Yesterday, I decided to experiment a bit with salmon, something I hadn't cooked myself before. Fairly quick to prepare and cook. Turned out pretty well, even if I say so myself...

Ingredients:

• 1/3-1/2 lbs salmon
• 2 Tbsp chopped cilantro (alternative: parsley)
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped (or pressed)
• 2 Tbsp lemon juice
• Lemon slice (optional)
• 1 Tbsp butter
• 1 Tbsp cooking oil (olive oil will probably be better, I just used whatever I had on hand)
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Method:

• Prepare a marinade by mixing the cilantro, lemon juice, salt, pepper, butter and oil.
• Cut the salmon however you like. I had 3 smallish slices.
• Preheat oven to 450 °F.
• Place the salmon on a foil lined baking tray, skin-side down (the foil prevents the fish from sticking to the tray, and consequently, helps you avoid the intense scrubbing required to clean the baking tray).
• Pour and spread the marinade over the salmon. Make sure to also apply it on the sides of the salmon pieces. Place the lemon slice on top of the salmon
• Place in oven for about 10-15 minutes. Do not over-cook - salmon is awesome even if slightly under-cooked.

Enjoy with a side of veggies, mashed potatoes, boiled rice, or even on its own!

Tonight, I'm going test it out with a spicier marinade. May make a new post, or just add to this one...

Update: The spicier marinade was a lot more interesting. Made the following modifications:

• Replaced 1 Tbsp oil with a bit of extra butter and 1 Tbsp of Sambal Oelek (chili paste).
• Sprinkled a bit of paprika powder just before baking.

Here's the modified version, with a side of couscous:

Over the past year, I've made few variations of fried rice, using whatever was available to me. Made some this weekend. Allow your creativity to take over...

Note: This recipe is devoid of any "proper" measurements, since I cannot attribute a measurable quantity to the rice (I was basically emptying my bag of rice...) - the boiled rice by itself would amount to about 1 serving. Adjust other ingredients based on your amount of rice.

Ingredients:

• Boiled Rice (1-2 days old cooked rice will do just fine)
• 2 Eggs
• Vegetable Oil
• Frozen Vegetables (mix of peas, carrots, corn, green beans and lima beans) (slightly less than the amount of rice, in terms of volume...)
• 2-3 cloves garlic, chopped/minced
• 2-3 Tbsp Soy Sauce (feel free to increase or decrease the quantity)
• Paprika powder
• Mustard paste
• Salt
• Pepper

Possible additions/modifications: chopped spring onion, cooked tuna.

Method:

• In a bowl, crack the eggs. Add mustard paste, salt and pepper. Whisk the eggs. Add 1 tablespoon of oil into a pan. Add the egg mixture to the pan and cook over medium heat. "Scramble" the eggs and remove from pan once a creamy consistency is reached. tl;dr: Make scrambled eggs.
• Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add the frozen vegetables. Remove and strain the vegetables after about 6 minutes.
• Add about 2 tablespoons of oil to the pan. Set stove to medium-high. Add garlic and sauteed for about 2-3 minutes.
• Add the vegetables to the pan. Sauteed for about 1-2 minutes and then move the vegetables to a side of the pan.
• Add the boiled rice to the pan. Stir in the scrambled eggs and soy sauce and mix with the rice.

• Mix the rice and the vegetables.
• Sprinkle a bit of paprika powder on top of the rice (optional).

Enjoy!

Shepherd's Pie - a dish I had only read about in what I remember to be Enid Blyton's story books (probably the Famous Five or one of the many other adventure books and series she wrote). A month or so back, I wanted to do something creative with the ground beef I had in my freezer, and decided to experiment with Shepherd's Pie, described by Wikipedia as "a meat pie with a crust of mashed potato".

Outlined below is my version of the Shepherd's Pie - the basics were developed by following the recipe here. This was my second attempt at it - the success of the first attempt encouraged me to give it another shot and add a bit more flavor to the meat.

Note: Any measurements are approximations, or could possibly be totally erroneous (especially when it comes to adding cooking oil or spices), since I pay very little attention to how much I'm putting in of each thing...

Without further ado,

Ingredients (for the meat):

• 1/2 lbs. ground beef
• 1 Onion, chopped
• 3-4 Cloves of Garlic, chopped
• 1/2 - 1 tsp Paprika powder
• 1/2 tsp Red Chili powder
• 1/2 - 1 tsp Coriander powder
• 1/2 - 1 tsp Black pepper
• 1/2 Tbsp Italian seasoning (oregano, thyme, basil, rosemary, etc.)
• Salt
• 300-350g Frozen Vegetables (mix of peas, carrots, corn, green beans and lima beans)
• Cooking oil
• Butter

Ingredients (for the mashed potato topping):

• 1 large potato, peeled, chopped and boiled
• Cream Cheese (I used Roasted Garlic and Herb Cheese)
• Butter
• Milk
• Pepper
• Shredded cheese

Method:
Doing the mashed potatoes and the ground beef simultaneously saves a lot of time, compared to doing one and then the other...

The meat base:

• In a frying pan, add cooking oil and about a tablespoon of butter. Sauteed the chopped onions and garlic, until slightly brown. Remove from stove.
• In a cooking pot/pan (I used a wok... ), add about 2-3 table spoons of oil. Add the meat, and starting cooking over medium heat. Break up the ground beef (with a wooden spoon) to prevent any lumps from forming.
• Add salt, paprika, red chili, coriander and pepper to the meat. Then add the sauteed garlic and onions. Finally, add the Italian seasoning. Keep cooking over medium heat until the ground beef loses its pinkishness. Turn the stove to low heat once it starts to brown.
• In a pot, add the frozen vegetables and enough water to cover them. Put on the stove on high heat. About 6 minutes after the water reaches a boil, remove the vegetables and pass through a sieve to strain any water. Add the vegetables to the meat. (I kept my wok containing the meat on the stove on low heat until I was ready to progress to the baking stage).

The mashed potatoes:

• In a bowl, thoroughly mash the boiled potatoes with pepper, cream cheese, butter and milk (until it forms a creamy texture).
• Add Italian seasoning and paprika (optional).

The baking stage:

• Preheat oven to 400°F. 
• Grease a baking tray or dish. I use a 9-inch square baking tray.
• Add the meat and vegetable mixture to the tray, and press down with spoon/spatula.

• Spread the mashed potatoes on top of the ground beef. Add some shredded cheese (optional).

• Put the tray in the oven. Bake for about 40 minutes (until the potato starts to brown).

• Cut into six or eight pieces (or more, depending on tray/dish size).
• Serve/Eat. Enjoy!

Questions are welcome!

Created this recipe about last weekend. Sources included asking my Mom, and incessantly Googling "baked chicken".

Note: Any measurements are approximations, or could be totally erroneous, since I'm recalling this from memory...

Ingredients (for the chicken):

• 1/2 lbs. boneless chicken breast (sliced into 3 separate, palm-sized pieces, in my case)
• 2 Tbsp chili paste (I use a Chinese brand that comes in a green-lidded plastic jar)
• 1 Tbsp mustard paste
• 1 Tbsp soya sauce
• 1 Tbsp barbeque sauce
• 1/2 Tbsp black pepper
• 1/2 Tbsp salt
• 1 Tbsp Italian seasoning (a mix of oregano, thyme, rosemary, basil, oregano, etc.)
• 1 Tbsp butter
• 2-3 cloves of garlic, chopped

(possible addition: Worcestershire Sauce)

Method:

1. Mix the chili paste, mustard, the sauces, salt, pepper, butter, garlic and seasoning to form a marinade.
2. With a knife, slightly mark the surface of the chicken pieces with lines (don't cut too deep!); I am told this improves the absorption of the marinade.
3. Marinate the chicken pieces, ensuring that both sides are properly covered.
4. Place in glass bowl, covered with plastic. Place it in the refrigerator. (The first two pieces were taken out after 4 hours, the last piece was left marinated for about a day and a half.)
5. Preheat the oven to 375 °F.
6. Place chicken pieces in a baking tray and bake until chicken is cooked*. Turn the chicken pieces to ensure evenly baked pieces.

* I baked the first two pieces for about 30 minutes on the central grill in the oven (15 minutes for each side of chicken piece) and then for 10 minutes on the upper grill - result was pretty dry. The last piece was baked for 20 minutes on the central grill (10 minutes for each side) and on the upper grill for about 5-7 minutes - result was comparatively juicier.

Optional: Serve with potato wedges, cucumber and vegies.

Baked Chicken with Potato Wedges, Cucumber Slices and Other Vegies

Since I started university, at times I have found joy in cooking. As a student, I am the sole subject of my culinary experiments, so I can be rather liberal with my experimentation

Most of my recipes are combinations of recipes found on the Internet, along with additions/subtractions of my own. I thought it might be a good idea to document some of them, so amateur cooks like myself can get an insight into the wonderful world of cooking. Hence, I'm starting a new section in my blog, titled "Culinary Experiments".

Cheers!

Disclaimer: Follow recipes at your own risk. There is a lot of hand waving involved, since most (read: all) of the time, I'm not very precise with my measurements.

A summary of my life in 2012...

Time is a mysterious thing. At times,  memories created years ago are as if they occurred yesterday. At other times, events from mere months or even weeks before seem ages apart.

Since I started this blog, my Life in Twenty-Ten and Life in Twenty-Eleven posts have not only served as something for me to write about, but have also allowed me the opportunity to look back upon the passed year, and reflect on instances that are now memories. So, without further ado, let me step back into time...

January: The New Year started off with a continuation of my search for suitable accommodation for the Winter 2012 Co-op work term.

2012, Day 2 © Osama Sidat

On January 3, 2012, I joined Loblaw Inc. as the SAP Organizational Change Management Co-op Integration Analyst. The first day was basically an orientation about Loblaw in general and its SAP program in particular, an introduction to a few individuals, followed by a short tour of the building. We (that is myself and the other co-ops) were provided with the laptops we would be using, and were asked to initiate the setup of our email accounts, plus other related "stuff". Meanwhile, I waited for my boss to "collect" me and provide further instructions.

The rest of the day went by pretty rapidly; met my boss, had lunch and conversation with him (trying to get a feel for what it was that I would be doing). He showed me to my desk, provided me with relevant documents and showed me a few things that I could work on.

My assigned desk wasn't exactly permanent (and it was separate from the rest of my team), so I spent the next few weeks switching seats, in order to be closest to the people I would be working with. Some may have found this to be an annoyance; I actually enjoyed it as it prevented monotony from creeping up and also gave me the opportunity to interact various people in the team.

I was assigned a few daily/weekly tasks (nothing that caused any grief). I spent the month mostly tinkering with Excel VBA and investigating ways to automate the data analysis processes from surveys.

Starting from my third week, I was assigned as a tester/guide/overwatch for an Access developer, who was called in for a short term contract to fix a database tool that we used...

I was able to find a room a short bus ride away from my workplace. Best part about the place? There was a cat!

Am the Cat © Osama Sidat

My Street in Brampton © Osama Sidat

February: By this time, I started liking work life a whole lot better than university life. The best part about it was not having to worry about work after getting back home. Another thing about it was the sense of accomplishment after successfully completing a task or side project... something that is absent from most university assignments/exams.

By the end of the month, the developer had left. The question of whether the goals of the contract were completed remain debatable to this day. In any case, my previous experience with Access helped me assume administrative responsibilities of the database (along with the responsibility of "fixing" the "fixes"!)

I found that a co-op term is a pretty good time to experiment with photography projects that had been on the back-burner, such as this:

Water in Glass © Osama Sidat

Visited the Toronto AUTO Show - quite an awesome experience! Would definitely try to check out the show whenever it happens next (equipped with more camera gear, of course!).

A Piece of History © Osama Sidat

March: Sometime during March, some of my colleagues started calling me "The Overlord". I have no idea what triggered it (I'd love to know!).

A couple of my cooking experiments from then:

Chicken & Mushroom Spaghetti © Osama Sidat

Pasta with Ground Beef © Osama Sidat

April: Couldn't believe that the co-op term had reached its final month! Started the preparations for the return to Waterloo...

Meanwhile, Ludwig dropped by for a visit. Who's Ludwig? This gorgeous fellow:

Ludwig © Osama Sidat

The term concluded on a happy note, with a great evaluation from my boss. I also signed up to come back in Fall 2012 (at this point in time, I wasn't exactly sure about continuing with Actuarial Science, my original career path since I started off at Waterloo).

My work term ended on Friday, April 27, 2012. Packed up my room overnight and moved to Waterloo over the weekend.

May: The school term started off on May 3. Had little time to get my bearings straight.

In Spring 2012, I took up Intro to Actuarial Mathematics, Intro to Combinatorics & Optimization, Linear Algebra II, as well as two Computer Science courses, Logic & Computation and Object-Oriented Software Development.

My schedule during the term was fairly spread out. Really busy Mondays, fairly busy Wednesdays and Fridays, really busy Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. Rather challenging weekly or fortnightly assignments, as one should expect at the end of the second year.

Won myself a delayed birthday present... an HTC One S from Techvibes! Embarked on a Project 365 using the phone soon after.

HTC One S © Osama Sidat

June: By mid-June, midterms were under way. Most of them were pretty challenging, but none more so than Linear Algebra. Despite being in class for every single minute of the lectures, the material seemed totally foreign to me. Ended up dropping the course to avoid further damage.

I finally made the decision to switch from Actuarial Science to Computer Science. My interest in ActSci was declining rapidly, whereas I found CS fun and enjoyable. In the end, the decision was logical, and in my head, the right path to follow.

Towards the end of June, FEDS Waterloo arranged a visit to Canada's Wonderland. What a thrilling experience!

Me at Wonderland © Osama Sidat

My first ride: The Leviathan, a roller coaster, which has a highest drop of 306 ft. and a maximum speed of 148 km/h. Everything else seemed tame after that...

Leviathan - The First Climb © Osama Sidat

July: Spent Canada Day in Waterloo - witnessed a pretty impressive fireworks show over Columbia Lake.

Over Columbia Lake © Osama Sidat

The rest of July was spent pursuing the end-of-term CS project along with the preparation for exams. This also marked the first Ramadan I actively spent in Waterloo - a completely different Ramadan from the ones I've experienced all my life.

August: The exam frenzy started off... Looking back now, given the way the exams went, I feel lucky that I was able to clear 'em.

My 5-year Sony Alpha was showing signs of aging. Instead of continuing with a new camera from the Alpha line, I decided that this would be a good opportunity to downsize, by switching systems. After a few months of research and comparison between the Sony NEX and the Micro Four Thirds Systems, I decided to go with the latter, starting off with the Olympus OMD E-M5 as the camera. Based on the system-building lessons learnt over the past five years, I am now able to start afresh, taking a slightly different approach by focusing on quality rather than quantity of gear. So far, any cons of switching systems have been overshadowed by the pros.

Since term ended early and I wasn't due to start work until September 4, I moved all my stuff to Brampton as soon as the exams ended and then flew back home to spend Eid with family. Had quite a long flight (via Lahore) but it was definitely worth it.

Home © Osama Sidat

Watched The Dark Knight Rises... an awesome and deserving finale to the trilogy...

September: Flew back to Canada on the 2nd... the troubles I had at the Karachi Airport this time round made me seriously doubt the wisdom of flying with PIA in the future. Moved into the familiar accommodation from last term and returned to Loblaw as the Overlord OCM Integration Analyst - for a second time.

It was nice to see Am again - no Ludwig, since he had gone back to whoever owned him.

The Majestic © Osama Sidat

Earlier, my role was quite small. However, since we were in a major phase of the program, my role inherited (according to my observation) around three times as many responsibilities - not necessarily a bad thing. Thanks to my boss, I was able to keep my working hours in check, would've definitely gone overboard had it not been for his reminders.

October & November: Nothing of much significance, other than routine work, and a bit of photography here and there. Oh, and I got my G2 driving license - street legal now!

Square One Mall, Mississauga © Osama Sidat

A Gaggle of Geese, Fletcher's Creek, Brampton © Osama Sidat

December: Started wrapping up my projects, since I was getting a week off at the end of my scheduled co-op term. Handover of responsibilities was smooth (or as smooth as can be).

On my last day, my team presented me with a fitting poster - something that should definitely be up here, part of this post. Unfortunately, to date, I have not been able to get a scan of it... I'll definitely put it here sometime soon.

A shout of thanks to all the people I worked with, especially my team and particularly my boss. My great experience at work wouldn't have been the same without all of your contribution, and your roles in the initial stages of my career shall never be forgotten.

Now: spending the holidays peacefully (read: lazily), until I jump into the fight again, 7 days from today.

The Sight I Wake Up To! © Osama Sidat

Looking back now, I have a feeling that this year was an important one. Not that any year was/is unimportant... it just feels that this year was a tad bit more...

Just like last year, I'll end this year with the following prayer: