Garlicky Chicken

Tis' definitely the season to celebrate with good food, wine and your loved ones.  In my opinion, this chicken recipe is good enough to land itself a spot on that dining table this festive period. Don't get me wrong, this is not a Christmas recipe but a simple heartwarming dish by Nigella Lawson that will win the crowd over. The recipe calls for white wine or vermouth but I made do with my leftover Rose and it tasted just as good anyway.

Serves 2

Ingredients:
2 pieces                             chicken leg or thigh, bone in
20 cloves                           garlic, unpeeled
1 tablespoon                      olive oil
5 stalks                              thyme (I replaced it with 1/2 tablespoon of the dried version)
3 stalks                              scallion, chopped
2 tablespoon                      white wine or vermouth
                                          salt and black pepper to season

Method:

Heat the oven to 180 degrees celsius.

In a dutch iron pot, heat up 1 tablespoon of olive oil and sear the chicken leg on high heat, browning them. Remove and set aside.

Add in the chopped scallion, thyme and give it a good stir for about 20 seconds or so.

Place in 10 cloves of garlic, followed by the browned chicken pieces. Top with the other 10 cloves of garlic. Season with salt and black pepper.

Add in 2 tablespoons of wine (or more like I did) and swirl them around the pot.

Cover the pot and place in the oven for an hour.

Serve the dish and its gorgeous sauce with some nicely toasted sourdough or baguette. Do not forget the nicely caramelized garlic too.

Steamed Minced Pork with Salted Egg

 

Alright, I guess it's time for some classic homely dishes now. Steamed minced pork is my thing. I've experimented with various ingredients: shrimp paste, preserved olive vegetables, water chestnut, cuttlefish, tofu, you get the picture. Today's dish is probably just another experiment of mine. But it's tasty, nonethless. Enjoy. Oh by the way, it's gorgeous with a bowl of rice.

 

 

Serves 2

Ingredients:

 

 

200g                  minced pork

2                        chinese mushroom, soaked and diced

1                        salted egg (yolk and white separately)

1                        water chestnut, peeled and diced

1 tablespoon      chinese wine

1 dash                white pepper

1/2 teaspoon      sesame oil

1/2 tablespoon   light soy sauce

                          spring onion, chopped (optional)

 

Method:

 

Mix all ingredients (except the salted egg) together. Pour in 1/2 of the egg white and mix well. Place the mixture on a steaming plate and top with the salted egg yolk (flattened by the knife). 

 

Steam on high heat for 9 minutes and garnish with spring onion, if desired.  



Tomato Bruschetta

I've always loved a good nice bruschetta. The sweet tangy taste of those tomatoes coupled with the hot cripsy pungent garlic bread are just about the most perfect combination around, in my opinion. I've had many recipes for bruschetta over the years and it just keeps improving, a little at a time though. You can use cherry tomatoes, heirloom tomatoes or whichever type of tomatoes you can lay your hands on, it really doesn't matter. A combination will be nice, I think.

Serves 2 (sometimes only 1 if you are famished)
Ingredients:

1 packet                     cherry tomatoes or 3 large tomatoes
3 tablespoons             extra virgin olive oil or grapeseed oil
1 clove                       garlic
1/2 teaspoon              dried italian herbs or just a handful of basil leaves
1                                 baguette
                                   sea salt and black pepper

Method:

Give the tomatoes a good dice. If using large tomatoes instead of cherry tomates, remove the seeds and pulp before dicing.

Add in 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive, sea salt, black pepper and the herbs. Give it a good mix and set aside.

Slice the baguette diagonally. Toast them in an oven or grill them on a pan until hot and crispy. Cut off the end of the garlic and rub it onto the freshly toasted bread. The more you rub, the more garlicky your bread gets.

Drizzle 1 tablespoon (or more) of extra virgin olive oil over the bread and serve with the prepared tomatoes.

Chicken and Cheese Porridge

 

I've grown sick and tired of the usual porridge with century egg, minced pork, scallop and all. Don't get me wrong, they are still very delicious to me. But I thought it would be good to try something new and novel. I've tried the popular Deonbokjuk (Abalone Porridge) in Korea, but the one that stays in my head was actually the creamy wholesome chicken and cheese porridge. Contrary to much belief that it will be pretty thick and heavy, a slight hint of cheese actually transformed a rather simple chicken porridge to something a little more...let's just say homely. As much as I would love the recipe from the shop owner, I had to improvise on my own from memory and some imagination. Somewhat different from the original that I've tasted, this is nonetheless good enough to tide me over a cold rainy day.

Serves 2
Ingredients:
1 cup                               short grain rice, rinsed and soaked for at least 30 minutes
1                                      chicken carcasse
1 piece                             chicken breast
1 small                             carrot, diced
1                                       broccoli stalk, diced
2 slices                             packet cheddar cheese

Method:

Bring the rice to boil with 2 cups of water. When the water is boiling, add in the chicken carcasse and chicken breast.

Remove the chicken breast after 5 - 10 minutes, leaving the carcasse behind in the pot. Allow the chicken breast to cool before shredding it by hand.

Allow the porridge to cook for another 30 minutes. Add in additional water if required.

Remove the carcasse and add in the diced carrot and broccoli. Cook for another 5 to 10 minutes.

Switch off heat and stir in the shredded chicken breast. Serve hot. Add in a slice of cheese to each bowl and stir thoroughly before serving.

Radish Kimchi

I've recently returned from a holiday to Seoul. Expectedly I lugged back an entire treasure trove of ingredients bought from the local wet market. Amongst those were some lovely red looking dried Korean chilli powder, which I bought by the kilogram. :) I've also had the opportunity to experience making cabbage Kimchi in a traditional guesthouse. It was such a wonderful experience that I decided to experiment with some radish kimchi this evening, using some of these gorgeous looking spices of course.

Ingredients:

1 large                           radish, peeled and cut into small pieces
3 stalks                          spring onion,chopped
3 tablespoons                Korean dried chilli powder
5 cloves                         garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon                  ginger, minced
3-4 tablespoons             fish sauce
1 tablespoon                  sugar
1 tablespoon                  salt

Method:

In a bowl, mix 1 tablespoon of salt and 1 tablespoon of sugar with the radish. Set aside for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, drain some of the liquid released by the radish and leave about 1/4 cup behind.

Add in the remaining ingredients and mix evenly. My suggestion is to try tasting the radish kimchi with 3 tablespoons of fish sauce. If the flavour is not strong enough for you, mix in another tablespoon of it.

Store in a air tight container and chill in the fridge.