FV48-05-0111

It's been an overcast and rainy weather the whole week,,, it's the perfect time for a really good soup. I am not armed with many soup. I only know how to make chicken sopas and cooks the one from a packet! I know pathetic,,, but I'm getting there.

Got this really great soup from one of my books and it is indeed hearty.

Tip 1: Make sure you cut all the ingredients all at the same size for even cooking
Tip 2: If you don't have a home made beef broth, you can always use the beef broth cubes
Tip 3: Degrease the soup for better presentation, unlike me, I just served it as is as I was hungry!
Tip 4: Mirepoix is a combination of equal parts, onion, celery and carrot

Took me 30 minutes 

Ingredients:
45 grams of butter
375 grams, mirepoix*, small dice
2 cloves, garlic cloves, chopped
1 liter beef broth
125 grams beef, small dice
Bouquet Garni:
   1 Bay leaf
   1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
   1/2 teaspoon crushed peppercorns
   8 parsley stems
100 grams tomato concasse
75 grams potato, small dice
100 grams corn kernels, fresh, frozen or canned
Salt and pepper

Makes 1.25 liters
Serves 4

In a soup pot, sweat the mirepoix in butter until tender.

Add garlic and saute lightly.

Add the beef broth or stock and the diced beef; bring to a simmer. Add the bouquet garni. Skim or degrease as necessary.

Simmer until the beef and vegetables are tender, approximately 30 minutes.

Add the tomato concassee, corn and potatoes, simmer for 10 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Serve piping hot!

-AcousticChef.... cookin' one tune at a time!

FV47-04-0111

Vegetable meal is a challenge. Parents like me has to be creative and it's not impossible to be one, the resources for gazillions of recipes are everywhere, from books, friends, and yes, the widest resource of them all.... the internet.

Mornay sauce is one of the many cheese sauces. The secret is not to make it too thick, stir the cheese off the heat so that it melts gently... don't rush...

Tip 1: Have equal quantities of broccolli and cauliflower heads so it's not too green and not too boring.
Tip 2: This sauce can also be used with pasta. The cheese crumbs make a whole lot of difference 
Tip 3: If you prefer smaller bites, you can slice the inner parts of broccolli and cauliflower florets
Tip 4: Do not overcook/overboil the vegetables!
Tip 5: Use a shallow oven dish so you have just one layer of vegs and each bite gets your cheese crumble

Took me 20 minutes...

Ingredients:
1 medium cauliflower
1 medium broccolli
1 onion
3 hard boiled eggs, quartered
2-3 tbsp seasoned breadcrumbs

For the mornay sauce:
3 tbsp butter
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
2 1/2 cups milk
1 1/4 cups grated mature cheddar cheese
freshly grated nutmeg
salt and ground black pepper

Serves 3

Trim the cauliflower and broccoli ends and cut them into even-size florets.

Bring a large pan of lightly salted water to the boil and cook the cauliflower, broccolli and onion slices for 5-7 minutes or until just tender.

Drain the vegetables and arrange in a shallow flameproof dish and add the quartered eggs.

To make the sauce, melt the butter in a pan and stir in the flour. Cook gently for 1 minute, stirring occassionally and taking care not to brown the flour.

Gradually add the milk, whisking constantly. Bring to the boil, whisking until smooth and thick. Lower the heat and simmer for 2 minutes.

Whisk in 3/4 of the cheese and season with nutmeg, salt and pepper

Preheat the broiler. Pour the sauce over the veg. Mix the remaining cheese and breadcrumbs.

Sprinkle the cheese and breadcrumb mixture over the vegs. Grill (broil) until bubbling and golden brown.

Enjoy the yummy concoction!

-AcousticChef.... cookin' one tune at a time!

FV46-03-0111

Having two boys who aren't particularly adventurous (at the moment) when it comes to food, I have to be extra creative, not to mention, extra patient. They love to eat but the dish I put forth must deliver in all aspect, otherwise, it'll be a resounding "no thanks mommy, can I eat something else?"

There are times when I slaved in the kitchen for hours thinking they'll like what I cooked and then they'll request for mac and cheese or meat loaf or something ridiculously simple.

My oldest one seems to be okay lately. Majority of the time, he accommodates my request to at least give the food a try and discover that he actually likes the dish. My youngest is a bit of a primadonna, hence the nickname El Divo.

If it's a new dish, it better look FANTASTIC and must equally smell DELISH... otherwise, he'll cover his nose and request for the absurd menu listed on top.

So I found this very simple and easy way to prepare salmon but looks, tastes and smells yum.

Tip 1: De-bone the very rare ones you can find from the fish. You can feel if as it sticks out when you run your fingers on it. Use tweezer that you specifically reserve for this purpose please.
Tip 2: Do not overwash the fish otherwise you'll take out the oils and flavours that you want from it.
Tip 3: Some like their salmon a bit rare in the middle, so you cook it the way you want it. As you fry it, you can see the bottom part turning opaque which is a sign that it's cooked until that level.
Tip 4: If you don't have a broiler, put the cheese mixture on top of the fish the minute you flip to cook the other side. Cover the pan immediately to melt the cheese.

Took me just a jif!

Ingredients:
2 pcs of salmon fillet/steak (150-200 grams each)
1/4 cup bread crumbs (seasoned or not)
1/2 cup matured coloured cheddar cheese (or whichever cheese you love the most)
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 knob of butter

Lemon-Butter Sauce (<--click)

Serves 2

Debone and take off the skin of the fish. Rinse it lighly in cold water, pat dry with paper towel

Season fish with salt and pepper and set aside.

Mix bread crumbs and cheese together and set aside.

Heat butter and olive oil. Add the fillet and fry just to your liking. Flip it once the bottom half start turning opaque.

Fry the other side until cooked.

Put the cheese mixture on top and broil until the cheese bubble and crumbs form.

Place the cooked fish on a serving plate with Lemon-Butter Sauce. Perfect dish for Garlic Fried Rice with grilled or pan fried asparagus....

Happy Eating!

-AcousticChef, cookin' one tune at a time!

FV45-02-0111

A long time ago I ate Garlic Prawn at one Cafe and fell in love with it. Aside from the garlic taste which the name promised... I tasted something much better in the background. It was definitely lemon and butter but I couldn't figure out how.

Before I got really interested in cooking, I tried melting butter and then adding lemon juice on it and then use it as condiment. Then realized, it's not well mixed that it keeps on separating. Gave up after couple of tries.

Now I found the secret... and it's now out in the open!

Tip 1: Follow the recipe first then make your adjustments to satisfy your taste buds
Tip 2: Make sure the butter is at room temperature for the components to be well mixed.
Tip 3: You should only make sauce enough for your meal. This sauce doesn't keep well and can only be kept 2 hours before serving. Warm but not at all simmering.
If you re-heat this, butter and lemon will separate and will no longer look ideal for the purpose. If not used, discard.

*Perfect with Pan-fried Salmon Steak with Cheese Crumb Crust

Took me less than 10 minutes.

Ingredients:
200 grams butter, room temperature, diced
70 ml lemon juice, freshly squeezed
70 ml brown sauce or beef broth
Salt and pepper to taste

Makes about half a liter. 

Heat up lemon juice and brown sauce in a sauce pan. Slowly add knobs of butter in the mixture, whisking well and working on and off the flame. Make sure butter is melted and whisked well before adding another.

Add salt and pepper to taste, taking into consideration the saltiness of your main ingredient, whether it's fish or shrimp.

Keep warm.

Before serving, pass the sauce through a chinois or fine mesh to catch pepper bits and ensure your sauce looks clean and crisp.

Serve as in the photo or if using garlic prawn, drizzle on top of the garlic and keep some as condiment on the side.

Pretty sure this can also be perfect drizzle for stir fried and grilled veggies, ideally big asparagus sticks... yum yum!

FV44-01-0111

Salmon is one of the very few fish I eat. I'm getting there,,, I love food but I'm still limited to the seafood arena,,, having quite bad childhood memories with it, it's taking awhile to embrace their glory...

Tip 1: Make sure you de-bone the steak. 

This took me just 25 minutes, it was a breeze....

Ingredients
6 ounces salmon steak, skinned
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice, divided into 1tbsp and 2 tbsps
2/3 cup thinly sliced red onion
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 celery rib, thinly sliced crosswise
2-3 tablespoons of red pepper flakes
dash of cayenne pepper (depending on how spicy you want the dish to be)
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup coarsely chopped cilantro

2-3 Servings

Cook onion in oil in a heavy skillet over medium heat, stirring occassionally, until pale golden, about 3 minutes. Add celery and pepper flakes, stirring until celery just begins to soften, about 2 minutes.

Add cream and bring just to a boil, then add salmon with its juice. Simmer until just cooked through and cream slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Stir in remainin 2 lime juice and 1/4 tsp salt.

Spoon seafood mixture on top of a garlic fried rice and sprinkle with cilantro.

Tangy, creamy and spicy... this dish is also great with shrimp!