Passionate about Passion Fruit

Passion Fruit n Pistachio Pavlova

The Pavlova is so versatile that you can pick and choose any of your favorite fruits to go with it. My top choice is definitely with passion fruit and apricot.

takes 2 hours

serves a big party

100 g pistachio nuts, coarsely grind

2 tsp corn flour

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 tsp white wine / cider vinegar

300g caster sugar

8 egg whites, whisked to soft peaks

400ml crème frâiche, whipped

4-6 passion fruits

6 apricots (or peaches), skinned

3 tbsp Grand Marnier

2 tsp icing sugar

• Preheat oven to 140C.
• The Meringue - Whisk egg whites till stiff and in a glossy mixture. Slowly add in caster sugar while whisking.
• The Pavlova - Blend in the corn flour, vanilla extract and vinegar mixture into the meringue. Fold in ½ portion of the pistachio nuts. Spoon the pavlova mixture onto the non-stick baking sheet. Swirl the edges and hollow out a dip in the centre. Bake the pavlova for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Leave it to cool down on a wire rack in the oven with the door opened.
• The Filling - Whisk crème frâiche with icing sugar till in whipped form at desired sweetness. Cut the apricots in wedges and scoop out the passion fruits.
• The Sauce – Purée 1/3 of the apricots with icing sugar and a dash of Grand Marnier in a blender. Add 1-2 piece of ice cubes if a lighter sauce is desired.
• The Serving - Spoon a layer of whipped cream on the pavlova. Spread the passion fruits followed by the peaches. Sprinkle the rest of the pistachio nuts on top.

Be sure you have a GIANT plate to handle 

this GIGANTIC piece of ART!

For tips on the meringue, 
refer to the recipe on baby pavlovas.

Wild Wild Wet

Cream of Mushrooms

Looking for a soup to go as part of your full menu or to have it solo, give mushrooms a go. I still miss those days when I used to hang out with Vero, Ashley and David in the 5^e at a restaurant called les champignons!!

serves 6

the soup

500g of wild mushrooms of your choice (brown and white button, portobello, girolles, etc)

30g butter

4 Italian shallots, finely chopped

500ml of chicken stock

300ml of cream

60ml of cream, whipped (optional)

the puff stick

1 package of puff pastry
olive oil
few sprigs of basil / thyme, chopped
bacon, pan-fried in small strips (optional)
parmasen, grated

• Wash, pat dry and slice all mushrooms.
• Stir fry shallots with olive oil in medium heat for 1-2 minutes, set aside.
• Saute all mushrooms in hot pan with butter and olive oil. Season them with sea salt and pepper. Reserve about 18 slices of mushrooms on the side for garnish. 
• Pour in chicken stock and cream into the shallots and mushrooms and bring to a boil then simmer for 12 – 16 minutes till the flavor intensified. Add a few cubes of butter in the soup as wished.
• Puree the mushroom mixture in a blender. Season to taste as needed.
• Roll the puff pastry on a lightly floured work surface into ½ cm thickness. Cut the pastry into 2cm wide strips. Drizzle with olive oil.  Sprinkle sea salt, parmesan, chopped basil / thyme with or without pan-fried bacon bits on top. Twist the pastry strips till it comes to a look of a spat. Bake in the olive at 160C till puffed and lightly browned.
• To serve, pour the soup in individual bowls and garnish with the reserved mushrooms and whipped cream, followed by a puff pastry on top.

Keep It Rolling

Meat Ball Spaghetti

Whether you are cooking for a party of toddlers and kids….. or simply trying to bring back those good old memory of the high school days, Meat Ball Spaghetti would be one of the musts that you want to keep those fulfilling time rolling!

serves 4

the sauce 

1 leek / 2 celery sticks, chopped

2 pieces of carrots, chopped

½ purple onion, chopped in wedges

6-8 large quality sweet tomatoes / 2 cans of plum tomato, skinned and deseeded

1 bay leaf

1 tbsp of tomato paste

the sizable meat ball

300g minced pork

200g minced beef

1 cup of bread crumbs

1 egg

2 Italian shallots, finely chopped

1 tbsp fennel seeds

basil, chopped

sea salt and pepper

the final touch

a dash of maple syrup

parmesan, sliced
basil, roughly chopped

salt and pepper to taste
500g spaghetti

• Cut a cross on top of each tomatoes. Blanch the tomatoes in boiling water for 20 secs then remove and put straight into iced cold water. Skinned and deseeded the tomatoes 5 minutes after. 
• Stir fry leek / celery, carrots and shallots with olive oil. Season well with salt and pepper. Once the aroma is out and vegetable slightly softened, pour in the tomatoes. Cook for 2 minutes. 
• Pour the veggies into the blender and puree into sauce base. Re-apply into the casserole and fold in bay leaf and tomato paste.
• Mix meat ball ingredients well. Pat the mixture into 2 inches balls and coat them by rolling roll over extra bread crumbs, set aside. 
• Pan fry meat balls in medium hot pan with olive oil till the surface is lightly browned and crisp. Add the meat balls into the prepared vegetable sauce and simmer for another 15 minutes or until the meat balls are well cooked.
• Meanwhile cook the spaghetti to a large pan of boiling salted water till al dente, about 8 minutes, then drain.
• Season and taste the sauce base with extra, salt, pepper and a dash of maple syrup to bring a balance to the intensity of the tomato paste.
• Serve meat balls on spaghetti with a generous pour of vegetable sauce. Sprinkle parmesan and extra basil on top.

Tips: Being a Montrealers for 9 years, my auntie Esme taught me how splendid maple syrup could work to bring in a balance of sweetness and tartness of many sauce base.

Cut the Crab

薑葱炒蟹
Sauté Meat Crab 
with Ginger and Shallots

This is a distinctive recipe of stir fry crab invented by my dad when he was in his teenage year. 
I was told that my grandpa had once brought home a few pieces of crabs and asked my dad to handle them before set off for a nap. Without any clue or whatsoever, my dad ended up stir-fried the crab with loads of gingers and shallots plus a secret touch of eggs, which exceptionally well blended in with the crab roe. This dish remains to be one of our top favorites amongst family gathering and dinner with guests.

serves 6 - 8
2 large meat crabs 肉蟹 or 
4 young crabs 掩仔蟹, “live”
lots of spring onions, cut in 1&1/2cm long
1 large piece of good ginger, cut in think slices, flattened then chop in 1&1/2 cm cubes
3 beaten eggs, seasoned with salt
Vegetable or Canola Oil
sea salt to season

• Detach the claws from the crabs before wash. Remove the top shell and cut away any sharp edges, set aside. Discard the grit sac, the gills on both sides of the body and the bony tail flap from the underside of the crabs. Chop the crabs in truck pieces leaving the legs attached to the body parts, about 8 parts for a large sized crab or 6 parts for a young crab. Hammer the claws till the shells are cracked.
• Heat up a big wok in big fire with a generous amount of oil. Stir in gingers and spring onions  for about ½ a minute till the aroma drawn out but not browned. Pour in the crabs and keep stirring until the shells turn colored. Then covered till the crabs are well cooked, about 3-4 minutes, splash water around the edge of the wok cover if needed.
• Once the crabs are cooked, gradually pour in the beaten eggs while stirring the crabs to allow the eggs well blend in especially with the crab roe and gingers.

Dad can cook AND write!

An Unfinished Bottle!

hello! checking freshness

Fresh Clams in Champagne 
酒煮蜆

Again, there left another unfinished bottle of champagne. We wouldn't mind to throw in some clams as appetizer, non?!

30 live large clams 花甲

2 cups of Champagne (or dry White)

4 cloves of garlic, smashed

25g semi-salted butter

1 small chili, deseeded (optional)

2 tbsp olive oil

handful of parsley, roughly chopped

wake up pls!

• Shake clams to wake them up before cooking. This will help prepare them to release their tension and open up easier when cooked.
• Heat up butter and oil in a hot casserole.
• Add in garlic and stir without browning.
• Pour in clams and shake along the casserole. Splash in champagne and covered. Shake occasionally.
• Once clams are opened, stir in parsley and off the fire.

Serve immediately along the clams juice and champagne sauce.

delightful while effortless!

To WOW Your Guests!

Squid & Frog Leg Fritti

If you are really really in the mood for party, pick this as your appetizer or as 1^st course. Your friends and family would surely “WOW”!

serves 8

Fritti

16 pieces of small squids, smaller size ones preferred

8 froggies, only take the legs & thighs

2 egg whites

1 cup of frying powder

vegetable oil for deep-frying

sea salt and freshly grounded pepper to season

• Wash squid and frog legs separately with salt and cornstarch. Drain and pat dry.
• Beat egg whites in a bowl and season. In batches, place squids or frog legs separately in egg whites then coat in frying powder.
• Deep fry squids and frog legs separately in small batches with very hot vegetable oil in a big casserole without crowding. Then reduce the fire to medium till the squids and frog legs start sizzling in the oil and turn golden browned. Transfer the squids and frog legs on a wire rack. Season the Fritti well with sea salt and pepper. Discard the frying residuals in the oil. Turn the fire back on high heat and continue frying other batches.

Tartare, my way

1 tsp capers, smashed

1&1/2 tsp Dijon mustard

few sprigs of dill, chopped

3 tbsp mayonnaise

Sea salt to taste

• Blend in all ingredients for the dip and set aside.

Serve Frtti while hot with the prepared dip and lemon / lime wedges on the side! 

And ….. ATTACK!

Simply Classic!

French Onion Soup!

Backed in those days, Onion Soup was never an ordinary year round serving. I have to wait till Oct to get my favorite one at Café Des Deux Magots in the Saint-Germain neighborhood. Now I can serve it all year round anytime our guests wished.

serves 6

6-8 medium brown onions, thinly slices

8 cups of beef stock

1 clove of garlic, smashed

½ cup of dry vermouth or white wine

50g semi-salted butter

1 bay leaf

few sprigs of thyme

sea salt to season

olive oil

6 croutons

6 slices of gruyère (or grated if not crazy about cheese)

grated parmesan (optional)

• Slow cook onions in butter over medium high fire. Season with salt. Keep stirring until onions are caramelized. The onion should turn glossy brown when ready. The caramelizing process may take more than ½ an hour and it gives the sweetness of the onions.
• Add in garlic, bay leaf, and beef stock and simmer the soup for 30 minutes till the soup base taste well blended.
• Preheat oven to 180C
• Serve the soup in individual oven friendly bowls. Lay each bowl with a slice of crouton followed by a slice of gruyère and grated parmesan. Bake till the gruyère turn golden browned. Hummmm

baa baa Black Sheep have u any Wool?

Classic Rack of Lamb

served with Pesto Pasta

Wanted to find an excuse to open a bottle of nice Red? This effortless lamb chops could be an ideal trial!

serves 2

5-6 ribs of rack of lamb

few sprigs of rosemary and thyme

3 cloves of garlic, smashed

olive oil

sea salt and pepper

• Marinate the lamb with olive oil, rosemary, thyme and garlic for at least 1 hour  or overnite and refrigerate.  Take the lamb out at least ½ hour in advance before cooking so it can be cooked evenly in room temperature.

• Season the lamb and sear in hot olive oil and butter in frying pan for about 1 minute on each side till crisp and golden. The meat should be in medium rare. Rest the meat for 10 minutes before serving.
• Accompany with pesto spaghetti or assorted grilled veggies.

* For the pesto, see recipe in March 2011 under A Good Companion.

Unhealthy but Yummy!

Nachos Time! 
Movie Time!

Thinking to spoil yourself over the weekends? Here's a tempting one! 

• Just pour your favorite toppings over your nacho chips. We normally pick pan-fried bacon strips, buttered prawns, brown button mushrooms / portabellos, shallots / chives. 
• Cover toppings super generously with shredded parmesan, cheddar and mozzarella.
• Bake in oven at 180C till crisp and golden brown. 

Dig in!!

Chinese Feast!

Sang Choi Bao
The Prosperity Wrap


Who said Chinese do not like salad? Certainly not when it comes to “Sang Choi 生財” for better prosperity!

serves 4-6
6 Chinese dried mushrooms, soaked / steamed and diced

2 -3 good size dried scallops, soaked / steamed and shredded

6 water chestnuts, flattened and roughly chopped

300g minced pork

100g toasted pine nuts

a handful of parsley

1 iceberg lettuce

seasonings for the pork – soy sauce, sugar, corn starch, sesame oil, vegetable oil, pinch of white pepper (optional)

• Soak mushrooms and scallops separately for at least 3 hours or overnight. Reserve the juice after discarded the residuals. 
• Marinate the pork with seasonings.
• Stir-fry the pork at high fire for about 30 secs on each side without stirring so to have a slight crispness. 
• Fold in mushrooms and scallops, stir-fry slightly. Add in a bit of the reserved juice from scallops and mushrooms. Lower the fire and cook for a few minutes. 
• Once all ingredients are nearly ready to serve, fold in water chestnuts and fry briefly till cooked. There should be a consistency of moist in the pork and mushrooms while crunchiness in the water chestnuts.
• At last sprinkle the toasted pine nuts and parsley in the mixture and off the fire.

Serve with fresh lettuce as ap

petizer of your Chinese feast!