Happy Chinese New Year! Today is not only Australia Day but also Chinese New Year. Luckily we got the day off so I can experiment with some Chinese cooking. Usually we do Chinese New Year dinner with family at some big seafood restaurant but this year we’re kind of on our own. So to keep in the usual seafood theme, I made a Cantonese style clam & shrimp dish on top of fried vermicelli rice noodles. This is my ode to Chinese cooking, which I normally say I don’t do that well since my mother is so much better at it. This dish takes a bit of prep and a quite a few steps but it’s totally worth it!

And since it’s a bit long, you’ll have to read the details after the jump!

Ingredients:
2 small packets of dried rice vermicelli
20 ish clams, scrubbed and washed (or about a pound worth)
5-7 fresh jumbo shrimps, cleaned, deveined & peeled
1 tablespoon of grated fresh peeled ginger
3 French shallots – thinly sliced
3 stalks of green onion – cut into 2 inch sections
2 red chillies – chopped fine (use less if you prefer less spicy)
3 cloves of garlic – finely chopped
handful of cilantro (leaves and stem) – finely chopped

Shrimp Marinade:
1 tablespoon garlic paste
1 tablespoon soy sauce

Flavors:
Soy Sauce
White Wine (I used a cheap sav blanc I had in the fridge)
Oyster Sauce
Rice wine vinegar
Vegetable Oil
Fresh ground pepper

Step 1: The Prep
Rice – this will be the perfect time to make rice in a rice cooker or pot. It’s simple, 1 cup of jasmine rice to 1 cup of water.
The rice vermicelli noodles – soak in warm water for about 15 minutes, drain and soak in warm water for another 15 minutes. It should be translucent now, drain and set aside.
The clams – scrub and wash them and then keep them drained in a bowl nearby for later.
The shrimps – washed, peeled and deveined. If you bought fresh shrimps with the head on, you can peel them, leave the tail for looks and when you break off the head, you will be able to see the poo vein and just pull on it. Wash and drain. Place in a bowl with the shrimp marinade: 1 tablespoon garlic paste, 1 tablespoon soy sauce. Mix it around and set it aside for later.
The green onions – slice into 2 inch sections and place in a dish for later, this will be used last.
The garlic, shallots & ginger – you can put these all together in a dish.
The chilies – BE CAFEFUL! Use gloves if you’re sensative to cutting chilies. Chop fine and keep in a separate dish for later.
The cilantro – do this last! wash, pat dry and finely chopped and set aside for the garnish!

Step 2: Fry the noodles!
Now that we’re all prepped, cooking won’t take that long! In a medium to large wok, warm up some vegetable oil (about 2 -3 tablespoons) on medium-high heat. Woks heat very quickly so get ready to work fast! Once the oil is ready (you’ll know when a drop of water sizzles away in a second!) GENTLY but quickly throw in the noodles. IT WILL SPLATTER! Be very careful when you’re doing this, use long tongs or really big chopsticks! Stir it around to get the noodles coated in oil and then gently pour in 1/2 cup of water. This will help cook the noodles and bring it to the right consistency. Stir constantly. Pour in about 2 – 3 dashes of soy sauce and stir some more. Let the noodles cook till crispy on the bottom, flip and cook a little bit more until crispy. You’re looking for the ends and the top and bottom layer to be crispy but the rest of the noodles still noodley! Place the noodles in a platter and we’re on the to the clams!

Step 3: The clams!
Okay, with the wok you just used for the noodles, return to the medium-high heat and add in another 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil. Once heated, toss in the freshly grated ginger, sliced shallots and chopped garlic. Mix around to get the flavors working. Now, throw in a couple splashes of rice wine vinegar and a couple splashes of soy sauce. Now throw in the red chilies and let that mixture simmer for a little bit. While it’s starting to bubble, stir in about 2 tablespoons of oyster sauce and then toss in the clams! Once the clams are in, pour in about 1/3 cup to 1/2 cup of white wine. Stir to make sure all the bits and pieces are mixed and let that reduce while the clams cook. Turn down heat to medium, let that simmer and stir occasionally to get the clams mixed. Clams are cooked when the shells are opened, time will depend on what size of clams you used but it took me about 4 – 5 minutes for all of them to open. Pour that entire mixture, sauce and all, on top of the vermicelli!

Step 4: The shrimps!
After plating the clams and sauce on the noodles, return the wok back to the heat and turn it back up to medium-high. Pour in about 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil. It shouldn’t take more than 10 seconds for that to heat up, now throw in the shrimps and chopped green onions. Cook shrimps on each side for about 1-2 minutes or until cooked through – should be pinkish white and firm. Now pour the shrimps and green onions on top of the clams! Sprinkle with chopped cilantro and we’re ready to eat!

Serve family style with rice and some steamed veggies.

So over this Australia Day weekend my friend Em and I decided to make some impromptu scones when one of the boys said “I’ve been craving scones for weeks!” Random, I know, but it ended up being a great snack/dinner since we had a variety of jams to choose from. It also went along with my explanation of “high tea” to one of the boys. It’s always nice to be able to show and tell! I’m not quite sure where we ended up with this recipe but luckily I saved the post-it notes we wrote it down on.

These are more of the English/Scottish type of scone, not so buttery and flaky, more bready but goes well with different types of jam. Hope you like it!

Ingredients:
2 3/4 cup of self-raising pastry flour
1 tablespoon white sugar
2 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 cup of milk
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 egg

preheat oven to 425°F or 220°C

Step 1: Mix & Whisk
In a big mixing bowl mix together all the dry ingredients: flour, sugar and baking powder. In a separate bowl whisk together the egg, milk and vegetable oil. Whisk for about a minute or so until mixture is a little bubbly but not whipped! Slowly fold in the wet ingredients with the dry. Don’t mix too much, just enough to get the ingredients together.

Step 2: Knead & Roll
Put the lightly mixed dough on a floured surface and knead for about a minute, just to get everything mixed together. With a rolling pin, roll out the dough evenly to about 1-inch thick. Use a cookie cutter around 3-4 inches wide, or any funky shape if you want. Make sure whatever shape you choose has enough space in the middle to spread a good amount of jam! Place cut outs on a baking tray and bake for about 15 minutes or until golden brown on top.

Serve warm with jam and heavy whipped cream!

Ingredients:
2 ripe hass avocados (you’ll know it is ripe by pressing down around the stem, soft = good to go!)
1 tomato – diced
1 yellow or red onion – diced (I prefer yellow, but for a milder onion crunch, go with red)
1 handful of cilantro – finely chopped
2 green onion stalks – chopped thin
1 jalapeño – diced (You can remove the seeds if you don’t want it too spicy)
1 lemon
pinch of cayenne pepper
fresh ground pepper
splash of habañero hot sauce
sea salt
garlic salt

Optional:
1/2 red bell pepper (aka capsicum) – diced
1/2 a cucumber – diced

Step 1: Chop chop
In a large bowl, throw in all your chopped ingredients. Chopped onions, jalapeño, cilantro, tomato, green onion and optional red bell pepper and cucumber. The red pepper and cucumber adds a really nice crunch to the guac, I generally like to add a little bit of each to give it a different texture. Traditionally, it’s without. Okay, now season this mixture with fresh ground pepper and sea salt. Mix it all up and now we’re ready for the avocados.

Step 2: Scoop
Now cut the avocado in half, take out the pit and scoop in the yummy inside into the bowl. Save the pits! We’ll need them later. Do this to the 2 avocados and then squeeze the juice of an entire lemon all over it. This will help it from turning brown! Now add in the spicy parts. Splash of habañero if you like spice. Dash of cayenne pepper – to your liking – I like spice so I’m usually generous. Sprinkle some garlic salt and fresh ground pepper over the avocados.

Step 3: Smash & serve
Now take a fork and smash up the avocado against the walls of the bowl while mixing in the other ingredients on the bottom. You don’t need to go crazy, just enough to get the avocado mixed in with the other ingredients. You’re not making a puree so don’t over mix! Chunky is good! Now stick the two avocado pits in the bowl and that will help it from browning as well. Throw some chips in a bowl and you’re ready to serve!

Tips:
When storing guacamole, make sure your saran wrap (cling wrap) is touching the actual guacamole and not letting any air in. This will keep it nice and fresh! You can also squeeze lemon juice all over the top layer before doing that but it will change the flavor of your left over guac – just a bit more lemony.

Look forward to a new design coming soon – really this time, I’ve been working on it! And another recipe post coming soon!

Thanks for the continued support!

xox – Maggie

So it’s day one of 2009. I thought I’d try something a little different and somewhat complicated. Well, it wasn’t as bad as I thought, in fact it was really easy! Okay so this is more like my version of chicken cordon bleu because of the lack of ingredients in the fridge. Traditionally, you’re supposed to use prosciutto and Gruyère cheese. I only had sandwich-style ham and provolone. C’est la vie! It came out great, and apparently tasted delicious.

This recipe is good for 1 serving, multiply accordingly for more servings.

Ingredients:
1 skinless & boneless chicken breast fillet
5 slices of ham (or prosciutto if you’re going traditional)
2 – 3 slices of provolone cheese (or Gruyère or Swiss works well too)
1 egg
2 tablespoons of all purpose flour
8 crushed Ritz crackers
2 tablespoons of butter
4 sprigs of fresh thyme – just the leaves
fresh ground pepper
fine white pepper
sea salt

Preheat oven to 390°F or 200°C

Step 1: Prep the chicken
Wash and pat dry the chicken breast. So you want to butterfly the chicken breast, it’s basically cutting it in half but not all the way so it folds out nicely into one big flat piece of chicken. Sprinkle some sea salt all over the butterflied chicken breast. Cover up the open faced chicken breast with some cling wrap, keep enough space for it to spread. Use a meat tenderizer, or a jar like I did, to flatten out the chicken breast – should be about 1/4 inch thick. Unwrap and sprinkle a little bit more sea salt on both sides.

Now we’re ready to roll! Literally. Roll up the ham/procscuitto slices and place it in the middle of the chicken. Crumble up the cheese and wedge it inbetween the rolls of ham/proscuitto. Now roll up the chicken breast and use the plastic wrap to help you keep it in place while you work on the crumbing. Twist the ends of the plastic wrap and place the chicken in the fridge while you do the next step!

Step 2: Crumbing & more prepping
In a large bowl mix together the flour, crushed ritz crackers, thyme leaves, and about 1/4 teaspoon of finely ground white pepper. Also add in a little bit of fresh ground black pepper and a pinch of sea salt. Set aside. In another large bowl, beat the egg so the yoke is all mixed up but not too much so that it’s frothy. Add in a pinch of salt and pepper. Set aside.

In a small saucepan melt about 2 tablespoons of butter and when it’s all melted, move away from the heat and let it cool. Also on another burner, heat a cast iron pan on low heat while you do the next step.

Now take your chicken out of the fridge and unwrap. Lightly dust the rolled chicken breast with flour and then dip it in the egg. Now cover the chicken breast thoroughly with the crumb mixture.

Step 3: Bake
Pour half of the melted butter onto the heated cast iron pan – careful, it might sizzle! Place your crumbed chicken roll in the middle of the cast iron pan and drizzle the rest of the butter on top – very slowly so you don’t take off all the crumbs! Place in  the top rack of the oven and bake for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes in the oven, spoon some of the butter in the pan over the chicken and then bake for another 15 minutes or until golden brown. You’ll want to cut into the middle to make sure the chicken is cooked through. Once ready, you can serve cut in half to show the rolls or in pinwheels. Serve with a small dollop of cranberry sauce, ranch dressing, or dijon mustard – yes all very different flavors so try them separately but each works really well!

Bon Appétit! Enjoy!

Last post for 2008! It’s New Years Eve and this year we decided to stay in, make some of our favorite sandwiches in our new panini press. One of my favorite of all time is the classic caprese sandwich. I used to get them all the time at Le Dijonaise in Culver City – they never grilled theirs though. Urth Cafe also does a great caprese but they add an olive tapande – sometimes a bit too much. I prefer the classic caprese, it’s pretty simple to make, I hope you enjoy!

Ingredients:
2 slices of thickly sliced artisan loaf bread – olive, onion or sourdough rye works really well
3 bocconcini cheese balls – sliced OR 1 buffalo mozzarella – sliced
(it depends on where you’re at and what they call their cheese, bocconcini = mozzarella just smaller)
5 basil leaves
3 slices of tomato
1 tablespoon of pesto
balsamic vinegar
extra virgin olive oil
fresh ground pepper

Step 1: Assemble
Spread about a tablespoon of pesto on the inside of one slice of bread. Then layer the bocconcini slices on top of the pesto. Then on top of the bocconcini, layer with fresh basil leaves and then top off with tomato slices. Drizzle a little be of balsamic vinegar on top of the tomatoes – just a little bit so it doesn’t soak the bread too much. Finish with salt and fresh ground pepper to taste. Cover with the other slice of bread, and we’re ready to grill!

Step 2: Grill
If you have a panini press, brush on very lightly some extra virgin olive oil on the outside of the sandwich (both sides) and throw that sandwich on the press for about 5 minutes.

If you don’t have a panini press, we grill this on a pan with the help of a cast iron pan for the “pressing”. Heat a regular sauce pan and a cast iron pan separately. Make sure cast iron bottom has been cleaned well and very hot. Place your sandwich in the regular pan after brushing with extra virgin olive oil on both sides. Place hot cast iron pan on the top of the sandwich to press it. Should be ready in about 8-10 minutes, you’ll know when it looks toasty and the cheese is melting.

You can also do this without the cast iron press – just grill it on a pan on medium heat on both sides for about 5 mintues each.

That’s it! Hope you like it. Happy New Year!!! There’s lots to expect in the upcoming 09 – like a redesign!

What to do with leftover turkey! I made a frittata for breakfast – the boys loved it! Unfortunately I still have about 2 containers worth of turkey left… eep! I’ll have to cook some more turkey things. The frittata is really easy to make. It’s basically a fancy baked omelet.

Ingredients:
1 cup of cubed turkey meat
1/4 cup of leftover stuffing
2 eggs
3 tablespoons of whole milk
4 tablespoons of leftover gravy
1/3 cup of cheddar cheese
1/3 cup of diced onions
2 tablespoons of butter

preheat oven to 390°F or 200°C

Step 1: The onion
In a oven proof pan or cast iron skillet (I highly suggest cast iron skillet, both for cooking quality and for taste), melt the butter all around the pan. Throw on the chopped onions and let them sweat – till they’re a little see through.

Step 2: The mix
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs and milk until a little fluffy. Now mix in the chopped turkey chunks and fold it until well mixed. Now mix in the stuffing. Then the cheese. Once this is ready, scoop off the onions that have been sweating on the pan and fold that into the mixture. Pour this whole thing on the skillet. Spoon on some dollops of gravy – straight from the fridge is perfect. And let that cook on medium-low heat for about 8 minutes – timing isn’t that important on the stove, it’s just to start the cooking before you pop it in the oven.

Step 3: The baking
So about 8 to 10 minutes later, toss the skillet in the oven on the top shelf and let that bake for 30 – 35 minutes. You want it golden brown on top. The gravy should be melty on top and the edges should look a little dark brown and crusty.

Ingredients:
10 potatoes, washed, scrubbed & peeled – in America I would go with russet idaho potatoes, here, I picked some browned ones that looked closest to russet
5 cloves of garlic, chopped fine
6 tablespoons of butter
1 cup of heavy cream
3/4 cup of milk

Step 1: Boil away
After scrubbing and washing the potatoes, make sure they’re peeled and pat dry with a paper towel – this will help to avoid slipping. Personally, I like keeping the skin on and mixing it in with the mash but this time I thought I’d try to make them look creamy and smooth without the brown chunks of skin. It’s Thanksgiving, it’s all about presentation right?! OKAY, cut the potatoes into large chunks – probably around 2 or 3 inches. Throw them into a large pot of boiling water and let that cook for about 15 – 20 minutes or until soft. Poke a fork in a chunk to see if they’re ready, you want them soft but not at the point where they’ve crumbled to the bottom of the pot. Drain and throw them back into the pot.

Step 2: Mash and mix
If you have a masher, great, start mashing! Make sure the heat is down to as low as you can get it. Pour in the heavy cream while you’re mashing and get it all mixed in. Once it’s all mashed, slowly pour in the milk and keep mixing. In a small saucepan, melt the butter and throw in the garlic. Let that simmer and bring out the flavors for about 5 – 8 minutes. I personally like to brown my garlic but most people like the garlic to be an added flavor and not too overpowering so I just let it simmer a little bit. Pour in that garlic and butter mixture into the potatoes and mash away.

Step 3: Serve
So Australians don’t eat their mashed potatoes with sour cream and chives, I guess it’s an American thing. I think only a couple people used the garnish. You can mix in the sour cream and chives right into the mash before plating so it’s all mixed in or you can keep it separate. I like keeping it separate so I can put a heaping spoonful

Hope this comes in handy! You can vary the recipe as much as you want to taste, that’s the best part about mashed potatoes. Add in bacon bits, cheese, whatever!

Ingredients:
4 large sweet potatoes or yams (depending on where you live and what they call them)
2/3 cup of brown sugar
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon of salt
5 tablespoons of butter
1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg
pinch of ground ginger
fresh ground pepper – to taste
1 – 1 1/2 cup of small marshmallows

preheat oven to 350°F or 170°C

Step 1: pre cook
Scrub and wash the sweet potatoes and then peel them. Cut into about 2-in chunks, make sure you keep them around the same size so they cook evenly. In a large pot, bring some water to boil and throw in the chunks. Boil for about 10 minutes or until soft. Drain and arrange evenly on a baking pan – I used about a 10 x 10 dish.

Step 2: the glaze
In a saucepan, slowly melt the butter at a medium-low heat. Throw in all the spices and sugar and let them melt together. Once the brown sugar is melted and start to thicken, pour on top of the cut potatoes. Make sure the potatoes are covered with the glaze and throw it in the oven for about 45 minutes.

Step 3: the marshmallows
The glaze should be thick and sticky on the potatoes. Evenly spread the marshmallows on top of the glazed potatoes and throw them back in the oven for another 5 minutes. Be careful to not put them in for too long, they will catch on fire if you put it too close to the top (that happened last year!). You want them just turning brown and starting to melt.

Enjoy! This was one of my favorite dishes this year, the glaze really does make it taste amazing.

Ingredients:
6-7 kilo/13-15 lbs thawed turkey (if you buy frozen, make sure you thaw it in the fridge for a few days)
5 sprigs of rosemary – leaves only, chopped fine
5-7 cloves of garlic – chopped fine
5 tablespoons sea salt – kosher would be better but I can’t find any so I went with pink sea salt flakes
5-6 tablespoons nice course ground pepper – fresh ground would be the best
6 tablespoons of olive oil
6 tablespoons of soft butter
4 cups of chicken or turkey stock – I couldn’t find turkey stock here, chicken works just fine
2 1/2 – 3 cups of stuffing (made and cooled to room temp)

preheat oven to 400°F or 200°C

Step 1: Prep the turkey
Unpack and wash the turkey in the kitchen sink. Take out the inside packet with all the giblets if yours comes with any. Apparently in Australia, they don’t come with guts. Place turkey on a rack in a roasting pan and pat the turkey dry with paper towels. OKAY, now we’re ready to get dirty. Turn the bird breast side down first – rub the entire area with butter, garlic, rosemary, sea salt, pepper and drizzle some olive oil once you’re done. Make sure to get it in the little pockets. Now flip over and do the same with the breast side up. I try to tuck some butter underneath the skin on the breast. Make sure to season the inside of the turkey with heaps of sea salt, butter (yes rub it in!), pepper, garlic and rosemary. NOW, make sure you tuck the wings back so they don’t stick out and burn. Just use some muscle and tuck it behind the body. Put some butter in the pockets and folds around the leg and wings and we’re ready to stuff! Carefully spoon in the cooled stuffing in the cavity of the bird – do not over stuff – it will expand. Just enough to fill the bird loosely. Now take some cooking twine and tie the legs together – I like to tie the legs down to the butt as much as possible to get it nice and closed. Put one last drizzle of olive oil and you’re ready for the roasting. Should look a bit like this:

Step 2: The roasting
Cover the legs with foil. Pour about 2 cups of turkey or chicken broth onto the pan – we’ll need this for basting. In it goes for about 20 minutes at 400°F or 200°C. It’ll start looking a little brown, now we turn the oven down to about 325°F or 180°C. Baste the turkey with the stock in the tray all on top, just a couple times and try to not let the heat escape the oven. Baste every 30 minutes and rotate the tray every hour. My oven is a bit uneven, even with the fan-forced on so make sure to rotate the bird to get it cooking evenly. At around the 3 1/2 hour mark, make a tent for the bird and continue roasting. It should be looking pretty good by now and we don’t want to burn the top. Make sure to check the bird with a thermometer in the breast, stuffing and armpit area. It should read around 180°F or around 80°C for the thickest part of the thigh. Stuffing should be around 150°F or around 70°C. It doesn’t have to be exact – if you have a trustworthy thermometer that tells you what’s best for poultry, go with that! You’ll be able to tell that it’s done when the juices runs clear when you cut into it.

Step 3: You wait
Once the bird is done, take it out of the oven and let it sit for a while before carving. Best to take out the roasting tray and turkey and put it on a cutting board so you can start on the gravy. But if you’re not serving for a while, it’s okay to let it sit in the tray, make sure you keep basting to keep it moist and cover with foil.

Happy Thanksgiving!