Dinner from Scratch

The crisp Fall weather has certainly put me in a cooking and baking mood. Unlike summer when I prefer dinner to be ready in less than 30 minutes, I love lingering in the kitchen longer now.

That also means I am more receptive to the ideas of making elaborate, labor intensive recipes and meals. Not that I am connoting these descriptions with the recipes below. In contrary, I have a recipe which I would consider as comfort food for OCT and myself.

From the tropical countries we come from, comfort food means something that's light and preferably not piping hot. That's comfort food for a country with summer weather 365 days a year. A hearty sandwich in my opinion fits the bill.

Because of my weakness in resisting a good seafood(especially shrimps!) recipe, I have my eyes on the Shrimp Rémoulade Po'boy recipe from Cookinglight magazine and a hamburger bun recipe from a blog I like. I think I would call this concortion a Shrimp Rémoulade Sandwich since the authentic Po'boy uses french bread/Baguette. Making this meal certainly requires some planning. Especially when you want to pair the freshly baked bun with the Shrimp Remoulade filling.

I started my bun making in the early afternoon and had them ready before I prepped the shrimp. According to Joe, the hamburger buns freeze well. It eliminated my worry for having to finish a dozen of them in one meal.

If you have baked bread before, you would understand the moment of joy when the bread comes out of the oven. Because I substituted whole wheat flour for some of the all purpose flour required, mine turned out slightly fibrous. Not exactly the kind you would expect in a soft storebought hamburger bun. I prefer it this way though as it stands up to the Rémoulade sauce without making the whole thing soggy.

I also made a fresh corn salad, which unfortunately was not memorable. If you must try, the recipe is here.

Shrimp Rémoulade Sandwich
adapted from Cookinglight, July 2007 and hamburger bun from this blog

Rémoulade sauce:
1/3 cup reduced-fat mayonnaise
2 tablespoons finely chopped onion
2 tablespoons finely chopped celery
2 tablespoons finely chopped green bell pepper
1 tablespoon prepared horseradish
2 tablespoons ketchup
1 teaspoon minced fresh basil
2 teaspoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 small garlic clove, minced

Remaining ingredients:
24 large shrimp, peeled and deveined
Cooking spray
4 (3-ounce) French bread loaves, sliced horizontally (I used homemade hamburger buns)
1 cup chopped iceberg lettuce
1 cup chopped tomato


To prepare sauce, combine first 11 ingredients in a medium bowl. Chill.
Prepare grill.

Thread shrimp onto 4 (10-inch) skewers. Place skewers on grill rack coated with cooking spray; grill 2 minutes on each side or until shrimp are done.

Preheat oven to 350°.

Hollow out bread halves, leaving a 1-inch-thick shell. Place bread on a baking sheet; bake at 350° for 5 minutes. Place 1/4 cup lettuce, 1/4 cup tomato, and 6 shrimp in bottom half of each loaf. Spoon 1/4 cup sauce over each sandwich. Cover with top bread halves.
*I used homemade hamburger buns in place of the french bread. See recipe below.
Yield
4 servings (serving size: 1 sandwich)

Hamburger Buns

1 cup milk
1 cup water
2 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
5 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, divided ( I substituted 1 cup of all purpose flour with whole wheat flour)
2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast

Egg wash

1 large egg yolk
1 tablespoon water

In a small saucepan, add milk, 1 cup water, sugar, butter and salt. Heat over low just until the butter melts - cool to lukewarm.

In a medium bowl, whisk together 3 cups flour with the yeast.

Pour the milk mixture into a large mixing bowl. Mix in the flour/yeast mixture, 1 cup at a time, until all 3 cups are in, beating until smooth. Stir in enough of the remaining flour to make stiff dough.

Scoop the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Knead until smooth and elastic (about 8-10 minutes), adding enough of the remaining flour to prevent the dough from sticking to your hands. Move dough into a large bowl lightly coated with cooking spray. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 60 minutes.

Uncover and punch down the dough. Evenly divide into 12-16 pieces, depending on how large you want the buns to be. Form each piece into a tight ball and place about 2" apart on a parchment lined baking sheet - you may need to use 2 sheets depending on the size. Slightly flatten each ball. Cover and let rise until doubled - another 30 to 45 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400.

In a small bowl, whisk together egg yolk and water. Gently brush egg wash over each bun.

Bake about 20-25 minutes, until golden and they sound hollow when tapped on the bottom. Transfer to a wire rack and cool completely.

Read more...

Do you like tofu?

I was not a tofu lover until I came to St Louis. I ate tofu occasionally when someone offered to cook for me or when I dined out. Cooking tofu at home was a skill I acquired here. When I suddenly decided to take a liking to tofu.

I still remember the first time I cooked tofu at my old apartment. The moment the tofu touched the hot oil, the oil splattered every where. The floor, the stovetop and more painfully my hands; even though I had the cover of the wok as my shield. I was defeated by the seemingly harmless looking block of tofu. Ever since then, I convinced myself that cooking tofu at home was risky business and shall never be attempted again.

After I came to St Louis, I acquainted with tofu after my scientist husband told me the correct way to handle a block of tofu. He gently reminded me of the basic nature of the reaction between water and oil, and more importantly how to avoid splatter of oil when one cooks tofu.

The key, as he plainly pointed out is to drain the tofu, and make sure that the surface of the tofu is dry before adding them to the oil. I guess any experienced cooks have probably known this, but that was two years ago while I started to cook.

Like the ending of a fairy tale, I live a happy ever life cooking and eating tofu since then. Now, I cook tofu every week without worrying about the splattering. One trick that I learned and have never share with anybody though, is to wear an oven glove if you still worry about the splattering. The oil may dirty your glove but it will never kiss the delicate skin of your fingers!

Enough about the tips. I have a real good tofu recipe to share tonight. I woul call it seafood tofu with Gochujang sauce. It's a sweet and spicy recipe that comes together in a flash, and packed full of flavor. Making it suitable for week night dinner with a big bowl of rice.



Seafood Tofu with Gochujang Sauce

1 pack (12 oz)firm tofu, drained and blotted dry with several pieces of kitchen towels, cut into cubes
4 oz shrimps, shelled and deveined
5 fish balls, halved (optional)
1/2 zucchini, thinly sliced
2 bunch of scallion, cut into 2-inches pieces
3 gloves of garlic, minced
1/2 tbsp sesame oil
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 heaping tablespoon Gochujang
4 tbsp chicken broth /water
1 tbsp mirin, or more to taste
1/2 tbsp sugar, or more to taste
salt and pepper

Heat oil in a non-stick skillet until hot. Add in tofu cubes and make sure all the tofu cubes are in contact with the surface of the skillet. Cook for about 3 minutes until one side of the tofu turned brown from searing. Add in garlic, zucchini, scallion and sesame oil. Stirfry until the zucchini turned soft. About 2 minutes.

Add shrimps and fish balls. Continue to cook until the shrimps turn pink. Add a heaping tablespoon of Gochujang to the tofu mixture followed by chicken broth. Bring the mixture to a boil and add mirin, sugar, salt and pepper to taste.

You can add more gochujang if you preferred a spicier dish. If the dish turned out spicier than you can handle, add more sugar to dilute the spiciness.

*Gochujang can be found at Asian grocery stores.

Read more...

Just dinners

I better blog about what we had for dinners before I totally forget about them. Not that any of them were memorable or spectacular, but I just want to leave a record of what we have been eating lately. And hopefully be able to trace the culprit/s of my recent weight gain!

With the abundance of asparagus this time of year, we couldn't resist another meal of asparagus pesto melts. It's a new favorite for us. OCT thought it's fancy enough to entertain friends with these. But I am not sure. It's always messy when we eat them. (Think asparagus rolling down from the sourdough everytime OCT had a bite) Maybe I should try to add more sauce or cheese to glue the fillings together. But I am hesistated to do that.



Our little endeavour to go meatless once a week went well. This week, we had pasta primevera on Tuesday night. It wasn't as nice as the meatless meal we had last week, but it was ok. With lots of broccoli (OCT's fave), asparagus (my fave), among other green veggies, we had a filling and guilt-free dinner.



Thai Shrimp Cakes, is one of the recipes I attempted as I am cooking through my Thai Cookbook. If it's not because these cakes had to be deep-fried, I would have made them ages ago. The perfect opportunity arose when we had friends over for dinner last week. I guess sometime I just need a little nudge to go the extra mile. I would never have the motivation to make this dish just for the two of us.


Coming back to the Shrimp Cakes. Eventhough I have never ordered this appertiser from Thai restaurants, I liked how it turned out nonetheless. The taste of curry and shrimp in every bite was just fantastic. However, OCT thought it was a waste of fresh shrimps, as the curry taste has overpowered the fresh shrimps. The shrimps could taste better in other dishes, he reasoned. Maybe he's right, I will just use smaller shrimps when I make these again.

Pasta Primavera
Adapted from Cookinglight

2 cups green beans, trimmed and halved crosswise
2 cups broccoli florets
1/2 cup (1-inch) slices asparagus (about 2 ounces)
6 ounces uncooked fettuccine
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
2 teaspoons minced fresh garlic
1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/2 cup fresh or frozen green peas
1 cup grape tomatoes, halved (omitted)
2/3 cup half-and-half
1 teaspoon cornstarch
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil (used flat leaf parsley)
1/4 cup (1 ounce) shaved Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

Cook green beans in boiling water 1 minute. Add broccoli and asparagus; cook 2 minutes or until vegetables are crisp-tender. Remove vegetables from pan with a slotted spoon; place in a large bowl. Return water to a boil. Add pasta; cook 10 minutes or until al dente. Drain and add to vegetable mixture.

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 cup onion, and sauté for 2 minutes. Add garlic and red pepper; sauté 3 minutes or until onion begins to brown. Add peas, and sauté 1 minute. Add tomatoes; sauté 2 minutes.

Combine half-and-half and cornstarch, stirring with a whisk. Reduce heat to medium. Add half-and-half mixture and salt to pan; cook 1 minute or until sauce thickens, stirring constantly. Pour sauce over pasta mixture; toss gently to coat. Sprinkle with basil and cheese. Serve immediately.

Read more...

Shrimp and Scallop Arrabbiata

I was surprised to see OCT at home when I got back from grocery shopping. Normally we would go shopping together on weekend, but I had a dream last night. A dream about the madeleine pan I didn't buy last week, and how happy I was in the dream making madeleines using that madeleine pan. I take it as a sign, a sign that I MUST go and buy the pan today. No, I can't wait until weekend. There was only 3 pans left when I saw it last week, what if 3 other people had the same dream went to buy all the pans? Then there will be none left for me..

Luckily, when I finally reached Bed Bath Beyond today, there were exactly 3 madeleine pans left on the shelf. Apparently, nobody dreamt or obsessed about madeleines except me. It must be this book that I am currently reading- Baking: From my home to yours, by Dorie Greenspan. There are a few madeleine recipes that sounds pretty promising. I can't wait to try the one with lavender, earl grey tea and chocolate filled madeleine. Actually that's pretty much almost all of the madeleine recipes in the book....It's funny that I have never eaten a madeleine in my life and hold such a high hope on madeleine.

I think I digress. I was going to talk about tonight's dinner actually. OCT was home early today to take a nap. Poor him got up really early today to work on his dissertation. Unfortunately, before he could fall asleep, his wife came back and insisted that he must eat an early dinner before he went back to work again.

I needed something that can come in a flash. And what could be more convenience that pasta! (no, instant noodle doesn't count, although we will eat it when we need something in a blink) In the spirit of trying something new, I opted for the Shrimp and Scallop Arrabbiata.



It's definitely one of the nice pastas I have eaten in a long time. But maybe I am biased, there's nothing much with seafood in it that I don't adore. So, this recipe scored pretty well in my book. I reckon this is also a good recipe for winter because all the ingredients could be found in the pantry and freezer. I hardly used any fresh produce in this recipe. More importantly, the bright colour of this pasta would sweep away whatever bad mood you may have on a gloomy, cold winter day. And on happy day like today, when I become the proud owner of a madeleine pan, the dish is scrumptious enough to commemorate the event. (I am easily satisfied!)


Shrimp and Scallop Arrabbiata

adapted from Cookinglight, for original recipe, seehere

1 (9-ounce) package fresh linguine
1 tablespoons olive oil
8 ounces peeled and deveined large shrimp
8 ounces bay scallops
black pepper and salt
1 cup chopped onion
3 teaspoons minced garlic
1/4 teaspoon fennel seeds, crushed
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 ounce pancetta, chopped (I used bacon)
1 can diced tomatoes
2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley

Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain. Set aside and keep warm.

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Cook bacon until crisp. Drain, set aside and keep warm. Keep some of the bacon fat to saute onion and garlic. Add fennel seeds and red pepper to the skillet when the onion garlic mixture gives out fragrant aroma. Add shrimp and scallops to pan; sprinkle with black pepper. Sauté 3 minutes or until almost done. Add bacon back to the skillet.

Stir in tomatoes; bring to a boil.Remove from heat. Serve shrimp mixture over pasta. Sprinkle with parsley.

Serves 2 hungry men.

Read more...

Exploring Thai Recipes

One of the highlights on this week's menu is Thai food on Wednesday. I got this Thai recipe book from the library that really put me into the mood of cooking Thai food. Building on what I have on hand, I decided to make a Sweet and Sour Pork and Shrimp with Green Beans in Chilli Sauce.

In many ways, recipes from Southeast Asia share many similarities. Like the condiments they use. But here, I want to talk about Thai Food only. Most of the Thai recipes use soy sauce, lime leaves, lime juice, fish sauce, different kinds of curry pastes, tamarind and coconut milk. Fish sauce in particular, is the essence of Thai food (in my humble opinion, of course). It never fails to appear in any recipes. I guess they use it in the same way we use salt?

Because I wanted to get the flavor right, I followed the recipe religiously. Most of the time when I cook, I just eyeball everything. But not on this. I didn't want to mess with this and end up having yet another disappointing dinner. My effort was paid off when we finally sat down for dinner. Both dishes turned out great~

I am so proud that I made the sweet and sour sauce from scratch! Although it was not exactly my own recipe, but nevertheless, it's still better than using the ready mix sauce that who knows how much MSG is in there! And the aroma and bright colours of this dish lifted up my spirit on the cold gloomy night.

The Shrimp with Green Beans in Chilli Sauce was nice too. Except that it's kind of too spicy for both of us. I believe this can easily modified to suit our taste in the future. But I like the technique of stirfrying the curry paste before adding other ingredients, instead of diluting the paste first, like in other recipes. The heat of the pan helped the curry paste to release some of its flavour before it was mixed with the prawn and green beans. It would have been nicer if I have lime leaves and lime on hand. I am sure the dishes would taste more authentic that way. But for the time being, lemon juice is a good substitute.

With dishes like these, it's no surprise that we each had an extra bowl of rice.

Sweet and Sour Pork (Moo Preow Waan)

10 oz trimmed pork tenderloin
1/2 tsp tomato paste (or 2 tbsp of ketchup dissolved in 1 tbsp water)
1 tbsp water
2 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp rice (or white) vinegar
1 tbsp lime juice
1 tbsp sugar
5 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp chopped garlic
1/4 small onion, roughly chopped
1/3 medium red pepper, cut into 1 inch/2.5 cm squares
1/2 small tomato, cut into 1 inch/ 2.5cm chunks
1.5 inches english cucumber, cut into 1 inch/2.5 cm wedges
1 cup pineapple, cut into 1/2 inch/1 cm pieces
1 tbsp soy sauce
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp cornstarch
1 tbsp water
pinch black pepper
strips of red pepper
fresh coriander leaves

Slice tenderloin into strips that are 1/4 inch/5mm thick, 2 inches/5cm long and about 1 inch/2.5cm wide. If you find it difficult to cut thinly through fresh meat, leave it in the freezer for 15-20 minutes to harden slightly, then slice. Reserve.

In a small bowl mix together tomato paste, water, fish sauce, vinegar, lime juice and sugar and beat until blended. Reserve.

Heat oil in a wok (or a large frying pan) until it is just about to smoke. Add garlic and stirfry for 30 second. Immediately add reserved pork and stirfry for 2-3 minutes until all th pork has fried in the oil and is turning white. Add onion, red pepper, tomato, cucumber and pineapple as well as soy sauce and black pepper and stirfry for 2 minutes, unitl all the vegetables have begun to wilt.

Add reserve sauce (tomato paste etc, stirfry for 1-2 minutes until everything is integrated and shiny. Dissolve cornstarch in water, add to work and stirfry for less than a minute, until the sauce has thickened somewhat. Take off heat.

Transfer to a serving dish and sprinkle with black pepper. Top with stips o red pepper and coriander leaves. Serve immediately, accompanied by steamed rice.

serves 4.

Shrimps with Green Beans in Chili Sauce (Phad Prik Khing Goong)

4 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tbsp red curry paste
2 lime leaves, cut into quarters
1 cup water
16 large shrimps, shelled and deveined (10 oz/300g)
14 long green beans, trimmed and cut into 1-inch/2.5c.m pieces
1 tbsp sugar
strips of red pepper
fresh coriander leaves

Heat oil in the wok (or a large frying pan) on high heat until it is just about to smoke. Add the red curry paste and stir to dissolve for 30 seconds. Turn heat down to medium low and stir cook for another 30 seconds. Add lime leaves and stir fry for 1 minute. Turn heat back to maximum and add 1/2 cup/ 125ml of the water and stir cook for 1 minute.

Add shrimps, green beans and sugar. Stir fry for 1 minute. Turn heat down to medium heat, and add the rest of the water (1/2 cup / 125ml). Cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally, until shrimps are pink white and springy. Take off heat.

Transfer to a serving dish and top with red pepper strips and coriander leaves. Serve immediately, accompanied by steamed rice.

Serves 3 to 4.

Read more...

Pasta & Mushroom with Parmesan Crumb Topping

I love all kinds of mushrooms. So when I see a recipe using lots of mushrooms, I am immediately sold and know that I have to make it! Mum knows that I love mushrooms. So she always cook Chinese Braised Mushrooms with dried oyster and scallop when I am home. Too bad I couldn't reproduce this dish here, but I get my mushroom fix through experimenting other dishes. Some works, but some don't. When a dish with mushrooms in it turns out disappointing, I blame the person who develops the recipe.

And yes, I am blaming the one who develops this recipe. It looked all promising when it came out from the oven. I have such a high hope on this.

But it was really bland!

I am glad I made something else too, because I won't be able to eat this pasta alone. On the scale of 1 to 10. If eating boiled pasta without any sauce was rated 1, then this pasta & mushroom casserole would rate 3, at most 4. Definitely not pass as a stand-alone dish. This leads us to the next dish that I made, which savaged the dinner.

I made a simple fish dish - Tilapia with Balsamic Butter Sauce. Lucky for us, the balsamic butter sauce has an intense flavor, that paired well with the pasta. With the help of the tilapia, we managed to finish half of the pasta. As for the other half, I am still thinking what to do with it......

Tilapia with Balsamic Butter Sauce
adapted from Bon Appetite

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 cup butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
6 4- to 5-ounce tilapia fillets

Simmer vinegar and garlic in small saucepan over medium heat until reduced to thick syrup, about 5 minutes. Set aside.

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in each of 2 large skillets over high heat. Sprinkle fish with salt and pepper. Sauté fish until golden, about 2 minutes per side.

Rewarm balsamic syrup over medium-low heat. Whisk in 1/2 cup butter 1 piece at a time.

Drizzle sauce on Tilapia.

Read more...

Salmon with Sweet and Sour Pan Sauce and Warm Potato Salad

I should have posted this entry earlier. Because after I uploaded the photos of what we had on Wednesday night, I can't remember much about the dish. Except that the salmon was easy to prepare, its sweet and sour sauce was wonderful. And for the potatoes, I love it, though not as much as the roasted one. But I generally like potatoes, so whether it's smashed, fried, roast or boil doesn't really matter. Potato could easily win me over rice, anytime. Looking at the photo almost make me want to roast another batch of mustard roasted potato tonight. Maybe I should..... It would be perfect for the cold weather.

Coming back to the Warm Potato Salad, the original recipe called for new potatoes, but I only have Russett (which is excellent for roasting, by the way). So, I proceed with Russett. The dressing was made with 2 type of mustards: Dijon and Grainy which is weight friendly compared to mayonaise and other wholesome stuff. (see recipe below). I wouldn't mind making it again for picnic come Spring, since it can stay at room temperature.

As for the salmon, I didn't expect it to be so nice! The sweet and sour flavor combination striked a great balance in this dish. And I am sure it would taste nice with rice too.

Warm New Potato Salad with Grainy Mustard
Adapted from Gourmet

2 lb small (1- to 1 1/2-inch) potatoes, preferably new potatoes
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3 tablespoons finely chopped shallots (about 2)
1/2 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon whole-grain mustard
1 tablespoon white-wine vinegar, or to taste
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Cover potatoes with water by 1 inch in a 3- to 4-quart saucepan, then bring to a boil with 1 teaspoon salt. Simmer, partially covered, until potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes, then drain.

Whisk together shallot, mustards, vinegar, pepper, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt in a large bowl, then add oil in a slow stream, whisking until emulsified.

When potatoes are just cool enough to handle, halve them, then add to vinaigrette along with parsley and toss to combine. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Makes 4 servings.

Salmon with Sweet and Sour Pan Sauce

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/4 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon fish sauce
2 garlic cloves, minced
4 (6-ounce) salmon fillets (about 1 inch thick)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over low heat.
Combine broth and next 5 ingredients (broth through garlic).

Increase heat to medium-high, and heat 3 minutes.

While pan heats, sprinkle fillets with salt and pepper. Add fillets to pan; cook 4 minutes on each side or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork. Remove fillets from pan.

Drain fat from pan, and discard fat. Add broth mixture to pan, scraping to loosen browned bits. Bring to a boil; cook 30 seconds. Remove from heat. Serve sauce over fish.

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 fillet and 1 1/2 tablespoons sauce)

Note: The sauce is quite thin. To thicken, add some cornstarch dissolved in water to the pan, and bring to a boil together with broth mixture.

Read more...

More rice on the table....

Bring on the rice! For the benefit of my rice-deprived husband. We have been feasting on Chinese meal since last Sunday. ~ Boring~

However, I manage to inject a bit of surprise every night, so that we can have something to look forward to for dinner. Actually, OCT is easily satisfied with the sight of rice, regardless of the dishes. And I am not particularly motivated to try out new dishes, because I have more EXCITING things to do!

We are going to Washington DC this coming Sunday! I have been busy in doing research on the "must see, must go and must eat places in DC". And I am overwhelmed by the vast information the ever wonderful Internet provides. I have our flight and accomodation booked, and itineary planned. Now I only need to think of what cake/ cookies to bake for this coming trip.

Allow me to digress from my usually food related entry. I am really excited about this trip. Incidentally, we will be in the nation's capitol on its National Day! I have heard so much about its marvellous firework at night, which attracts tourists and citizens to the Capitol for the event itself. A certain must see! Afterall, we will be conveniencely there, staying just 2 blocks away from the White House.

Because of the research I am conducting, I have somewhat throw my apron aside and digress from my daily baking related internet sites to other travel sites...Nevertheless, I managed to try a new recipe yesterday, and it was a good one! OCT commented that the dish was " refreshing". How true! With the combinations of a few acidic ingredients, the sauce turned out to be surprisingly refreshing. Almost making me succumb to another helping of rice....

It's a fish dish, which we seldom eat due to the lack of fresh fish here. Or rather the expensive price tag that comes with the fish. Well, I used frozen tilapia for this dish, and it turned out nice! And I promise that no one will know they were frozen. I don't have the five spice powder, so I just sprinkle the fish with some salt, pepper and paprika before saute. The highlight is really the sauce in my opinion.

Five- Spice Tilapia with Citrus Ponzu Sauce

2 tablespoons thinly sliced green onions
2 tablespoons orange juice
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
1 teaspoon brown sugar
2 teaspoons rice wine vinegar
1/4 teaspoon bottled ground fresh ginger (such as Spice World) (I used fresh ginger)
1/2 teaspoon five-spice powder (substituted with paprika)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
4 (6-ounce) tilapia fillets
2 teaspoons canola oil

Combine green onions, juices, soy sauce, brown sugar, vinegar, and ginger in a small bowl.
Combine five-spice powder, salt, and pepper. Sprinkle both sides of fish evenly with spice mixture.

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add fish to pan; cook 2 minutes on each side or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork or until desired degree of doneness. Remove from skillet.

Add the sauce into the same skillet to deglaze the skillet. Pour the sauce onto the fish once it comes to a boil. It should take less than 10 seconds.

Read more...

Salmon Teriyaki Bowl

I couldn't believe it when OCT said he had never heard of Yoshinoya. So, just to show him what they served back in Singapore, I decided to cook him the Yoshinoya style teriyaki salmon bowl. Why salmon? Because it's sitting conveniencely in the freezer and I love salmon.

This time, I tried Teriyaki sauce recipe from another source.

1/4 cup thin soy sauce
Juice and zest of 1/2 lemon
1 tablespoons brown sugar
4 cloves of garlic
1 tablespoon minced ginger
1 teaspoon mirin
1/2 tablespoon white sesame seeds
4 (6-ounce) salmon fillets

Preheat broiler.
Combine all but sesame seeds and salmon in a saucepan. Bring to boil and slowly simmer until a syrupy consistency is achieved, about a 50 percent reduction. Let cool completely.
Add sesame seeds and salmon and marinate for 1 hour. Remove salmon from marinade and bring sauce to a boil.
Broil Salmon until flesh flakes easily. About 10 minutes.

When I asked OCT for his comment on this teriyaki sauce as compared to the previous version, he has unfortunately forgotten how the first one tasted....So, he was happy with this version too. I especially like the addition of sesame seed, for the subtle nutty taste.

Read more...

Shrimp Arrabbiata

We didn't go out for dinner yesterday night. OCT decided not to go last minute even though I was already waiting for him downstair, in the cold, all dressed up. He sounded indecisive when he called to ask me to come down our apartment in 10 min, to meet him in his colleague's car. Little did I know that he changed his mind again in 10 min later!

In case you wonder if I got mad. I didn't. I think it's better for us to skip the dinner as he was really tired waking up very early for conference yesterday. So, I did what an understanding wife would do: cook a speedy dinner for us!

Shrimp Arrabbiata is fast and simple to put together. We had our dinner ready in 30 minutes, included defrosting the prawn. It's bright, tasty and healthy, and a bit spicy...But we both liked it a lot and not a single strain of linguine was left. I am sure it will come back to our dinner table soon! Maybe with more sauce next time.

Shrimp Arrabbiata

"This dish's name--arrabbiata--comes from the Italian word for "angry" because of the spicy tomato and red pepper sauce. If you want, double the tomato sauce and freeze half for a jump start on a future meal."

Ingredients:
6 ounces fresh linguine
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup prechopped onion
2 teaspoons bottled minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
*I added some white wine to the sauce*

Method:
Cook pasta according to the package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain and keep warm.

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle shrimp with salt; add shrimp to pan. Cook 2 minutes on each side or until shrimp are done. Transfer shrimp to a bowl.

Heat remaining 1 tablespoon oil in pan. Add onion, minced garlic, basil, and crushed red pepper to pan; sauté 1 minute. Add tomato paste and tomatoes; bring to a boil. Cook 3 minutes or just until sauce begins to thicken. Return shrimp to pan; cook 1 minute or until thoroughly heated.

Add parsley to the pan, stirring well to combine. Serve over pasta.

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: about 1 cup shrimp mixture and 1 cup pasta)

Read more...

Oven-baked Salmon with Toasted Almond & Parsley Salsa

Tonight dinner was oven-baked salmon with toasted almond & parsley salsa. OCT said it reminded him of Greek food. I didn't chop the parsley fine enough, so the salsa didn't turn up as smooth as it was supposed to be. But I liked the toasted almond. It had a smoky and nutty taste, and added a different texture to the salmon. I used sea salt instead of table salt to season the salmon which the taste really stood out.

Oven-baked Salmon with Toasted Almond & Parsley Salsa

Ingredients:

For Oven-baked Salmon:
12 ounce salmon fillet, cut into 4 pieces
Coarse-grained salt
Freshly ground black pepper

For Toasted Almond & Parsley Salsa:
1 shallot, minced
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
Coarse-grained salt
2 tablespoons capers, rinsed and chopped
1 cup flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
1/2 cup sliced toasted almonds
1 tablespoon, plus 1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Season salmon with salt and pepper. Place salmon, skin side down, on a non-stick baking sheet or in a non-stick pan with an oven-proof handle. Bake until salmon is cooked through, about 12 to 15 minutes.

To prepare the salsa:
Combine shallots and vinegar in a small bowl. Add a pinch of salt and let stand 30 minutes or as long as time permits. Add the capers, parsley and almonds. Toss until well combined. Add olive oil. Taste and adjust seasonings. Serve with Salmon.

After dinner, I had my Chocolate Espresso Tart with pistachio ice-cream. OCT had his share before dinner because he was very hungry then.

Read more...

Balsamic Glazed Salmon Fillet

I tried this recipe yesterday. I remembered watching a TV show where the host used balsamic vinegar to glaze her meat. She persuaded her viewers (including me) that although balsamic vinegar has a strong pungent smell while cooking, the taste on the dish would be really nice. Believing in her professional advice, I followed a similar recipe from the internet.

I didn't manage to capture the picture when the dish was out from the oven, but this is OCT's lunch box with the salmon fillet on the left compartment.

I think I probably won't repeat this dish as it was too vinegar-y to our liking :(
I don't understand why it received such rave reviews from other readers....anyway, if any of you have tried this recipe and love it, please let me know if I have done anything wrong. Oh, OCT added some cilantro to his fillet, which smell and taste I can't stand. But he said they goes well.

Balsamic Glazed Salmon Fillet

Ingredients:
6 (5 ounce) salmon fillets
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon white wine
1 tablespoon honey
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
4 teaspoons Dijon mustard
salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil, and spray with non-stick cooking spray.
Coat a small saucepan with non-stick cooking spray. Over medium heat, cook and stir garlic until soft, about 3 minutes. Mix in white wine, honey, balsamic vinegar, mustard, and salt and pepper. Simmer, uncovered, for about 3 minutes, or until slightly thickened.
Arrange salmon fillets on foil-lined baking sheet. Brush fillets with balsamic glaze, and sprinkle with oregano.
Bake in preheated oven for 10 to 14 minutes, or until flesh flakes easily with a fork. Brush fillets with remaining glaze, and season with salt and pepper. Use a spatula to transfer fillets to serving platter, leaving the skin behind on the foil.

Read more...

Friday's Dinner

I think i cooked too much for dinner yesterday. We had roasted herb potatoes, as our main carbo. I know this has been the second time we have it this week, but how am i going to finish 10lb of "value for money" yukon potatoes if we don't eat them often enough?

I baked salmon in foil again, a recipe from Everyday Italian, and delighted to obtain the same tasty result like the first time. The veggie was lettuces with Italian dressing & OCT's fav croutons. All these should suffice for a balanced meal. But I proceed to experiment with a "plug from the air" recipe nevertheless. It's stirfry tomyam tuna macaroni. This may sound weird, but it turned out quite tasty despite of its bland apperance. I must really put in some effort to "beautify" my food in the future....It pissed me off when I have to post some ugly food pics on my blog, and persuade people that they are indeed tasty. Even I don't find it convincing, looking at the pictures sometime...

This is the recipe for salmon baked in foil. The method is more of steaming than baking. According to the cookbook, it should work well on other types of fish, chicken and veggie too.

Salmon baked in foil

4 (5 ounces each) salmon fillets
2 teaspoons olive oil plus 2 tablespoons
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 tomatoes, chopped, or 1 (14-ounce) can chopped tomatoes, drained
2 chopped shallots
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried thyme

Method:

1.Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
2.Sprinkle salmon with 2 teaspoons olive oil, salt, and pepper.
3.Stir the tomatoes, shallots, 2 tablespoons of oil, lemon juice, oregano, thyme, salt and pepper in a medium bowl to blend.
4.Place a salmon fillet, oiled side down, atop a sheet of foil. Wrap the ends of the foil to form a spiral shape.
5.Spoon the tomato mixture over the salmon. Fold the sides of the foil over the fish and tomato mixture, covering completely; seal the packets closed.
6.Place the foil packet on a heavy large baking sheet. Repeat until all of the salmon have been individually wrapped in foil and placed on the baking sheet.
7.Bake until the salmon is just cooked through, about 25 minutes. Using a large metal spatula, transfer the foil packets to plates and serve.

Note: Use a fork to open the foil, as the steam inside the foil packet can get very hot right out from the oven. And it is so much fun to open up the packet on your plate, just like open up a present!

Read more...

Shrimp Egg FooYoung

I saw this recipe from Foodnetwork and decided that it should make a nice dish. It was a very hearty dish indeed, packed with the goodness of veggie and protein (from eggs and shrimp). We ate this along with the leftover Chicken Cacciatore from yesterday's dinner. Shrimp Egg Fooyoung somehow reminded me of another japanese dish- okonomiyaki. This is like the Chinese Version of that, minus the yam flour. According to the recipe, the Shrimp Egg Young should come out in one piece,like a pancake, but I haven't master the skill of flipping such a big omele yet, so it comes out like normal stirfry veggie with eggs.... As long as it tastes nice, i can live with the horrible presentation.

Shrimp Egg FooYoung

Ingredients:
4 tablespoons canola oil
1/4 cup yellow onion, chopped
2 cups shredded cabbage
6 eggs (I used 5 eggs, 6 eggs were insane for just the two of us)
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup sliced bamboo shoots
1/2 cup cooked small salad shrimp, or large dice medium cooked shrimp
2 tablespoons green onion tops, sliced, for garnish (more to add to the egg mixture)

Preparation:

Place 2 tablespoons vegetable oil in a large pan and cook onions and cabbage over- medium high heat just until tender.
Remove from heat, drain excess liquid, and reserve.
Whisk the eggs in a bowl and mix in soy sauce, spices, drained cabbage mixture, and bamboo shoots. (I added a handful of chopped green onions)
Using a non-stick pan over medium-high heat, add 2 tablespoons vegetable oil and heat.
Ladle about 4 ounces of the cabbage mixture into the hot pan, as you would for pancakes, and sprinkle the small shrimp evenly on top of each.
Cook for about 3 minutes, or until edges start to brown and when jiggled, it slides in the pan.
Flip and cook another 2 to 3 minutes until cooked through. Garnish with scallions.

Read more...