Spaghetti Aglio e Olio with Seared Scallops

(serves 2)
Spaghetti Aglio e Olio is practically the most basic of the Italian pasta dishes, a pasta made from a few simple ingredients, something that anyone can cook to perfection. This version of Spaghetti Aglio e Olio is made a little less unremarkable with the addition of some seared scallops. Scallops are an ideal enhancement as they are have a mild and delicate taste which will not diminish the core taste of garlic and olive oil. 

Ingredients

1. Scallops (Frozen, 250g)
2. Spaghetti (200g)
3. Garlic (2 bulbs)
4. Parmigiano Reggiano (grated, 2T)
5. Pesto
6. Dried Chili Flakes
7. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
8. Light Olive Oil
9. Salt

Preparation

1. Defrost your scallops. Large Yesso Scallops would be preferred.
2. Peel the two bulbs of garlic. Slice the cloves into very thin slices as shown. You should end up with a small mountain (as shown). Don’t worry, it’s looks like its a lot, but it isn’t.
3. Brine the scallops in a solution of 1T salt, 1t sugar and one and a half cups of water for 15 minutes. After draining, leave the scallops in a colander to dry (as shown). Finish off the drying by wrapping the scallops in a few sheets of kitchen towel.
4. Grate some parmigiano reggiano until you end up with 2T of grated cheese.
5. Place the garlic in a pan. Add 6T of light olive oil and turn the heat to low. Stir occasionally until the garlic turns a light brown.
6. In the meanwhile bring a pot of water to boil. Add a splash of oil and a pinch of salt followed by the pasta. Boil until al dente and drain (but keep some of the water).
7. Using a strainer, remove the garlic but leave the oil in the pan.
8. Turn the heat up and place the scallops in the pan. Cook for about 3 minutes on the first side and 2 minutes on the other. Confirm that they are seared before flipping, the actual time will depend on the size of your scallops.
9. With the fire still going, push the scallops to one side of the pan and add 4T of extra virgin olive oil and 4T of the pasta water, followed by 1t of pesto, 1t of chilli flakes, 1t of salt and 2T of grated parmigiano reggiano. Stir and mix well to create the olio sauce.
10. Turn off the heat. Add the garlic and then the pasta to the pan. Toss until everything is nicely mixed.
11. Check if you need to add more salt, and then plate.

Notes

• In case you were wondering, Aglio means garlic, Olio means oil.
• Plain Spaghetti Aglio e Olio is exactly the same recipe but without the scallops. It’s a really fast and convenient dish to cook, you won’t even need to take the garlic out of the pan.
• If you are an experienced cook you can pan fry the garlic and scallops at the same time (as shown). Give the garlic a head start of about 2 minutes before adding the scallops. The garlic will not be as crispy this way (which I like) but it saves time and effort.
• Don’t use extra virgin olive oil for frying the garlic as it will carbonize under the extended heating. If you don’t have light olive oil, you can use any kind of frying oil, such as canola oil.
• Don’t brine the scallops for more than 15 minutes as they absorb salt really fast as compared to meat. Don’t skip the brining either, even if you are not using ‘wet’ scallops.
• The chili flakes are optional, but I really recommend you use them as depth is needed in this simple pasta sauce. You can double the amount to 2t if you are not averse to spicy foods.

 

Chicken Kiev

(serves 6)
Chicken Kiev is the king of chicken breast dishes, the perfect fool proof way of preventing a chicken breast from getting dry. The breast meat is kept moist and juicy because it is stuffed with butter. And when the breast is cut open, the butter serves as a sauce for the dish. No one knows for sure where Chicken Kiev comes from except that it’s not from Kiev. The Russian restaurants seemed to have claimed ownership of this dish while others insist that it was originally a French dish called Cotelettes de Volaille. No matter, it tastes just as good.

Ingredients

1. Big Chicken Breasts (6 halves)
2. Butter (140g)
3. Shallots (4)
4. Bread (4 slices)
5. Garlic (3t minced)
6. Flour
7. Eggs (2)
8. Basil
9. Mint Leaves
10. Salt
11. Brown Sugar
12. Toothpicks

Preparation

1. Begin by brining your chicken breasts overnight, for about 10 hours, in a solution of 3T Salt, 1T Brown Sugar and 4 cups of water. For details you can refer to this post.
2. Place 4 slices of bread exposed in the fridge overnight to dry out.
3. When the 10 hours are up, give the chicken breasts a quick rinse to end the brining process and keep them in the fridge until needed.
4. Finely chop 4 shallots. Pan fry the shallot bits in 2T of oil on a low flame until you notice a few pieces have turned brown. Turn off the heat and allow to cool. In the meanwhile mince a few garlic cloves until you get 3 semi-heaped teaspoons of garlic.
5. Put 140g of butter, that’s about two thirds of a block, in a bowl and cut the butter roughly into cubes. A pair of scissors is the best implement for this. Allow the butter to warm until it is soft, then fold in the minced garlic, shallots, 1T chopped mint and 1T of chopped basil. The butter should stay opaque and not be allowed to melt at any time. Spoon the herb butter onto a large sheet of cling film and roll it into a long rod. Keep the butter sausage in the fridge until it is needed.
6. Toast the bread under very low heat so it doesn’t brown, until it is dry and crisp. Place the bread into a plastic bag and smash it into crumbs using a mallet.
7. The next step is to cut a cavity into each breast. Start by drying the chicken with a tea towel. Plunge a pointed knife about two thirds of the way into a breast from the bigger end. Carefully scrape the tip of the knife along one side of the cavity a few times in a circular motion to enlarge it. Flip the knife over and do the same to the other side of the cavity. While you are doing this, take extra care at all times not to let the knife pierce out through the surface. At the same time you should do your best not to enlarge the opening.
8. Cut the butter sausage into six cylinders. Do this while it is still in the cling film. Unwrap one cylinder of butter, halve it lengthwise and push both pieces into the cavity one after another, as far as they’ll go. Repeat the same procedure for the remaining breasts.
9. Beat two eggs. Cut a one inch piece off the tip off each chicken breast. Dip these trimmings in the egg and after folding or rolling each piece, use them to plug up the openings. Secure each plug with a wooden toothpick. If you inadvertently punctured any of the breasts earlier, you can attempt to ‘repair’ the damage with toothpicks as well.
10. Coat each breast in flour, taking care to cover every part of the breast, especially the area around the plug.
11. Heat up a frying pan with some oil. Roll a breast in egg and then the breadcrumbs until it is nicely coated. Put the breast straight into frying pan. Pan fry for about a minute, making sure the entire surface is cooked. A pair of kitchen tongs will be helpful in achieving this. Control the fire to make sure the bread doesn’t get burnt. Leave the breast to rest on a wire tray inside a baking tray. Do the same for the remaining breasts, adding more oil to the pan for each new breast.
12. Preheat your oven to 175^oC (350^oF). Place the tray of chicken into the hot over for 20 minutes, or until you notice the chicken begin to shrink.
13. It’s best to serve the Chicken Kiev straight out of the oven. Sprinkle lightly with white pepper while the chicken is still on the baking tray. Remember to remove the toothpicks after plating.

 Notes

• Purists will no doubt point out that the proper way to make Chicken Kiev would be to pulverize a butterflied chicken breast into a very thin schnitzel which is then rolled around a slab of butter. This method has its merits but is quite labour intensive. Should you ever choose to try it, you should season the chicken instead of brining it.   
• Chicken breasts can be plump and roundish or elongated and you should buy the former. I find those from Denmark and Holland are very suitable for stuffing. If the breast is of the elongated type, it will be too flat, making the carving a proper cavity for the butter doubly difficult. 
• Don’t expect a large amount of melted butter to gush out when you cut the chicken as some of the butter will be infused into the surrounding meat. If you desire more flowing butter, you can increase the amount of butter to a full block. But in order to do this the cavity has to large; maybe you can wait until you have had some practice at cutting cavities into chicken breast before attempting to use more butter. 
• There is no ‘standard’ herb to use for the butter. You can substitute other herbs of your liking, or even add things like sautéed mushrooms to the butter. I even used a bacon onion dip once instead of butter and it tasted great.
• If you have a large number of diners, it may be easier to just deep fry your Chicken Kiev in one go instead.  

 

Classic Linguine alle Vongole

(serves 2)
Linguine Vongole is one of the pasta classics and it can be prepared in a short amount of time, without too much of a fuss. It is the pasta that should be part of the repertoire of every home cook. Linguine Vongole’s flavours may be simple and its ingredients are few, but it remains a favourite of one and all, which speaks volumes about what a perfect combination clams, garlic, oil and white wine make.  If you are just picking up cooking, this is the perfect dish for you to try your hand at. 

Ingredients

1. Baby Neck Clams in Shell (2 dozen)
2. Linguine (200g) or Spaghetti
3. Garlic (1 bulb = 12 cloves)
4. Onion (1/2)
5. White Wine (1/3 cup)
6. Olive Oil
7. Italian Parsley
8. Basil
9. Coriander Seed Powder

Preparation

1. Soak your clams in water ahead of time. If you are using frozen clams like I often do, rinse the clams briefly under running water before soaking.
2. Slice the cloves of garlic into thin slices. Cut the half onion into thin half rings. (peel them both first of course)
3. Decant the clam water into a pot top up as necessary. Add a dash of olive oil and 1/2 t of salt. Bring to a boil and put the pasta into the pot.
4. In a pan heat up a few T of olive oil with the garlic slices. Stir fry until the garlic begins to darken, then add the onion. Continue to stir fry.
5. When the onion breaks into individual half rings from the hear, add the clams.
6. Stir fry for a about minute and then add 1/3 cup of white wine followed by 1t of coriander seed powder. Cover the pan and bring to a boil, then turn off the heat immediately.
7. When the pasta is no longer stiff but not quite cooked yet, transfer it to the pan.
8. Stir 1.5t of salt and 0.5t of sugar into 1/5 cup of olive oil. Pour the oil over the pasta in the pan. Sprinkle on 1T chopped basil and 1T chopped parsley.
9. Turn on the heat and toss the pasta in the sauce until it is cooked to the desired hardness.
10. Plate and garnish with a bit more chopped parsley and some black pepper.

Notes

• The right number of clams will of course depend on the size of the clams. The clams I used are quite large. You should use more than two dozen clams if you use smaller clams. As a rule of thumb, the weight of the clams for this recipe (with shell) should be around 500g. 
• If you prefer the soupy type vongole sauce, add 4T of the pasta water right before the final toss.
• You will notice I did not specify extra-virgin olive oil. I don’t think that a strong olive oil taste goes well with ‘fresh’ clams.  If you don’t have light cooking olive oil, any kind of mild vegetable oil will do.
• The type of white wine matters too. I use chardonnay because I don’t want my sauce to be too sour. Some people like it a bit tart in which case sauvignon blanc would be the wine to use.
• If you plan to use canned clams, consider my Linguine with Clams and Pesto Recipe instead.
• You may have noticed a few slices of scallops in the picture. That’s just a little bonus I added for myself and not part of the official recipe.  

 

Provençal Style Lamb Casserole

(serves 4)
This is a minimalist Provencal Lamb Casserole which is easy to prepare and its hearty ingredients are perfect for cold weather meals. The lamb is braised in a white wine and anchovy stock while the gamey flavour of the meat is tempered with lots of garlic and herbs. The other main ingredient of this rustic Mediterranean dish is eggplant.       

Ingredients

1. Lamb Belly (500g)
2. Eggplant (1)
3. Shallots (6)
4. Garlic (2 bulbs)
5. Anchovy In Oil (25g)
6. White Wine (3/4 cup)
7. Bread (2 slices)
8. Flour
9. Worcestershire Sauce
10. Mustard
11. Pesto
12. Oregano

Preparation 

1. Peel the garlic bulbs into cloves and peel the shallots but leave them whole.
2. If your lamb belly doesn’t come as cubes, cut them into cubes. Put the lamb into a zip lock bag and spoon in 2T(heaped) of flour. Shake until the lamb is evenly coated in the flour.
3. Heat up a frying pan with 3T of oil. Brown the lamb in the pan a few pieces at a time and then arrange the pieces of meat into a casserole dish.
4. Push half the garlic cloves and all the shallots snugly between the pieces of meat as shown.
5. Pan fry 25g (about 1T) of anchovy in its own oil, in the same pan you used to brown the lamb without washing it. Mash us the anchovy until it is a fine suspension and deglaze with 3/4 cup of white wine. Add 2T of pesto, 1t of worcestershire sauce, 1t of sugar, 1t mustard and 1t of oregano. Pour in 1/2 a cup of water. Bring to a simmer for 1 minute. This will be the braising liquid.
6. Preheat the oven to 200^oC (390^oF).
7. Pour the braising liquid into the casserole.
8. Slice the eggplant and arrange the slices over the lamb in the casserole.
9. Cover the casserole and place it in the oven for 2 hours. After half an hour reduce the temperature to 150^oC (300^oF).
10. Lightly toast 2 slices of sandwich bread. Cut the toast into mini croutons.
11. Mince the remaining garlic cloves in a garlic press.
12. Fry the minced garlic in a pan with 3T oil on low heat until it stops clumping together. At this stage add the bread and stir fry until the croutons are crispy and a nice shade of golden brown as shown. Leave to cool in the pan.
13. With 10 minutes to go on the baking time, take the casserole out and sprinkle on some black pepper and all the garlic croutons. Return to the oven uncovered for the last 10 minutes.
14. Serve the lamb in the casserole dish directly from the oven to table.

Notes

• This lamb casserole is not meant to be eaten by itself. You should serve it with a separately cooked staple, like potatoes or polenta.
• While the Provencal Style is French, it has some similarity with Italian and Greek cuisine because they all share the same Mediterranean climate.
• You can consider crushing the croutons into breadcrumbs after they cool. Its a trade off. You will lose some of the crunch of the bread, but it give a nice appealing look to the casserole. To accompany this look you can also slice the eggplant thin and arrange the slices in a ratatouille style overlapping spiral.

 

Lamb Sausage Ragu with Conchiglie

(serves 3)
This is a speedy (relatively) and convenient method of making a Lamb Ragu Pasta that makes no compromises on taste. I avoid the arduous task of slow-cooking mutton by using the minced meat from lamb sausages. In fact I find the starch, fat, herbs and spices of the sausage actually make for a better pasta sauce. The result is a delicious wholesome and flavourful meat sauce that can’t be beat.

 

Ingredients

1. Lamg Sausage (350g)
2. Brown or White Mushrooms (100g)
3. Onion (1)
4. Garlic(1 bulb = 12 cloves)
5. Conchiglie (3 cups)
6. Oxo Stock Cube (2)
7. Red Wine (1 cup)
8. Turmeric
9. Coriander Seed Powder
10. Oregano

Preparation

1. Peel and then cut your onion into 6 wedges. Then slice them coarsely and pan fry in a large pan with some oil on low heat.
2. In the meanwhile, slice your lamb sausages lengthwise on one side and peel off the skin. Place all the minced lamb in a bowl with half a cup of water. Mix well to loosen up the meat.
3. Remove the onion from the pan, turn up the heat, add some oil and throw in the meat. Break up the clumps of meat as the water boils away. When the meat begins to brown, return the onion plus any drippings to the pan and continue stir-frying for another minute.
4. Next add 1 cup of wine. Then add 2 oxo stock cubes (I normally use beef but you can also use lamb) dissolved in 2 cups of hot water.
5. Peel your garlic bulb and throw the individual cloves into the pan. Quarter each mushroom into and add them to the pan as well.
6. Add 1t sugar, 1t turmeric, 1t coriander seed powder and 1T oregano. Turn down the heat and simmer covered for 45 minutes to1 hour – until the sour taste of the wine is gone. Add water as needed such that you end up with a light sauce. You can make the sauce ahead of time, just keep it in the fridge til its needed.
7. Boil your pasta in a pot of water with a dash of olive oil until it is about 2/3 cooked. Strain and then add your pasta to the pan and stir fry until the pasta is al dente. Add water as required such that you end up with a thick sauce just as the pasta is done. Splash on 4T of olive oil after turning the fire off.
8. Sprinkle on some black pepper and perhaps some parsley after plating.

Notes

• You can use 3/4 cup red wine plus 1/4 cup Marsala wine for a more authentic Italian taste – remember to skip the 1t of sugar in step 6.
• Conchiglie a.k.a. seashell pasta is the best choice of pasta for this kind of sauce as it can hold the bits of meat better. Another type of paste suitable for this dish is farfalle, a.k.a. butterfuly pasta.
• The picture would look nicer if I had just cooked the pasta separately and then poured the sauce over it, but then it wouldn’t taste nearly as good. Sometimes you have to sacrifice looks for taste.
• Ragu and Ragout are both a dish made from gamey meat and chopped vegetables. Ragu is Italian and is usually cooked as a sauce. Ragout is French and is usually a stew.

 

Oven-Steamed Salmon in Miso

(serves 2)
Here we have a simple no fuss way to cook salmon by wrapping it in foil and steaming it in its own juices in the oven. Miso with its strong distinct flavor is one of the best ways to marinate meats which don’t absorb flavor easily, such as fish. Steaming is one of the best ways to cook salmon fillets as you don’t need to overcook the outside to ensure the middle is done. Put the two together and you have the trappings of a great salmon recipe. This recipe is also great for BBQ and toaster oven friendly as well.   

Ingredients

1. Salmon (Belly Fillet, 400g)
2. Coriander (chopped, 1 cup)
3. Miso
4. Minced Garlic
5. Sesame Oil (1/4 cup)
6. Honey
7. Cointreau

Preparation 

1. Rinse and pat your salmon fillet dry with a kitchen towel. We want the belly cut (the type without a bone in the middle).
2. Prepare 1 cup of chopped coriander. I usually just hold a bunch in hand and snip away with scissors from the top. We only want the leafy portion.
3. Mix 1T of miso, 1T minced garlic, 1T Honey, 1T Cointreau and 1/2 t pepper with 1/4 cup sesame oil. When the mixture is even, mix in the chopped coriander.
4. Place a large piece of foil on a plate. You can see from the photo it is the same plate the salmon is served on later. Spoon one third of the miso coriander mixture onto the foil as a base for your salmon.
5. Position the salmon on the base. If you look carefully at the right side of the upper picture (you can click on photo to zoom in), I cut off the thinner tip of the fillet and stacked it back on in a way to make the thickness of the salmon even, like a brick.
6. Spoon on the rest of the marinade, making sure some of the coriander adheres to the side. Wrap up the foil by rolling the long edges of the foil together, then crumpling in the two ends.
7. Place the foil parcel in the fridge. You can cure the salmon overnight if you wish. The minimum curing time is 2 hours in the fridge plus one hour to warm up to room temperature.
8. Preheat your oven to 180^oC (350^oF). Put the foil parcel in and turn the temperature down to 150^oC (300^oF). Bake for 8 minutes, 9 if you insist on having your salmon 100% cooked.
9. Allow the parcel to rest for a further 5 min once removed from the oven. Then cut open and serve.

Notes

• One of the purposes of  the coriander is to allow the marinade to adhere to the salmon instead of pooling at the bottom of the foil parcel. If you don’t like coriander, you will need to replace it with Italian parsley or something similar instead of just skipping it altogether.
• For more information on Miso, refer to this page. 
• If you are into steamed fish, have a look at my Cantonese style Steamed Snapper which uses the pan method.

 

Singapore-style Prawn Ramen

(serves 5)
Singapore’s Hokkien Prawn Noodles is a favourite of mine, and so is the Shio-Ramen of Hakodate in Japan. In fact they can be considered distant cousins. Both these types of noodles use seafood, pork and salt to flavour their soup so I thought why not try a fusion combination of the two styles. The good thing about prawn stock is you don’t have to boil it for hours and hours for perfection, for extracting the full rich flavour of prawns is a relatively simple process. This makes this Ramen recipe a great option for home cooking.   

Ingredients

1. Large prawns (8=600g)
2. Fish Cake (400g)
3. Noodles or Ramen (5 servings)
4. Shallots (8)
5. Bean sprouts (2 cups)
6. Garlic (1.5 bulbs)
7. Coriander (100g)
8. Chinese Wine
9. Chicken Stock Cube (2)

Please note: the ingredients for Chashu Pork must also be procured but they are not listed above. Refer to the link just below.

Preparation 

1. The night before you have to oven-stew the Chashu Pork according to this recipe. Use only 2T instead of 1/4 cup of soya sauce but otherwise follow the recipe faithfully. Leave the Pork to soak overnight in the cooling oven and the following morning, place the meat(wrapped in clear film) and stewing liquid separately into the fridge.
2. On the day itself, julienne the shallots and put the peeled cloves of 1 bulb of garlic through a press. Fry them together in a pan on low heat in 1/4 cup of oil until they are slightly caramelized. Strain the oil into a bowl and then pour the oil back into the pan, leaving the fried material on the strainer.
3. Cut the heads off the prawns. Heat up the pan again and stir fry the heads in it. When the heads are red, pour in 3T of Chinese wine. Then add  1 cup of water. Cut the heads up with a pair of scissors while they are in the pan and leave to simmer for 5 minutes.
4. Strain the liquid into a large pot and add a fresh cup of water (without wine this time) to the pan. Bring to a boil again, then simmer for 5 minutes, then strain the liquid into the pot again. Repeat for a third time. This is the secret to a rich bright red prawn broth, the hallmark of a quality Singapore Prawn Noodle. Discard what is left of the mashed prawn heads.
5. Shell and devein the prawn bodies. Add as much water as you need so that you end up with five bowls of broth. Bring the broth to a boil and place the prawns into the pot and cook them until they curl up. This will not take too long. Remove the prawns into a bowl and allow them to cool. Reduce the heat to a low simmer.
6. Julienne the top half of your coriander. Tie the stems into a knot and throw them into the pot of broth. Add half of the fried shallot garlic mixture to the pot. Add half the chopped coriander as well. Retain the remaining coriander and fried garlic/shallot as condiments.
7. Add most of the stewing liquid from the pork into the pot followed by 1t of sugar and 2 chicken cubes. Stir and then add salt 1t at a time until the taste is right. Broth that is served with noodles has to be saltier than plain broth, remember this as your are taste testing. Remove the coriander stems at this point.
8. Slice the pork, prawns and fishcake. Keep the sliced pork wet by drenching it with the remaining stewing liquid. Fishcake comes cooked so there is no need to cook it again. Keep the slices covered in the fridge.
9. Boil the bean sprouts in plain water with 1t of salt. When they are limp, drain the water and keep the bean sprouts into a bowl. You can reuse the pot for boiling the noodles.
10. To serve, boil your noodles in a separate pot until they are al dente. At the same time bring your broth to a boil. Divide the noodles into 5 large bowls. Arrange the bean sprouts and various meats over the noodles. For each bowl, pour boiling stock into the bowl and then drain the stock back into the boiling pot – this is to warm up everything. Add broth a second time and garnish with the condiments.

Notes

• Large prawns are quite expensive if bought fresh. It is ok to use frozen prawns. The size of the prawns is important, do not substitute with smaller prawns or the broth will be very weak (soup is not red).
• Most of the greyish stuff in the ‘spine’ of the prawn is roe. When deveining the prawn, you really only want to find and pull out the alimentary canal.
• Besides Ramen, you can use any type of Asian noodles you like, fresh or dried. Do not use pasta or instant noodles.
• I sometimes make chicken stock with chicken feet to add more body to the soup.
• For a more Japanese feel, instead of the stock cubes in step 7, you can use a heaping T of Miso. Japanese Prawn ramen usually has a generous topping of Sakura Shrimp. You can also try adding some to your noodles for that added wow factor. 

 

Spaghetti with Seafood in Miso Cream Sauce

(serves 3 full portions)
Spaghetti in Miso Cream is quite the quintessential Japanese pasta and is on the menu in family restaurant chains all over Japan. You will find the fusion-style dish a refreshing adaptation of the more traditional pasta sauces. This recipe is a special version of the dish with crustacean flavour infused into the miso cream. To accompany the pasta, I have used soft tender scallop slices and lightly cooked morsels of prawn.     

Ingredients

1. Scallops (8=150g)
2. Large prawns (4=300g)
3. Miso
4. Crushed Garlic (4t)
5. Sesame Oil (1/3 cup)
6. Cream (100ml)
7. Spaghetti (300g)
8. Shredded Nori (Dried Seaweed)
9. Coriander Seed Powder
10. Honey
11. Cognac

Preparation 

1. Mix 4T of sesame oil with 0.5t salt, 1t coriander seed powder.
2. Cut the heads off the prawns and stir fry the heads in a pot with a few dashes of oil and 2t of crushed garlic. Use a low flame and when the garlic begins to brown add 1.5 cups of water. Cut the heads up with a pair of scissors while they are in the pot and leave to simmer. You should end up with a rich red broth.
3. Slice each scallop into 3 round slices.
4. Shell and devein the prawns. Slice the prawns lengthwise into 2 and then into small pieces.
5. Marinate both the scallop and prawn pieces with the salted sesame oil but in separate bowls.
6. Mix together 2 heaped t of miso with 2t of crushed garlic. Fry this mixture in a pan with 3T of oil on low heat. After a minute, add 3T cognac and 1t honey.
7. Slowly pour in 100 ml of cream and mash the miso till you get a nice even emulsion with no lumps. Pour in the prawn head stock through a strainer. Simmer down till you get a nice sauce and remove from heat.
8. Put 300g of spaghetti into the pot of boiling water with 1t salt and a dash of oil.
9. Reheat the sauce and when it is boiling add the prawn meat. When the prawn meat has curled, add the scallop slices and immediately turn off the fire. Mix well to make sure no scallop slices are stuck together and leave for a minute.
10. By this time the pasta should be al dente. Strain and plate the spaghetti, and pour the sauce over it.
11. Garnish with black pepper, some Nori and serve.

Notes

• If you want to go the extra mile, add Uni (raw sea urchin) together with the scallops into the pan in step 9. It is the Japanese equivalent of adding truffle shavings to a pasta.
• The stock will not be red (see photo) or have a rich taste if you use small prawns or shrimp. The prawns have to be large, i.e. 4 per 300g. 
• Most of the greyish stuff in the ‘spine’ of the prawn is roe. When deveining the prawn, you really only want to find and pull out the alimentary canal. 
• You’ll notice I did not mention olive oil. The taste of miso is quite distinctive and will clash with the hint of olives. You’ll do better with a milder vegetable oil.
• Reduce the amount of cream by half if you want a very light sauce.
• For more information on Miso, refer to this page. 

 

Slow Cooked Beef Shank Kebabs

(serves 4)
This is a very unauthentic recipe for kebabs, but it is however a great way to cook stew-type cuts of beef without actually making a stew. Its actually more of a cross between shish kebab and boeuf bourguignon. I think of it more as a Provencal-style dish than Persian. We start out by making a stew in white wine and end up drying up the stew into a nice tasty glazing for the beef chunks.

Ingredients

1. Beef Shank (800g)
2. Carrot (1 large)
3. Eggplant (1 large)
4. Garlic (12 cloves = 1 bulb)
5. Mushrooms (200g)
6. Shallots (8)
7. White Wine (1 cup)
8. Oxo Beef Cube
9. Pesto
10. Oregano
11. Thyme
12. flour

Preparation 

1. Cut your beef into large cubes after removing any chunky bits of connective (white) tissue. Besides using beef shank, other appropriate cuts would be rib fingers, brisket or cheek. Lightly salt the beef.
2. Preheat your over to 150^oC (300^oF). Dissolve1 Oxo beef cube in 1.25 cups of hot water.
3. Peel an entire garlic bulb and put half the cloves through a press. Peel the shallots but keep them whole. Cut the carrots, mushrooms and egg plant into pieces of the appropriate size.
4. Put the beef cubes into a zip loc bag with 2T(heaped) of flour. Shake the bag until all the surfaces are thoroughly coated.
5. Heat up a pan with 3T of oil and lightly sear all the sides of the beef cubes. Do this a few pieces at a time.
6. Place the seared beef into a large pyrex dish, followed by the cut vegetables around the meat. Sprinkle on 2T of oregano and 2T of thyme. If you really want to you can skewer everything on metal skewers first like real kebabs (except for the garlic).
7. Deglaze the pan with 1 cup of white wine. Add the beef stock. Add 2T of pesto and the crushed garlic. Cook for a minute. Pour over the beef and then cover the pyrex baking dish snugly with foil.
8. Poke 3 small holes in the foil with a toothpick. Place in the oven and bake for 1 hour 40 minutes.
9. Remove the foil and bake for a further 20 minutes to dry up the liquid and give the beef a nice glaze.

Notes

• You may have noticed I did not skewer the kebabs. I usually skip this as its tedious to do the skewering and the un-skewering. 
•  If you are having a real BBQ, you can throw your pre-cooked kebabs (skewered) over an open flame BBQ to get the charcoal flavour.  
• If you have a Dutch oven like le Creuset you can use that instead of the pyrex dish. 

 

Breton Fish Stew (Cotriade)

(serves 6)
This is my version of a classic from Brittany, the fish stew that Breton fishermen enjoy after a hard day at sea, the Cotriade. Unlike the more popular French bouillabaisse which relies on tomatoes and crustaceans for a base flavour, the Bretons prefer their fish stew au natural. Its harder to achieve a flavourful seafood stew that is white but when you do it right, the pure unadulterated flavour of fish makes a world of difference.  

Ingredients

1. White Fish Fillets (500g)
2. Black Mussels (500g)
3. Canned Sardines in oil (2 x 120g wet weight)
4. Canned Anchovies in oil (50g wet weight)
5. White Wine (1 cup)
6. Minced Garlic (3T)
7. Onions (2)
8. Celery (2 cups chopped)
9. Carrot (1)
10. Bread (3 slices)
11. Thyme
12. Dill Weed

Preparation Part I

1. Leave 3 slices of bread in the open to dry overnight.
2. Cut the crust off the bread and cube the bread into 1cm pieces. Cut the crust into small pieces as well, but separately. Toast the bread cubes till they are brown and then crush in a zip loc bag with a mallet.
3. Dice one onion. Place the onion bits into a large pot. Partially open one of the sardine tins and pour its oil into the pot. Turn on the heat and occasionally stir fry the onions.
4. In the meanwhile, spoon all the sardines and anchovies including their oil into a bowl with 3T of minced garlic. Mash everything up with a spoon.
5. When the onions are soft, turn up the heat and add the fish and garlic mash. Stir fry for a minute, continuing to mash up the fish. Next, add 1 cup of white wine, wait a further minute and then add 4 cups of water and 2T of chopped thyme. This is the stock for your stew.
6. While the stock is simmering on low heat, cut an onion into 6 wedges, dice 2 cups of celerey and 3/4 cups of carrot. Add this to the stock together with the bread crumbs.
7. While the veggies are cooking, soak your mussels in water for a few minutes. Also, cut your white fish into chicken nugget sized pieces. You can leave the skin on. Marinate with 2T of oil and a light sprinkle of salt and pepper. Do not put either the mussels or fish into the pot yet.
8. Continue the simmer until the onion wedges turn into soft individual petals. Then turn off the heat.

Preparation Part II

1. This is the part you do about fifteen minutes before serving your stew.
2. Bring the pot up to a full boil.
3. Add the clams and continue boiling for 1 minute.
4. Next add the marinated fish making sure all the pieces are submergedand. Continue boiling for 1 minute (less if you fish pieces are not thick, but never more).
5. Turn off the heat but leave the pot covered for 10 minutes while the fish continues to cook .
6. Taste and season with salt and pepper to bring out the full flavour of the stew. Garnish with a sprinkle of dill weed or chopped parsley.

 Notes

• When I first decided to come up with my own cotriade recipe, I was confronted with a typical dilemma. Fish gets hard and then flakes up if it is boiled for more than a short while. But, any kind of stew needs to be simmered for a long time for it to develop its full flavour. Many fish stew recipes get around this by using tomatoes (or worse bacon) for the base flavour, but that is the easy way out. The solution was to use canned fish and wine to form the base flavour.
• The next challenge was to get rid of the fishy smell and taste of the canned sardines. After some experimentation, I found that the combination of onions, garlic and deglazing with wine at a high temperature did the trick. When you see the stew frothing up a bit after adding the wine, don’t worry, this is normal. Its just the fishiness going away.
• The sardine stock in turn allows us to just par boil the fresh fish right at the end, so it remains intact and tender. A fish stew is supposed to have 3 types of fish for variety so I recommend you use 2 types of fresh fish. Cod I find is one of the best choices, and I also like pomfret and sole, but basically any kind of fish white fish would do. The most important thing is to not overcook the fish.
• Besides tomatoes, the other ingredient I didn’t want to use was potatoes, which would make it more like a chowder (or worse, like beef stew). This presented another problem: how do I give the stew some body? Then I got to thinking, well you eat French stews with bread, so why not just have the bread already boiled into the stew? That worked out well.
• For the white wine, the oaky tones of a chardonnay is a perfect fit with the stew.
• If you want a North Sea taste don’t use olive oil as it imparts a Mediterranean feel. I use sardines in sunflower seed oil for this stew.
• Instead of using salt at the end, consider ‘cheating’ and using Hon Dashi pellets instead. It will bring out the best in your fish stew.
• If you like French seafood stews, check out my bouillabaisse recipe.