Shepherd's Pie

* original recipe comes from The Ivy, London

Ingredients:
(for 6-8 persons)

450g minced beef
450g minced lamb (or minced pork)
1 onion - peeled and finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic - crushed
5-10 sprigs of thyme - finely chopped
1 tbsp flour
4 tbsp tomato paste
4 tbsp ketchup
75ml red wine
50ml worcestershire sauce
2 pint beef stock
Mashed potato **

How to make:
1. Pre heat oven to 200'C.

2. Seasoned the minced beef and pork with salt and pepper.

3. Heat frying pan, then add olive oil, then cook the meat for a few mins until all done, then drain them in a colander to remove oil and fat.

4. Heat up the same frying pan, add some olive oil, and gently fry the onion, garlic and thyme until soft and fragrant.

5. Then add the meat, flour, tomato puree & ketchup, stirring constantly.

6. Then slowly, add the worcesershire sauce, red wine and beef stock, bring to boil and simmer for 20-30 min unitl the sauce is thickened. Stir them occassaionally to mix them well.

7.  Check seasoning and remove from heat and pour to heat proof dish, then top with mash potato. (best to pipe mash potato on top and make a nice pattern!)

8. Bake fo 30-40 min until potato is browned and served immediately!

** Mash Potato:
1, Peel and cut potatoes into even-sized peices.
2. Boil water in a deep pan, add salt, then add potato and cook for 15-30 min (until potato are soft when fork is sticked insude).
3. Drain potatoes and return them to the pan (without water) over the heat for a short moment to remove excess moisture,
4. Mash them with a masher and mix them with chill butter cut into small pieces until the desired softness and creaminess are achieved.



Pea & Ham Soup

* this recipe is from Heston Bluementhal (a soup we had at his pub Hind's Head in Apr 2011 which was terrific!)

Ingredients:-
(serve 6)

For the ham-hock stock
1 onion - cut into quarters
1 large carrot - cut into half
1 celery stick- cut into half
1 large leek (white part only) - cut into half
1 garlic clove - crushes
1 bay leaf
4-6 sprigs of thyme
4 black peppercorns
1 ham hock (or chinese ham)
6 pints (or approx 105 fl oz) of water

For the soup
50g butter
200g shallots - sliced
75g pancetta - chopped (bacon)
1 garlic clove - crushed
500g frozen peas - defrosted
salt and pepper as desired

To Finish
smoked bacon - diced
180g frozen peas

How to make:
1. Combine all ingredients for the stock in a large, heavy based pan and bring to boil. Skim any scum from the surface and reduce heat and simmer gently, uncovered, for 2 hours until ham hock is cooked.

2. Remove from heat and leave to cool, strain the stock through a fine sieve, reserving ham hock on one side.
(for chinese ham, no need to reserve ham).

3. For the soup, heat the butter in a large pan, add the sliced shallots, pancetta and garlic, the seat for 10-15 min until  shallots are tender.

4. Add the stock, bring to boil and skim any scum from the top.

5. Add the peas and return to boil, then remove from heat and puree in a blender. Do it in a few batches.

6. Pass through a fine sieve into a clean pan, bring back to boil and correct the seasoning. If the soup is too thick, add a little water until destired consistencyt is achieved.

7. Shortly before serving, fry smoked bacons in a hot pan until crispy and divide them into bowls.

8. Cook the rest of the peas in boiling water for 5 min, then drain and divide them into bowls.

Pour soups into bowls and serve!

enjoy!

Sicilian Red Prawns Linguine

Ingredients:
Sicilian Red Prawns - 1kg
Minced Shallots - 1 bowl
Pressed Garlic - a few pieces
Fresh Basil - a bunch, roll like cigar, then slice them
Italian Cherry Tomatos x 2 packs - clean, remove skins, and cut into halves
Italian cherry tomatoes or plum tomatoes in tin x 2 tins (pressed the tomatoes in a big bowl first)

How to make:
1. Clean prawns and cut away legs and tidy up the tails and put them to a sieve.

2.Heat up a wok which can hold all the prawns and add olive oil.

3. Stir fried the garlic and minced shallots until fragrant.

4. Add prawns. Wait for a while before turning the prawns to another side. When both sides have almost changed color, then add the cherry tomatos,  and the tinned tomatoes and stir fry and mix well, then add sugar, salt and pepper and cover the wok for approx 8 -10 min.

5. If you prefer to have linguine, once cooked and when the prawns are ready, add the linguine inside the wok and mix well. Be gentle though or else the prawn's head might be cut away!

6. Sprinkle with some fresh basil on top before serving.

** i've tried using chilled red prawns and frozen ones and find the frozen ones are actually better (with the meat being more firm) and cheaper unless you receive the chilled ones on the same day they arrive HK.

** the juice inside the heads of the red prawns make the dish very fragrant.

** i love to sprinkle some freshly grated parnesan cheese on top too.

Banana Cake

Ingredients:
125g Butter
1/4 cup Milk
1/4tsp Lemon Juice
1 cup Caster Sugar
1/2 tsp Salt
1tsp Vanilla Essence
2 Eggs
3 Small Ripe Bananas (or 2 Big Bananas) - peeled and cut into very small pieces
2 cups Self Raising Flour (sifted)

How to make:
1. Preheat oven at 180'C and grease the cake tin.
2. Mix in a bowl butter, milk, lemon juice, sugar, salt and vanilla eseence using an electric mixer until there are no lumps.
3. Add eggs (one by one) and mix well using an electric mixer.
4. Add bananas (some at a time) and mix into mixture using an electric mixer .
5. Gradually fold in the sifted flour (some at a time) into the mixture using a spatula.
6. Pour the mixture to the greased cake tin and bake for 25-30 min or until a skewer sticked inside the middle of the cake comes out clean.
* if you prefer walnuts, can add on top of the cake before baking.

Tomato Salad

An easy dish - anyone can make it and tomato is best for health!

Ingredients:-
Cucumber x 1 pc
Dessert Tomato x 1 pc (this is originally from Japan. But not easy to get and even if you can nowadays, not sure if everyone if comfortable to eat veggies from Japan :( replace with Italian tomato if necessary.)
Sesame salad dressing

How to prepare this:
1. Boil a pot of water.
2. Wash the tomato and gently make a cross cut over the tomato.
3. Once water is boiled, switch off gas and put tomtao inside hot water for 1 min.
4. Remove tomato and soak in ice water for 2 min. Peel off skin gently.
5. Pat dry and put to ziploc bag and place in refrigerator before serving time.
6. For the cucumber, wash and wipe dry, Then peel off some skin but not all. Slice as thin as possible and put back in refrigerator.
7. When you are ready to serve, place sesame salad sauce on the bottom of the plate, Then add the sliced cucumber to make a flower shape and lastly, tomato on top of the cucumber!

Easy! if you fancy something prettier, place a mint leaf at the top of the tomato!

Teriyaki Hamburger

* original receipe from Harumi Kurihara

Ingredients:
2.5 tpsp breadcrumbs
1/2 cup milk
300 g minced beef
150 minced pork
1.5 cup minced onion
1 egg
1/2 tsp salt
pepper
1/2 tbsp butter
4-5 tbsp teriyaki sauce

For the teriyaki suace:
1 cup mirin
1/2 cup soy sauce
1.5-2 tbsp sugar

How to make:
1. Preheat over to 230'c.
2. Place breadcrumbs in a small bowl and add milk. Set aside until all liquid is absorbed.
3. In a large bowl, mix together the beef, pork, onions, soaked breadcrumbs and egg. Season with salt and pepper.
4. using your hands, mix them well until sticky. Divide the mixture and shape into hamburgers, patting lightly on both sides to make them really firm.
5. Over medium heat, melt butter in a frying pan. Brown the hamburger on both sides then put them into oven and for 15 mins.
6. To make the teriyaki sauce: in a small pan, heat the mirin over how heat for 1-2 mins, then add soy sauce and sugar and simmer for additional 1-2 min. If you prefer a thicker sauce, add corn flour solution until you reach your desired thickness in the sauce.
7. Pour the teriyaki sauce over the cooked burgers and best to serve on a bed of vegetables and with potato coroquette!

ENJOY~

Mango Roll

Ingredients:
Mango x 3-4 pc (choose the ripe ones)
Egg Whites x 4 (at room temperature, separate egg white in a small bowl before pouring to the big bowl for whisking to ensure no bad egg whites are added to the mixing bowl)
Caster Sugar - 160-170g
Lemon Juice - 1.5 tsp
Cream - 2/3 cup
Icing Sugar - for dusting purpose

* make sure you have baking paper at home + 2 baking trays + a long shaped plastic box

How to make:

* Pre-heat overn at 170'C

1. Whisk egg whites until foamy (like hair mousse). see 1st photo on left.

2. Add sugar to egg whites little by little and continue to whisk until it becomes glossy and firm. See 2nd photo on left.

3. Fold in lemon jiuce

4. Pour mixture to baking tray lined with baking paper. Smooth out top as the top part will be the top part of the mango roll. See 3rd photo on left.

5. Bake at 170'c for 25 min (at lower 1/3 of the oven) or until top is slightly golden and looks crispy.

6. Take out and cool down. In the meantime, prepare the mangoes and cream.

7. Cut mango into cubes and put a sieve underneath to drain the excess mango juice. (if the mango you put inside the roll is too "wet", it will make the roll soggy).

8. Whip cream until thicken and ribbons are formed as shown in photo on the left.

9. Mix the mango cubes with the whipped cream.

10. Dust another baking paper with icing sugar using a sieve.

11. Gently turn over the baked egg white in baking paper to the new baking paper dusted with icing sugar so that the top part of the baked egg white is now facing downwards.

12.Spread whipped cream with mango cubes onto the baked egg whites and roll gently with the new baking paper always on the outside.

13. Put the roll with the baking paper covering the outside inside a plastic box and put to refrigerator.

14. Before serving, cut away both ends as mango cream will

 not be even at the ends.