One of the worst 2 weeks of my life...

Sorry folks..just went for a Tonsilectomy (Removal of my tonsils). Been having to live with "Ulcersaurus" for the past week. It has been a torment just to swallow much more eat..For someone who lives to eat, this is as close to hell as it gets..anywayz..will try having a go at it again when i'm feeling better! Til then...

More Pasta (3-in-1)...Tomato based variations (Intermediate)

Since we're on pasta, let's move you guys up a notch..you've tried the Aglio Olio. Let's do a little variation. Take baby steps...Tomato based..once again, let's demystify the glorious pasta. One word of caution though, once you've gone down this road, you're gonna find it quite hard to part with S$15-$18 for any half decent pasta served by wannabes...really, i am not kidding...i hardly eat pasta outside unless i can't cook it or it's something i have never tried before..by the way..just a sneak peak, i gonna introduce some fusion into the pasta recipes in the upcoming blogs. Stay tuned! 

Let's get started with the tomato based variations. You can do Amatriciana (Bacon), Bolognaise (Minced beef), Marinara (Seafood) etc etc..so be adventurous and try them all out. 

I'm gonna run you through very quickly all 3. 

1) Amatriciana - Bacon with tomato base

Ingredients: 

- Bacon (Cut them into 1-2cm strips across the grain)

- 1 Onion (Chopped finely)

- Tomato puree or just some good O Raghu tomato pasta sauce(Or any other brand is fine as well)

- Olive Oil

- Chilli Padi (about 2-3 finely chopped)

- Of course you need pasta (Once again, refer to my advise in the first pasta blog on Aglio Olio)

Cooking: 

1) Pre-prepare the pasta as per steps 1 and 2 in my earlier recipe

2) Pour the Olive oil into the frying pan and throw in the bacon first! Fry until you can see it start to brown slightly on the edges. Throw in the onions and chilli and continue frying. 

3) Pour in your tomato based pasta sauce (How much to put in? Hmmm...if you're gonna be cooking for 4, you can use one full bottle). Bring to boil. 

4) Throw in your pre-prepared pasta and stir briefly and Voila you're done! Note to NOT OVERCOOK IT, you don't wanna eat pasta that has the texture of instant noodles! Hence it is quite important to get your pasta extremely Al Dente(even to the point of slightly undercooked) earlier on.

2) Good Bolognaise - Minced beef with tomato base

Ingredients: 

- Minced beef 

- 2 Onions (1 chopped finely and the other  just sliced)

- Olive Oil

- Tomato puree or any tomato pasta sauce 

- Pasta of course :) 

Preparation: 

- Season the minced beef with 2-3 tablespoon of light soya sauce, 1 spoon of oyster sauce and ground black pepper.

- Mix it well with the chopped onion (Not the sliced ones) and let it sit for at least 15-20mins. 

Cooking: 

1) Once again pre-prepare the pasta and set aside

2) Pour in the olive oil, throw in the sliced onions and fry for about 2-3mins at medium heat. 

3) Throw in your minced beef and fry. Make sure to break up the chunks. 

4) Pour in the tomato based pasta sauce and bring to boil.

5) Throw in your pasta which you have set aside earlier and stir well. 

Doesn't just looking at the pasta make your stomach growl..makes you just wanna take a bite right?!
This was done with Fresh handmade Fettucini 

3) Lastly Marinara - Seafood with Tomato base

Ingredients: 

- Prawns (Deshelled, de-veined and season with some light soya sauce and ground black pepper)

- Squid (Cleaned, sliced into rings and season with some light soya sauce and ground black pepper)

- 4-5 tablespoon of garlic

- Olive Oil ( Don't be stingy about the oil because this is where the flavors will go)

- Pasta (take a pick...personally if you can ever find fresh handmade ones..do try, it does make a difference)

- Tomato based pasta sauce (try, try, try...there will inevitably be some you like more than others)

Cooking: 

1)Yes..pre-prepare the pasta and set aside 

2) Pour in the Olive oil. Throw in the garlic and slow "boil" in the oil(ala Aglio Olio). 

3) Throw in the squid first, cook for about 1 to 2 mins before throwing in the prawns. Stir fry until the prawns are cooked (ie reddish-orangish)

4) Pour in the pasta sauce and bring to boil

5) Throw in your pasta, stir and Voila you're done! 

Ok i'll try to post some pics of the Marinara and Amatriciana the next time! 

Watch this space - Home made Pesto coming up next....!!! (My mom's absolute favorite)

Another one for the simplicity series - Baked Salmon with Honey Mustard

Here's a really, really simple dish that's both healthy and yummy. It's really a no brainer and i'm sure you'll like this one! It doesn't get easier than this!

Ingredients: 
- A piece of Salmon (I would assume you would have washed this already)
- 2 table spoon of honey
- 3 teaspoons of wholegrain mustard
- Salt and pepper.
- A light dash of balsamic vinegar
- A slice of lemon (Optional)
- To make the ingredient list slightly longer, I've decided to put the aluminium foil here. hahaha

Cooking: 
- Before cooking, make a bag with the aluminium foil. Don't know how? Go back to kindergarten and ask your teacher. :)
- Preheat the oven to 200 degree Celsius
- Lightly salt and pepper both sides of the Salmon.
- Mix the honey, wholegrain mustard and balsamic vinegar together.
- Pour it evenly all over the salmon and place in the bag. You can add a slice of lemon if you want. Seal the bag.
- Put the bag in the oven for 10 to 15mins at 200 degrees.

DING! DING! Can you hear the oven! It's done! 

Open the bag to the smell the succulent fragrance of the tender salmon steak!

Pasta - Aglio Olio (Simply with Garlic, Olive Oil and Chilli)

After all the complicated dishes, I've decided to go back to basics. Learning how to make a simple but mean Aglio Olio. I realize that there are folks out there who actually like Aglio Olio and seemed to think that this is one complicated dish. Aglio literally means Garlic and Olio..yup Olive Oil. I've got a friend in Melbourne who tried it prior to my intervention without much success. He said he tried doing it sometime back but it's different from the ones i cook...something's missing! Not as flavorful..missing the essence!

So yes we know the ingredients are simple: Pasta, Olive Oil, garlic, chilli...what else? How much harder can it get? And what is the essence of Aglio Oli..Really..Olive Oil and Garlic but you need to get the 2 ingredients to really  marry into each other! Hmmmm...the trick here is not the ingredients, it's in the technique! So let's get started.

Ingredients:
- Pasta of course: Spaghetti, Fettucini, Angel hair etc whatever you wish but just remember that as the pasta gets fatter, it does take longer to cook.
- Olive Oil (About 1 and half cup)
- Garlic (Tonnes of it...to be slightly more precise i use about 4-5 tablespoon full of chopped garlic)
- 3 chilli padi (finely sliced)
- A handful of Italian Parsley (Optional). Dried parsley flakes will do as well.
- Salt and pepper

Optional Variations:
- Prawns: Seasoned with grounded black pepper and some light soya sauce OR
- Bacon

Cooking:
1) Prepare the pasta ahead of time. Remember to add about a table spoon of salt to the pot of water and some olive oil when you're boiling the pasta. It should take about 6 mins for spaghetti and slightly longer for Fettucini. Once again, try it as you cook to make sure it's just right ie AL DENTE! (Which means just slightly before fully cooked)
Note: It is important to stir the pasta as it is cooking to prevent it from clumping together.
2) Strain the pasta and run over cold water to prevent it from cooking further. Set this aside.
3) Pour the Olive oil into a frying pan and throw in the chopped garlic. HERE'S THE SECRET!.....ready?
- Keep it at mid-low heat. You need to literally boil the garlic in the olive oil slowly to let the flavors infuse the oil!! This will take a while so be patient!
4) Throw in the parsley flakes or fresh italian parsley and chilli padi
Optionals:
5) Throw in the prawns or bacon at this stage depending on which variation you're doing. Stir well.
6) Throw in the pasta which you have set aside. Stir fry and add salt and pepper to taste. It is important to get it to the right level of saltiness. So once gain....TASTE, TASTE, TASTE!! NEVER add too much one shot.

I've done a Prawn variation with Fettucini here! 

Voila! You're done! 15mins tops! 

The Spice Trilogy (Finale): The Best Sambal Udang Pedas (Chilli Prawns)

I have decided the leave the best for last. This is one of my favorite dishes ever. Nothing quite comes close to the level of heat..my philosophy to spicy is it's gotta have a kick and you know when it's really kick when your scalp starts sweating. :)  I think if once you see the picture, you'll start sweating! Now that's what i call "KICK"!!

I love it whenever my dad cooks it and my friends love it when i cook it..so here we go! If you love spice, this is an absolutely MUST try!

Ingredients:
- About 1 kilo of Prawns
- 15 Shallots (Don't be afraid to put more)
- At least 20 dried chilli (Soaked in water ahead of time)
- 5-8 chilli padi (Optional)
- 5-6 cloves of garlic
- 5-8 candle nut
- A pinch of belachan (About 1 Inch by 1 Inch for those of you who use precise measurements)
- A pinch of Assam mixed with a small bowl of water and set aside)
- Tomato ketchup
- Sweet Chilli sauce (There are a few types you can find in the supermarket: The normal ones, the ones with garlic and the odd shaped bottle-dark reddish sweet chilli sauce..yup, those are the ones)

Preparing the Rumpah (Once again, this is the important part):
I have briefly introduced Rumpah in the previous post so you should be quite familiar by now. Once again, blend the shallots, dried chilli, chilli padi (Optional), garlic, candle nut and belachan into a reddish paste. You might probably start tearing the moment you open the blender.

Cooking: 
1) Pour about a cup of oil in the frying pan and throw in the Rumpah. Fry until you start crying..(I'm kidding..once again yes the frying of chilli does get to you) Fry until you can smell the fragrance of the shallots and spices oozes out..
2) Throw in the prawns and fry together with the Rumpah until the prawns are almost cooked.
3) Add in about 3-4 table spoons of tomato ketchup. Stir well
4) Add in about 3 table spoons of sweet chilli sauce. Stir well.
5) Add in your bowl of Assam water.

Once again, taste, taste, taste! If you like it sweeter, add slightly more sweet chilli sauce...

Voila! You're done! 

THE BEST SAMBAL UDANG PEDAS!

At least, this is really the best I've ever tried! And as my disclaimer on the first blog says: "I am fussy with my food"

Once again, don't worry about making mistakes as you go along. Like i said to someone recently. 

First tries are usually plagued with some imperfection, 

Second tries are IMPROVISATIONS 

By the time you try it the third time, it should be just PERFECTION! 

The Spice Trilogy (Part 2): Assam Fish Head

As promised, my second installment of "The Spice Trilogy" - Assam Fish Head

Some like it sweet, some like it sour, some like spicy, some like it redder...once again, the point is taste, taste taste and just feel free to go with the flow.

Here are the basics to get you started with. This dish comprise a "Rumpah" (Simply means a paste made of various spices used traditionally in either Malay or Peranakan cooking). The "Rumpah" varies slight between dishes but the main components are pretty standard...tonnes of shallot, a little garlic, chilli padi, dried chilli (For some coloring), belachan, candle nut..the other ingredients will vary depends on what you're cooking..

Ingredients:
- Red Snapper head
- 10-15 Shallots
- 3-5 cloves of garlic
- 1-2 large onions
- 5-8 candle nut
- A pinch of Belachan
- 3-4 slices of blue ginger
- Ladies fingers (About 5-7..please feel free to add more if you like)
- 2 Tomatoes (Quartered)
- 2 slices of pineapple (The pineapple is optional: It brings a little sweet sourish taste to the whole dish which is quite appetizing)
- 2 Stalks of lemon grass (You really only need to use the bud ie the fat ends near the roots but do cut away the ends). Cut them into half and smash it slightly.
- Assam (These come in packets. Use about 2inch x 2inch mixed in a large bowl of water. Once again, if you like it more sour, please feel free to add more assam)

Preparing the Rumpah (This is the MOST Important part!)
-Blend the shallots, garlic, chilli padi, dried chilli, Belachan, blue ginger and candle nut into a dark orangie paste. 

Cooking
1) Pour about a cup of oil into the frying pan and fry the Rumpah until you start choking (Ok I'm kidding! When you fry chilli, typically the fragrance can be a little overwhelming so do not have any clothes hanging in the kitchen) Seriously, when the shallots and mixture start to fry, it releases the wonderful flavors which are core to the dish.
2) Pour in the Assam water and lemon grass. Bring to boil
3) Add in the vegetables: Ladies fingers, tomatoes, onion and pineapples. Bring to boil.
4) I would assume that by now, you would have washed and cleaned the fish head. Yes, it is now time to throw in the fish head. Boil until it's cook..about 10mins depending on the size of the fish head.

VOILA! IT IS DONE! Easy right??!!! 

Savor! Enjoy and let me have your comments!

Appetizing, spicy and mmmm..just makes you wanna have more! 

Time to spice things up..Our Singaporean favorite - Chilli Crabs

I'm gonna start what i call the "The Spice Trilogy". (You can almost hear the background of Star Wars playing right now...) Yes i am gonna introduce 3 spicy dishes over the next couple of blog entries..

1) Chilli Crab

2) Assam Fish Head 

3) Udang Pedas (Literally Spicy Chilli Prawns- One of my absolute favorite dishes EVER!!!)

Episode One: let's start with the easy one...Chilli Crabs. The famous Singapore Chilli Crab. The philosophy here is, it always seems hard until you actually try it! So don't ever let the name of dish scare you. Let's get going then..

Ingredients:

- Portion for 3 crabs (Alive please)

- 15 Shallots (sliced finely)

- 3-4 bulbs of garlic (finely chopped)

- 1 thumb of old ginger (sliced finely)

- 1 large onion (sliced)

- half to 3/4 bottle of tomato ketchup

- 3-5 table spoon of chilli sauce(with garlic..note: Not the super sweet type)

- 3 table spoon of white vinegar

- 1 medium bowl of warm water mixed with chicken stock (depending on how much sauce you want)

- 2 eggs

- Thai Fish sauce

Optional: 

- 3 to 5 chilli padi sliced (depending on how spicy you like it)

- 2 to 3 candle nut (chopped finely)

- Tabasco sauce (It's more for the bite..please feel free to add to taste...this is as i put improvisation)

I would assume by now that all the ingredients have been prepared and set aside. Ok now the fun part..killing crab. :) Just kidding, I'm not a sadist! 

Preparing the crab:

- Before you untie the crab, turn it over and stab into it's belly with either a sharp knife or just a chopstick will do. You'll see some liquid ooze out. Give it a while and make sure it's dead before you untie it.

- Pull out the claws first. (At the joints to the body) Watch the torns on the claws - best use a thicker cloth to hold the claw and just dislocate it.

- Next you can just pull off the head from the back ie the "crab-butt". The body should split into 2 as you do that. otherwise just chop it into half. Remove the gills. 

- Wash thoroughly - try using a toothbrush to clean off all the mud on the shells and the body.

Now you've completed the hard part...let's get to the fun part.. assembly! 

Cooking

 1) Pour about 1 cup of cooking oil into a frying pan. 

2) Throw in the ginger first. Followed by the shallots and garlic and finally the onion (Medium heat please) Optional on the chilli padi and candle nut. This is where it goes in. 

3) Once you can smell the flavors start to fill the kitchen, throw in the crab. Stir well and add a couple of dash of fish sauce. 

4) Cover and let it "steam" for about 1 to 2 minutes. 

5) Add-in the tomato ketchup and chilli sauce, stir well. 

6) Pour in your chicken stock and vinegar, turn up the heat

7) Almost there... throw in the eggs and stir well to help thicken the sauce. Finally..taste.. not salty, add more salt, not sweet enough, add a little sugar....personally, i like the bite with a little Tabasco sauce! Voila and you're done!

It's not that daunting is it? Once again...important reminder! Taste, taste, taste!! Enjoy!

Seafood Paella Singapore style

Since we're on Rice, i figured let's do another rice dish..something European but adapted to whatever tools we have. Of course ideally, in a perfect world, you can actually invest in a Paella pan or use the actual Valencia rice or calaspara but since we're about home cooking, let's try to keep this simple. If you have a relatively flat giant pan, this would work well. What you want is to get the heat distributed evenly. For me, unfortunately i have to improvise with atraditional chinese wok! :P

See those red stigma.
That's what ends up as saffron

A little bit of history for your conversations over dinner to impress your guests..You can do one of those.."Did you know that...blah blah blah"

- Paella originates from Valencia

- It's more a dish for the common man, think more our chicken rice type versus crab meat fried rice.

- Paella actually stems from the old french/latin word which means Pan.

- Saffron is actually the stigma from a flower. One of the most expensive spices in the world! A pinch cost me almost S$10!

For me personally, as you start cooking any dish, think about the origins/essence or as i would call it - the heart of the dish...this would lead you to the core flavors and hence ingredients and spices you need to put in. The unique flavors that makes it what it is! The rest is improvisation...

Ok enough history and philosophy...let's get down to cooking. So what are the essentials that give the paella it's flavor?

- Saffron

- Prawn/seafood stock if you're doing the seafood paella

Ingredients:

- Rice (Since Valencia rice is quite hard to find, you can just go for the Brani rice you find in the Singapore supermarts)

- Seafood: Prawns, mussels, squid, fish etc etc (Please feel free to be flexible)

- 2 large onions (finely chopped)

- 1 garlic (finely chopped)

- Olive Oil

- Tomatoes (Or the peeled can type will do as well)

- Light Soya sauce

- Paprika

Optional: Dry white wine

Preparations:

The Stock

- De-shell the prawns and remove the head. NOTE: DO NOT THROW AWAY THE SHELLS & HEAD! ( I actually do freeze these for stock in future if i do not use them for any dishes at that point in time)

- Clean the mussels thoroughly. Boil in a pot of water until they open up.

- Remove the mussels that open and put them aside first. Discard those which don't. Key here is don't overcook the mussels, they get all wrinkled up and lose their juiciness. Boil them just enough for them to open. Once again...DO NOT THROW AWAY THE STOCK! After you've removed the mussels, throw in the prawn shells and head and continue boiling. This will form your stock base!

- Boil until you see this "orangie" reddish foam on the surface. Now remove the shells and prawn head.

- If you are using fish as well, boil the fish before putting in the prawns. (Here's a little trick for fish treatment i learnt from the fish-head beehoon gurus: Before you put the fish into the pot, just dip them into a bowl of water with salt and corn starch. This will give a nice firm, smooth texture to your fish)

The Prawn and Squid

- Season the de-shelled prawns and squid with some grounded black pepper and light soya sauce

- Pour some olive oil into a pan. Throw in about 2 table spoon worth of garlic. Fry at medium heat.

- Throw in the squid first as it takes longer to cook. Remove the squid and set aside

- Turn up the heat and throw in the prawns. Fry until it's just turned orangie/red. Remove and set aside

At this point, you might have some "Seafood juice" accumulating in the frying pan. Pour these back into the stock you prepared earlier.

Cooking:

1) Pour about 1 cup of olive oil into the frying pan

2) Throw in the onions/garlic (Fry until you can smell the fragrance)

3) Throw in the tomatoes

4) Create a small crater in the middle of the mixture, pour some olive oil in and fry the saffron. When the saffron gets heated up, it starts to diffuse the flavors and coloring.

5) Add in a couple of shakes of paprika for coloring. (Not too much)

6) Throw in the rice and mix well with all the yummy mixture. Low heat.

7) Depending how much rice you're cooking, add the stock. Add some salt to taste.(Once again your preferred level of saltiness)

8) Let it fry and cook for a bit. What i do now is not original and conventional from the recipe: I transfer all these into a rice cooker :) . Originally if you have a flat pan or paella pan, you can just let it cook in the pan. But what the heck, it gets the job done!

9) Once the rice is done cooking, remove into a baking/serving pan or glassware.

10) Arrange the mussels and prawns (And seafood onto the rice)

11) Preheat the oven to 220 Deg Celsius and pop everything in for about 5 to 8mins

Voila! You're done. By the way, the pic above is pre-oven. You should get a nice rich coloring on the prawns. Cut some lemon slices and place it around the serving dish for decor and if you wanna squeeze in the lemon for the zesty taste. 

Bon Appetit! 

Ok how about some chicken chinese style for a change!! Hainanese Chicken Rice! Plus some side dishes..

Since i am at least half Hainan(My other half is Teochew by the way), i figured it is appropriate to kick start the oriental recipes with what better than Hainanese Chicken Rice! Au Naturelle! No artificial favoring! It is really not as hard as it looks! My first attempt at this was about 12 years ago strangely in France when i was staying with a French family while i was doing my exchange. I decided to cook for them as a farewell. You ready? Ok this is gonna be a long post since we are going to do a meal ie 4 DISHES! The philosophy here is don't waste the goodness that is called stock..the reason why there are 4 dishes is because one of the dishes actually leads to 2 others..We are gonna cook:

1. Hainanese Chicken

2. Of course the Chicken Rice

3. Then don't waste the stock..make some yummilicious soup! (If you can't finish the soup, you can keep it, freeze and cook it with maggie mee or beehoon the next day!)

4. Lastly some vege.

Ingredients for Chicken:

- A whole chicken of course

- 1 bulb of garlic (Peeled and smash)

- 1 thumb worth of old ginger (Peel, cut into 2 to 3 pieces and smash to bring out the flavors)

- Salt 

Preparation: 

- Wash the chicken thoroughly 

- Rub salt evenly on the outside and inside 

- Stuff the cavity with the garlic and ginger

- Use a toothpick to close up the cavity to prevent the stuffings from coming out

Leave it for a while to season bout 10 to 15mins

Cooking the Chicken:

1. Bring a large pot of water to boil

2. Put in the chicken. The water will cool when the chicken is put in. 

3.  Bring it to boil again then turn down to mid-low heat. The pot should be covered. Boil for 10mins

4. Turn the chicken and boil for another for another 10mins. Remove the cover and turn off the fire completely

5. Leave the chicken in the water for about another 5 to 10mins and Voila you're done! 

6. Take the chicken out and start chopping it up! 

Optional: You can actually take the chicken out and put in cold water with ice to give it the boon thong kee texture before carving it up. 

Ok Ok..Presentation you say..add in a little sliced up cucumber to give it the authentic "feeling" you get from eating chicken rice at the hawker centre!

Ingredients for Chicken Rice : Serves 6 people

- 2 and half full garlic (chopped finely)

- 5 to 6 shallots (chopped finely)

- 2 slices of old ginger (chopped finely)

- 1 cup of Rice (Wash and put aside)

- Some of the chicken stock you had earlier prepared from the chicken

- Oil and Salt

Cooking the Chicken Rice: 

1. Pour some oil into a wok or frying pan

2. Pour in the finely chopped garlic, shallots and ginger. Fry until you can smell the fragrance. Don't over do this ie DO NOT FRY UNTIL the garlic turns brown. 

3. Pour the fried mixture with the oil into the rice.  Add in about 2 pinches of salt and mix everything well. 

(I would assume by now that the rice is in the rice cooker)

4. Pour in the stock and Cook the rice! 

5. Open the cover, smell and start salivating! Take a taste, once again, if it is not salty enough, just add salt sparingly and slowly until you reach your liking of saltiness.

Sorry I don't have a picture of the chicken rice here. If you can see the container with the red cover in the picture below. The rice is still sitting in there...Ooops.

This is what "Wong Bok" looks like! 

Ingredients for soup:

- Fish maw (Soaked in water)

- fish balls

- Chinese cabbage or "Wong Bok - i was just educated by my better half that it is actually called Wong Bok"  (Peel and wash thoroughly). Wong Bok is beautiful for cooking soups! 

- Salt to taste

Optional: Dried scallops (Soak in water to soften it first) 

Boiling the Soup: 

1. Throw everything into the stock and boil ! Make sure to boil until the cabbage is soft. The cabbage adds sweetness to soup! Scallops - additional flavors!

2. Taste and add salt to your level of liking! 

Guess what? Ta da..you're done!

Cooking Vege: 

- Wash the Xiao Bai Cai

- Peel and slice up a clove of garlic

- Pour a little oil into a frying pan

- Throw in the garlic

- Throw in the Xiao Bai Cai

- Add either fish sauce or some oyster sauce.(Not too much cos it'll get salty)

Bon Appetit! 

Let me know how it goes! One of the key things to watch out for is the fire control while cooking the chicken. Cos under high heat, the skin tears. And as always, make sure to taste your food as you go..don't over do it! As i have mentioned earlier, it is easier to add salt if it is not salty enough than to remove it! 

You're now ready to open your own Hainanese Chicken Rice stall! :)

Roasted Herb Butter Chicken with Brandy and Honey...sounds yummy right??

This is one of those really simple recipes I've adapted from one of my favorite chefs Anthony Bourdain. My girlfriend loves this chicken recipe but then again she loves my cooking...urhmm cough cough.."not shy".

My philosophy here is that there is really no right or wrong in the art or the art of cooking..if you like it looking more tan, just add more a little black soya saunce, if you like the taste of bourbon, give it a shot...don't get so hung up about getting it exact. There are some basics of course and the rest is just go with the flow. Things like salty, spicy, sweet, texture are basics..things like combi of herbs and spices for certain type of meat are basics..we'll get there.

Ingredients:
- 4 chicken thighs
- Mixed herbs (You can get the dried mixed herbs from any supermart)
- Half block of butter
- 1 x tablespoon honey
- 1 to 2 tablespoon of brandy
- S&P
- 1 to 2 large purple onions quartered
Optional 
- Bacon

Preparation: 
- Rub the pieces of chicken with a dash of mixed herbs, a pinch of salt and pepper (Make sure to massage it, give it some love). Leave it for about 5 to 10mins.
- For those who prefer more colors can add a dash of black soya saunce.. if not then just proceed to the next step.
- Put the half block of butter, honey and brandy in a bowl. Melt it in a microwave oven. Stir the mixture and add in some mixed herbs
- Pour the flavored butter mixture into the chicken. Make sure to rub it down well. You will see that the butter mixture cover the chicken.
- Put the mix in the fridge and season for at least 4hours.
You ready to rumble?

From The Naked 

Cooking:
1. Preheat oven to 220 deg
2. Place the chicken with the hardened butter mix on a tray.
3. Optional: Put some bacon over it to prevent it from burning too quickly. It also adds a little extra taste.
4. Spread the onion all around. (Secret - Onion and butter is a pair made in heaven)
5. Put the chicken in the oven and roast for 15 to 20mins. (Ps check to see if it's cooked on each side and remember to turn it to prevent burning)


Ok as the chicken is roasting, this is where you start salivating, (stand-by a bowl under your mouth)...as the lovely smell of herb infused butter with onions fill the kitchen..and Voila!

To Hallelujah....are you salivating yet..?

You can also use this recipe with a spring chicken if you have a rotisserie to ensure even roasting. Slight differences in preparation:
- For the butter mixture, instead of melting it down, just soften the butter and mix in the herbs, honey and brandy
- Rub in the herb butter mixture in between the skin and the meat. You can actually pull the skin apart from the meat..(Yes skin is actually quite elastic..) Rub some of the mixture on the outside.
-  You can actually stuff the chicken with mixture of bacon, sausages (My personal favorite: VALLEY CHEF), onions, carrots...blah blah..whatever else you feel inspired to stuff and can fit. Use a string to close up the opening.

Enjoy! Let me know how it goes!

BTW, for those of you who are more diligent, you can use mixture of fresh herbs as recommended by the Guru but i think dried herbs work just fine for me in this fusion recipe.

Let's start with the simple...Best 15mins Beef according to me

This is the time tested signature dish that I've imparted to my pals since more than 10 years ago..either those who went overseas for studies, got married, moved out, wanted to have a go at cooking or tried to impress their girlfriends blah blah blah..I feel like stealing Maggie Noodle's tagline here "Fast to cook, good to eat"

Start with a good piece of Fillet, Ribeye or Sirloin steak. This is what is should look like. It is a must! Don't be a cheapo and buy a cheaper cut or a lower grade with lesser marble. You will NOT REGRET getting a good piece of meat. (If you need advise on where to go for decent, fairly priced meat, please feel free to drop me a note and i'll refer you to my butchers. I've got a few i go to for my regular supplies.)

Ingredients: 
- 1 x Onion: The big purple type, sliced.
- 1 knob of butter
- Light Soya Saunce
- Oyster Sauce
- Dark Soya Sauce (The thick kind that is not so salty)
- Coarse dark pepper

By now, you're probably saying to yourself.. "what the??!!.. This guy's cooking chinese food or what!" Ok ok..I challenge you to try it first..don't be too quick to judge. As i said in my earlier post..SMELL then TASTE..

Preparation
Start with the pepper, rub it into the meat. Next, Rub in about 2 table spoon of light soya saunce (1 for each side). Leave it to season for about 10mins.

Cooking

1. Put the butter in a frying pan and start heating it up until it melts..NO HIGH heat please..If your butter starts browning, you've got the fire up too high for too long. 
2. Throw in the onion and fry until you can smell the fragrance of the butter infusing with onions. Remove the onions. This is also to leave an "oniony-buttery" glaze on the pan.
3. Add a little butter in the frying pan, turn up to high heat (Not too long until the butter browns) but do get the pan as hot as possible. 
4. Slap on the meat. Leave it to burn on the outside for about 1 minute on each side. The beef should look just slightly burnt on the outside. Turn down the heat to medium-low. 
5. Throw in the onions you have earlier fried. Add about 1 table spoon of oyster sauce and a dash of dark soya sauce for coloring. Stir until you have the meat coated with the sauce.(All this is done on medium-low heat). Depending on how you like your beef, stir for about 1 to 2 min for medium rare, about 3 to 4  for medium, and 10 min or more if you're trying to make beef jerky..and Voila! You're done!

The heat control on cooking steak is an extremely important part of the art of cooking beef.

You can do other variations once you've mastered the steak and are getting bored:
- Remove the beef and keep some onions in the pan, put in some port. Deglaze the pan and all it's beefy goodness with the port. Add in a knob of butter. Bring to boil.
OR..
- If you just want it simple, you can add a little corn-starch with water added to the pan. This should suffice OR
- While seasoning the meat with pepper , you can add in some mixed herbs. A small pinch will do. The light soya sauce goes in after.

This beef recipe has been inspired by family traditions..taught by my dad. One of the first few dishes i learnt. I later modified this with western methods to create a fusion Roast Beef which is simply orgasmic. Stay tuned.

Happy Cooking!

Let me know how it goes.

So what is "My Food Philosophy" all about...

In not so simple words, it's about the thoughts, tastes, sensations, feelings, memories, inspirations and blah blah blahs that go into my recipes..in short my philosophy about food...more specifically the food i cook. It involves a journey of failed culinary attempts and disasters...But like they say, every good love story deserves a happy ending..i'm not gonna leave you in a lurch here..it should hopefully end with some sort of a gastronomical orgasm. Food is after all a love affair. You gotta love to eat to love to cook. Get real and start there, if you don't LOVE food, just order in. I am my worst critic..my better half can vouch for that.

Before i begin posting pictures, i gotta state a disclaimer, THIS IS NOT A RESTAURANT REVIEW BLOG! Forgive me for the unappetizing visual presentation of the food. I'm just focused on the honest basics and essence of EATING which starts with the SMELL of the "rich beef stew stock flavored with onions and carrots" to the TASTE of "tender, melt-in-your-mouth" beef brisket"...OK you get the idea. So... pardon me for the presentation oversight. I might sign up for a flower decor workshop if enough of you start protesting.

Enjoy the journey! I look forward to your comments on your own journeys...