Panic Birthday Dinner

My mom’s birthday was early October so obviously this is a very late post…

The whole family already had the birthday dinner the weekend before the actual date and I thought I could just give her the tiramisu on the day. That afternoon, I called to say happy birthday and then I realised dad wouldn’t be coming home for dinner. So I told mom I would cook for her. 

After I hung up, major panic kicked in. I had no idea what to cook. And I didn’t have much time to shop and actually cook!!! Should I do pasta? Boring. Steak? Nah, she doesn’t like it that much. What does she like to eat? Well, pizza… but how the hell was I gonna make a pizza?! Oh, wait, she likes tabouleh! 

I wouldn’t have the time to chop all those tomatoes and cucumber and parsley. Plus I would have to think of another hot / meat dish to go with the salad. So, no tabouleh. Instead, I’d make a simple one pot dinner with couscous.

Couscous with Chorizo and Chickpeas

Ingredients

• 1 cup couscous
• olive oil 
• chorizo, sliced 
• 1 tsp paprika  
• 1 can chickpeas, drained 
• 425ml chicken stock
• chopped parsley, to serve

Method

1. Prepare couscous according to the packet’s instructions.
2. Heat olive oil in a large pan and stir fry the chorizo for 3-4 mins. 
3. Stir in the paprika, then tip in the chickpeas and the chicken stock. 
4. Simmer for 2 mins. Spoon over the couscous and scatter with chopped parsley.
5. Serve with a mixed leaf salad with lemon olive oil dressing. 

She beamed when she saw it’s couscous and that meant a lot to me. It feels good to cook for my parents. They always tell me it’s nice (whether it’s true or not, I don’t really care). Whereas my various attempts to cook for someone else never yielded this kind of result. 

Birthday and Housewarming Tiramisu

In answer to my mom’s subtle (really?) request for a tiramisu (see the second last paragraph of this post), I decided to make one for her birthday last month.  

It was at least five years ago that I last made a tiramisu and I already lost the recipe. Well I do know what ingredients I’ll need and the steps are easy to remember but it was the quantity that I wasn’t sure of. So I searched the web and eventually combined a few recipes into this:

Tiramisu

Ingredients

• 3 eggs, separated
• 1.5 tablespoons white sugar
• 1 tub (approx. 455g) mascarpone cheese
• 1 tablespoons Baileys
• 1 tablespoon Cointreau
• 1 cups very strong coffee
• 12-15 ladyfinger cookies
• Cocoa powder to dust 

Method

1. Brew coffee. Let it cool to room temperature. Add half tablespoon Baileys and half tablespoon Cointreau. Set aside.
2. In large mixing bowl, beat egg yolks and sugar with electric mixer until light yellow, about 1 minute. Beat in mascarpone and the remaining Baileys and Cointreau until smooth.
3. In a separate bowl, beat egg whites until stiff, but not dry. Fold egg whites into mascarpone mixture.
4. Quickly dip ladyfingers, one at a time, in the coffee liqueur mixture and arrange them in a deep baking dish. Spread half the mascarpone mixture over the ladyfinger layer. Repeat the soaked ladyfingers and mascarpone layers.
5. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate 4 hours or overnight. 
6. When serving, divide portions of the tiramisu on plates. Don’t worry if it kind of falls apart a little. It’s meant to be a little sloppy. Dust cocoa powder over the tiramisu and serve. 

* You can substitute with other liqueurs. The original Tiramisu calls for Masala wine. But Kahlua, Tia Maria, Amaretto will work just fine. 

* You can use brewed coffee or instant ones. 

I’m sure if you try making one, you’ll never want to eat those served in restaurants. 

This surely is easy to make and will definitely impress your friends and family. Mom and dad both liked it and I couldn’t resist a second helping that night. 

I made this again last week for my friend’s house-warming party. It seemed to go down well. And the next day, my friend told me she saw some of the boys literally licked their plates clean. I was so proud of myself haha.

沉默的消夜時間

見到她，想起他。沒去找他，卻從他想到另一個他。這個他，更加找不得。

想著想著，又想哭了。