duck confit with orange sauce

Seems like there are difference ways of curing the duck legs and after a couple of trials we came to the conclusion that 24 to 36 hours of salting is sufficient. Any more the meat would get way too salty. Basically you lay duck legs out flat on tray and sprinkle salt and garlic on top.  We added some optional herbs and spices but it;s not really necessary.  Leave to refrigerate for 24 to 36 hours.  When it's time to cook them wipe off all the salt and spices and submerge legs into melted duck (or goose) fat in heavy casserole pot.  Cook in 90C to 100C oven or until skin is receded from the bone.  We decided that it's not necessary to have a sauce on top as the meat is really tender and flavourful to begin with.

Xmas leftover

I never thought I'd want to eat ham or turkey again after the feast we had over Christmas but I have to say I feel hungry again now that I am looking at this picture.  I would kill for that homemade sausage roll and cranberry sauce.  And by the way Christmas ham from Fortnum and Mason was excellent!

Singapore chili crab

Recipe courtesy to a Singaporean friend.  It was finger-licking good!

Ingredients (serves 3-4):

For paste:
- 2 medium white onions
- 1 head of garlic
- 2 to 4 small chili
- 1 thumb sized ginger

For crab:
-2 crabs, cleaned and slightly bashed
- 2 drops of tabasco
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1/2 bottle ketchup
- 1 tablespoon white vinegar
- 2 cups water
- pinch of salt
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch (mixed with water)
- 1 egg, beaten
- vegetable oil for frying

Steps:
1) Blend paste ingredients together, set aside.
2) Mix tabasco, brown sugar, ketchup, white vinegar, salt and water together, set aside.
3) Fry paste in hot oil until fragrant.
4) Add crabs and fry until slightly red.
5)Add ketchup mixture into wok with crab and bring to boil, lower heat then simmer for 10 to 15 mins depending on size of crab.
6) Add cornstarch mixture and simmer for further 2 mins to thicken sauce.
7) Add beaten egg into crab, simmer for further 1 to 2 mins.
8) Garnish with coriander and served with deep fried buns.

bibimbap

Our first bibimbap attempt. I think we have to be more generous with sesame oil next time. Not bad!

another BBQ

This time it was a BBQ just for my husband and I. To start we had panzanella - our housekeeper calls it soggy bread salad. We actually liked the toasted and slightly chewy ciabatta.

Champagne to go with our BBQ mud crabs.
I thought the crab could be bigger but my husband said I was greedy.
Crumble for dinner. I suppose we didn't need a bigger crab.

River Exe mussels

Fresh mussels from River Exe Shellfish Farm from down the road. We cooked them in white wine, shallots and tarragon. Love them.

Our housekeeper's creation: grilled lamb fillet with pumpkin and bean salad and toasted pinenuts. It's one of her best!
River Exe Shellfish Farm

Oak Farm, Kenton, Exeter, Devon, EX6 8EZ. Tel: 01626 890 133

BBQ

Homemade bread to go with our sausages and pulled pork.

Some steaks just in case we din't have enough food.
Organic Gloucester Old Spot Pork sausages from Hindon Organic Farm in Exmoor. Good quality sausages indeed and very porky. It makes you wonder what indeed is in regular non-porky tasting sausages?
I don't normally say cor but look at this pork shoulder joint! Cor! We had it slow-cooked for pulled pork. The pulling was pretty tedious but the meat and the pull pork sauce we made were a hit. Mind you it's probably best to leave pork pulling to restaurants as my fingers hurt for a couple of days after.

Hindon Orgaic Farm

Minehead, Exmoor, Somerset, UK. TA24 8SH Tel: 01643 705 244

roast beef and more

Look at that joint of beef! It's so much nicer and cheaper than what you could get in SH.

Yorkshire puddings on the side.
Last but not least summer pudding. We love cooking in the UK.

Botham burgers

Our take on the Jamie Oliver recipe. We put cheese in the middle of the patties. Yum!

cooking at home!

Delia's fast roast chicken with herb butter and lemon.

With my husband's kick-butt roast potatoes!

the world's best walnut tart

The best tart I've had in my life. A big thank you to my husband!

Cajun meatloaf

I was cheating a little with this recipe as I used the help of packet seasoning mix..I have however added the Cajun flavour to give it a bit more spice.

Ingredients:
-2 pounds minced beef
-1 chopped onion
-1 bunch chopped spring onions
-1 shredded carrot
-2 cloves of minced garlic
-1 teaspoon each of white pepper, black pepper, ground cumin, cayenne pepper
-1 table spoon each of Worcestershire sauce and Tabasco
-1 meatloaf seasoning packet
-ingredients required for packet: usually eggs, breadcrumbs and cup water
-ketchup (optional)

First fry onion, spring onion, garlic, and carrot in butter until soft. Add all dry and wet seasonings (cumin, cayenne, black & white pepper; Worcestershire and Tabasco sauces). Mix well.

In large bowl mix together 2 eggs, breadcrumbs, water, and packet mix (see your packet for quantities).

In this case I used Lipton's Beefy Onion soup mix.

Add minced beef, fried vegetable and optional ketchup (1/4 cup).

Put the well-mixed mixture to a bread loaf tin. Bake uncovered at 180C for 1 hour.

Meatloaf should be slightly brown when cooked. Slice and serve hot.

I served mine with a fried egg. Somehow they go well together. You may have gravy on the side but I find if I cheat with seasoning packets the finishing meatloaf is usually salty enough.

roasted fillet of beef with porcini mushroom and prosciutto

We love this Jamie Oliver recipe. It reminds me of beef wellington but it's a lot quicker and simpler and just as tasty. The ingredients are easy to get and you should have most at home to begin with anyway.

You will need:
- 12 to 18 slices prosciutto or parma ham
- 900g fillet of beef, left whole (pick the round middle section of you can)
- a handful of dried porcini mushroom, soaked in around 285ml boiling water
- 3 cloves of garlic, peeled
- 3 knobs of butter
- 3 good handfuls of rosemary and thyme, leaves picked and chopped
- 2 glasses of wine
- juice of 1/2 lemon

1) Preheat oven to 230C. We heat the roasting tray as well.
2) Chop one garlic clove. In frying pan fry garlic and soaked porcini with 1 knob of butter.
3) Add half the mushroom water (grit-free), simmer and reduce for around 5 mins.
4) Meanwhile lay the prosciutto out side by side on to an A3ish sized piece of wax paper.
5) Add lemon juice, remaining butter, and salt and pepper in the mushroom after the 5 mins, then place the mixture over half of the laid out prosciutto, starting from one end.
6) Season beef fillet with herbs, salt and pepper. Place it on the mushroomy end.

7) Slowly roll the meat up. As you are rolling, pull the wax paper off.

8) Once it is rolled up tie the meat up with some strings.

Our OTT demo.

9) We seal ours quickly on the heated roasting tray, although Jamie doesn't say anything about sealing. Throw in the rest of the garlic gloves in the tray and cook in oven. For rare 25-30 mins, medium 40 mins, well-done 50 mins.

10) Half way through the cooking add wine to the tray.

11) When the meat is done, remove meat and rest for 5 mins. Meanwhile simmer the juices on stove top to make a light red wine gravy.

Although we had ours cremated (better safe than sorry in China), the meat was still very moist and tender. Hint: get Qingdao beef from Carre Four.

roast beef dinner

A BIG thank you to my husband for making me a roast beef dinner completed with Yorkshire puddings! Yum yum!!
To make Yorkshire puddings you will need (receipe from BBC Food web site):
- 3 eggs
- 115g/4oz flour
- 275ml/½ pint milk
- beef dripping
- salt

1) Mix together the eggs, flour and a pinch of salt.
2) Add the milk, stirring constantly, until you have a runny batter.
3) Leave this to rest, covered, in the refrigerator for up to 12 hours.
4) Place 1cm/½in of beef dripping in the bottom of each pudding mould, or if you are using a rectangular roasting tray, place 1cm/½in of beef dripping across the bottom.
5) Heat the dripping in the oven (at 240C/460F/Gas 8) for about ten minutes, until it is piping hot. (Smoooooking!)
6) Remove the roasting tray from the oven, pour in the batter, and immediately return to the oven. Bake for 25 minutes, until golden brown and crispy, making sure not to open the oven door for the first 20 minutes.

Makes about 12 muffin-size puddings.

my first pork roast

Thanks to my friends U and C's encouragement (they even taught me how to do it) I pucked up the courage to make my first ever pork roast. I was still a little apprehensive when I looked at the piece of meat in the kitchen on my own.... then suddenly I thought I would put my mortar and pestle to use.

I pounded together some rosemary, black peppercorns, garlic, salt and a dash of olive oil into a paste and rubbed the mixture all over. I left it in the oven for 40 mins at 210C, and my pork weighted just over 500g.

I was pleasantly surprised at the result! ( I was a little worry cos the baking tray had NO juice whatsoever, not even after I poked the meat with a stick.) The verdict: meat was a little to the dry side but that's pork right? I had gravy on the side anyhow. It was also a little spicy - too many peppercorns! Otherwise I was very happy with the outcome. Will make it again!

From pizza to sausages

A big thank you (and a big kiss) for my husband, who cooked me dinner Sunday night. He made me Yorkshire puddings on the side this time just because I thought his toad in the hole last week was too egg-y. What a darling! And I liked his attempt of making the meal LOOK healthier with the 3 veg.

My original plan was to make him pizza as I got some ready-made pizza base during the week. What I didn't know was that living organisms had already started cultivating!

Somehow I thought of the game SIMs. Perhaps I should have kept it and maybe there would be civilization! Imagine all those little pizza people!

my chocolate muffins

My first time making muffins! I grinned from ear to ear when I took them out of the oven.
To be honest I hadn't had a lot of faith before I baked them.

Look at the way they came out! I wolfed one down right away and it was very light and fluffly like a souffle cake!

My husband ate 2 when he got home. Before I could brag about the baking he asked which mix I had used. Dang!!!! The man knows his sweets. I had to come clean that they did indeed come from a mix. I stressed that I personally mixed the ingredients together though!

Spaghetti and meatballs

The house specialty.

Ingredients:

for the meatballs:
- 500g of ground beef (makes about 13, 14 golf-ball sized meatballs)
- 1 large egg
- 1/8 cup milk
- bread crumbs to help bind the mixture
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- cayenne pepper
- dried oregano
- salt and pepper

for the sauce:
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 large bell pepper, chopped
- 1 to 2 gloves of minced garlic
- 1 large tin of chopped tomatoes with liquid
- 1 large tin of tomato sauce
- 1 small tin tomato paste, or a tube of tomato puree to adjust the sauce’s thickness
- 1/4 to ½ cup to cup of beef stock (liquid should cover all the meat balls very generously (can use 3 Oxo cubes and water)
- cayenne pepper
- Worcestershire sauce
- dried herbs – oregano again, a bit of thyme, and a pinch of mixed herbs
- salt and pepper
1. Beat eggs and milk together, and mix all ingredients for meatballs together.
2. Roll into balls, brown in flying pan, or bake in 350F oven for ½ hour. (I bake mine, cos then I can make the sauce while they are baking).
3. In a deep heavy-base saucepan fry onions and garlic till soft.
4. Add all tin sauces and beef stock, bring to boil.
5. Add meatballs, bell peppers, and all other seasonings, bring to boil..
6. Simmer for about 30 to 45 mins, or until the bell peppers are soft and almost melted. Sauce should be thick.

Toad in the hole

My first toad in the hole ever! My husband decided I would like it since a) I love sausages and b) I like Yorkshire puddings. Yes indeed.
Ingredients:
- 6 good sausages (we used Theuringer) (I know...no good Cumberland or plain old English sausages here)
- sprigs of rosemary
- sunflower oil
- gravy mix

For the batter
- 285ml milk
- 115g plain flower
- 3 eggs
- pinch of salt

1) Mix batter ingredients together, set aside.
2) Put 1cm sunflower oil in baking tin (ours was 9x4 and 2 inches deep), place in middle shelf of oven at highest setting (240-250C/475F). Use the thinnest tin possible as the oil has to get smoking hot. Place a large tray under in case of oil spill.
3) Fry the sausages until slightly golden while the tin is being heated.
4) Take tin out, put sausages in, then very carefully pour batter in over the sausages. It might spit. Throw rosemary on top and carefully put tin back in oven.
5) Bake and DON"T open the oven door for 20 mins.
We cheated by using packet gravy mix (why not?). The rosemary was a nice touch. I expected the Yorkshire to be more bread-y but somehow it was very egg-y instead. Reminded me an egg tart. My husband assured me that the way it's supposed to be.