Caramelized Onion and Roasted Chicken Thigh Risotto

There are some things that I can never get enough of, onion an example. I am an onion person, they are perpetually in almost all of my dishes and one thing's for sure, they definitely won't give you a distinct repugnant body odor. Or breath, in that manner, I swear. If you stink and you also happen to eat loads of onions, enough of the blaming game, time to get yourself some bath scrubs and shower foam.

That aside, who the hell dosen't like some good old roast chicken? If for some reason you find it distasting then "sucks to be you" because right now I have an absolutely mind-blowing recipe to share -

Lemon-Garlic-Rosemary Roast Chicken Thighs

Mise En Place
Makes 3 chicken thighs

3 Chicken Thighs, skin on, patted dry with kitchen paper
3 Sprigs of Rosemary, halved lengthwise
3 Slices of Lemon
3 Cloves of Garlic, Crushed
E.V.O.O
Sea Salt & Black Pepper

- Preheat oven 220 Celcius.
- Carefully shaft your finger between the meat and the skin, creating a pocket without having the skin to fall off.
- Stuff lemon and garlic into the pocket.
- Rub the exterior of the chicken with salt, pepper and minimal olive oil.
- Place each chicken thigh on a baking tray with rosemary underneath.
- Roast for 15mins.
- Lower heat to 125 Celcius and cook for another 15-20mins.
- Remove and discard stuffings and rosemary. Buon Appetito!

For my favorite part, here comes the caramelized onions -


It's pretty simple actually. Saute your chopped onions with butter until brown and deglaze with balsamico. Very easy, very tasty. To make the final product, you stir the onions and chicken with a basic risotto recipe, which I'm really lazy to post because there are tonnes of them at google, then season with salt and pepper.

Heading back to camp. See you soon.
Oh and I have turned on the comments already.

Chicken Saltimbocca with Garlic Aioli and Marinara, Watercress Insalate

An original recipe from a sudden flow of thoughts during a Sunday coffee chat proved that cooking can be done in the head. After multiple jolts of caffeine and nicotine supplementation, the brain will be analyzing things on its own. In my case, it was piecing out a formula for a subtle yet incredibly flavorful dish.

If you have tried Saltimbocca, you might be thinking along the lines of veal or another game meat, something heavy but also very robust and tantalizing. So I attempted to refine it, inside out.

I used Chicken, a lighter meat, coupled with a delicate garlic aioli and a hearty marinara, all topped and completed with a peppery watercress salad.

Mise En Place
Serves 2 lucky people

Saltimbocca
3 Boneless Chicken Fillets, skinned
3 Slices Prosciutto di Parma
3 Tbsp Grated Parmesan
1 Clove of Garlic, grated
a Sprig of Thyme
Juice of 1 lemon
3 Tsp Corn Starch
200ml Chicken Stock
100ml Dry White Wine
Sea Salt, Black Pepper
a Knob of Butter

Garlic Aioli
5 Cloves of Garlic
a Handful Italian Parsley
100ml E.V.O.O
1 Egg
Juice and Zest of 1 Lemon
Sea Salt and Black Pepper

Marinara
200g Roma Tomatoes, Pureed or Minced
3 Large Basil Leaves, Torn
3 Cloves Garlic, Crushed
1 Shallot, Minced
Small Handful Grated Parmesan
E.V.O.O

Watercress Insalate
a Handful of Watercress, Washed in Cold Water, Spun Dry
1 Tbsp Balsamico or Lemon Juice
50ml E.V.O.O
Sea Salt and Black Pepper

Garnish:
Basil, Thinly Sliced

- In a food processor or pestle and mortar, blend all ingredients for the aioli except the olive oil until smooth. Transfer to bowl and whisk in olive oil drop by drop. Season and refrigerate.
- Heat oil in pan, saute garlic and shallots until light brown. Pour in tomato puree and scatter basil leaves. Mix well and simmer 10 mins uncovered. Turn off heat and stir in parmesan. Season and set aside to cool.
- Sprinkle Chicken with S.&P., Thyme, Garlic and Corn Starch. Tenderize them with a pounder or pestle. Make sure they are of at most 1mm in thickness.
- Lay Prosciutto on top of each already flattened chicken. Roll them up tightly into cigars, secure with cooking string or toothpick.
- Sear the chicken with butter on all sides until golden brown in a hot griddle pan.
- Pour stock, wine and lemon juice into the pan and reduce until liquid dries up. Set aside.



- Dress watercress with E.V.O.O, salt, pepper and balsamico. Ensure that the watercress is completely dry before you dress, otherwise you'll have a soggy salad.

To plate, lay Saltimbocca, drizzle aioli, spoon marinara on top and drop the insalate . Finish it off with shreds of basil on the aioli.



Hope you enjoyed it. :) Bon Appetit.

The Affair with my own Blood

Minced Pork Ma-Po Tofu Ramen with Dou Miao



It's hardly I cook Chinese, mainly because it is everywhere in my country and that made western cuisines seem so much more interesting. Having enough of pasta, fries and butter, I find myself crawling back to my roots only to realize that my culinary knowledge of Chinese was meager. After all, I believe we need a balance of everything.

So very secretly, for the past weeks(2 to be exact), I've been studying a couple of recipes from deep east. It wasn't easy. Especially when Chinese techniques were the complete vice versa from French ones and some don't even make any sense. Very secretly again, I've been experimenting with the techniques for quite some time already and can only come to a conclusion that there is no theory in Chinese cooking, only trial and errors. I must admit, some dishes are really really amazing, like Peking Duck and Dong Po Pork. Trials and errors from the continent of 1,321,851,888. Quantity power.

After 5 hours of thinking and studying on a certain lonesome night in the army, I came up with this dish. Fantastic stuff. Felt like I'm standing firm on my roots again. Don't believe me? Try it yourself :)

Very briefly,

Mise En Place
Serves 4

200g Minced Pork
4 Ramen servings
5g Garlic, Minced
5g Shallots, Minced
5g Ginger, Minced
5g Bird's Eye Chilli, Minced
5g Dried Shiitake, Soaked in water for an hour, Minced
1 BlockSilken Tofu, Diced
1 handful Dou Miao, Cleaned
5g Scallions, Minced
100ml Chicken Stock
1 tbsp Oyster Sauce
2 tbsp Cornstarch, dissolve in hot water
2 tbsp Soy Sauce
2 tsp White Pepper, powdered
2 tbsp Sugar
2 tsp Chinese Preserved Cabbage
1 tbsp Black Bean Paste
1 tbsp Spicy Bean Paste
1/2 cup Shaoxing Wine
1/2 cup Chinese Black Vinegar
1 tbsp Sesame Oil
100ml Corn Oil


First get your wok or pan to medium and drizzle in the corn oil. Saute garlic, shallots, ginger 5 mins.
Add pork, chilli and wine. Saute 10 mins.
Get pot of salted water boiling for ramen.



Add black and spicy bean paste, oyster sauce, shiitake, scallions, sugar, preserved cabbage, chicken stock, cornstarch reduce 5-7mins, stirring often.

Cook the Ramen and drain.

Next throw in Dou Miao, soy sauce, sesame oil, tofu saute until dou main wilts.



Add pepper and stir in black vinegar. Turn off heat.

Toss with noodles and serve.

My Rating: 7.5/10.

Mummy's Birthday Dinner

It was an underpants sweating 6 hour ordeal, there were 5 courses, in which 2 of the dishes are from my repertoire. Hehe, so I be terribly sorry as usual, I can't post any of the recipes, top secret :)

You might be thinking that I must be such a great son but then again the main aim was to showcase my talents to Mom in hopes she'll contribute a part to my new Trattoria. HEHE, but then again it wasn't easy making a fine 5 course meal. Especially tough physically, mentally and in the pocket.

I started off with a Duet of Scallops, Fire and Ice, Cappasante con Brodo di Funghi and Ceviche of Scallops with XO sauce. The Ceviche was a recipe I got from Chef Migel that was the cold and delicate one and the Italian style scallop was spicy and hot. Tantalizing.



Followed by a Carpaccio of Pacific Snapper with Broccoli Florets and Red Pepper Vinaigrette, an inspiration from the local raw fish and sesame salad. It was good but could be a load better if I hadn't forgotten about the sesame oil! Baaaaaahhhh!

The first 2 dishes should be already driving them to ask for more, so the 3rd course's something that would fit the bill.



Portabello and Mozzarella Crostini. Very easy, very simple, rather common. One of my very favorites, you can never go wrong with thyme, mushrooms and cheese. Perfect combination.



Main course! One of my best recipes! Pan-roasted Leg of Duck with Fig and Raspberry Jus. It was undoubtedly PAINSTAKING to make this one. Mainly because I had to cut down 3 organic ducks and I'm not exactly skilled in doing it. The good thing is, the duck fat in the freezer has been restocked! More high class fries! Woo hoo!



And because dessert is such a cliche, I ended it with a Vanilla Caramel Panna Cotta with Berry Compote. There is no dessert like Panna Cotta, it is truly amazing.



The secret to making a good Panna Cotta is to ensure there isn't too much or little gelatin, there is a right amount you'll have to find out. Also, if you have something sweet to go with the Panna Cotta, like in my case, the compote, go very easy with the sugar. So that neither will be overpowering and they'll fuse together in perfect harmony in the mouth.


It's been a long day, I am awfully tired and in need of some fun. Off to the pubs! Until tomorrow, ciao-la!

Ragu of Chuck Tende with Farfalle "XXXVIII"

Ta-da! My very satisfied ragu with farfalle. However, to my regret, I cannot post the recipe for this one, it is one of those secret recipes in my repertoire so I hope y-all understand. But there are lots of pictures which, if you're good enough, you will know how i did it. Good luck!

Also I made Nobu's very popular black cod in sake and miso, which turned out really amazing.



Google "Nobu Black Cod" if you need the recipe, easy peasy but takes a shitload of time.





I'm not typing much today, mainly because I have to rush back to camp and also to run some errands. Hopefully, I will be back tomorrow night. Ciao.

Chicken with Confit of Potatoes, Mesclun and Natural Jus "F05"

Lesson learnt: never confit a chicken breast, ever. Because I was feeling adventurous today, I confit my chicken breast in a mixture of its own fat and olive oil in hopes of a tender and flavorful dish. I didn't exactly know what to expect so I tasted it halfway through, and it was painfully nostalgic - like the times when i was on a heavy diet of boiled chicken breast which got me full of wholesome proteins to lean my body up real good, for a bodybuilding competition(read intro on the right panel). Right now, however, i strongly believe that shit deserves to be in the bin. There was no doubt about that; i was eating reinforced steel. Very sadly that was the one and only chicken i have left in the fridge, so what the hell, just have it, tones my body a little anyway.



So the chicken confit was dead but I still wanted to do a confit today, quite badly I think. Hence the potatoes, which don't exactly go very well with chicken imo but just for the kick of making a confit.

I had some duck fat hibernating in the freezer for some time now then i thought it was time to burn the living LDL cholesterol out of them. Cause you know, duck fat + potatoes = high class fries (excerpt: Ninart's hypothesis)(thank you! :D).



And that went straight into the oven at a low heat for a few hours with a little rosemary,black pepper and the potatoes.



It's really nice to see them soaking up all the evil goodness, in which reminds me to schedule a cardiovascular workout first thing tomorrow morning, baaaaaahhh. Well well.. it's the law of karma you can never escape from.

When everything was done, the only thing outstanding was evidently the potatoes while the mesclun, which i dressed with the chicken confit oil and balsamico, wasn't half bad either. Ideas, ideas!

On a side note,
my medical leave for my lacerated finger has come to an end. So I'm heading back to camp tomorrow and god knows when I'll book out and cook again. I'll definitely work on something a last time tomorrow, after which, please pray for my speedy return.

Until then, ciao-la-la-la-la!

Seared Five-Spiced Sea Scallop on Sauteed Leeks, Oyster Mushrooms and Corn with a hint of Honey Lemon "F04"

You will find this very familiar if you have caught the NBC TV series Top Chef. Or if you haven't already, you're missing one hell of a culinary show. Tre(Season 3) made a seared scallop on truffled corn pudding dish before he packed his knives away and I can never forget that dish having it so related to my style of cooking.

So this is my version of the dish, which i used some asian spices and french methods. I'm gonna post the recipe again, but it takes some precision to make it work, so don't really bet on it.



Serves 2 lucky people
Sauteed Vegetables:
80g of Oyster Mushrooms, Chopped
Corn Kernels from 2 medium cobs
Half a leek, chopped
1 stick of butter
2 tsp Manuka Honey
Juice from 1/2 a lemon
2 tsp Chopped Chilli
200ml Chicken Stock
1 cup Dry White Wine
Sea Salt
Freshly Cracked Black Pepper

Scallops:
4-5 Fresh Sea Scallops, Deshelled
1 tsp Five-spice Powder
1 tsp Sea Salt
1 tsp Freshly Cracked Black Pepper
1 Tbsp Butter

Parsley Oil:
a handful of Italian Parsley
50ml Canola Oil
Sea Salt



First things first, put all the ingredients for the scallops except the butter, together in a small bowl, toss and set aside for it to marinate.

Using a pestle and mortar, bash up the parsley then drizzle in oil and salt. Mix it up then strain. If you don't have a pestle and mortar, a food processor will do just fine. Set aside.



Get a saute pan on medium low heat and throw in butter. When it melts, throw in corn and leeks with a pinch of salt. Saute for about 5 mins. Now throw in your corn, mushrooms and chilli toss it for a while. Crack in some pepper and a pinch of salt. Add the wine and reduce for 5 mins. Add chicken stock and reduce for a further 10 mins or until the sauce like consistency. Squeeze in lemon juice, then turn off heat. Stir in honey. Check seasoning. Leave it to cool for a bit.

Now bring a seperate pan up on medium heat and melt butter. Sear marinated scallops for 2-3 mins a side.



To plate, spoon the sauteed vegetables onto the centre of a plate and lay scallops on top. Drizzle scallop jus and parsley oil. Garnish with alfafa or garden cress. Enjoy!