Chicken Cacciatore

After doing the rabbit, now it's time to do the chicken, got the idea from Simply Recipe website. I did a twist to mine with what I could find in my fridge and stew with tomatoes.

Ingredients :
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp unsalted butter
1 onion, julienne
1 tbsp bacon
2 cloves garlic, minced
5 chicken drumstick
1/3 cup white wine
1 can whole tomatoes 800gm
1/2 tsp herbs de provence
1 cup frozen zucchini, defrosted
10 olives

In a pot, place the olive oil and butter, add the onion, bacon and garlic. Stir till the onion is transparent, then add the chicken, cook for about 5 minutes. Then add the white wine, cook for about 5 minutes then add the tomatoes and herbs de provence.  If you don't have herbs de provence, mixed herbs are good enough. I add another cup of water and let it come to a boil, season to taste, then transfer to roasting pan.

Ready for oven

Place in the oven at 160°C for 45 minutes.

After roasting

Remove the chicken and transfer the sauce into the pan, add the zucchini and olive and boil till sauce thickens.  I roast the chicken for about another 10 minutes at 190°C before serving.  Remove the chicken from the oven and place the sauce on top of the roast chicken before serving.  I serve with rice pilaf.

Chicken cacciatore

Braised Ox Tongue in Madeira Sauce

Braised Ox Tongue in Madeira Sauce served with Tagliatelle

French are like Chinese, they eat everything, today I am doing Ox Tongue.

Ingredients :

1 ox tongue (approximately 1.8 kg)
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp unsalted butter
1 shallots, minced
1 tbsp all purpose flour
1 tbsp tomato paste
6 cups beef stock
3 tbsp madeira
1/2 tsp dried thyme
7 button mushroom, sliced
7 cornichon (gherkins), sliced
salt & pepper to taste

First have to prepare the tongue, trim any extraneous matter on the underneath and large end of the tongue.  To freshen the tongue, and to dissolve any clinging saliva and remove all blood, scrub the tongue with a vegetable brush under warm running water, then let soak 2-3 hours in a sinkful of cold water, add a cup of vinegar.  After soaking, drain.

Ox tongue before cooking

In an enamled bowl, marinate the ox tongue with coarse salt, place a waxed paper on top, and a plate and refrigerate overnight.

Ox tongue after soaking and marinated in salt

Ox tongue ready for refrigerator

The next day, wash of the salt and place the tongue in a pot, boil for at least 2 hours.  Skim off any greyish scum until it ceases to rise.  If the tongue is not salted, add salt.
Drain and let the tongue cool.  When the tongue is cool enough, remove the outer skin.  Trim the fatty parts away, any loose meaty part and any bones. Then make about 1 cm thick slices.
To cook the sauce, place the oil and butter in the pan, then the shallots.  When the shallots are transparent, add the flour, then add the tomato paste, beef stock, madeira, thyme and mushroom.  Bring to boil, then add the sliced ox tongue.  Let it boil for about 5 minutes, then transfer to roasting dish, cover with tin foil and place in the oven at 160°C for an hour.

Ox tongue ready for oven

Remove from oven, and place the ox tongue in a pot, add the cornichon and reduce the sauce.  This may take up to 30 minutes.

Ox tongue ready to serve

Butter Cookies

Butter Cookies

Ingredients :
1 cup butter (227 gm)
3/4 cup sugar (170 gm)
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp vanilla essence
1 egg yolk
2 cups flour (250 gm)

Method :
1.  Cream the butter and sugar.  Since I use salted butter, I did not add any salt.  Add the vanilla essence and the egg yolk.  Continue to beat till smooth.  Then add the flour till a smooth batter.
2.  Roll the batter in a cling film and refrigerate for at least one hour.

Ready for the fridge

3.  Cut the batter into about 3 mm and place them on parchment paper.

Ready for the oven

4.    Preheat the oven to 160°C.  Bake for 16 - 18 minutes.  Remove and cool.

Escargot in Creamy Spinach Sauce

Burgundy snails in creamy spinach sauce 

Escargot in english is garden snails.  It took me a long time before I got enough courage to try escargot, imagine eating garden snails, but then I thought, it's the same as eating balitong!  Burgundy snails are a higher quality of garden snails and taste better too.  I bought mine in a can of 800 gms.

Burgundy snails in a can

This is a very simple dish and taste good too.

Ingredients :
1 tbsp unsalted butter
a can of burgundy snails
1 liter double cream
150 gm frozen spinach
Grated emmental

Drain the burgundy snails and wash them.  In a pot, place the butter, then the burgundy snails, stir for about 3 minutes, then add the cream.  Bring to slow boil for about 15 minutes, then add the frozen spinach,  slow boil for another 15 minutes.  Remove from heat and let it cool.
In an escargot dish, place one escargot into each hole, if you don't have just use a small plate and divide the escargot.  Top with grated emmental, cook in the oven for another 10 minutes at 190°C, serve hot.

Escargot in the escargot dish

Escargot topped with cheese, one customer don't want cheese

Tiramisu

I don't fancy eating raw eggs, so I was happy that I found my favourite chef's recipe without egg for tiramisu.  Yes, it's Gordon Ramsey's recipe again and it is so good and so easy!

Ingredients :
150 ml double cream
3 tbsp icing sugar
250 mascarpone
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp Marsala (or brandy or Tia Maria)
200ml strong coffee or espresso, cooled to room temperature
12 boudoirs (a light, melt-in-your-mouth eggwhite-leavened sugar-dusted biscuit)
chocolate powder

Whisk the cream with icing sugar, you can use single cream but I like mine very creamy so I use double cream.  Then whisk in the mascarpone, vanilla extract and marsala.  The recipe requires that the sugar be added to the coffee with marsala, I just use strong coffee without any addition of sugar and marsala.  This is because the boudoirs are already very sweet.

Dip the boudoirs into the coffee and line the base of the ice cream cup, then spoon the tiramisu on top of the boudoirs.  Chill before serving. Sprinkle chocolate powder on top before serving. I make 4 servings.

Tiramisu side view

Tiramisu top view

Coq au Vin

Coq au vin is a another popular dish in France.  This is normally cooked using a cockerel and stewed in red wine.  As usual I would be using my chicken drumstick and not cockerel.

Ingredients :
Marinate overnight the following:-
75 cl red wine
2 medium carrots, cut into bite sizes
2 onions, julienne
3 celery stalks, julienne
1 tbsp fresh thyme, minced
2 bay leaves
6 chicken drumstick

The next day,
100 gm butter
100 ml vegetable oil
200 gm bacon
Bouquet garni 
500 gm button mushroom, sliced
2 cloves garlic chopped
2 tomatoes, cut into bite sizes
1 tbsp tomato puree
60 gm all purpose flour
50 ml brandy

In a pot, place the butter and vegetable oil and then the bacon and onion.  Stir fry till the onion is translucent.
Then add the chicken, chopped garlic, bouquet garni, button mushrooms, tomatoes and tomato puree, stir for about 5 minutes.
Sprinkle the chicken with flour, mix well, then pour the brandy and light.  Then add the wine marinate with the vegetables and cook for 45 minutes.  I serve this with spaghetti.

Coq au Vin

Leek Quiche

Leek Quiche

I love using Gordon Ramsey's recipes, this time I am doing Leek Quiche using his recipe.

Ingredients :
20 gm unsalted butter,
300 gm leek, sliced white part only
thyme
sea salt & freshly ground pepper
3 large eggs
2 egg yolks
200 ml double cream
200 ml milk
4 tbsp grated parmesan
150 gm reblochon cheese, rind removed (or chaource cheese)
1 portion pate brisée (http://zhelazycook.blogspot.com/2011/01/pate-brisee-short-crust-pastry.html)

I de-frost 1 portion of my pate brisée , and line my 11 inch tart pan, with a fork make a lot of holes on the pate brisée and place them in the fridge.
In a hot pan, place the butter, leek, thyme, seasoning for about 5 minutes, then remove and let it cool.
Whisk egg, egg yolk, cream, milk, parmesan and seasoning.
Spread the leek onto the short crust pastry, then tear the reblochon cheese on top of  the leek, place in the oven and pour the egg mix into the quiche.  If you place the egg mix and then place in the oven, you might spill the egg mix, so I always place the quiche into the oven then pour the egg mix.
Gordon's recipe requires to cook the short crust pastry at 200°C before placing the filing.  Lazy cook don't like to cook the short crust pastry before placing the filing because the pastry has their moods and too much work.  Normally, I place the quiche into raw short crust pastry and cook for 200°C for between 5 - 10 minutes, then lower the temperature to 170°C and cook for a further 25 - 40 minutes.

Leek Quiche

Other variations with their cheese that I make are :
Brocolli & Brie cheese
Mushroom & Roquefort cheese
Spinach & Emmental cheese