Sam's Food Workshop

[align=justify][color=green][font=verdana]Yeah, I know. In all the bruschetta I've seen in restaurants and such, they've always served in with a lot of rocket on top. But, it was quite nice. I'm not normally a fan of it, but this one turned out a lot better. I used lemon juice to take away some of the sharpness and bitterness from the balsamic vinegar plus add a little bit of sweetness.

p.s. fancy plates

[align=justify][color=green][font=verdana]Booyah. Makes my meals look around 5 times better than on a circular plate.

umhhhhhhhh i love those cakies!!! Yummmyy

I'm pretty jealous of your plates.

[align=justify][color=green][font=verdana]@Suki Thank you~ They have been very nice so far. Making a coffee and walnut cake next time.

@Tsujoi I love the plates more than the food.

Anywho, time for another meal to be added to the burgeoning list of meals so far. This time it's Beef Stroganoff:

I want that...now! how'd it taste over...that rice? orzo? I can't tell

[align=justify][color=green][font=verdana]It's rice. I would have liked to have used potatoes - as is custom for Stroganoff - but I didn't have any. So I made do with rice.

However, despite not being the biggest fan of mushrooms, I quite enjoyed it. The sauce mixed into the rice quite nicely as well. If you love mushrooms, you would really enjoy this meal.

not too bad, and nay, I've been working too much lol (unles you count the food I make at work....)

- replying here......to make it to 700.....

but also, the rice seems like it would be a good substitute, and I really like mushrooms.

when do you plan on posting the recipes? or not?

i love looking at your food specially in that vegie soup

[align=justify][color=green][font=verdana]Aww, that's a shame. I'm sure you'll get your chance to cook more though.

Yeah, the rice was a good substitute. I knew that it would be, being a carb, but still - would have been better with potatoes.

I'll post them if people really want me to post them. I mean, some are very basic, so don't require the recipe, but others might be wanted. If you want any of them, I'll post them.

[align=justify][color=green][font=verdana]Oh wow, it's been a while since I posted anything, so I have quite a list to post:

Chilli con Carne



[align=justify][color=green][font=verdana]Peppered Steaks with buttered mushrooms and caramalised onions



[align=justify][color=green][font=verdana]Spaghetti and Meatballs



[align=justify][color=green][font=verdana]Egg Florentine



[align=justify][color=green][font=verdana]Pork Belly with Apple Confit

hmm haven't checked here in a bit, but again those square plates......make em look so good.

1) Try the chili on a brown and white rice mix, and it makes for a little healthier and tasty meal
- did you use regular beef? or did you use some other meat?

2) what type of noodles are those with the steaks?

3) so many questions.......but did you make the sauce on this one

4) I really never tried Florentine...how is it?

5) Looks fantastic

6) going to do the TCF August?

[align=justify][color=green][font=verdana]Yeah, I have more pictures to post now as well, but I didn't want to have too big a backlog for people to look at.

1) Hmm, thanks for that. I like brown rice as well... don't know why I don't get it. But, I used regular mince beef. Mixed it up with some tomatoes, onions etc etc and it was lovely.

2) Just boring regular noodles. That was a lazy meal, really. Didn't involve as much effort as the curry - literally got the pepper-mix done, coated the steaks in it, did the mushrooms and onions, and made the noodles at the end as an afterthought to pad it out.

3) Yep - the sauce was made from scratch, as were the meatballs as well. The pasta wasn't, but... yeah. I could tell you the recipe if you want - you'll need a blender though at the end to get it smooth.

4) Same here, that was my first time as well. It was very nice; you'd think that the spinach would be a strong taste, but with the egg and bacon I added in, it was a nice compliment to it. It looked a lot neater in the dish I cooked it in, though. I had to turn out onto the square dish, which made it scruffier in appearance.

5) Thank you. The crackling was supreme.

6) Not this time. I don't have a deep-fat frier. I couldn't do the July one, as I didn't have preserved foods. Hopefully September gives me a kinder hand.

Anyway, time to post the pictures I took in the meantime:

Roast Lamb...



[align=justify][color=green][font=verdana]with Mediterranean Vegetables...



[align=justify][color=green][font=verdana]and Roast Potatoes and Sweet Potatoes



[align=justify][color=green][font=verdana]Roast Lamb with Mediterranean Vegetables and Roast Potatoes and Sweet Potatoes:





[align=justify][color=green][font=verdana]Chocolate and Banana Cake



[align=justify][color=green][font=verdana]Ratatouille (with Jacket Potato)



[align=justify][color=green][font=verdana]Chicken Tikka Masala



[align=justify][color=green][font=verdana]Lemon-baked Cod



[align=justify][color=green][font=verdana]Beef stir-fry



[align=justify][color=green][font=verdana]Apple Cake



[align=justify][color=green][font=verdana](Let me know if you want another picture of the Apple cake - it's literally sitting on the side right now cooling down).

I did make a really lovely Roast Beef on the weekend as well. However, when it came to taking the beef out of the oven, the juices were still quite red. Testing the meat, I cut into it to reveal a glorious tender and slightly pink flesh - exactly how I wanted it. As I had to cut it, I didn't want to take a picture of the defiled beef. Plus, the family members were hounding me all the way up to it's completion...

Anyway, let me know what you think.

You don't need a deep fryer, if you have a pot, oil, and a splash guard, you'll be good, just don't use a full on lid unless you leave it cracked a bit, or else the oil gets too hot and it gets wasted


all of this looks good....I envy your time to make all of this lol...

I should be cooking a bit more soon, since I have off and I will be posting in my thread!

[align=justify][color=green][font=verdana]Hmm, true. But I also need to think of something that I could make in a deep-fat fryer that isn't totally unhealthy.

Thanks. Any comments about anything in particular? Lol, it's called "not having a job". Don't envy me too much now!

That's good. What meals do you have in mind? Main meals, or desserts... ?

the roast looks fantastic....that's what caught my eye out of all of them

umm not sure a mix of things, some main meals and a dessert.

I may go totally unhealthy and go with deep fried cheesecake so I can fill a request, and also do TCF

[align=justify][color=green][font=verdana]Yeah, the roast is definitely my favourite as well. That or the chicken tikka masala.

A fried cheesecake? Hmm, well, if it kills two birds with one stone...

Well, might as well post another picture, considering I'm on a roll and all...

Toad in the Hole with Onion Gravy and Mashed Potatoes.

[align=justify][font=verdana][color=green]Time for two more things to upload. I have decided to redo my "Smothered Pork Chops" from before, because 1) whilst the meal was very nice, I felt that it needed something to pad it out and 2) the sauce was a bit too thick last time, which meant that the flavour wasn't spread around the rice. Therefore, my:

[align=justify][font=verdana][color=green]Smothered Pork Chops (Revisited):



[align=justify][font=verdana][color=green]Carrot and Walnut Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting:

[align=justify][color=green][font=verdana]Wow, it's been a while since I updated this thread. I've still been taking pictures of what I do though, so it doesn't really matter. All it means is that I have an image dump to do now:


[align=justify][color=green][font=verdana]Chicken Korma:





[align=justify][color=green][font=verdana]French Onion Soup:



[align=justify][color=green][font=verdana]Macaroni Cheese:



[align=justify][color=green][font=verdana]Tomato and Basil Soup:



[align=justify][color=green][font=verdana]Chilli con Carne over tacos:



[align=justify][color=green][font=verdana]Medium-Rare-Rare Steak with Potato and Sweet Potato wedges with side salad:



[align=justify][color=green][font=verdana]Cottage Pie with Cheesy Potato and Sweet Potato mash topped with cheese:



[align=justify][color=green][font=verdana]Rosemary and Lemon marinated Lamb with rice:



[align=justify][color=green][font=verdana]Smoked Paprika Vinaigrette (must buy a bottle for this... )