Porcini Mushroom Linguine

Cooking has sometimes been my secret "getaway" from my daily baking routine. It's rare that I have more savory than sweet cravings but the thing is I really do enjoy them both alot. 

Anyone who understands me well knows that I can't do without my carbs. Bread, Cereal, Pasta, beans, potatoes etc you name it all. They can really be unhealthy if taken in excess but c'mon we got to eat what we love sometimes don't we :) Anyway the rule of thumb is always to eat in moderation. That way you'll feel less guilty and happier ;) 

Looking at my extreme likes, I realize that most food I opt for all fall under the "brown category". I adore whole grain breads, nuts, oats, chocolates, mushrooms. Mushrooms are one of the staples of every meal and it goes superbly well with one of the easiest dish to whip up when you're in a hurry. 

Got my hands on the porcini mushroom Linguine (dried pasta) at the fair and instantly a caramelized onion and mushroom pasta came to mind ;)

Mushroom Linguine with Caramelized onions and brown/white Button Mushrooms  (For 4)

Ingredients

Pasta ( Amount depends on how many pax you are cooking for) 

5 Brown Button Mushrooms

5 White Button Mushrooms

1/4 cup chicken stock

1/4 cup fresh cream/ milk ( I opted for milk for a less fatty alternative to cream)

2 tbsp butter

pepper and salt (to taste)

Oregano/mixed herbs

2 onions

2 tbsp olive oil

1/2 cup cheese

In a large saucepan, boil enough water to cook the pasta in. Add a little salt. When water is boiling, put pasta in. 

While the pasta is cooking, prepare the sauce:

Place 2 tbsp of olive oil in the pan and saute the onions until soft, transparent and caramelized. Add the mushrooms and saute for another 5 min. Swirl in the butter. 

Add the chicken stock, fresh cream/milk and cheese and cook until slightly thicken (gravy like). Add in the herbs and toss in cooked pasta. 

Top pasta with more cheese and pepper and serve hot ;) 

Tacos

It's taco day!! Taco brings me many months back where I was still on my so awesome exchange. I still can't believe it's over. Anyway, besides burgers and fries which I got so sick off after my first few weeks, I got to indulge in Mexican food.. The difference was I never got bored of it. Tacos, tortillas,chilli, nachos, chipotle, quesadillas, corn, cheese, salsa, beans omg beansssss.. Being such a huge fan of beans (red bean, green bean), I thought I wouldn't be able to survive those 5 months but boy was I wrong. It was a land of beans. Kidney beans, chickpeas, black beans, chill. Don't see much Mexican restaurants here in Singapore which is pretty saddening but anyway going to Holland V Cha Cha Cha for a meal now and then isn't sucha bad idea after all.

Soo on the menu today we have: 

My all time favourite appetizer- deep fried mushrooms

I remember I was doing alot of things at once while frying the mushrooms that I forgot to lower the heat and flip it and honestly, it was a SERIOUS disaster. The first batch of mushrooms turned out like a huge blob of charcoal. Thank goodness for helpers that came to assist at the right time. I tried deep frying portobello and white button mushrooms but as much as I really like the taste of portobello, they just didn't work. The latter was much juicier. Just the way I like. Juicy on the inside and cripsy on the outside.

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup water

1 egg 

whatever spices you like [ I put oregano, some garlic and herb salt, pepper, cayenne pepper ] 

breadcrumbs 

Mix the top four ingredients together. Dip mushrooms in it to coat and roll them in a generous amount of breadcrumbs and deep fry to see magic.  

Filling for Tacos:


Anything yummy goes with tacos. Can be beef, chicken, fish.. It's really up to your own discretion :).


About 350g lean mince beef
1 can black beans, drained
1 large red onion chopped finely
about 1 cup water
garlic
taco seasoning


The taco shells were store bought. I used the Old El Paso brand. Works out to be particularly crispy when baked in the oven. Nice! Plus it comes with taco seasoning and salsa sauce.

Tacos with lettuce, tomatoes and salsa sauce ;)) and ooh we made this tangy grapefruit and lychee ice blended drink to go with it but didn't manage to get a shot of it.

Tacos are not at all filling so we had 2 rounds of pasta to go alongside the tacos. Made a creamy based pasta as well as a pesto based one. Here are 2 ingredients I look for whenever I order pasta at a restaurant: Zucchini and eggplant! HAHAA. told you I was simple ;) 

This pesto based linguine is rather simple to do. Infact, pasta is the easiest to whip up when in a hurry. 

Linguine ( or you can use other kinds of pasta as well) 

parmesan cheese

sundried tomatoes ( totally love them as well) 

zucchini

eggplant

olive oil

salt and pepper ( to taste) 

I know you must be wondering what happened to the pine nuts?? I didn't add them in as I had none on hand but they sure go well with pesto based pasta. Arhh at least that's why I eat them for. 

Many of them preferred this creamy based one. I'm not a sucker for creamy pasta but I must say this is pretty darn good.. considering the massive amount of cheese I added to it out of experiment. hahaa

This serves 6-8 people:

Linguine ( or other)

18 raw prawns, deshelled and de-veined

2 tbsp butter

olive oil

Portobello/whitebutton mushrooms ( as much as you wish)

Bacon (Fried and cut into small pieces)

Oregano flakes

1 cup cream ( I only had 150ml on hand so I substituted the rest for milk) 

Peppery Jack Cheese ( Well, I added a handful.) 

and there you have it. Homemade Mexican food and pasta ;)) Stay tune for more random cooking and baking. I have alot ( and I mean a whole lot) of backlog. 

Mushrooms

One of my favourite all time ingredient is mushrooms. Although it often plays along side its fellow fleshy friends-  chicken, beef, pork, fish etc, I gotta say it's companion role is what makes the overall dish so successful. Believe it or not. It's one of the major ingredients used in various cuisines of the world. Cream of mushroom soup, Grilled portobello mushroom & cheese burger, chicken with mushroom gravy, steak with pepper mushroom gravy, deep fried mushroom, grilled mushroom n zucchini, carborana with mushrooms, pizza with mushrooms and a never ending list.. 

I remember reading somewhere that washing mushrooms is a no no since it will cause the mushrooms to become mushy and apparently suffer a lost of flavour. Hmm, I agree somewhat because when I do wash them, the mushrooms turn out rather sticky to the touch. I usually rinse them quickly under the tap and dry them off immediately ( Just a habit I guess). Latest updates at Serious eats provides us with a useful guide on how to clean and trim mushrooms. 


It's a win win situation for all. Just don't forget to include mushrooms in your next dish ;))

Chicken Cordon Bleu with Mushroom Onion Gravy

What's life without cheese? It's like the basic ingredient in every western meal. Well almost :) Few days ago I whipped up a dish I couldn't possibly forget. The juiciness of the chicken, smoothh melted cheese, ham and thick creamy mushroom gravy just lingered in my mouth.  Everything just felt so right. SO what's for dinner tonight?? If you guessed Chicken Cordon Bleu. You're absolutely spot on.. 

Chicken Cordon Bleu is basically a french inspired dish consisting of chicken, ham and cheese all rolled up in a bundle of goodness, drenched in breadcrumbs and then deep fried. 

Recipe adapted from Blake Royer, posted in serious eats. This particular recipe called for sauerkraut to be incorporated together with the 3 main components however I couldnt find sauerkraut anywhere so just had to do w/o. ;[. I can only imagine how good that dish would have tasted if I had some on hand and how it adds a little tangy-ness to the flavor!!

Ingredients: 

6 boneless, skinless chicken cutlets (about 1 1/4 pounds total)
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2 egg whites
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
2 teaspoons minced garlic
Dijon mustard, as needed
1 1/2 ounces provolone cheese (1 1/2 thin slices)
1 1/2 ounces ham (1 1/2 thin slices)
3 tablespoons sauerkraut, packed ( left this out)
3/8 teaspoon caraway seeds ( left this out)
2 cups plain bread crumbs
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, for frying.

Procedure

1. If the chicken cutlets are not of uniform thickness, place them between two sheets of plastic wrap and pound gently, aiming to make 3 pairs of approximately the same shape. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.

2. In a bowl, whisk the egg whites, cornstarch, parsley, and garlic, until the egg whites begin to turn foamy.

Foamy egg white mixture with parsley (  DIE! I think of you clar everytime I see parsley ) .. 

3. Paint one side of each chicken cutlet with mustard, then layer the ham and cheese on three of the cutlets. Spread a tablespoon of sauerkraut on top of the ham and cheese, then lay the second half of each pair, mustard side in, to make a sandwich. Seal the edges as best you can. ( I follow the traditional way of using toothpicks to secure the edges. works perfect but just it gets a little tedious to remove them after frying.But anyway it's better to secure rather than have cheese oozing out into the hot oil)

4. Dip the cutlet sandwiches in the egg white mixture, then dredge in the bread crumbs. If needed, they can be refrigerated for several hours at this point.

5. Heat the oil in a skillet with plenty of room for all the chicken (if not, cook them in batches) over medium-high heat until a breadcrumb tossed into the pan sizzles vigorously. Fry until dark golden brown, 2-3 minutes/side. Drain on paper towels momentarily, then serve immediately, with more sauerkraut, if desired, or a tart salad.

I made a corn salad to go with it. 

Ingredients:

2 corn on the cob

lemon

salt and pepper to taste

butter

italian dressing

cherry tomatoes

portobello mushrooms

Steps:

1) Heat butter in pan and saute corn and mushrooms

2) add salt and pepper to taste

3) Remove from pan add in tomatoes for color and sprinkle some lemon for the zesty taste and italian dressing 

and a Mushroom onion gravy to accompany the chicken. 

Ingredients:

Onions ( one) sliced not too finely

portobello mushrooms ( as much as you like)

mushroom cream sauce ( I bought the prego can)

corn oil/olive oil

Steps:

1) Heat oil in pan and fry onions till fragrant and caramelized. 

2) add mushrooms

3) Add in canned mushroom sauce 

4) Add a little water if gravy is too thick to the consistency you desire. 

5) Pour generous amount over chicken and serve hot. 

Bon appetit!

Chinese Radish Cake

or law Bak Gou whatever they call it seems to be the dish we always order whenever we eat dim sum. Although there's no carrots in this recipe, I'm so used to calling it fried carrot cake.. Anyway while scouring the net for good food as usual, I chanced upon this blog called tastehongkong.com with amazingly good local dishes. That brought me on a quest to test out this Turnip cake with the addition of chinese sausage or Lap Chiong ;))) Mmh the taste of chinese sausage is just heavenly.. Bring it together with its fellow brother the " black liver sausage" and you have a harmony of flavors..

You can get the recipe from here.  I love how the cake turned out but I was a little lazy to fry them thus I just made do with the steam version. Obviously, I would recommend pan frying them cuz they will definitely taste better crispy..

You'll need the following:

• Ingredients
• 2kg turnip/ white radish ( Well, I bought 2 big oness about 2kg. But when I shredded them, they only turned out to be about 800g) Must have lost loads in the process of shredding them. Thus I half ed the subsequent amounts
• 300g rice flour (150g)
• 50g corn starch (25g)
• 2 pcs Chinese sausages (~100g) - I didn't half the ingredients..
• 6 pcs dried black mushroom
• 4 pcs dried scallop
• 30g dried shrimps
• 2 each shallots, finely sliced 

• Marinades
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp wine

• Seasonings
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp ground white pepper
• 1 tbsp oil

Well if you don't have a shredder machine like me, you just gotta do it the hard way. Works the arm muscles totally. The faster you shred the radish the easier it is.. so don't go so gentle on it. hahaaa

THERE! 

1) Turnips: Peel, rinse, shred  Rest all the turnip strips in a colander above a basin to drain and collect its juice. Draining the turnips is to prepare it for stir-frying as well as to reserve its juice for combining with the rice flour and corn starch.

dried scallops – rinse, soak in 1/2 cup of water for at least an hour, tear them into strips, reserve water

dried shrimps – rinse, soak in 1/2 cup of water for 10 minutes, discard water

Chinese sausages – rinse, coarsely chopped

dried mushrooms – rinse, soak in 1 cup of water for at least an hour or until soft, squeeze water in them and coarsely chopped, reserve water

Marinade the reconstituted, chopped mushrooms, scallops and shrimps for about 10 minutes.

3) Combine the corn starch and rice flour with 2 1/2 cups of water (inclusive of those collected from draining the turnip, soaking the mushrooms and scallops). Stir and mix well until smooth. Set aside.

4) Heat 3 table spoons of oil in wok over medium heat, sauté shallots till fragrant followed by chopped sausages, stir fry till they are also fragrant, then add in shrimps, mushrooms and scallops, keep stir frying. As all of them turn golden, about 3 minutes, toss in the turnip strips, add seasonings, and stir well. In about another 5 minutes, the strips will be softened and juice will exude from them.

5) Turn to low heat, slowly stir in flour mixture into the turnips (give the mixture a good stir before pouring in to avoid flour settling at the bottom). Turn and mix well until all incorporated well like a soft batter. Turn off heat.

6) Grease dish for steaming Transfer the turnip batter into the pan, flatten it into same height. Steam the turnip cake over high heat for 40 minutes. Check doneness by inserting a toothpick to see if it comes out clean.

 and we're good to go!! :)

       

Enjoy! xoxo