Category: Uncategorized

Chicken Parm

We had guests over with kids, immediately this dish came to mind. There isn’t a single kid who does not like tomato pasta. For the adults, the breaded and cheesy chicken adds a layer of enjoyment. Use tomato passata for the marinara sauce, or replace with your own slow-cooked sugo if available. Be sure to wash your hands after handling the chicken.

Serves 5

Time: 🕰🕰
Effort: 💪💪

Ingredients:

350g pasta (70g per person)
2 chicken breast
1 jar tomato passata
1 teaspoon sugar
Salt and pepper
Flour, egg wash, bread crumbs
Dried oregano
Provolone cheese
Vegetable oil for shallow-frying

Method:

1. Butterfly chicken breasts and pat dry
2. Place between two pieces of kitchen towel, and roll flat with a rolling pin
3. Heat oil to around 160’c (medium sizzle when chicken placed within)
4. Set up flour, egg wash, and breadcrumbs station
5. Salt the flour and breadcrumbs
6. Add black pepper to the breadcrumbs
7. Dip chicken in flour, egg, flour, shaking any excess before each subsequent step
8. Shallow-fry in 2cm oil until golden
9. Preheat oven to 220’c
10 Prepare marinara sauce by mixing passata with sugar oregano, season to taste
11. Once chicken is crispy, bake with a few spoonfuls of the marinara sauce and the cheese on top for 10 minutes until cheese is melted
12. Meanwhile, boil pasta in salted water, then mix with marinara sauce until well coated and stained in red
13. Serve by sliding baked chicken pieces on top of pasta
14. Garnish with more dried oregano, or finely chopped parsley

Coq au Vin, simple ingredients version

One of the dishes that drew the world’s attention to French food.

We’re sure there are protected recipes of this dish, but for an informal weeknight meal, this could be whipped up with little attention and a large margin of error. We made this without usual ingredients such as mushrooms, bay leaf, thyme, pearl onions, burgundy red, chicken blood, and used very cheap whiskey (from corner store) instead of cognac, and the dish still felt complete.

Serves 2

Time: 🕰🕰🕰
Effort: 💪💪

Ingredients:

Chicken thigh, deboned
2 glasses of chianti
Salt and pepper
1/3 carrot
1/2 onion
3 shallots from wet market
2-inch section of fennel stalk
1 tablespoon flour
1 small knob butter
2 bacon strips
1 tablespoon of contents of canned tomato
Chopped coriander

Method:

1. Wash chicken thigh and place in a small zip lock bag
2. Fill with red wine, salt, pepper, and leave to marinate — the longer the better
3. In a dry pan without any oil, brown bacon on both sides; set aside
4. Add butter to the pan
5. Take chicken out from marinate, pat very dry and brown on both sides, mopping up the brown residues at the bottom of the pan
6. While browning the chicken, chop carrots, onions, and fennel stalk, and add to one side of the pan
7. Sprinkle flour onto the vegetables, mix
8. Remove chicken; set aside; continue to brown vegetables until sticky and burnt but not black
9. Deglaze bottom of pan with a bit of red wine 🍷
10. Once red wine almost gone, add a splash of whisky and either flambé or cook off the alcohol
11. Add the entirety of the red wine marinade and also the spoonful of canned tomato contents to the pan
12. Cut bacon into slices and add two-thirds to the pan
13. Add chicken to the centre of the pan
14. Simmer, covered, for 1 hour
15. Meanwhile, peel and quarter shallots and caramelise with butter
16. Once the hour is up, add two-thirds of the shallots and the remainder of the bacon to the pan and give it a good stir
17. Plate with sauce, then chicken, then more sauce
18. Garnish with remaining caramelised shallots and some chopped coriander
19. Serve with good, toasted bread

Walnut Crostone with Cavalo Nero

Our closest bakery (Urban Bakery, Hysan Place, haha) had walnut bread at end of day, hence we use this instead of crusty Italian bread. Adds a great twist while still keeping in line with the spirit of this classic Tuscan dish. Cavalo nero #locallygrown

Serves 2

Time: 🕰
Effort: 💪

Ingredients:

2 leaves of cavalo nero⠀
2 slices crusty bread, or walnut loaf⠀
1/2 garlic clove ⠀
Salt⠀
Water⠀
Good e.v. Olive oil 

Method:

1. Slice two pieces of bread diagonally, around 1.5cm thick⠀
2. Select two leaves of cavalo nero of similar length ⠀
3. In a small pan, boil the leaves with salted water and garlic clove, until leaves are soft but not crumpled⠀
4. Set aside leaves to cool; retain liquid in pan ⠀
5. Toast bread until crunchy⠀
6. Soak bread in cooking liquid until softened on one side⠀
7. Place bread on tray, soaked side up⠀
8. Carefully lay one leaf on each slice⠀
9. Drizzle with olive oil and serve

Purple Mountain Yam | Two ways (Yamaimo, 紫山芋)

This came in the delivery today. We couldn’t wait to immediately use it. We made two quick dishes from this: tororo rice with marinated yolks, and a pan-fried dish. Both are delicious and super easy to make

Serves 2

Time: 🕰🕰🕰
Effort: 💪

Ingredients:

For the tororo rice:

2 egg yolks
Rice
A piece of purple yamaimo
2 tablespoons Japanese soy sauce

For the pan-fried purple yamaimo:

A piece of purple yamaimo
Salt
Nori
Olive oil

Method:

For the rice:

1. The night before, marinate two egg yolks in 2 tablespoon of Japanese soy sauce
2. Leave in fridge for 1 day
3. On the day, boil rice
4. Peel skin off a section of the yamaimo, but leaving some skin on so as to give you a place to hand on to (otherwise, the flesh is very slimy)
5. Grate the yamaimo over the rice, forming a thick goop
6. Add yolk into each bowl with a bit of the marinade
7. Garnish with nori, cut with scissors

For the pan-fried yam:

1. Peel and cut yamaimo into 1.5 cm slices
2. Pan-fry in olive oil on both sides, around 3 minutes each, until lightly browned and crispy
3. Season and serve with more nori

Polenta Provençale

Crispy and soft, this fills you up without making you feel dreary. The trick is to boil the polenta with a mixture of milk and stock, rather than just water. Goes well with grilled fish and tomatoes. Like all “poor man’s food”, this can be served at all levels of sophistication, from dorm to Michelin star.

Serves 2

Time: 🕰🕰
Effort: 💪💪

Ingredients:

100ml polenta
200ml milk
200ml vegetable stock
Salt
Butter

For the condiment:

Some mushrooms
Some coriander leaves and stalks
Some tomatoes
1 teaspoon mustard
Olive oil
Small splash of white wine
Very small knob of butter
3 tablespoon water
1/2 teaspoon flour
Herbes de Provence
Rosemary

Method:

1. Combine milk and stock and bring to boil
2. Season with salt
3. Pour in polenta slowly with one hand while mixing vigorously with the other
4. After 3-5 minutes of cooking, polenta starts to cling to the sides of the pot, but still runny
5. Transfer polenta to a flat tray
6. Spread out evenly to 2cm in thickness
7. Leave to cool by the window
8. Meanwhile, quarter mushrooms and chop tomatoes into cubes
9. Combine all ingredients of the sauce and cook on medium heat for 10 minutes
10. If too thick, add more water
11. If not thick enough, add a little more mustard
12. Check seasoning
13. Divide polenta into slices and pan fry in a knob of butter until bottom is golden but not burnt
14. Turn and fry for another few minutes until bottom is also golden but not burnt
15. To serve, divide polenta slices onto plate and top with the sauce and a sprig of rosemary

Luxurious scrambled eggs with overnight croissant

If you’ve got stale croissant that’s soggy and sad, this is a great way to revive it and turn it into something magical. This style of scrambled eggs is cooked over a water bath rather than direct heat. It takes almost 10 minutes to make, rather than the usual 1, but the result is luxurious, silky smooth, and worth every moment of it.

Makes 2

Time: 🕰
Effort: 💪💪

Ingredients:

1 stale croissant
2 eggs
Small knob of unsalted butter

Method:

1. Using a serrated knife, cut croissant into cross sections around 1 inch thick
2. Spread out on a dry pan and toast on medium-low heat, flipping once
3. Meanwhile set up a water bath using a pot of boiling water and a bowl on top
4. Maintain a slow boil
5. Crack eggs into the bowl
6. Whisk eggs constantly while cooking to incorporate as much air into it as possible
7. Once egg starts to thicken, keep a close eye to ensure lumps don’t form. If they do, remove bowl from flame to whisk, and then return to the water bath
8. Once the egg mixture turns into a paste-like texture, but still runny, remove from flame
9. Add a pinch of salt and a small knob of butter, and continue mixing
10. The eggs will set using the remaining heat from the bowl
11. Spoon scrambled eggs over toasted croissant slices and finish with some black pepper
12. Garnish with tomatoes or smoked salmon and serve