Crispy Chicken Wings

Here's an easy way to pump up those chicken wings, just cut in half, put some salt pepper and thyme then deep fry for 10-15 minutes!

Beef with mushrooms in Sarsaparilla

This is a non-alcoholic version of the famous English Recipe "Beef in Beer", instead of using stout, I used Bickford's Sarsaparilla to achieve a dark, deep and intense finish of the sauce.

BEEF WITH MUSHROOMS IN SARSAPARILLA
Serves 8 (probably)

1kg      Beef, cut into large chunks
250g    Button/Shitake Mushrooms, diced
275ml  Bickford's Sarsaparilla
100g    Shallots, whole and peeled
1pc      Large red onion, chopped roughly
2Tbsp  Flour
3Tbsp  Cooking oil
1cup     Beef Stock
1tsp      Thyme
Salt & Pepper to taste

Heat oil in a non-stick pot and sear beef chunks until brown on all sides, remove and set aside. Sear mushrooms until brown on edges, remove and set aside. In the same pot, stir fry shallots until brown on sides, set aside.

Saute chopped onion until soft then return beef with its juices to the pot.  Add flour and stir for 2 minutes or until juices are absorbed, then add stock and sarsaparilla. Bring to boil, add thyme and let simmer for 2 hours covered.

Add in mushrooms and shallots and cook for a further 30 minutes, if liquid is too much, continue cooking without cover until sauce has been reduced and quite thick. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Turkey Escalopes with Hazelnut Cream Sauce

This recipe has been shared to me by a very good friend, Marjorie Smith - a fine English Lady with an impeccable taste.

Hazelnuts, sherry and soured cream give this quickly prepared supper dish a very classy touch! Buttered noodles and a green salad with lemon dressing are very good with it.

TURKEY ESCALOPES WITH HAZELNUT CREAM SAUCE
Serves 4

450g     Turkey fillet
25g       Butter
4Tbsp   Sweet Sherry
4Tbsp   Soured cream
25g       Hazelnuts, finely chopped
salt & freshly grounded pepper to taste
dash of paprika to garnish

Thinly slice the turkey fillet. Beat out the slices between two sheets of damp grease-proof paper into small escalopes.

Melt the butter in pan and cook the escalopes quickly for 4-5 minutes, turning once. Remove from pan and keep warm.

Reduce heat and stir in sherry, soured cream and hazelnuts.  Season.

Cook stirring for 1 minute , pour over escalopes and serve immediately with a dash of paprika.

Beef Stew Pie

One of the best way to introduce left over meat dishes. Just by making a pastry and popping it in the oven can create a whole new meal.

Meat Mania Pizza

Veal Cordon Bleu

Spaghetti Alla Carbonara

Home-made Flour Tortilla

Chicken & Leeks Casserole

My First Fondant Cake

Grilled Chicken Breast Fillet with Extra Spicy Chili Sauce

Home-made Wholemeal Bread

Prawn Mousse

Coconut Cookies

COCONUT COOKIES

makes about 24

125g     Butter

120g     Caster Sugar

1pc       Egg (white & yolk separated)

1/2tsp   Vanilla Essence

150g     Plain Flour

1/2tsp   Baking Powder

25g       Desiccated Coconut

Lightly grease baking trays with butter.

Sift flour and baking powder together and add desiccated coconut to mix.

Cream butter, sugar, vanilla and egg white until light.  Add combined sifted ingredients to mix. Dust hands lightly with flour and roll out the dough between two sheets of plastic film to a thickness of 3mm.  Cut out with a cookie cutter into desired shapes.  Arrange on baking tray and brush top side of the cookies with beaten egg yolk.

Bake in a preheated 170 C oven for 12-15 minutes or until golden.  Cool on wire racks.

Tarte -tat-tin (in the making)

The finished product didn't make it to the photo shoot....

Pork Siu Mai Dumplings

Beef & Polenta Pie

Fettuccine Alla Carbonara

Eggroll Sushi

Beef Steak with creamy mushroom sauce

Home-made Pepperoni Pizza

Prawn & Anchovies Pasta

Vegan Kebabs

This kebabs are made of zukinis, red and yellow capsicums, onions and diced tofu. A sprinkle of salt and pepper and a drizzle of olive oil, grill and serve with yoghurt and mint sauce.

Pattaya Fried Rice (Thai-style rice in egg parcel)

In Thailand, you can order this for breakfast, lunch, dinner or snacks! Usually round in shape though (they use woks in cooking, I used a skillet pan),  fried rice is usually a mixture of thai rice, kangkung, ikan bilis (salted fish-small ones), chillies, onions, garlic and sambal oelek (spicy shrimp paste).

Grilled Boneless Chicken Leg in Tarragon Sauce

Deboned Chicken Chop with Tarragon Brandy Sauce, Steamed Snap Peas & Mashed Potato

Serves 4

Ingredients:

4pcs Deboned Chicken Legs

2tbps Olive Oil

1tsp Salt

1tsp Freshly Milled Pepper

40g Butter

2cloves Crushed Garlic

1tbps Chopped Fresh Tarragon

2tbps French Mustard

1tbps Lemon Juice

1/3cup Brandy or Rum

1/2cup Cream

Method

1. Wash Chicken and pat dry with kitchen towel. Season with salt, pepper and olive oil. Set aside.

2. Heat Butter and garlic until aroma of garlic comes out. Add mixture of tarragon, mustard, lemon juice and brandy. Heat through and then add cream.

3. Mix thoroughly. Meanwhile, grill chicken chops until nice golden brown on both side (do not overcook), serve with sauce.

Side Dishes:

Steam Snap Peas for 2 minutes (200g), maybe coated with butter if desired.

For the Plain Mashed Potato, steam/boil or microwave potatoes until cooked through. Peel and mash potatoes with a fork or masher then add a good knob of butter. Mash thoroughly. Season with salt and freshly milled pepper to taste.

Sweet and Sour Pork

Sweet & Sour Pork with Broccoli-Ginger Stir fry

Serves 4

Ingredients:

350g Pork Loin, cut into 1 inch cubes

1tbsp Light Soy Sauce

2tbsp Sherry or Rice Wine

1/2tsp Salt

1pc Yellow/Red Pepper, cut into cubes

1pc Green Pepper, cut into cubes

1pc Onion, cut into cubes

1pc Carrots, blanched and cut into cubes

2tbsp Cornstarch

1pc Egg, beaten

For the Sauce:

150ml Chicken Stock

1tbsp Soy Sauce

1tbsp Tomato Paste

2tbsp Cider Vinegar/White Wine Vinegar

1tbsp Brown Sugar

1/2tsp Salt

1tbsp Cornstarch

1tbsp Water

Method:

1. Marinate pork in sherry, light soy sauce and salt for at least 20 minutes.

2. Mix egg and cornstarch thoroughly to form a batter. Then coat marinated pork with batter and deep fry until golden brown. Drain on kitchen paper and keep warm.

3. In a large saucepan, mix chicken stock, soy sauce, tomato paste, vinegar, brown sugar and salt and bring to boil.

4. Add cubed vegetables and simmer until vegetables are half cooked. Add pork and mixture or cornstarch and water.

5. Mix thoroughly. Serve with plain steamed rice and Broccoli-Ginger Stir Fry.

Broccoli-Ginger Stir Fry

1 head broccoli, cut into florets (Steamed/Blanched)

1tsp salt

1tsp ginger, finely chopped

2tbsp Groundnut Oil

1tsp Sesame Oil

Heat oil in pan. Add ginger and salt. Stir until ginger emits aroma. Add broccoli florets and stir fry for a few seconds. Remove from heat and all sesame oil. Serve immediately.

My Fruit Carvings

This is the unfinished version of the watermelon carving I did for a Chinese New Year first day banquet, wasn't able to take an image of the finished version as I have very limited time at hand. I was suppose to make two of these, there was not enough time so I made this instead:

Chinese Tikoy "Nian-Gao"

                                   "Nian Gao sandwiched in yam and sweet potato"

As a Chinese tradition, they have this for dessert, it's their New Year Cake as to Westerner's Christmas Pudding. This Sticky cake is served and enjoyed by Chinese families as it denotes family togetherness and unity, also serving it layered means a better year is yet to come, better than the previous year.

Step 1:

NIAN-GAO (TIKOY)
yields 3 cups

400gms     Glutinous Rice Flour
300gms     Brown Sugar/ Molasses Sugar
240ml        Coconut milk
150ml        Water

Bring water to boil in a saucepan and add sugar until dissolved.  Remove from heat and stir in coconut milk.  Leave to cool.

Cut baking paper to fit steaming cup/baking mold.

When liquid mixture has cooled down add in rice flour and mix thoroughly  into a thick batter. Transfer batter into prepared steaming cups and steam at high heat for 1 hour or until cooked through.

Leave to cool in a wire rack and put lucky symbol for authenticity.


Step 2:

When your nian-gao is ready, its time to imagine how to serve them. Of course you could always just dip it in lightly beaten egg and deep fry, but adding something else makes it more special and kind of gourmet.

This is what I did:

8pcs    Nian-gao sliced into 2"X2" squares with half an inch thickness
8pcs   Yellow Sweet Potato, steamed and cut as the nian gao
8pcs    Purple yam, steamed and cut as the nian gao
2pcs    Eggs, lightly beaten
           Cornflour
           Oil, for deep frying

Sandwich the Nian-gao between the yam and sweet potato then coat with cornflour. When ready to serve dip in egg and deep fry until golden brown. I made a pureed sweet potato sauce to go with this, making use of the cut outs from the other ingredients.
   

Daddy's Old Fashioned Beef Caldereta

Caldereta is a meat dish usually prepared using goat's meat, I was never a big fan of goat's meat so I prefer doing this using beef. Every time I make this dish, I always remember how I watched my father prepare this when I was still young, this was always the star of the table during our family gatherings. Although I did a bit of changes in preparation, the taste always remains the same, so as the memories.

Daddy's Old Fashioned Beef Caldereta
Serves 8 (or maybe less...)

1kg      Beef, cut into 1 1/2 inch cubes (goat's meat is the first option)
2pcs     Red Capsicum, cut into thick strips, seeds removed
2pcs     Red Onion (Large), roughly chopped
2pcs     Bay Leaves
12pcs   Whole Peppercorns
200ml  Tomato Sauce
200ml   Coconut Milk
250ml   Beef Stock (or 1 beef cube dissolved in 250ml hot water)
3Tbsp  Cooking Oil
2Tbsp   Flour
Salt & Pepper to taste

In a large heavy based pot, heat up oil and sear meat on all sides, until brown. Remove and set aside. On the same pot, stir in onions and half amount of the capsicums until brown on sides. Return meat to the pot, mix and add flour.  Stir for two minutes or until the flour has been absorbed and looks mushy. Pour in beef stock, mixed and bring to boil.  Add tomato sauce, bay leaves and peppercorns, give it a quick stir, cover and simmer for two hours (lowest heat possible). You may check once or twice during this period to ensure that the liquid does not dry up entirely ( a little water will even things out). When your two hours is up, add in the remaining capsicums and the coconut oil, mix well and cook for a further 30 minutes or until beef is tender and sauce is thick. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serve Hot.