When Babah Is Not Around....

Babah had to work. Well, he's planning to go on his annual fishing trip so whatever job is pending MUST be completed before he leaves. And so it was just us girls at home on Saturday. I tried making Apam Eno for breakfast, but it didn't turn out so good ~ it was not soft and fluffy :-( I followed the recipe to the letter but I guess I'll just have to try again some other time...

Then lunch was a simple affair of noodle soup. I used the air-dried-not-fried noodles sold in supermarkets, and the soup was made of home made fish stock, a little bit of chicken stock cube (had to add a hint of familiarity for Aina's sake), enoki mushrooms, chinese cabbage and an egg. The way I cooked it was pretty much similar to making instant noodles, and the reason is, Aina is a total stickler for instant noodles! So, we change the ingredients to make it healthier and present it to look like instant noodles :-D

After her afternoon nap, to make sure she did not go back to sleep, I asked if she wanted to play in her pool. I didn't have to ask twice :-D

For dinner, I decided to make spaghetti carbonara. I had fresh button mushrooms, and I had pasta, so it was basically a no-brainer. Babah was not home so I didn't really feel like slaving in the kitchen on a hot afternoon.... :-p

My carbonara sauce is the simplest (read: laziest) version and uses only stuff I have at hand. I left out the heavy cream and egg yolks since Aina would be eating it anyway.

SPAGHETTI CARBONARA ~ SHORTCUT VERSION

you need:

enough pasta for 2 persons

2 cloves garlic. minced

2 sausages, sliced

3 - 4 button mushrooms, sliced

1 1/2 cups fresh milk

1/2 Tbs. flour

handful of cheese (I used pre-packaged pizza topping mix)

salt and pepper, to taste

how to:

you need to start cooking your pasta first, and time it to be almost done by the time you're done making the sauce.

heat olive oil in a saucepan and fry the garlic is fragrant, not burnt. add in the sausages and mushrooms and cook till mushrooms are soft. add in all other ingredients except the cheese, then bring up to a boil. simmer gently, and as it
starts to thicken, drain the pasta and add into the sauce. stir in the cheese at
this point and stir till sauce and pasta are well combined and cheese has melted. check seasoning and serve.

Shortcut enough? :-D

Cheers!