Chinese New Year 2008 - Part 1

Yes, we all know Chinese New Year is just around the corner.

We have abalone, fish maw, cashew nuts, roasted meat slices, prawn crackers, biscuits, nuts, assorted types of cookies (home made/factory made), sharksfins, cuttlefish, oranges, Doritos, kueh sapit, kueh bangkit, sesame biscuits and sweets and LOTS MORE goodies from HK. Me thinks there will be lots of feasting all weekend!

p.s Oh, mighty higher powers of dieting - please guard me from falling off the wagon and do not let me put on more than 1 kg of fat please!

p.s Wait till you see Mum and Wm's traditional Cantonese radish cake - oh my god! - it's soooooo yummmmmeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

Little gymnast

Little F came for a visit today with her mum, and she showed us a step by step guide to a perfect wheel pose.

And a monkey pose.

And a wide angled seated forward bend.

Oh to be so young, cute and nimble!

Escargots in Garlic Butter

I used a classic recipe from Epicurious - one of my favourite sources for recipes and cooking techniques.

The butter paste was made up with butter, ground raw garlic paste, finely chopped shallots, finely chopped fresh parsley, salt & black pepper. (I omitted white wine for obvious reasons).

All you have to do is open and drain the tin of escargots, rinse with cooled boiled water. Stuff a little butter into the bottom of the shell, then an escargot, then seal with more butter. Place in the dish and pour some olive oil over the escargots.

I made 7 dishes for 8 guests as A does not take escargots, and put the rest into an oven proof dish.

Bake in oven till butter mixture has melted and slightly bubbly. Serve immediately with lots of warm baquette to mop up the precious tasty sauce.

Another pic.

Face your fears - have an "S-Car-Go" (to quote Mr AB).

For Rose who left a comment, the snails which I used are the canned variety from France - here is a link and another. I must agree they the snails do look quite fearsome due to their colour mostly but they are quite delicious (in small doses).

Prawn Cocktail

Nothing can be easier to make than this still very popular starter.

Peel, devein and lightly steam some prawns. Keep them in the fridge with stock soaked kitchen paper to keep prawns moist. Steam large prawns whole (don't forget to devein too) and keep as garnish.

Make cocktail sauce by using a good mayonnaise (e.g. Hellmans), mix with Heinz tomato ketchup, several generous dashes of tabasco and a squeeze of lemon juice.

Assemble by placing shredded lettuce in bottom of glass, top with prawns, cocktail sauce and garnish with fresh parsley and sprinkle some paprika and finely chopped red and yellow capsicum for colour, and of course the whole prawn and a wedge of lemon on the rim of the glass.

Here's M's picture of me assembling the starter before the guests arrived.

The Beef Stew

This is how the beef stew started for my dinner party yesterday evening.

Start with the freshest of beef shank cut into even sized largish pieces - I bought 2 kgs of meat and fried the meat in two huge batches.

Toss in plain flour, salt & pepper and fry on high heat till edges have browned. Don't worry that I am overcrowding the pan - remember this beauty here can take high heat and there was no chance whatsover the beef was going to start steaming. Add lots of assorted herbs and black pepper and bay leaves.

Fry vegetables separately (lots of red onions, garlic, carrots and leeks) till edges are slightly charred.

Add a large can of Bavaria non-alcholic beer to the meat.

Or red wine or beer for a non-halal version.

Add stock. Add charred vegetables and let the lot stew on low heat, stirring regularly.

It is very very important that you do not over or under do the meat - over and they all fall apart into shreds - you want the meat to maintain its shape but be tender enough to almost melt in the mouth and by using beef shank, you get the gelatinous bits in the meat which tenderises it further.....

Under and its tough - you don't want your guests to develop headaches from chewing and chomping on chunks of hard plasticky meat.

It doesn't look appetising at all at this stage, does it?

But give it time and this is what you get. A great tasting gorgeous meat stew, which looks and tastes great, made from a few simple ingredients.

The thickness of the gravy comes from the flour which coated the meat bef0re frying. Add mushrooms before serving.

Cooking, to me, is almost, almost like bringing up kids; you pay them a lot of attention and care - you have to know what makes them tick, understand their temperament, and leave them alone or keep a sharp/tender eye on them; and whatever happens under any circumstances, you give heaps and heaps of LOVE AND PERSONAL COMMITMENT into the task and you end up with great tasting food (or well balanced kids) which echoes your efforts.

Dinner Party - 1st Feb 2008

Wow, I am quite at a lost for words at the wonderful posts and words from Reeda, Pablo and M about their dining experience at my home.

Thank you for coming all of you lovely people; Pablo & Bunny, A & L, Reeda and Jeeda, and M. Last night was my first 'proper' dinner party in my new home and you guys truly warmed it.

Memorable moments: The Valentine shots of P & B and A & L by Reeda - SWEET!!!, 4 men (3 married, with their wives, and 1 single) in my bedroom (hahaha), goosebumpy ghost-stories, 72 snails disappearing before your very eyes, and best of all murmurs and moans from my good guests while tucking into the food, and Bunny's desserts and of course, the fun, laughter and great company.

I have so many beautiful pictures from all of you; but in the meantime please visit Pablo and Reeda and M for some of the best.

p.s. A, Thank you for the lovely gift and also big hug and thank you to your mummy for making me a nian gao.

M's plate.

Reeda's nicely food-styled plate.

Here's to more!

Sweet endings.

Great photos from Reeda, Pablo and M.

Dinner Party - Fri, 1st Feb 2008

Live from my kitchen

Buttery Mash

Very Buttery Mash