Baked Stuffed Crab Shell

Ingredients:
Fresh Flower Crab
Onion - thin slices
Mushrooms - slices (optional. If you want to add this, small amount will do)
Evaporated Milk
Flour
Eggwash (egg yolk + a few drops of water)
Cheddar or Mozarella Cheese




How to Make:
1. Steam whole crab. Once cool down, separate all crab meat from the shells. Check for shells bits in the crab meat.

2. Cut the crab shells nicely and blanch in hot water with a bit of salt. Drain and wipe dry.

3. Stir fry the sliced onion in a frying pan until soft and fragrant, then add the mushroom slices. remove from the pan to a dish first.

4. Add crab meat to the frying pan and stir fry till fragrant. Add the onion mixture to the crab meat, mix well and add seasonings like salt and sugar. Check tasting, then add evaporated milk, then flour. Check consistency. You wont want it too thick or too watery.

5. Remove the crab mixture from frying pan to a dish to cool down.

6. Preheat oven to 250'C.

7. Stuffed the crab mixture to the crab shell nicely. Brush some eggwash on top first. Then sprinkle some cheese on top.

8. Baked in oven for 7-8 min until top is golden.

Serve piping hot! Enjoy!

Tenderloin Steak Diane

* recipe adopted from The Butchers Club

Ingredients (for approx 4 pax):

Tenderloin (of your choice) 200g x 4pc
4 shallots - peeled and finely chopped
150g button mushrooms thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbsp salted butter
2 tbsp worchester sauce
2 tsp mustard
1/4 cup brandy
200ml double cream
parsley minced


How to Cook:

1. Wash and wipe dry your beef. Season with salt and black pepper.

2. Heat up your frying pan, then add a little bit of olive oil + 1tbsp of butter. Pan fry your beef, 2 min on each side. At this stage we just want to brown the beef on both sides. Then remove beef to a plate cover with a foil. The beef will continue to cook on its own on the plate.

3. Add olive oil and the rest of the butter to the steak pan at medium fire, then stir fry the shallots and garlic until soft and fragrant. Then add the mushrooms. 

4. Add the worchester sauce and bring to boil. Turn up the heat and tilt the pan away from you and add the brandy. Tilt it right towards the edge of the pan and allow it to set on fire from the gas ring. Then turn down the heat, add the mustard and double cream and bring it to a light boil. Check tasting and adjust accordingly with adding more salt or worchester sauce, etc.

5. Put the beef with the juices on the plate back to the pan and cook till the beef reaches the temperature you require, eg. medium rare, medium, etc. When ready, add the chopped parsley on top and ready to serve!

Enjoy with rice or pasta or on its own! Don't forget your favourite red wine!

Cod with Tomato Salsa

* recipe adopted from Gordon Ramsay

Ingredients:

Cod Fish of your choice, with skin on
Cherry tomatoes
shallots - cut into rings
Basil  
Sliced Garlic - a few pieces
Stale Bread, if not fresh also ok
Parmesan cheese
parsley


How to Make:

1. Preheat oven to 200'C.

2. Clean and wipe dry fish and season with salt and pepper.

3. Cherry Tomatoes rinse and wipe dry and cut into halves.

4. Blend your bread in a blender with some grated parmesan cheese and parsley until it becomes breadcrumb like mixture.

5. Heat up a hot pan with olive oil, pan fry cod 1 min per side. Make sure the skin side is more browned. 

6. Remove the fish to an oven tray skin side down and place the bread mixture on top of the fish, pressing it down a little bit. Bake in oven for 6 min until bread mixture becomes golden.

7. Heat up a new pan with olive oil, pan fry sliced garlic, shallots until fragrant. Add cherry tomatoes and basil. Season with sugar, salt and pepper. Until the tomatoes are softened, then the tomato salsa is ready to be served on the side of the dish.

Enjoy with your favourite white wine!

Tofu Salad

Ingredients:

Fresh Tofu of your choice

Cooked Preserved Egg - separate egg yolk with egg white and blend separately in blender or chop them up into small dices with a knife

Good quality sesame oil


How to make:

1. break tofu into paste like with a fork or chopsticks.

2. add egg white to the tofu and mix well together with sesame oil.

3. Pour into a chinese bowl and wrap with cling wrap and chill at fridge.

4. Pour the Tofu mixture to a serving plate upside down from the bowl and top with egg yolk crumbles. Add a dash of sesame oil or white sesame on top as you like.

Ready to serve as a cold appertizer. Enjoy!

Baked Conch

Ingredients:

Fresh Conch - reserve in advance from your seafood store in wet market and ask them to help remove guts from the main body.

Minced pork *

Minced onion *

Carrots-diced into small cubes *

Button Mushrooms-diced into small cubes *

* I will say if the conch meat weighs say 300g, your minced pork, carrot, onion and mushrooms should be 1/3 to 2/3 of your conch weight, ie around 100-200g each. It's realyl flexible. Depends if you want it to taste more meaty or more seafood. You can add diced water chestnuts too to give it a crunchy feel.

Butter

Flour

Grated Cheddar/Morzarella cheese

Tumeric Powder

Coconut Milk

How to Make:

1. Wash and wipe dry the conch meat and blend in blender to small pieces.

2. Marinate minced pork with say sauce, sugar, sesame oil, corn flour and chinese wine.

3. Preheat oven to 240C.

4. Heat up a wok, add oil and pan fry the onion till soft and fragrant. Then add minced pork, carrot, mushrooms and mix them well.

5. Fry the minced conch in another pan until some juice is released from the meat. Remove meat and add to the pan at para 3 above and mix well/

6. Arrange some space on the wok at para 3, then add butter and flour and mix it up to become a roux. Then mix everything together. Add Tumeric powder, coconut milk and adjust tasting.

7. Stuff the mixture to the conch shell, add grated cheese on top and bake at oven for 5 min.

Serve and Enjoy while it's piping hot!

Fading Color Strawberry Cheesecake

* recipe from 肥妈！Not difficult to make at all. Taste great without a very sweet taste and looks great! Worthwhile to giving it a try.

Ingredients:

Cake Base:

McVite Digestive Biscuits x 1 pack (can choose the Light version)

Butter x 60g - melted

Fillings:

Part (A)

Milk x 200ml

Gelatine Sheets x 20g (soaked till soft in ice water for 5-10 mins, remove from ice water and squeeze out extra water)

Caster Sugar x 150g

Part (B)

Philadelphia Cream Cheese x 1 pack

Srtawberry paste 200 g (just wash and wip dry strawberries and place in blender until it becomes paste like. You can sieve it for a finer texture)

Whipping Cream 150g (whip it up with an electric mixer up to 70% firm)

Rose Essense a few drops

Red Colorings

How to Make:

1. Preheat oven to 200'C.

2. Place gelatine sheet to ice water to soften for 5-10 min.

3. Crunch digestive biscuits with a rolling pin in a zip loc bag until biscuits have turned into fine crumbles.

4. Oil the base and side of the cake tin with some melted butter with a kitchen towel.

5. Mix biscuits crumbles and press into base of a cake tin and bake in oven for 5 mins. Then take out to cool down.

6. Heat up Part A in a pot until sugar and gelatine all melted. Gentle heat will do.

5. Beat Whipping Cream with electric mixer until 70% firm.

6. Beat Cream Cheese with an electric mixer until all soft. Then add strawberry paste and rose essence. Then add Part (A) and the Whipping Cream and mix well together with a spatula.

7. Pour the above mixture to 3-4 containers with varying quantity, eg. 150g, 120g, 90g, 60g. The biggest portion one just pour directly into cake tin above biscuits base. The rest of the containers, add varying degrees of colorings from a little to more, then pour each mixture to a jug. Then pour the mixture from the jug to the cake tin at the centre slowly, with the last one with the most colourings. 

8. Wrap cake tin with cling wrap and chill in fridge for a few hours before serving.

9. Decorate the cake top with fresh strawberries and even whipped cream as per your liking.

Enjoy! 

Sous Vide Soy Sauce Chicken

* recipe from 肥妈! Easy to make chicken soy sauce and the chicken meat tastes very tender using slow cook method.

Ingredients:

Fresh Young Chicken x 1
Rock Sugar
Star Anise x 2
Cinnamon stick x 1
bay leaves x 4
Light Soy Sauce x 3 tbsp
Dark Soy Sauce x 100ml
Chicken Stock x 60ml
Chinese Rose Wine x 1 tbsp
Water x 60ml
Ginger x 3-4 slices
Spring onion x  few bunch (some for soy sauce, some to stuff chicken during slow cook)

How to Cook:

1. Wash Chicken and blanch in hot water for 5 mins. Remove from hot water and drain.

2. Heat up a wok and add oil, pan fry the dry ingredients (ginger, spring onion, star anise, cinnamon, bay leaves) till fragrant. Add the wet ingredients (the soy sauce, wine, chicken stock, water...) and the rock sugar until it boils. Check tasting and adjust accordingly.

3. Once soy sauce mixture boiled and tasting checked and adjusted, turn off fire. Put chicken into the sauce until the sauce cools down.

4. Prepare water at water bath to 68'C.

5. Remove chicken from the soy sauce mixture and place to vacuum bag, with spring onion stuffed to cavity.

6. Place chicken to water bath for 2.5 hours.

7. Remove chicken from vacuum bag, cut it up nicely and serve.

Enjoy! 

Chicken Roll

* recipe adopted from Gordon Ramsay

Ingredients:

1pc boneless chicken thighs (skin optional)
1/2 cup pistachios (with shell removed and coarsely chopped)
1/2 cup minced parsley
1/2 tsp fresh thyme
1/2 cup ground sausage, sausage skin removed
4 strips of bacon


Sauce/ Gravy (optional. You can use your favourite tomato sauce, etc) 
3 cups water
1/3 cup sherry vinegar
1/4 Marsala
1/4 chicken broth


How to Make:

1. Combine sausage, pistachios, thyme, parsley, along with a dash of salt and pepper as a whole in a bowl. 

2. Place chicken flat on a working top, skin facing table top. Put sausage mixture on top centre of the chicken and roll the chicken over until it covers majority with the stuffing. Set aside.

3. Place a sheet of aluminium foil on table top. Sprinkle with a dash of olive oil, salt and pepper. Then place the bacon on top of it. Put the chicken roll on top of bacon strips. Roll the bacon and chicken roll with the aluminium foil like a candy, with both ends tightly sealed.

4. Heat up a pot of water. When it boils, place the chicken roll in foil inside the boiling water for 25 min in medium fire.

5. Remove chicken from the pot. Once cooled, place inside fridge.

6. when ready to eat, take chicken out from fridge, remove foil gently so the bacon wrapped with chicken neatly. and use kitchen towel to dry it out when it's wet.

7. Heat up a frying pan, add olive oil, then pan fry the bacon chicken roll until golden in all sides.

8. If you like to make the sauce/gravy - remove the bacon chicken roll to a dish, then deglaze the pan using the sherry vinegar along with the bacon juices and oil at medium fire. Add Marsala and chicken broth, stirring frequently before sauce thickened. 

9. Slice chicken roll at an angle, drizzle sauce on top and enjoy with some white rice or plain pasta with your favourite white wine.

Enjoy!

Watermelon Salad

* recipe adopted from Gordon Ramsay

Ingredients:

Watermelon - cut into cubes
Cucumber - cut into cubes
fetacheese - break into cubes
cherry tomatoes - cut into halves
rocket leaves
pecan - toasted in hot pan with a sprinkle of salt
lemon -rolled the lemon on table top, cut into half horizontally and squeeze out lemon juice
Mint leaves - shredded
balsamic vinegar and a dash of olive oil

How to Make:

1. mix rocket leaves with a dash of olive oil and balsamic vinegar first.

2. add cucumber and tomatoes to the above mix.

3. then add water melon and mint.

4. add lemon juice for the final mix.

5. sprinkle toasted pecan on top.

A refreshing salad best for summer time! Enjoy!

Tomato Pasta

Ingredients:

Italian San Marzano or Piccadilly Tomatoes x 1kg
Italian can plum tomatoes x 1 can (optional - if you prefer the tomato paste to be more wet, adding can tomatoes will help)
onion x 1 - minced
garlic slice - 2 tbsp
basil for cooking and garnish
parmesan cheese - grated
olive oil

Pasta of your choice
1 bowl of sliced garlic

How to Make:

1. De-skin and de-seed the tomatoes first. You can do it by boiling a pot of water, cut a cross at the skin of the tomatoes, drop them to the boiling water for 1 min. Take them out and place to ice water. The skin will be easily peeled off at this stage. Remove all skin, mince the flesh of the tomatoes discarding all seeds and juice. After mincing the tomatoes, you can put them on a strainer so extra juice can be discarded.

2. Mince the can tomatoes and drain on strainer to remove extra juice.

3. Heat up a pan with olive oil, then fry the garlic slices until golden. Remove the garlic and save the oil in the pan sufficient to brown the minced onion.

4. Put minced onion onto to the pan with garlic oil and fry until soft, then add the minced fresh tomatoes and can tomatoes, stir fry until all combined. Season with salt and pepper and sugar to your liking. Then add the basil, turn heat to medium low and cook for 20 minutes.

5. Cook your pasta as per instructions on packet.

6. In a separate pan, heat up sufficient olive oil which will be used to coat the cooked pasta, then pan fried the sliced garlic until golden.  

7. Drain pasta, mix it in the pan with garlic olive oil, then and place it nicely in a serving dish.

7. Add tomato paste on top on pasta, then a basil leave, grated parmesan cheese and drizzle olive oil on the side. For those who like fried garlic, you can add the fried garlic to the pasta too.

Serve and enjoy it with your favourite white wine!

Baked Salmon in Puff Pastry

From: Tastemade Japan at 
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bh-34VnBRzv/


Ingredients:

Salmon Fillet x 1
Salt & Black pepper
Spinach - wash and drain
Frozen Puff Pastry x 2 packs - defrost in fridge the night before you plan to cook
Flour
Egg Yolk x 1, mix with 1 tsp of water or milk

Cream Cheese Sauce:
Cream Cheese 100g
Mayonnaise 10g
Lemon Juice - a dash
Dill - minced

How to Make:

1. Preheat oven to 200'C.

2. Clean and trim salmon fillet to a size right for your party and your oven tray and wipe dry!

3. Season salmon with sea salt and black pepper.

4. Make Cream Cheese Sauce by mixing well the ingredients listed under Cream Cheese Sauce above.

5. Sprinkle a bit of flour on counter top. Roll 1 pack of puff pastry on top of the flour-counter top to the right thickness and size for your salmon and the oven tray. Repeat the same for the other pack of puff pastry.

6. Place 1 piece of the rolled pastry onto the oven tray. Put spinach first, then lay the salmon on top of the spinach, then the cream cheese sauce on top of the salmon. 

7. Brush egg yolk solution on the pastry along the edge of the salmon.

8. Place the other pastry on top of the salmon layers softly, using a fork to press along the edge of the salmon where you have brushed the egg yolk solution. Trim along the forked edges to come to a fish shape! Use the cut away pastry to make eyes, mouth, tail and fins for the fish! Then use a knife to gently score on top of the pastry to make scales for the fish. 

9. Lastly, brush egg yolk solution on top pastry evenly. Then put into oven for 25 to 30 min until golden.

Serve immediately and enjoy!

Pavlova Swirl

Ingredients:

6 eggwhites (225ml) at room temperature
1.5 cup (330g) caster sugar
1.5 tsp white vinegar
2 tsp cornflour
1.5 cup (375ml) whipping cream
250g fresh raspberries or strawberries or a mixture of both
2 tbsp pistachios, finely chopped
1 tbsp freeze dried raspberries or strawberries, finely crushed (optional)

Raspberry Swirl:
1/2 cup (75g) frozen raspberries
2 tbsp caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

How to Make:

1. For the Raspberry Swirl, place the frozen raspberries, sugar and vanilla in a small saucepan over medium heat and cook, stirring ocassionally for 3-4 min or until slightly reduced. Strain, discard the seeds, and refrigerate to cool completely.

2. Preheat oven to 150'C.

3. Place eggwhites in the bowl of an electric mixer and whisk on high speed until stiff peaks form.

4. Gradually add the sugar, 1 tbsp at a time, waiting 30 seconds between each addition.

5. Once all sugar has been added, scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula and whisk for a further 6 mins or until the mixture is stiff and glossy.

6. Place the vinegar and cornflour in a small bowl and mix to combine.

7. Add to the eggwhite mixture and whisk for 2 mins or until glossy and combined.

8. Draw a 22cm circle on a sheet of baking paper and place pencil side down, on a large baking tray. 

9. Place 12 heaped spoonfuls of the meringue mixture around the inside of the circle to create a ring. 

10. Place in oven, reduce temperature to 120'F and cook fore 1 hr.

11. Turn the oven off and allow the pavlova to cool completely in the oven.

12. To serve, , drizzle the raspberry mixture over each meringue and use a teaspoon to swirl. Top with cream, the raspberries/strawberries/freeze dried fruits, pistachio, and icing sugar.

Enjoy!

Potato Tartin

Ingredients:

1 x 375g sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed at fridge on the night before cooking
1 cup (75g) finely grated manchego (or a cheese you like, say cheddar)
1/2 cup (120g) mascarpone cheese
350g potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
salt and black pepper
rosemary

How to Make:

1. Preheat oven to 200'C.

2. Place the sheet pastry on a large oven tray lined with baking paper.

3. Use a small sharp knife and gently score a 2cm border around the edge of the pastry.

4. Use a fork to prick the pastry sheet centre.

5. Mix and combine the 2 cheese and spread the mixture on top of the pastry sheet centre.

6. Toss the potatoes with olive oil, salt and pepper in a mixing bowl and line the potatoes neatly above the cheese mixture and sprinkle with rosemary on top.

7. Bake in oven for 25-30 min or until golden.

Enjoy!

Green Tea Red Bean Roll

Ingredients:

100g Caster Sugar + some extra for dusting
100g Plain Flour + some extra for dusting
10g Matcha (Green Tea Powder)
4 large eggs
100-200ml whipping cream
100g sweet red bean paste
icing sugar for dusting
strawberries or fruits for decoration

How to Make:

1. Preheat oven to 180'C.

2. Line a baking tin with baking paper. Dust the baking paper with caster sugar and plain flour.

3. Sieve the flour to a mixing bowl.

4. Sieve the green tea powder a few times and then add to the mixing bowl with the flour. Mix well.

5. Boil a small pot of water. Once boiled, turn to low heat so the water keep simmering.

6. Mix eggs and caster sugar in a bowl which is large enough to sit safely on top of the water pot. Mix with electric hand held whisk on top of the simmering water pot (without the base of the bowl touching the water) until the mixture becomes creamy and thick and leaves a trail on the surface when the whisk is lifted.

7. Remove the egg mixture from the water pot. Add half of the flour mixture to the egg mixture and fold in gently. Then repeat with the rest of the flour mixture. Once done, lightly stir in 1 tbsp of hot water.

8. Pour the mixture to the baking tray. Tilt the tray backwards and forwards to spread the mixture as even as possible in a rectangular shape.

7. Put tray to oven and bake for approx 12 min until well risen and the top is firm to touch.

8. Meanwhile, place a sheet of baking paper on top of a clean damp tea towel. Sprinkle caster sugar on top of the baking paper.

9. Working quickly, turn the sponge you take out from the oven onto the new baking paper sprinkled with caster sugar. Then gently remove the baking paper from the sponge without breaking or tearing the sponge. Leave to cool.

10. Once the sponge is cool, whisky the whipping cream until soft peaks form. Then spread the cream over the cake sponge. Then add a thick line of red bean paste on top of the cream along the long edge of the sponge nearest to you.

11. Roll up the sponge from the edge nearest to you, with the aid of pulling the baking paper gently. Wrap the roll with the baking paper and place in a air tight box and place to fridge until serving time.

12. Upon serving, dust with icing sugar and decorate with fruits around the roll.


Enjoy!

Biscotti

* this biscotti is not the traditional hard type but the crumpier and softer type. Feel free to replace pistachio and cranberries with almonds or your favourite dried fruits.

Ingredients:
Sugar x 1 cup
Unsalted butter x 100g (1 small stick) - soften at room temperature or melted
Almond extract x 2 tsp
Vanilla extract x 1 tsp
Pistachio x 100g - remove shells and roughly chopped
Cranberries x 100g - roughly chopped
Eggs x 3
All purpose flour - 2 and 3/4 cups
Baking powder - 1 and 1/2 tsp
Salt - 1/4 tsp

How to Make:

1. Put sugar, butter, almond extract, vanilla extract to a mixing bowl and mix well with an electric mixer.

2. Then add the eggs and salt and beat well.

3. Sift the flour and baking powder and fold into the egg batter using a spatula.

4. Add the chopped pistachio and cranberries and mix evenly using a big spoon or fork.

5. Wrap the mixing bowl wig cling wrap and chill in fridge for 30 min.

6. Preheat oven to 180'c.

7. Take out dough from fridge, using moistened hands, divide the dough into 4 loaves on an un-greased baking sheet on top of a baking tray.

8. Lengthen each loaf into a long rectangular shape with the height not more than 1 to 1.5cm. Shape them up using some flour on your hand or your spatula.

9. Bake for 30 mins or until golden.

10. Cool on rack before slicing them with a bread knife.

Store in air tight jars and enjoy with your favourite coffee or tea!

Roast Belly Pork 鼎爺燒肉

* recipe adopted from 鼎爺厨房

Ingredients:
Belly Pork - approx 2000g
Five Spices Powder - 5g
Coarse Salt (for marinating meat) - 50g
Coarse Salt (for marinating skin) - 7g
white vinegar

How to Make:
1. Wash and dry pork. Preferable to cut away the most bottom part of the belly pork which is tougher and save it for other uses.

2. Use lighter fire to burn against hair on pork skin, then use back of knife to scrap off burned hair.

3. Mix well the 5 spices powder with the coarse salt for the meat and marinate the meat evenly - leave the skin un-touched!

4. Use the coarse salt for the skin to marinate the skin evenly.

5. Leave the marinate on the skin and meat for 8-10 hours (if winter time, in room temperature is fine. But if it's summer time, best to put back to the fridge).

6. Once marinate time is up, blanche the pork in hot water for 10 mins.

7. Preheat oven to 200'C.

8. Drain water away from pork and use pork needles to punch against pork skin. Dry the pork using towel or kitchen napkins.

9. Turn the pork upside down so that the skin is facing down. Pour vinegar to a tray which can hold the whole piece of pork and soak the pork (skin side down) in the tray with only the skin touching the vinegar - for 10 mins.

10. Remove pork from vinegar and wipe it dry.

11. Use foil paper to wrap around the bottom and side of the pork, leaving the skin upwards unwrapped.

12. Put pork to oven for 1.5 hours. Then turn the heat up to 230'C and cook for another 30 mins until skin becomes golden red.

13. Remove pork from oven. Pour oil on the foil to a bowl. Can let the pork rest for 5-10 minutes before cutting. The oil can be used to mix with soy sauce for steamed white rice!

14. Be sharp and precise at cutting to avoid the crispy skin from coming off the meat.

Serve it when it's piping hot and crispy and enjoy with a glass of nice white wine!

Buttermilk Fried Chicken

* recipe from Donna Hay

Ingredients:
2 tbsp sweet paprika
1 tbsp fennel seeds, crushed
8 x 125g chicken thigh fillets, trimmed
2 cups (500ml) buttermilk
2 cups (300g) plain flour
1 tbsp baking powder
2 tsp sea salt flakes
1/2 tsp black pepper

How to Make:
1, Place paprika and fennel sees in a large bowl and mix to combine. Add chicken and toss to coat. Add buttermilk, mox to combine and refridgerate for at least 30 min.

2. Fill a large saucepan with oil over medium high heat until temperature reaches 180'C.

3. While oil is heating, place four, baking powder, salt and pepper on a large tray and toss to combine. [You can add combine in a ziploc bag and put chicken inside. Seal and shake to coat the chicken]

4. Remove chicken from the buttermilk mixture, allowing excess liquid to drip off. Place chicken on tray with flour and coat evenly.

5. Deep fry the coated chickedn in batches for 5-6 min or until golden. Drain oil on paper towel and keep warm. Sprinkle with extra sea salt flakes and serve.

Enjoy with your favourite beer!

Zucchini Fritters

Ingredients:

5-6 small zucchinis (approx 810g), grated

3-4 eggs, beaten

250g Feta, crumbled (optional)

3/4 cup (120g) plain flour

1.5 tsp baking powder

1/3 cup chopped mint leaves or parsley

sea salt and black pepper

How to Make:

1. Place the grated zucchinis on a flat towel with another one on top to absorb excess water.

2. Place zuchinni, eggs, feta, flour, baking powder, mint/parsley, salt and pepper in a mixing bowl, mix and combine.

3. Heat olive oil in a non stick pan over medium high heat. Add 2 tbsp of mixture to the pan and flatten with a spatula. Repeat and cook in batches for 2-3 min each side or until golden.

4 After pan-frying, blot oil in kitchen towel before placing them in serving plate.

Enjoy!

Cold Tomato Soup

* a very refreshing cold soup with the recipe from Weekend Financial Times 

Ingredients:

8 very ripe plum tomatoes (best to use San Marzano tomatoes), quartered

Small bunch of basil leaves, cleaned and wipe dry

3 cloves of garlic, peeled

3tbs red wine vinegar

2tbs brown sugar

3tbs olive oil

1tsp sea salt

1tsp sweet paprika

4 ice cubes

How to Make:

1. Place all ingredients together (apart from the ice) in a large jar, mix well, cover and put in fridge overnight.

2. Remove from fridge, add the ice cubes and blend in a blender good for ice/smoothies. Then taste and adjust seasoning. Drizzle some olive oil on top.

3. Ready to serve with your toasted pitta bread of garlic bread.

Enjoy with your favourite white wine or champagne!

Beef Wellington - revisit

* recipe from Gordon Ramsay.

Ingredients:

750g beef fillet

500g Button or Chestnut Mushrooms - wiped clean

Thyme leaves

Mustard

500g puff pastry

8 slices of parma ham or San Danelle ham
2 egg yoks, beaten with 1 tbsp water and a pinch of salt
see salt and black pepper
olive oil

How to Make:

1. Wrap the beef tightly in a triple layer of cling film to set its shape, then chill overnight.
2. Finely chop the mushrooms (or use a food processor), then fry the chopped mushrooms in a hot pan with a little olive oil and the thyme leaves. When the mushrooms begin to release their juices, continue to cook over a high heat for about 10 minutes until all the excess moisture has evaporated and you are left with a mushroom paste (known as a duxelle). Remove the duxelle from the pan and leave to cool on top of a strainer.
3. Take our beef from fridge. Remove the cling film, season with salt and black pepper, then quickly sear the beef fillet in a hot pan with a little olive oil for 30-60 seconds until browned all over and rare in the middle. Remove from the pan and brush mustard all over the beef. Leave to cool.
4. Lay a large sheet of cling film on a work surface and place  Parma ham slices in the middle, overlapping them slightly, to create a square. Spread half the duxelle evenly over the ham.
5. Then place the beef on top of the mushroom-covered ham. Using the cling film, roll the Parma ham over the beef, then roll and tie the cling film to get a nice, evenly thick log. Then chill for at least 30 minutes.
6. Roll the pastry ion a lightly floured surface into a rectangle large enough to envelop the beef fillet. 
7. Remove the cling film from the beef, then wrap the pastry around the ham-wrapped fillet. Trim the pastry and brush all over with the egg wash. Cover with cling film and chill for at least 30 minutes.
8. Preheat oven to 200'C. Brush the baking tray or the grill with olive oil.
9. When you are ready to cook the beef wellington, score the pastry lightly and brush with the egg wash again, put the pastry wrapped beef to a baking tray, best on top of an oiled-wire rack, then bake at 200°C for 30-35 minutes until the pastry is golden brown and the temperature of the quarter end reaches 55'C. Rest for 10 minutes before carving.

Enjoy with your red favourite wine!