Pic up!! Finally got my camera back!

Ingredients:

Button mushrooms- 300g, Ginger- 2tbsp finely chopped, Garlic- 2tbsp finely chopped, Spring onion- 3 diced, Green chili- 1 finely chopped, Sweet chili sauce- 2 tbsp, Light soy sauce, Sugar, Salt, Oil- 2tbsp

Procedure

1. Heat a pan on high flame. When it is really hot, add the oil and heat it till it starts smoking.

2. Add the ginger, garlic, spring onion and chilli, and stir fry for 30 seconds.

3. Add the mushroom and stir fry for another 30 seconds. They should be well coated with the mixture.

4. Season with sweet chili and soy sauces. If it is too dry, add a tablespoon of water. Add salt and sugar to taste.

5. Serve immediately

Good with bread or rice. Eat while it is hot.

Chocolate Profriteroles

Profriteroles, made with delightfully light choux pastry. Not so hard to make, and has a fancy French name!

Ingredients:

For choux pastry: Flour- 100g, Butter- 80g, Eggs- 3 beaten, Sugar- 4 tsp, Salt- 1pinch, Water- 200ml.

For the cream filling: Thick cream- 300 ml, Sugar- 2tbsp.

For the chocolate sauce: Butter- 80g, Chocolate- 200g, Water- 100 ml.

Procedure:

1.Preheat oven to 200 degrees.

2. In a deep pan, heat the sugar and butter in the water, till it melts. Add the flour and salt all in one go.

3. Take the pan off the heat and mix the flour in with a spoon till it starts curling off the sides of the pan. Keep for about 10 mins.

4. Beat the egg till it is well mixed. Add the mixture into the dough, one spoon at a time, and blend it in. The dough should be smooth and glossy. It should fall of the spoon reluctantly.

5. In a greased baking pan, spoon the mixture using a wet teaspoon. Flatten the tops using a wet finger. Put into oven and let bake till the choux pastry are golden brown. If you take them out too soon, they will collapse when cooled.

6. Once done, take them out, turn each one over and pierce the bottom. Put them back into the oven for 5 minutes to dry out the insides. Take them out and allow to cool completely.

7. For the cream filling, whip the cream till it forms soft peaks. Add the sugar and whip again.

8. Using a piping bag with a narrow tip, force the cream into each profriterole till it is completely filled. Be carefl not to overfill and break the choux pastry.

9. Arrange all the profriteroles nicely and pour over the chocolate sauce to serve.

Enjoy!

Coq au Vin (intermediate)

Ingredients:

Chicken- 1 whole, large pieces, Bacon lardons- 250g, Onion-2,sliced,  Mushrooms- 1 cup, sliced, Carrots- 2, Parsley, Basil, Thyme, Good red wine: Here, the wine determines the taste, so the dish will be as good as the wine is.

Procedure:

1. Heat about 100 ml olive oil in a deep pan. Fry the chicken till it is golden brown. Set aside.

2. In the same oil, fry the bacon lardons till slightly crisp. Fry the onion till is becomes pink.

3. Return the chicken back to the pot.

4. Add a full bottle of red wine.

5. Put in the mushrooms, carrots and herbs. Add some salt and pepper (remember that the bacon is salty).

6. Cook on low flame for 40 min. The alcohol should mostly boil off, and the chicken will get depth of colour because of the wine.

Best if allowed to soak overnight and served next day. Serve with the same wine as accompaniment.

Chicken- 250g small pieces, Ginger- 2tbsp, Garlic- 2tbsp, Salad onion-2, Green chilli-2, White onion- 1/2, all of these finely chopped, Wheat flour- 4tbsp, Cornstarch- 1tsp, Red chili powder, Dark soy sauce, Salt to taste

Procedure:

1. Marinate chicken with red chilli powder, salt and soy sauce for 30 minutes.

2. In a bowl, make a paste using half the flour, the cornstarch, salt and red chilli powder. Coat the chicken pieces by dipping them into this mixture.

3. In a wok/ deep pan, heat about 300ml of oil till it starts smoking. Fry the coated chicken pieces till golden brown. Taste to make sure the mixture is right. Fry all the chicken and put aside.

4. In the same pan, fry the ginger, garlic, chilli and salad and white onion on high flame.

5. Once the garlic starts browning, add the remaining flour and cornstarch mixture. Add 2 cups of water and allow it to boil. If necessary, add more flour to thicken the sauce. Put in the soy sauce, and salt to taste.

6. Leave the sauce a little thinner than what you want it to be finally, as it will thicken when it cools.

Eat with Fried Rice. Coming soon!

So have decided that now I will add a recipe a week, including the ones from the past. Makes for a good reference!

Chicken with Chilli mushroom sauce

Ingredients per serving:

Chichen breast, boneless-1, Mushroom, diced- 2, Green chilli, diced- 4, Cheese, grated- 1 tbsp, Cream- 1 tbsp, Salt, Pepper.

Procedure

1. Score the cicken breast deeply. Apply salt and pepper the the scored areas and fill with some of the green chilli. Keep for 30 minutes.

2. In a pan, bring about 1 cup of water to boil. Add the rest of the green chilli, and let it boil till it reduces to half a cup. Add the mushrooms and let them cook. Make sure there is still some water in the pan.

3. In another pan, heat 1 tbsp of olive oil, and pan fry the chicken breast on slow fire. Open up the scored sections while frying. Let it cook till it is golden brown.

4. After the mushrooms are done, mash them up with the green chillies to form a  paste. Add the cheese to this mixture and let it melt. Stir it frequently to blend cheese with the water. Once it is homogenous, add the cream and take it off the flame. Add salt to taste. Sauce should not be very thick in consistence, as it thickens on cooling.

5. To serve, spoon the sauce over the chicken, letting it run into the cut sections of the meat.

Taken on one foggy London day, on my way to college

16/11/10

Will you believe that the flower has been handcrafted by yours truly?? Im in love with making gumpaste flowers. Now all my friends caan rejoice! Only I wish I could practice more often.. Assignment hand-ins leave no time for such banalities..

Some yummy chicken

Ingredients

Chicken breasts- 2, Garlic- 6 cloves, Lemon- 1/4 piece, Freshly ground black pepper, Sugar, Salt, Olive oil.

Procedure:

1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees

2.  Score the chicken breasts, and rub them with salt and pepper. Drizzle with olive oil. Wrap in double layer of aluminium foil with the garlic and lemon, and place in the oven till done.

3. Once the chicken is cooked, take it out and carefully place it onto a very hot pan. Start roasting while you make the sauce.

4. Sauce- Carefully peel the roasted garlic and put it into a bowl. Squeeze in the lemon, and add sugar, salt and pepper to taste. Bash this all up till its a paste. Add the cooking juices from the chicken and some olive oil. Blend till its a smooth paste.

5. Coat the chicken breasts with the paste, a little bit at a time. Keep roasting from both sides. The paste should give the chicken a glaze and a light coating.

6. Once nicely brown and well coated, take it out into a serving dish and pour over the remaining sauce.

Salmon fillet- 2x200g, Onion- 1medium- grated, tomato- 1 finely chopped, chilli- 1 chopped, garlic paste- 2 tsp, coriander seeds-1tsp, Sweet white wine- 4tbsp, oil, salt, pepper.

Procedure:

1. Roast the coriander seeds till they give out an aroma.

2. Heat 2 tbsp of oil. Add the coriander seeds and chilli. Fry for 2 minutes.

 3. Add the onion and garlic to the pan. Fry till the onion is golden brown.

4. Score the salmon 2cm apart and about 1cm deep. Rub salt and freshly ground black pepper into it. Keep aside.

5. Add the tomatoes to the pan. When they soften, add the wine. Let the mixture cook, stirring occasionally. Take it off the heat.

6.  Rub this mixture into the salmon.

7.  Heat a pan till it starts smoking. Coat it with oil, and fry the salmon till the base caramelises. Turn over carefully and fry again.

8. Once both sides are done, flip over. Layer the remaining marinade on top of each piece. Let it cook for a further few minutes.

9. Lay it out onto the serving dish, with some boiled vegetables.

Whoppee! Done!