. Drizzle with balsamic and honey to serve.
   

Warm Spinach Goat Cheese Salad

A tasteful that's easily adaptable based on what's on hand and what's in season and what you like. The essentials are simply the lentils (preferably 'meaty' lentils such as French green lentils, or black lentils.) and the vinegar-brightened vegetables. And how I love savoring the melty goat cheese with the crisp vegetables! The Roasted Beet with Orange and Walnut Dip also worked wonderfully as dressing for this salad. They make a pretty pair =)

Ingredients:
(serves 2)
3 cups salted water
1/4 cup green lentils

1 small onion, minced
1/2 carrot, cubed
vegetables (capsicum, celery, etc) cubed
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
3 ounces spinach, tough stems removed, cut into narrow strips
2 ounces goat cheese, broken into pieces
Salt & pepper to taste

1. Bring water to a boil. Add the lentils and cook til done, about 30 minutes.
2. Sautee onion with a pinch of salt over medium heat. Add vegetables. Stir to coat til crisp-tender. Stir in the vinegar.
3. Combine hot lentils, vegetables, spinach and goat cheese until spinach 'cooks' from heat of lentils. Season to taste. Serve at once.

Grilled Goat Cheese and Eggplant Salad

"Eggplant is the most sexy food women can have" says Yogi Bhajan in Food as Medicine. What in the world does that mean? I remember reading a email saying eggplant is good for women because it resembles female womb. Hmmm.....To be more precise, and less woo-hoo, I turned to Google.

The above mentioned may have its root in traditional medicine, where eggplant is commonly used to improve kidney function and sexual libido in both men and women. Besides regulating body fluid, Traditional Chinese Herbalists believe kidney also plays an important role in sexual desire and activity in both men and women. An unbalance yin and yang energy in kidney would thus cause overactive or abnormal functioning of the urinary secretion and sexual function.

I have always loved eggplant. However, it's not the case for Adrian - another childhood trauma/ influence from Ian, I presume. So when he proudly proclaimed he was slowly overcoming eggplant phobia, I took the liberty to push his bottom. Hey! At least there's the goat cheese and sun dried tomatoes that he LOVES.

In this recipe, savoury goat cheese is the main protagonist, but it’s aided and abetted by the wonderfully aromatic partnership of basil and thyme as well as the sweet delicacy of sun dried tomatoes. Combined they act as a perfect balance to the slight bitterness of the aubergine creating a medley of flavors. Then comes the real deal: the addition of raspberries to the salad. Its tart sweetness blend and twirl the ingredient's flavors together, giving a "wow" to the unsuspecting taste buds.

I complimented this SEXY (thanks Yogi Bhajan) and tasty salad with a relatively simple Lemon Broccoli Soup.


A side note: I found lettuces at Paragon Gourmet Market that were sold with their roots attached. There were plenty of tiny rocks and black soil sticking to the leaves and stem, too!! How exciting!!

Ingredients for Grilled Goat Cheese

• 1 large eggplant, quatered
  
• 8 sun-dried tomatoes
• 200g French goat’s cheese, sliced into 12
  
• 12 basil leaves, torn
  
• 2 tbsp fresh thyme
  
• salt and pepper

Ingredients for the Salad Dressing

• 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• ½ tsp Dijon mustard
• 50 ml olive oil
• A pinch of sugar

Ingredients for the salad

• 100g of mixed lettuce leaves
• 6 cherry tomatoes halved
• 2 tbsp raspberries

1. Place the eggplant slices on a baking tray and brush with olive oil. Season each slice with ground pepper and salt.
2. Place under a hot grill for 7 minutes. Whilst the eggplant is grilling, whisk the olive oil with the apple cider vinegar, Dijon mustard and sugar in a large bowl.
3. Season to suit personal tastes then add the mixed lettuce leaves and cherry tomatoes and toss thoroughly to coat. Arrange the salad leaves and cherry tomatoes in the centre of each plate then spoon over the raspberries.
   
4. Turn the eggplant slices over and brush the other side with olive oil and season as before. This time leave them under the grill for 5 minutes until charred.
5. Remove the grilled slices of eggplant and arrange them so that the slightly charred eggplant flesh is facing upwards on all slices.
6. Lay two sun dried tomatoes on each slice along with fresh thyme and basil leaves.
   
7. Place 3 slices of goat cheese on each herb and tomato bed and season with ground pepper.
8. Return to the grill for 2 to 3 minutes until the goat’s cheese has started to brown and bubble.
9. Serve on bed of lettuces
   

Sun Dried Tomato Goat Cheese Scrambled Egg

I used to love scrambled egg. My ex-boyfriend taught me to make my first scrambled egg: lots of Parmesan and cheddar cheeses.
Somewhere along the way I turned to omelet; I figured they are essentially the same since I put milk to omelet, too. Also, it's easier to handle and doesn't require as much attention as scrambled egg. So this is my first scrambled egg in a long time. It kind of rekindled my love for scrambled egg again because Adrian thinks it's great.

The key to good scrambled egg comes with heat control; the lower the heat and the more constant the stirring movement, the creamier the end product. You also want to remove it from heat when the egg is just slightly undercooked. If this technique is followed, the eggs should be moist in texture with a creamy consistency. If any liquid is seeping from the eggs, this is a sign of under cooking or adding overcooked high-moisture vegetables.

Ingredients
4 eggs
4 Tablespoons cream (for use of other liquid, such as milk, it should be 2 tablespoon of liquid to one egg)
Goat cheese, shaved
Sun dried tomato, chopped
1 Tablespoon of herbed olive oil that the sun dried tomatoes are soaked with (or butter)
Fresh thyme and tarragon, chopped
salt and black pepper to taste

1. Beat eggs, cream, and salt and pepper together.
   
2. Fold in sun dried tomatoes and goat cheese.
3. Heat olive oil over high heat. Stir in the egg mixture. Quickly turn the heat to low when egg coagulate. Stir the egg mixture frequently to form small and soft curds.
   
4. Remove from heat while the egg is still slightly undercooked. The egg will continue to cook and set.
5. Sprinkle with fresh herbs to serve.