Mushroom Soup

* receipe adapted from Heston Blumenthal's "at Home"

Ingredients (serves 4 to 6 persons):

For the mushroom powder:
10g dried shitake mushrooms
10g dried porcini mushrooms

For the Soup:
1.5kg Chicken stock **
160g unsalted butter
2 onions - finely sliced
1 small potato - soften then cut into small cubes
2 leeks - white part only, finely sliced
800g buttom mushrooms, finely sliced
50g dry white vermouth (optional)
80g whipping cream
40g milk

** For Vegetarian version, replace chicken stock with vegetable stock

How to Make:

1. Mushroom Powder: you can make this one day ahead. Preheat oven to 150'C . Roast the dried mushrooms on a baking tray for 5 min. Remove from oven and allow to cool. Blitz them in a spice grinder or food processor until very fine. Keep in airtight container until ready to use.
** if you want to clean the dried mushrooms with water before roasting, i will suggest you to allow a long enough time for them to dry up again before roasting. 

2.  Make your stock one day ahead: Boil old chicken (without skin) together with carrots, celery, onion for 3-4 hours. Drain soup to a pot and after cool down, chill in fridge. On the day you make the soup, take it out from the fridge and remove the fat that will be gathered at the top layer. Reheat the soup.

3. Melt butter in a large saucepan and sweat onion and potato without letting them color (approx 10min).

4. Add leeks and mushrooms and cook until they soften (around 15 min)

5. Turn the heat to high and add the vermouth. Allow it to redice until almost all the liquid has disappeared.

6. Pour the mushroom mixture to the chicken stock (which was already boiled), then add the milk and cream. Bring to boil again and reduce toa simmer. Cook for another 10 min.

7. Remove from heat and blitz in blender in several batches until completely smooth.

8. After each batch, sieve the blended mixture to a clean pot.

9. Season with salt and pepper. With a hand blender, aerate the soup for 60 sec to make it lighter or frothy.

10. Ladle the soup to bowls and sprinkle with the mushroom powder on top before serving.

Enjoy!!

Chicken & Chorizo Casserole

* receipe adapted from Janet Hornby's "What to Cook and How to Cook it"

Ingredients:
500g boneless chicken thighs (around 5-6pc) - cut into cubes and season them with salt and pepper and a little bit of cornflour
150g chorizo (or 1 piece) - sliced
1 onion - sliced
2 garlic cloves - sliced
1 red pepper - sliced
1tsp ground cinnamon
2tsp paprika
1tsp thyme
3 tbsp dry white wine
1 can tomato - chopped with its sauce
1 can chick peas - drain water in can
200ml chicken stock
handful pf parsley or basil (whichever you prefer)

How to make:

1. Heat some olive oil on pan and add chorizo until the red oil has been released. Remove chorizo to a bowl for later use.

2. Fried chicken in the same pan until done and remove to bowl for later use.

3. Add some more olive oil to the pan and stir fried the onion, garlic and red pepper until softened. Keep stirring.

4. Splash in the wine until all evaporated, then add the tomatoes and stock and let it simmer for around 15 min until the sauce has thickened.

5. Add the chicken, chorizo and chick peas back to the pan, then the cinnamon and paprika and simmer for around 5-10min.

6. Check seasoning and add sea salt and black pepper to your tasting. Lastly, break the basil or parsley leaves by your hand and add to pot and remove all to a serving casserole pot or dish. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and serve piping hot!

Enjoy! Best serve with pasta and bread!

Vanilla Creme Brulee

* receipe adapted from Michael Roux's "Eggs"

Ingredients (for serving 6-8 portions)
500ml milk
500ml whipping cream
1 vanilla pod - slice in the midway and scrape all seeds for later use
150g caster sugar
200g egg yolks (about 10)
70g demerara sugar

How to make:
1. Preheat oven to 120'C.

2. Make the custard by heating the milk, the cream with the vanilla pods and the seeds and 90g caster sugar. Once boil, turn off the fire and let the vanilla pod kept immersed at the milk for a while more.

3. Whisk the egg yolks with the remaining sugar (60g) lightly.

4. Remove vanilla pod from the milk and pour the milk mixture to the eggs and keep whisking lightly until all combined.

5. Ladle the mixture into gratin dishes and place on a baking tray and cook in oven for 30 mins or until just set. (if you notice bubbles from the mixture, remember to remove them with a sieve before spooning them to the gratin dishes.

6. Leave the custard to cool down before chilling them at fridge.

7. Upon serving, take them out from fridge, sprinkle demerara sugar on top and brown it with a torch until golden brown and serve immediately.

Enjoy!

Salmon Miso Hotpot 石狩鍋

Ingredients:

Soup Base:
Konby Kelp 昆布 x 2 pc
dried bonito flakes - around 25g
4 cups water

Hotpot:
Raw Salmon x 2-3pc - washed and dried and cut into pieces
Japanese Turnip - your desired portion and cut into chewable size
Carrots - your desired portion and cut into chewable size
Cabbage - your desired portion and cut into stripes
japanese tofu - cut into pieces
田舍 miso paste - approx 6 tbsp
白 miso paste - approx 3 tbsp
soya sauce - approx 2 tbsp
mirin - approx 2 tbsp
cooking sake - approx 2 tbsp


How to Make:

Soup Base:
1. Wipe Konebu Kelp with a clean cloth.

2. Pour 4 cups of water to a clay pot and add the kelp. Let stand for 20min.

3. Heat the claypot with water and kelp over medium heat. Once small bubbles appear near pot bottom, remove kelp immediately,

4. When liquid begins to boil, add all dried bonito flakes all at once. Turn down heat a little and simmer the liquid for a few minutes.

5. Turn off heat. Wait until all bonito flakes sink to pot bottom. Remove the bonito flakes from the soup.

Miso Hotpot with Salmon:
1. Add cut turnips and carrots to soup base and cook for around 15 min until softer.

2. Add soya sauce, mirin, sake and the 2 miso paste to the soup and stir to ensure all melted and mixed thoroughly in the soup. Taste and adjust which ingredients you need more.

3. Once soup is boiled, add cabbage, tofu, then the salmon pieces on top and cook for around 2 mintues in a medium heat.

4. Best served by presenting the clay pot on a bed/tray of candles to keep warm, but not to further boil the miso soup.

-> u can keep adding salmon, tofu and cabbage once the claypot is served!

Enjoy this hearty and healthy dish in this winter season~~

Water Chestnut Cake

Ingredients:

Water Chestnuts x 10 to 15 big pc

Water chestnut powder 250g 

Rock Sugar (1/2 a box or approx 300g)

How to make:
1. Brush a round tin with some corn oil. Leave aside.

2. Mix the 250 g water chestnut powder with 750ml water using the fingers. Ensure no lumps.

3. Clean and peel the water chestnuts and using the back of a chinese knife, break the water chestnuts into small pieces. Never "cut" them with the knife.

4. Boil 750ml water with almost 1/2 of a box of the Taikoo Rock Sugar until sugar all dissolved. To speed up the process, you can break the rock sugar into smaller pc by covering them in a cloth and use a hammer to break them on the kitchen floor!

5. Once boiled, taste if it's sweet enough. Remember that you will have to add starch solution into this sugar water afterwards. So it should be sufficiently sweet enough.

6. Then add the water chestnut pieces and cook until it change from white to beige color (only a few mins).

7. Add the starch solution to the pot and quickly mix well and stir all ingredients together in 1 direction, until all mix well.

8. Pour the mixture to the greased tin. Using a disposable glove, use your palms to press down the mixture and even the top. But don't press too hard though.

9. Cover tin with microwave cling wrap and steam for 30 min.

10. Cool down and cover with plastic and store in fridge.

* when you cut them into pieces for pan fry, pls remember to coat them with corn starch in a thin layer and shake off excess starch before frying.

Enjoy~

Turnip Cake 羅白糕

Ingredients:

Grated turnip (after draining the water from turnip) - approx 1300g (will most likely take 1 to 2 big turnips)
Thick sliced turnip - around 400-500g

李祥和 powder - 300 g (half a bag)

2 pc of canada sausage **

5 pc of dried scallops **

ginger and garlic

chicken powder **

fresh sesame

a round tin, brush with "ginger garlic" oil. See below

Big steamer (if possible)

** For Vegetarian version, just skip these ingredients.

How to make:
1. On the night before you cook this turnip cake, wash 5 pc of dried scallops and soak them in 2 cups of water overnight.

2. On the day you cook this turnip cake, drain the dried scallops and keep the water for later use. Steam the dried scallops for approx 60 min (or till soft). Then tear them into thread like pieces, discarding the hard bits. Keep aside.

4. Peel turnip skin, then grate the turnip until it reaches 1300g discarding the turnip water. Then cut some thick turnip slices around 400-500g. Then blanch in boiling water for around 10 minutes to make these thick slices softer first.

5. Prepare a 8-10 pc of ginger and a bunch of pressed garlic.

6. Steam the chinese sausage for 30 min, then cut into into small pieces but not too minced.

7. Mix the powder with 300ml water and use your fingers to mix them, making sure no lumps inside. Keep aside this starch solution.

8. When you are ready to cook, drain water from turnip slices. Check if there are 2 to 2.5 cups of water from the soaked scallops and if not, add the turnip water to make them to 2 to 2.5 cups together.

9. Heat up a big wok and add oil, then add ginger and garlic, till they are golden in color. Remove the ginger and garlic. Pour away most of this ginger garlic oil to a bowl and save just a little on the ok.

10. Add chinese sausage to the wok and stirred fried a bit, then remove to a bowl.

11. Add back a little bit of the ginger garlic oil to the wok, then add the dried scallops, stir fried a bit, then removed the dried scallops to a bowl.

12. Add some more ginger garlic oil to the wok and add the turnip thick slices, then the shredded slices (some at a time until) and stir fried until all is soft and evenly soaked with the oil, then add back all the chinese sausages and dried scallops and mix well.

13. Then add the 2 to 2.5 cups of the scallops/turnip water and mix well with all ingredients, then add 3 tsp of chicken powder and check taste. Cover the pan and let it boil for 2-3 minutes. Once boiled, remove cover, then add the powder solution and mix quickly with the turnip mixture in a one-direction quick movement, until all are mixed well. At first, you still need the big fire, after stirring a bit, you can reduce fire to medium. Ensure the whole mixture is evenly cooked and mixed well.

14. Pour the mixture to a round tin, then wear a disposable glove and use your palm to mix them well into the tin so that the top is flat and nice. But don't press too hard.

15. Cover the tin with microwave cling wrap and steam for 45 min (preferably in a big steamer as they are better to avoid the water condensation which will make the turnip cake too moist).

16. Once turnip cake is steamed, take out and cooled down. In the meantime, toast the fresh sesame seeds in a pan until golden, then sprinkle on top of turnip cake, wrap with plastic and store in fridge.

Best served with XO sauce and soy sauce with cooked oil!

* reason why ginger garlic oil is used to stir fried to grated turnip is to reduce the "coolness" of the turnip. But by so doing, it will reduce the fragrance or taste of the turnip itself as ginger/garlic taste is much stronger. If if you prefer stronger taste of turnip, you can opt out the garlic/ginger oil and just use normal corn oil.

* when you cut the turnip cake into small pieces for pan fry, pls remember to coat them with corn starch in a thin layer and shake off excess starch before frying.

Enjoy~

XO Sauce

Ingredients:

Dried Scallops x 1 catty (see preparation below)

Garlic x 1 catty - minced

Shallots x 1 catty - minced

Chinese Ham x 1 catty - minced (see preparation below)

Chilli x 400g approx.
3 bottles of corn oil (approx 900ml x 3)

Preparation of the Dried Scallops:
1. The night before you plan to make XO sauce, wash the dried scallops a few times, drain the water and then soak in a big bowl of filtered water and cover the bowl.

2. On the day you are cooking the XO sauce, drain the water from the scallops and put all scallops in a big plate and steam with some ginger sauce and chinese wine for 2 hours. 

3. After steaming, tear all the dried scallops into thread-like pieces, and discarding any hard parts. (this step takes at least 30 to 45 min. So better ask someone to help in this process to save time and back bone pain!)

* the water you drain from scallops can be used to make turnip cake, fried vegetables, etc. So, dont throw it away.
* the ginger sauce and chinese wine can eliminate some "seafood" smell of the dried scallop.

Preparation of the Chinese Ham:
1. On the day you make the XO sauce or the night before, wash the chinese ham, then boil in hot water with some puer tea leaves for 10 min. Then drain the water.

2. Cut the ham into smaller pieces, then minced in a food processor.

3. Put the minced ham into a bowl.

How to make the XO Sauce:
1. Peel all garlic and minced them in a food processor, then place them in  a bowl.

2. Peel all shallots and minced them in a food processor, then place them in a bowl (discard all juice from the food processor).

3. For the chilli, wash and pat dry and minced them. As the chilli is hot,remember not to use your finger to rub your eyes or face afterwards (even if you have washed your hands afterwards!). Better to wear gloves during cutting! Depending on how spicy you would like the XO sauce to be, for mild spiciness, I suggest mincing 2/3 of the chilli without seeds and 1/2 with seeds. 

4. Heat up a big wok. Add oil, then stir fried all the minced shallots using high heat. When the shallots are pretty fragrant, then add the minced garlic. Mix and stir-fried them until all soft and fragrant using high to medium heat. Please add enough oil from time to time to keep the garlic and shallots moist.

5. Then add the minced ham and mix them well with the minced garlic and shallots, then add the dried scallops using high to medium heat. Remember to top up with oil from time to time.

6. At first the scallops' color in the wok is beige-like, you need to keep mixing and stir-frying at medium to medium high heat with the rest of the ingredients until deeper in color. The total stir-fried time for the whole thing is approx 60-90 min! Ensure the fire is not too big to prevent the scallops becoming overcooked and dried but at the same time ensure the heat is not too low or else the flavour will not come out...

7. When the dried scallops and the rest of the ingredients are pretty well mixed and color getting nice, then add the minced chilli (those without seeds) and continue stir-fry for 5-10 min. The longer the time you cook the chilli, the hotter the sauce will become. So beware! So check taste and adjust cooking time depending on how spicy you prefer. Usually if just chilli without seeds, cooking them for 5-10 minutes will give a mild spiciness already. You can scoop up some of these mild spicy XO to certain jars first. Then you can add those minced chillis with seeds and cook for another 5-10 minutes. This is for sure hot and spicy!

8. Scoop them into various glass bottles (which has been disinfected in advance) and once cool down, then put them into fridge.

Enjoy~

Alaska Crab Salad

This is really easy to do as long as you are willing to devote some time and stand in the kitchen for quite a while and are willing to pay for the expensive cost for a fresh Alaska Crab!!

Ingredients: (for 12 persons)

Fresh Alaska Crab x 1 (steamed or boiled, with the crab meat all removed from shells)

Avocado (please choose the ripe ones) - around 7pc - cut into cubes

Tomatoes (please choose the italian ones or the ones which you think are sweet and tasty) - remove skin using method stated below, then cut into
cubes and drain the tomato juice

Fresh Chives - minced

lemon/ mayo/ sesame dressing/ lemon olive oil


How to make:

1. If you are not arranging directly on plate but is preparing in advance, cover the bottom of each stainless steel cylinder with plastic wrap and place the 12 cyliners in a tray.

2. Mix the avocado cubes with mayo to a consistency you desired and spoon them into the base of the cylinder.

3. Mix the tomatoes cubes with sesame dressing to a consistency you desired and spoon them above the avocadoes layer. Try avoid spooning the juice into the cylinder though.

4. Use your hand to tear the crab meat to bite size and mix with a splash of lemon juice, then mayo to a consistency you desired and spoon them above the tomatoes layer.

5. Wrap the whole tray with the 12 cylinders arranged in the fridge.

6. When you are ready to serve, place one cylinder on one plate and remove the plastic wrap at the bottom of the cylinder bu sliding it carefully away from the plate, then remove the cylinder.

7. Add some a few drops of lemon olive oil on top of the crab layer then sprinkle with the minced chives and serve!!

This presentation looks professional but is so easy to make anyone can do this. Enjoy!!

Removing Tomatoes Skin:
a. lightly cut a cross around the tomato skin.
b. place them in boiling water for 30 seconds and immediately place them in a ice water bath.
-> the skin tear off itself easily.

Beef Wellington

* this receipe is modified from the one from "Christmas with Gordon Ramsay"

Ingredients:
(serves 4-6 paersons)

900g beef fillet (perferably the centre cut with even thickness)
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tbsp olive oil
English mustard, to brush meat

Mushroom Duxelles:
700g chestnut mushrooms or just brown mushrooms, cleaned, and stalks removed
a handful of cooked chestnuts
1 garlic clove, peeled and chopped
2 thyme sprigs, leaves only

To assemble:
8 slices of parma ham (choose those with less salty flavour)
500g ready-made-all-butter-puff pastry
plain flour, to dust
2 egg yolks, lightly beaten with 1 tbsp water (eggwash)

How to make:

One night before cooking:
1. Wash and dry beef with kitchen towel, season with salt and pepper.

2. Heat olive oil in a frying pan over high hear, quickly sear outside of beef until evenly browned, about 5 mins, turning as necessary.

3. Transfer beef to a plate and brush all over with mustard and allow to cool.

4. For the duxelles,out the cleaned mushrooms, cooked chestnuts and garlic in a food processor, add a little bit of salt and pepper and blend to a fine paste, stopping to scrape down the sides a few times.

5. Heat a fry large frying pan and scarpe the mushroom paste to the pan and add the thyme leaves, mix well and cook over high heat until dry, sitriing occassionally. The duxelles must be sufficiently dry to avoid making the pastry too soggy. Spread out on a tray to cool down.

6. On a clean working top, line a large piece of cling film, then lay the parma ham on top, overlapping each other so as to form a rough rectangule large enough to wrap the whole beef fillet.

7. Using a palette knife or a spatula, spread the mushroom duxelles on top of the parma ham, a thin and even layer does it.

8. Lay the beef fillet along the middle of the mushroom layer. Keeping a tight hold of the cling film from the outside edges, neatly rool the parma ham and the mushroom duxelles over the beef into a tight barrel shape. Twist the end of the cling film to secure. Refridgerate for 15 mins to firm up.

9. On a clean working surface, lightly dust with flour and roll our pastry to a thickness of roughly a HK$5 coin thickness and brush with some of the eggwash.

10. Take beef out of fridge, remove from cling film carefully and place it in the middle of the pastry.

11. Roll the pastry around the beef to envelope it and then presss the edges to seal. Pinch the pastry at the ends to seal and trim off the excess. You can use the excess pastry to make patterns on top of the wrap.  Wrap the log tightly in cling film and chill in fridge.

On the night of cooking:
1. Take the beef out from the fridge 1 hr before cooking and bring it to room temperature.

2. Preheat oven to 190'C. Remove cling film and brush the whole pastry with eggwash and bake it oven for 35 min. If pastry appears to be browning too quickly, lower the temperature slightly.

3. Leave to rest in a warm place for 10-15 min before carving.

Enjoy with your favourite gravy, mash and veggies~~

Warm Chocolate Cake

* This Receipe is a modification of the receipe at "Dessert Fourplay by Johnny Iuzzini"

Ingredients:

250g unsalted butter - cut into small pieces
250 bittersweet chocolate (preferbbly Veronha 72% cacao chocolate) - break into small pieces
5 large eggs
5 egg yolks
1/2 cup + 2 tbsp (125g) caster sugar
1/3 cup + 1 tbsp (50g) all purpose floor

How to Make:

1. Butter eight 4oz ramekins or sixteen 2oz molds and dust them lightly with flour. Place them on a baking tray.

2. Boil water in a saucepan.

3. Place butter and chocolate in a heatproof bowl and place on top of the saucepan with boiling water. Turn fire to low and keep stiring the butter and chocolate mixture on the heatproof bowl above the saucepan until all melted smoothly.

4. Put eggs and egg yolks to a bowl of a standing mixer fitted with whisk. Beat at medium speed until frothy.

5. Pour in sugar and increase speed to medium high. Continue to beat until eggs have trippled in volumne.

6. Scrape the butter and chocolate mixture into the eggs. Beat until well mixed, scraping the bowl once or twice.

7. Sift the flour and fold gently into the egg and chocolate mixture.

8. Spoon the mixture into the ramekins or molds, cover each of them with plastic wraps and place in fridge.

9. 1 hour before cooking, take them out at room temperature.

10. Preheat oven at 230'C and bake them for 6-7 minutes. Centre of cake will still be soft and a bit melting. Once taken out from oven, leave them for a few seconds, then you'll be able to either invert them into plates or spoon them out of the molds and place in plates. Sprinkle with icing sugar on top.

Best serve with Vanilla Ice Cream.

Enjoy~

Roast French Poussin

Ingredients:
French Poussin (preferrably the white one instead of the yellow ones)
Lemon
Fresh Basil
Garlic
Butter
Honey
Dark Soy Sauce
Salt and Pepper

How to make:
1. Wash and dry poussin in and out. The worst job in this receipe! especially when you have to pull out all hair remaining on the skin (with care or else the skin will be torn).

2. Marinate chicken using dark soy sauce - and using your hand to coat the dark soy sauce evenly on the skin - this is my creative step on bringing some color to the skin. It does not add much to the taste really. Keep this marinate in for at least an hour.

3. Preheat oven to 230'C.

4. Stuffed 1/4 of a cleaned lemon together with a few basil leaves (cleaned and wiped dry) and a piece of garlic clove inside the tummy of the chicken. Then tie back the legs together using the string that comes with the poussin when you bought them.

5. Season the poussin top and bottom using salt and pepper and place them neatly in a baking tray lined with foil.

6. Melt some butter in a oven proof dish in the preheat oven or in microwave. Using a brush, drip the melting butter over the skin (try dripping as even as possible).

7. Put the tray with the poussin to oven for 10 minutes. Then remove from oven, change position of tray, turn oven temperature down to 190'C. Drip more melted butter all over and cook for another 30 minutes at 190'C. Then take out again and drip/brush honey all over poussin's skin and cook for another 5 to 10 minutes until skin turns golden color.

Serve with the sauce you like or with the juice coming from the chicken and the butter and honey in the tray!!

** dont put your tray too low in the oven or the skin cant get the golden color as you may wish for. But not too high to avoid burning the skin too.

Enjoy~

Sous Vide (Slow Cooked) Chicken Breast in Morel Sauce

Ingredients:
Chicken Breast x 1pc

Morel Sauce:
1oz dried morels
35g butter
1tbsp flour
100ml dry white wine
100ml cream


How to make:
Follow Step 1 to 2 [if you are using a slow cook machine. Otherwise, just wah and dry the chicken breast and marinate with salt and peper and pan fried in frying pan to medium.

1. Wash and dry chicken breast and put in vacuum bag with some milk. Sealed up the bag.

2. Turn slow cook machine temperature to 64'C. Once this temperature is reached, put vacuumed packed chicken breast inside the water bath for 2 hours.

Morel Sauce:
1. Rinse the morel mushrooms.
2. Either soak the mushrooms in 500ml milk or hot water. If former, you need at least 1-2 hours. For latter, 15 to 30 minutes will do.
3. Squeeze out water form mushrooms and drain them. Rinse the mushrooms but reserve the mushroom liquid by sieving them to a clean jug for later use.
4. Cut the mushrooms into bite size.
5. Melt butter in pan, then add flour and stir well for 1 minute.
6. Add the white wine gradually, but stirring well at all times.
7. Add the mushroom liquid slowly, stirring.
8. Add all mushrooms and simmer for 20 min.
9. Add cream, season with salt and pepper to your tasting.

Take out chicken from slow cooker and remove from vacuum bags, cut into pieces and put morel sauce on top.

** Chicken breast cooked this way is so tender that you won't believe it! It's healthy too! And morel sauce is also the perfect sauce for chicken breast.
With a glass of white wine, that's the way to spend a great evening indeed!

enjoy! :)

Potato and Egg with White Truffles

* this receipe is modified from the one from Al Soriso

Ingredients (for 4 persons):
Potato x 6pc (medium size is ok)
Italian Eggs x 4
Butter and Milk
Paremsan Cheese (grated)
White Truffles

How to Make:
1.Preheat oven to 180'C.
2. Peel and boil Potatoes in water until all soft.
3. For 4 pc of potatoes, dig a hole in the middle and place the potato scarped out from main potato in another bowl. Use caution when digging the potato to avoid the potato being broken into pieces.
4. For the other 2 pc of potatoes, mash them together with the scarped potato above with salt, butter and milk until creamy.
5. Carefully separate egg yolks from egg whites one by one.
6. Salt and pepper the inside and outside of the potato with hollow centre and place 1 egg yolk in each of the such potato using a spoon. Try to be careful and not break the egg yolk.
7. Seal the hole of the potato with eggs inside with the mash potato and place in an oven proof dish.
8. Cover the potato with some more mash potato on top and srpinkle grated parmesan cheese.
9. Bake in oven for 5 minutes.
10, Take out and shave white truffles on top. The egg yolk will spill once you cut into the potato.

Eccellente! Enjoy!!

Vitello Tonnato (cold veal in tuna sauce)

* this receipe is adapted from Guido & Guido (I sapori delle Langhe)
* first attempt and it was already quite a success!

Ingredients:

Tuna sauce
200g tuna in oil (better source those from Italy)
120g mayonnaise (if you can home made this the best, otherwise buy ready made mayonnaise from store)
15f white vinegar
5g capers
2pc anchovy fillets

-> just blend everythign in your blender until smooth! beware that if your tuna is chunky, your blender might get stuck. Just use a chopstick to loosen the mixture and blend again! then place in a bowl and chill in fridge with cover.

Veal:
800g veal rump (you will have a hard time finding this part in HK. Get veal loin instead and ask your butcher to tie it up for it so that it looks like a roll of meat)
100g butter
30g olive oil
1.5 meat or vegetables broth
1 onionm cut into quarters
2 carrots, cut into medium sizes
1 celery - cut into medium sizes
rosemary - wash and wipe dry

How to make:
1. Preheat oven to 150;C.
2. Wash and wipe dry veal loin and season with salt and pepper.
3. Put onion, carrots, celery, rosemary with the broth in a pot (which can be placed inside the oven later) and boil.
4. Heat up a frying pan with olive oil and butter and brown veal on all sides.
5. Place the browned veal into the broth pot and once boiled, remove from gas stoves and place to oven with the lid cover for 20-25min.
5. Remove veal from broth and cool down. Once cool dowm, place in fridge with cover.
6.  Before serving, slice the veal as thin as possible, then trim it by cutting away the brown edge or tendons at the side, leaving only the pink centre.
7. Line up a dish with your favourite salad - watercress, rockets, etc with some olive oil or a mild salad dressing of your choice. Then place the pink veal nicely around the dish.
8. Scoop the tuna sauce in the middle and serve!

Fantastico and Enjoy!

Roast Rack of Lamb with Mint Oil Sauce

Another simple dish to do! Lamb is not what i usually eat but this is what my hubby likes and i need to master the skills to do this!! After reading several books, i made up my mind to cook it this way!

Ingredients:

Scottish Lamb Rack (as Scottish lambs were fed with milk, grass and water only. So the meat is pretty tender!)

Rosemary - washed, dried and take out leaves.

Garlic - minced, just a little bit

Tomato and New Potato

Mint Leaves

Red Wine Vinegar

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Parprika, Salt and Pepper

How to Make:

1. Preheat oven to 200'C.

2. Wash and dry lamb rack. Score the lamb in a diagonal way (i.e. make a slight cut on the skin - dont cut too deep!). Marinate the lamb with parprika, salt, pepper, fresh rosemary and minced garlic all over, adding a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Set aside.

3. Boil water in a small pot and once boiled, put washed new potatoes in it for 5-6 min. Take out and drain and cut into half.

4. Tomato - wash, drain and cut into half (horizontally).

5. Heat up a frying pan, add olive oil and then sear the lamb rack until golden on all sides.

6. Place seared lamb rack on baking tray with the tomatoes and potatoes on the side. You can drizzle the oil remaining on the marinate plate to the baking tray and if not moist enough, drizzle a bit more olive oil on top of the lamb in the baking tray. Feel free to sprinkle a bit more parprika, salt, pepper and rosemary leaves on top. Roast for 25-30 minutes for medium and 40-45 minutes for almost well done. 

7. During roasting, you can prepare the fresh mint oil sauce - just wash and dry all mint leaves. Put the leaves in the blender, add some salt and sugar, then blend until smooth. Scrape them to a sauce bowl, add some red wine vinegar and a lot of extra virgin olive oil and mix well. Try the taste and adjust the seasoning to your likings.

8. Once you take out lamb from the oven, let it rest for 5 min with loose foil on top - so that it can retain some juice inside.

** it's important to note you will need to serve the lamb within 5-10 minutes after resting. Otherwise, the lamb will become overcooked during a long resting time.

Enjoy!
8. For

Aubergine and Mozzarella

* original recipe from Don Alfonso where the photo as shown below was layers of round shape aubergine and mozzarella with tomato sauce dripping over it. Unfortunately, mine was not a bit close! Sorry~

Ingredients:
Aubergine
Mozzarella cheese
fresh basil, finely chopped
tomato sauce
salt and pepper

How to make:
1. Preheat oven at 175'C.

2. Wash and dry aubergine and cut them into thin slices. If possible, buy bigger size aubergine with a neat shape so that you can cut out even round slices.

3. Fry aubgerines in hot olive oil and drain on kitchen towels.

4. Thinly slice mozzarella cheese - keep the round shape and size similar to (or just a little bit smaller than) the aubergine slices.

5. Prepare your own version of the tomato sauce (as Don Alfonso's book did not mention how to make this tomato sauce at all!). For me, I use 1 tin can of whole tomatoes from Italy and puree it in a blender, then cook in a small saucepan by adding a little bit of ketchup, salt and sugar.

6. Alternate two slices of aubergine with a slice of mozzarella, a pinch of chopped basil and a dollop of tomato suace. Continue layering for a few times.

7. Put them in a ceramic dish and bake in overn for approx 10 mins.

8. Once done, nap each dish with the warm tomato sauce, centre the aubergine tower and decorate with a fresh basil leaf.

This should be an impressive and tasty starters or side dish which is easy to do and not costy at all. However, the one that i did (as seen in the top photo) was not acutally what i intended as i was not able to buy aubergines which i could cut out a few even round slices! and the mozzarella i got was only those "ball-shaped' ones and it's impossible to have even round slices from them too. As such, my aubgerine tower cannot stand up on their own without the toothpick in the centre. And with the toothpick in the centre, i can no longer decorate it with the basil leaf. Try for yourself. It's fun!
Enjoy~

Porcini and Mushroom Risotto

Ingredients: (serves about 4 paxs)

30g (or simply half a bowl) dried porcini mushrooms
1 onion - minced
2 garlic cloves - pressed
1 tbsp olive oil
80g butter
1.2 L chicken stock **
350g risotto rice (preferrably Carnaroli and you are able to get Aged Risotto, even better!)
100ml dry white wine
50g freshly grated Parmesan cheese
250g fresh mushrooms of your choice
salt and pepper

** For Vegetarian version, replace with vegetable stock

How to make:

1. Rinse dried porcini mushrooms, then soak them in a bowl of hot water for at least 20 min until soft.

2. Drain the porcini mushrooms using a fine seive (so that the gritty part of the mushroom water is filtered out) and save the mushroom water for later use.

3. Squeeze water out of the softened porcini mushrooms and finely chopped them.

4. Bowl the chicken stock + the mushroom water in a pot, then turn down the heat to simmering point.

5. Heat olive oil and 50g of butter in another frying pan and stir fried the minced onion and pressed garlic until soft. Then add the finely chopped porcini mushrooms, then add the rice.

6. Stir fried all ingredients until the rice are all covered with the oil and butter and starting to turn a little translucent.

7. Pour in the white wine and let it evaporate for a while (it will happen fairly quickly).

8. Add the simmering chicken stock - ladle by ladle into the rice and stir until the rice has absorbed it. At this point, yo should turn down heat for the frying pan cooking the rice to medium fire, otherwise, the chicken stock you add to the rice will be gone very quickly.

9. Continue to add the stock ladle by ladle and don't drown the rice, and keep stirring all the time until the rice becomes plump and al dente! In my experience, this process takes approx 20 min! So, be patient!

10. Once the rice becomes al dente, add the remaining 30g butter and the freshly grated Parmesan cheese and season with salt and pepper. Then switch off heat and cover the pan the let the rice rests for 5 min.

11. In the meantime, stir fried the fresh mushrooms in either olive oil (which is healthier) or butter (which is more tasty and fragrant) which are already cleaned and chopped to the shape and size you desired in a separate pan.

12. Add the mushrooms to the top of the rice and serve!

* have the Parmesan cheese ready at the table so that whoever wants a more cheesy taste, they can just grate some more on top of the rice!

Enjoy this with a glass of chilled white wine and no more worries about the trouble of the day! hahaha!

Roast Prime Rib

Ingredients:

Rib eye (best quality one being the PRIME Black Angus from US. If prefer with ribs, i personally prefer the one from Canada instead of Australia. US beef with ribs are still restricted to be imported to HK) - ask butcher to tie it up with strings for you for roasting purpose

garlic, rosemary, thyme, black pepper, olive oil

How to make:

1. The night before your dinner, marinate the beef. First, wash and wipe dry the beef.

2. Then mix together a bowl of minced garlic, minced rosemary and thyme (fresh or dried ones are both ok), black pepper and olive oil -> so that it becomes paste-like. NO SALT at this moment.

                                                                                                                          3. Rub the above paste to the beef and massage the beef for a while before tidying it up like a paste on top.

4. Cover with foil and put to fridge overnite.

5. On the day of cooking, 1 hr before cooking, take out beef from fridge and stand at room temperature. At the same time preheat over at 230C.

6. After 1 hr, season with beef with sea salt and black pepper again. Place beef to oven at 230'C for 20 to 30 min, then turn down to 180'c and roughly another 1.5hr to 2 hr (depending how big your beef is) until a thermometer inserted into centre of meat registers approx 44'C (which is rare to medium rare).

7. Take out from over and stand at room temperature for another 10-15min - the beef will continue to cook by itself and the centre can then reach medium rare status while the sides will be pretty cooked.

* The really cook chef will then deglaze roasting pan and make gravy with red wine. But this sounds pretty difficult for me. So i prefer to order the gravy from Pen Hotel in advance! All u need to do is to boil the whole vacuum pack of gravy, then pour to gravy boat and serve with the beef!! sorry for this shortcut.

* Best served with mash potato and cream corn!

Enjoy!! 



Braised Hamachi

Ingredients:

Chilled Hamachi (order this from sushi shop/counter and request for the head + belly and you'll have freshly arrived Hamachi from Japan)
Daikon
Taro (optional)
Pumpkin (optional)
Burdock (optional)
Ginger slices

Braising Suace:
Water - 300ml
Cooking Sake - 1.5 tbsp
Mirin - 1.5 tbsp
Soy Sauce- 4.5 tbsp
sugar - 4.5 tbsp (can reduce if you prefer less sweet)

How to make:
1. If you are using head, you can ask fishmonger or sushi chef to cut the head into pieces.

2. Wash and wipe dry fish and cook in boiling water for a few minutes, drain.

3. Put ginger slices on bottom of a cooking pot and then braising sauce and bring to boil.

3. Add the sliced daikon, taro, pumpkin and fish pieces into pot, once boiled, turn to medium heat and cook with aluminium foil covering the top for 10 to 15 minutes (depending how much fish you can cooking)

ready to serve & enjoy with a bowl of japanese rice!!

* you can add a few drops of dary soy sauce to add color
* if you prefer your vegetables to be softer, you can cook them a bit first before adding to the fish pot. But bear in mind, japanese pumpkin takes a short time to cook and become soft easily.
* ginger slices are essential to remove the bad odour of the fish, so dont forget!

** this is actually a very good and healthy recipe, especially if you can cut down the sugar a bit as there's no oil in cooking at all and you can eating fish and vegetables at the same time. :)