baby spinach

Baby Spinach Chicken Soup (Stock for Infants)

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Baby Spinach Chicken Soup (Stock for Infants)

We are always experimenting with different flavours to get baby to taste and get used to different types of foods. One way is via the soup method as a stock for the porridge that we cook.

So hopefully he will like his green vegetables next time when we cook it. We love vegetables so it would be tragic if baby doesn’t. So we really need to engineer his meals so that he will eventually join us in our meals.

This is a simple three ingredient soup stock. Again it is for infants, so there is no salt to be added. It is just pure flavour and all the goodness in the ingredients. I just went to the wet market early this morning to get the best produce before some aunty gets it.

I got a huge bunch of baby spinach and a chicken carcass (bones only). And just a little ikan bilis for flavour. This recipe should make about seven 120 ml cups of stock for baby’s porridge for the week.

I included a little before and after photo for comparison.

Recipe – serving for seven 120 ml cups

Ingredients

Baby spinach (a huge bunch)

Chicken carcass (bones only)

Ikan bilis (7-9 pieces)

Method

1. Wash the baby spinach first as these contain a lot of sand. Wash till the water in the pot is clear. Soak also the Ikan bilis in a small bowl of water.

2. Place the chicken in a pot. Then place the baby spinach together with the chicken. Sprinkle the Ikan bilis all over. Pour about 1 litre of water into the pot and boil on low heat.

3. The soup is done when the flavour escapes the covered pot and you can see the fat of the chicken on the surface of the broth. Allow the broth to cool before pouring into the containers for freezing. This should provide for seven servings of 120 ml of soup stock for porridge.

Bon appetit!

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Pan Seared Ribeye Steak

Ho Sim Lang

Pan Seared Ribeye Steak

I have always secretly wanted to be a Neurosurgeon.

Thanks to my wife’s love for beef steaks, now my dream will finally come through – that is to be a 牛肉 (Niu Rou), Surgeon.

This has got to be an all-time favourite of ours. Beef steaks. We love it. No doubt about it. My wife loves it medium rare whereas I can only stomach a medium.

On this day I thought I would try cooking this simple yet impactful dish. It’s like a rite of passage for me before I can well and truly say that I have tried my best before giving up.

You see, this is not my first attempt. I have failed many times trying to time the doneness of the steaks and frankly, steaks are expensive mistakes if not done properly.

The problem I believe is because firstly the steaks from Cold Storage are not as chunky as we think. Secondly, our cooking utensils or at least mine are not cast iron where cooking temperatures are moderated and more even.

So taking those factors into consideration, my cooking temperatures are different. I think if you are doing your own steaks, just bear in mind the cooking temperatures and cooking equipment and you should be fine.

All the best folks.

 

Recipe – Serving for Two

Ingredients

Ribeye steaks from Cold Storage

Fresh rosemary (2 sprigs)

Sea salt

Black pepper

Baby spinach

Cherry tomatoes

New potatoes

Red wine – merlot is best and especially if they are half drunk.

 

Method

1. Boil the new potatoes in a pot, water must cover the potatoes. Do this until they are all cooked.

2. Salt the steaks on one side lightly, sprinkle coarse black pepper as well. Leave it for 5 minutes.

3. Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a wide frying pan until smoking. You want the pan to be really hot. Once the pan is sufficiently heated up, place seasoned side down for searing. This is steak, so there is no need to spin it in the pan. 4 minutes on one side and then with tongs flip the steak on the other side for another 3 minutes. Make sure the fat is cooked (if any).

4. Remove the steaks and plate it. It is important to allow the steak to rest at least 10 minutes.

5. Pour half a cup of red wine (can be remnants of a bottle) and deglaze the pan. Add a little salt to taste. Allow the alcohol to reduce and this will form a light red wine sauce for the steak.

6. Roast potatoes with rosemary and salt until slightly smoking then drizzle with extra virgin olive oil for shine and flavour.

7. Plate the potatoes, arrange the baby spinach and cherry tomatoes (halved) around the steaks before a drizzle of the red wine sauce. You may pair it with a Cabernet Sauvignon (Chilean) if you like.

Bon Appetit!