cheaters leftover mushroom risotto

ingredients... leftover rice, mushrooms, taiwan sausages, ikea meatballs.
boiled the mushrooms in water and ginger wine till soft. chopped up the taiwan sausages and removed the skin. Chucked them into the liquid. Added the Ikea Meatballs. Once it became a syrupy mess, threw in the leftover rice, a huge glob of butter and stirred till creamy. yum.

A couple of new dishes on the menu

Meatballs (from Ikea...was too lazy to prep fresh ones), Broccolli, Mushrooms, fresh chillis and pasta. Enough for 3 days. Chill in fridge after cooking.

Fried chicken, sauted mushrooms and freshly baked focaccia

Lamb chops. Glorious lamb chops. Browned on a hot fire, then slow cooked to perfection in the oven.

Spicy Prawn Pasta

Unfortunately, this is really a secret recipe. I shan't be posting how it's made. Only know that it's my signature dish, and it tastes heavenly.

Mushroom Madness Part Deux

Decided to try to make a mushroom pasta salad for the week.

Bought 6 kinds of mushrooms. Portobello, Shiitake, Brown, White, Shimeji and Enoki.

Everything roughly chopped, and gently cooked with lots of Extra Virgin Olive Oil and 2 cloves of Garlic. Make sure the olive oil is super hot when you chuck in the mushrooms, or the mushrooms will release too much liquid and it'll boil instead of sauteing. You don't want the mushrooms to boil. The flavour and texture is entirely different. Season with salt and pepper. I added my favourite 'Italian Seasoning', consisting of rosemary, thyme, parsley, oregano and basil. (It's OK to use 'extra' olive oil, cos the mushrooms will soak up quite a bit of oil, and you want the mix to be slightly oily to coat the pasta)

Undercook the pasta just a tad. It will keep cooking after you remove it from the water, and you don't want it turning soft and flabby later. I used fuscili cos the twirls do a great job of soaking up the flavours, and it keeps its shape well after refrigeration. Throw the pasta into the mushroom mix and mix thoroughly. (The green stuff is raw spinach. I use it to add colouring to the dish without detracting from the flavours of the mushrooms)

Dinner with a loved one

Half a Kilo of Australian Angus Grain Fed Ribeye. They didn't have American Angus, and the American Prime grassfed cost the same, so I opted for the Angus.

Two lovely steaks.

Since BFF is not a big fan of alcohol, I decided to try a different variation of my mushroom sauce. Same 4 mushrooms used, except instead of red wine, I opted for cream, cheese and butter to make a 'alfredoey' sauce.

Made the mistake (yes, I make mistakes) of using a knife to test the doneness of the steak (I usually prefer rare, which is easier to judge, but I felt medium would be better for BFF), and quite a bit of the juices spilled out to glaze the pan. The mistake did take a turn for the better, as the gravy turned out to be delicious.

BFF's dish. That's a baguette slathered and toasted with cream cheese, then finished with chopped spring onions (BFF had mentioned she tried this bread in Vietnam and loved it, so I attempted to recreate it for her). The blackened piece in the middle of the plate is a dry-baked Portobello mushroom, finished with the 'Cream of Mushroom' sauce.

I hate cheese, so my baguette was toasted simply with butter. You can't see the Portobello on my plate as it's covered with the mushroom sauce.

Pork Chops

The pork loins are marinated with a dry rub of rosemary, thyme, salt, chopped garlic, freshly cracked black pepper and chilli flakes. Seal in a smoking pan, then bung in the oven with the brocolli tossed in butter. The sauce is made by deglazing the pan with some ginger-wine, asahi beer and finely chopped (and fried) garlic.

Mushroom Madness

I love mushrooms. The portobello is one of my favourites. It's so lusciously meaty and I cook it like I cook steak. The only difference is I have to rub the olive oil on it first, so that the salt and pepper will stick.

Mushroom sauce

Remember THIS post? Well, I made another batch of the sauce, and I remembered to document it this time.

I used 4 kinds of mushrooms this time. Brown, White, Shitaake and Portobello.

Into the hot pan that has been deglazed with the wine.

I know it looks kinda gross, but it's delicious.

Quality in, Quality out. If you put in cheap wine, the sauce will taste like crap. I used a nicer bottle of wine and got much better results.

You can see the wine reduced. At about this stage, I like to throw in a knob of butter to thicken the sauce. I use salted butter (I do not season with salt)

The final outcome. To go with a lovely piece of steak.

Chilli-crusted Threadfin

Take a couple of beautiful Threadfin fillets (in cantonese it's call Ma Yau Yu or Sesame Oil Fish, cos the fish tastes like Sesame oil when used to make soup), season with salt, pepper and a nice cover of tumeric. Then liberally cover in chilli flakes fried in dried shrimp. Seal on a hot pan, a couple of extra secs on the skin side to get the skin beautifully crispy, then bung in the oven at high for abt 10mins to cook.

Sake Bombs

Take 1 pint of Japanese beer (I used Asahi)
1 shot of Sake (I can't read the brand, it's in Japanese)
Drop the shot of sake into the glass of beer.
Watch it foam up, consume quickly.

Meat and Vegs

Steak

Baked Broccoli with Mushroom Sauce

Prep - Sauteed the broccoli in butter and garlic over high heat, then chuck into a plate and put into the oven.

Mushroom sauce is made with Shiitake, Brown and White mushrooms, roughly chopped. Fry some garlic in a pan with olive oil, throw in the mushrooms, a generous amount of cracked black pepper. When the mushrooms start to go soft, pour in red wine to deglaze the pan. reduce by 70%, pour in more red wine to taste, reduce. Once the wine is a nice gravish consistancy, throw in a knob of butter (salted preferbly). You can keep this sauce in the fridge. Just need to take it out and microwave. I just ladled it out onto the broccoli before bunging into the oven.

The final product.

More American Meat

Found some amazing American Wagyu.


Simple preparation. Don't marinate, it'll dry the meat. Just before you throw it on the pan.
Sea salt, freshly ground pepper, a dash of olive oil and rub into the meat.
Make sure the pan is smoking.
Place the meat on the pan. let it cook about 1-2 mins per side. Depends on how much doneness you want. I like it medium rare.
Turn and cook the other side. Err on the side of caution. Better to undercook it than to overcook it. LET THE MEAT REST... that's important. Take it off the fire, plate it and let it rest to allow the juices to flow back into the meat (take the opportunity to take photos :) )



Finish the plate with some fries (which you should've started cooking before you put the meat on). A side of roasted tomatoes (cooked on the same pan as the meat, it'll absorb the olive oil and juices running out from the meat), and some baby butterhead lettuce.

I forgot to take a picture when I sliced into the meat (too busy eating), but rest assured that it was pink in the middle. ;)

UbaUbaBurger

Made some homemade hamburger this evening.

Recipe
2 Sirloin steaks (don't use that minced meat crap on the shelves)
1 portobello mushroom, finely chopped
half dozen shallots, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 big white onion, finely chopped
a glass of red wine
4 rashes of bacon, 2 rashes finely chopped
1 slice of french butter (salted)
1 slice of cheese, cut into small pieces
fresh ground black pepper

Get the meat guy at the supermarket to mince the sirloin for you.
go home
In a hot pan, drizzle some olive oil, once it starts smoking, turn down the fire.
throw in the onions, garlic, shallots and the chopped bacon. soften.
Throw in the mushrooms, and top it with a slice of butter.
Stir thoroughly, after about 5mins on med heat, throw in the wine
turn off the fire, remove mixture from pan. Let cool.
Prep the beef in a big dish. Slap it around a little to get the air out.
Pour in the mixture (make sure it's cooled or the heat will cook the beef)
mix thoroughly (use your hands to really work it in)
Make patties.
If you like it cheese filled, stuff the patties with the cheese slices. Make sure none of the cheese is exposed or it will burn on the pan.
Form the patties and chill for about 2 hours for it to shape.

Making the burger.
On a hot pan, lay the 2 rashes of bacon.
Once it starts sizzling, put the patties on top of the bacon.
Let it cook on top of the bacon.
When the bacon starts getting deep brown, flip the burgers
cook till your preferred temperature (med, med well, well)
I would recommend you cook it to med (poke the patty with a fork and blood should flow), then take it off the fire and let the meat rest for a few minutes. It'll make the world of difference.
If you like cheese, put a slice of cheese on top before you remove from the fire.

Secret Aglio Olio Receipe

Decided to make some Aglio Olio for dinner tonight.
But not any simple old Aglio, of course I had to make my own special version.

Ingredients
Squid
Prawns
Scallops
Asparagus
Olive Oil
Chilli Padi
Garlic
Italian Parsley
Pasta

Marinate Prawns and Scallops in raw sugar
Squid is sliced and marinated in pepper.
Bring the water to a rolling boil and poach the asparagus.
Set aside in cold water. Bring the water back to a boil and throw in the pasta.
I wanted the Olive Oil super flavourful, so I used it to deep fry the squid batered in all purpose flour , removed the residue flour from the oil. Threw in half the chopped garlic and used the olive oil to poach the scallops, then the prawns, set aside on paper towels to drain the oil. The oil is super tasty by now. Pasta should be done, al dente, set aside. Throw the chopped chilli padi, the rest of the garlic and the finely chopped parsley into the oil. Bring up the heat and throw in the pasta, mixed it into the oil well. Throw in the prawns, scallops and asparagus.
Plate with the deep fried calamari on the side.

Crispy Salmon

Simple Salmon... salt, pepper, olive oil, hot pan... hey presto.

Cold Storage Gems

Found some gems while grocery shopping at Cold Storage.

Yup! 11.6% proof beer. And the can only cost $5.95.


My Fellow Boholian Travellers will recognise this. I know it's frozen, but I'm planning to jazz it up with a squeeze of lemon juice, a dash of salt and pepper, and the slightest rub of olive oil.

Hot Dogging

Beef Frankfurter on a toasted Bun with some lovely Honey Mustard.

Classic Meatball

I did my spaghetti and meatballs for lunch this Sunday.
Classic recipes, simple to do but lovely to taste using fresh ingredients.

Making the Mushroom Sauce
mini-portobellos, brown mushrooms, shitake, white mushrooms - chopped finely
a couple of onions, chopped roughly
a clove of garlic, diced
half a bottle of red wine (I used cabernet)
A couple or four of tomatoes, skinned and diced
A can of tomato puree.
a glob of butter
Italian herbs (bottled)
salt and pepper to taste

Sweat the onions and garlic in the butter over a low heat. You don't want to burn the stuff, just to get the flavours and smells going.
Once the onions are nice and moist, chuck in the mushrooms and stir it up to let the mushrooms soak up the flavoured butter.
Turn up the heat and pour in half of the wine. When the wine cooks off, pour in the other half.
When the wine has reduced to about half, chuck in the tomatoes and the tomato puree.
Season with herbs, salt and pepper to taste. (One tip, if you find that the sauce is sourish from having too many tomatoes, add a dash more of salt, and the sourness will go away)
Stir continuously.
Once the sauce starts geysering, turn down the heat to the lowest flame and let it simmer.

Preparing the Meatballs
500g minced beef
500g minced pork
Mixed mushrooms (same as above)
2 onions, chopped finely
a clove of garlic, diced
Italian herbs, paprika, cumin, chilli flakes.
A glob of butter
Salt and Pepper

The first couple of steps are the same as the sauce. Sweat the onions and garlic, then toss in the mushrooms.
I don't add wine though, just season it to taste.
Once the mushrooms are soft, put aside to cool.
You can use all beef or all pork, or even all chicken. I prefer the taste of mixed beef and pork. The only problem is, using pork means that you have to serve the meatballs well done. With an all beef meatball, you can afford to undercook it.
Stir in the spices to the meat (I used my hands for the best effect) and blend thoroughly (I add a little more paprika and chilli flakes because I like the kick). Season well.
You should prepare the onions and mushrooms way in advance so that they have cooled nicely by now.
Chuck it in and blend with the meat. Chill in the fridge for an hour.
I find it's best to shape the meatballs (I also use this recipe for burgers...and I've made the small white castle ones as well) in advance. After the meat is chilled, I take it out again, and beat out the balls ;). It's important to use glad wrap over the shaped meatballs so that the air doesn't get to it.
As a bonus (for the loved one because she likes cheese), I usually stuff hers with some cheese. Instead of shaping it into a ball immediately, I flatten it out first, put in a piece of cheese and fold the meat over securely so it won't melt into the sauce. The cheese melts beautifully and there's a lovely suprise when she bites into it.

Cooking the meal.
Start off by browning the meatballs in a hot pan. You don't want to cook it, just sear the outsides to hold in the juices.
Chuck in the meatballs into the simmering sauce. There is no need to bring the sauce to a boil. Let the meatballs slowcook in the sauce for about 10-15 minutes while you prepare the spaghetti.
Once the spaghetti is done, your meatballs should be ready. If you're using pork and want to be sure, just turn up the heat when you're about to drain the pasta.
Parmesan to taste and that's it.

Hmmm... American Meat

The best beef I've ever had in my life was a huge slab of ribeye from Kansas. During one of our SAS public holiday games, we had a little cookout by the grandstand (in the middle of our double header), and Kitty, brought this massive slab of meat which he had carried back with him from Kansas. It was heaven. Melt-in-your-mouth perfection. Simply seasoned with salt and pepper and grilled rare on the hibachi. I still have dreams about that meat.
Anyway, they banned American beef from our shores since Mad Cow was found on some cattle, but the ban has recently been lifted and I had a craving for that delectable meat! So far, I only heard that Espirito Santo carried american beef. Boy was I in for a surprise when I found some at NTUC when I went grocery shopping. There wasn't much selection, a couple of pieces of Striploin and some Sirloin. The sirloin looked quite fatty, so I picked the striploin instead.

Almost seven bucks for a 130gm piece. Expensive? yeah. Worth it? Hell Yeah!

Ready for some seasoning!

Sea salt, pepper and a drop of extra-virgin olive oil. Rub it on both sides...

The pan should be extra hot so that the beef sears properly.

You can see the smoke when I flipped the beef.
I cooked it for exactly 12 seconds per side because I wanted medium-rare.

Letting the meat rest is important (I learnt this from Gordon Ramsay), so that the juices will flow back into the meat and it will also continue cooking. While it's resting, I get to take photos.

Tapas

Cooked dinner last weekend, and decided to try something light. First up was this Salad Plate, french beans, asparagus, baby corn, cherry tomatoes and Inarizushi. I made a wasabi mayonnaise dip to go with the veges cos I did not want to season them. Prep for the veges was simple. Blanch them and refresh in iced water, then store in the chiller till ready to serve. The dip was simplicity itself. Get some quality wasabi in a tube (get the stuff without preservatives and colouring) and Japanese Mayonnaise, mix to taste (I mixed 2 parts wasabi to 1 part mayo because I liked the kick, but it's all up to you), and chill.

After the cold appetizers, the first hot course was Scallops wrapped in bacon. Very simple dish. Get some fresh scallops from the supermarket (I paid a little more and got the sashimi grade ones) and some streaky bacon (don't get the lean ones, they just don't taste very good). There is no need to season the scallops since the bacon will impart a wonderful flavour to them. Bung them in a toaster oven for 15mins at high. Turn once at about 10 mins to give both sides of the bacon a crispy finish. You can cook it longer if the bacon is not yet crisp. Don't worry about the scallops drying out, the bacon will hold the moisture in. You want the bacon to be beautifully crispy and the scallops to be soft on the inside.

Before

After

The second and last hot dish was garlic prawns. I did it Teppanyaki. First fry up the chopped garlic in a little olive oil and butter, when the garlic starts browning, throw in the prawns, salt and pepper to taste.