Nigella Express: Rapid Ragu

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS

• 2 tablespoons Garlic Oil
• 125g Cubed Pancetta
• 500g Minced Lamb
• 75g Caramelised Onions (From A Jar)
• 80ml Marsala (Wine)
• 400g Can Chopped Tomatoes
• 75g Green Lentils
• 125ml Water
• 50g Grated Red Leicester Cheese (Or Cheddar, To Serve, Optional)

METHOD

• Heat the oil in a wide saucepan and fry the pancetta until beginning to turn crisp and golden-brown.
• Add the minced lamb, breaking it up with a fork, and stir until browned.
• Add the caramelised onions, marsala, tomatoes, lentils and water and bring to the boil.
• Reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• To serve, divide the ragù between four serving bowls and sprinkle with grated cheese, if using.

Nigella Express: Chicken Alla Cacciatora

INGREDIENTS

• 1 tablespoon Garlic Oil
• 75g Pancetta (Cubes)
• 6 Spring Onions (Finely Sliced)
• 1 teaspoon Finely Chopped Rosemary
• 500g Boneless Chicken Thighs (Cut Into Bite-Sized Pieces)
• ½ teaspoon Celery Salt
• 125ml White Wine
• 400g Can Chopped Tomatoes
• 2 Bay Leaves
• ½ teaspoon Sugar
• 400g Can Cannellini Beans (Rinsed And Drained, Optional)

METHOD

• Heat the garlic oil in a pan and fry the pancetta, spring onions and chopped rosemary for 2-3 minutes.
• Add the chicken pieces, sprinkle in the celery salt and stir well.
• Pour in the wine and bring to a simmer, then add the tomatoes, bay leaves and sugar. Cover with a lid and leave to simmer for 20 minutes.
• Add the drained cannellini beans, if using, and simmer until the beans are warmed through and the chicken is completely cooked through.
• To serve, divide among four serving dishes.

Nigella Express: Margarita Ice Cream

Serves 6

INGREDIENTS

• 125ml Lime Juice
• 2 tablespoons Tequila
• 3 tablespoons Orange Liqueur Or Triple Sec
• 150g Icing Sugar
• 500ml Double Cream

METHOD

• Pour the lime juice, tequila and orange liqueur or triple sec into a bowl and stir in the icing sugar until it dissolves.
• Add the cream and whisk until the mixture is thick and smooth, but not stiff.
• Spoon into an airtight container and place into the freezer to freeze overnight. This ice cream doesn't need to be taken out to soften before serving, as it won't freeze too hard and melts quickly.

Steamed Dill and Garlic Salmon

I've just stocked up on my dried herbs, and decided to try out a decidedly British herb - dill weed. It's good with fish and chicken, according to the description. I've only known it to be used with fish. This is a new variation of on an old favourite of mine.
Ingredients2 salmon steaks
1 tsp dill
1 tsp parsley
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tbsp dark soya sauce
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp vodka
1 tbsp honey
1 tbsp mustard
1/2 cup of water
1 baby bok choy, chopped
Method1) Marinate fish.
2) In a cassarole dish, line with aluminum foil. Lay on a bed of chopped bok choy and lay the fish on top. Pour in the remainder of the marinade, and 1/2 cup of water.
3) Bake at 200 deg for 10-15 mins until fish is cooked.
4) Unwrap and serve.

Chicken Ratatouille

Ratatouille is actually a French peasant dish, made famous by the animated feature of the same name. It is a stew of summer vegetables such as courgettes, tomatoes, peppers, aubergine, onion and garlic. This version is inspired by the show "Chef at Home", with chef Michael Smith, but of course with me, I liked my meat, so hence the addition of chicken. Obviously not traditional anymore, I decided to add a bit of other 'stew' favours to it to make an all-in-one dish. This is also the first time I bring out my pressure cooker, since I have a fear of it exploding in my face. However, I really did want the meat to fall off the bone, and for the vegs to be so meltingly soft, but obviously I don't want to spend a very long time stewing over a slow fire.

Ingredients (serves 2)
2 large chicken thighs
1 carrot
1 aubergine
1 can stewed tomatoes
1 red pepper
1 large onion
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 handfull barley
1 handfull soya beans
1 tbsp oregano
1 tbsp basil
1 tsp sugar
salt and pepper to taste

Method
1) Soak the soya beans overnight to soften, and throw away the soaking water the next day. Change to a fresh cup of water and soak for another hour.
2) Dice the carrot, aubergine, peppers and onion.
3) Throw everything into the pot - onion, garlic, chicken, vegs, herbs, can of tomatoes, barley, soyabeans, sugar, salt and pepper. Pour in the cup of water used to soak the soya beans
4) Snap on the lid and follow pressure cooker instructions - mine took only 1/2 hour and everything was done, meat falling off bone and vegs meltingly soft. I scraped off the meat and discarded the bones.
5) To serve, I tossed in crusty bread to soak up the juices. The bread puffed up wonderfully and was a delightful.

You could also cook the conventional method -
1) brown the chicken, remove
2) fry up the aromatics and vegs,
3) add back the chicken, pour in the can of tomatoes
4) add the herbs and soaking water
5) bring to a boil, then turn down the heat and low simmer for 2 hrs until everything is soft.

Garlic Chicken Fried Rice

This has always been a nemesis of mine - I could never quite get it right. Either it comes out too soggy, or not eggy enough, or the rice comes out plain. But whatever it is, it comes out without 'wok hei'.
Thanks to the wonders of the Internet however, I got some ang mo tried-and-tested recipes and voila! We have a winner. This is what I did:
Ingredients (serves 2)1 cup rice
1 chicken breast, cubed
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 cup mixed vegetables
2 eggs
1 tsp sesame seed oil
1 tsp fish sauce
2 tbsp light soya sauce
Oil for frying

Method
1) Marinate chicken with 1 tbsp soya sauce and pepper. Leave to marinate for at least 15 mins.
2) Usually all fried rice recipes call for cold leftover rice, but I've never got any hanging around in my fridge, thanks to the wonders of the microwave. I wondered it if would make a difference - being cold or not. Anyway I had freshly cooked rice, but left it out until it cooled down a lot, so that when you stir it, it doesn't break up so easily and become mush. The whole point of fried rice is really to have dry, separated whole grains of rice.
3) Heat up the pan or wok and fry the chicken. Once 3/4 cooked, add the mixed veg and fry for a minute. Lastly, add the eggs and scramble. Dish everything out and set aside.
4) Either wash the pan, or wipe the pan clean because you don't want any burnt bits in your rice.
5) Add oil again, and heat it up until the pan is very hot. Add the garlic and fry for a minute. Add the rice and stir fry. Dash in the fish sauce, soya sauce and sesame seed oil. I find it helps to use 2 spatulas to ensure everything is stir fried evenly.
6) Once the rice is warmed thru, add back the scrambled ingredients. I find it's easy to add a bit of ingredients, mix well before adding more.
7) Serve immediately with la cheow yao, parsley or spring onion.
I still didn't achieve wok hei and its probably because I used a non-stick pan. However at least for once in my life, the rice grains were well-separated and not soggy!

Rosemary, mint and garlic Lamb Chops

Tis' the season for green and red. We don't usually eat lamb, because it's impossible to find fresh lamb in supermarkets here, otherwise it's expensive. Not to mention we've been reminded time and time again about how it's more unhealthy compared to other meats. But last week, I saw frozen shoulder chops and thought it's the season to treat ourselves. Just once in a while, why not eh? In fact, we were pleasantly surprised that despite being frozen, we enjoyed it so much, I reckon it was better than the dried up tiny bitsy one I had at Botak Jones recently!
Ingredients
two 250g lamb chops
1 tsp garlic, minced
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp dried rosemary
1 tsp dried parsley
2 tsp ground black pepper
3 tsp dried mint
1 tbsp cooking oil
3 tsp mustard


Method
1) Add the garlic, herbs, salt and pepper to the cooking oil and stir well. Rub well into the meat and leave to marinade for at least 1 hour.
2) Place in a foil covered baking tray. Grill on high heat for 20 - 25 minutes, turning over halfway.
3) Leave the cooked chop to rest for 10 minutes, wrapped up in the foil to keep warm. Use this time to make the sauce. To make the sauce, drain away some of the oil. Scrape all the stuff off the bottom of the pan and add the mustard. Whisk in well. Add more salt and pepper to taste if necessary. You can also drizzle in some olive oil if desired.
4) Serve on a bed of salad leaves and drizzle the sauce over the chop.

Black pepper and Herb crusted Pork Chops

I am indeed beginning to realise that I have no other joy in life other than food. Oh dear. I have become one of 'those' Singaporeans. Perhaps middle age has truly hit.
Anyhow, thanks to Gordon Ramsey's inspiration, here is my rendition of what he did with his mint and herb crusted lamb chops. The roughly ground peppercorns in my recipe will give the porkchops a crusty and peppery exterior.
Ingredients2 pork chops, with bone in (always tastes better during the cooking process)
4 tbsp whole black peppercorns
1 tsp dried rosemary
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp sage
1 clove garlic, diced
1 tsp cooking oil
Method1) In a pestle and mortar, rougly grind up the black peppercorns. Add the herbs and garlic and incorporate. Don't overly grind the peppercorns. It's not meant to be a smooth paste.
2) Pat dry the pork chops. Pour out the peppercorn mixture on a flat plate. Coat both sides of the pork chops with the cooking oil, before 'breading' them with the peppercorn mixture. Leave to marinate for at least 1 hour, or overnight for best results.
3) Optional: Pan sear the porkchops to caramelize them.
4) Transfer onto a baking tray, lined with aluminum foil. Bake the pork chops in an oven, 200 deg C for 20 mins.
5) Serve with freshly garlic toasted bread.

Lettuce cup stirfry

I was inspired by the Korean style of wrapping cold cold fresh lettuce around hot hot meat. This dish is quite common in chinese restaurants. I'm not too sure of the origins, but I believe its probably Northern Chinese in origin. Usually served as an appetiser, you can also use man tou instead of lettuce to wrap the meat in.
Ingredients350g minced pork
1 red onion, diced
1 thumb-sized piece of ginger, sliced
8 dry shitake mushrooms, soaked in water to rehydrate and then finely diced. Reserve the water (approx 1/2 cup)
1 carrot, julienned
1 small iceberg lettuce
Oil for stir frying

Marinade
1 tbsp dark soya sauce
1 tbsp light soya sauce
1 tsp sugar
1 tbsp Chinese rice wine
1 tbsp sesame seed oil
1 tbsp corn flour

Method1) Marinade the minced pork with the marinade ingredients. Leave to stand for a least 15 minutes.
2) To prepare the lettuce, cut into half, down the stem. Cut off the core and slowly try to open it up for the water to get in. Soak in ice water for 15 mins and then the leaves separate very easily and can be removed whole. Dry as best as possible and set aside.
3) Heat up the oil in the wok. Stir fry the onions and ginger until fragrant.
4) Pour in the minced pork and fry till 3/4 cooked.
5) Add the carrots and mushrooms and fry briefly.
6) Add the water from soaking the mushrooms. Cover and let simmer for 10 minutes.
7) Serve immediately. Eat by wrapping the mince in the lettuce.

No knead bread

From the original article on no knead bread,
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/08/dining/08mini.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
came this website http://aresrocket.com/bread/ which better-ed the recipe.