Coq-au-vin, an English breakfast, and Houston TX

Coq-au-vin and English breakfast really have nothing to do with Houston TX, except that I'm blogging from the eat-out capital of the United States, and there's lots to tell. Firstly, there was SZ's birthday party, for which I made coq-au-vin, a traditional French casserole that is also a very popular party dish in England (with an entire 750ml bottle of red Burgundy in it, why not?). This recipe is again taken from Molly Steven's book, All About Braising, so if you haven't got it, why not? We ate it with some tagliatelli, which broad surface area soaked up all the juices of the red wine gravy beautifully.

Coq-au-vin

After that, it was just a mad rush of finishing work, spending time with The Parents who were in town, last minute christmas shopping, packing for Houston TX (there you go, the link at last!), and braving the freezing cold. Hats, gloves, scarves, sweaters sweaters sweaters, Uggs - all come out of the closet at last. I slept the entire flight.

Houston, Texas

The first thing I said was, it's cold here too. =( But it's gotten progressively warmer - yesterday was positively balmy. A nice break before re-entering the bracing iciness of the Mid-West next week, when we drive down to Kansas City to spend christmas with The Boy's family. The Parents are happy to be back in semi-warmth.

It's rather surreal to be in a new city that is going to be home yet is so strange, a new flat that is going to be home yet is not yet. But it's lovely to be with The Boy, and to spend time with The Parents together. I hit the road for the first time yesterday, a small Asian girl in a big big SUV driving on the "wrong" side of the road - please pray... for other drivers! So far, we've hit Central Market, The Galleria, and... er, Target. I made the Duck Ragu again on Monday evening, and it was as lovely the second time as it was the first. The best thing about oven braises (casseroles), besides the eating, must be the warm homey smells that fill the house. Mum and I have efficiently organised the entire flat and kitchen, after The Boy had admirably unpacked and tidied the entire flat entirely on his own, so I think I can legitimately call it a home home now. As you can see from the picture below, I brought my Le Creuset 5 quart oval casserole - it was quite amusing at check-in in Gatwick, I can tell you!

I have a cast iron casserole,
but no can opener!

The oven is HUGE!

English breakfast

Jetlagged, I wake up at 5am every morning, get out of bed at 6am, make coffee, read Proverbs and pray, and when The Boy wakes up, I rustle up an English breakfast for him, later The Parents when they wake up. It's been simply lovely to reclaim the mornings. Sunday we arrived and had dinner at Lupe Tortilla (The Boy's favourite Mexican), Monday we rested and had duck ragu, Tuesday I got the wheels, went shopping, and we ate at Pei Wei Asian Diner (think sweet American Chinese food) and Uptown Sushi (excellent sushi, glamorous settings but with incongruous cheapo metal chairs, scatty service), Wednesday (today) I think we're going to run errands. Tomorrow, I may take some friends' suggestions and do some touristy stuff. A little underwhelmed by Houston at the moment, and missing London. But home is where The Boy is now, and I am exceedingly glad for that.

Eats: Duck Ragu

OK. I had been dreaming about duck ragu for three days, after I came across it in Molly Steven's excellent book, which is All About Braising. There's something magical on a cold winter's day to think of a meaty stew very slowly transforming at a low temperature in the oven, the continuous convection of air and space drawing out every nuance of flavour from the meat and its aromatics. All the prettier with a bright red dutch oven to brighten a dreary day. There was duck, and onions and celery and carrots (I used thanksgiving sweet potatoes) and garlic, rosemary and allspice and bay leaves, tomatoes and chicken stock. Then there was the richness of duck skin crackling sizzling away in its own fat in the cast iron pan. The whole house smelled of the sweetness of duck ragu, and it was everything I had dreamed it would be.

Thank you, Molly, for some wonderful experiences shared. I would highly recommend her book. This would be the third braise I've done or adapted from it, the other two being beef rendang and lobak. No, fourth, including osso bucco.

Recipe: Perkedel (Indonesian potato fish cake)

No matter how hard I try, I can never get my perkedels to taste (or look) remotely like the ones made by The Makan Shop (Race Course Road, Singapore) - my favourite. "Makan" means "eat" in the Malay language. But these are pretty good still. One of my comfort foods.

RECIPE: PERKEDEL

6 potatoes, peeled and cubed
8 shallots, chopped finely
300g cod, skin removed
1 tbsp curry powder
2 eggs
flour

1. Boil potatoes until soft (approx. 20 mins). Mash.
2. Fry shallots lightly in 1 tbsp of oil for approx. 2 mins.
3. Blitz cod in the food processor.
4. Combine all ingredients in a bowl.
5. Mix in curry powder.
6. Add 1 egg to bind ingredients together.
7. Beat remaning egg. Heat a cast iron pan with a bit of oil till very hot. You can add more oil as you go along. Shape the potato fish mixture into a ball - either with hands or two spoons, dip into egg and then flour, and fry on both sides till brown spots appear and crispy (approx. 10 mins).

Other ingredients commonly added: coriander, parsley, celery (finely chopped), garlic, parsley, cumin, nutmeg. It depends on your taste. I like curry powder and coriander.

Tomorrow night, I'm going to try to prepare the remainder mixture into more perkedel balls for freezing, like fish fingers. Will report.

UPDATE
I added a huge bunch of freshly chopped coriander (leafy bit) and few pinches of salt, which dramatically improved the simple taste. Have put rest in freezer. Will report.

Beth Nielsen Chapman

BNC was performing at the Barbican tonight, and I told myself I couldn't let this chance to watch her live go by! I've been a fan of her music for the longest - I'm listening to her Sand and Water album even as I type this post. It's my fav, the album she wrote after her husband succumbed to cancer. She's (and others like her) filed under 'Girls with guitars' in my iTunes, but most sensible people would call her a singer songwriter - softer, without a Joni-Mitchellian grit, very sensitive, a poet on musical crochets. The biggest surprise tonight was that she had the London ____ Choir singing with her for two tracks! People were asking for "Emily" and "Happy Girl" for the encore - I wished I had had the courage to shout out "Fair Enough", which was the song that drew me to her at my lowest point. BNC helped me through some very dark times, and I'll never forget it.

Her new album "Prism" is out. There a particular track "Prayers of An Atheist" that has a very moving story behind it.

Eats: Pork pies and more London images

* Warning: Children might be disturbed by some images in this post. Parental guidance required. *


This is the famous Melton Mowbray pork pie. Melton Mowbray is a protected pork pie region in Leicestershire - only pork pies from that region can carry the "Melton Mowbray" name, like champange... ok, the analogy stops here. Hm, but "cheddar" isn't necessarily produced in Cheddar Gorge... I dunno.

Anyways, pork pies are like sausages encased in pastry. Not my favourite, but I was hungry in Borough Market, where I picked up duck's legs, a thick juicy sirloin, some cod, lotsa green leafy vegs, and a few bottles of olive oil as christmas presents.

Some more images from my foray to the market this morning:

Headless Santa in Borough Market

Blue men climbing a building.
You can't really see from the picture, but they are naked
and carrying musical instruments.
The top man is facing out,
and has a politely placed drum at the right spot.

Richard Goode and the London Philharmonic Orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall

Richard Goode is The Boy's favourite interpreter of Beethoven's piano concertos. Tonight, I heard him live for the first time, at the Royal Festival Hall, playing Beethoven's 3rd piano concerto accompanied by the London Philharmonic. It was a simply moving - I felt tearful at a few points. I think it's wonderful when something so intangible and transient can stir the heart so. It reminds me of life on this side of heaven, for which there is much to give thanks for.

The second act was one of Mahler's very long symphonies (aren't they all?), and I was grateful for the interlude of stop silent and reflect at the end of a long day.

And guess what? I saw Mitsuki Uchida in the audience!

My two companions - JC classmates, can you believe it?! - were marvellous company too, drinks concert dinner and all. I wanted to write a bit about meeting one's past in the present. We were very different people from each other then. They were the artistic glamour-zons of the class, and I was, well, just me. As it turns out, half the boys in my class came out gay, and I don't say this superfluously. Outside the Christian circle, I think some of the people who have made me feel most accepted are my gay friends - unlike some non-gay friends I know ("I don't know how you can think/say that!") *ahem*. They are also some of the most charming, polite, yet straight-talking, people I know. But this was now - all I knew before this evening was what was before. So I was surprised how much I enjoyed myself, and how much I laughed. I also realised, gosh, it's been almost 10 years, and gosh, I've spent my entire twenties in England, and gosh, I'm getting married and moving to a whole different continent. Again. I wondered what kind of person I would have been if I had not come to England, not left Singapore. Then I realised that I, too, had changed. I hope for the better. And for a little moment in time, this thought made me look forward to the next chapter in America.

I had a good time.

Different look, but still me!

As you can see, the blog is now brighter and cheerier. I've had problems with font and all, but am going to try to keep it simple from now onwards. Try, at least. No more distracting self from work by tinkering with html. I'm not sure about how night-time photos fit into this new template, but... yes, I said no more tinkering. *grin*

Recipe: Thanksgiving leftover turkey pie

I was testing out the overlay function in Photoshop
- see! I do try a little for my blog.

Continuing my series on Thanksgiving leftovers, presenting:

THANKSGIVING LEFTOVER TURKEY PIE

Note: Turkey or chicken pie is actually very easy. The secret to good chicken pie lies, I believe, in good chopping. All ingredients should be chopped uniformly into small cubes approx. 1cm by 1cm.

Filling

A - Aromatics
2 tbsp butter
1 onion, chopped finely
2 celery stalks, washed and cut into small cubes (alternatively, use peas)
2 carrots, peeled and cut into small cubes (I used 2 leftover sweet potatoes here)
2 potatoes, peeled and cut into small cubes

B - Filling
600g leftover turkey, cut into small cubes
Milk (I used leftover single cream + water from sweet potato tartlets)

C - Thickening
Cornflour or plain flour

A Melt butter in a casserole or big pot. Saute onions till soft (approx. 5 mins). Add celery, carrots and potatoes and saute for a further 5 mins.

B Add turkey and mix well. Then add enough milk to cover the mixture. Bring to boil and simmer for 20 mins. Season with a lot of black pepper and salt to taste.

Pre-heat oven, 180 degrees celcius. Make pastry at this stage.

C Using a few drops of water, make a paste with the flour. Stir into mixture to thicken.

Pastry

Incidentally, this is a basic short crust pastry. Delia Smith, although unwieldy to use, has a very good exposition on pastry here, which I have poured over in my sleepless nights. Delia recommends metal pie dishes and I'm on the lookout for a new metal pie dish, as well as individual pie moulds, at the moment!

Make double the pastry recipe here. Roll out 2/3 of pastry into a round 2 inches larger in circumference than pie dish. Line pie dish as described previously to prevent air being trapped underneath. You should have 1 inch hanging over from the edge of the dish.

Scrape in turkey filling, taking care to make a little mound in the middle.

Roll out remainder pastry into a round 1 inch larger in circumference than pie dish. Using your rolling pin, lift and cover the pie. Press the edges firmly together and knock them about to form a rim. Using a fork, flute the circumference of the pie. Cut a small steam hole in the middle of the pastry. Brush with 1 beaten egg and bake for 30-40 mins.

Recipe: Thanksgiving sweet potato tartlets (savoury)

We had thanksgiving dinner at Challie's on Saturday. There was A LOT of food. Notice those yellow plastic cups in the picture? Or the pumpkin print napkins? They sure travelled a loooong way to be in London that night. You can't disposable cups THAT size at your local Sainsbury, that's for sure. Come to think of it, almost everything had been lovingly "shipped" (via various people's suitcases) to London for this very occasion.


Anyone who has ever roasted a turkey will certainly kowtow and appreciate the effort Challie put in, she who roasted not one but TWO turkeys.


Introducing... our chef for the night. See her blog for other exploits with dumplings and washing machines.

These were my contribution: Thanksgiving sweet potato tartlets (and cornbread muffins in the background). The idea originally started with Elise's creamy sweet potato soup, and gradually evolved into sweet potato custard and then... the rest is history. These tartlets are slightly different from your traditional sweet potato casserole with marshmellow topping. For one, they are savoury and meant as an appetizer, not dessert. And it was yummy - this is one experiment that's going to be repeated!


RECIPE: THANKSGIVING SWEET POTATO TARTLETS

Filling
A - Aromatics
2 tbsp butter
2 medium onions, chopped (makes approx. 1 cup)
2 celery stalks, washed and cut to 1 inch lengths
1 leek, washed and cut to 1 inch lengths
(The way to wash leeks is to make an incision lengthwise from the white part of the stalk towards the green leafy end, fan out the leaves and run under a cold tap to get rid of any dirt and soil trapped in between.)
1 garlic clove, chopped

B - Soup base
8 sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed (makes approx. 5 cups)
4 cups vegetable stock

C - Seasoning
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
2 tbsp maple syrup

D - Custard
1/2 cup butter
1 cup light cream
1 cup milk
6 eggs, beaten
1/4 tsp baking powder


A - Melt the butter is a cassrole or soup pot. Saute onions for 5 mins till soft. Add celery and leek and saute for a further 5 mins. Then add garlic clove and saute for a further 5 mins still.

B - Add sweet potatoes and vegetable stock, and bring to a boil. Simmer uncovered for 20 mins, until the potatoes are tender. [Make pastry at this point, while the soup is cooking.] Blend using the food processor and return to the pot.

C - Stir in cinnamon, nutmeg, and maple syrup. Salt and pepper to taste.

Pre-heat oven, 180 degrees celcius.

D - Add cream and milk. Take care that the mixture does not boil. Lower fire to the smallest flame possible. Slowly add eggs, stirring continuously until the mixture pulls away from the sides of the pot slightly (approx. 10 mins). The idea is to make sure that the eggs don't scramble in the soup mixture, which will happen if the heat is too high. Turn off fire and pour the soup custard mixture into the prepared tartlet cases. Slide in oven and bake for 45-60 mins.


Pastry
4 oz. plain white flour, sifted
1 pinch of salt
1 oz. margarine
1 oz. lard (I used goose fat)
3 tbsp water

Rolling pin (I love my red sil-pin for this)
Round cookie cutter with serrated edge
Tartlet mould

Sift flour and salt into a large mixing bowl. Cut margarine cubes into the flour and, using your fingers, work the margarine into the flour until you get a crumbly mixture. Make sure your fingers are cold and that the room itself is cool. Wash hands. Add lard and, using a palette knife, work the fat into the crumbly mixture. Add water a little at a time, and use the palette knife to work into a dough, taking care to incorporate all the floury bits. Work into a ball of dough. Do not knead. Wrap in saran wrap and rest in fridge for 30 mins.

On a floured surface, press pastry ball down flat and roll out using a rolling pin. Using a round cookie cutter with a serrated edge, cut out rounds - they should be 1 inch bigger in circumference than each tartlet mould. Lift one round using your rolling pin and place over one mould, pressing the sides in so that they lay flat in the mould. Make sure there is no air trapped underneath. Prick the base with a fork. These steps should avoid the need for blind-baking (i.e. baking the pastry first without the filling). Repeat for the other moulds.

Making tartlet pastry and trying to ease them into the tartlet moulds is VERY fiddly. So for my leftovers, I decided to make one big tart instead:


THANKSGIVING LEFTOVER SWEET POTATO TART

I had some leftover custard, and as part of my thanksgiving leftovers drive, made this big tart using the same method. You can see where I ran out of dough. Anyway, the cool discovery was that bacon makes this tart taste even better! I had fried some pancetta cubes till crispy and sprinkled them on the pastry base before adding the custard. The deep saltiness of the bacon contrasts beautifully with the sweetness of the potato custard and maple syrup. I've just had a slice for lunch while typing this - YUMS!

Recipe: Chips

These are chips, fried in goose fat, seasoned with nothing but rosemary. The oil must be very very hot, to get it crispy on the outside but fluffy on the inside.

In the background is the some cow, to make up the eponymous steak frites.

A few reasons why I love London (despite the infrastructure)

This afternoon, I popped out to grab some grub. I wandered into


and into


to pick up a small


and also into


for a very small treat in the form of a


- both representing the best of London, IMHO.

But the best part of my afternoon lunch break was sitting in the piazza, bundled in my warm winter coat, with my pasty and cookie, and a grande skinny caramel macchiato from Starbucks, watching


, who can also be found here, do amazing things with a tall stack of bricks, and making a small boy and a big girl in her white winter coat and a huge crowd gathered around him


very happy indeed.

Review: Rules

(my excuse for picture quality: taken with mobile)

Rules is London's oldest restaurant. You know that cos it's got a picture of Churchill (Winston) hanging over the door, by the rolling flames of the grand fireplace. It serves primarily game too. Interestingly, the warning on the menu says: Food might contain lead shot. I had been warned. I gamely (sorry) went for the hare with creamed brussel sprouts and chestnuts. Hare was a bit tough, but my lunch partner seemed to enjoy his pheasant very much. Altogether a very pleasant casual occasion restaurant. Attentive service and linen napkins and all. But I think, at the end of the day, the best thing I can say about it now is: I've eaten there!

Said hare

Shoeboxes I wrapped for Samaritan Purse's
annual shoebox christmas collection

My lovely orchids are blooming again.
The heat in my office is fantastic, like a greenhouse!

Recipe: Lamb couscous with greek yoghurt

(Am secretly ashamed of state of photography
and will try harder with poor ignored SLR and Photoshop.
But hey, after you've had a whole day's work in the office,
then grocery shopping, then cooked dinner for two.
I know I know, all women are superwomen (to misquote Mr Bingley),
but still...)

My pots had arrived, one two three, mini maxi me. And I was dying to use them. But a sauteuse (maxi) like this requires a dish to live up to it, not to mention all that space! So when SZ texted me: LL's not doing well - buy her dinner, I thought: I love LL - I'm gonna cook her dinner! Then there was The Boy's couscous (and other foods) that I had inherited. And all that wine. So much to eat up, so many possibilities with the sauteuse.

The Boy had made a wicked chicken couscous for me before he'd left - the talented chef he is. Couscous, we concluded, was one of those wonderful things that taste great and is actually good for you. Being a red meat kinda girl, I thought I'd try to re-create his recipe (really adapted from Rachael Ray) with lamb. I was ready to test out that sauteuse of mine!

RECIPE: LAMB COUSCOUS WITH GREEK YOGHURT
Feeds 5,000 (not really, but you get the idea)

A - Meat
500g leg of lamb , cut into chunks

1 tbsp grill seasoning
2 tsp tumeric powder
2 tsp cumin
1 1/2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp cinnamon powder
1/4 tsp ground cloves

B - Base ingredients
3 tbsp olive oil
2 medium onions, chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped

C - Couscous
4 cups chicken stock
2 cups couscous

D - Garnishing
Dried fruit and nut mix (I like cashews or almonds and sultanas)

E - Greek yoghurt
1 tub (450ml) greek yoghurt
Bunch of mint leaves, chopped finely
3-4 scallions, chopped finely

*****
A - Season meat and leave aside.
B - Heat olive oil in sauteuse (or a big pan with sides). Sear seasoned meat (approx. 5-7 minutes). Push aside and fry onions and garlic till softened (approx. 5 minutes). Mix meat and base ingredients.
C - Add 2 cups of chicken stock. Cooked, covered, until lamb is cooked (approx. 7-8 minutes). Add remaining 2 cups of chicken stock and bring to a boil. Mix in couscous, turn off fire, and let it stand for 5 minutes, covered.
D - Uncover, fluff out couscous. Then add dried fruit and nut mix.
E - Mix garnishing into yoghurt. Serve in a side dish with lamb couscous.

I thought I didn't have much couscous, so I added potatoes as well. But, as it turns out, what appears to be a SMALL handful of couscous really fluffs out to a BIG pan of couscous. I have enough to last me the rest of the week, I think. LL took some home in a doggy tupperware too, plus two of The Boy's bottles of red. Happy happy.

Wedding: The Engagement

I'm starting a new series of posts to chart the run up to our wedding next year. It's only been 3 weeks, but there's been a lot to think about already. I am now of the firm belief that any bride who's gone through the wedding planning process can be a wedding consultant, and it's early days for me yet! But I thought I'd also share some of my personal thoughts too, particularly not just on wedding prep, but also marriage prep.

It takes time for things to sink in. The boy has probably had weeks to pray, think and plan the proposal.

The Daily Mail always carries sensational stories like this aimed at provoking a response, which they rightly do in the sense that there is no smoke without fire. But one must nonetheless question why these terrible incidents largely never see the inside of a courthouse?

I'm still wary about NHS hospitals though.

Engagement announcement

Oh, and I forgot to say, The Boy asked me to marry him, and I said yes! We got engaged three weeks ago. =)

Engagement cupcakes from a friend

Cute dimsum at Shanghai Blues

The Boy with some deft chopstick kungfu moves

With Mr G. Sauer

New pots

I succumbed to the urge to shop again. Showing off... my new pots! I also bought a milk pan (for those evening mugs of Horlicks that have become part of my daily life), and Harts of Stur (amazing bargains!) threw in a free saute pan to top everything off! Go check out their deals. Their Le Creuset range is still cheaper than anywhere I've looked.

How am I going to lug everything to Houston next year?!

Eats: Pancakes all over the world

I have to confess: I'm not a big fan of pancakes in the morning, even Sunday mornings. But that does not mean I don't like dough in the morning. Crumpets, I love. Them cripsy crunchy "pancakes", slightly salted, with their pie-eyed holes and lopped with butter oozing out of their pores.

I found this interesting article about muffins, crumpets and pikelets and their different names across Britain (and across the Atlantic). English muffins are American pancakes (but with yeast). American muffins are English buns/smallcakes. "Dinner" in London is "tea" in the North etc. It's all very confusing.

Did I say? I love crumpets.

Wikipedia

Anyways, thought I'd put the name of a fantastic pancake mix I got. My batter never turns out with pleasing air holes blinking at me, so it's much easier using a mix. Maple syrup, my aunt in Canada brings me. Happening!

Clearly, the Boy's home.

Recipe: Sweet Watercress Drink (Sai Yong Choi Shui)

I have a Cantonese mother so, as my dad puts it, I will be drinking soup until the day I die. Which is not as bad as it sounds, cos I happen to like soup. The Chinese do not distinguish between food and medicine. For them, food is part of the healing and rejuvenating process. Many of the so-called "health foods" that I ate as a child have only recently become popularised in Western culture, like goji berries (medlar seeds or kei zi). And I think that's great!

A drink that my mother often prepared for my brother and I when we were children (actually, she still does even now that we are slightly older) was sai yong choi shui, which roughly translated, means Watercress Drink. It has a honeyed taste, and is completely au naturale. I'm going to ask my mother what exactly the health benefits are and update this post - I know it's good for coughs - but as any good chinese mother will say, "Just drink it, it's good for you."!

Hence I decided that it would be as good an excuse of a welcome home present for The Boy.

For further reference, I have included links (with pictures) to some of the more "exotic" ingredients.

RECIPE: SAI YONG CHOI SHUI (SWEET WATERCRESS DRINK)
1kg watercress (sai yong choi) - both leaves and stems
1x luo han guo, cut in two
10x chinese honey dates (mud jo) - I substituted this with dried red dates
handful of sweet apricot kernels (mung hung) - optional

1. Bring 2 litres of water to boil.
2. Add ingredients, washed, and boil on high for 15 minutes.
3. Lower heat and simmer for 2 hours.
4. Cool to room temperature, or cool in the fridge.

Yields 5 bowls.

Simple dinners

Something smells fishy!

Pan-fried cod, with dill and capers,
accompanied by a small rocket & tomato salad

Tesco's fish cakes (cod and haddock),
accompanied by a small rocket salad

Recipe: Salmon bagel

This is my variation of Tamasin Day-Lewis' British Classics. Did you know salmon bagels are Jewish? Also that you should look for visible white fatty lines in smoked wild salmon but not smoked farmed salmon. Just a few tips from Tamasin.

RECIPE: SALMON BAGEL

Just stack them in the following order:
Bagel, toasted.
Cream cheese, with chopped dill or chives and a squeeze of lemon juice
Capers
Smoked salmon
Onion rings, thinly sliced
Tomato, thinly sliced (the Tamasin touch)
Black pepper

A delicious quickie meal! Good for those late nights in the office, or a light snack.

My spiritual home

My second home

From the heights

London horizon

More rose pictures

Roses are so fragrant too, like our prayers to God.

My roses, the next morning

Classic rose

Unusual rose