Maple and Herb Marinated Pork Chops

It has been a long day. Catching up with good friends from Auckland - while shopping at DFO, lunch at Balmain, deserts at Adriano Zumbo and last but not least someone reversed in our car!

When we finally drove in our driveway, we walked in the front door and collapsed on the lounge, exhausted. So it was a good thing that we marinated pork chops last night and dinner was done in 10 minutes.

The pork was really juicy and full of flavours thanks to our masterchef collection.

Heres the recipe.

Ingredients

375ml Campbell's Real Stock Beef

2 tsp Dijon Mustard

1 tbsp maple syrup or honey

1 tsp crushed garlic

1 tsp dried sage eor thyme

4 pork chops or cutlets

Method

1. Pour stock in a bowl, add remaining ingredients and mix well until pork is evenly coated. Cover and allow to marinate, in the refrigerator, for at least 30 minutes or overnight.
2. Remove the pork from the marinade and panfry, grill or barbecue for 4 mins each side, or until cooked, brushing regularly with the marinade. Serve with steamed vegerables or a salad.

Spicy Tomato Prawns

OK after the raw meat steak tartare adventure last night, I decided to make something conventional. Another one from my masterchef collection.

Method

prep time: 20 mins

cook time: 25 mins

serves 4

Ingredients

2 tbsp oil

1 kg green prawns, peeled, leaving tails intact, deveined

1 onion, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, crushed

2 red chillies, deseeded, finely chopped

1/2 cup white wine

375ml pack Campbell's Real Stock - Fish

400g diced tomatoes

1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley

1. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add prawns, cook for 1 min or until seared. Remove & set aside.
2. Heat remaining oil in frying pan. Add onion, garlic & chilli. Cook, stirring for 5 mins or until sauce has thickened slightly.
3. Add stock & tomatoes, bring to the boil. Reduce heat & cook uncovered for 10 mins or until sauce has thickened slightly.
4. Stir in prawns & parsley. Cook for 3 mins or until prawns are cooked through. Serve with pasta or couscous.

Love for our grandparents

Weirdly I have been thinking about my grandparents a lot lately. My beloved grandfather passed away a couple of years ago leaving my grandmother in the care of my mother and her siblings. Unfortunately for my nana, she is mostly left alone. You see..everyone else are away..away in different countries.

I love my grandmother and I know she too want to be loved and looked after in her old age. Being 7 hours flight away from her I don't know how to show her how much I really care for her. I hate the thought that my grandmother will be spending her old age in loneliness and insecurity..

As far back as I can remember, my grandparents were always an important part of my life growing up heck I used to live with them. They were there to watch me off to school and after school when mom was working. They provided me everything I needed and wanted; love, care, nourishment, entertainment and so much more.

I remember many times when my grandparents used to tell me stories about "the olden days." I didn’t realize it then, but those were times that I wish I had taken time to really listen and to ask questions. It would have been great to have all those stories written down so I could read them to my own child. Everything my grandparents had told me about their past, is a part of my own past, which in turn is a part of my child’s past. Those stories make a connection that we will always have to family members who are no longer with us.

What I am trying to say is..you don't need any special day to make them feel their worth. If you have never told them how much you love them, say it before its too late.

Grandparents are the key to our past, and our future – we shouldn’t throw them away.

"When a child is born, so are grandmothers." -- Judith Levy

Inception Movie Review

I saw "Inception" this weekend with John at the cinema - finally! I have been so looking forward to watch this movie after I saw the review a couple of weeks ago. Stars Leonardo DiCaprio, OK I'm not a huge Leo fan but I really can't deny that he is really ridiculously good looking. We all loved Titanic, The Beach, Shutter Island - he is a GOOD actor.

Inception also stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Page, Tom Hardy, Ken Watanabe, Dileep Rao, Cillian Murphy, Tom Berenger, Marion Cotillard, Michael Caine, Lukas Haas, and Pete Postlethwaite.

You are probably skeptical about heading to the theater since seeing the movie previews of Leonardo DiCaprio paired up with “Juno” star Ellen Page, but the chemistry does match and their roles flow together nicely in the movie.

If you’re a vivid dreamer and if you’re into dream interpretation, this movie is for you! 

The core conceit of the movie is simple: Inception is about this group of ‘dream worker’ people who get offered a challenge to break inside of a powerful man’s mind and install a thought into his head to change the future. The group of people make a dream plan that the group is in compliance with, they all go to sleep at the same time, and show up in the same dream together and take on the challenge and obstacles as a team. In this challenge given, the group sets out to travel through 3 layers of this joint dream with their victim by their side, who is also simultaneously sedated/dreaming in the same room with them in reality. Leo plays Dom Cobb, the best of the best who leads the team - but he is haunted by the memory of his dead wife...

Are you totally confused!? Hopefully it will make more sense when you see it!

It’s one of those movies you have to follow all the way through, and you CANNOT take a bathroom break for the whole 2 hours because you’ll be so lost! The movie does not feel long though. Make sure you see it at the cinema too!

The film moves through these worlds gracefully, with several unforgettable action scenes. These moments will have you scratching your head and catching your breath. To me its not so much of an action movie but it definately delivers more than enough adrenaline to keep you glued to the screen.

I have to watch this movie again...