Bobby Chinn

What's better than getting up close and personal with a celebrity chef and having his undivided time for half an hour prior to the cooking demo this afternoon?
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Coming this close to his tools of the trade and having him explain each and every item to all of us!!!

I thought this was the best part of the entire afternoon and I am so glad I asked him to show us his tools.

Getting into the lift with him. (hehe).

Pot Roast Guinea Fowl

Our friends S&H gave us two guinea fowls when they came over for the Peking Duck dinner. The fowls are from McFarm. I've never cooked this myself before, however Wm has cooked ginger wine with them and herb tonic soup too.

So here we go - 2 whole bulbs garlic, 15 shallots, 2 large onions and 4 bay leaves. Clean/trim the birds, there's quite a lot of fat under the skin. One was left whole, the other halved.

Here I've dusted the fowls with salt, black pepper and flour. I browned them thoroughly on my steak pan. The aromatics were browned separately in my dutch oven.

We interrupt this collage of photos to show a bored little girl playing outside in the rain, she added washing liquid to the tiled floor to create a slippery surface.

Next, the two half fowls were browned. I dusted rosemary and thyme onto the birds too. You want high enough heat to brown the skins but not hot enough to burn the oil so be a little careful, keep your eye on the flames and adjust accordingly.

The nicely browned skins will give so much flavour. Add the birds to the dutch oven, add more rosemary, thyme and dried parsley. I should really be using fresh herbs but oh well.

Then a good half bottle of white. Reduce reduce reduce, at this point I was really really torn - recipe books dictate adding a good quality stock you here - but it's a Sunday, I'm not going to make any - no thank you. SO. I had to reach for the Bisto jar - a tablespoon or so of chicken Bisto was added. eeeksss... But I wanted a rich slurpy gravy so don't shoot me.

No water was added at all - it was supposed to be a pot roast. Put lid on and simmer slowly. I added a tankard of red after an hour.

The birds needed almost 2.5 hours of cooking time to tenderise and soften them. But look at the gravy at the end - it was thick, shiny and so rich and flavourful.... (I was a bit caught up reading naughty bidarlah's blog, I almost forgot to take the pan off the fire).

Overall, I thought it was good, the meat was dark and falling off the bone; however breast meat was dry - did I make the dreaded mistake of overcooking to beyond redemption?

Some of us had rice.

And some had garlic pasta.

I really like looking at food posts with lots of pics but I must admit I have overdone it slightly here. hehe - I hope you enjoy them nonetheless :D

Irish Coffee

NON-HALAL POST

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How to make Irish Coffee at home.

Whip some pouring cream to soft peak consistency. For further excitement, add dash of whisky and little soft brown sugar to cream before whisking. Do not overwhisk! At best, the cream will become too stiff and at worst, a runny mess.

Put metal spoons into Irish Coffee glasses. This will stop glasses from cracking when boiling hot water is added to coffee granules. (Note: I bought these glasses from Yaohan at Seri Complex all those years ago, they have been used numerous times and so far I'm so glad they have been no cracks at all, I still have all 8 pieces). I guess you can warm the glasses in hot water too if you wanted too.

Add instant coffee and whisky into glasses, with some sugar. I'm using a 12 year old aged Dewar's...... Omit sugar for people who do not like sugar but personally I find a little improves the overall taste.

Add just boiled water. Quick stir.

Top with soft cream drizzled over the back of a spoon. You need a bit of practice for this. If you do this carefully, the cream will not sink to the bottom of the glass but will rest on the surface of the coffee creating a soft, creamy, fluffy layer.

Do not mix cream into coffee but sip through it.

Of course, omit alcohol if you wish.

There you are, if you've had this in a restaurant and paid $15 - $18 for a glass, try this at home. Use cheaper whisky like Red Label :-) for a more economical version.

p.s I don't know much but I know it is completely wrong to use the squirty 'cream' from a spray can for this recipe.

Porridge

Down with flu all week, I've hardly entered the kitchen but let me share some porridge pics with you. This porridge was made from a roast duck carcass. I added dried scallops & oysters and moss for extra taste and served up with century and salted eggs, fried shallots, ginger slices, soy sauce, white pepper and sesame oil.

Do leave me a note if you love porridge too :-)

HK March 2009

I never miss going to this Teo Chew eatery whenever I'm in HK. In the day, they serve the
freshest fish paste made into any shape imaginable, fish, meat, beef & squid balls as well as tripe, brisket and fried fish skin. In the evening, out comes various Teo Chew dishes such as braised goose, whole cuttlefish, tofu, peanuts all braising slowly in their individual claypots.

This is a bowl of broad rice noodles with fish roll, fish cake and seaweed in a delicious clear broth, topped with fried garlic, coriander and spring onions. Eat with chilli oil and red vinegar.

Squid balls (very tender and tasty).

Mee Siam - yeah!!

Saturday, 4th April 2009

Z invited us for tea and we had her mum's fabulous mee siam.

And chicken wings.


The mee siam is served with prawn sambal.

and bean paste spicy gravy.

Top with chives, boiled eggs, lime and fried tofu.

See how beautiful the food is.

Another look.

My serving.

And now with gravy added. The odd lighting is due to me trying to lessen the flash by putting my finger partially over it.

For dessert, A brought a cooling 'cheng tng' and I brought some mango pudding (made from a box - only effort was chopping up some mangoes to add to it) to go with curry puffs and butter cake.

Thank you for inviting us to tea, Z. Now everyone knows where the best mee siam ever is!!