Roast Ribs

For more reasons to celebrate life with food, here comes an impromptu lunch. Beer marinated, honey glazed pork ribs with  caramelised onion. Very very un-halal indeed.

About a rack of ribs, soaked in a can of beer (about an hour or so or more …)

And the marinade consist of:

- 3-4 tablespoons of honey,

- 2 tablespoons of chilli sauce

- 2 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar

-a pinch of cayenne pepper

- a pinch of fennel seed

-a pinch of oregano

- 1 piece of bay leave

- 4-6 bulb of garlic

- 1 onion

- salt & pepper

So after soaking the ribs long enough in the beer, rub the marinade and massage it well onto the ribs.

With layers of sliced onions as the base, roast the rib, bone side up in 170’c for an hour. Then turn over to the meat side up and roast for another 45 minutes.

Deglaze the pan with the balance of the beer with some sugar, salt pepper and a dash of flour.

Now … chomp chomp

a weekend of pound

So over the weekend while camping at home trying to  finish up proposals is, of course stressful. And like my typical way of managing my stress. I cook.

250gm of self raising flour

250gm of butter

200gm of sugar

4 eggs

two tablespoon of milk

a teaspoon of vanilla essence.

handful of mix fruits (raising, orange peel, nuts and etc.)

How difficult to bake? Easy peasy,

40 mins in 160’c and here you go. Fresh aroma of the butter and eggs.

Sitting at the balcony, watching tv and having fresh pound cake with a dollop of NZ icecream-fruits of the forest.

Oh, de-stressing.

Now back to my proposal.

King of all kings

The king of all fruits, the craziest burst of flavours, always the sharpest smell that fills the air and texture one will always remember.

So, my parents came for a visit (yet again) and this time, mum pass me this bag of filled with damp newspaper, and surprise surprise… it’s durian. All the way from Kelantan.

There’s this breed, which my parents would only eat, as they pre-order them when they start to fruit on the trees. No joke here, these breed are in high demand, and over the years my parents had made friend with the orchard owner. It’s the ‘kunyit’  / turmeric breed. And according to my parents, they have lotsa immitation breed claiming they are kunyit durians, and charge you for something it’s not.

Well, having durian the old school way isn’t too bad, and that reminds me of the excitement of ‘opening’ my durians when I younger.

So I decided to do it at the balcony, with newspapers all placed and a cleaver in hand.

First you cut/chop along the lines. Two cuts at least, and after doing so, use the sides of the cleaver to push for space.

Then using upper body strength, open the crack! There’s the excitement when you see some of the golden flesh. And the smell…. Yum yum.

Look at those beautiful baby.

 

And without further adieu, you feast.

I like my durian sweet with a tinge of bitter after taste. The bitter aftertaste that lingers in the mouth always give a nice conclusion to it’s early creamy, pungenty texture. And especially if they have those smaller-wrinkly-shrinkly seeds, you know that you’re getting more durian flesh than seeds.

Then came the part you work your way thru other goodies. Squat down and use upper body strength again to crack open them.

Oh what a beautiful day.