In the roasting mood!

A Thankful Roast!

Get yourself in the festive roasting mood! A Poussin could be just as thankful as a Turkey!

1 poussin (French spring chicken)2 garlic cloves, crushed
sprigs of sage
sprigs of thym
demi-sel butter, diced
lemon zest
nutmeg
ground pepper
sea salt
20ml dry white
olive oil

• Pre-heat oven at 180 degree.
• Rinse and pat dry the poussin thoroughly. Season with nutmeg and lemon zest then set aside on a chicken chair.
• Mix together the butter, thym and garlic.
• Gently detach the skin over the breast and backbone. 
• Stuff the prepared butter under the skin. Smooth out the skin over the poussin and place it on a roasting tray. Season the chicken with sea salt and pepper  generously inside out.
• Tide the legs together and get prepared for roasting.
• Roast the poussin for around 30 minutes or more until cooked.
• Baste the poussin with the meat juice every other 10 minutes.
• Let the poussin rest for 10-15 minutes in a warm place. 
• Meanwhile, deglaze the roasting pan over medium heat on stove with water or white wine. Season to taste.
• Serve the poussin while warm and juicy with seasonal veg.  Spoon with the roasting juice over the meat.

Tips:

• If the skin turned golden brown too quickly during roasting, cover it loosely with a foil paper brushed with olive oil or butter. Be sure the foil would not break the skin.
• Basting the poussin while roasting will help generate more juice and lock the moist within the meat.
• Do not melt the butter as cold butter would bring out crisp to the skin.

Stick w Me!

Baked Portobello with Iberico Ham n Goat Cheese

Excellent appetizer to start with! 

Enjoy it with a flute of Ruinart!

 

6 small Portobello mushrooms

6 slices of Iberico ham

2.5oz Goat Cheese (Crottin de Chavignol), sliced into 6 circles

few sprigs of thym

1 clove of garlic, smashed

sea salt

freshly grounded pepper

• Pan-fry Portobello for 2-3 minutes with olive oil n a snob of demi-sel butter in high heat until half cooked. Season with sea salt n pepper.
• Place the Portobello on a baking tray, and paint each piece briefly with garlic.
• Place a slice of Iberico ham followed by a slice of goat cheese on each Portobello.
• Sprinkle thym and pepper on top and bake in the oven at 180 degree until the cheese turned crisp n golden brown.

Serve hot!

Works just like a Muse!

Spaghetti with Mud Crab

in creamy tomato sauce

A plate of seafood pasta in the middle of the week will never fail to enlighten your hard working days with positive energy!

serves 3 - 4

1 large live mud crab (Dungeness will do as well)

6 - 8 pieces of cherry tomatoes, halved

1 scallion, finely chopped

1-2 garlic, finely smashed

50g of demi-sel butter

100ml double cream

4 tbsp Parmesan cheese, grated

150ml dry white wine

handful of basil, chopped

sea salt n pepper to season

olive oil

500g of spaghetti

• Steam the crab as a whole for 20 minutes. Leave the crab cooled down then refrigerate for at least 2 -3 hours so the meat will stay firm and plump.
• Detach all crabmeat from the body, legs and claws as much and in big pieces as possible. Discard all dirt sac. Set aside.
• In a hot non-stick pan with olive oil and a cube of demi-sel butter, add in the garlic and sauté the cherry tomatoes over medium heat. Add the wine and season with pepper and cook for about 3 minutes till the wine has evaporated in half. Set aside.
• Cook the spaghetti to a large pan of boiling salted water with olive oil and cook till al dente, about 8 minutes, then drain.
• Meanwhile in a clean hot pan, sauté the crabmeat and roe with scallion in olive oil and butter for 2-3 minutes, season with pepper, then mix into the prepared tomato sauce. Incorporate the cream into the sauce and cook in moderate heat for another 1-2 minutes till well blended and heated. Leave the ingredients in the pan and off the fire.
• Once the spaghetti is ready, drain and toss into the sauce followed by the grated Parmesan.
• To serve, divide the pasta between warm plates and drizzle with a little olive oil (or truffle oil). Serve immediately.

Shanghai True Blue?!

Shanghainese Wonton 菜肉餛飩

For age…eees, even before we know what Shanghai is all about, our childhood has always been enlightened with occasional homemade Shanghainese Wonton. Overtime every single one in the family became a wonton veteran.

~ 100 wantons

the wrapper

100 pieces of wanton wrap (square shape ones at Shanghainese vendor)

the filling

1½ catties ground pork (HK$30-40)

2 catties of watercress 西洋菜 or 薺菜

2 packs of Sichun preserved vegetable, finely chopped

seasoning (adjust to personal taste)

~4 tbsp corn starch

~ 4 tbsp light soya

2 tbsp sesame oil

1 tbsp cooking oil

2 tbsp caster sugar

one egg wash

pinch of white pepper (optional)

splash of water if too sticky or more corn starch if too wet

the broth (for a bowl of 10 wontons)

1 tsp sesame oil

2 tsp soya

1tbsp shallots, green and white, chopped

boiling water

Preparation:

• Blanch watercress in boiling water for about 1 minute or until color changed. Set aside in a sieve. Squeeze water out of the watercress in batches (as if you do it with your towel). Finely chop the veg and set aside.
• Finely chop the Sichun preserved vegetable.
• Marinate pork with all seasonings.

Wrapping the Wonton (refer to pictures):

• Have a dish of water within reach.

• Place a teaspoonful of filling in the very center of the wrap, leaving about ½ an inch allowance from the edges.

• Fold the wrap in half lengthwise. It should change from a square shaped to a rectangle. Press the edge slightly to seal (brush a bit of water with fingertips between the edges if needed).

• Fold over the long edge of the wrap towards the centre by about  ½ a cm. 

• Then bring the 2 tips along the centerside of the wrap inward to overlap each other, pinch to seal with a drop of water.

• TaDa! The wonton should be able to sit up like a crown.

Cooking the wontons:

• Bring to a large pot of hot water, but not boiling, with a drizzle of cooking oil. If the water comes to a boil already, pour in a cup of cold water. Put in about 20 wontons at a time. When the pot comes to a boil, pour in a large cup of cold water. Repeat this process by pouring at least 3 cups of cold water. This process will help ensure the pork fillings are well cooked.

Serve immediately over a large bowl of prepared broth.

Tips:

• Wrap and cook one wonton to check the taste and texture before moving on to wrap the rest will allow you to adjust seasoning to taste.
• It is important not to put the wontons straight into boiling water, as the wrappers will burst easily. Pour in a cup of cold water if needed.
• You may put the unfinished quantity into the freezer for 2-3 weeks. They will taste just as good in broth, pan-fried served with Worcestershire or deep fried served with sweet & sour sauce.

A Worthy Treat!

Honghongese Chicken Tartlets 
by Madame Olivia Tai

Thinking to host a tea time occasion for your relatives and friends coming in town throughout the year? There is nothing more appropriate than to treat them with the authentic hongkongese chicken tartlets. We have tasted this recipe from our godson’s mother. It was so much lighter, fluffier and yet just as fantastically satisfactory!

Pastry Crust

230g plain flour

130g butter, diced

25g beaten eggs

15g sugar                        

½ tsp baking powder (optional)

1 egg yolk (for brushing)

a few small pastry moulds for baking

• Rub butter together with the plain flour and baking powder to become fine crumbs
• Blend in sugar and eggs into flour mixture
• Refrigerate and chill the pastry for 30 mins

The Filling
225 chicken fillet, diced
 ½ onion, diced
6-8 button mushrooms, diced
olive oil for cooking

Seasoning

1 egg white             

1tbsp water            

1tsp cornstarch

1tsp sesame oil

1tsp light soya sauce

1tsp sugar

½tsp salt

a pinch of pepper

Thickening Agents

1tsp cornstarch

1tsp oyster sauce

¼ cup water

• Marinate chicken fillet with seasonings and refrigerate for 30 mins
• Stir-fry chicken fillet in medium heat with olive oil until cooked and tender, set aside. Stir-fry onion in medium heat with olive oil to get the aroma out but not browned.
• Stir in mushrooms, season and sauté till slightly softened.
• Incorporate chicken fillet and continue to stir-fry briefly until all ingredients are well blended.
• Stir in the thickening agents for sauce till the fillings become a little starchy and moist.
• Set aside to cool down.

The Tartlets

• Preheat oven to 180C
• The pastry crust - Pat together to form small balls of dough. Gently thinner the dough by pressing onto each individual baking moulds. Trim off any excess pastry from the sides.
• The pastry wrap - Roll out a portion of the pastry to 3mm thickness. Line pastry against the mould top to give you a wrap with exact measure of the tartlet top (You may do this by pressing a rolling pin on top or to press the mould onto the pastry up-side down to get the exact shape). Prepare the same amount of wraps as the crusts.
• Fill each pastry crust with the prepared filling, followed by a pastry wrap on top. Slightly press the sides of the wraps with fingertips.
• Brush egg yolk on tartlets top. Prick the surface with a toothpick to help letting out the steam while baking.
• Bake for 25-30 mins or until golden brown.
• Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

 

Tips from Madame O

• The flour could become quite soft and wet when kneading the dough. Use butter in solid diced form and fingertips only in order to arrive in crumbs.
• Chilling the crust will help get the crisp after baked.
• The baking powder is optional. Use it if you prefer more crunchy tartlets.