{ Breakfast : Grilled Portobello Mushroom with Ham, Bacon and Poached Egg }

This was last Saturday's breakfast which was some of our favourite food that I have combined together as a meal. 

I have the oven working on the mushroom and cheese, the grill pan on the bacon and the deep pan on the poached egg at the same time, while I prepare the salad.

For the Portobello Mushrooms, I spreaded 1/2 teaspoon of butter and seasoned it with salt and pepper.  I let it grill in the oven at 250c for 10 minutes.  In between grilling, I turned the mushrooms and let it the other side of the mushroom soak up and juice and continue grilling.  Just before the mushrooms are done, place 1 or 2 slices of ham on the mushroom to heat it up.

I sprinkled some Shredded Parmesan Cheese on a piece of baking paper and let it turn brown and crisps at the same time as  the mushrooms are grilling.

Meanwhile, pan grill the bacon till they are brown and crispy. Let them sit on paper towel to drain excess oil.

While the rest are cooking, have a a pan or pot filled with water deep enough to cover eggs.  Let the water be in a gentle simmer.  You will see tiny bubbles from the base of the pan or pot but the water should not be jumping. reduce the heat to the lowest you can get just to maintain heat.  Add a teaspoon of vinegar to the water. 

Now, crack the egg into a bowl (I'm using cold eggs).  Gentle pour out into the pan with hot water.  Let it simmer for about 4 minutes or to your preferred done-ness.  Use a slotted spoon to gentle remove the egg.  You can do a few eggs together or one at time.

Dish the mushroom with ham on the plate. Gently place the poached egg on the mushroom. Top with bacon, Break the Parmesan chips into smaller pieces and sprinkle over. Drizzle with truffle oil and season with salt and pepper.

Breakfast is served.

Pan Grilled Salmon with Zesty Dill Butter

Recently, my hubby bought some expensive oranges. Harukra oranges to be specific. I want to get all I can from these oranges so I decided to save the zest to make this dish.

Ingredients:

• 2 piece Salmon
• A pinch of Salt and a dash of Ground Black Pepper

Seasoned Butter:

• 1/4 teaspoon Garlic Powder
• 1 teaspoon Fresh Dill, chopped
• Zest of  a Citrus Fruit like lemon, lime or orange
• 1 tablespoon Salted Butter, softened

How to do it:

1. Prepare the Seasoned Butter by mixing all ingredients together well.
2. Return the butter to the fridge if it is too soft; ie; cannot hold it's shape.
3. Clean salmon and pat dry.
4. Rub salmon with salt and ground black pepper before pan grilling.
5. Sparingly spread some butter on salmon for grilling just to prevent sticking.
6. Pan grill salmon till just well done.
7. Serve with a teaspoon of soften seasoned butter.

Note:
The potato served here with the salmon is parboiled with skin intact till tender. It is pan-grilled together with the salmon.

{ Dinner: Grilled Chicken with Herbs }

One of those days that the kids didn't want rice. They prefer chicken than pork hence you see me cooking more of chicken.

Serving this with Mushroom Soup and Baked Cauliflower Mash.

This is one of my favourite grilled chicken recipe, which I have shared in 2007. I'm re-posting this recipe again as the picture on the older post has gone missing.

Ingredients:

• 2 Chicken Drumstick

Marinade:

• 1/2 teaspoon Dried Thyme
• 2 teaspoon Dried Rosemary
• 1/2 (of a whole) Lemon Rind
• 1/2 teaspoon Salt
• 1 tablespoon Lemon Juice
• 1 tablespoon Olive Oil

How to do it:

1. Mix marinade.
2. Add chicken to marinade and set aside for at least 1/2 hour.
3. Heat grill pan with a little oil.
4. Grill chicken skin down first, till brown.
5. Turn over and continue to grill the other side of the chicken.
6. Serve.

{ Breakfast: Pan-Grilled Teriyaki Chicken Burger }

This is one of the many back-dated posts that I mentioned earlier which I meant to share in January but didn't get to do it. So while I have time to update, I'll try to do as much back-dated posts as I can.

For those who are subscribing to my feed, my apologies for the flooding.

I made this for breakfast during one of the weekends, many weeks ago :P. The bun was sliced half. I buttered it a little and pan grilled them. You can catch a glimpse of the grill lines on the underside of the top bun on the picture below. :P I served it with homemade chips here.

Ingredients:

• 4 Chicken Breast, deboned

Marinade:

• 1/2 teaspoon Garlic Powder or 3 Fresh Garlic, grated
• 1 tablespoon Sake
• 1/2 tablespoon Light Soy Sauce
• 1/2 tablespoon Sugar

Teriyaki Sauce:

• 4 tablespoon Sake
• 1 tablespoon Mirin
• 5 tablespoon Light Soy Sauce
• 1 tablespoon Maltose or Sugar
• 1 teaspoon Ginger; done by squeezing grated ginger

How to do it:

1. Pat dry chicken and add into marinade.
2. Marinate for an hour.
3. Heat pan with a little oil.
4. Drain the chicken meat and pan grill with skin side down.
5. Flip over when it's beginning to brown.
6. Pan grill till chicken is almost cooked
7. Meanwhile, combine ingredients for the sauce and simmer.
8. The sauce should slower starts to thicken a little.
9. Pour the hot sauce into the grill pan where the chicken is grilling.
10. Bring the sauce to a boil if it's not so.
11. Coat the chicken well with the sauce while the sauce is thickening.
12. Remove once the chicken is well coated with the sauce.
13. Serve with rice or as a burger like what I have done here.

Note:

• I'm trying to cut time by cooking the sauce while grilling the chicken. If you are doing so, please make sure you control the timing well. The sauce should not be too thick before adding the chicken. Reduce heat or add a little water if it get too thicken.
• You don't have to follow my lazy way. You can just finish grilling the chicken then prepare the sauce. After that  then add the chicken to the sauce to coat it. ;)
• You can use ready made teriyaki sauce if you like too.

{ Dinner: Pan Grilled Chicken Chop with Ham and Cheese } 火腿芝士鸡扒

I had to run some errands yesterday and didn't plan for dinner.

Before I headed home, I dropped by Cold Storage and bought a tray of (4pcs) boneless chicken thighs for under $10.

I went home and dug into my fridge for other ingredients and decided to make this for dinner. It was a rush job, all done under an hour for 4 servings. As I didn't have enough time to marinate the chicken well, I used honey baked ham and cheese to further enhance the taste.

I'm pleased that the rushed out dinner wasn't that bad. ;)

Ingredients:

• 2 Chicken Drumstick or Breast, deboned
• 4 slices Ham Baked Ham, cut into strips
• 4 slices Cheese

Optional Ingredients:

• 10 - 15 New/Baby Potatoes or any potato of your choice, scrubbed and cleaned (skin if you prefer not to have the skin on)
• 2 Carrot, skinned and chop into smaller pieces.
• 3 medium Onion, cut into half (I'm using red onions here)

Marinade:

• 1 teaspoon Dried Thyme
• 2 teaspoon Dried Rosemary
• Rind of 1 Lemon
• 1 teaspoon Chicken Powder or Salt
• 1 teaspoon Light Soy Sauce
• 2 tablespoon Lemon Juice
• Sprinkle of  Ground Black Pepper (optional)

How to do it:

1. Clean and dab chicken meat dry.
2. Add marinade to chicken meat and blend well with the meat..
3. Set aside for 1/2 hour.
4. Heat grill pan with a tablespoon olive oil.
5. Grill chicken skin down first for about 2 mins, till brown.
6. Turn over and continue to grill the other side of the chicken till it's completely cooked.
7. Place ham on top of chicken chop; skin side up and top with cheese.
8. Cover and continue grilling for a 10-15 seconds till the cheese starts to melt.
9. While pan grilling the chicken meat, prepare the vegetables, if you are serving it with the chicken chop.
10. Boil the vegetables in a pot of lightly salted water for 10-15 mins till they are tender. This is to cut down cooking time. I usually just let them roast in the oven.
11. Drain and set aside.
12. Pan fry 3 strips of diced streaky bacon till lightly brown. 
13. Pan grill the onion at the same time while pan frying the diced bacon.
14. Add in the drained vegetables and toss well in the oil.
15. Transfer the vegetables and roast at 240c for 15 mins.
16. Sprinkle with some salt and set aside to be served.
17. Serve chicken chop with roasted vegetables.

Note:

• Oil Splatter Alert! I'm using a HCP grill pan to cook it. If you do not have one, use a pan with a cover.
• If you do not have an oven to roast the vegetables, you can pan fry them lightly but it will take a longer time as you have to turn them one at a time to avoid burning them.

Open-face Otah Sandwich 乌打三明治

We just returned home a couple of days ago from a trip to Hong Kong. All of us turned at least 2 shades darker. :/  It was tiring! Worst than being a maid mum at home. And now I have triple loads of laundry to clear. I need another holiday!!

I'm not sure how soon I will get back to my usual food posting so here's a quick one. It's remake of a simple Otah Toast presented differently. I prefer the bread toasted as it makes it crunchier. I'm using hotdog buns here. You are free to use burger bun or just bread. They worked the same.

I toasted the buns in the oven, you can always use a toaster or frying pan.

Ingredients:

• 3 pcs Otah, smashed
• 1/2 - 1 teaspoon butter, depending on how dry the otah is
• 1 Hotdog Bun, sliced half length-wise

How to do it:

1. Mix butter sparing with smashed otah so they stick together.
2. Spread on the hotdog buns.
3. Toast in a preheated oven at 200C for 10 minutes.
4. Serve immediately.

Chicken Cutlet with Black Pepper Sauce 黑胡椒鸡扒

I just received my Happy Call Jumbo Grilled Pan recently to replace my current grill pan which has lost it non-stick surface.

I love to have grill lines on my food but I was a bit disappointed that my grilled chicken just couldn't get the grill lines as the grill lines on the pan are too shallow. Other than that, the pan works perfectly, with minimum oil splatter as I can cover the pan while grilling the chicken.

You see this commonly served in restaurant. It is a very easy and you can make it yourself at home. You can either use instant black pepper sauce or like me, make it yourself so you can adjust the the sauce to your liking.

I make this rather often as it's one of my and my husband favourite. You will be surprise how easy it is. :)

Ingredients:

• 2 Chicken Thigh, deboned
• 4-5 New Potatoes or 1 regular Potato

Marinade:

• 1/2 tablespoon Light Soy Sauce
• 1/3 tablespoon Sake or Chinese Cooking Wine
• 1/3 teaspoon Garlic Powder or 2 clove Garlic, grated

Black Pepper Sauce:

• 1/2 tablespoon Oyster Sauce
• 1/2 tablespoon Light Soy Sauce
• 1 tablespoon Ground Black Pepper
• 1 teaspoon Sugar
• 1/2 tablespoon Cornflour
• 50ml Water

How to do it:

1. Marinate chicken thigh in marinade for an hour.
2. Drain and grilled on lightly greased pan, skin side down on medium low heat for 15mins.
3. Turn chicken thighs over and grill for another 10mins or till chicken thighs are completely cooked.
4. Meanwhile, boil a pot of salted water to cook the potatoes till tender.
5. Remove potato skin, cut into small pieces if necessary, and set aside.
6. When chicken is done, dish and set aside.
7. Slightly pan grill the potatoes on the same pan you grill the chicken.
8. Set aside with the chicken thighs.
9. To prepare the black pepper sauce, mix all ingredients together in a sauce pan.
10. Constantly stir it while bring it to a simmer over low heat till it thickens.
11. Do not cook over heat it over high heat or boil it otherwise it will be very starchy.
12. Adjust the sauce to your liking.
13. Drizzle over the chicken thighs.

Note:
You can add the dripping (all the brown bits minus the oil) together with the sauce ingredients and cook it together.

Grilled Squid with Black Pepper

I bought a few squid aka sotong because my son requested for it. I saved one for him and use the rest for this dish. Really simple to make.

By the way, why do people say "blur like sotong"? Are sotong really blur? Maybe it's the way they swim? Hahaha ... So after eating sotong, don't be blur just like it huh.

Ingredients:

• 2 Squid, skin (the thin purple one), and internals removed
• 1 tablespoon Chinese Cooking Wine
• 1/2 tablespoon Black Pepper
• 1 teaspoon Salt, preferably coarse salt

How to do it:

1. Slash the squid.
2. Marinate with wine, rub salt and pepper on it.
3. Set aside with the squid still with the above marinade for 1/2 hour.
4. Pierce squid with 2 skewers to prevent it from curling while grilling.
5. Grill squid for 7 - 10 minutes on both sides till cooked.
6. For extra flavours, add some fried/toasted basil leaves to be eaten with the squid.

Note:Do not over cook the squid otherwise it will be tough.