Roasted Button Mushroom with Garlic and Thyme

This is one easy recipe for mushroom lovers. 

You will need an oven or toaster to do this. If you don't have one, you can do it using the flying pan but it will very wet and you won't be able to get the brown top. 

However, the flavours will be there.

Ingredients:

• 1 box Cremini Mushroom, cleaned with a damp cloth. Do not wash.

Seasoning Paste:

• 2 tablespoon Butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon Garlic Powder
• 4 clove Garlic, minced
• 1 1/2 teaspoon Balsamic Vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon Dried Thyme or 2 tablespoon Fresh Thyme
• Ground Black Pepper and Salt to taste
• 1 small cup Panko or Breadcrumbs
• Parmesan Cheese (optional)

How to do it:

1. Brush dirt from mushrooms and clean with damp cloth or paper towel.
2. Trim the stalks to level them with the caps.
3. Set aside.
4. Mix  ingredients for the seasoning paste together, except for panko and Parmesan Cheese.
5. Spread paste on the underside of the mushrooms.
6. Set aside.
7. Mix panko with 2 tablespoon of Parmesan cheese, if using.
8. Press the mushrooms with paste on the panko.
9. Arrange on an oven proof dish.
10. Roast in preheated oven at 220c for 12 mins.
11. Increase temperature to 250c and continue to roast for 2 mins to brown the top further.
12. Serve.

Note:

• If you cut the mushroom, you will get a wetter result. So, if you prefer to have more 'sauce', cut mushroom to 2 to 3 pieces.  However, the paste slips off easily after roasting as there's nothing to hold it.
• You can make this in advance and store in the fridge to roast when you are ready.
  
• If you do not have Balsamic Vinegar, you can replace it with regular black vinegar or lemon juice

Fusion Chicken Rice with Roasted Chicken and Bacon

I tweaked and combined a few recipes to come up with this dish; because I wanted to eat everything  from all those dishes. ;)

My son is a rice (and soup) person.  He will ask for rice even when I made chicken cutlet.  Hence, this time, I decided to do a western-style chicken rice.  The rice here was cooked Hainanese Chicken Rice style, but with homemade chicken broth and garlic only. I didn't use pandan leaves as I didn't want a clash of flavours with the western-style chicken.

I usual roast or grill a whole chicken but the breast meat always get 'abandoned'.  So this time, I used boneless chicken thighs instead.  It's is also easier to serve and less messy to eat.

The chicken is a combo of 3 old recipes I have.  It has the Herbs from Grilled Chicken with Herbs,  the Bacon from Roast Chicken with Bacon and the Garlic from Roast Chicken with Garlic and Lemon .

Ingredients:

• 4 boneless Chicken Thighs or Legs, cleaned and pat dry
• 2 teaspoon Dried Thyme
• 2 teaspoon Dried Rosemary
• 1 1/2 teaspoon Dried Parsley
• Rind of 1 whole Lemon
• 2 tablespoon Lemon Juice
• 1 tablespoon Olive Oil
• 20 gloves Garlic, skin intact
• 6 to 8 Slices Streaky Bacon
• 150ml Chicken Stock
• 2 tablespoon Sake or any other cooking wine
• Salt and Ground Black Pepper

How to do it:

1. Rub 2/3 of the herbs and lemon rind on all the chicken thighs.
2. Season and rub with salt and pepper.
3. Lay chicken thighs on a baking dish.
4. Place bacon strips over the chicken thighs, covering them.
5. Drizzle lemon juice and olive oil over.
6. Sprinkle the remaining herbs and lemon rind.
7. Scatter the garlic around the baking dish.
8. Pour chicken stock and wine into the dish.
9. Roast in a preheat oven at 200c for 10 -15 mins or till the bacon starts to turn crispy and brown.
10. Remove the bacon and set aside.
11. Continue to roast the chicken for another hour, basting it with juice from the dish occasionally to let the chicken meat absorb the flavours.
12. Do not bast chicken during the last 15 mins of roasting to let the chicken skin become dry and turn crispy.
13. You may want to return the bacon strips back to the chicken to let it heat up for 5 mins.
14. Remove chicken from dish and drain roasting juice from excess oil.
15. Chop chicken into smaller pieces and place bacon together.
16. Drizzle juice over rice if you like.
17. Serve chicken and bacon rice  with the sweet garlic.

Note:

• As different oven works differently, please adjust the timing or temperature accordingly.
• If the chicken is browning too fast, lower the temperature and roast longer.
• Alternatively, you may wish to place a foil tent over the bacon/chicken to prevent them from browning to fast on the top but under-cook inside.

{ Brunch : Open Face Mushroom Sandwich }

This was what I prepared for myself for breakfast but I didn't realised that it was close to lunch when it was done. I ended up having it as my brunch.

As mentioned in my previous post, my son's tutor having trouble finishing the big bun. Hence, I only use (the bottom) half of the bun. I spread some butter and sprinkle some garlic powder and grilled the bun.

At the same time, I stir fried the sliced button mushroom with butter and sprinkle on some (truffle) salt and served it with the half bun.

I had earlier boiled some potatoes. I half them and tossed them with some bacon bits and the oil from the frying the bacon before roasting them in the oven till they are slightly brown.

Brunch done.

Lemongrass Infused Roasted Chicken 香茅烤鸡

I love the aroma of lemongrass and have been experimenting a few dishes using it. This dish got to be one the favourites. My husband love it.

It's similar to (Singapore) Roast Chicken (which I'm updating a revised recipe to be posted soon),  except I did change some seasoning and bake it instead of oil fry it. There's some amount of work required making this but it's worth it.

I was a bit upset when I was making this dish as my new neighbor came visiting unexpectedly, during the last 10 minutes of my cooking. I turned off my oven but I didn't remove the chicken. The skin of the chicken become over browned and wasn't as nice looking as I want it to be. It tasted great nonetheless.

I will be making this again very soon! And I shall try to prefect it then. :)

Ingredients:

• 1 Chicken, cleaned and pat dry (I'm using a 1kg chicken)
• 4 tablespoon Oyster Sauce
• 12 talks Lemongrass, crushed
• Oil enough to cover the lemongrass
• A dash of Pepper
• 2 Calamansi

How to do it:

1. Rub chicken outside and in the cavity with oyster sauce and pepper.
2. Leave it in the fridge uncovered for half an hour, to marinate and dry.
3. Place lemongrass on oven-proof dish and have enough oil to just cover it.
4. Place the chicken on top and cover.
5. Roast chicken in preheat oven at 190C for 1 hour.
6. Baste the chicken with the lemongrass oil every 15 minutes.
7. After half an hour, turn the chicken around.
8. Continue to baste the chicken with lemongrass oil every 15 minutes.
9. During the last 10 minutes of roasting, remove cover.
10. Increase the temp to 220C, baste the chicken with lemongrass oil.
11. Roast the chicken for 10 minutes.
12. Turn the chicken over, baste with lemongrass oil and continue to roast for 10 minutes.
13. Remove chicken and place in a dish.
14. Drizzle chicken with juice of 2 Calamansi and serve .

Note:
Check if chicken is cooked by piercing a toothpick in the thigh. If the liquid that comes through is clear, the chicken is done.

A bouquet of unwanted part of lemongrass in a vase

to brighten my kitchen for a day. :P

Oven Roasted Maltose Ribs烘烤麦芽糖排骨

I love ribs but every time I make them at home, I have to eat them fast as they tends to turn harder when they start to cool down. This is largely due to the sugar used. Of course you can use honey to replace sugar but I dislike the taste of honey. I find it over-powering.

I have some maltose left from my roast chicken, I decided to use that on my Caramelized Pork Rib recipe. As I didn't stock up my pantry, I have many missing ingredient :P Hence, I also replace the Chinese Cooking Wine aka Shao Hsing Hua Tiao Chiew with Mirin. I didn't add vinegar or apple cider here too. Therefore, there isn't any vinegar based sauce to make the meat 'melt in your mouth'.

Although, the meat did not slip of the bones this time, it's still tender enough. I love how the maltose caramelized but without turning hard when the ribs cooled. And it doesn't make the ribs over sweet too.

My husband commented that this is the best ribs I have made so far. ;) I can't wait to make it again for the Christmas get-together at my place. I hope my friends will like it too. :)

Mirin                                          Maltose

Ingredients:

• 700g Meaty Prime Ribs, slightly fatty preferred

Marinade:

• 5 tablespoon Light Soy Sauce
• 4 tablespoon Maltose
• 3 tablespoon Mirin
• 2 tablespoon Tomato Sauce
• 40ml Water 

How to do it:

1. Place marinade and ribs in a zip-loc bag and marinate for at least an hour.
2. Place ribs, with meaty side down, in a deep baking dish with the marinade.
3. Roast at 200C for 1 hour.
4. Bast with sauce in-between roasting.
5. Turn rib over after 1 hour, bast with sauce and continue roasting for another 15 minutes.
6. Remove and place on dish and serve.

Curried Cauliflower 咖哩花椰菜

This is a variation of my roasted cauliflower.

I used the same ingredients but added 1/5 teaspoon of curry powder for the spiciness and the lovely colour. I left out the Parmesan cheese here.

Just toss the cauliflower with curry powder, olive oil and salt before you roast it in the oven. The rest of the instructions are basically the same as roasted cauliflower.

If you are bored with the usual cauliflower dish, try this out for a change.

Roasted Cauliflower 烤花椰菜

It's one of the days that I do not wish to cook but have to. Hence, all cooking is done using the oven, less work, less washing and cleaning. This is  a super easy to 'cook' dish and I simply love the aroma of baked cauliflower.

Ingredients:

• 220g Cauliflower, cut into florets
• 1/2 tablespoon Olive Oil
• 1/4 teaspoon Salt or to taste
• Sprinkle of Parmesan Cheese (optional)

How to do it:

1. Toss florets in oil and salt.
2. Place in an oven proof dish and cover with foil.
3. Bake at 220C for 15 minutes.
4. Remove foil and give the florets a toss.
5. Sprinkle some Parmesan cheese and return to bake uncovered for another 5 to 7 minutes till you get the little brown bits on the top.
6. Serve.

PS. Check out the curried version.

Caramelized Pork Rib 焦糖排骨

This one of my all-time favourite. My husband said it looks like the Roasted Ribs 红烧排骨 that one of the stalls sells in the coffeeshop at my place. ;)

I have made this less dry and without the 'burn' bits we all like. It's with a coating of sweet caramelized sweet sauce instead.

Ingredients:

• 700g Meaty Pork Ribs, slightly fatty preferred
• Sesame Seeds, optional

Marinade:

• 5 tablespoon Light Soy Sauce
• 4 tablespoon Brown Sugar
• 3 tablespoon Chinese Cooking Wine
• 2 tablespoon Apple Cider
• 2 tablespoon Tomato Sauce
• 40ml Water 

How to do it:

1. Place ribs in a deep baking dish with the marinade.
2. Cover with foil and bake at 190C for 1 1/2 hours.
3. Bast with sauce in-between baking.
4. Remove ribs and place on a rack. Retain sauce.
5. Bast generously with the sauce and continue to bake for another 10 minutes.
6. Repeat twice.
7. Sprinkle roasted sesame seed and serve immediately.

Note:
I cut the slab of rib individually. You can cook using the whole slab of ribs instead if you like.

Roast Herbal Emperor Chicken 烘烤药材皇帝鸡

I really love chicken cooked with herbs dishes. They just taste and smell so nice not to mentioned good for general health.

This is one of the herbal dish I cook rather often. I used to steam it before I have an oven. This time I did it a little different. I roast it! I used the way I did the Roast Chicken with Garlic to make this. It's still taste the same except now we have crispy skin. Okay, it's a bit burned here. :P



This chicken meat is soft, moist and filled with the sweetness of herbs! If I were to do the the conventional way which is steaming, I won't get this result just in 1 to 1 1/2 hours. That's why previously, when I do this, it's at least 3 hours in low fire.



And don't forget the soup! That's the best part! Drink it up! There isn't much to go around so you might have to fight to even get a mouthful! LOL



Ingredients:

• 1 Chicken, cleaned
• 500ml Water
• Salt to taste

Assorted Herbs in approximate weight:

• 24g Huai Shan 淮山 (Radix Dioscoreae Oppositae)
• 18g Dang Shen 党参 (Codonopsis Pilosulae)
• 16g Yu Zhu 玉竹 (Solomon's Seal Rhizome)
• 22g Long Yan Gan 龙眼干 (Dried Longan)
• 10g Gou Qi Zi 枸杞子 (Wolfberries)
• 6 Hong Zao 红枣 (Red Dates)
• 3g Chuan Gong 川芎 (Szechwan Lovage Rhizome)
• 5g Tang Gui 当归 (Angelica Sinensis)
• 15g Bei Qi 北芪 (Astragalus Membranaceus)

How to do it:

1. Place herbs in a oven-proof casserole and add water.
2. Place chicken, breast side down, on top
3. Place casserole on a stove and bring to a boil over medium-high fire.
4. Remove from stove, cover with lid for 5 to 10 minutes so the herbs can softened.
5. Carefully remove the chicken and stuff some herbs in the cavity.
6. Return the chicken to the casserole and cover the lid.
   
7. Roast in the oven for 1 to 1 1/2 hours at180C
   
8. Check for doneness; juices would run clear when the thickest part of the thigh is pierced with a metal skewer.
9. Remove the lid, season with salt.
10. Baste the chicken with the soup sauce and continue to cook for another 10 to 15 minutes to brown the skin.
11. Carve chicken or serve as whole.

Alternative Steaming Method:

1. Steam all herbs with water for 5 minutes.
2. Place chicken on a aluminum foil.
3. Stuff some herbs in chicken and scatter the rest around the chicken.
4. Pour the water used together with the herbs for steaming inside.
5. Wrap and seal the foil.
6. Place on a dish and steam for at least 2 hours.
7. Add salt to taste and serve.

Note:

• Remember to keep checking the water level if you are using the steaming method.
• Keep a kettle of hot water ready; to add in if the water level is low.
• DO NOT add cold water.

Click HERE for printer-friendly version of an original recipe.

Herbs from top left
(click to enlarge)

玉竹 Solomon's Seal Rhizome, 党参 Codonopsis Pilosulae, 淮山 Radix Dioscoreae Oppositae
龙眼干 Dried Longan, 枸杞子 Wolfberries, 红枣 Red Dates
川芎 Szechwan Lovage Rhizome, 当归 Angelica Sinensis, 北芪 Astragalus Membranaceus