Friday, October 31, 2008

Lazy Peperonata and Mushroom Spaghetti


A lazy evening warranted a simple, easy to cook dish, that required minimal reference to recipes and washing. And the big red and yellow peppers bought last Sunday was screaming their wish to be devoured. So I got the inspiration to cook Spaghetti out of this sweet and sour peppers dish I had learnt from my Italian cookbook "Easy Italian in Minutes" sometime ago.

It's very simple, but not the fastest. Basically, it involves simmering peppers of various colours in olive oil for half an hour, and seasoning them with sugar, salt and red wine vinegar for a sweet and sour taste.

I ended up using just my yellow peppers. If you use a combination of red, yellow and green, I'm sure the dish would look prettier. And don't be tempted to just use green peppers, as red and yellow peppers are crucial in adding a touch of sweetness to the dish.

Lazy dessert after dinner came in the form of a perennial favourite of Remi: Melted dark chocolate with sweet pears and vanilla ice-cream. He always makes sure we have a bar of dark chocolate in our store cupboard for such decadent delights. Melt chocolate with milk over a water bath for the perfectly thick and rich consistency.

Peperonata and Mushroom Spaghetti
Serves two

1 yellow pepper (or even better, combine half red and half yellow or green)
1 tablespoon olive oil
big handful of fresh button mushrooms
red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
salt
a few slices of chorizo or smoked ham
sprinkle of pine nuts
Spaghetti
Chopped parsley
Grated Parmesan cheese

Deseed and slice the peppers in long strips.

In the proportion of 1 tablespoon of oil to 1 pepper, heat oil in saucepan and add the peppers, tossing well to coat them in oil.

Fry over low heat, covered and simmer for 30 minutes until the peppers are soft. You don't really have to watch over it. Add the mushrooms sometime in between, say after 15 minutes. Season with sugar, vinegar and salt. Proportion of vinegar about 1 tablespoon or less, depending on taste. Can also replace red wine vinegar with balsamic vinegar.

Add the chorizo and pinenuts.

Meanwhile, cook the spaghetti and stir the cook pasta into the cooked peppers dish. Sprinkle with chopped parsley and cheese.

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

The colourful world of gingers, and the secret ingredient to fabulous nasi lemak


Until recently, I was absolutely confused by the colours of ginger, thanks to Enda. As she gave me verbal instructions on her various specialty dishes, even herself was colour-blinded by different species of ginger.

You see, blue ginger (also known as galangal, or lengkuas in Malay, or 南姜 in Chinese) is actually pinkish in colour. Yellow ginger (turmeric, or kunyit in Malay, or 姜黄 in Chinese) is more orange than yellow, while the common ginger is truly yellow.

Blue ginger is a key ingredient in Indonesian cuisine. And I must mention that Enda makes the most fragrant Nasi Lemak cooconut rice, and she attributes the taste to the blue ginger.

So I was determined to stock up on blue ginger and delighted to find frozen ones in Wellingtonian Asian stores. I even found fresh ones sold by this young Asian man peddling herbs and spices like lemon grass and lime leaves at the Sunday market.

In Enda fashion, my Nasi Lemak here is served with Opor Ayam, an Indonesian stewed chicken in turmeric gravy. Accompanying vegetables are simple stir fried bean sprouts. And also the addictive Emping Melingo I brought back from Singapore, a type of cracker made from the seeds of gnetum tree. It ihas a slight bitter taste, so I got a sweet variety, that has been coated in palm sugar syrup.

As my handwritten recipe is very unprecise, I adapted the Opor Ayam recipe from my newly acquired cookbook, Indonesian Kitchen by Pancy Seng. Nasi Lemak recipe comes from Enda. Thumbnail picture below shows the Turmeric Chicken done by Enda. Note that instead of pounding up the lemongrass etc, she just sliced them.

Opor Ayam (Stewed Chicken in Turmeric Gravy)
Serves 2

Half chicken or 4-6 pieces of chicken (I only use thigh or drumbsticks)
1 tomato (optional)
200ml thin coconut milk
100ml thick coconut milk (I ran out of coconut milk, so I had skipped this part, but would have been good to follow through)
salt and sugar to taste

Paste:
2 candlenuts (buah keras)
1 stalk lemon grass
half thumb size blue ginger (galangal), about 15g
2 cloves garlic
1 small-medium size onion

Mixed spices
1 tbsp coriander powder
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
(In Enda's recipe, she uses only turmeric powder and pepper, so I'm sure it's alright if you skip the other 2 C powders)

Grind the paste ingredients.

Heat cooking oil and saute the ground paste until fragrant. Add mixed spices (add a little water to form a paste) and stir fry evenly.

Toss in chicken and stir fry for 2-3 minutes. Pour in think coconut milk and bring to boil. Switch to low heat, cover and simmer until chicken is cooked.

Add salt, sugar and thick coconut milk and cook until chicken is tender. Add tomatoes and stir briefly. Serve hot with plain or coconut rice.


Nasi Lemak (Coconut Rice)
Serves two

1 cup rice
3/4 cup water
3/4 cup coconut milk
a few slices of galangal
1 pandan leaves, tie into a knot
a pinch of salt

According to Enda, the proportion of water must be more than that of coconut milk. So adjust accordingly, also to the type of rice you use.
Steam in rice cooker.

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Cannelés: Bordeaux caramel cup cakes


Just like angkukueh or mooncakes, cannelés (pronounced 'can-ner-lay') are not considered cannelés when they are not made with the right mould. A cannelé mould is somewhat like that of a normal cupcake, except that it has a smaller diameter, and dodecagon in shape. And a real traditional one has to be made of copper.

A specialty of Bordeaux, they are said to be created by nuns. Commonly found in French patisseries, they can be eaten for breakfast, tea or as dessert.

My first experience with cannelés was in Bordeaux Bakery in Wellington. It was good, although exactly how, I can't remember. But I was determined to make my own, even if I do not have the mould.

Alas, by a twist of fate, Rémi snatched the task of making cannelés from me as I was preparing the prawns.

Anyway, here's our recipe from Camille's cookbook, even though we use a normal tartlet tin, and omitted Rum from the recipe. It's still yummy, best eaten hot, when the caramel crust makes the outside chewy while the inside remains moist and custard-like.

Cannelés
Makes about 10

250ml milk
1 egg + 1 egg yolk
50g flour
125g sugar
25g butter + a very generous amount for greasing the mould
25ml rum
vanilla essence
pinch of salt

Mix the milk, vanilla essence and melted butter.

Meanwhile, mix the flour, sugar and then add the eggs at once. Then pour the milk mixture, and mix until smooth and fluid.

Let the mixture cool down before adding rum. Refrigerate for one hour.

Preheat oven at 180C. Grease the mould with generous amount of butter. Bake for about an hour, or until the crust is dark brown in colour. Our baking time is about half an hour. You may have to adjust the temperature of the oven if you find it browning too fast.

Prawns in coconut sauce, Indonesian style


The past two weeks spent in Singapore has been very intense for the stomach, as I tried to enjoy as much good foods as I could everyday, to the extent of indigestion and puking. I didn't cook a single dish eventually, blissfully blaming the faulty oven. Actually, I was happy to relive all the foods I missed, especially hawker fare and Japanese foods, and of course, the home cooking of Enda who is from Indonesia. Inspired by her, I am richer by 2 new Indonesian cookbooks back here, among the 6 cookbooks I brought back.

Keen to start using new spices brought back from Singapore (which are all available in Wellington's Asian grocery stores, but 2-4 times more expensive than in Singapore, which are already costing more than in Indonesia), my Indonesian culinary experience began with prawns.

Prawns in Hot Coconut Sauce (Sambal Petai Udang)
200g medium prawns
2 pods stinkbeans (petai) (optional)
1 cup thin coconut milk
1 medium potatoes, peeled and sliced
1 small carrot, peeled and sliced
1 red chilli, deseeded and sliced (optional)
1 tbspoon tamarind juice
salt to taste
crispy fried shallots to garnish

Spice paste
1-2 red chillies, deseeded
2 shallots, peeled
1-2 cloves garlic, peeled
1/4 teaspoon dried shrimp paste (trasi), dry-roasted

I've given up on frying my own crispy fried shallots, opting instead to buy the ready made ones. But if you want to try it, peel shallots thinly, and pat dry with paper towels. Heat oil in wok over medium low heat and stir fry until golden brown or crispy for 3-5 minutes. I always tend to use too little oil and burn the shallots.

I didn't use the stinkbeans, so not sure how they taste.

In making the spice paste, grind all ingredients to a smooth paste in a mortar or blender, adding a little oil if necessary to keep the mixture turning. My alternative to the lack of shrimp paste and chillies is to use ready made sambal chilli sauce, and pound with the shallots and garlic.

Heat oil in wok over medium heat and fry the spice paste until fragrant, for 3-5 minutes. Add the stinkbeans if using, and coconut milk and bring to boil. A word on coconut milk, if using canned ones, dilute about 2 parts water to 1 part coconut cream.

Add sliced potatoes, carrots, chillies and tamarind juice and mix well. Bring ingredients to boil again and simmer until vegetables are cooked and the sauce has thickened. Add prawns and simmer until prawns are cooked. Season with sugar and salt. Serve hot with steamed rice.

I think my first attempt in making this dish leaves much room for improvement, but it tastes good nonetheless.

Recipe from Authentic Recipes from Indonesia by Heinz von Holzen and Lother Arsana.

Monday, October 06, 2008

Drowning Burgundy Beef Stew with Wine



I guess only the French obsession with wine would lead them to drown their meat with it. Or maybe Burgundy has too much red wine, thus they have to find all ways to drink them to the last drop without getting drunk.

So, the Burgundy Beef Stew is born, which involves soaking 1.5kg of beef in 1 whole bottle of red wine overnight, if you're planning on cooking for your whole family of 5-6 people.

Our initial objective was simply to put our newly bought beef casserole to tasty use. When we found out last night that the recipe involved marinating the meat overnight, we hastily plucked parsley from our garden, chopped the vegetables and meat, all at 11pm, so that we could have a nice stew for dinner the next day. And yes, we used up 1/3 of our bottle of red wine. The stew tonight better be good.

Recipe translated from Les Classiques de Camille.

Boeuf Bourguignon (Beef stew Burgundy style)
serves 2

500g beef casserole or stew, cut to chunky pieces
50g bacon
1 carrot, sliced
1 big onion, chopped
1/3 bottle of burgundy red wine (25cl)
1 bay leaf
3 sprigs of parsley
1/3 tablespoon flour
salt and pepper

Marinate beef with carrots, onion with meat, salt, pepper, herbs and wine overnight.

The next day, strain the beef. Stir fry the bacon in a stew pot. Once the fats have broken down, add the beef and cooked until golden on both sides. Set aside.

Add onions into the stew pot. Once cooked and softened, add meat, pour the flour in slowly. When the meat is golden, add the meat marinade. Season with salt and pepper.

Simmer under low fire for 3 hours. Add more water/wine if the juice dries up too much.

Serve with steam potatoes and some parsley. Also possible to serve with rice or cous cous.

Sweet and Sour Rhubarb Tart


Interestingly, I started reading up about this Chinese medicinal plant because of this French dessert. First tasted Rhubarb tart in France, would only say that it left an impression on me due to its sour taste.

It's curious who would first think of cooking this sour vegetable as a sweet dessert, especially as it has been used as laxative for over 2,000 years and has poisonous leaves.

Known as 大黄, large doses of the Chinese rhubarb is used to treat constipation, while small does amazingly have the opposite effect of treating diarrhea. I can imagine the word 大黄 being inscribed on every traditional Chinese medicine cupboard but I'm not sure if it is ever used in Chinese cooking.

The garden version used here is supposedly much less potent in terms of causing toilet visits, but I wouldn't imagine binging on rhubarb tart now that I know its medicinal wonders. Only the stems are used, and it looks somewhat like celery stem dyed red to me.

Rhubarb Tart
serves 6

1 tart dough (pâte brisée)
1 kg of rhubarb
50g sliced almonds
2 tablespoons of semolina flour
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
6 tablespoons of sugar

Flatten the dough and line onto a prepared tart tin. Keep in freezer for 30 minutes.

Pre-heat oven at 180C. Peel the rhubarbs and rinse them. Dice.

Pour half the quantity of sugar onto the tart base, then sprinkle with almonds and top with flour. Lay rhubarb all over.

Top with remaining sugar and bake for 45 minutes.

Serve warm or cold.

Tricks from Rémi (well, as with most tarts, I didn't cook this, especially since rhubarbs are foreign to me until now):
-------
- As rhubarb is sour, be more generous with sugar if you have less tolerance for sour taste.
- Be generous with the quantity of rhubarb, it must be tightly packed on the tart to prevent the rhubarb from drying out. Rhubarbs are supposed to release juice when cooked, giving rise to a juicy tart. Quantity of rhubarb could have increased for the picture shown above (our rhubarb in stock didn't add up to 1kg, as indicated in recipe). Also, our rhubarb was one week old, so a bit dried out too.

Recipe comes from Les Classiques de Camille. Watch out for more French classics from her.

Thursday, October 02, 2008

French Creme Brulee Everyone Can Do


The French have a peculiar way of counting. While they do count from one to ten, their numbering system becomes different when it gets beyond 60.

So, 60 is soixante, 70 is soixante-dix, meaning 60+10. 71 is soixante-onze, which is 60+11. 80 is quatre-vingts - 4x20, 90 is quatre-vingt-dix, essentially 4x20+10, and so on and so forth. Now, if you're like me, struggling with simple mental calculation, you'll take a while to learn how to count in French.

And in French, 100 is "cent" (pronounced sont). So in French cookbooks, you're likely to come across this measure of volume, known as "centilitre", which is equivalent to one-hundredth of a litre. This has baffled me in the beginning, and led to a failed crème brûlée attempt by our Singaporean friends whom we passed our recipe to.

Although Crème Brûlée may be a dessert highlight of fancy expensive French restaurants, it is actually quite easy to make. Only thing that will potentially hold you back is the number of eggs that actually goes into it. You can still have a tasty crème brûlée even if you do not have a blow torch to caramelise the top surface.

Crème Brûlée
makes 6 cups

1 whole egg
4 egg yolks
80g castor sugar
a few drops of vanilla essence
400ml liquid cream (it was written as 40cl cream in cookbook)
brown sugar

Mix egg, egg yolks, vanilla, castor sugar together with a hand beater, add the cream in progressively. In case you're short of say 100ml cream (which we are always short of, as cream do not seem to come in 400ml packaging), you can always top it up with milk.

Pour mixture into crème brûlée cups (coffee cups may work well). This quantity makes 6 cups.

Cook in preheated oven of 130C. The cups have to be placed in a tray of water to moderate actual heat going through and prevent the eggs from become omelettes.

Cooking time is about 40-45 minutes, but be sure the cream has gelled in the cups. What we do is shake our oven a little bit (or tilt the cups), and you'll also see the custard surface a little puffed up, indicating that the inside is cooked. You also wouldn't want to overcook the custard. We cooked our perfect crème brûlée in 45 minutes in our fan-baked oven last night, but every oven is different, so some careful observation is necessary here.

Last time, we didn't check, the crème brûlée was still liquid when we served. So this part is essentially the trickiest part of the recipe. If still unsure, you may consider sacrificing one cup by piercing through the surface to check if it's cooked inside.

Put in fridge for 1 hour before serving. To serve, sprinkle brown sugar on top and put into a very hot oven (say 200-250C for 5 minutes, watch carefully to avoid burning the top) for the surface to caramelise before serving, or better still, get a blow torch. The advantage of having a blow torch is, the inside would still be very cold.

Even without a blow torch, you'll still be able to achieve a crispy caramel surface and hear a crispy hollow sound when you tap surface gently with your teaspoon. Heavenly.

This recipe comes from Camille Le Foll's Les Classiques de Camille, a classic French cookbook which has been regretably underused despite being full of wonderful French recipes. Not my fault, as it's all written in French.

And don't throw the 4 remaining egg whites away. Freeze them if necessary to prolong its lifespan and use them to make milo meringues. I'm also looking at other alternatives like macarons.

Wednesday, October 01, 2008

Easy Pear and Almond Pudding


While my savoury Yam Cake is steaming and giving all signs that it's going to be a disaster, I thought I'll write about this easy to make, hard to fail fruit, fast to prepare pudding to give myself a boost of confidence. Too many failures in the kitchen recently.

Still from my trusty Christelle Le Ru's Irresistible French Desserts that I received as a birthday present. I chose to make the pudding to finish up the ripened pears and soon to expired cream.

Lacking in ground almonds, I soon found myself pounding sliced almonds with pestle and mortar. The unevenly ground almonds actually gave the pudding a nice coarse texture, so do this if you don't mind flexing your arm muscles.

Pear and Almond Pudding
serves 2

20g sultanas
2 pears
1 egg (use 3 eggs if you're doubling the quantity, as I had halved the quantity of original recipe, and it was still enough for both of us the next day)
30g white sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
50g ground almonds (pound sliced almonds yourself to give it a coarse texture)
15g flour
50g crème fraîche (thickened cream)
75ml milk
sprinkle of blanched almond

Preheat oven to 180C. Pour boiling water over sultanas to soften it. Peel and cut pears into slices. Now, you can also use apples, or mixture of both. Divide the fruits into 2 ovenproof dishes along with the drain and dried sultanas. Or just one will do, if you don't mind sharing from the same dish.

Beat eggs, sugar, cinnamon and ground almonds. Mix in the flour and cream. Flour may be omitted or reduced for a lighter texture. Gradually stir in milk and the resulting texture is creamy and somewhat more liquid than a cake mixture. Pour the mixture over the fruit.

Scatter almonds over and bake for 20 minutes. Serve warm.
 
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