Scallop Carpaccio with Mango and Dill

Posted on August 19, 2015 by missamateurchef

We all love carpaccio, don’t we? Delicious, traditional beef carpaccio is available in every single Italian restaurant and I am more than happy about this fact. The term carpaccio can also be used for any preparation made with thinly sliced raw meat, fish or vegetables. I have seen zillion combos of carpaccio over the years… octopus with tomato, zucchini with feta, beef with pomegranate… I guess the most important thing in creating your own version of carpaccio is to let your imagination run wild, and this is basically what cooking is all about.

Back to today’s recipe, last weekend was gorgeous and summery, so I prepared a lovely carpaccio of scallops for dinner, which I teamed up with some mango and a tangy lime dressing. It only took a few minutes to assemble the dish and the lime juice adds a tinge of crispy freshness to this fabulously simple starter.

Ingredients (Serving for 2):

8 scallops (sashimi quality)
1/2 mango (ripe)
2 limes
Salt
Pepper
Fresh dill

Directions

Thinly slice the scallops, and arrange them nicely on a serving plate.
For the marinade: squeeze the lime.
Add an equal amount of olive oil to the juice.
Season with salt and pepper. Stir with a fork.
Cut the mango into dices. And add the diced mango into the marinade preparation.
Add one tablespoon of finely chopped dill. Combine well.
Coat the scallops with the marinade; make sure the mango dices are evenly spread.
Finish by sprinkling a few sprigs of dill. The dish is best served cold!

Steamed Clams with Chorizo

Posted on August 1, 2015 by missamateurchef

Summer has always been my favorite season since I was a kid. During the year, the slight thought of summer instantly has me imagining the beach, tan skin (more like a ghastly white complexion with a few more freckles for me), and having no cares in the world. I still love summer a lot even though I no longer have summer vacation as an adult. When I list all of the reasons I love about Summer- beach days, a gateway or two, a wardrobe full of colorful, breezy sundresses… there is one very important fact that I cannot skip: FOOD!!

Summer is so much more than sipping Rosé and binge eating on ice cream. It is the season when harvest is at its peak- the zucchinis are plentiful, berries are everywhere and peaches are starting to ripen. It’s at this moment that you should be running to the kitchen to take advantage of the most bountiful time of year.

Clams are a great summer treat. Sunshine and a glass of chilled white wine are great partners for their delicate flavor. While clams with herbed cream are the classic combo, I prefer them cooked the Spanish way. The spicy kick of chorizo always wakes up my slumbering taste buds in the hot summer weather.

Ingredients (serving for 2):

4tbs olive oil
200 gram Spanish chorizo, sliced
Half an onion, sliced thin
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 teaspoon of paprika
1 dried hot chili, broken up
3/4 cups white wine
30 littleneck clams
Juice of half a lemon
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
Black pepper

Directions:

1. Heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the chorizo, cook for 3 to 5 minutes or until the oil is colored.
2. Add the onions and cook until softened and fragrant, about 4 minutes.
3. Next, add the garlic, paprika and crushed chili, cook for 1 minute. Add the white wine and bring the mixture to a boil.
4. Add the clams into the broth. Cover and cook until the clams open up, 5 to 6 minutes.
5. Discard any clams that don’t open up.
6. Turn off the heat; add the lemon juice, chopped herbs and black pepper.
7. Serve with crusty bread to sop up all the delicious broth!

Stilton Pork Melts with Caramelised Apples

Posted on July 19, 2015 by missamateurchef

France and Britain, having engaged in rivaling relationship for centuries, have near-identical levels of national wealth, population, and historical swagger. But when it comes to food…. The French raised cuisine to a high art, while Britain- just across the channel, has had such a poor reputation for food until recently.

French cuisine may be my all-time favorite. But I always turn to British comfort food when I have a rough day at work… scotch eggs, bangers and mash, sticky toffee pudding and the list goes on. Heartwarming, filling and satisfying, they are always there ready to give me a cuddle when I need it most.

Stilton pork melts – a classic British delight, can also be made with any kind of blue cheese on top of pork chop with a spread of Apple sauce in between. Here I replaced the apple sauce with caramelized apples, using the leftover apples I had from making chicken Normandy. The blue cheese adds a mellow depth of tangy flavor and sophistication to the dish. It brings together the tender pork and the sweet, sticky apple pieces, fusing them to create an incredible depth of flavour.

Let’s not lose hope in Brit food… as once said by a handsome prime minister – Britain may be a small country but it’s a great one. The country of Shakespeare, Churchill, the Beatles, Sean Connery, Harry Potter. David Beckham’s right foot…

Ingredients:

2 two-inch bone-in pork chops (I used iberico this time)
100g Stilton or other blue cheese
pinch of pepper and garlic salts for seasoning
caramelised apples
1 tablespoon of butter
3 tablespoon of sugar
1 apple cored and sliced
pinch of cinnamon

Directions:

Preheat oven to 220 deg c.
Season the chops on both sides with a good sprinkling of garlic salt and pepper.
Heat oil over medium heat in a saucepan, cook pork chops on both sides until they are golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes on each side.
Put the seared chops in the oven, cook for 20 min more. (the cooking time depends hugely on the thickness of the chop, do not hesitate to ask your butcher for advice =p that’s what i do all the time!)
Start preparing for the caramelised apples for the time being. Peel and core apples. Slice into 1/4″ wedges.
Melt butter and sugar over low-medium heat until sugar dissolves and mixture is bubbly, about 1 minute. Add apples and cinnamon and cook over medium heat until soft and tender, for approximately 10 minutes, stirring constantly.
Spread a generous layer of stilton cheese on each chop, return to the oven to cook for further 5 minutes, or until the cheese melts.
Transfer the cooked pork chops and caramelised apples to a plate, let the chops rest for at least 5 minutes before serving.

Melt-in-your-mouth baby ribs!

Posted on July 16, 2015 by missamateurchef

I always feel hesitated to make ribs at home as it is kind of intimidating to handle such a big chunk of meat. Plus most of the ribs I order in restaurant are overcooked and dry.

My worries ward off after trying this simple recipe, where the ribs were wrapped in foil and then slow- braised to contain heat and moisture, finished with a cooked-on glaze in the end. It only took a few ingredients but the result was… absolutely fall-off-the-bone tender!

Who said you had to slave away in the kitchen to be a domestic goddess?

Let the oven do all the dirty work and spend your time on something more important… (like online shopping!)

Ingredients (serving for 2):

2 lbs pork ribs
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 tablespoon paprika
1 tablespoon garlic powder
2 cups of your favorite premade barbecue sauce

Directions:

Preheat oven to 150 degrees c.
Mix together the sugar and spices to make the dry rub.
Generously apply dry rub to ribs on all sides.
Lay ribs on the foil, roll and seal edges tightly
Bake for 3 hours until meat is starting to shrink away from the bone.
Remove from oven.
Brush on sauce on all sides.
Return ribs to the oven and bake uncovered (meat side up) at 180 deg for another 15- 20 min or until there is bubbling of the sauce.

Authentic homemade crab cakes

Posted on July 11, 2015 by missamateurchef

Meeting boyfriend’s parents for the first time is surely a daunting experience, while meeting your boyfriend’s best buds can be as tricky. I have dated my husband long enough to have forgotten how the experience felt like and I’m blessed to have become friends with most of them over the years.

Somehow I can still remember vividly the first time meeting D, whom my husband often referred as multitalented- DJ, chef (who has worked in nearly all the top notched restaurants in town) and committed gourmet. When we first met 8 years ago, instead of the awkward silence for new acquaintances, he started his unapologetic talk on pasta and their different sauces… I knew we would be friends instantly!

Last night while I was patting my crab cakes in the kitchen and wondering how the two of us can finish a dozen of crab cakes, D called my husband. 1hr later he came to our rescue -with a 21 year old Japanese whisky in hand!

Moist and flavorful, crab cakes are perfect as appetizer, lunch, or light dinner! I can eat them on a sandwich, between crackers or just plain with my favorite sriracha mayo!

As Julia Child said, “It’s fun to get together and have something good to eat at least once a day. That’s what human life is all about — enjoying things.”

D left the whisky at our place afterwards, for that I’m sure we will be having him with us a lot more in the future!

Serving: 10-12 palm sized crab cakes

Ingredients:

1pound canned crabmeat
1/2 cup crushed Ritz cracker
2 spring onions ( using both the green and white portions), finely chopped
1/3 cup mayonnaise
2 egg
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/2 lemon, juiced
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1 teaspoon salt
Flour, for dusting
Oil for frying
Favorite dipping sauce (sriracha mayonnaise for me)

Directions:

In a large bowl, mix together all ingredients, except for the flour and oil.
Mould into patties and then dust with flour.
Cover and refrigerate for half an hour
Heat oil in a frying pan over medium heat.
When oil is hot, carefully place crab cakes in pan and fry until browned, about 4 to 5 minutes.
Carefully flip crab cakes and fry on other side until golden brown, another 4 minutes
Serve warm with preferred sauce.

Poulet à la normande

Posted on July 7, 2015 by missamateurchef

Most probably the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear the word Normandy is the D-Day landing and the beaches where thousands of soldiers lost their lives during the Second World War. You may even recall images of Tom Hanks rescuing Matt Daman if you happen to have seen the blockbuster Saving Private Ryan like me.

Normandy and Brittany of Northern France have always been on my travel bucket list- breathtaking views, beautiful villages, a great history… not to mention the great food…The lush green pastures of Normandy makes ideal grazing for dairy herds and cattle. No wonder it is often referred as the heartland of French dairy products; it is at the same time a major cider-producing region in France.

“Fier d’ être français, et puis fier de ma region” – proud to be French, and then proud of my region, is a common French saying.

That is also what I like about French food, each region bears its own distinctive cuisine, heavily influenced by the region’s history and culture, accomplished with pride using the finest local ingredients.

Poulet à la normande or Chicken Normandy is a dish you can never, ever go wrong with. Made with Normandy’s famous produce- apple, cider and free range chicken, it is truly hearty and flavorful.

As ordinary working class people, we don’t get to travel around the year. But “exotic” food always serves as solace to my wandering heart and helps me get through until my next vacation.

* special thanks to my colleague… lemme just call her “cool mom A” here (simply love her personal style and all her shoes!) for helping me with the photo editing… she really worked wonders to my dishes and i just can’t thank her enough =)

Ingredients:

1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, sliced
One cup of bacon lardons bacon
A whole chicken/ 4 drumsticks (marinate overnight with salt and pepper)
200ml dry cider
200ml chicken stock
Half cup fresh cream
2 apples, cored and sliced
Parsley as garnish (optional)

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
2. Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan. Add the bacon and cook for 3-4 minutes until brown.
3. Then add the onion and cook for 3-4 minutes until softened, then set aside.
4. Use the remaining oil to brown the chicken. Turn regularly, pressing down on each side.
5. Put the onion and bacon in a dutch oven, then put the chicken on top.
6. Add the cider and stock. Cover with lid and bake in the oven for 40 minutes.
7. Add apples and cook uncovered for another 20 minutes
8. Stir in the cream and sprinkle over the parsley.

Conchiglie with Roasted Tomato and Tiger Prawn

Posted on July 5, 2015 by missamateurchef

My first encounter with Italy dated back 20 years ago, when my family and I took a summer vacation there. Our first stop was Rome the eternal city, the whole place was ablaze in a heat wave, everything was alive with warmth, sunshine and energy. As a child I was fascinated by all the beautiful historic monuments and arts. My little brother, with his sensitive stomach, got worn as the voyage continued. Me on the other hand, got more energetic as the days passed, stuffing myself with gelato as big as my face everyday…

Soon summer vacation ended and I was back to my life as a busy fourth-grader. But somehow in the back of my mind I guarded those good memories…

By the time I made another trip to Italy, 18 years has passed. This time to Venice, with my husband (fiancé back then). Newly engaged, we talked endlessly about our dream house and wedding preparation. And… kept getting lost in the maze of canals. One day it was raining and we lost our way in the alleys again.

Drenched and tired, we finally decided to take shelter in a modest looking restaurant. There it was, I tasted one of the best conchiglie (shell pasta) in my life. The sauce made with prawn roe was so rich, silky and luscious, deeply infused with freshness…

Isn’t it funny how food always recall the fondest memories?! Somehow I relived all the conversations we had, all the dreams we shared while I remade this dish…

Conchiglie with Roasted Tomato and Tiger Prawn

Ingredients

6 tiger prawns
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup tomato paste
3 plum tomatoes, chopped
1/3 cup dry white wine
2 garlic cloves, crushed
6 cups whipping cream
1 1/2 pounds conchiglie

Directions

Using kitchen scissors to cut off all the prawn’s leg and antennae, and cut the tip of the prawn’s head.
Devein all the prawns- make a slit along the middle of the back and then pull out the veins.
Peel 4 of the prawns, cut the prawn into bite-size dice. Reserve the heads and 2 whole prawns.
Heat oil in heavy large pot over medium heat. Add reserved prawn heads and roe. Sauté 3 minutes. Reduce heat to low.
Add tomato paste; stir for 3 minutes.
Stir in tomatoes, wine, garlic.
Add cream; boil 2 minutes over low heat.
Simmer just until prawn flavor infuses cream, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes. Pressing on prawn heads to extract as much flavors as possible.
Discard all the shells. (The sauce can be prepared in advance. Cover separately and chill.)
Heat the pan with medium to high heat. When the pan is about ready, add the 2 whole prawns in the pan. Cook for 2 mins or until the shell changes color. Turn to the other side and cook for 1 min further.
Transfer sauce to saucepan. Add in the bite-size pieces of prawn. Gently cook over low heat, stirring occasionally.
Meanwhile, cook pasta in large pot of boiling salted water until just tender but still firm to bite, stirring occasionally.
Drain; return pasta to pot. Add sauce; toss over medium-high heat until sauce coats pasta, about 4 minutes.
14. Season with salt and pepper and garnish the dish with the whole prawns on top.

Boeuf Bourguignon

Posted on July 3, 2015 by missamateurchef

Boeuf bourguignon is a comforting, rustic French dish that always holds a special place in my heart. It is one of those classic recipes that is constantly evolving, modernizing and being reinterpreted. I mean, how often do you find a dish that is cooked in Burgurndy farmhouse as well as served on the table of Michelin awarded restaurant?

Julia Child included a recipe of boeuf bourguignon in Mastering the Art of French Cooking- her famous cookbook. She described the wine-rich stew as “certainly one of the most delicious beef dishes concocted by man”. She also pointed out that this is a dish that benefits from a day in the refrigerator. “Fortunately you can prepare it completely ahead, even a day in advance, and it only gains in flavor when reheated.” Making it a perfect choice of made-ahead food before party, and the flavors and taste do become richer and more mature with time.

Making boeuf bourguignon surely takes time and requires a lot of effort. But trust me, it is all worthwhile… imagine its meat shredding under the gentle pressure of your fork while its sauce a marriage of beefy aroma and wine. I wipe my plate clean with a piece of bread and lick my knife to capture the last drop of sauce every time I make this!

Ingredients:
Marinade:

1 garlic, smashed
1 onion, peeled and quartered
2 carrots, peeled and halved
1 rib of celery, halved
3 fresh bay leaves
2 pounds beef chuck, cut into 2-inch cubes
One 750-ml bottle red wine, such as Burgundy/ Pinot Noir

Stew:

Olive oil
Pinches of salt
3 fresh bay leaves
1 bundle fresh thyme
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup of bacon cubes
8-10 cremini or white button mushrooms, sliced
2 carrots, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch dice
1 rib celery, cut into 1/4-inch dice
1 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 large onion, peeled and cut into wedges
1/4 cup tomato paste
3 to 4 cups beef stock

Garnish:

3-4 red potatoes, cut into slices
chopped fresh parsley, optional

Directions:
1. For the marinade: Combine the garlic, bay leaves, carrots, celery, onions and wine in a large bowl or container. Add the beef chunk and let sit in the refrigerator overnight. (try not to skip this steps as it makes a huge flavor difference)
2. Remove the beef from the marinade. Discard the veggies and reserve the marinade.
3. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C.
4. Sprinkle the beef with salt and toss with the flour; flour the beef right before when you are ready to brown it.
5. Add the flour-coated beef to the hot pan (many recipe suggests using dutch oven at this point, but I prefer using a non-stick pan for browning and leave the dutch oven to the next step) , may need to cook in batches to avoid overcrowding the pan.
6. Heat the olive oil in a large Dutch oven. Add the bacon and cook over medium heat for 10 minutes, until the bacon is lightly browned. Toss in the mushrooms, carrots, celery, garlic and onions, and season with salt.
7. Cook until the mixture starts to soften, about 10 minutes.
8. Then add the tomato paste and cook for 1 to 2 minutes.
9. Add the 3 cups of marinade and deglaze the pan, stirring up any browned bits, and cook for 1 minute.
10. Add the beef. Stir to combine and cook until the wine has reduced by half, which takes another 1 to 2 minutes.
11. Add enough of the beef stock to just cover the surface of the beef.
12. Add in the bay leaves and thyme bundle. Cover the pan, bring the liquid to a boil and put in the oven.
13. Cook the beef for 2 hours.
14. Check the pot one hour later as you may need to add ~ 1 cup of beef stock/ marinade mixture to keep the surface of the beef covered.
15. Remove the pot from the oven and skim off any excess grease from the surface of the stew.
16. Heat olive oil in a skillet on medium heat until shimmering and almost smoking. Add potato slices and let fry for 4-5 minutes or until the edges turn brown. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
17. Garnish the dish with potato and chopped parsley on top.

Pumpkin Risotto with seared scallops

Posted on June 27, 2015 by missamateurchef

Being a Chinese, rice has always been something I could never give up on (no matter how desperate I am trying to lose weight). Eating other carbohydrates like potatoes or pasta doesn’t even come close to the feeling I have when eating rice.
I feel content whenever I have a bowl of plain steamed rice in hand that accompanies my meal.

Apparently eating rice is not unique to the Chinese culture, rice plays an integral part in Italian cuisine- arancini (fried rice balls), risotto, to name but a few. Risotto is a staple of my culinary repertoire.

Making risotto always reminds me how meditative cooking can be. My mind feels free to wander while my hands busy themselves with stirring the stock-rice mixture, truly empty of everything that had concerned it before.

This tasty dish combines the sweetness of pumpkin and salty taste of parmesan cheese to create a sensational bang. Hope you like this recipe and have a mindful cooking experience tonight!

Ingredients (Servings 2-3 )

2 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion (finely chopped)
1 cloves garlic (crushed)
11⁄2 cup diced pumpkin/squash
1 cup arborio rice
4-5 cups chicken stock
1⁄2 cup grated parmesan cheese
Small pinch of salt
3 sashimi quality acallops

Directions
Risotto
1. Steam the pumpkin for 15min before cutting off its skin. (This makes it easier to handle and will save time for the latter steps)
2. Cut the pumpkin into 1cm dice or puree it.
3. Heat butter and oil together in non-stick pot.
4. Gently cook the onion and garlic until they soften.
5. Add the rice; stir until the rice is coated with the oil mixture.
6. Cook this for about 1 minute.
7. Add in the pumpkin.
8. Pour over 1 cup of the stock.
9. Cook, stir until the liquid is almost all absorbed.
10. Cook with a gentle simmer, smash the pumpkin with a fork while cooking if you had not pureed it in step 2.
11. Continue stirring and adding stock one cup at a time until the stock is all absorbed and until the rice is al dente- tender but still very chewy, and most of the liquid has been absorbed.
(This takes about 20-30 minutes.)
12. Switch off the heat and stir in the parmesan cheese and salt to give the risotto a nice, creamy finish.

Scallops
1. Add the butter and oil to a saute pan on high heat.
2. Pat dry the scallops and season with salt and pepper on both sides.
3. Add the scallops once the fat begins to smoke.
4. Sear the scallops for 1 minutes on each side.
5. The scallops should have a golden crust on each side while remain translucent in the center.