Steamed Tofu & Chicken Mushroom Sauce

Today was one of those days where I go and open my fridge, stare at it for a couple of minutes, contemplating what I have to make for dinner.

I pulled out the following:

• 1/2 pack of tofu (still edible)
• partially defrosted chicken thigh pieces
• button mushrooms (about a handful)
• spring onions & coriander
• 1/2 onion (nicely wrapped up in some Glad wrap ?!?)

I managed to pull away one full piece of chicken thigh. The rest was still a bit too much fused together with ice that I decided to throw it back into the fridge and let it continue with its defrosting process.

Combine this with some chopped garlic, some spring onions and coriander and we'll have enough to make this steamed tofu dish.

Firstly mince up the chicken, then marinate the chicken mince with:

• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon of oyster sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon of corn flour (can substitute with potato starch)
• 1 teaspoon of chinese cooking wine
• Couple of dashes of sesame oil

Let sit for about 15-20 mins. While this is resting, bring a Wok full of water to boil, and place a steel rack in the water so that a plate can rest on top of it. The water should not be touching the plate. Place the tofu in the place and use some Glad wrap (cling film) to cover the plate, then place on top of rack for steaming. Cover with a lid.

This way, the condensation of water that catches on the lid wont fall back into the plate with the tofu. Otherwise, at the end of the steaming process, you'll have a very watery plate of tofu.

Steam for about 5 mins on medium-high heat. Once this has finished, remove the plate from the Wok, remove Glad wrap and set aside.

Chop onions and slice mushrooms. Heat about a tablespoon of oil in a pan and add garlic, then onions then mushrooms. Once everything starts to soften a bit, add in the chicken mince.

Once the chicken has cooked, add in about 1/4 cup of water and then the spring onions. The water with the corn flour previously used to marinate the chicken will turn into a sauce. Add a bit more corn flour if the sauce seems a bit too thin.

Pour this on top of the tofu. Sprinkle with some additional thinly sliced spring onions and coriander (if you have it) if desired. Serve immediately with some steam rice.

Bacon & Mushroom Risotto

Just one day before winter and its been pouring down with rain for most of the day. On days like this, there is nothing more comforting and relaxing than just curling up in front of the T.V, all wrapped up in a warm blanket with a creamy bowl of risotto. Here's the recipe for what we had for dinner tonight...

Bacon & Mushroom Risotto
Originally adapted from Jamie Oliver's Mushroom Risotto Recipe

• 2x 50g of butter
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cloves of garlic (smashed & chopped)
• 1 leek (thinly sliced)
• 1 onion (sliced & chopped)
• 4 slices of bacon (sliced & chopped)
• 500g risotto rice
• 1 cup of dry white wine
• 2 cups of mushrooms (roughly sliced)
• 4 cups of chicken Stock
• 5-6 pieces of dried porcini mushrooms
• pinch of salt
• 100g of freshly grated parmesan cheese
• Salt & Pepper

In a separate saucepan, bring the chicken stock to a boil, then keep on a slow simmer. Give the porcini mushrooms a quick wash to remove any dirt, then add into the chicken stock with a pinch of salt.

In a heavy based pot (I use my dutch oven), melt butter in olive oil, add garlic, leek, onion. Cook over low heat for 5 mins then add in bacon. Continue to cook for a further 10 mins. Be careful not to brown the leeks.

Add rice and keep on stirring. Add in wine and continue to stir until all the wine has cooked into the rice. Add a ladle of hot stock and stir until the rice has absorbed the stock. Turn the heat down to a slow simmer. Keep on adding stock to the rice one ladle at a time as the rice absorbs the stock.

About 10 mins in, take out the porcini mushrooms (which has now been rehydrated from the simmering stock) from the saucepan and slice into small pieces. Add this to the rice. Add the sliced mushrooms to the rice and continue to stir. Continue until all the stock has been added, this should take around 20 mins.

Remove from the heat and add the remainder 50g of butter with the parmesan cheese. Place lid on top of the pot and let it sit for about 2-3 mins. Season with Salt & Pepper to taste.

Sprinkle with any leftover parmesan cheese.

Black Pepper & Herb Crusted Beef Fillet

I saw this the other day... the photos from this post (and website for that matter) looks positively swoon-worthy. But I don't know where to get fresh horseradish around where I live. So I looked around for another recipe for black pepper crusted beef fillet. I found something else which uses herbs with the black pepper. So I combined the two concepts together with the ingredients I had available at home into this...

Black Pepper & Herb Crusted Beef Fillet
recipe adapted from sheknowsparties & Cookbook Catchall

• 500g beef fillet
• 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 2 cloves of garlic (chopped finely)
• 1½ tablepoon black peppercorns
• 1½ teaspoons dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon dried sage
• 1 teaspoons coarse sea salt

Marinate the beef fillet in the olive oil, worcestershire sauce and garlic.

Pre-heat oven to 200C.

In a heated pan toast the black peppercorns, thyme and sage for about 1 min. You should be able to smell the aroma.

Add the contents of the pan into a pestle mortar with salt and crush the ingredients together. Work until the peppercorns are grinded into smaller pieces.

Pour this dry spice into a baking dish. Lift the beef fillet from the marinade and roll over the dry spices. Cover all sides.

Heat up the pan until very hot, then brown the fillet on all sides to seal in the juices. Place fillet back on the baking dish and place in oven for about 12 mins for medium-rare. Remove from the oven and let the fillet rest for about 10 mins.

Coq Au Vin

I've made Coq Au Vin or Chicken in Red Wine plenty of times. Its yummy. But not mind-blowing-yummy. But after reading this on smittenkitchen.com .. I decided I had to try out this recipe which was based on one from the Author of Mastering the Art of French cooking - Julia Child.

The main difference with this recipe than my usual one, is with the 'brown-braised baby onions'. This part calls for about 18-24 peeled (Yes.. PEELED) white onions. Peeled onions which are simmered slowly for 40-50 minutes -- cooked separate to the Chicken.

I found it easier to make the brown-braised baby onions first, then the chicken and while the chicken is cooking, using a separate pan saute the mushrooms.

Onions and some shallots I had around braised with 1/2c of red wine and 1/2c of beef stock.

After nearly 50 minutes of slow simmering, the onions should look like this

The Chicken pieces are browned in the bacon then the wine, stock, garlic, herbs and tomato paste are added. Chicken needs to be cooked until tender. About 30-40 mins.

While the chicken is cooking, saute the mushrooms in some olive oil. Add a slice of butter when mushrooms are nearly cooked.

Once the chicken is cooked, remove from the pan to a separate dish. Add flour & butter mixture to sauce and continue to reduce until the sauce is able to coat the back of a spoon lightly. Add Chicken back to the pan with the onions and mushroom. Simmer for 3-4 mins and continue to baste the chicken with the sauce. Serve when chicken is hot.

We had it with some mash potato - see pic above.

And it was amazingly good !! P kept on asking me what I did different to the last time I made this dish. The braised onions were the first to disappear.

I didn't follow the recipe as closely as I wanted to. I didn't really have a choice. I didn't have cognac at home, and had to substitute some shallots for the onions as I didn't have enough. I also didn't want to boil the bacon. But Hey... its a Julia Child recipe. So I'm not going to repost the recipe with my alterations here. Somethings should stay as classics. However, you can find the Julia Child's recipe as posted by Smittenkitchen.com here. Enjoy

40 Clove Chicken

There are many versions of this recipe around. The thing that makes this dish different and so yummy is the amount of garlic used... 40++ cloves of garlic!! The garlic turns out amazingly sweet. But still have some breath mints handy. :)

I'm not sure where I first saw this recipe anymore. But after seeing the pictures from Alice Q. Foodie made me want to cook it again. Here is my take on it...

40 Clove Garlic Chicken

• 3 x Maryland chicken (Thighs and legs chopped - skin on)
• 2-3 Heads of Garlic. (I'm lazy... and just leave it smashed and unpeeled)
• 2 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 1/2 Cups Dry white wine
• 3 tablespoon Cognac (optional)
• Handful of fresh herbs (I used Sage & Thyme)
• 2 Bay leaves
• 1/4 Cup of Thickening Cream
• 2 tablespoons butter & 2 tablespoons plain flour
• Salt & Pepper

Pre-heat Oven to 180C. Pat the chicken pieces dry with a paper towel, and season with salt and pepper. Heat the butter with 1/2 of the olive oil in a Dutch Oven and brown the chicken, skin side down first.

Remove the chicken to a plate, and add garlic cloves to the pot. Saute on low heat until it turns golden brown. Add 1 Tbl sp of the Cognac, then add all the wine. Bring to boil and continue to stir, scraping any brown bits from the bottom of the pot.

Return chicken to the pot. Add herbs and tuck the Bay leaves in between the chicken pieces.

Cover and braise in the oven for about 45 minutes - until chicken is tender.

Remove chicken to a baking dish and put under the grill. Just long enough so that the skin on the chicken starts to go golden brown.

Squeeze out the garlic from the skins. Add remaining Cognac to the sauce. Bring to boil and add cream. Melt the butter in a separate saucepan then add flour. Once it has combined and starts to bubble, add this mixture to the sauce.

Spoon garlic sauce over the chicken and serve.

Soy Milk & Miso Hot Pot

We love our hot pots (or steamboats). Fish and Century old egg with coriander soup base. Satay hot pot... Ma-lak (super chilli hot) or even just plain chicken stock with some tomatoes and potatoes thrown in. Its probably one of the easiest things to prepare when you know you have a group of people that is going to come raid your apartment in the next hour. Which in my case, was exactly just that.

Soy Milk & Miso Hotpot
First tasted in Osaka, Japan - Recipe put together by Astrogirl

Soup Base

• 2 tablespoons Miso paste
• 1 piece of kombu
• 300 ml of unsweetened soy milk
• 2 L of water
• 2 tablespoon of dashi stock granules
• 2 tablespoon of Mirin
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 1 tablespoon of sugar
• Soya sauce to taste (if required)
• 1 onion (sliced)
• 1/2 chinese white cabbage (sliced 5cm pieces)
• 2 green spring onion (in 5 cm pieces)
• 6 re-hydrated shiitake mushrooms (stems discarded, halved - optional)

Bring water and kombu to boil in large pot, add dashi and mirin. Then add mushrooms, onion, white cabbage and white parts of spring onion. Boil until cabbage has soften. Add in Miso paste, sugar and salt. Add in the soy milk right before serving and bring the soup back to a simmer. Serve the hot pot on top of a portable gas stove or in a shabu-shabu pot.

Other Ingredients to throw in:

• Defrosted cuttlefish \ pork \ fish balls
• Thinly sliced beef, fish or pork
• Shelled Prawns or any type of oyster, shellfish or molluscs
• Tofu
• crab stick
• fresh corn
• fresh mushrooms & Enoki mushrooms
• Fresh Fish paste (added in separate spoonsfuls)
• Vegetables (e.g. sliced carrot, coriander, spring onion, chinese radish or any other greens)

Taste the soup base and season with some soy sauce is required. It should taste a bit on the saltier side. Choose any combination from the 'Other Ingredients' list. For this hotpot, I added in some of the defrosted balls, crab stick, tofu and fish paste. Once it starts to boil add in all of the soy milk. And then turn the heat down. If you keep it boiling for too long, the soy milk will start to split.

Things to add at the end of the hotpot:

• Cooked plain white rice
• Mochi (glutinous rice cake)
• Egg
• Noodles (eg. instant, egg noodles, udon).

Nearing the end of the hotpot, when the soup base has absorbed the essence of all of the additional ingredients that was boiled in it... (Don't let this soup go to waste !)

You can poach an egg in the soup or spoon out some soup into a bowl and have it just like that. Or keep the soup bowling and add some rice or noodles into it. The 'japanese' way would be to have it with Mochi.

Notes:

• Dried shiitake mushrooms are available at nearly every asian grocery store. To re-hydrate them, rinse them under water to get rid of any dirt, then place them in a bowl of warm water with a smaller saucer on top to keep them under water. Best to keep overnight.
• Enoki Mushrooms needs to have the bottom brown parts (roots) trimmed and washed thoroughly.
• If you are preparing prawns for the hotpot, a good way to make sure they retain the 'fresh texture' and wont suffer any 'over-boiling', is to put the shelled prawns into a bowl of cold water with about 1-2 teaspoons of salt for about 30 mins. Pour out the water when ready.
• Raw meat like pork or beef is easier to slice if you leave it in the freezer for about 1 hr or so.
• The white powder substance on the Kombu is where most of the flavour is. Don't be tempted to wash it off.

Chicken in Milk - For 1

I find it really hard to cook for just two people. We always seem to have an endless supply of leftovers in our fridge. P is back home in Perth at the moment. After 3 days of eating noodles (the instant type with my own toppings), I decided to turn one of the recipes I've made plenty of times before into a recipe for one.

Dinner for One - Chicken in Milk.
recipe adapted from Jamie Oliver's TV show ~ 'Oliver's Twist'

• 1x Merryland Chicken Thigh Piece
• rind from 1/2 a lemon
• 1 tablespoon of whole dry sage (fresh if you have any)
• 3 whole cloves of garlic (smashed)
• 1 teaspoon of thyme (again..fresh if you have any)
• 1/2 a stick of cinnamon
• 1 cup of milk (full cream works preferred)
• butter & olive oil
• salt & pepper

Season the chicken with salt & pepper.

Using a small saucepan (one that the chicken thigh can just nicely fit into), melt the butter in the olive oil. Add garlic then chicken and brown on both sides. About 2 mins each.

Into the saucepan add in the milk, herbs and the cinnamon stick.


Bring the milk to a boil. Cover and continue to simmer on medium-low heat for about 35 mins. Until the chicken is cooked (ie. juices run clear) and the milk has started turning into little pre-cheese curdles.

Lasagne

For me, making lasagne usually consists of throwing together whatever I have left over in the fridge. I could be using pork, beef or meat from sausages. Maybe some bacon, carrot, celery or not. No parmesan ?... not a problem..have cheddar. Ricotta or belchamel sauce .. or in this case both. :)

Lasagne to me is a highly flexible and revolving dish to say the least.

For this lasagne recipe I used some leftover ricotta and threw in some cherry tomatoes that seemed to be nearing its use-by-date.


Lasagne
Not sure which recipe I first learnt how to make lasagne, but i think I can call this one an astrogirl original.

Marinade the meat with:

• 1 kg of beef
• 1 tablespoon of oil
• 2 teaspoons of salt
• 2 teaspoons of sugar
• 1 teaspoon of corn flour
• couple of grinds of fresh pepper

And if you want to spice it up a bit more, you can add in 1 teaspoon of coriander seeds and cumin. Set this aside to rest.

Base ingredients - 1st into the pot:

• Olive oil
• 3 cloves of garlic (chopped)
• 1 large brown onion (chopped)
• 3 slices of bacon (chopped)
• 1 carrot (finely grated)
• couple of grinds of salt & pepper

In a dutch oven (or large pot), on medium heat add olive oil and the rest of the above ingredients in that order. Once the onions have started to sweat a bit (about 3 mins), add in the marinated mince.

For the tomato based meat sauce:

• 2x cans of whole tomatoes
• 2 tablespoons of tomato paste
• 1 cup of red wine
• 1 tablespoon of white sugar
• dried herbs (eg. oregano, basil - if not using fresh herbs)
  or
• 1 bunch of fresh basil (leaves only - if you have it)

Once the beef has started to brown and cook through, add in tomatoes, paste, red wine and dried herbs. Leave the fresh basil till later. Cover and simmer for about 1 hr.

Preheat the oven to 180C

About 45 mins into the cooking, start preparing the belchamel sauce. Also soak your lasgagne noodles into a hot water bath for about 15 mins.

Belchamel Sauce (cheese sauce):

• 2 tablespoons of butter
• 2 tablespoons of plain flour
• 1 cup of milk
• 1/2 cup of grated cheese (I used cheddar)
• 1 teaspoon of nutmeg
• salt & pepper to taste

Make a roux with the butter and flour, then gradually add milk. Once everything has combined smoothly, add in cheese, nutmeg and some salt & pepper to taste.

Assembling the Lasagne:

1. Put a bit of the cheese sauce into the bottom of the lasagne pan.
2. Place 1 layer of lasagne noodles on top
3. Spread 1 layer of tomato meat sauce over the lasagne noodles
4. Add a layer of cheese sauce on top of this.
5. Cover sauce with a layer of lasagne noodles.
6. Repeat until the lasagne pan is nearly full.

As mentioned before, I had some ricotta cheese leftover (less than about 100g) and some cherry tomatoes. I also ended up with quite a bit of basil. So I used these to create a topping with some parmesan cheese sprinkled on top.

Topping:

• Ricotta cheese
• cherry tomatoes (split into halves)
• basil
• parmesan cheese
• salt & pepper

This part is totally optional. If you want a normal topping, just finish the lasagne off with a final layer of the cheese sauce and top with some parmesan cheese and salt & pepper.

Place into the preheated oven for about 45 mins.

Lasagne is also one of those dishes that I make in the hopes it would at least last us for the next three to four days. And Yes, it does taste better the next day. Unfortunately, this one only lasted two days with the boys.