red wine

Heston’s Roast Chicken

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Heston’s Roast Chicken

When I first saw it on cable TV,  I thought at first that this guy must be nuts. He did look like a nutty professor as well and who would have thought that he really has some good ideas up his sleeves.

Roast chicken, one of the toughest dishes to master. The roast chickens that I have had so far were all either roasted too dry or too hard. Some roasted chickens were so over roasted that they taste like rock cakes (over burnt cakes).

Heston promised to change all that forever. But there’s a price to pay – and that’s the price of patience. Coupled with that an insane obsession with perfection. Intermingle those qualities together and you would soon find yourself chowing down some really delicious roast chicken.

How I know? I tried it. And it works. The best part is, the juices in the chicken just oozes as you cut through the meat. The breast meat juicy as ever.

Recipe – serving for 4

Ingredients

Whole fresh chicken 1.5kg

Thyme 6-7 sprigs

Butter 80 grams

Lemon

Sea salt

Red wine 1 cup

 

Method

1. Douse the chicken in salt water solution overnight in a container. 60 grams of salt to a litre of water. Simple as that. Doing this boost the moisture in the chicken.

2. When ready to roast, pad dry the chicken, and rub butter all over the bird, giving it a good massage. You generally want to make sure the chicken is “relaxed” while you roast the bird.

3. Add thyme into the anal cavity of the chicken and wedge a lemon (halved) into it as well. Then preheat the oven to a temperature of 90 degrees for about 10 minutes. I chose fan mode with top heating.

4. Roast the chicken for about 1.5 hours at 90 degrees breast facing upwards. Remember not to tight the legs of the chicken but rather allow it to all hang out.

5. There should be no flavor lost  and the chicken after roasting should also look pale and relatively uncooked in a way. But with a kitchen thermometer you can test to see if the chicken  is cooked at 90 degrees.

6. Let the chicken  rest for another 45 minutes before rubbing the chicken with another layer of butter. Doing so will enhance the flavor of the chicken and allow it to brown.

7. Once ready, preheat the oven to a maximum temperature of 260 degrees. And roast the chicken for about 15 minutes. The skin of the chicken should be crispy and slightly brown.

8. Deglaze the bottom of the roasting pan and turn it into a sauce for the roast chicken.

Bon Appetit!

Boeuf Bourguignon

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Boeuf Bourguignon

“Boeuf bourguignon, French beef stew in red wine..” Says Julia Child, one of the most inspiring cooks (home cooks) that ever lived. She represents to me hope that anyone can take mastery of their kitchen and cook up awesome French cuisine from the comforts of their humble home.

Julia to me personifies French cooking for servant-less home cooks. A socially awkward lady yet adventurous and passionate in her craft, her example inspired many to try, fail and subsequently succeed in following her footsteps.

Maybe I might eventually do all the recipes that she has in her book. Well we shall see.

Julia Child – Boeuf Bourguignon

For this classic, I would usually take reference from her YouTube video and then make up as we go along. Some of the ingredients are not locally available but the spirit of Julia is always to make do with what you have.

I had fun making this dish my own, and I have been making it my own way for a while now and getting the same awesome results each time. I hope it will be the same experience for you as well. I don’t use the oven as the recipe calls for it, but I use a gas stove to cook the beef.

Recipe – serving for 4

Ingredients

Beef cubes (for making stew) 750 grams

Streaky bacon (ask for more fat) 50 grams

Garlic 10 wedges, 4 to minced, 6 to braise

Yellow onions (medium) 2 whole

Tomato paste 3 tablespoons

White button mushrooms 15 pieces

White onions (small) 15 bulbs

Carrots 2 whole

Thyme 5-6 sprigs

Bay leaf 2-3 leaves

Olive oil 2 tablespoons

Red wine 750 ml

Beef stock 4 cups

Salted butter 250 grams

 

Method

1. Add oil to a large pot. Heat till slightly smoking. Add sliced bacon to fry til crispy. This is to extract the fat from the bacon and saltiness.

2. Remove bacon and discard. Add beef cubes and sear beef till brown. The key is not to crowd the base of the pot or they won’t brown. Once done, remove from pot to allow the beef to rest.

3. Add minced garlic to pot and fry till fragrant. Then add chopped onions to fry until soft. Then add beef cubes into the pot. Now pour in the beef stock about 2 cups. Add the red wine about half a bottle. Add thyme, bay leaf, tomato paste and continue to stir. Add carrots, remaining garlic. Continue to cook at high heat.

4. In another pot fry the mushroom in salted butter and olive oil mixed. Fry until mushrooms are slightly brown. Reserve the mushroom aside and continue to cook the white onions in salted butter and olive oil. Cook until onions are soft.

5. Once the beef is sufficiently cooked and tender. Combine the mushrooms and onions together. Serve with baguette or steamed rice.

Bon Appetit!

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!