Friday the seafood feast with scallops and lobsters

 

Good live scallops and lobsters, both better to be served more raw than cooked.

 

scallops baked for 4 minutes with salt and olive oil

scallop raw

Irish live scallops have a pleasant kelp aroma, nice to have raw. Once baked, even for 4 minutes, the aroma is gone, they are still tender and sweet but not as unique.

 

lobsters

Lobster, boil in a big pot of water for 2 minutes, then hold the tail and cook the head and claws for 6 more minutes. The tail is semi raw, sweet and tender, the head tomali is nearly cooked, claw and leg meats just right.

Baked potato and brussel sprout with cardamom

After reading a few cook books (e.g. Citrus/The Saffron tales), I am inspired to use more citrus and spices in cooking. I never know that freshly grounded cardamom is so fragrant.

Baked potato and brussel sprout with cardamom

 

1. Parboil potato and cut into slices, cut brussel sprouts into halves.

2. Add zest and juice of half a lemon, season with salt, freshly pounded in pestle & mortar cardamom, olive oil, mix well.

3. Bake at 180˚C until cooked, around 25 minutes.

Seafood treat

 

live langoustines

 

Got delivered live langoustines and freshly chucked scallops, both very sweet.

1. Blanch langoustines one by one in a big pot of boiling water, for small size ones, after 30 seconds hold the tail and cook the head for another minutes. They are sweeter when cooled down.

 

seared scallop with dulse flakes

2. Dry scallop and leave in the fridge on a plate without covering for half a day. Sprinkle dulse flakes (or any small flakes of seaweed) on a plate, transfer scallops with the wet side (the one toughing the plate) onto the flakes, sprinkle rice flour on the dry surface (to help browning). Sear in a big pan in butter until lightly golden.

Savoy cabbage and potato cheese bake

 

Savoy cabbage and potato cheese bake

 

It is a meal on its own, and full of different flavor and texture.

1. Cut Savoy cabbage into thin strips, season with salt and pepper, massage to soften, add chopped medjool date, walnut and juice of half a lemon.

 

Savoy cabbage with medjool date, walnut and lemon juice

 

2. Cut cooked potato and raw carrot into strips, season with salt and olive oil.

3. Place Savoy cabbage mixture at the bottom of baking dish, top will potato and carrot, then strips of Cheddar cheese. Bake at 180˚C until cooked, around 30 minutes.

 

Savoy cabbage and potato cheese bake, before baking

 

Gurnard in tomato fennel bake

 Gurnard in tomato fennel bake

 

Gurnard's body is sort of triangular and hard to sear, in order to cook whole, decided to bake with a sauce, and tomato, fennel to garnish.

1. Season Gurnard with salt and pepper for at least half a day.

2. Place in baking dish, add a cup of stock, or diluted miso, season with soy sauce, rice wine and brown sugar, place sliced fennel on the sides and cherry tomatoes around.

3. Bake at 180˚C until cooked, around 25 minutes.

Apricot pudding

 

Apricot pudding

 

Apricot pudding

Apricot pudding

 

 

I always wonder why traditional English pudding, even with simple sponge recipe, needs to be steamed for 2 hours. While there is time now, made one to see the difference. Yes it is different, cake is tender and moist compared with baked ones.

 

100gm apricots soften in lemon juice or liqueur

2 eggs

50gm butter

100gm flour

30gm sugar

juice and zest of a lemon

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 pinch salt

 

1. Butter a bowl, place soaked apricot at the bottom.

2. Mix the remaining ingredients into a thin batter, pour on top of apricot, there should be at least an inch below rim, cover the top with a plate.

3. Steam for 2 hours.

Multi-seeds crispy toast

 

Multi-seeds dried toast

 

Made these for the crispy mouth feel, a healthy food to replace snaking on potato crisp.

1. Start with a normal bread dough, add seeds like pumpkin, flax, sesame, caraway, poppy, and herbs like rosemary, thyme, and spices like turmeric, curry etc, may need more water to form the dough.

2. Shape into long rolls an inch in diameter, let it rise, bake for 15 minutes.

3. When cold, cut into thin slices, max 5mm, lay on baking racks and dry in the oven at 100˚C with the oven door ajar until dry, around 1.5 hours.

Mackerel in miso and soy sauce

 

Mackerel in miso and soy sauce

 

With mackerel being an oily fish and having a stronger flavor, it works well with stronger seasoning like miso, soy sauce and rice wine. Keep well in the fridge for a couple of days before being baked.  

Razor Clam in chili lemon zest sauce

 

Razor Clam in chili lemon zest sauce

 

Without a large steamer to steam all the razor clam in one go, I used this steam then bake method with excellent result, very crunchy sweet flesh.

1. Blend a sauce with sweet red bell pepper, chili, lemon zest, rice wine and olive oil, season with salt and pepper.

2. Steam razor clams, take out when just open, around a minute.

3. Place all opened razor clams on baking tray, drizzle sauce on top, turbo grill at 200˚C for 4 minutes to warm up.

Apricot almond cake

 

Apricot almond cake

 

This is an easy to make cake, super healthy and delicious.

 

100gm dried apricot (or 200gm chunky jam, then no need lemon/sugar in recipe)

2 lemons

100 gm almond powder

2 eggs

30gm sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

a pinch of salt

 

1. Cut dry apricot (or other dry fruits) into pieces, soak in juice and zest of lemon.

2. Whisk egg with sugar and salt until sugar dissolved, mix in almond powder, baking powder, finally fruit and liquid. It is a very liquid batter.

3. Pour into a well buttered/or paper lined baking tin, bake at 170˚C until cooked through, depending on thickness of cake, around 40minutes.

Baked beetroot with blood orange

 Baked beetroot with blood orange

 

Most of the time beetroot is used in salad or in juice, it is nice to serve it hot as a presentable dish. Blood orange is in season now and since the white pith is not bitter, can cut into thin slices to add a touch of sweet sourness to the dish.

1. Peel and cut beetroot into slices (can add other root veg like parsnip/carrot for different texture), season with soy sauce, light miso, crushed garlic, salt and pepper, mix well.

2. Cut blood orange into paper thin slices, chedder cheese into pieces.

 

 Baked beetroot with blood orange, before baking

 

3. In a wide baking dish, place a layer of beetroot, then blood orange, cheese, and repeat.

4. Bake at 180˚C until soft, around 45 minutes.

Kale smoked swordfish carbonara

 

Kale smoked swordfish carbonara

 

A way to use this beautiful smoked swordfish instead of eating raw. It is a cream free version of carbonara, with the same rich sauce effect.

1. Make a sauce with 2 egg yolks, mustard and a tablespoon of melted butter, season with salt and pepper.

2. Cook kale until soft, blanch noodle and cut swordfish into strips.

3. While noodle is still hot, mix into sauce together with some cooking liquid, kale and fish, mix well and serve.

Cured pork shoulder Coppa

 

Cured pork shoulder Coppa

 

Again, followed a recipe in Koji Alchemy to make this Italian cured pork. I used a thinner piece of pork neck instead of the traditional round shoulder meat. It is cured in the fridge for 4 weeks and already achieved the required degree of dryness, thanks to using fermented rice in the mix, and leek as preservative. Good texture and flavor, feel good to eat knowing it is made with good ingredients.

 

 

 

Cured pork shoulder Coppa ( being marinated)

 

Pork neck/shoulder (500gm)

3% salt

3% sugar

20% fermented rice (5% salted)

garlic, leek, Sichuan pepper, pounded

5 spices powder

 

 

Cured pork shoulder Coppa( after marinating and before drying)

 

1. Cover pork with the ingredients, keep in the fridge for 5 days turning over everyday.

 2. Scrape and wipe clean, wrap with cheesecloth, note the weight, dry on a rack in the top shelf of the fridge. Turn over every few days.

3. Check the weight, when it lost 40% of weight, it is ready to eat. Remove cheesecloth and cut away all the outside surfaces.

Baked John Dory with rosemary

 

Baked John Dory with rosemary, before baking

 

Ordered a 900gm John Dory, like its firm waxy flesh. Decided to bake it with butter and rosemary, for a mild fragrance.

1. Season fish with salt for at least a couple of hours.

2. Place fish on a large piece of baking paper, sprinkle fresh rosemary on top, cover with slivers of butter. Wrap paper to a parcel with the head and tail ends open.

 

Baked John Dory with rosemary

 

3. Bake at 200˚C for 12 minutes, leave oven door ajar and rest for another 10 minutes.

Slow baked fragrant cauliflower and brussel sprouts

 Slow baked fragrant cauliflower and brussel sprouts, before baking

 

Read a few of Ottolenghi's recipes, inspired and am learning to add more flavors and fragrants into vegetable dishes.

 

 Slow baked fragrant cauliflower and brussel sprouts

 

1. Cut cauliflower into florets, brussel sprouts into halves, season with salt, minced garlic, minced lemon zest, caraway, chili flakes and olive oil, place in baking dish with lid.

2. Pre-heat oven to 200˚C, lower to 150˚C, bake vegetable for 50 minutes, shake the baking dish every 10 minutes to mix the seasoning.

Baked lamb and vegetable with salted lemon and cumin

 

Baked lamb and vegetable with salted lemon and cumin

 

Salted lemon has more umami flavor than fresh one and is key to this easy to make 'one pot' Moroccan inspired dish.  

1. Season lamb leg steak with salt and cumin for a couple of hours, sear both sides golden.

2. Cut vegetables into cubes (pumpkin, carrot, khol rabi, raddish etc), season with light miso, salt, olive oil and a tablespoon of almond flour (to thicken).

3. Peel zest of lemon and cut into strips, juice lemon, simmer with half a teaspoon of salt and a cup of water for 15 minutes.

4. Place vegetable in a wide baking dish with lid, add lamb steaks and cooked salty lemon and juice. Preheat oven to 200˚C and lower to 160˚C, bake until vegetable is soft, around 40 minutes.

Air-dried lamb with fermented rice (koji) cure

 

Air-dried lamb with fermented rice (koji) cure

 

Swiss air-dried beef is one of my favorite cured meats, after reading Koji Alchemy, I decided to give it a go, wonderful result in just 3 weeks.

Using fermented rice (koji) in the cure helps to accelerate the process (by providing necessary enzymes), make it safer for home curing.

I used a small piece of lamb loin to test, will try it on a bigger piece of beef next.

 

Air-dried lamb, before curing

1. Make a paste with 3% (weight of meat ) each of salt and sugar, 10-15% fermented rice (with 5% salt), black pepper and minced leek (for the natural nitrate as preservative), spread all over the piece of lean meat.

2. Covered and keep in the fridge for 5 days, turning over everyday.

3. Scrape and wipe away paste, note the weight, wrap with a layer of cheese cloth, dry on a rack on the top shelf of the fridge, turnover every few days.

4. When hard enough, after losing 50% of weight, around 3 weeks, cut away the surface layer all round, and ready to serve.

Baked vegetable with soy sauce

 

 

Baked vegetable with soy sauce

Baked vegetable with soy sauce

Followed the western way of seasoning vegetable with salt and olive oil for baking. Just came to my mind to try soy sauce and olive oil, a different flavor profile, equally delicious. The baked vegetable (160˚C for 30 minutes) may looked charred but actually it is just the colour of soy sauce.

Meatballs in cabbage potato and Sichuan pepper soup

 

Meatballs in cabbage potato and Sichuan pepper soup

 

Hovering at zero degree these few days, and the body needs hot soup to warm up, this one is easy to make and so fragrant.

1. Bring to boil cabbage, potato, carrot, season with a tablespoon of miso, a tablespoon of Sichuan pepper and salt. Simmer for 30 minutes, the amazing fragrance of this soup base filled the kitchen.

2. Gently lower 2 inches diameter meatballs into soup, to nearly covered, turn heat down to the lowest so that liquid does not move, cook for 20 minutes.

3. To serve, place meatballs in bowls, bring to boil the soup before ladle into bowls, add herbs to garnish.

Broccoli parsnip soup with sesame and seaweed flakes

During cold winter it is wonderful to have hot soup to warm up. I don't like western broccoli soup that is blended into a pulp, prefer to have texture to look at and to appreciate.

 

Broccoli parsnip soup with sesame and seaweed flakes

1. Bring to boil potato and parsnip, cut into small cubes, couple of minced garlic, season with salt and pepper.

2. When potato starts to dissolve, add broccoli cut into small pieces, cook until soft.

3. Serve on bowls, sprinkle roasted sesame and seaweed flakes on top.