The Chinese Elvis: Recipes

Steamed Salmon and Broccoli

Sat, 10 Nov 2007 17:50:13 GMT

Lola hasn't been eating very well all week. So, I knocked up a Chinese that I know she always likes. Steamed salmon, stir fry broccoli with steamed rice. It's the most simple of dishes:

Make some boiled rice
Steam the salmon fillet. Tip: you can place the salmon in a small plate in a bamboo steamer while cooking the rice.
Stir fry some slice broccoli with, olive oil, black pepper, ginger and garlic. Add a soy and a little water to make a light sauce.
Take the broccoli off the heat, flake in the salmon and add a few drops of sesame oil.
Serve the boiled rice in a bowl and spoon over the salmon, broccoli and sauce.

Lola and Taer killed off 2 massive bowls in less than 5 minutes. Waiting for X-Factor to start...

Chinese Hot Pot

Sun, 28 Oct 2007 15:16:14 GMT

This is a classic Chinese dish, very rustic and homely, ideal as a family meal. Quite a lot of ingredients but it's well worth it.

Free Range Chicken
Dried Bean Curd
Dried Chinese Mushrooms
Onion
Garlic
Ginger
Five Spice
Star Anise
Cinnamon Stick
Dried preserved orange peal
Soy Sauce, Sesame Oil, Oyster Sauce, Rice Wine
Salt and White Pepper
Coriander and Spring Onion (green part)

* You can get all these ingredients in China Town or Wing Yip

Cut up the chicken any way you like, I recommend a combination of boned and de-bonded chicken for extra flavor. Slice up one whole onion, garlic and ginger. Meanwhile soak the dried bean curd and dried mushrooms in warm water, once its soft slice into small bite sized pieces.

Saute the onion and chicken, season with the salt, pepper and fry until is browned off (don't over crowed the pan). Add the cinnamon stick, star anise, garlic, ginger, five spice and continue frying for another minute. Add all the sauces, oil, wine and the dried ingredience including the orange peel, turn it over and then add enough water to cover. Bring to a boil and simmer for 45 minutes.

When you are just about to serve, stir in some chopped spring onion and coriander. Serve with garlic greens, boiled rice, wine and some company...

Life's better with a plate of ribs

Sat, 20 Oct 2007 18:53:12 GMT

You know what, there is nothing in life that can't be solved with a good meal.

Good food, natural and cooked well can ease away the pains of life and this week has been particularly painful...

Roasted ribs with star anise, honey and soy
Cavolo Nero with smoked garlic and extra virgin olive oil
Boiled rice

Ribs: make a marinade with soy, ginger, garlic, sesame oil, honey white pepper, salt, fresh red chili, five spice and whole star anise. Bake for 40 minutes, plate up and top with chopped parsley. De-glaze the pan and pour on the sauce.

Cavolo Nero: this is an Italian black cabbage, they sell it in Waitrose, very robust and tasty, goes a long way too. Slice up into 2 inch pieces, heat up some olive oil, add 2 cloves of sliced smoked garlic (or normal if you can't get smoked - buy here) add the cabbage and season with salt and black pepper. Stir fry of 1 minute, add a small bit of water and cover with a lid and cook for a further 3/4 minutes. Plate up and drizzle with extra virgin olive oil. Dish up and served with plain boiled rice.

The kids tucked in and polished of the whole plate in less that 20 minutes, don't worry to much about the chili, de-seeded it will only add flavour..

Life really does taste better...

£50 down the garden centre

Sat, 06 Oct 2007 16:41:49 GMT

The local garden centre is preparing to close (with the exception of Xmas trees in December) for the winter, so we went down and got a whole load of bargains, 15 plants, massive ones for £50 squid. Planted half of them today and the rest tomorrow as we had to get back to the flat to cook the kids dinner but I will blog some photos tomorrow.

Talking about dinner, manage to get some organic chicken wings from Waitrose today, I love them, best part of the chicken in my opinion, you have great meat on the bone and loads of crispy skin.

Organic chicken wings (with chicken, don't eat anything less than free range)
Mix together: Soy, black pepper, sea salt, paprika, olive oil, honey and chopped parsley
Cover the chicken in the marinade and cook in a oven on a high heat, 225.

Serve with boiled rice and stir fry broccoli with garlic and ginger.

Tuck in!!!!!!

UPDATE: Check out my garden, this time next year, it's going to look great!

The £3 Challenge

Tue, 04 Sep 2007 21:58:02 GMT

I was thinking about my earlier blog on the train which I penned after reading the Metro about food and school dinners, anyway, I said I can probably cook a meal for 4 (me, missus, Lola and Taer) at a push or £3. Been thinking about that all night. Obviously you would need to buy pantry staples up front but from the top of my head here are 3 recipes, which I’m going to think of as I type that should be around the £3 mark.

Cottage Pie

Ingredients: Beef mince, frozen mixed vegetables, onion, garlic, fresh garden herbs (or dried), potatoes, tomato sauce, splash of Worchester sauce and stock. Recipe: Fry onions, add mince and brown, add herbs, garlic, Worchester, squeeze of tomato sauce, season add stock and cook down. Add mix veg for the last 5 minutes, should be a light sauce. Add to a deep oven proof dish. Boil the potatoes, mash and cover the meat mixture, bake for 20 minutes until golden. Spoon into plates with the liquor from the pie.

Pancetta with Spaghetti

Go to a deli and buy a cut strip of smoked pancetta about an inch thick, this should cost (in a non poncy deli) about £2.50. Ingredients: Pancetta, handful of baby tomatoes, black olives, dried oregano, garlic, splash of balsamic vinegar and spaghetti. Recipe: Cut the pancetta into thick slices across the width, pan fry until they start to brown, add sliced black olives, sliced garlic and squeeze the baby tomatoes so they break over the pan, add oregano and pepper, cook or another few minutes and add a drop of balsamic. Meanwhile cook the spaghetti, drain and add to the sauce. If you can stretch to parmesan and fresh basil all the better, serve.

Chicken with Spring Onion and Ginger.

You can get a whole chicken these days or £2.99, I wouldn’t recommend it but you can, I prefer to buy a pack of free range chicken for £4 (Sainsburys) and that will be 2 meals. Ingredients: Best chicken, spring onion, ginger , soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic, broccoli and rice. Recipe: Cook the rice (boil in a pan), you can either grill the chicken (please season) or I prefer poaching whole pieces of chicken or half of one in water with a few pieces of ginger, then slice into bite size chucks, on the bone. Meanwhile finely chop ginger and spring onion, place into a bowl, add soy and sesame oil, then heat some vegetable oil until it’s smoking hot and pour over the mixture, this should sizzle and make a fantastic sauce. Slice the broccoli and garlic, stir fry together and add a small bit of the chicken poaching liquor, soy and sesame oil. Serve the chicken on a large plate, pour over sauce, serve vegetables in anther dish with bowls of rice, all tuck in.

Really simple dish

Mon, 27 Aug 2007 19:19:15 GMT

Made a chicken, vegetables and rice dish tonight, with a Spanish twist.

Onion and garlic.
Free range chicken, jointed.
Fresh tomatos and tomato puree
Mint, thyme, bay and rosemary
Seasoning
Dash of balsamic vinegar
Paprika and saffron
Organic vegetable stock
White wine
Black olives
Alborio rice
Green beans and spring onion

Start with good quality olive oil, sweat off the onions, add the jointed chicken, season, once the chicken starting to brown, add all the herbs and garlic. Few minutes later add the fresh tomatos by squeezing them over the pan, do the same with the olives, add the safferon and paprika, then add a glass of white wine and the rice. When the rice has soaked up some of the pan juices, start adding stock and a squeeze of tomato puree, season again, then keep adding stock as needed to keep the dish moist and the rice cooking, making sure it don't burn. About 20 minutes later (check to taste, rice should be done, firm but not crunchy, add the green beans, cook through then add the spring onion for the last minute. The dish should be moist, not dry but not too wet either.

Eat with buttered bread and a glass of chilled white wine...

Steak and garden herbs

Fri, 22 Jun 2007 18:50:35 GMT

One of my favourite dishes.

Get some good quality steak, I prefer rump or ribeye, use your fist and bash them into escalops (thin and wide), make a maranade with finely chopped garden herbs, use rosemary, thyme, sage and oregano (this can be dried). Mix with salt, pepper, garlic, olive oil, lemon juice and a dash of soy. Massage the liquid into the meat and leave for 30 minutes

Cook on a blistering hot bbq or griddle, must be rare or medium, never well done.

Server with cucumber, tomato, rocket and red onion salad and any starch you like, cus cus, rice, boiled new potatos or pasta.

Glass of crisp white wine, bobs your uncle...

Steamed Lock Trout

Sat, 24 Mar 2007 19:55:53 GMT

Simple recipe for steamed fish.

Get a fillet of Salmon or Trout in a deep dish, top with chopped garlic, red chilli, black bean, soy, sesame oil and season.

Steam for 8 to 10 minutes depending on thickness of the fish. Serve with steamed rice, stir fried greens with ginger and a glass of white wine.

Enjoy!