Pork Omelette

I was sick for almost a week so my daily staple was plain porridge with minced pork. It isn't the best food in the world but it is a what my body would gladby be fed on to get well; something Chinese mums swear on feeding their sickly kids. Until the last day when I finally recovered, I have this minced pork that I was dying to clear it off my fridge (noooo minced pork for a while now!). And I finally could have some rice so I made this simply pan fry dish. 

Ingredients:

• 200 gm Ground Pork
• Seasoning:
• Dash of salt
• Dash of white pepper
• 1 tablespoon of light soya sauce
• 1 teaspoon of sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon of cornstarch
• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
• 3 Eggs, beaten
• Spring Onion to garnish

Steps:

1. Season ground pork with the seasoning.
2. Heat up wok and add some oil, saute garlic until fragrant
3. Add in pork. Continue stirring to loose up the meat and until the meat is browned.
4. Toss the meat into the beaten eggs and coat well.
5. Pour the egg mixture into the wok. Fry until the bottom turns golden brown.
6. Turn omelet over to fry the top side. Dish out and garnish with chopped spring onions.

Chinese Style Mee Goreng

There are many variations to Mee Goreng (means Stir Fry Noodles) that can be found in many Asians restaurants and home cooks. My version of Mee Goreng is closely knitted to how it's done at home. One ingredient that cannot be missed out from this is Lap Cheong, which is the Chinese preserved sausages. It sorts of emits the kind of fragrant and extra taste to the dish; a good comparison would be Bacon for most of Western style dishes. For my version I also make sure of Tomato Ketchup to add that tanginess to the noodles instead just savoury taste. Hope you enjoy this simply stir fry noodle.

Ingredients:

• A packet of yellow noodles
• A handful bean sprouts
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 2 cups of choy sum
• Half a carrot, julienned
• 1 lap cheong, sliced
• 2 chicken thigh fillets, sliced
• 1 green chili, deseeded and sliced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 stalks spring onions, cut into 1 inch strips
• Seasoning (mix in all in a bowl):
• 5 tablespoons tomato ketchup sauce
• 1 tablespoon of dark soya sauce
• 1 tablespoon of light soya sauce
• Dash of pepper

Steps:

1. Heat some oil in a wok. When oil is hot, fry the lapcheong till fragrant and set aside.
2. Add in more oil if required and stir fry garlic till fragrant. 
3. Add the chicken pieces in and brown them on all sides. 
4. Add in the eggs and scramble them.
5. Toss the spring onions, choysum, carrots and bean sprouts. 
6. Add in the yellow noodles and combine well.
7. Return the lapcheong to the wok.
8. Pour in ingredients in Seasoning and combine well with the noodles. 
9. Add the chopped green chili and toss to combine with the noodles.
10. Adjust the taste as required and dish garnish with some coriander leaves and fried shallots.

The Trustees - Chateaubriand

Presenting to you...

...our rows (well, 3 serves) of the grand Chateaubriand! 

There were 5 adults (in case you were wondering) who were sharing these beasts food - which means 1 guy went solo and man, he was defeated by it by the end of the meal. 

Initially,we complained among ourselves how little the hand-cut wedges chips were (like 3?!) but when we saw the real meat we went quiet and felt thankful. Massively huge and good serving of meat to feed the beasts in us, seriously.

The best cut of beef fillet, truly melts in the mouth, soft in the middle yet well smoked and cooked on the outside. I must admit I have never been true steak lover because I get sickened after eating too much beef but this one is out of the world. It was so easy and yummy to eat I totally forget how many fillets I gorged down!

The bone marrow, topped with some blow-torched crunchy bits (a bit like panko/breadcrumbs texture). Each mouthful was rich and heaven-sent.

The sides of apples/vege salad, mushrooms bourguignon and the best creamy Bernaise god-sent sauce!

Spanish Seafood, Chicken and Chorizo Paella

Paella is deservedly one of Spain's most famous dishes. I recently had a chance to practise making this dish again for a gathering at friend's place. Did I mention I got gifted a paella pan last year? It was a dream come true for me since I have Miguel Mastre book (Miguel's Tapas) in my cookbook collection too. 

In this luxurious version of mine, I had both seafood and poultry all in at once! The fluffy, saffron-infused rice and succulent seafood and chicken is enhanced with smokey Chorizo. The only thing missing from the seafood kingdom is the almighty mussels as I didn't have access to fresh seafood near where I lived.

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoon of olive oil
• 1 Spanish or brown onion, chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 2 Chorizo sausages, sliced
• 1 squid, cleaned and cut into rings
• 1 red bell pepper, cut into strips
• 2 tomatoes, peeled, seeded and diced 
• 500ml of chicken stock
• 1 cup of short grain Spanish paella/Calasparra rice
• A pinch of saffron threads
• 8 large cooked prawns, shells in-tact
• 2 chicken thigh fillets, rubbed with salt and pepper
• Pinch of salt and pepper
• A handful of chopped flat-leave parsley

Steps:

1. Place a small saucepan on the stove and bring the chicken stock to boil.
2. When boil, turn off the heat and add the saffron threads. Keep the lid on the sauce pan.
3. Heat the olive oil in a paella pan and when hot, add in the chorizo and cook them till crispy. Leave half of the batch in the paella pan and set aside another half for use later.
4. Stir in onion, garlic and fry till translucent. 
5. Meanwhile, add the chicken and saute for 2-3 minutes.
6. Stir in pepper strips and tomatoes and simmer gently for 5 minutes, until the pepper turns soft. 
7. Stir in the rice and saffron-infused chicken stock slowly into the paella pan. Season well with salt and pepper. Spread the contents of the pan evenly.
8. Bring the liquid to boil then simmer gentle for 10 minutes. Add the squid rings, prawns and remaining chorizo and stirring them gently into the rice.
9. Simmer the paella rice for another 15-20 minutes or until the rice turns translucent. During this time, feel free to add in more liquid (water or stock) if it evaporates or dries out. 
10. When almost ready, gently stir to make sure all the rice are well-cook through and garnish with chopped flat leave parsley. Serve hot.

My Paella looks gorgeous, doesn't it?

Beef Bourguignon

Today I had some time to rest and relax so I did some reading and net surfing. I have always wanted to take proper photographs of my food and cooking and never really know how to improve my poor skills. It is becoming very challenging these days especially now that the sun goes down before my cooking is done and I'm stuck in a very badly lit dining area. I searched around and found a way to improve my DSLR built-in flash by making a DIY bounce card and stick it to my camera. I did a couple of testing before dinner time and it turned out to be okay so I was eager to try this out. I wasn't sure how this turn out to be on the computer and with some post-processing, I was happy with the results.

Presenting to you, my version of Beef Bourguignon with Mash on the side. The recipe was adapted from both ATableForTwo and Continental website.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 brown onion, peeled and sliced
• Sprig flat-leaf parsley
• Sprig of thyme
• 2 bay leaf (1 for marinade and 1 for cooking)
• 650gm of chuck steak/top rump/slow-cook beef chunks
• 1/2 cup red wine
• 5 tablespoons (or more) olive oil 
• 2 pieces of short-cut bacon, cut into long thin strips
• 7 shallots/small onions, peeled
• 5 large fresh white mushrooms, quartered
• 3 tablespoons of plain flour
• 1 cup of beef stock
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 1 celery stick, cut into 2cm length
• 2 carrots, cut into 1cm length
• 1 generous tablespoon of tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon of salt and dash of pepper

Steps:

Beef Bourguignon

1. For preparation, in deep bowl, put a few of the onion slices, some parsley, thyme and 1 bay leaf. Add a few pieces of beef on top, then layer up until all the beef, parsley and thyme are used up.
2. Mix together the wine and 3 tablespoon of olive oil, and pour them over the beef. Cover the bowl with clingfilm and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, stirring occasionally.
3. When ready to cook, remove the beef from the marinade and coat them all over with flour. Save the marinade for usage later.
4. In a large casserole, heat up enough olive oil (just thin layer on the base of the pot) on medium heat, brown the coated beef chunks all over. Do this in batches and make sure you do not overcrowd the pot as you want each piece to be properly browned. Set aside.
5. With the remaining oil in the casserole, fry the bacon until they start to pop.
6. Toss in the shallots, then celery, carrots and lastly the mushrooms and fry until they become soft. 
7. Scoop in the tomato paste and the marinade (juice only) and add another bay leaf into the pot. 
8. Pour in the beef stock enough to cover all the ingredients in the pot and add the salt and pepper.
9. Simmer over low heat for 1 1/2 hours. Adjust the seasoning as you wish before serving.
10. Serve hot with mash potatoes and boiled broccoli on the side. 

I have included my mash potatoes recipe (ingredients are embedded in the steps) as below.

Mash Potatoes

1. Peel 3 potatoes and cut into small chunks.
2. Place the potatoes into a pot/saucepan and cover them with water and 1 tablespoon of salt.
3. Boil them for approximately 15 minutes or till they are soft. Use a fork and if you are able to fork through the potatoes means they are ready.
4. Pour all the water away and using a hand-blender, pulse the potatoes till it is nicely mashed.
5. Place the pot/saucepan back to the stove over the lowest heat. 
6. Stir in a tablespoon of butter and 2 tablespoons of Crème fraîche. Sprinkle with dash of black pepper and stir to combine well.