Brandade – Hot Cod

There are certain things that if I see on a menu, I will almost always order them, and brandade is one of those things. This amazing dish from the south of France can be made many different ways, but it’s usually some sort of combination of salt cod, potato, garlic, and olive oil.

Once made, it can be eaten as is, or turned into a beautifully browned and bubbly gratin. Actually, forget I said that, as this should always be baked and eaten piping hot, ideally with some homemade crostini.

The biggest (and only) challenge with this dish is handling the salt cod. It needs to be soaked in cold water for a day or two before you can work with it. However, depending on which salt cod you use, the time this takes can vary. If you’ve never used it before, follow the instructions herein, but maybe cut off a small piece once it’s soaked, cook it in a little bit of water, and test it for salt content. It should still be kind of salty, but not unpleasantly so.

As I mention in the video, the final product should get precariously close to being too salty, without going past that point. It's going to be similar to things like smoked salmon, prosciutto, or salami. This is why you should not do any salting, including when you boil the potatoes, until everything comes together.

This is a great recipe for entertaining, since you can make it ahead of time, and bake when you’re ready to serve. You can use one large shallow dish, or do a smaller size portion like I did here. Remember everything is cooked; so all you need to do is heat it through, brown the top, and serve. I really hope you give this a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for about 24 snack-sized portions:

1 pound skinless salt cod fillet, soaked in cold water for 24-36 hours, changing water 4-5 times

2 bay leaves

6 springs thyme

1 1/2 cups whole milk

pinch cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

8 large garlic cloves, peeled, halved

1 pound gold potatoes, cooked until tender with garlic

1/2 lemon, juiced, or to taste

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

pinch of freshly ground black pepper

1 tbsp crème fraiche for the top, optional

- Bake at 450 F. for about 20, or until browned

Fishmaw Crabmeat Broth by Michelle Heng

Adapted recipe from Simply Her magazine, Jan 2015 edition

Ingredients
1l water
120g crabmeat
60g fishmaw (softened in hot water, rinsed and cut into small pieces)
2 tbsp oyster sauce
2 tbsp shaoxing wine
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp salt
2 eggs (beaten)
Cornflour slurry
Vinegar

Steps
1. Bring the water to a boil then add fishmaw, oyster sauce, soy sauce, salt and shaoxing wine. Cook for 15 mins.
2. Add crabmeat and cook for another 5 mins before stirring in the egg.
3. Thicken the broth with the cornflour slurry to your desired consistency.
4. Serve hot with a drizzle of vinegar.
5. Bon appetit!

Note
1. The recipe in the magazine used the rice cooker to cook this broth (but time used was a tad too short), same steps just different cooking method.
2. Can add shredded chicken meat into the broth too.

Scallop Gratin – When it Comes to Scallops, Dry is Good .............

As far as I’m concerned, a simple gratin is the most delicious way to cook fresh scallops. The technique is infinitely adaptable, and as long as you’re keeping an eye on things during the broiler step, not a lot can go wrong. In fact, the only real way to screw this recipe up would be to use the wrong scallops.

And by “wrong,” I mean any that have been soaked in a preservative brine. These are easy to identify, as they’re usually sitting in a pool of milky liquid. What you want are usually sold as wild “day-boat,” “diver,” or “dry-pack” scallops. They are really expensive, and worth every penny.

Brined scallops have an unpleasant aftertaste, leak out tons of water, and shrink down to nothing. Other than that, they’re great. Ideally you’re getting your scallops fresh, but frozen will work, as long as the ingredient label says nothing but “scallops.” You’ll also want to thaw them slowly, and pat dry thoroughly before using.

This is a great dish for parties, as you can prep your ramekins ahead of time, and then pop them in the oven when you’re ready. I can’t give exact times, since this will depend on the size of your scallops, and dish, but just start in a nice hot oven for a few minutes, and then finish under the broiler, until browned and just cooked through. When the scallops spring back to the touch, they should be done.

Like I said in the video, if you’re not confident cooking seafood, and/or haven’t worked with scallops before, this gratin is a great place to start. I hope you give it a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for 2 portions:
1/4 cup crème fraiche

1 teaspoon lemon zest

Pinch of cayenne

Pinch of salt

1/4 cup decent white wine

8 fresh scallops (mine were trimmed, but if need be, pull off any “feet,” which are tough, small pieces of muscle sometimes attached to the side of the scallop)

2 tablespoon melted butter, plus more as needed

2 tsp chopped fresh tarragon

2 tablespoon finely grated Parmesan

French bread to dip

Sea Asparagus with fried garlic by May Chong

Ingredients
1 can of Fortune Sea Asparagus, clean and rinse up.
2 big garlics, minced
1 pc red chilli, minced
1 pc Japanese cucumber,sliced

Seasoning
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tsp corn starch
A little water

Method
1. Put the Japanese cucumber on the plate and set it nicely.
2. Heat up oil, stir fry minced garlic till fragrant,add in red chilli and stir fry evenly. Set aside.
3.Heat up a little oil,stir fry sea asparagus till fragrant, add in Seasoning and cooked until dense, put on plate.
4. Put fried garlic on top of it,serve.


Recipe in Chinese: https://m.facebook.com/742362712499171/photos/pb.742362712499171.-2207520000.1425445240./790950397640402/?type=1&source=54&ref=bookmark

Post link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/singaporehomecooks/permalink/789307517804993/

Butter Lobster Tails by Gina Choong

Recipe: http://forum.kitchencapers.net/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=10727

Post link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/singaporehomecooks/permalink/788683234534088/

Lobster Mac and Cheese – Only Looks Hard

Every once in a while I post a video that makes a recipe look way harder than it is, and this “simple” lobster macaroni and cheese is one such dish. The problem has to do with the fact that for this kind of recipe, we’re preparing each of the main components simultaneously.    

While you finish your cheese sauce, you cook your pasta; in between stirs you cut up your lobster, and make your breadcrumbs. Nothing technically difficult, but since I decided to film the steps in the order I did them (instead of prepping things ahead and filming each component start to finish), this does look kind of daunting. It’s not.

You can actually prep these ahead, and bake before that romantic, possibly Valentine’s, dinner. You probably want to take them out and let them warm up for 30 minutes before before baking. By the way, only bake these until the tops are browned, and the inside is just hot. If you leave them in past that point, you’re risking the cheese breaking, and things will get greasy.

As far as the lobster goes, tails are pretty easy to find, and one 5 or 6-ounce tail per person is plenty with the rich, cheesy macaroni. Of course, you’ll want to check to make sure your sweetheart isn’t allergic to shellfish, because that would be a little awkward. Otherwise, I hope you give this a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for 2 large portions:

2 teaspoon vegetable oil

2 lobster tails (5-6 oz each)

2 tablespoons butter

1 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups cold milk

cayenne to taste

1/4 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste

pinch ground nutmeg

few drops Worcestershire sauce

4 ounces grated sharp white cheddar cheese (about 1 generous packed cup)

1 ounce grated Gruyere cheese (about 1/3 cup)

1 generous cup elbow macaroni (1 cup, plus a tablespoon or so)

1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves

*Note: Like I said in video, make sure your mac and cheese mixture is wet and saucy in the pan, otherwise it might get dry when it bakes. Don’t be afraid to add a splash of the pasta water to loosen things up.

For the crumbs:

3 tablespoons panko breadcrumbs
1 tablespoon melted butter, or enough to moisten
2 tablespoons grated Parmigiano Reggiano 

 - Bake at 400 for 15-20 minutes, or until browned

Prawn Curry by Silmat Chisti

Ingredients

6 large deveined n deshelled fresh river prawn. Must be fresh river.

Shallot - 1 thinly chopped
Onion Paste # 1 tbsp
Garlic Paste - 1 tbsp
Ginger Paste - 1 tsp
Chilli Paste - 1 tbsp
Turmeric Paste - 1 tsp
Cinnamon, Cardammon - 1 stick each per taste
Coconut Milk - 1/2 can equivalent
Fresh Lime Leaves - 4/5 leaves (must be the right kind)
Oil - 3/4 tbs
Salt - to taste


Method
1. Heat up oil (we use olive oil)
2. Brown shallots. Add salt.
3. Add cinnamon n cardammon
Cook till flavor released
4. Add chilli and turmeric. Cook well till color n flavors r released. Oil will look red.
5. Add garlic, ginger and onion pastes. Cook on medium to low heat. Spices will cook and separate from oil. Add very small amounts of hot water so spices dont stick to pan.
6. Once curry looks cooked, add the shrimps and cook on low heat. Otherwise the meat will harden.
7. Once shrimp done, turn heat to simmer and add the coconut milk. Add green chilis to taste and the lime leaves. Wait for curry to come to boil. Take out of stove and garnish with chopped cilantro.
Best served with steamed basmati rice. Enjoy!

Post link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/singaporehomecooks/permalink/776132982455780/