Beef with Red Wine & Rosemary Ragù

I am sorry I have been remiss in my blogging this year - moved to a new country and started a new job. Since I came into possession of a smartphone with a half-decent camera last year, I have also neglected to use the proper camera to photograph my food - and it shows. Now that things have settled down a bit, I resolve to do better - starting today, after the outcome of this recipe left me feeling chuffed enough to get out the good camera and write about it this very night.

I had been missing the Beef with Red Wine and Rosemary on Rigatoni from Zucchini Bros, which sadly, I have not written about. I scoured the web for likely recipes but could not quite find one that would have produced a copy of the Zucchini Bros dish. Nevertheless, there were a few that looked promisingly meaty and rich, so they made the shortlist. I consulted M, as I do with all things Italian, and he picked this one. I had my doubts when it was cooking, because I, as usual, hadn't quite followed the recipe to the T. Luckily, it was forgiving.

Now to me, a ragù is a sauce with meat so tender, it falls into shreds when pressed. According to Wikipedia, however, a sauce with minced meat could also qualify, and though a ragù is in some ways similar to the French ragout, they are not the same thing. Someone out there will know the detailed culinary differences as, alas, I cannot enlighten you here today.

Despite my numerous failures, this ragù turned out beautifully rich, velvety and packed with flavour. The first hurdle was finding that I did not have enough wine, even though I was quite sure that I left half a bottle in the fridge specifically for this dish (but underestimated my brother's unquenchable thirst). Then I thought I must have used a bit too much tomato paste because I could taste its harsh metallic acidity in the sauce for the better part of the cooking process - so I threw in some sugar. After that I realised I had to switch to the smaller burner because the sauce was reducing far too quickly. It had only been cooking for an hour and because of that mistake, there wasn't enough liquid for it to continue simmering for another hour. To rectify that, and because I am slightly obsessive (the thought of a partial box of stock in the fridge was irritating me), I poured the rest of the 1 litre box of stock into the pot. And finally, for the garnish, I had thoughtlessly purchased Chinese parsley (i.e. coriander/cilantro) instead of European parsley (although this had next to no impact on the dish). All in all, I don't think these things really changed how it was supposed to turn out (had I adhered to the recipe) - I only did what I did to fix my mistakes, not improve the recipe. The one thing I intentionally changed was to substitute the canned peeled tomatoes, which I can't abide, with tomato puree. So I'll share the recipe as it is for now and adjust accordingly, if needed, the next time I make this - and there will be next time.


Beef and Red Wine Ragù

Ingredients
500g chuck steak, cut into 3cm pieces
200g pancetta, diced (I used streaky bacon)
1 onion
2 carrots
2 celery sticks
5 cloves garlic
4 sprigs rosemary
¼ cup tomato paste
250ml red wine
400g can peeled tomatoes (I used tomato puree)
300ml beef stock
1 pkt dried pappardelle (I used penne)
Shaved parmesan
½ bunch parsley, chopped

Method
1. Heat olive oil in a large, heavy-based saucepan and fry beef pieces in two separate batches until beef is well-browned. Remove from pan. Add pancetta and a little more olive oil and fry on medium heat until golden.

2. Meanwhile, cut vegetables into 2cm dice. Add vegetables and garlic to pancetta and cook for about 5 minutes. Add the rosemary, tomato paste and red wine and simmer for 2 minutes.

3. Return beef to pan with tinned tomato, stock, salt and pepper, and bring to the boil. Turn down heat, cover with a tight-fitting lid and simmer on the lowest heat for 2 hours. Stir every half hour.

4. When beef is soft, use a fork to tear into shreds. Cook pasta until al dente, drain and toss with olive oil. Serve in large bowls with ragu spooned on top. Garnish with parmesan and parsley.

Food Wishes' Smothered Pork Chops & Romano Bean Salad

This smothered pork chops recipe from FoodWishes was immediately added to my "Must Make" list when it was published in 2010 - the year I was busy reviewing restaurants, testing recipes (through S) and writing for the food column in Critic. I don't know why, but it took us almost exactly two years (recipe published 27 Feb 2010, chops made 18 Feb 2012) to get around to cooking this! Tsk tsk.

We paired it with another of Chef John's recipes - the cold romano bean salad. The smothered chops were deliciously rich, with the blended flavours of mildy sweet caramelised onions, savoury seasoned meat and stock and tangy buttermilk. I remember being surprised at the sauce's sourish note, but that was because S did the cooking and I had forgotten the details of the recipe (i.e. the buttermilk). Against advice, we did not leave the beans to marinate overnight, so the flavours were quite subtle. Still its acidity, minty freshness and mild bite of garlic made it a very good accompaniment to the saucy, rich chops. Because it is so easy to throw together, I have made this delicious salad many times since, with green beans, lashings of grated garlic, salt, a good douse of olive oil and some white wine vinegar, intensifying the flavour to my liking. I love this salad freshly made, with the blanched beans still warm. Irresistibly good.

You may have noticed that I can rarely be bothered to make anything that is going to take longer than an hour to be ready (which is partly why these beans have never made it to the fridge for an overnighter). I am also very slowly (because I don't cook very often) training myself to moderate my use of ingredients - I'm too impatient to wait for the flavours to develop and have a tendency to throw in too much.... (especially seasoning). My writing betrays this tendency when I use phrases like, "lashings of..." or "there's no such thing as too much...". Onwards and upwards as they say! Happy holidays. 

S's Aunt Lil's Moist Chocolate (Cup)Cake

Once upon a time S baked a fantastic chocolate cake that became my absolute, hands-down, crazy-eyes, bonkers-for-it, favourite home made chocolate cake. This delicious, moist, soft cake covered with the silkiest, most luscious chocolatey frosting entered the gastronomy annals about the same time as Damien Pignolet's Serious Orange Cake, and has followed suit in it's evolution into a cupcake. The orange cake is equally amazing in both forms, but I think the chocolate is exceedingly more enjoyable, dressed as a cupcake. The cupcake version has better moistness throughout and, of course, my bias just might be related to the higher frosting to cake ratio. It is very unprofessional of me to share this recipe only now, when I have been enjoying this cake regularly (at S's charity) over the last six years. My bad.

Moist Chocolate Cake Recipe

Ingredients:
275 g butter
300 g sugar
250 g flour + 1 1/2 tsp baking soda (sifted)
75 g cocoa powder
1 1/3  cups water + 25 g coffee powder
4 eggs + 2 yolks

Method:
1) Cream butter and sugar till soft and fluffy
2) Add eggs one at a time
3) Pour in coffee mixture, alternating with the sifted flour + cocoa powder
4) Bake at 170 degrees Celsius for 1 hour

Chocolate Frosting Ingredients:
3 tbsp cocoa powder
3 tbsp cornflour
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
2 oz butter pinch of salt

Method:
1) Bring to boil above until smooth and thickens.
2) Pour over cooled cake.

Wayne's Lamb Stew

This was a dish that E and I had almost weekly when we were in varsity and I've wanted to share the recipe for years. We used to frequent a little hole-in-a-wall Chinese 'restaurant' (using the word very loosely) called Wayne's Food Bar. The food wasn't particularly great, but it was one of the first places that we tried when we arrived in town and we just kept going back because it was familiar and cheap - we were students then after all, and weren't quite as free to explore and indulge our gastronomic tendencies as we are now. When I think back, I find it quite amusing that I don't recall being quite as fussy or critical about food then, as I am now. It's a definitely a full blown, chronic affliction now - and they say people mellow with age. 

Anyway, I always had the teriyaki beef at Wayne's, until one day, E ordered the lamb stew. What a revelation. I'd never had anything like that before. It had great warmth and was earthy, rich, complex, hearty and comforting - the perfect antidote to a winter's evening here. E and I had many a lamb stew at Wayne's until one sad day in our second year here, when we discovered that Wayne's had closed for good. We didn't know they were closing. We should have been better customers. The next few weeks (maybe months) were spent lamenting the fact that we missed having one last, good stew, for the road. 

A few years later, after E had moved away, I received a very excited email from E proclaiming that she had discovered the secret ingredient to recreate Wayne's Lamb Stew. Okay, so maybe it wasn't a secret to others, but neither of us (up till then) had been able to identify the source of the stew's base flavour - probably because it wasn't something that either of our mothers or grandmothers used in their cooking. The lamb was marinated in preserved bean curd! E, being the magical cooking fairy that she is, managed to figure out the rest of the ingredients and successfully recreated the lamb stew that we had been missing. Of course, I immediately got the recipe from E and went straight to my other cooking fairy godmother with it. S wasted no time whipping it up, and it was good. 

S has since tweaked E's original recipe, to achieve the right flavour with the sauces and ingredients that we have here. And it's probably not exactly the same as the stew we had at Wayne's all those years ago.  But it's still delicious and an excellent dish to cook in the winter, which is partly why I am only writing about it now. The aroma that fills the kitchen as it is cooking is as mouth-watering as the dish itself. Don't be put off by the ingredients. Just try it.

Wayne's Lamb Stew Recipe (recreated by E, modified by S)

Ingredients:

About 1kg of lamb, cubed 

Marinade:

2 big cubes (1big cube = about 1 tbsp) preserved bean curd 

1 tbsp cornflour 

2 tbsp minced ginger 

3 tbsp thick dark soy sauce 

salt & pepper 

Herbs & Spices:

1/2 tsp cumin seed 

1/4 tsp coriander seed 

1 star anise 

1 cinnamon quill 

5-7 cloves 

3-4 large dried chillies, de-seeded & halved, soaked in warm water 

2 tsp minced ginger 

7 cloves garlic, smashed and roughly chopped 

Another 2 big cubes preserved bean curd 

Sauce:

1/2 cup of soy sauce (use 1/4 cup first and add more if required) 

1/2 cup water 

1-2 tbsp sugar (add more if too salty or spicy) 

1 (full) tsp of chilli black bean (Lee Kum Kee) 

1/2 cup chinese wine (add just before turning heat down to simmer)

Additions: 

1-2 tsp dried chilli flakes 

1 bunch of glass noodles (a.k.a. Suun or Tang Hoon) 

Chinese cabbage 

Instructions: 

1. Marinate the lamb with the Marinade. I usually leave it over night in the fridge and take it out 1/2 hour before cooking it. 
2. Heat up some oil in a med high pan and fry the Herbs & Spices, except ginger and garlic, till fragrant. Usually around 3-5 mins. 
3. Put in smashed garlic and remaining ginger. Saute till fragrant. 
4. Add the marinated meat, and stir fry till the meat changes color. Add the additional preserved bean curd and fry till the meat looks semi-cooked. 
5. Add the Sauce ingredients, except wine, and turn up heat to bring to boil. Add chili flakes if not spicy enough. 
6. Boil for 10-15 mins, and then turn heat down to med low and let it simmer, adding the wine once stew has stopped boiling (this ensures that the wine does not evaporate too much). 
7. Just before serving, add in chinese cabbage (if you want to, or serve separately) and cook it till the stems are soft.

8. Serve with steamed rice.

M's Italian Feast

M is Italian-American and makes great Italian food. After talking about it for the longest time (during cook-offs and mystery box challenges with S, parties, etc), in December last year, we finally organised ourselves and were treated to a spectacular Italian feast by M. M cooked some of the most exquisite, simple, beautifully executed food that I've ever had. Even though seven dishes for four people may not necessarily constitute a feast to some, the bellies of those of us present that night will beg to differ. M outdid himself and delivered a most unforgettable dinner. Above all, he introduced us to what (I imagine)  classic Italian dining is like. Thank you!

Grilled peppers & zucchinis: Deliciously sweet, soft peppers and smokey, charred, tender zucchini strips drizzled with olive oil. I think the olive oil imparts a subtle nutty flavour which adds warmth to the dish and complements the sweet and mellow flavours of the peppers and zucchinis. Simple, yet exquisite.

Foccacia: Beautifully crispy, salty exterior with a chewy centre. This was the best foccacia that M's made (by his own admission). We piled the grilled peppers and zucchinis on these and the result was a perfect combination of flavours and textures. Bliss!

Salad with ham, halloumi, olives, feta and peperoni (I think): I can't remember how M made the dressing, except that it was relatively straightforward. Classic flavours.

Grilled bread (placed at the bottom of the soup bowl): Beautifully charred, smokey and chewy. Brillant addition of the bottom of the soup bowl as it retained it's flavour and structure despite being completely soaked with the fish soup below. Bellissima.

Fish soup: A surprisingly delightful, well flavoured, clear seafood soup. M loves telling his guests that he's serving "Fish Soup" because it sounds completely unappealing, and then observing their surprise and relief when they taste it and it's actually really good.

Gnocchi: M's (and his assistant S's) freshly made gnocchi.

In goes the pesto...

Gnocchi & pesto: M's gnocchi was light and airy and I'm sure, exactly as good gnocchi should be, and S's absolutely loved it. I loved the tasty, herby pesto but I have to admit that gnocchi just isn't for me. I have never been partial to the thicker, spongy or more solid variety of carbs like penne or tong yuen. I prefer more texture.

Grilled chicken: This was a revelation. All M did was grill pieces of flattened, tenderised chicken breast with olive oil, rosemary, salt and when they were cooked, sprinkled chopped parsley and squeezed lemon juice over them. Apparently you have to be careful not to overcook the chicken, but other than that, it is probably the simplest recipe for cooking chicken that I've come across, and it produced one of the most delectable pieces of chicken that I've ever had. At this point I truly understood all those references I've heard about the simplicity and beauty of Italian cooking and food.

Risotto: Texturally, the risotto was great. M intended to use the "low salt" stock to cook the risotto but inadvertently got the normal kind, so it was a tad too salty. Otherwise it was pretty good and had an interesting flavour - I've never had risotto flavoured with saffron before. 

Tiramisu (whole): M's "free-form" tiramisu. 

Tiramisu (served): I used to think the recipe S and I had for tiramisu was pretty good, but M's wins hands down. Ours is like the kid-friendly version compared to his. Rich, decadent, alcoholic, infused with the bittersweetness of coffee and topped with the acidity and sweetness of strawberries tossed with icing sugar. After all that food, we were pushing it but still had to make some room for this divine dessert. No regrets.

Auntie G's (and S's) Rendang

I am not sure how it happened, but this fussy foodie has serendipitously flatted with not one but two friends who not only cook compulsively, but take a perverse delight in feeding the people around them into a stupor. And then there's M who is now a 'cook-off' junkie. Over the years, I have discovered that these peculiar creatures cannot be blamed for this apparently hereditary affliction. E caught it from her grandmother and S's parents have passed it on to all their children! 

This is S's mum's recipe for the classic Malaysian/Indonesian dish - rendang. I have never tried cooking it myself - I leave all that hard work to S. Even with a recipe, it is not an easy dish to perfect, but when done right is absolutely 'roll-your-eyes-to-the-back-of-your-head' divine. Beautifully tender pieces of beef/lamb/chicken sitting in lovely, thick, rich, spicy, aromatic, sweetish, gravy/paste. There are several different versions with distinctly different flavour profiles (some are sweeter, some are more curry like), but the basic characteristics of a good rendang are as described. That rendang pictured above that S made with this recipe was stunning and close to perfection. Maybe one day when S isn't just a stone's throw away to cook for me, I'll have to attempt it, but for now I am quite content just depending on her charity. Perhaps you should try it and report your efforts - it actually requires a bit of practice to get right.

Ingredients
125g ginger
300g onions (large or shallots or a mixture)
150g garlic
100g "buah keras”(candlenuts), soaked for about 20 minutes
100g “serai“(lemon grass, root only)
50 g fresh “kunyit” (turmeric); or 2-3 tsp turmeric powder
6-8 tbsp chilli paste - instructions below
250g “kerisek” (fried desiccated coconut) - instructions below
3 tsp tamarind puree
55g palm sugar or white sugar
2 whole and 2 shredded kaffir lime leaves
1 piece “kunyit” (turmeric) leaf, shredded (substitute with fresh bay leaf)
Gravy beef/chicken/lamb chops (see estimate in the recipe below, you don't have to use all the paste)


Method

Chilli paste:
Top and deseed 1 bag (around 700gm) of big dried red chilli.
Boil in a pot of water for 5 minutes.
Drain and blend into a smooth paste (some water can be added if it gets too thick).
Fry in hot oil (on med to med-high heat) for 20-30 minutes.
When the oil separates and form a border around the side of the pan the paste is done.
Store in refrigerator, in an airtight jar, with a layer of oil on top.

Kerisek:
Dry fry 250g of desiccated coconut (use fresh if possible) on med-low heat.
This will take around 25 minutes.
Fry the coconut till it turns a lovely dark caramel colour.
Be sure to constantly stir the coconut so that it does not burn.
Let it cool, then using a spice blender or pestle and mortar, blend the coconut to a smooth paste.
You will notice that the natural oil will make the paste thick.
DO NOT add any liquid.

Rendang:
Grind to a smooth paste ingredients 1 to 6.
Fry this paste and chilli paste until oil comes up/separates (use a deep pan as it splashes) for about half hour or so, on med heat.
I ended using about ¾ to 1 cup of vegetable oil.
Add ½ a cup first, and add more (if needed) mid way through.
You basically want enough oil to fry this paste.
Add tamarind juice/puree, salt, and palm sugar (taste to ensure balance is perfect). Not too sweet please! Add leaves and kerisek, and cook for further 10 mins.
At this point you have a cooked paste that can be kept in the freezer for use in the future.
This recipe makes the amount of paste for about 5 - 6kg of meat (possibly more).
To make the rendang, add meat to a pan (with very little oil) and fry for 5 minutes.
Add enough of the rendang paste to coat the meat.
Add some water (a few tablespoons) just to loosen the paste.
Cover and slow cook until meat is tender. If using beef, this can take up to 2 hours. However, if you are using a pressure cooker, that should take less time.
When the meat is tender, add some coconut cream, sugar and salt (to taste).
If the sauce is too runny, slow cook on low heat, uncovered, for 20-30 more minutes.
Serve with rice, bread, naan or roti.

Garlic and Spring Onion Chicken Rice

Strangely, I first tried this apparently common Asian dish in Dunedin. I say 'apparently common' because it seems to be on the menu of most of the Chinese/Cambodian restaurants in Dunedin, yet I'd never seen/heard of it in Malaysia or Singapore, where there is generally a wide variety of all cuisines. 

Anyway, we were new in town and A specifically recommended the 'Steamed Chicken Rice' from Sampan (362, George Street, Dunedin). For Malaysian/Singaporeans, 'Chicken Rice' is a particular local speciality, so I will refrain from calling this that. It quickly became a favourite that we (E, S and I) would crave every other week, for many years. I used to drown it with the clear chicken soup that it was served with and that was the ultimate comfort meal for me, regardless of the season or time of day. Of course its perceived comfort quotient increased in sickness and cold weather.

For various reasons (convenience, simplicity, cost/product ratio, etc), this year I came up with my own quick and dirty version. Given that it wasn't a very refined or complex dish to begin with, I think my (slightly different) version is at least just as good Sampan's.

Garlic and Spring Onion Chicken Rice

Ingredients:
Chicken thigh fillets (or whatever cut you prefer)
OXO chicken stock cubes
Ginger (fresh, peeled, about 5 inches)
Garlic
Spring Onions
Salt
Sugar
Rice
Oil

Method:
1. Boil chicken pieces with 2.5 inches of ginger and 1 crumbled cube of chicken stock.
2. While chicken is cooking, finely mince garlic and spring onions (as you can see from the photo, I did not mince the garlic finely enough this time). If you have a food processor, you can just mince them together.
3. Remove chicken as soon as it is cooked, but do not pour away the stock/soup that the chicken was cooked in.
3. Strain stock/soup with a fine cheesecloth (for best results) or let it rest until all residue settles at the bottom of the pot. Skim the oil off the surface if you like.
4. Add rice to rice cooker pot with 1 crumbled cube of chicken stock, the remainder 2.5 inches of ginger and enough soup/stock (make sure to use only the clear broth and try not to scoop up any residue) to cook the rice, then cook rice.
5. Mix minced garlic and spring onions together. The amounts are up to you. I think a ratio of 2:3 garlic to spring onions is about right. Add a few teaspoons of salt and sugar (about 2:1).
6. Heat oil (enough to cover garlic and spring onion mixture) until hot enough to create a sizzle when a small piece of garlic is added. I use a microwave but heating it on the stove would be much better.
7. Pour hot oil over minced garlic and spring onion mixture and mix thoroughly. It should be quite salty as the chicken, rice and soup will be bland. Add salt/sugar and taste again until it is to your liking. You may reheat this mixture if you like, but you don't want the spring onions to wilt too much or turn too dark.
8. Serve rice and chicken topped generously with the garlic and spring onion mixture and some of stock/soup. It is quite a dry dish without the soup, so I like to drench it, but you should only do that if you have properly strained the soup/stock with a cheesecloth, otherwise the fat and residue (from boiling the chicken) makes the rice greasy and pasty.

BBQ Prawns and Mango Salsa

S made this (with me hovering in the background) in May 2010 and I have been holding out on writing about this, even though it is a real favourite of mine and just about everyone else who has tasted it, because I wanted to get a better photo. The first time S made this, there were no good mangoes available here so we caved and bought canned mangoes, which were revolting (as you can see from the colour in the photo). 

Chef John's Mango Salsa recipe, however, was sound enough to withstand our adulteration. Even with the horrible canned mangoes, the salsa was pretty good and we could easily imagine how great it would be with fresh mangoes. S has made this salsa many times since and it is always, always beautifully refreshing, tangy and absolutely delicious. It's that great accompaniment that lends that all-important zing to barbecued, smokey, rich proteins. Unfortunately, despite numerous attempts, this is still the best photo for this dish.

Instead of the salmon in the orignal recipe, that first time, we shrimp fiends opted for Chef John's slightly naughtier 'Barbecued' Shrimp, which incidentally was also finger-lickin', lip-smackingly tasty. Sadly, if I remember correctly, we've only had the shrimp twice (because I'm lazy and rely entirely on S's charity when it comes to cooking).

Fish Porridge

First of all, 'porridge' to me (and other Malaysians/Singaporeans) is a Chinese rice based.....let's call it 'soup'. Elsewhere, it's known as congee to avoid being confused with with what Westerners call porridge (cooked oats). In fact, now most Chinese restaurants in Malaysia and Singapore have 'congee' in the English portion of their menus, even though it has always been colloquially known as porridge. Regardless, a good porridge (like good soup) can have real depth and a wonderfully comforting quality. My mom's pork porridge is one such example, but when I am in the mood for something lighter, I crave fish porridge. 

In Malaysia or Singapore, I would get this at a hawker stall or with dim sum at a restaurant, i.e. I wouldn't cook. And as you well know, I only cook when I crave something that I can't buy or convince someone else to cook. I don't hate cooking and am able to cook some things reasonably well, but have none of the desire or passion to cook that consumes S and E. They get very antsy and a little neurotic when they haven't cooked or baked in a while. I am very fortunate indeed to be or have been (E is too far away now *pout*) the recipient of the results of many a cathartic mission in the kitchen - including meltdowns and tantrums when things don't turn out quite right (according to them). 

Unlike them, I have no desire to make anything from scratch or in the most authentic, 'correct' way possible. Quite the opposite - if I have to cook, I try to reduce it to the simplest, quickest way to get a result that is to my satisfaction. This recipe is a perfect example - incredibly easy and the produces a fish porridge that is pretty close (S can attest to this) to the 'real-deal' (which includes laboriously making stock with pork and fish bones, etc, etc, which would take half a day at least). The monk fish was delicate and smooth and the porridge had a great savoury flavour with just a hint of the fish's sweetness. The crunchy, freshness of the spring onions, sweetness of the crisp, fried shallots, nuttiness of the sesame oil, sharp saltiness of the soy sauce and slight bite of the pepper are all absolutely essential to this dish and give it the complexity in textures and flavours that makes this dish. 

Ingredients:
Monk fish
Ginger (whole)
Anchovy stock
Chicken stock
Medium/Short grain rice

Toppings:
Shallots (finely sliced)
Cooking oil
Spring Onions (sliced about 1cm width)
Ginger (finely sliced)
White pepper
Soy sauce
Sesame oil

Method:
1. Put about 1 cup of uncooked rice in rice cooker pot (mine cooks up to 7 cups of rice) and fill 3/4 of pot with cold water.
2. Add 1 peeled, two-inch piece of ginger and 1 cube of anchovy stock (may be substituted with chicken stock) to the pot and cook.
3. Check porridge periodically. Should take about 1.5 - 2 hours to soften properly. I prefer my fish porridge really runny, so I periodically stir, add water and let it simmer to get the right consistency.
4. While porridge is cooking, prepare the toppings and cut up the monk fish to approximately 2-inch sized chunks.
5. Fill a shallow bowl with roughly enough cook oil to cover all the sliced shallots. You can put the shallots in the bowl and then pour the oil over it, but I prefer to heat up the oil in the microwave first before adding the shallots. Heat oil in microwave on high for about 2 minutes, then test with a piece of shallot to see if it sizzles. If it does, add in all the sliced shallots and heat on high in the microwave for 2 minutes at a time - there's no precise way to do this, you just have to keep heating and checking to see if it has browned enough. Alternatively, you could just fry them in a pan over a stove.
6. When the porridge is close to the consistency of your liking, add the monk fish chunks and 1 cube of chicken stock and stir. Add water if necessary (if there is too much porridge, before adding the fish, scoop up some into a container and store in the fridge for another day).
7. Cook until fish is cooked and consistency is right.
8. Serve in a bowl, drizzled with sesame oil and soy sauce, and topped with spring onions, fried shallots and a dash of white pepper.

Avocado Wedges

This recipe is from that beer cookbook I reviewed last year, and it's just too good not to share. It has become a real favourite of mine (and S's too!) and we never bother with the cherry tomatoes or chives anymore. No need to gild the lily as they say. 

These wedges, combined with the dipping sauce from the 'Sesame Green Beans' recipe from the same cookbook, is one of the best snacks that I've discovered....EVER. A must-try!

Ingredients:
250ml beer (lager) (the author recommends Export Gold)
1 cup all-purpose flour 2 cloves garlic (crushed)
1.5 teaspoons paprika
2 avocados peeled and cut into wedges
salt and cracked pepper to season
vegetable oil for deep frying
8 small cherry tomatoes halved (optional)
2 tablespoons chives (optional)

Dipping Sauce:
3 tablespoons soy sauce
3 teaspoons lime juice
1 teaspoon sugar

Method:
1. Combine the beer, flour, garlic and paprika in a bowl and leave to stand for 2 hours.
2. Cut the avocadoes into wedges (about 1.5 cm thick at the base). Lightly season with salt and pepper and coat them with the batter.
3. Pre-heat oil to 180 degrees celcius (or test with a cube of bread - if it crisps easily and quickly, it's hot enough).
4. Fry wedges in hot oil until golden brown. Remove and drain on paper towels.
5. Season again with salt and pepper.
6. Mix dipping sauce ingredients in a small bowl, taste and adjust to your preference.
7. May be served with salsa, or cherry tomatoes, with chopped chives.

Cauliflower & Egg Curry (Alison Holst's recipe - modified)

I have previously blogged about this curry here, but it is so good that I have to share the modified recipe. The photo isn't going to get any better, so I will just use the one from the previous post, even though I don't use peas anymore. It's such a great, satisfying vegetarian dish that I normally just eat it on its own, but of course it would go beautifully with a bed of fragrant basmati rice.

Ingredients

410g can seasoned/normal tomato puree
160ml can coconut cream
1/2 a large cauliflower - cut into florets
4 medium sized carrots - chopped into 2 cm thick wedges
1 onion - finely minced
5 cloves of garlic - finely minced
ginger powder
garam masala
2 OXO beef stock cubes
Brahim's curry powder
4 - 6 Eggs
salt
oil

Method

1. Hard-boil eggs.
2. Saute the onions in some oil (in a large pan or wok) until translucent and then add the garlic. Continue sauteing until fragrant.
3. Add 1-2 tablespoons of ginger powder and 2-3 tablespoons of curry powder (Sorry, I just chuck in whatever I feel like and taste it later on, so I can't give you exact measurements).
4. Continue sauteing for a few minutes until mixture darkens a little, then add can of seasoned tomato puree. Simmer for a few minutes.
5. Add garam masala and OXO beef stock cubes and mix well.
6. Add carrots. Simmer until semi tender.
7. Add coconut cream, mix well, then add cauliflower. Simmer until tender.
8. Taste and add salt (and/or curry powder and/or other spices) to your liking.
9. Add peeled, halved hard-boiled eggs, mix gently and let it rest for about 10-15 minutes before serving.
10. Garnish with roughly chopped coriander if you like.

PS: For those who are interested, the original recipe called for minced fresh ginger (which I swapped with ground ginger/ginger powder because the fresh ginger doesn't dissolve and leaves chewy bits in your curry), canned whole tomatoes (which I thought made it far too watery and I didn't care for the bits of resistant tomato skin - see if you can spot a piece in the photo) and peas (which I didn't think really added anything to the dish).

Mystery Box Challenge - M vs S

It will probably come as no surprise to anyone that I like watching reality cooking shows like Top Chef, Hells Kitchen and Master Chef. Not only do these shows allow people to ogle at the food, but they educate us on a vast variety of techniques and terms, introduce culinary celebrities to the masses and most importantly (for me), help build our 'must-dine-at' restaurants list. Of course, the challenges that the creators have devised to test the contestants are also very clever and incredibly entertaining. Of these, the one that I thought would be the most executable for the average Joe/Jane, was the Mystery Box.

And so, after about a month of trash-talking, weight-training and anxiety, one sunny afternoon in May, S and M 'cooked-off' in their first Mystery Box challenge. D and I bought about 20 ingredients (brussel sprouts, bok choi, chicken, squid, prawns, risotto rice, egg noodles, peppers, lemons, cheese, bacon, etc...) that were revealed to both contestants at the same time. In the initial plan, they only had about two hours to cook an entree and a main dish each, but they both spent about half an hour just staring at the ingredients trying to figure out what to cook, that in the end, we just let them cook at their own pace. M, being a typical guy, was supremely confident that it would only take him 15 minutes to cook each dish and vetoed my initial proposal of allowing them three hours to cook. In the end, their prep, cooking and plating took about four hours - excluding pondering and tasting! Luckily that gave M's family plenty of time to go to town, come back and participate in the judging.

Being the total nerd that I am, I had created score sheets (on Excel!) so S and M's dishes were judged on presentation, flavour, balance, originality, execution, on a scale of 1 - 10. I also had some goofy descriptions for the scores on either end of the scale (i.e. '10 = Please marry me!', '0 = Stick your head in the oven and turn on the gas', or something like that) but I deleted them and I don't remember exactly what they were now.

Entrees

M's Ravioli with Tomato Sauce: Excellent, very tasty, astonishingly-simple-to-make, sauce. Filling (chicken, bacon and bok choi) was also nice, but pasta was a little undercooked and a little dry.

S's Prawn Stuffed Squid with Egg Noodle Salad: The stuffed squid was quite tasty and interesting, but unfortunately the noodles turned to mush after cooking and was not good. I think it was the type and brand of noodles that we bought rather than anything S did, because we tried another type from the same brand once before and it too turned out a bit too mushy. Can't be certain until we try cooking these noodles in another way (maybe stir-fy?), but probably won't be so inclined. M also used the the noodles the following day and had the same results.

Mains

M's Shrimp ('cos he's American!) Etouffee and Risotto: M wants you to know that his Cajun Etoufee and Italian Risotto was a true international cross-over dish (and in his words), "unlike S's unilateral-cultural crap". This is an example of the trash-talking that went on before the challenge. I thought that the etoufee was a little sweeter than I would have preferred, but having never had etoufee, the level of sweetness could have been exactly right. Unfortunately, M finished cooking the risotto a little earlier than anticipated, so by the time it was served, it was a little stiff, but the flavour was decent. Also the pairing of two texturally similar items wasn't ideal, but not disastrous.

S's Baked Chicken with Brussel Sprouts and Kumara and Bacon: Really enjoyed the kumara and the brussel sprouts which were very tasty. The chicken had a good flavour, but was overcooked and so a little dry.


Irrespective of the outcome, we the diners, whose only job was to watch, eat and criticise, appreciate the effort and thought that S and M put into this challenge. It was very, very close, but S emerged the victor and M (who was sabotaged by his own flesh and blood), through the screams and tears, immediately demanded a recount. In the end, after a lot of plate-throwing, he was pacified with the promise of a new Lotus. Other than that, I am pretty sure everyone, including the contestants, had a really good time, enjoyed the cooking, the eating and the company. M is desperate for a re-match but S won't dignify him with one just yet. Stayed tuned....

PS: Special thanks go to P for photographing the event and allowing me to use his gorgeous photos - the ugly ones are mine.

PPS: I may have taken some liberties in my dramatisation of M's character. Maybe.

Seafood Risotto

I love a good risotto, but I haven't had good risotto very often. Fortunately, the first one I ever tried was one of the best that I've had, so I from then on, I had a good idea of what it was supposed to taste like. And S's combination of Jamie Oliver's and Rick Stein’s seafood risotto recipes (and winging it) produced a really tasty, rich dish with nice full flavours. 

We used scallops and snapper instead of mussels and monkfish, and left out the squid. The scallops were terrible because we used frozen ones (don't ask me why, we were just pushing our luck). We seasoned the snapper fillets with salt and cajun spices and pan fried the fish instead of cooking it with the risotto. We also added asparagus, so with all those ingredients, it doesn't look quite as elegant as something you would get in a restaurant but it was incredibly satisfying. Sorry I can't even write a general recipe for this because S did 99.99% of the cooking (I think I stirred the pot a couple of times...maybe) and I don't remember what she did. But if you just go with these recipes and do what makes sense to you, you should be fine. Risottos seem to be pretty straightforward as long as you take the time to cook it slowly, allow the flavours to develop and the rice to naturally turn rich and creamy. It's worth the effort.

'Claypot' Chicken Rice v2.0

Very sorry about not posting in the last few weeks. The internet at my place STILL hasn't been restored and it is getting quite inconvenient. I am in internet and 'flogging' (food blogging) withdrawal, so I am posting this even though it's not going to be a very long one. 

I've written about making 'Claypot' Chicken Rice once before, but the photo in that post was awful and the recipe was basic. I've taken it up a notch here and the little extras are definitely worth it. This is one of those really easy recipes that will produce a delicious, comforting, and incredibly satisfying, one-pot meal. Great for all you hungry, non-cooks like me.

Random notes: -

I use thigh fillets because: 

1. they contain more fat than breast fillets and are therefore far less fibrous and more moist. 

2. the fat flavours the rice well, and 

3. I am too lazy to deal with chicken pieces even though they would retain more flavour and moisture with the skin on and bone in, AND the fat from the skin would give the dish extra flavour (maybe one day, when I have my dream kitchen - I know, I know, what does a 'non-cook' want with a dream kitchen? Doesn't matter, I still do!). 

Claypot Chicken Rice 

Ingredients 

Rice 

Chicken 

Chinese Sausage (Lap Cheong) 

Ginger

Garlic 

Dark Soy Sauce 

Shallot 

Salted Fish 

Spring Onion 

Method 

1. Steam chinese sausages (as per instructions on packet), then slice (about half a cm thick) and saute in a dry pan until slightly browned and oil is released into pan. 

2. Set aside chinese sausage slices and using the same pan, heat cooking oil (estimate what you would need to coat all the rice you are going to use and add an extra tablespoon) and saute a large (about 2-3 inches) piece of ginger until slightly golden. 

3. Add uncooked rice, saute until translucent, then set aside (with ginger) in rice cooker pot. 

4. Heat some oil and saute garlic cloves (crushed with the side of a knife, but otherwise in one piece) until fragrant. 

5. Add chicken pieces and fry until golden brown. 

6. Add dark soy sauce and sugar to taste and stir fry well. 

7. Add water to the chicken (estimate the amount you would need to cook the rice in a rice cooker, if unsure, use less and add more later). 

8. Taste - sauce/broth should be just a bit too salty because the flavours will mellow considerably when cooked with the rice. 

9. Pour chicken and sauce/broth over the rice in the rice cooker pot and throw in the chinese sausage slices. 

10. Cook in rice cooker as you would cook plain rice. The switch will 'trip' and show that it is done before it actually is but leave it in to continue cooking. Just keep testing the rice to see if it needs more water or if it just needs to be left in longer. 

11. While it is cooking, finely slice shallots and chop spring onions. 

12. Fry sliced shallots until golden brown. 

13. Serve topped with the fried shallots, chopped spring onions and some salted fish.

Yee Sang (Homemade)

Every time I don't get to go back home for Chinese New Year, one of the first things I whine about is that I won't be able to have Yee Sang (a special salad that is normally only available during Chinese New Year in Malaysia and Singapore). It just did not occur to me to make our own - maybe because nowadays you'd only get the kind with the dehydrated vegetables at restaurants and supermarkets. Stupidly, for longer than I care to admit, the thought "how are we going to dehydrate the ingredients?" was the one thing that was floating about at the back of my head that was preventing me from coming to the now blindingly apparent solution. The haze must have lifted at some point because randomly, I put two and two together: the memory of my parents telling me that when Yee Sang was first introduced in KL, all the ingredients were fresh + that means we don't have to have dehydrated ingredients for Yee Sang = we can make our own Yee Sang with fresh ingredients. Doh!

So we made it by roughly following this recipe and it turned out brilliantly. S and I were both amazed and how closely it resembled what we normally get back home. One would think that there would be a drastic difference in taste when replacing dehydrated ingredients with fresh ones - but there really wasn't. I think the key ingredients were the toasted sesame seeds, the plum sauce and lemon juice. The first time we made it, we left out the lemon juice and the sauce wasn't quite right. The second time, with lemon juice, it was perfect. This tasty dish delivers a delightful myriad of flavours and textures - juicy, sweet, sour, savoury, crunchy, soft, crispy, nutty, soft, tangy, fresh....MMMMM! Every bite is just irresistibly refreshing, like a burst of 'happy' in your mouth. I don't think we will be able to resist not making this again even though it's not Chinese New Year anymore. S?

We adapted the recipe slightly because we couldn't get things like pomelo here, and as usual, we added/omitted whatever felt right:

Second attempt - close to perfect

Yee Sang (adapted from here)

Ingredients
(adjust to your preference)

Fresh salmon, sliced into thin fillets (season with lemon juice, a pinch of five spice powder and pepper)
Carrots, finely julienned
White radish/daikon, finely julienned
Pomelo, separated down to individual sacs or small segments (if you can get pomelo)
Pickled ginger, finely sliced
Pickled onions, finely sliced
Mango, julienned
Roasted peanuts
Toasted sesame seeds
Fried wonton skins
Fresh coriander

For the dressing :
Plum sauce mixed with lemon juice (about 2: 1, should still be reasonably thick)
Oil (we used canola)

Method

1. Make sure you buy the freshest fish for the dish and slice the fillet into thin strips. Season as instructed.
2. Arrange all the ingredients into sections on a large serving platter.
3. To serve, pour plum sauce dressing and oil over the salad then immediately toss the salad with chopsticks (and friends preferably) as high as you can (the higher the luckier apparently) without too much of it ending up on the table/floor, while making loud proclamations of good luck and fortune for everyone for the New Year.

Carbonara

Once again S tried a recipe by Chef John of Food Wishes, who has yet to fail us, which turned out beautifully and was immediately flagged as one of our favourite, 'sure-to-impress' aces. Beautifully luscious, without being too rich, absolutely delicious and satisfying - this is one of those dishes that will leave you with a goofy grin of postprandial bliss/stupor. And, it's doesn't contain any cream - "for real"! You MUST try Chef John's Carbonara recipe.

Caesar Salad

Once upon a time, I had a craving for a Caesar Salad. If I had been in KL, I would have gone to the one place that (until then) I thought had the best Caesar Salad. But I wasn't in KL and it isn't as easily available at restaurants here. So, I did the only thing I could do - found what looked like a good recipe on the net and convinced S to make it. And that is the story of how 'we' made and discovered the best Caesar Salad that we have ever tasted.

The dressing is deliciously tangy and mildly acidic and most importantly (now that I am older, wiser and more discerning) does not impart the kitschy sweetness that is present in most supermarket and restaurant Caesar dressings. Thrown together, the crunchy, savoury garlic croutons, nutty mellow Parmesan, crisp, fresh cos/romaine lettuce and the comforting taste and texture of hard boiled eggs tossed in the lovely dressing forms a dish with wonderfully complex flavours and varying textures. Normally we top it off with sinful pieces of salty, crispy streaky bacon, but this time we opted for the slightly more elegant and subtle, but just as gratifying, grilled garlic prawns. Absolutely, mouth-wateringly delicious.

The recipe is easier than it looks. Don't be afraid to try it. Below is a simplified version of the recipe:

Caesar Salad 

(simplified and slightly modified from here)

Ingredients

Croutons:
2 large garlic cloves (feel free to use more - we do!)
Pinch of salt
3 tablespoons virgin olive oil
2 cups French baguette slices cut up into 1/2 inch cubes (we normally just use the whole baguette and adjust the other ingredients to taste)

Salad:
1 large egg
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 medium garlic clove, crushed
1 pinch salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons anchovy paste or 4 flat anchovies
1 teaspoon capers
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/3 cup virgin olive oil
2 medium heads of Romaine/cos lettuce (just get a couple of bags of the ready to eat, pre-washed kind)
1/3 cup shaved Parmesan cheese

Additional Toppings:
Hard boiled eggs (halved)
Crispy streaky bacon (bake in oven until crispy), or
Grilled garlic prawns (use same method (steps 1-3) as prawns in Chili, Garlic Prawn Vermicelli recipe)

Method

Croutons:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Crush the garlic cloves with the side of a chef's knife or with a garlic press.
3. Slice up the baguette and cut them into 1/2 inch cubes.
4. Combine garlic, oil, salt, and bread cubes in a bowl.
5. Mix until cubes are coated evenly.
6. Spread the coated cubes onto a baking sheet and bake until the croutons are golden (about 10 minutes)

Salad:
1. Crush the garlic.
2. If you are using flat anchovies out of a can, mince one or two to make 1 1/2 teaspoons worth.
3. Shave the Parmesan cheese. It's always better to grate it yourself if you have the opportunity. 

4. Bring a pot of boiling water to boil, add egg and cook for just 45 seconds....NO MORE. This is coddling the egg. Remove from heat and let it cool off.
5. Meanwhile, mix the Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, garlic, salt & pepper, anchovy, mustard and capers in a bowl.
6. Crack egg and add to these ingredients. Whisk until smooth.
7. Now for the tricky part. Slowly add the oil in a steady stream while constantly whisking again until smooth. Reason: if you add the oil too quickly, the dressing will be separate and not emulsify.
8. In a big bowl, add half the dressing to the Romaine/cos lettuce and toss.
9. Add remaining dressing, hard boiled eggs and croutons and toss again.
10. Top with shaved Parmesan and crispy streaky bacon or garlic prawns and serve.

Tiramisu & Brownie

Critic Issue 25 – Food Column

These are a couple of my favourite, effortless, sure-to-impress recipes to satiate those sweet cravings. This blend of a Gordon Ramsay recipe and a random recipe, makes one of the best Tiramisus that I’ve ever had - sweet, luscious and creamy, with just the right chocolate and coffee overtones. Plus, it sounds fancy but is actually easily thrown together – which means that you will impress, without doing much at all. 

Tiramisu

Ingredients:

250g mascarpone

1 tsp vanilla extract

3 tbsp Marsala, brandy or Tia Maria

150ml strong coffee or espresso, cooled to room temperature

150ml single cream

4 tbsp icing sugar

Sponge fingers (savoiardi)

Chocolate shavings

Hot Chocolate powder

Method:

1. Whisk the mascarpone with the vanilla, Marsala and 50ml coffee, until everything is thoroughly mixed together. Whisk the cream with the icing sugar until smooth, then fold in the mascarpone mix. Pour remaining coffee into a wide, flattish bowl.

2. Take one sponge finger at a time and dip it in to the coffee for one second, remove and arrange at the bottom of a 2-3 inch deep, glass container. Repeat until you have a layer of coffee soaked sponge fingers.

3. Spoon a layer of the mascarpone mix onto the first layer of sponge fingers, then top with a layer of hot chocolate powder and chocolate shavings. Repeat steps 2 and 3 to make another layer.

4. Refrigerate for 30 minutes or longer to allow it to set and flavours to infuse. Cut into squares with a soft, plastic spatula, serve and bask in the adulations.

Also, everyone needs a good, fuss-free brownie recipe for chocolate emergencies. Of all the brownie recipes that my friends and I have experimented with, this one (that C found) is by far the simplest and yields brownies that are just as heavenly, moist, chocolatey, decadent and guilt-inducing as the complicated recipes. Commit it to memory.

Brownie (adapted from this recipe)

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 cup chocolate chips

3/4 cup chopped walnuts/peacans

2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

1 1/4 cups flour

3 whole eggs

1 cup melted butter (227 g)

1 tsp vanilla essence

Instructions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 175°C.

2. Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl. Add the wet ingredients and mix until combined completely.

3. Pour and spread the batter into a greased/floured or lined 9X13 baking pan.

4. Bake 25-40 minutes or until a skewer test comes out clean.

5. Scoff while it’s fresh out of the oven and still delightfully warm, with some vanilla ice cream. Also keeps well….apparently.

Croque Monsieur

Critic Issue 23 - Food Column

As a continuation of last week’s French theme and Meryl-Streep-movie mania, I went hunting for this recipe after watching ‘It’s Complicated’. The Croque Monsieur, which loosely translates as ‘crispy’ or ‘crunchy’ mister, is basically a fancy toasted ham and cheese sandwich. Not being cheese-crazy, I wasn’t sure that I would like it, but it turned out to be unexpectedly tasty (at least on our first attempt). The first time we made it, the Croque Monsieur was delicious, albeit somewhat rustic looking because we couldn’t cut the ciabatta into nice, even slices. It was nice and crunchy around the edges, but soft and cheesy in the middle, giving it an interesting, somewhat unusual texture. Just looking at the recipe initially, I was concerned that combination of the white sauce and cheese would be overwhelming. But, the mustard gave the sandwich the critical piquancy required to cut the richness of the white sauce and cheese, and so the flavours were actually very well balanced. On our second attempt, we tried to use normal, thick cut pre-sliced bread, and it turned out too dense and soggy because the bread wasn’t dry enough. If that wasn't bad enough, we must have played around with the amounts a little because the flavours were milder, so it wasn't as tasty. Of course, the second attempt was when we decided to make double the amount we had the first time. Ugh, not pleasant. Moral of the story, get the good stuff and remember to taste as you cook!

Croque Monsieur

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp butter

2 Tbsp flour

1 1/2 cups milk

A pinch each of salt, freshly ground pepper, nutmeg, or more to taste

6 ounces Gruyère cheese, grated (about 1 1/2 cups grated)

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese (packed)

8 slices of French or Italian loaf bread

12 ounces ham, sliced

Dijon mustard

Method

1. Preheat oven to 200°C.
2. Make the béchamel (white) sauce. Melt butter in a small saucepan on medium/low heat until it just starts to bubble. Add the flour and cook, stirring until smooth, about 2 minutes. Slowly add the milk, whisking continuously, cooking until thick. Remove from heat. Add the salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Stir in the Parmesan and 1/4 cup of the grated Gruyère. Set aside.
3. Lay out the bread slices on a baking sheet and toast them in the oven, a few minutes each side, until lightly toasted. For extra flavour you can spread some butter on the bread slices before you toast them if you want. (Alternatively, you can assemble the sandwiches as follows in step four and grill them on a skillet, finishing them in the broiler with the béchamel sauce.)
4. Lightly brush half of the toasted slices with mustard. Add the ham slices and about 1 cup of the remaining Gruyère cheese. Top with the other toasted bread slices.
5. Spoon on the béchamel sauce to the tops of the sandwiches. Sprinkle with the remaining Gruyère cheese. Place on a broiling pan. Bake in the oven for 5 minutes, then turn on the broiler and broil for an additional 3 to 5 minutes, until the cheese topping is bubbly and lightly browned.

Sole Meunière

This post is for J.I., a very kind reader who, upon reading about my obsession with some of the food in the movie Julie and Julia in Critic (pg 33, or here), sent me his copy of Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Thanks J.I.! Even though we still haven't tried anything from the definitive, preeminent cookbook (Boeuf Bourguignon is first on the list!), Sole Meunière should suffice as a tribute, temporarily. This was apparently the 'life changing' dish that Julia Child had in Paris that ignited her love for French food and cooking. And I can see why.

The Sole Meunière was wonderfully zesty and acidic and had a lovely, smooth, very subtle buttery flavour. It was not in the least bit sickeningly rich or greasy, as one might reasonably expect in dish with this amount of butter. The edges of the sole were nice and crispy and each bite of delicate, tangy sauce coated sole flesh melted in my mouth with an immediate rush of clean, slightly tart but still rich, full, flavours. Bliss! It's one of those dishes that does not immediately 'knock your socks off', but tastes better and better with each mouthful. Towards the end, in butter induced euphoria, I almost believed that it was the best fish that I had ever tasted. I can't wait to make this again. 

We, naughtily, did not use Julia Child's Brown Butter recipe because we couldn't be bothered clarifying the butter, so we used this recipe instead. Below is my simplified version, of an already very simple recipe:

Sole Meunière

Ingredients:

4 sole filets (6 - 8 ounces)

4 tablespoons butter (apprx 56g)

1/4 cup of dry white wine (Sauvignon Blanc)

juice from half of one lemon

flour to dust fish (1/4 cup)

1 teaspoon fresh minced parsley

salt and pepper to taste

Method:

1. Heat a large saute pan on a high setting, while the pan is heating season the flour with salt and pepper. 
2. Dust the sole with the seasoned flour. 
3. Add two tablespoons (28g) of butter to the saute pan and melt until slightly bubbly.
4. Add the sole filets to the saute pan making sure you do not over crowd the pan, or they won't brown. 
5. Fry each side until golden, then remove from pan.
6. Add the remaining butter and continue to cook until the butter begins to turn brown slightly. 
7. Once the butter begins to turn brown quickly add the white wine, lemon juice and parsley (you may premix the white wine, lemon juice and parsley so that it is ready when the butter browns).
8. Pour the butter sauce over the sole and serve.