Sausages

Sausages and cold cuts are the simplest filling for sandwiches especially when you are not in the mood to do serious cooking.

Instead of just boiling or pan-frying the sausages and then just dumping them in bread, you can make a hearty sandwich by adding a few other ingredients to make it delicious and wholesome.

Some of you will say sausages are not a healthy ingredient. I agree but as long as do not make a habit of eating them every day, you should be alright. After all there are a lot of other unhealthy ingredients in our everyday diet.

As for cold cuts, these are practically cooked meat or sliced meat. You don’t have to cook them before eating.

I have created two recipes using CP sausages and cold cuts. They are easy to prepare and taste awesome. Can add on these recipes to your Ramadan menu.  

Wasabi Fettucine and Spiced Bologna Cold Cut

(For 3 to 4 persons)

240 gm Fettucine (boiled according to instruction on the packaging)

3 pieces of CP Spiced Bologna Cold Cut – cut into big squares

2 tsp wasabi paste (wasabi paste are normally eaten with Sushi)

1 tsp crushed black pepper

1 tbl white vinegar

8 pieces tiger prawns – devained and coated with a bit of salt

3 red chillies sliced

2 onions sliced

5 cm ginger julienned

Few stalks of coriander leaves chopped

3 tbl Olive oil

Salt

Preparation:

1.       Mix Spiced Bologna Cold Cuts with wasabi paste, black pepper and vinegar. Leave aside for about 15 to 20 minutes.

2.       Heat up olive oil in a wok, fry prawns till skin changes colour. Remove and put aside.

3.       In the same oil, fry onion, ginger and red chillies till onion becomes translucent.

4.       Add in marinated cold cuts and fry for 2 or 3 minutes.

5.       Add in the boiled pasta, chopped coriander and salt. Fry till all ingredients are well mixed. Do not over fry or else the pasta will be dry.

6.       Serve hot with fried prawns.

Oatmeal Bread Sandwich with Cheese Sausages

(For 2 persons)

1 loaf oatmeal bread (from Mustafa Centre Bakery)

1 tbl olive oil

2 pieces CP Cheese Sausages

1 onion sliced

4 pieces fresh button mushroom, washed and sliced

Salt

Mayonaise

1 Tomato sliced

Choice of green salad leaves

Preparation:

1.       Cut the loaf of bread vertically into half and heat up in the oven for a few minutes.

2.       Heat up olive oil in a pan and fry cheese sausages for just a few minutes. Do not over fry or else sausages will shrink and they become rubbery. Remove sausages from the pan and put aside.

3.       In the same pan, caramelise onion and mushroom. They should be brown in colour when done.  Add in a bit of salt.

4.       To assemble the sandwich, spread some mayonnaise onto the bread and top the bottom half with mixture of onion and mushroom.

5.       Place the sausages (cut open) on top of the onion and mushroom followed by sliced tomato and salad leaves.

6.       Cover with the top half of the bread and you have a scrumptious sandwich. 

Nandos

The first time I ate at Nando's was in Kuala Lumpur. The Afro-Portugis flame-grilled chicken was so good that I wished they have outlets in Singapore. A few years later my wish came true but unfortunately Nando's outlets in Singapore were not certified halal until just recently. A few days ago I had the opportunity to try out their Espetada Carnival, a newly created dish to add on to their Espetada selection.

The dish came in a very unique presentation - skewered 'balls' of Peri-Peri boneless chicken thighs hung from a metal stand. Really exotic.

Each skewer comprised five pieces of flame-grilled succulent chicken meat stuffed with a generous amount of feta cheese, garlic and parsley. The meat was full of flavour, combination of Peri-Peri marinate and saltiness of the feta cheese which melted and coated the chicken meat nicely.

Either you eat it just on its own or you can dip into one of Nando's Peri-Peri sauces. Try the Hot Peri-Peri and your exotic Espetada Carnival epitomises the perfect symphony of exquisite flavours - salty, spicy and lemony - Superlicious!      

It is more economical to order the Espetada Carnival set comprised two side dishes and a hot fiery designer drink called Spicy Mango Sangria. Choose the side-dishes that suit your palette. The selection comprises coleslaw, baked pumpkin and grilled corn, potato chips and Mediteranean-style rice.

I tried the baked pumpkin and grilled corn. Pumpkin has never been one of my favourite vegetables unless its a pumpkin pie, haha. The baked pumpkin was served cold and the texture was soft - mushy-like. I thought it just didn't go well with the hot chicken..

As for the tangy Mango-infused drink with a spicy kick, it pairs brilliantly with the savoury Espetada Carnival. But be warned, the 'side-effect' kicks in a few minutes later -  a 'sore-throat like' feel in my throat that lasted about 15 minutes or so. It was a great experience nevertheless. A must try.

The set meal including the designer drink costs $25.90. Without the drink its only $22.90. Its available all day at all Nando's outlets.

These Peri-Peri sauces a must-have in your kitchen or rather on your dining table. You can buy them from Nando's.  Not only are they excellent with flame-grilled meat/chicken but with any other kinds of food that requires a dip.

Espetada Carnival is available throughout the month of June but very likely will be put on the menu permanently.

Nando's outlets:
Open from 10 am to 10 pm. Two new outlets just opened - Lot One Shoppers' Mall and NEX.    

 

Muhammara

I love the usual Middle Eastern Mezze or dips like Babaganoush, Hummus and Chacik until I was introduced to Muhammara another kind of dip made using ingredients like red capsicum, walnuts and pomegranate molasses.

Instantly I fell in love with Muhammara. The taste is a bit sourish depending on how much lemon juice is added. The texture of the dip varies – depending on how fine you process the walnuts. As for me I prefer it with a bit of crunchy texture.
I made Muhammara a few times at home after getting the recipe from a Moroccan chef who, in addition gave me a jar of pomegranate molasses.
It is not only a healthy dish but a very delicious one too. You can eat it with Arabic bread or tortilla.
Here is the recipe if you would like to try making it at home.

MUHAMMARA:
2 large red bell peppers (remove seeds, roasted and loosen skins)
2 cloves garlic
1 small onion finely chopped
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp chilli flakes
3/4 cups fresh breadcrumbs (2 pieces of white bread toasted and ground)
1 cup walnuts, toasted and ground
2 tbls lemon juice
2 tsp pomegranate molasses (make your own if you can't find it in the supermarket)
1 tsp cumin powder
Salt to taste
4 tbls olive oil

Combine walnuts, breadcrumbs, onion and garlic. Process in a food processor till finely ground.
Add the bell peppers, lemon juice, pomegranate molasses, cumin, cayenne pepper, chilli flakes and salt. Blend again while drizzling the olive oil till mixture is creamy.

Pomegranate Molasses
4 cups pomegranate juice
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice.

Cook all ingredients in a small pot till sugar dissolved. Once dissolved, reduce heat to medium-low till mixture reduced to 1 cup, approx 70 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool for 30 minutes. Can keep in a glass jar for 6 months.