Lamb Cutlets

This was the grilled lamb cutlets I cook yesterday with red wine vinaigrette.The 2 red lumps beside it is the caviar.The lamb cutlets were put on top of a handful of oyster mushrooms.Simple dish and a touch of rosemary scent really make a different. This will be the last post before holiday begins. Au revoir et merci

Pan fried cod and seared scallop with White Wine Vinegar Reduction

Preparation for this Saturday dinner is on full swing now..meantimes i pamper myself with a nice little dish yesterday.This is the cod fillet and seared scallop with a little sidedish of pasta in alfredo sauce. Rock and roll mates

Chicken Breast with vegetables stuffings and Peasant Pasta

The lunch I cooked yesterday...

Peasant Pasta : Such a simple dish no fuss at all. Ingredients use is just pasta cooked al dente and minced meat only. Thats why I call it the Peasant Pasta

The chicken breast : Create an opening on the middle of the breast

Vegetable stuffings : I use diced carrot,celery,tomato and red pepper as stuffings.First heat up the pan with olive oil.Once hot, throw in some chopped onions and cook until fragrant.Add in all the vegetables and sauteed the vegetables with seasoning of salt and pepper. Stuffed the vege into the opening and add in mozarella cheese with stuffings.You can use any cheese as well.Leave spme vege for garnish.Once done use toothpick to seal the opening. Heat up the pan.Once hot pour in the olive oil, brown the presentation side first.Once it nicely brown, turn to other side and cooked.Once done, put it aside. Take a spoonful of butter, put into the pan and let it melt.Once melt, pour in chicken stock and a few rosemary sprigs as well.Let it simmer and reduce. Once done,pour on to the chicken breast..there you go pan sauce.

Poached Egg in Butter Sauce

What is poached egg?

A poached egg is an egg that has been cooked by poaching, that is, in water. No oil or fat is used in its preparation. Poached eggs are used in Eggs Benedict and Eggs Florentine.
In modern parlance, the term "poached egg" is also applied to a different method of preparation, where the egg is suspended in steam.
Thanks to wiki....it explained more professionally than me

Notice the 2 different egg...the yolk covered with the white on top is the poached egg and the other is just half boiled egg as most people know.

Dinner Pre Chinese New Year

Planning a menu is a bit of a headache to me sometime....(my wife have a bit of aversion to beef, lamb and game meat.)
So it leave me only a few option of cooking fish or shellfish and I think so is getting bored with it but I try to make the dish with different sauces and different flavor on it

Poached Salmon with Salsa Chiles
Pan fried Cod fillet with Sear Scallop on white wine vinegar reduction
Grilled Duck Breast with Pan Sauce (red wine)
Panna cotta -Dessert
Potato cake - Starter

May change in time...

I hope she like it :)

Happy Chinese New Year Everyone

A week plus more to go. I wish everyone who is celebrating Chinese New Year........HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR. The blog will have fewer post until Chinese New Year over but I try to post as much as possible. Merci

Fried Mozarella

This is the fried mozarella balls I made yesterday(not to my satisfaction at all due to my impatience)....

Ingredients :

Melted mozarella rolled into balls

Bread crumbs......(I use biscuit crumbs in this as I dont have bread crumbs...came out not good at all :( )

Beaten eggs

Thing to aware of as per my experience :

Oil must be hot enough around 320-360F

Mozarella should be coated thoroughly with egg

then flour/bread crumbs.

Mozarella must be firm enough before cook.

Sauteed Prawns with Garlic Butter Dipper

A light meal I cooked yesterday : Sauteed prawns with garlic butter.The prawns were put on top of cheese slices.

Sous vide

One of the unconventional way of preparing food in culinary nowadays. What is sous vide?

Sous-vide (pronounced /su ˈvid/),[1] French for "under vacuum",[1] is a method of cooking that is intended to maintain the integrity of ingredients by heating them for an extended period of time at relatively low temperatures. Food is cooked for a long time, sometimes well over 24 hours. Unlike cooking in a slow cooker, sous-vide cooking uses airtight plastic bags placed in hot water well below boiling point (usually around 60°C or 140°F).

Actually this method was developed in mid 1970 by George Pralus. Refined by Bruno Goussault and use by many reknown chefs until this days.
It do actually keep the food in very fresh condition but will it take arts out of culinary arts?
That is remains to be seen

Rumpsteak

An old picture of the rumpsteak that i cooked. Very bland indeed as no dressing is used. Just an
Experiment that I want to try out. Simply want to taste a dish without any dressing or sauce or gravy. Just sauteed diced tomatoes and mushrooms and asparagus.Medium rare rumpsteak on top.

Easy dressing using reduction or vinaigrette

Having fish, shellfish or meat in a menu at home, serving with a sauce or gravy is not a must. When we dine outside, we were serve with mushroom sauce, red wine sauce etc....is it really necessary we follow? Good sauce will definitely will enhance the flavour but a bad sauce will totally spoil the food regardless how well the dish is cooked or grilled. When cooking at home, using simple method to complement dish is an option as well. Beside gravy or sauce, you can use the 2 above mentioned methods. Reduction or vinaigrette.

Reduction : Use leftover meat that stuck in pan or tray or vinegar(balsamic, red or white wine or even cider vinegar) with broths or wine or even just butter. Put a bit of butter into tray or pan and let it melt.Pour in the vinegar, broth or wine to simmer.Scrap of the meat bits off the bottom and let it reduced to wanted volume and serve.

Vinaigrette : 3 parts olive oils and 1 part vinegar. Emulsified both ingredients in a blender or mixing bowl. Add in a bonding medium like butter, mayonaisse, herbs or etc (up to your preference).May add sauteed vege into emulsied mix and serve.

Try it. Both style is very very flexible, you may add whatever you want and you will amazed how different the flavour will be. Remember, we are not working in a restaurant we dont need approval from clients.

Mussels in White Wine with Ethan Twist

Mussels in White Wine easy recipe but I change a bit of the ingredients and I will call it Mussels with chillies In Shaoxing Wine. Chinese fusion as someone may called it. Simple steps to follow...First step heat up the pan add a bit of olive oil, once hot stir in the chillies and garlic. Sweat it for a while then throw in the mussels, dont let it cook sauteed it for a while then add in the shaoxing wine and chicken stock, dont close the lid(to release the alcohol) and let it simmer for 15-20mins max. The mixture will reduce, add in salt and pepper for seasoning in add in chopped parsley or chives. Stir it a while and take off from heat. Sieve the mixture out and pour into a pot. Set a aside the mussel on a bowl. Simmer the mixture in low heat dont let it boil, drop in a spoon of butter let it melt.Stir a while and pour into the plate of mussels. Add more parsley and serve. Taste the sauce add in salt or pepper if flavor is not enough and serve.

Seared Scallop with Balsamic Vinegar Reduction and Gremolata Garnish

I whipped up the dish this morning with my boy looking through the gate salivating. He loves seafood and meat like me.

Scallops : Sear the scallops in a pan with olive oil with moderate high heat. Once put into the pan dont move it around, leave it for about 2-3mins max(depend how large is the scallop) and turn the other side. At this point throw in chopped celery. Sauteed it with the scallops for 2-3 mins as well and dash in salt and pepper for seasoning. Put at aside and rest.

Balsamic Vinegar Reduction : Pour in the balsamic vinegar. Simmer it moderate heat and add sugar. Let it simmer and reduced to volume that you want. Pour it into a bowl and you have your balsamic vinegar reduction. You will see it will become a thick sauce and it is a good complement to dish.

Gremalato : Traditional Italian garnish. Need diced garlic as always in Italian recipe,chopped parsley, olive oil and zest of lemon. Put into a bowl and mix it well.

Arrange on plate and serve

Asparagus soup and scallops

This both is a nice entree before the main course. The scallops provided it were fresh, just seared it in a pan and then drizzle it with dressing and it were ready to be served. The asparagus as well is very simple preparation. First of all ,blanch the asparagus on hot water for about 5-6 mins and put into iced water to stop it from continuing cooking. We need the vibrant colour of the asparagus.Put into food processor and add hot water or broth for consistency, puree it add salt and pepper for seasoning and serve. You can sieve it first to make a clearer broth. You can add cream or butter if you want

My Big Breakfast

This morning I have a meeting to go to so I need a quick breakfast to fill my stomach for the rest of the day. I just open the fridge and check what i can have for breakfast and gleefully saw i still have a leftover marinated piece of salmon in olive oil and parsley and a few slivers of chicken...I thought that will do. So at the end my breakfast are salmon fillet in butter sauce and spaghetti with slivers of chicken. Start with salmon as it was marinated i just pan fried both side and as salmon is so versatile you can also poach or steam it or smoke it. Once both side done, place it aside for it to rest and start preparing the sauce. Dont wash the pan we need the essence left in the pan, throw in a clove of garlic diced, swirl it around then throw in a spoon of butter. Whisk it until the butter incorporated.Take of the heat and kepp whisking for a few seconds.There you go...butter sauce mate. Pour over the salmon and ready to rock and roll.
For the pasta I use the most uncoventional way due to time constraint. Heat up the pan and pour in the olive oil. Once the oil hot up throw in the chicken sliver to sear, add in salt and pepper for seasoning and meanwhile the pasta was in a pot of salted water boiling away. Once pasta cooked drain it put into cold water to stop it from continuing cooking. At that time the chicken should be done. Before taking it out from the heat, throw in chopped parsley and parmesan if you want.After a few second take off from heat, throw in the spaghetti.Mix it nicely add add a dash of olive oil since it will be no sauce, if you dont addin the olive oil it will be very dry. Mix it again and serve. You can arrange it like me as you want and add tomato as garnish. Ready to rock and roll mates

Medium Rare Steak

This is the medium rare steak i cooked last week...you can still see the contrast on the meat...how we know when we cook it the meat we be rare, done or medium? To know it is very simple, just use your finger to poke the meat, feel the tenderness and compare by opening up your palm and use the muscle below the thumb, you press from the top of the muscle toward the bone. Top of the muscle mean rare to done on the bone. Try it is simple..it will pratically help you avoid waste the tenderloin you bought. Cheers Im going to grab a glass of Cabernet.

My Tools

This two babies is my tool of trade, well we cant said it is a tool of trade as i dont use it to make a living. The large one is called a cook knife and the smaller one is a utility knife. Cook knife is use general for cutting, chopping and dicing etc and the smaller knife is use for more delicate work like deveining or sculpting...not that i use to sculpt as i not yet to that level yet give me a tomato i mash it into pulp hehe.

Chef Test

I watched from a series of Asian Food Channel call A Chef 's Story, during the interview the reputable chef said when he recruiting a chef the test he gave is making omelette.I thought What? An omelette? Even a kid can make that......but come to think on it, making an omelette do require some skill. The omelette shouldn't be runny and texture have to be soft, not burnt on the side and neat. An omelette I make above may pass the test, hmmm just maybe

Dessert

This was the dessert made by my lovely wife Gladys...Cream Cheese Cake, easy to make doesnt even need the oven :) If you want the recipe..let me know hehe

Second Course of New Year Dinner Course

Porkchop with Mushroom Gravy

The porkchop was marinated with olive oil, rosemary and season with salt and pepper,
and put into fridge for few hours before cooking.
Heat the grill/large pan with a dash of oil and butter.Put the porkchop on grill/pan for 5-6 mins before turning.Sprinkle with parsley and pepper to build up the flavor.Once cooked both side take out and rest on plate for a while before serve. We need to rest it because it allow the juice to be suck back by the meat so it will be juicy when you bite on it. Porkchop should not be too overdone as it will make it too firm. I done that before...
Now gravy nothing too complex here.Use the leftovers oil and the meat that stuck to your pan for the base.Use butter to soften it up and scrap out the meat pour and after that pour in a puree of mushrooms. Swirl it occasionally and simmer in low heat to reduce to preferred thickness and serve with porkchop.
This is my New Year Dinner Course. Simple and it make my wife happy.
Have a great new year everyone.

New Year Dinner Course Part 2

First Course :
Seared Cod fillet on top of sauteed mushrooms and tomatoes.

We up the up the ante a little bit, as the title said we need a cod fillet, parsley and basil leaves, butter, tomatoes, shititake mushrooms and of course olive oil, salt and pepper.
First I marinated the cod fillet with olive oil, covered the whole fillet with oil, sprinkle generously with parsley, add salt and pepper for flavor.Put in fridge for the cod fillet to suck in all flavor. Normally 1-2 hours is enough.
First heat up the pan with olive oil and add in the butter , dont let it burn, once ready put in the marinated fillet. Now searing the fillet means once you put in the fillet dont move it around as cooked fillet can break off easily.Searing means we brown the side without burning it.give or take 4-5mins then turn it the other side and sear it as well.When you sear sprinkle some basil leaves and pepper as well. Once you get that nice brownish side, take it out let it rest a while.
Sauteed diced mushrooms and tomatoes with olive oil over moderate heat and add salt and pepper or seasoning. Arrange the sauteed mushrooms and tomatos on plate.Place the fillet on top. There you go the cod fillet dish. Next up, second course porkchop

New Year Dinner Course

Happy New Year 2009!! :

Instead of going out to a swarm of people, shoving and pushing around plus having a kid, so the option of standing around sweaty crowd and being sprayed with white foam is not an option anymore. So we just having a get together with friend and bbqed. I cooked a full course dinner for my wife as well. Not too fancy like you have in restaurant but hei, my wife loved it that the important part.

As a starter :

I start with Salmon Caparccio.

It was a very simple and easy to do. Most important thing is you should not cut the salmon with shaky hand and a very sharp knife, hehe.You can buy any salmon fillet in a supermarket and slice thinly and place the pieces on a flat plate. Now we not eating sushi so we need to have dressing.

For dressing i use : Olive oil, chopped basil leaves, salt and pepper for seasoning.Add all ingredients and whisk it nicely. Pour on the salmon pieces and there you go, salmon caparccio.

Second starter :

Sauteed mushrooms with parsley.

Nothing complex here as well. Mushrooms can be bought in any suparmarket.Clean it throughly as mushrooms have dirt particles on it.You dont want to chew later and feel some dirt on your mouth right? After clean blanch it in hot water in 4-5 mins. Heat the pan with butter, you can use oil if you want but butter will give a more subtle taste on it. Cook it over moderate high heat, add parsley before it fully cooked and add salt and pepper for seasoning.

There you go