The Ordinary Chef AKA Mike Lok

This is wholesome classic Chinese food, definitely in my top 10 electric chair meals. I have a traditional clay pot that I always cook this dish in, I‟m sure any old casserole pan will do but for some reason this old friend seems to make the dish taste better. The pairing that makes this dish so fabulous are the meaty Chinese mushrooms (Shitake) and the dried beancurd. Both are unique and wonderful, the whole dish comes together in a melting pot of flavours that just knocks on the doors of those taste buds. Again, all these ingredients you can get from any Chinese supermarket. Simple stuff.

What

• Dried Chinese mushrooms, soaked and halved
• Dried tofu, soaked and halved
• Sliced onion
• Chicken pieces
• Whole garlic clove and piece of ginger
• Cinnamon stick
• Preserved tangerine peel
• Crushed Szechuan peppercorns
• Whole star anise
• Soy and oyster sauce
• Rice wine
• Sesame oil
• Chopped coriander
• Seasoning

How
Season and fry the chicken and onion until brown. Add all the spices, sauces, tangerine peel, garlic and ginger, stir for a bit, add the mushrooms and dried tofu, and top with water. Everything should be in underwater but only barely. Cook for an hour or so, at the end, add some chopped coriander and serve directly from the pot. Serve with steamed rice and Chinese greens.

Extract from my book: Download the whole book “The Boy Who Would Be Chef” for FREE!

How cool is this! One day, I’m gonna open a cafe, not a restaurant (crap hours) but a coffee bar or cafe, surfing around this evening and I found this www.thecoffeecar.co.uk and they produced this little Smart Car with a coffee machine in the back.

I’ve see the Vespa Car mobile coffee franchises before but not one in a Smart Car. Going to do this corporate things for a few more years, get where I want to be, pay of the mortgage, stash away some money, retire early, then I would love to open a small cafe or perhaps buy one of these, park it up somewhere nice and serve coffee, smoothes, drink, croissants, homemade snacks all day and chat to the locals. Not much to ask is it?

Made a great salad dressing this evening. Seville orange marmalade (orange would work too), whole grain mustard, crushed garlic, white wine vinegar, chopped red chilli, black pepper, Maldon sea salt and extra virgin olive oil.

Whisk vigorously to emulsify the mixture and pour over your selected leaves or vegetables. It’s from a idea I’ve been experimenting with for a few weeks, but I think this is the final version, you know what, it tastes divine!

Had Leeann’s birthday BBQ yesterday, I was so busy during the day that I didn’t photograph, Tweet or blog any of the food I made and I made a hell of a lot. Started preparing at 10am, guests arrived between 12pm and 4pm and stayed to around 8pm.

That’s a solid 10 hours of cooking and entertaining, luckily not all 25-30 people came at the same time but throughout the day which made things easier but it also meant I was on BBQ duty all afternoon, in 28c heat!

Wont go through the entire menu but the T-Bone steaks (pictured) was a massive hit, they’re quite expensive, about £10 a slab but sliced thinly, they go far and are extremely tastily as they contain two great cuts, sirloin and fillet separated by bone.

Made a light rub out of dried tarragon, smoked paprika, onion powder, garlic, black pepper and salt. Rub all over, leave for a few hours and grill on the BBQ, medium rare, leave to rest, slice and serve, leaving the T-bone for the chef and Lola of course!

Got 30 friends and family coming round tomorrow for a BBQ. The end to Leeann’s birthday week. Here’s the menu that I’m going to make, all with homemade marinades.

Grilled on the BBQ

• Steak with tarragon, paprika and garlic.
• Lamb cutlets with garlic, thyme and rosemary.
• Selection of butchers sausages.
• Homepage burgers.
• Large prawns with soy, ginger and spring onion.

Slow cooked in the smoker with oak

• Whole Peri Peri chicken.
• Cajun rack or ribs.

Sides

• Greek salad
• Coleslaw.
• Mixed bean and new potato salad.
• Blanched vegetables salad.

Dips

• Hummus, yoghurt, olives and sumac.
• Tomato salsa.
• Green pesto.
• Red onion relish.
• Selection of breads

Download my book “The Boy Who Would Be Chef” for FREE!

Been a long day for the MSN team, building, sourcing and creating this full coverage on the death of the legend that is Michael Jackson.

We never appreciate what we have until it’s gone…RIP

I have had the most amazing evening learning about coffee and skills of barista. Our executive producer Peter organised it for us and it was brilliant. This bloke from Illy came down and gave us a talk about coffee, the company (which is a truly passionate company), the beans, processing, farmer (incuding the pros and cons of Fairtrade) and of course the art of barista, which is surprisingly difficult. He spoke for over an hour just on the subject of coffee and how to produce a decent cup and every part was just incredibly interesting.

I have an espresso maker but I never mastered the use of the steamer but I now know all the mistakes that I have been making. Had an half an hour lesson on coffee making, beautiful cappuccinos, which are not supposed to be full of froth (American style) but smooth and velvety, almost like gloss paint, it was just pure magic to watch, a true art form and of course a pleasure to make and drink.

You know what, I just want to start making beautiful coffees for myself. Need to buy myself a stainless steel jug and some decent coffee, apart from that, I’m good to go, will let you know how it goes!

Got out my Brinkman smoker today, had it for a few year now. Missus bought it for my birthday a few years back. It’s a brilliant contraption, like an outdoor oven. Charcoal goes in the bottom, pan of water (or beer) just above to moisten and of course a rack for the meat. There is a little door to add wet wood chips to smoke the food during the cooking process.

As you can see, it does a great job roasting but adding the wood chips, well, it delivers a flavour and taste that you just can’t get in a conventional BBQ or oven. Imaging the air in that smoker. Moist, hot, steamy and smoky. The meat is bound to taste good, and you know what, it was. Kicking back drinking a glass of bubbly with Leeann.

Sometime I do feel a bit sorry for Lola, being the younger sister, she always end up getting Taer’s hand me downs. Bought Taer a new bike at the weekend, so naturally Lola got her old bike once I put the stabilisers back on. While Lola doesn't have a care in the world in regards to second hand stuff, I do feel I’m always treating Taer to new things and not Lola. It’s only gonna get worse in their teenage years when clothes and make-up get added to the mix.

Did a morning of shopping with Leeann, bought a whole load of clothes and had Sushi at Yo’s., thank God for credit cards. Lola has just gone to ballet and Taer is at netball, I’m chilling with a cold glass of mango juice and going to light my smoker in a minute and cook a whole chicken for dinner.