Tag: Melbourne

Beef fillet with Gratin of Mushrooms

4 Comments

I’m back! (: Sorry for the long long long long break! Had a crazy few weeks with uni! Got lots to update so give me a little time! (:

So let me ask you, what is your ultimate indulgence?

For me, it’s steak. and not just any cut of the steak, specifically, the eye fillet. It just melts in your mouth with every bite you take. I normally do prefer my steak medium, but just for the eye fillet, I like mine medium rare. hehe (:

I had a couple of close friends over on a Saturday night, and their only request is to have MEAT. haha. So, almost immediately, eye fillet popped into my tiny head. I have been dying to try this recipe of Gordan Ramsay’s and this would be the best opportunity to do so!

Eye fillet topping it with a gratin of mushroom and baking it just for 5 mins to get a nice crunchie outer layer of the gratin. The creaminess of the gratin just goes so well with the beautiful cut of the steak. This dish was to die for, and this recipe is definitely a keeper! (:

(Adapted from The F Word)

Ingredients :

Beef Fillet

  • 1 shallot, finely chopped
  • 1 garlic clove, crushed
  • 4 tbsp olive oil
  • 100g mixed mushrooms (shiitake, oyster), roughly chopped
  • 100g chestnut mushrooms, roughly chopped
  • 2 tbsp chives, finely chopped
  • 4 tbsp double cream
  • 1 large egg yolk
  • 4 fillet steaks, about 180g and 4cm thick
  • 3 tbsp freshly grated Parmesan

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 220°C/Gas 7.

2. To prepare the topping, gently sauté the shallot and garlic in 1 tablespoon of olive oil for about 5 minutes until nicely softened. Add a further 2 tablespoons of olive oil and sauté the mushrooms over a high heat, stirring frequently, for about 7 minutes until browned and cooked. The mixture should be quite dry. If necessary, tip it into a sieve to drain off any remaining liquid. Remove the garlic clove and transfer the mushrooms to a bowl, allow to cool.

3. Whip the cream until softly stiff. Fold in the mushrooms along with the egg yolk, herbs and a tablespoon of the grated Parmesan, then season with salt and pepper. Set aside. Season the steaks all over with salt and pepper. Heat a large non-stick frying pan until you can feel a strong heat rising. Cook the steaks for about 2-3 minutes, turning them to seal all over. Remove from the pan.

4. Put the steaks on a shallow baking tray. Pile the mushroom mixture on top of the steaks and dust with the remaining parmesan. Cook in the oven uncovered, for about 5-7 minutes until the topping is bubbling and golden.

So, trust me. Try this recipe, I guarantee you will love it! (: Have it with mash or golden baked potatoes and ENJOY!

so tell me dear readers, what is your ultimate indulgence?

Braised Pork Belly with Yam

11 Comments

If you’ve been reading my blog, you know how home sick I always get. One way to make myself feel better is to cook. Not just cook anything, cook something that reminds me of home. So that’s what I did, I made something my mum makes best – Braised pork belly with yam. (: You usually eat this with a bun and some salad leaves. But it also goes super well with rice!

The recipe I found is a little time consuming, but all the work and effort put into the dish is definitely worth it. By the time it’s done steaming, the yam would be broken down and it would have absorbed all the flavours. The pork too will be melt in your mouth! Of course the happiest person when I said I was going to cook this was my baby. hehe He and pork belly are very good friends. hehe

so here’s the recipe that I’ve adapted from :

Ingredients :

· 1.2kg pork belly with skin
· 700g yam/taro
· 1 piece reddish cheese (also known as fermented beancurd)
· 1 tbsp reddish cheese juice
· 2 tbsp salted bean paste

Part (A) :

·4 garlic cloves, chopped
·50g shallots, chopped
·1 stalk (20g) coriander stalk, chopped

Gravy :

·1 tbsp light soy sauce
·1 tbsp dark soy sauce
·1 tsp five spices powder
·1 tbsp sugar
·1 tbsp Chinese rose wine (I used Shaoxing wine)
·1 tsp monosodium glutamate (I left this out)
·800ml water

Steps :

1. Blanch the pork belly with 3 bowls of boiling water in a deep pot for about 20 minutes, remove and pat-dry, then rub a little light soy sauce over the pork belly, prick holes over the skin with a fork, deep-fry into hot oil until golden brown, dish up, transfer the pork belly into boiling water again and cook for further 30 minutes, remove and keep aside.

2. When the pork belly is cool enough, cut into thick slices.

3. Peel the yam, cut into square slices, slightly deep-fry into hot oil for a while, dish up and leave them aside.

4. Heat up 3 tbsp oil, to sautethe chopped ingredients A, reddish cheese, salted bean paste and reddish cheese juice till fragrant, add in sauce mixture, and bring to the boil, place in pork belly slices and yam, simmer over low heat for 20 minutes, remove from heat.

5. Prepare a deep bowl, arrange yam and pork belly slices alternately (skin side down); pack pieces securely into bowl, press slightly, pour the remaining sauce over the meat and yam, steam over medium heat for approximately 45 minutes, until the meat are tender.

6. Drain gravy into a bowl and retain, invert pork and yam slices onto a platter, heat up retained gravy until boiling, and thicken with a little cornstarch solutions, pour the gravy over the pork slices, serve hot.

Bon Appetit! (:

Beef Stroganoff : Masterchef Recipe

7 Comments

Sorry for the lack of posts! Uni just started for me, and the amount of readings I have to do is unbelievable! Haven’t had much chance to cook or bake. But yes! I’m back!

Have you been catch Masterchef when it was on tv? I have! I caught as many episodes I could when I’m home and if I missed one, I would load it on the Masterchef website and watch it at my own free time! (: One dish that caught my eye and tummy was the beef stroganoff! the orangy creamy texture of the dish, topped on pasta, I think it’s a match-made in heaven.

so I got down to business. I didn’t have creme friache or the usual substitute of sour cream, so I “cleaverly” used thickened cream which wasn’t too good an idea, cause it became very starchy. But other than that, the flavours were really yummy and my baby really enjoyed it! (:

so here’s the recipe that is from this Masterchef series

Ingredients :

2 tbs sweet paprika
100g flour
500g piece beef eye fillet (from the tail end), sliced into strips
¼ cup olive oil
40g butter, plus extra to serve
200g Swiss brown mushrooms, thinly sliced
3 eschalots, finely diced
2 tbs tomato paste
½ cup brandy
1 cup beef stock
2 tbs Worcestershire sauce
1 cup crème fraiche (or light sour cream)
2 tbs extra virgin oil, to serve
baby parsley, to garnish

Steps :

1. For the beef stroganoff, combine paprika, flour and 1 teaspoon of sea salt in a bowl. Toss beef in the mixture to coat.

2) Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large frying pan over high heat and sear the beef for 1-2 minutes or until browned. Remove and set aside.

3) Reduce heat to medium-high; add half the butter and remaining the olive oil. Cook the mushrooms until caramelised. Reduce the heat to medium, add remaining butter, eschalots and cook for a few minutes until softened.

4) Add the tomato paste, brandy, stock, Worcestershire sauce and bring to the boil. Reduce heat to medium, stir in crème fraiche, reserved beef and juices, then season with salt and pepper.

5) Serve with either rice or pasta. DONE! (:

Spiced Red Wine Poached Pear

12 Comments

there something quite amazing about poached pears. They transform into a soft-yet-firm magical looking fruit that is tainted with the most amazing maroon. Eat it with the most luscious vanilla mascarpone, and VIOLA! You’re in heaven. (:

I’ve never had a poached pear, but I always see cooking shows that make them and tell myself, I need to try that soon. Just like tarts. And that journey has yet to begun. haha We went to the Sunday Market near Melbourne Showground and chanced upon some Bosc pears, and I just couldn’t resist!

with a bottle of cabernet merlot lying around in the cupboard, it was a perfect opportunity to make some poached pears! (:

So here is the recipe that I adapted from taste.com.au

Ingredients :
500ml (2 cups) red wine
70g (1/3 cup) caster sugar
2 whole star anise
1 tsp cinnamon powder
1 vanilla bean, split
2 just-ripe bosc pears, peeled
2 cloves
100g mascarpone
2 tbs icing sugar mixture
1 tsp vanilla paste
Steps :
1. Combine the wine, sugar, star anise, cloves, cinnamon powder and vanilla bean in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring, for 2 minutes or until sugar dissolves.
2. Add the pears and bring to the boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer, turning occasionally, for 1 hour or until pears are tender. Use a slotted spoon to transfer pears to a heatproof bowl. Once it’s cooled, put it in the fridge while preparing the other things. (The original recipe calls for the pears to be refrigerated for 4 hours, but I only let it sit in the fridge for 30mins and it was already yummy! I much prefer the cold outer portion and the inner flesh is warm.)
3. Increase heat to high and bring the syrup to the boil. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes or until syrup thickens slightly.
4. Place the mascarpone, icing sugar and vanilla paste in a medium bowl and stir to combine.
5. Transfer the pears to a serving dish and drizzle with syrup. Serve with vanilla mascarpone.
ENJOY! (:

Comfort food.

10 Comments

Winter. Cold winds, rain, super low temperatures. To conquer all these, to me, only means one thing : comfort food.

what’s better ya? the ultimate comfort food for me is mash. The creaminess and butter-i-ness texture of the mash just makes everything seem better. (: So everything with mash, would just be a kind of comfort to me. Last night, I decided to make Shepard’s pie!

Shepard’s pie has always been a family favourite. So of course, I immediately went to source for a recipe so that I could cook it for everyone to enjoy! (: I was pretty worried the first time I made it, and I remember my brother having to always taste my mash to see if it’s buttery enough or salty enough. And my mum would stand next to me to make sure the mince is in small pieces and not in chunks, and if my meat sauce is thick enough.

alright, did I say I miss my family and I’m home-sick? I didn’t? Well, I am. That’s why I needed comfort food, pronto.

So here’s my recipe, hopefully, it will be as comforting to you as it was for me! (:

Ingredients :

600g mince pork (you can always use chicken or beef)

6 cloves garlic, chopped

2 medium size carrots, chopped into small pieces

1 leek, sliced into thin rings

10 button mushrooms, sliced thinly

1 tin of chopped tomatoes (can always substitute with 3 tbs tomato paste)

3 tbs plain flour

2 tbs olive oil

2 tbs Worcester sauce

5 bay leaves

750ml chicken stock

8 potatoes, cut into cubes (for mash)

50g butter

50ml milk (or cream)

1 tsp nutmeg

Parmesan, to sprinkle on the mash before baking it

salt and pepper, to taste

Steps :

1. Heat the olive oil in a heavy-based pan and add the garlic and leeks and fry till fragrant and the leeks are transparent, make sure they do not brown. Add the carrots and mushrooms and fry till carrots are soft.

2. Add the mince and fry till the meat is cooked and the pieces are small.

3. Add the flour and mix till well combined. Add the stock, the Worcester sauce, chopped tomatoes, bay leaves and mix and allow the mixture to boil before turning the fire down to small. Cook the mixture and allow the liquid to thicken till almost dry. (about 20-25mins)

4. While the meat mixture is reducing, cook the potatoes in a pot of salted water till tender and easier to mash. Drain, and put them back into the pot over very small fire. Add the butter, milk and nutmeg and mash till smooth. Season with salt and allow it to cool for about 5 mins.

5. Place the meat mixture into a baking tray and slowly pipe the mash on top of it. Sprinkle the Parmesan and flash it in the oven grill for 5 mins, till the top is golden brown.

6. Serve and enjoy! (: