Found these in the tcm shop. The tea plant mushrooms are especially fragrant. Will be trying mushroom soup with these as flavor enhancers. Will think of other uses...
Friday 31 May 2013
Saturday 25 May 2013
Lunch in 40 mins
Lunch today was pork chops and a salad. The pork chops were very nice. Was done in 40 mins (though a fairly frantic 40 mins :-)).
The pork chops were based on a french recipe, but with heavy modification:
- instead of whipping cream, I used plain yoghurt (partly coz I already had it on hand)
- no tomato puree
- an entire pkt of Chervil from Cold Storage + left over wan sui
- a bigger than normal dollop of Djion mustard.
The pork chops were based on a french recipe, but with heavy modification:
- instead of whipping cream, I used plain yoghurt (partly coz I already had it on hand)
- no tomato puree
- an entire pkt of Chervil from Cold Storage + left over wan sui
- a bigger than normal dollop of Djion mustard.
- used flour to thicken the sauce
This was delicious. About 9 out of 10 in my personal scale. The djion mustard was the key ingredient. The chops were done just right. The only possible grumble I might have is that the chops could have been a touch more tender - but i don't see how I could have improved this with the pork chops I had unless I have a sous vide 8-) (I spent 15 mins at TOTT looking at the machine on Friday :-)).
Salad was my usual. Store bought salad leaves with homemade croutons and vinegrette with grated cheese.
This was delicious. About 9 out of 10 in my personal scale. The djion mustard was the key ingredient. The chops were done just right. The only possible grumble I might have is that the chops could have been a touch more tender - but i don't see how I could have improved this with the pork chops I had unless I have a sous vide 8-) (I spent 15 mins at TOTT looking at the machine on Friday :-)).
Salad was my usual. Store bought salad leaves with homemade croutons and vinegrette with grated cheese.
Sunday 19 May 2013
19th May dinner - pork stew
Made a pork stew today with 1/4 pork belly and 3/4 (unidentified part) lean pork. Very nice, esp the sauce and the melt in the mouth pork belly (if I'm making this for a party, I'd use all pork belly). The trick seems to be a good base (I used my home made tomato soup), browning/searing of the meat, and a longish (3hour) low temp cook in the oven. I also used 1 lap cheong as a bacon replacement (not sure if it made a difference).mw says it tastes fairly similar to my Beef Bourguignon which is not a big surprise since I used much of the same technique (but I don't think its that similar)
I also skinned a japanese eggplant and grilled pieces of it before putting into the pot for the last 30 minutes. Lovely.
The meat goes very well with pickled olives on the side. Wine was a Jacob's Creek Merlot (some of it used in the stew). I've heard people sneer at Jacob's Creek and I didn't buy this (some dinner party gift I think), but its not bad with this meal.
Once again, presentation: fail. 8-)
I also skinned a japanese eggplant and grilled pieces of it before putting into the pot for the last 30 minutes. Lovely.
The meat goes very well with pickled olives on the side. Wine was a Jacob's Creek Merlot (some of it used in the stew). I've heard people sneer at Jacob's Creek and I didn't buy this (some dinner party gift I think), but its not bad with this meal.
Once again, presentation: fail. 8-)
Sunday 5 May 2013
Crab Cake dinner
Presentation : Fail.
Taste good: I'd rate it a 8 out of 10 among my efforts for taste.
It tastes gooooood. The afore mentioned fennel medley puree (as I call it). Crab cakes and sauteed small potatos with jackets on.
Crab Cakes have $15 worth of crab (expensive but worth it). Contents wan sui, chives, lemon zest+juice, crushed saltine crackers, crab meat, egg, and mayonnaise for binder.
Potatos were sauteed with dried fennel and rosemary and then finished off with 20 mins in the oven. Looks unprepossessing, but surprisingly palatable as well.
The Gewürztraminer goes well with the crab cake.
Taste good: I'd rate it a 8 out of 10 among my efforts for taste.
It tastes gooooood. The afore mentioned fennel medley puree (as I call it). Crab cakes and sauteed small potatos with jackets on.
Crab Cakes have $15 worth of crab (expensive but worth it). Contents wan sui, chives, lemon zest+juice, crushed saltine crackers, crab meat, egg, and mayonnaise for binder.
Potatos were sauteed with dried fennel and rosemary and then finished off with 20 mins in the oven. Looks unprepossessing, but surprisingly palatable as well.
The Gewürztraminer goes well with the crab cake.
Last Wed on May 1st, I had a lunch party.
I tried to do a Caesar Salad for the first time with home made garlic mayonnaise. The mayonnaise didn't seem promising at first (seems a bit thin and a bit too garlicky). Then I made the second mistake of rushing my hard boiled eggs and ended up with soft boiled instead.
Turned out not too bad. Serendipitously quite delicious actually. Once the Mayonnaise went into the salad leaves+rosemary roasted croutons+parmesean, the garlickiness smoothed out. Another discovery is ladling spoonfuls of the soft boiled egg (esp if it had the yolk) over the salad was very nice - i liked it.
I also did a pumpkin mash + mushroom + goat cheese in puff pastry that seemed ok. But i had a decent discovery with that too. In preparing the filling, I fried the mushrooms in butter. Then for some reason I decided to add balsamic vinegar. The result was a very sweet, savoury, tart mushroom stir fry.
I tried to do a Caesar Salad for the first time with home made garlic mayonnaise. The mayonnaise didn't seem promising at first (seems a bit thin and a bit too garlicky). Then I made the second mistake of rushing my hard boiled eggs and ended up with soft boiled instead.
Turned out not too bad. Serendipitously quite delicious actually. Once the Mayonnaise went into the salad leaves+rosemary roasted croutons+parmesean, the garlickiness smoothed out. Another discovery is ladling spoonfuls of the soft boiled egg (esp if it had the yolk) over the salad was very nice - i liked it.
I also did a pumpkin mash + mushroom + goat cheese in puff pastry that seemed ok. But i had a decent discovery with that too. In preparing the filling, I fried the mushrooms in butter. Then for some reason I decided to add balsamic vinegar. The result was a very sweet, savoury, tart mushroom stir fry.
Saturday 4 May 2013
A vegetable puree to die for
Made an interesting discovery today.
I had 2 small parsnips, 1 tomato, 1 small brocolli, 3 small carrots. All of them slightly not so fresh, but I wanted to use them up.
So I got some fresh fennel from the supermarket (seems that we grow Fennel very near to home - Thailand). I chopped up all the vegetables, mixed with powered thyme, pepper, salt, dried rosemary and olive oil. I roasted the veg (except brocolli) in the oven at 200C for 20 minutes, then tossed in the brocolli for another 20 minutes. Then I pureed the result in my blender with a half and half mix of veg stock and milk, adding some lemon juice.
The result is a very aromatic smelling and tasting puree, with a slight hint of tart from the tomato and lemon juice with a very long finish on the tongue. The parsnips seem to add a slightly nutty dimension as well. Lovely!
I had 2 small parsnips, 1 tomato, 1 small brocolli, 3 small carrots. All of them slightly not so fresh, but I wanted to use them up.
So I got some fresh fennel from the supermarket (seems that we grow Fennel very near to home - Thailand). I chopped up all the vegetables, mixed with powered thyme, pepper, salt, dried rosemary and olive oil. I roasted the veg (except brocolli) in the oven at 200C for 20 minutes, then tossed in the brocolli for another 20 minutes. Then I pureed the result in my blender with a half and half mix of veg stock and milk, adding some lemon juice.
The result is a very aromatic smelling and tasting puree, with a slight hint of tart from the tomato and lemon juice with a very long finish on the tongue. The parsnips seem to add a slightly nutty dimension as well. Lovely!
What this blog is about
I'm going to use this blog to chronicle my cooking (mis)adventures and discoveries.
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