The good and bad of an open kitchen

When we bought our apartment, the kitchen and living room was separated by a wall and a sliding glass door.

We decided to knock down the wall separating these 2 areas and remove the sliding door to make our place look brighter and more spacious.

Inspired by a showflat that we visited, we installed a kitchen island with cabinets where the wall used to be. This gives us more working and storage area for our kitchen.

To give the illusion of a bigger space than it actually is, we selected a glossy off-white laminate for the kitchen cabinets and a very white kitchen table top. Our kitchen floor is a dark grey stone. The intention was to give a contrast to all the white that we have.

When we first saw our finished kitchen, we were really pleased. The whole apartment looked a whole lot brighter and bigger.

The good thing about having an open kitchen is that it really makes the whole house look a lot more spacious. And because we have a bright wet area beyond the kitchen, knocking down the walls bring in a lot more light to the house. It is also nice to be able to cook and watch TV at the same time. And when we have guests over, I don't feel left out even if I'm cooking because I get to interact and talk with them whilst slaving in the kitchen.

The bad thing about having an open kitchen is that whenever I fry stuff or worse, deep fry stuff, I kind of have to do a mini "spring-cleaning" after that. The smell from the frying gets to almost everything. I've tried opening all the windows and doors when I cook.. turning on the fan, switching on the electrical kitchen hood (which unfortunately is not that powerful). So far, I find that cleaning up after cooking is still very essential.

Fortunately, I don't cook that very often.

Oh.. I don't regret having an open kitchen. If I get to choose again, I will definitely still choose to do my kitchen the way I've done it. Except, I would probably opt for a more powerful chimney-styled kitchen hood.

Pasta Aglio Olio

Also called Pasta Aglio e Olio. Or Pasta with Garlic and Oil.

This is a dish I would almost never order in a restaurant. Because it is so simple to cook at home... and also because the other choices offered are usually a lot more enticing than this... a lot less "ordinary".

Nor would I typically order pasta all'arrabiata, which is pasta with lots of chilli. So, it came as a surprise to me when I read in the book My Last Supper that Jamie Oliver (yes, him of the Naked Chef fame) would want that for his last supper.

But I suppose sometimes, simple food usually is the best type of comfort food.

I don't think I make a fantastic Pasta Aglio Olio. But I make one good enough for me... and more importantly, it is a really simple meal. One that I can whip up in about about 12 minutes, usually.

Ingredients
Dried pasta - I usually like to use these thick flat ones from Marks and Spencer, which take about 9 minutes to get al-dente
Lots of chopped garlic
Some chopped dried chilli
A handful of chopped Italian Parsley
Some freshly grated parmesean cheese

What I did
1. Cook the pasta in a pot of boiling water with salt til al-dente (as mentioned, this takes 9 minutes)
2. Drain the pasta and set aside some of the water
3. Heat some olive oil in a pan and add in the garlic and chilli
4. Throw in the pasta and add the pasta water from step 2
5. Add in a good bit of white wine and the cheese
6. Add in freshly ground pepper and salt to taste
7. Turn off the heat and add in the parsley

You can start the cutting and chopping when you start cooking the pasta. Start step 3 when the pasta is almost ready. Steps 3 - 7 should take under 5 minutes.

Total cook time: 12 minutes
Total washing required: 1 pot, 1 pan, 1 chopping board + knife, 1 cheese grater, 1 plate. (If you eat directly from the pan, no plate.)

I've been really into pasta these days. I'm quite keen to try out the Fresh Egg Pasta recipe that is on Jamie Oliver's website, especially since I have some cake flour at home that I think would do the trick.

Oh well, one day.

In the meantime, I'd just try out his other pasta recipes using my good old dried pasta from Marks and Spencer. His meatballs and pasta recipe is good, by the way. And perhaps more importantly, it's fairly simple for me not to screw up...

Simple scones

I forgot where I got this recipe from.. But it really is a simple recipe.

I wanted to make some scones to eat recently because of the disappointing scones I had at a restaurant at Bishan Park.

Somehow, I never managed to get my scone mixture "dry" enough to be able to roll it out and cut it. Instead, I spoon it into a small blop and place it on the baking sheet.

Ingredients
Dry ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
Wet ingredients
1/2 cup butter - about 110g
2/3 cup milk
1 beaten egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Others
1 cup raisins
Some beaten egg yolk - for brushing

What I did
1. Combine all dry ingredients
2. Add in butter and mix until mixture resembles coarse crumbs
3. Mix in the rest of the wet ingredients
4. Add in raisins
5. Spoon mixture into small blops and place on prepared baking sheet
6. Brush top with egg yolk
7. Bake in preheated oven at 200 deg C for 15 to 20 mins

Tastes best warm and serve with homemade jam and cream. And also a cup of strong English Breakfast tea.