Red Wine Pork

Red Wine Pork with Sauteed Spinach, Cheddar Risotto, Cajun Potatoes and Herbed Butter

Well, I passed by NTUC while grocery shopping and I saw frozen pork loin cutlets in the freezer. They looked like steaks and I liked steaks so I bought them.

The thing is, I don't know what to do with them.

I flipped through my school textbook and found this red wine game marinade. It had red wine, olive oil and a whole bunch of herbs and spices.

So I thawed the pork and marinated it with some leftover red wine, olive oil and garlic from the book! I added salt and a scattering of pre-mixed herbs found at NTUC...was a mix of the more common herbs of western cooking such as thyme, basil, sage and rosemary.

The result: I liked it! This is certainly something to add to a list of marinades I've tried.

Note* all marinades apply to all kinds of meat! Try them on chicken, beef and lamb as well and other birds and poultry.

I have tried a cajun spice blend before (found at NTUC), tried mustard, parsley, salt and pepper with beef and I've done the old home fashioned oyster sauce, sesame oil, rice wine, soy sauce and dark sauce marinade for chicken. I've also done a thai styled pork with lemon grass, fish sauce and sugar.

I look forward to adding more different kinds of marinades to my list of recipes. =)

-Clarence

A new kind of Ice Kacang?

Picture taken from http://food.yowazzup.com/penang-food-gurney-drive-the-gardens-mid-valley.html

Looks familiar? To any Singaporean living in Singapore, yes it should be. It is Ice Kacang, literally translated, Ice Bean, one of the more popular traditional asian dessets.

The concept of shaved ice desserts began way back in the 1990's with the invention of a machine by Samuel Bert in a fair at Texas.

This concept began with snow cones and snow balls which were made with shaved ice and flavoured syrups then further developed to have fruits.

When it reached Singapore and Malaysia, shaved ice took on a new identity together with red bean, grass jelly and palm fruit and called itself Ice Kacang. Once popular in western culture, shaved ice is now also an integral part of Asian dessert.

While thinking of what to do for my post on desserts this week, I thought that the simplest and most direct way to do it would be to relook at shaved ice from a different perspective. This idea is much simpler than I originally intended it to be.

Granita is a kind of shaved ice dessert. However, this ice is flavoured before it is frozen instead of the traditional dessert style.

I decided to use this as the new shaved ice for my own Ice Kacang creation.

What about the ingredients at the bottom? I had no idea. I decided to take a walk around NTUC and see what I could find.

Longans hit me first. They would replace the palm fruit (atap chee)

Jelly hit me next. They will replace the grass jelly.

Red bean came to my mind next. I spotted a can of sweet boiled japanese red bean (azuki).

Japanese red bean? It became apparent to me that the granita should have a green tea flavour profile and my dessert was created.

The dessert base

The cup had to be chilled to prevent the raspberry flavoured jelly inside to instantly melt. I stuffed the longans with the red bean (you remember rambutans stuffed with pineapple?) to make less mess in the base of the cup. The combination of taste was fine though I had to admit there was nothing spectacular about it.

Finished product

Regrettably, I could not get my hands on any mint leaves or I would have shredded them into the dessert and used one for garnish. I used a curry leaf here in this picture to show the effect on presentation a leaf would have as a garnish. Looks very much fresher.

I've tasted it. Honestly, I didn't know what to expect. That is the scariest part of an experiment: when you put it to the test.

My comment? Its not half bad. I would not take offense at being served this in a restaurant. But to enter this for dessert making competition? No way. Its not nearly good enough.

Granita recipe:

420 ml hot water
2 green tea bags
50 g sugar

1) Stir the sugar into the water to dissolve it and let the green tea bags seep for about 20 minutes.

(You could also use commericial Pokka green tea. I haven't tried it myself but hey, what's the difference besides you being able to adjust the tea quality and sweetness level?)

2) Place the pan into the freezer and stir it with a whisk or fork every 15 minutes to half an hour until crushed ice forms like the picture above.

Simple and delicious. Try this with other liquid ingredients like orange juice, fruit punch or ribena. What about soft drink? Let your imagination run. However, results vary so don't look for me if it doesn't work =)

Crab salad cake creation

Hi everyone! I have been searching for a new idea for my next post, a dish that can be played around and experimented with. I just didn't have any idea until I came across this picture below:

Crab and Avocado Salad

This picture is from my culinary textbook Garde Manger, Arts and Craft of the Cold Kitchen by the Culinary Insititute of America. What struck me about this picture is the presentation. I thought that this is an interesting way to present a salad. I thought I could probably do something along these lines. I did a main course in my previous post. This one would be an appetiser.

Below is what I have come up with and I name it

Crab Salad Cake Duo

The original intention was for me to showcase a fusion of western and eastern ingredients used in the salad but keeping the idea of it being a cold appetiser.

I used a mango mayonnaise dressing for the western crab salad as I found out that many seafood salads and crab salads as well as lobster salads love to make use of fruits to give it a sweet flavour. Within, I added tomato cubes as well as garlic, dill weed and garnished it with grated egg, fried tomato skin and cucumber slices.

The second crab cake, I thought of doing something asian with it. Therefore I used our very own Local Chilli Crab sauce as the base dressing for the salad. I added a little mayonnaise to make the dressing, threw in some garlic, shallots and parsley. I garnished it with some deep fried oats and a deep fried curry leaf garnish.

Using a ring mold, I molded the crab salad into cake shapes and displayed them as above. Then I added croutons as part of the salad. I love croutons. My only regret was not having any cabbage on hand to place at the base. It would have made for a most interesting display.

Note: I used Surimi Frozen Crab Meat for this. It is shredded crab stick and is certainly cost effective and yet tasty. However, if you can get frozen authentic crab meat or freshly cooked crab meat for this...or even lobster! Now that would be amazing.

I would also advise chilling thoroughly for about 5 - 6 hours for the best possible flavour and mouthfeel. This allows the flavours to set and seep in as well as keeping it chilled. I sampled it just after I made it - at room temperature and again much later at night after chilling. The latter tasted far better.

Here are some websites I referred to for help and guide:

http://www.cooks.com/rec/doc/0,1843,152179-255195,00.html

http://www.finedinings.com/fresh_crab_with_mango_this_is_.htm


Mango Crab Cake Ingredients:

1 tsp Mayonnaise

3 tsp mango puree

1 tbsp of small diced tomatoes

Scattering of dill weed

2-3 tbsp crab meat

1/2 tsp of garlic (chopped)

1 tsp grated egg

Preparation method: Mix everything well together, leaving the egg for garnish on top. Adjust seasoning to taste.

Asian style crab cake ingredients:

3 tsp chili crab sauce (extra thick)

1 tsp mayonnaise

2-3 tbsp crab meat

A scattering of parsley

1/2 tsp garlic (chopped)

1/2 tsp shallots (minced)

Preparation method: Mix everything well together and chill. Adjust seasoning according to taste.

Crab chili sauce ingredients:

1 tsp chili sauce

8 tsp tomato ketchup

Pinch of salt

Pinch of sugar

2 tsp vinegar

1 tsp sesame oil

50 ml water

1/4 beaten egg

Preparation method: Stir everything together and let it boil. Thicken with cornstarch (dissolved in a little water) if necessary.

Chicken Wrapped Bacon: An Inspiration

Good day to all! As the first post of this food blog, I thought of starting with something closer to my heart: An overview of the one of the many 3 course menus served at our very own Temasek Culinary Academy, the restaurant TopTable.

The quality of service varies so greatly that I wouldn't like to mention it here. Afterall, the waiters are students who waiter once a week and this is the first week of operations.

The First Course : Caesar Salad

Its one of my favourite salads, traditionally made with romaine lettuce, croutons, parmesan cheese and of course the all time favourite ceasar dressing made primarily with anchovies, garlic, egg yolks and olive oil. I was pleasantly surprised to note that they added grated egg over the salad, giving it a slightly creamier mouthfeel. The dressing was light and refreshing and not at all like the others I've eaten which has been heavily salted and contains too much garlic.

The Second Course: Parma Ham Wrapped Chicken with Panzanella (Bread Salad)

Wow! I like the idea of this dish! I've never in my life seen this being done before. The parma ham, also sometimes known is prosciutto ham, was used to wrap the chicken breast before it was baked. And look! There are sage leaves (herbs) inserted in between the ham and the chicken.

The ham and the chicken married well together, with the fat and saltiness of the ham, tenderising and moisturising the chicken while it is being cooked. The breast of chicken is known to be dry and tough. But in this case, it was pretty juicy all over.

The bread salad was arugula leaves or rocket leaves, with black olives, cherry tomatoes, croutons and cucumber chunks as well as basil leaves. The dressing I'm sure is basil infused olive oil. I'm amazed at how the salad goes nicely with the chicken. Eat it together and it is like a mouthful of Italian and the Mediterranean. Nice.



The Third Course: Creme Caramel with Caramel Sauce

A custard dessert, cold and sweet, yet light enough to be refreshing. Perfectly done.

After that meal, I was extremely inspired by the Chicken and thought of preparing something that I've heard about, but never done before. Here it is: I call it

Bacon Wrapped Chicken with Spinach Salad and Paprika Jus

I referred to http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,161,130176-248196,00.html to check the feasibility of the dish and to get some ideas.

The idea of this is pretty simple. Wrap the chicken breasts with bacon instead of ham. Use spinach instead of arugula (its cheaper). I decided to toss in some fusilli pasta and make a spinach salad in the style of Aglio Olio which uses olive oil and garlic only. I intended to create a salad after TopTable's Panzenella.

I added sliced cucumbers and 1 whole piece of toasted crouton which I felt goes very well with the sauce. The dish is not made of 1 whole chicken breast, but rather 1 breast cut into 3 for presentation purposes.

There is nothing unique about the sauce. I added paprika for colour and it is there simply to give moisture to the otherwise dry chicken breasts.

Recipe:

1 breast of chicken

3 strips of streaky bacon

Half bunch of spinach, reserve 1 leaf for garnish

Hand full of fusilli pasta

1 tsp chopped garlic

4 tbsp olive oil

1 shallot sliced

1 piece of bread toasted and cut into 4 triangles

Cooking method:

1) Bring a small pot of water to boil and add the fusilli and cook until it is al dente (cooked to the tooth). Eat one to be sure that it is cooked. Drain the water.

2) Wash the chicken breast and cut into 3 strips. Wrap each one with a bacon strip. Bake at 200 degrees until it is thoroughly cooked and the inside is no longer pink.

3) Heat a small frying pan and add the olive oil. Stir-fry the garlic and shallots until an aroma is present. Add the spinach and pasta and cook until the spinach has wilted completely. Taste and season with salt.

4) To assemble, place a bed of the salad at the base of the plate. Place 2 strips of chicken on the bed of salad. Place the sliced cucumber and 1 piece of crouton on top of the 2 chicken. Place 1 more chicken on top of that. To garnish, slice up the reserved leaf and scatter on top.

Sauce preparation:

Simply heat a sauce pan and add 2 tbspn of cooking oil and add about 20 g of flour to that, cooking until it becomes a paste, about 10 seconds. Add in 200 ml of water and whisk to prevent lumps from forming. Bring the mixture to a boil and check the thickness.

You can adjust it by adding more water to make it thinner or adding cornstarch mixed with a tsp of water to create a thickening agent. I added paprika spices and lots of black pepper according to my taste and spooned it over the plate.

And here, you have an easy to prepare, yet tasty dish =)