Velle Can Cook - Cast Iron Pot Chicken Mushroom Rice

Been wanting to make use of my cast iron pot which i redeemed with my Fairprice points. Finally I found the chance - a weekend where i could stay at home and cook!

Here's my recipe (serves 4 adults)

Ingredients

• Chicken thigh: 6 pieces
• Honey: 2 tbsp + 2 tbsp
• Light soy sauce: 6 tbsp
• Unsalted butter: 3 tbsp
• White onion: 1, diced
• Rice: 2 cups, washed
• Cooked chestnut: 300g (i bought already peeled packets ones )
• Mushroom: 400g sliced (i used shitake fresh ones)
• Chicken stock: about 6.5 cups
• Thyme: leaves from a few stalks
• Ground blackpepper: to taste

Instructions

1. Marinate chicken with honey & light soy sauce.
2. Leave overnight in fridge.
3. Preheat oven at 180 degrees Celsius.
4. Heat wok. Add chicken into wok, together with the sauces.
5. Brown chicken for a few min on both sides. Remove from wok and set aside.
6. Heat butter in cast iron pot. Fry onion till browned and translucent.
7. Add rice. Stir to mix in with onion.
8. Add chestnuts, mushrooms and chicken stock. Bring to a simmer.
9. Place chicken thighs and breasts on top of rice, pressing down to level with rice.
10. Drizzle 2 tbsp honey onto chicken. Sprinkle with thyme and black pepper.
11. Cover pot with lid and place in oven. Bake for 45min.
12. Serve hot.

Coffee Rubbed Grilled Pork Loin

iron lady chef is really nice...she emailed me this recipe after giving me a packet of freshly grinded coffee powder from balestier and sock to make my own coffee!!!


iron lady chef's recipe to
 
Coffee-Rubbed Grilled Pork Loin

1 T bs. very finely ground coffee beans (can use that coffee!)
2 tsp. packed light brown sugar
1 tsp. chili powder
1/3 tsp sea salt
2 T bs. extra-virgin olive oil
800g. pork loin (you can even use the frozen no frills frozen pork loin)

• In a small bowl, combine the coffee, brown sugar, chili powder, and 2 tsp. salt. Add the olive oil and mix well. Rub the mixture evenly over the pork and set aside.
• Pre-heat your oven to 190C
• Sear the pork loins on each side till it is slightly golden brown.  About 4 minutes each side.  Then place the pork into the oven for about 15 minutes.  If you have a meat thermometer, it should reach 140°F to 145°F.
• Transfer to a cutting board, tent with foil, and let rest for about 10 minutes.
• Slice the pork and serve

think i will try it when my helper is away because she's muslim.
sigh....another reason why we don't do ramen nowadays because the pork broth is the best!!!
the lip smacking collagen thick soup...OMG.

salivating
velle

Velle Can Cook 10 - Recipe for Strawberry Shortcake

Sponge Cake Base recipe
1) Preheat oven to approx 190degree celcius.(ok this really depends on your oven!)
2) Whisk 3 eggs, 1 egg yolk and 1/2 cup sugar in a bowl
3) Sift 1 cup of all purpose flour and fold into egg mixture.
4) Mix in 1 tablespoon of unsalted melted butter. Fold into batter.
5) Pour into 8 inch lightly greased springform and bake for 40-45 mins.
6) When cake shrinks at the side, it is ready. Let it cool. Cut horizontally into half and the edge if you prefer a bare look as above.

To assemble
1) Place 1 piece of cake into springform to hold its shape. Arrange half cut strawberries facing outward until all is covered.
2) Arrange whole strawberries in the middle of the cake base until all covered.
3) Fill all the gap with whipped cream till all of the strawberries are covered.
4) You can sprinkle crunch meringue too on top if you wish.

5) Lay the 2nd piece of cake on top.

6) Arrange sliced strawberries on top. Pour gelee mixture on it to give it a nice shine.

7) Remove the springform carefully.

8) Chill in fridge for at least an hour before consumption.

* You need approximately 350 grams of strawberries for this cake.

** photograph was from another website for illustration purposes!

Velle Can Cook 06 - Homemade Dry Laksa!

what's cooking this weekend at our place?

it's seafood dry laksa!
will post recipe soon. =)

Velle Can Cook 01 - Simple meals under 30mins

Hearty Chicken Soup with Fish Maw
*Handful of Fish Maw, pre-soaked in hot water for 15-20mins till soft, wash and drain water away.
*3 cloves of garlic
* Shallots
* Chicken breast for 2, cut to chunks
*Chicken stock 2.5 bowls
* 2 cups of cabbage
**optional: carrots for more sweetness!

How to cook!(Velle's recipe!!!)

1. Stir fry garlic and shallots till fragrant
2. add in chicken breast
3. add in chicken stock
4. bring to boil, add in cabbage and fish maw.
5. simmer for 10mins and serve with freshly grounded black pepper on top!
   

Velle Can Cook 02 - Vegetarian Spaghetti Bolognese with runny egg on top!

Vegetarian Spaghetti Bolognese with Runny egg!
*mushrooms
*diced tomatoes
*one egg (serves one)
*handful of spaghetti
*bolognese sauce from bottle
*sliced garlic

How to cook!

1. To a pot of boiling water, add a dash of salt and oil
2. Put spaghetti in, boil to soft. While it boils (approx 10-15mins), start to prepare the sauce.
3. Stir fry garlic till fragrant, add in bolognese sauce, throw in diced tomatoes and mushrooms, add a little water if sauce is too dry, simmer till everything is cooked.
4. Drain off cooked spaghetti and toss it into pot of sauce till well mixed.
   
5. With the boiling water for the spaghetti, put egg into ladle and cook in boiling water for 3 mins.
   
6. Serve spaghetti with grated parmesan cheese and runny egg on top!
   

Stirling HDB Terrace - #262 Boxing day dinner

hubby's homemade spaghetti (serve 2-3 pax)
ingredients:-
1 tin can of tomatoes
parmesan cheese for topping
2-3 cloves of garlic
1 onion
3 handfuls of spaghetti
300gm of minced pork/chicken

for garnish
basil leaves


it's that simple!

Stirling HDB Terrace - #264 Home Made Pancakes made with LOVE

PANCAKES with strawberries and peaches

Ingredients:-
1 cup Self rising flour
1 egg
1 cup full cream Milk (you can use low fat but i prefer the creamy taste!)

Garnish
Strawberries
Peaches

Don't forget your maple syrup!

and a not-so-wakey husband...but he sure is very happy about it!!!

Cakes galore

a cheesecake recipe that needs no baking, topped with fresh sliced strawberries.
My sis was trying a no fuss = no baking cheesecake for her bf. Turned out pretty well and looks so pretty to eat!


here's my sis topping the choco cupcakes. She made them over the National Day holidays. And of cos, we became her guinea pigs + my colleagues too. And they loved it so much cos they were those moist chocolate cupcakes!!! And my sis made it all by herself too. It wasn't from those cupcake mixes which u find at the supermarts.

made with tender loving care.

And to top it all, heartshaped flakes for a bit of decor. Super sweet cupcakes for a holiday!

Phnom Penh Day 04 - Cambodia Cooking Class

Cambodia Cooking Class
Address: 67 Street 240 Phnom Penh (held on rooftop terrace near Frizz Restaurant)
Tel: 855 012-524801

09:00 am
We gathered at frizz restaurant in central Phnom Penh. Next was a trip to the local Kandal Market where our instructor showed us Cambodian fruits, vegetables and spices.


many hawkers were sitting by the street selling their goods and commodities.
Lots of green leafy vegetables and I've never seen the purple stem ones before! so i decided to snap a pic pic of it


spices and rice + salted meat + live fresh fish still wriggling about! + fresh bloody fish heads (gross)

pinkEggs! so interesting, think they must be dyed. Last photos shows that live poultry such as chickens were sold too and the hawker will kill the bird infront of you. This is how fresh your meat gets.


Our instructor was introducing the different mint leaves which we were going to use for our banana flower salad such as the normal mint, fishy mint, basil, parsley, thai basil etc etc...
I was absorbing them like a sponge! While mr goh was happily sniffing them.


10:00 am
Time to take a tuk-tuk ride to the Cambodia Cooking Class, which is located on a cool open-air rooftop terrace, very near to frizz restaurant.


so we shared a tuk-tuk with our instructor. Soon we reached the roof-top cooking site.


We started off with our making of the spring rolls and we had to shred them first.

each of us have our own cooking utensils and cooker. Plus there was a helper to help us clean up after each dish was done! superb!!!!

Num Chaio (Spring rolls) serves 5-6 people

Ingredients

1. 2 cups of taro (shredded)
2. 1 cup of carrot (shredded)
3. 25 spring roll skin
4. 1 tbsp crushed peanuts
5. 1 beat up egg
6. 3 cups cooking oil (for frying)

Dipping sauce

• 4 cloves garlic
• 1 shallot
• 1 chilli padi (chopped)
• 2 tbsp fish sauce
• 4 tbsp sugar
• 4 tbsp lemon juice
• half bowl of water

Flower craving exercise from a carrot!
The last photo on the far right is my carrot! *beam*





chopping and slicing our banana flower, chillies and shallots.



and it's done! So simple and fuss-free AND we made it for my parents the next couple of days!



ingredients for the Kroeung:

2 dried red chillies
(soaked, drained and chopped into a paste)
3 cloves garlic
2 tbsp galangal (cut small)
2 tbsp lemongrass (thinly sliced)
zest of one quarter of kaffir lime
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp shrimp paste and palm sugar

*here's some interesting facts i've learnt*

Cambodian food is basically Thai food, right?
NO, it is the other way round: much of Thai food is basically Khmer food!

A thousand years ago the Khmer kingdom, which centred on Angkor, ruled an empire that included most of southeast asia. The first Thai Kingdom was established only in the 13th century. Hence, many of the Thai and other regional dishes have their roots in Khmer cooking from that time.

Khmer food is sometimes spicy but overall much less spicy than Thai food. Khmer recipes go back to the days before the introduction of the chilli, so are consequently much milder than most Asian food. The chilli was unknown in Asia until the 16th century when it arrived with the Portuguese.

Kroeung (paste)
Combine all ingredients into a food processor and blend into a thick paste. Over here at the school, we used the mortar and pestle to pound all the spices.


mr goh looks so 'concentrated' in the last photo! he doesn't know that i was secretly taking shots of him! hahahah....






our tutor is looking at mr goh here....making sure that he is doing the right thing!


once the spices are all pounded, we can now add the chopped dried red chillies together with the kaffir lime and etc etc.



here's the other portion of the paste - egg yolk, fish sauce, shrimp paste, palm sugar and of cos coconut milk! Lastly marinate the fish slices into the paste.

NEXT!
Preparation of the banana leaf cup.

First we have to cut the banana leaves into a circle.

Next, u need to heat the banana leaf first to soften it, otherwise when folding it into a cup, it will crack and break.






once the banana leaf cup is done, put the fish slices plus paste into the cup and steam!


and ta-duh!!! my warped-sided fish amok!!! and it tasted super uber deeee-li-cious!!!!


oh this dessert was the easiest! Just have to cook the sticky rice, prepare the sweet sauce, slice the mango and it's all ready to be served!


after our cambodian cooking class, wj wanted to pack some chocolates back to the hotel. Since it was on the way back, why not!


And a showcase of my buys for the past 4 days. Lots of cambodian silk souvenirs from tote bags, to clutches, wallets, hanging ornaments like this elephant and rabbit.


yes...we had sunburnt feet from 4 days of walking under the sun. Told you that the weather was hot hot hot!

Happy Herb Pizza
Address: 223 Sisowath Quay
Opening hours: 10am-11pm Daily
This riverfront mainstay offers a pleasant view of the Mekong and is a good place to kick back in a bamboo chair and watch the evening pedestrian traffic. The strange decor--ukuleles mounted beside Cambodian landscape paintings--makes this a novel place to enjoy this treat. At USD5 for a pizza, salad, and drink, this is perhaps the cheapest of the pizzerias. For those looking for less other fare in this strange environment, Happy Pizza offers Thai soups at about USD2.50, and pasta dishes for USD4. The usual selection of local brews is offered as well.

Yup! we were back at the same old place again! Cos we miss its affordable prices!
So this time we ordered a "Happy" Herb Pizza, Bacon Pizza, noodle soup with veg and chicken + 1 bottle of Angkor beer! Woohoo...it's our last night in PP so we SHOULD eat and be MERRY!












a happy jie!