Shepherd’s Pie

Tags

autumn recipes, brunch, chives, comfort food, easy recipe, lamb mince, lamb sauce, lunch, mash, mashed potatoes, One bowl meal, pie, rosemary, sheperds pie, thyme, winter recipes, worcestershire sauce

I’ve been itching to have a go at making this pie for a while now! What’s not to love about creamy mashed potatoes and a hearty thick lamb mince ragu all in a single bowl? It’s a pretty balanced meal is it not? Carbs, protein and vegetables? Let’s forget for a moment about the amount of cream and cheese that went into it and label it as the ultimate balanced meal.

Comfort food. Easy to put together. I will definitely make this again! The recipe calls for peas and corn as well but I made do without them since I’ve got a picky eater on my hands today!

Ingredients 

Meat Layer

• Minced lamb – around 700 grams
• 2 carrots, diced into smallish cubes
• 1/2 cup fresh corn kernels
• 1/2 cup fresh English peas (if you’re feeling lazy there’s always the frozen mixed vegetables option which has carrots, corn and peas all in one convenient bag. Use 1.5 cups of the mix then)
• 4 cloves garlic finely minced
• 1 cup minced onion
• 3 tsp chopped rosemary leaves
• 3 tsp thyme leaves
• 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
• 1 cup dry red wine
• 3 tbsps Tomato puree, have an additional 3 tbsps on hand if you prefer more of it in the ragu
• 2 tbsps Worcestershire sauce – other recipes call for 1 tsp, I found it insufficient and ended to my taste, so add to your taste
• 2 tbsps all purpose flour
• pepper to taste

Potato Layer

• 700 grams peeled russet potatoes approx.
• 200 ml cream
• 30g salted butter
• pepper to taste
• 1 tsp garlic powder (optional)
• 1 cup grated cheddar cheese
• fresh thyme leaves

Cooking Instructions  

• Heat up butter in a large deep skillet on medium high heat
• Add the chopped onions first, and cook until translucent and starting to caramelise.
• Add the garlic and fry for about half a minute or so until that’s soft
• At this point if the mixture is getting a tad too dry, add a little more butter. After which we can now put the lamb mince into the pan to brown. Break up the meat into small pieces (the smaller, the smoother the ragu will be, but that’s only if you like it that way)
•  Mix in the vegetables, we’re only adding them now as we don’t want to overcook them
• Sprinkle the thyme and rosemary over the mixture and give it a good stir.
• Pour in the red wine, chicken broth, Worcestershire sauce and tomato puree and flour.
• Bring the sauce to a boil and lower the heat to simmer for a couple of minutes. The flour should thicken the sauce in the process.
• Turn the heat off and cover with a lid.

• As for the potatoes, place them in a large pot and cover with cold water
• Add salt to the water
• Bring to a boil. Once they are pierced easily with a fork, drain them. Check in about 10 minutes, if the potatoes are still resistant to the fork the leave for a bit longer. However, take care that you don’t overcook them. Don’t want mushy potatoes!
• Press the potatoes through a ricer (or mash them by hand) and put aside.
• Meanwhile, melt the butter in a saucepan and add the cream. Bring this to a gentle simmer before adding the potatoes to the cream and mixing it all up. Season with salt and pepper.
• (Additional step:- you can put the mashed potatoes through a sieve to get rid of all the lumps for that smooth mash)

Ladle the ragu into your prettiest deep dish (one that is oven-compatible). Sprinkle a layer of cheese over the ragu.   Spread the mashed potatoes evenly over the ragu like so.
After which you’re done. You can use a fork to create patterns on the mash which will turn out a little crispy after some time in the oven. My ideal meat ragu to potato ratio  is 3:1.

However, you can add more if you like your mash. Here, I decorated the top by squeezing the potatoes through a decorative nozzle.

Sprinkle some cheese over the top of the mash layer, and arrange some thyme leaves strategically into the top layer as a sort of garnish and for the fragrance.

Bake at 205 Celsius for around 20-30 minutes
Added some chopped chives before serving, just because I like chives.
  

Chicken gravy for roast chicken (without drippings)

Tags

bay leaf, celery, chicken bits, chicken flavour, chicken gravy, chicken stock, chicken wings, drippings, onion, pan drippings

The title is a lie, you DO need drippings for a good gravy, but it doesn’t have to come from the actual roast that you make on the day itself.  This gravy can be prepared beforehand in preparation for the big roast dinner. I think doing it this way is better than taking the drippings from the actual roast on the day itself for three reasons. 1) You’d have to roast the chicken long enough for brown bits to stick to and accumulate at the bottom, resulting in an overcooked/dry roast. 2) Without those brown bits, your gravy wouldn’t have that tasty chicken flavour to it. I roasted my chicken to tender perfection, but I failed to get any delicious tasting gravy from the drippings in the pan. 3) It is a pain making gravy from scratch, so making more at one time wouldn’t hurt. Thus, in my amateurish opinion, do make the gravy beforehand. Ingredients

• 3 pounds chicken wings (and chicken giblet/neck/bones if you have them)
• 2.5 cups of stock
• Dash of white wine (optional)
• Salt and pepper
• 1-2 tbsp flour (depending how thick you like your gravy)

Ingredients for the chicken stock 

• 1 large white onion sliced into half
• 1-2 sticks of celery, chopped into large pieces
• 1 bay leaf
• 2-3 chicken thighs and bones

First, you’ll need to make chicken stock if you didn’t have it already. Boil some water in a pot and lower the chicken into it and simmer for 3-5 minutes to get rid of the blood and impurities in the chicken parts. Drain the chicken, and add the onions, celery and bay leaf. Add enough water to cover the chicken. Turn up the heat to medium and leave this to simmer for about an hour or so, until the liquid has reduced to about half or slightly more. Season with salt and pepper and taste. It should by this time have that delicious chicken flavour infused with the sweetness of the celery and onions. Cover and set aside.Season the chicken wings generously with salt and pepper and place in a cast iron pan/roasting pan.Roast the chicken wings on high heat at 215 degrees celsius in the oven for about 1-1.5 hours until they turn brown (and those delicious brown bits have started sticking to the pan).  Remove chicken wings (you can enjoy them on its own while you prepare the gravy)  Place the pan with the drippings onto the stove on medium high heat and deglaze with a little white wine, and a cup of the stock. Scrape the pan to get all the brown bits off the pan and into the stock. Reduce the liquid to about half (I always eyeball it, I know, that’s really bad of me).  As for the remaining stock, add the flour to it and mix it in well and good while the stock is cool. This will ensure that there are no flour lumps in your gravy). Pour the remaining stock and flour mixture into the pan with the drippings and stir until the gravy has thickened. This would probably take a few minutes.Strain the gravy with a sieve and that’s it! Good to go. As you can see, my gravy is on the thin side, might need to add more flour as I added less than a tablespoon to it.

Quick post: Roasted chicken thighs!

Tags

butter, carrots, cast iron pan, chicken gravy, compound butter, cream, gravy, gravy from scratch, mased potatoes, mash, pomme puree, potato rinser, roast, roast chicken, sieve, thyme, young carrots

Been a while since my last post! Coming up: myhumblefood recipes for pomme purée (basically an incredibly light and creamy French version of mashed potatoes), chicken gravy from scratch and the roast chicken. 

 

Hoedeopbap again!

Tags

dinner, easy recipe, healthy, hoedeopbap, hotate, hwedeopbap, koream sashimi salad, lunch, One bowl meal, quick meal, sake, salad, salmon, sashimi, scallops

Bought some really fresh, plump salmon sashimi and some scallop as well. Thought I’d just quickly whip up some hoedeopbap (Korean sashimi salad) to go with some freshly cooked rice. Rice is one of my guilty pleasures and I try not to have carbs at night but I couldn’t resist… yet again T___T

Here’s the link to the initial post I did up on Hoedeopbap. I just changed some of the vegetables and type of fish according to the ingredients that I have on hand. The one thing that doesn’t change is the sauce. Also, I managed to get hold of Korean perilla leaves (kkaenip)! It was so difficult to find in Singapore, so I was shocked when I came across it by accident in a korean grocery store in Kuala Lumpur. I quickly snapped up 3 packs of it!

My prize: the korean perilla leaf in all its glory

And the rest is just arranging the salad so it looks pretty 😉

Mix it up well and good.

Devour!

❤

Hoedeopbap / hwedeopbap – Korean Spicy Sashimi salad Rice bowl

Tags

chogochujang, dinner, gochujang, healthy, hodeopbap, hoedeopbap, hwe deop bap, hwedeopbap, Korean, korean spicy sashimi salad, lunch, perilla leaves, red pepper paste, rice, salad, sashimi, sesame oil, shiso, spicy, sweet and sour

I’m currently on a Korean craze. I also am hopelessly addicted to Running Man, a korean variety show. But way too often do they show delicious, mouthwatering looking korean dishes and delicacies. Like sizzling Korean bbq, grilled oysters, kimchi, ramyeon, sea urchin, spicy ddukbokki and the list is endless. One of these demonish dishes I just saw on another episode is something called ‘ganjang gejang’, which is raw crab marinated in soy sauce and fermented. It sounds disgusting but it looks so good T______T I googled countless recipes on it but then decided against making it. One because I have no clue how to get the freshest of crabs in Singapore, and secondly, I don’t think I have the courage to successfully pickle/ferment the crab LOL.

So I settled for this dish instead. Technically its supposed to be a spicy sashimi rice bowl, but, like chirashi-don (sashimi on vinegared rice) versus just sashimi and rice in separate bowls, I really prefer to keep them separate. I like my rice hot, and this would wreak havoc onto sashimi if placed onto the rice directly like that. So yeah, I put it in a separate bowl. The sashimi salad is spicy, sour and sweet and has a nice crunch from all the vegetables in there. It could have been spicier, perhaps next time I’ll add some sliced chilli padi into the sauce for for a “BURN TONGUE BURNNNNN” experience =D 

Ingredients (2 pax)
I adapted the recipe from here http://www.food.com/recipe/spicy-sashimi-bowl-hwe-deop-bap-221946

• 2 cups cooked rice (Japanese or Korean, preferably)
• 2 ounces tilapia fillets/other white fish sashimi (I used tai)
• 2 ounces tuna, sashimi quality
• 1 cup salad greens, any combination (I used only butterhead lettuce)
• 1/8 onion, thinly sliced
• 1/4 carrot, thinly julienned
• 1/4 English cucumber, thinly  julienned
• 2-3 inch daikon radish, thinly julienned
• 3 garlic cloves, peeled, minced
• 1 chili pepper, thinly sliced (I’m replacing this with chilli padi next time)
• 4 perilla/shiso leaves, thinly julienned (*edit* Korean perilla leaves)
• 16 Perilla/shiso leaves for wrapping (*edit* Korean perilla leaves, no other substitute unless you don’t mind a lettuce wrap)

Cho Gochujang (sweet and sour chili sauce)

• 3 tablespoons korean red pepper paste (gochujang) or more if you wish
• 2 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon sesame seed
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic, minced
• 1/4 teaspoon soy sauce
• 1/8 teaspoon salt, taste before adding (optional)

Instructions

1. To be really specific, julienne ALL THE VEGETABLES thinly and around the same thickness and length where possible.
2. Arrange the vegetables in a bowl.
3. Julienne your sashimi too, not as thinly as the vegetables, but try to cut it into long strips. Makes it easier to pick up with the vegetables later on, rather than cutting it into cubes.
4. Mix all the ingredients for the Cho-gochujang in a bowl and taste. Add more spicy or salt if you wish but I think the salt content is fine without the optional salt.

5. Arrange the sashimi on top of the vegetables, top with minced garlic, and cho-gochujang sauce and garnish with shiso leaves.

Tastes a bit like the Chinese Yu Sheng which I really really like. And it is pretty healthy isn’t it 😉

Take a few photos of your slicing efforts

Then you mix the salad. Toss it and mix it and get the sauce into every nook and cranny.

Get your hot rice ready, alongside some shiso leaves for wrapping. If you don’t like the taste of shiso leaves, you can replace them with lettuce or other vegetables.

And so, you take a leaf, plonk some of that hot rice on top, followed by the sashimi salad. Stuff it into your mouth. Charming.

Yummeh~

Bolognese Pasta

Tags

basil leaves, bolognese, italian, mains, mince, Pasta, red sauce, sauce, shell pasta, sun-dried tomatoes, tomatoes, vermouth, western

Everyone loves pasta. There’s something comforting about all those carbs slippery in a creamy or a hearty red sauce. Another university favourite, where at the bare minimum we just cook the noodles and throw in ready to eat sauces. Ah the simple life.

I guess as we’ve grown up, our tastebuds will naturally progress so that we’d need something either more healthy/wholesome and more complex. (To be honest I’m still very happy with the noodles and sauce out of a can but that’s just me being lazy).

This is my version of bolognese, I’ve been using this recipe for many years but it could be better. This version is sourish and slightly spicy just because I like it that way! Will update as and when I try out new bolognese recipes 🙂

Ingredients (8 pax)

1kg minced meat (I use pork, but most people would use beef)

1 large green onion roughly chopped

1 can tomato puree (or 1 tube if you can’t find the canned version)

8 cloves of garlic or more if you like it garlicky, minced

1 bottle of dolmio red sauce (sometimes I use a can of tomato chunks instead)

1/2 cup of chopped fresh basil leaves

1/2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

3 tbsps dried oregano

50 gram salted butter

Salt and Pepper for seasoning

Optional: 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese and more for serving

Optional: 3 birds eye chillies, sliced

Optional: 1/2 cup dry Vermouth

Optional: 6-8 sun-dried tomatoes, sliced

Optional: Pureed carrots or sugar to offset the sourness from the tomatoes

Instructions

1. Melt the butter in a large wok. Fry the onions first and just when it turns slightly translucent, throw in the minced garlic and fry until the garlic is golden in color. If you opt to use the pureed carrots, add it now and cook til soft.

2. Season the minced meat with salt and pepper beforehand. Add the mince into the wok, breaking the mince into small pieces as it browns.

3. When the meat is browned, pour in the dolmio sauce/canned tomatoes, the vermouth, sundried tomatoes, oregano and birds eye chillies. Stir to incorporate and let it simmer.

4. Add Worcestershire sauce and stir. Let the sauce simmer until the consistency is chunky and there’s no excess water. The sauce should be thick and chunky but not so dry such that it sticks to the wok.

5. Stir in the parmesan cheese and basil leaves.

I love to eat this with shell pasta. It holds the sauce so well!

Assam Chilli sauce

Tags

assam belimbing, assam chilli sauce, chilli, chilli sauce, condiments, dips, lemon juice, sauce

We Asians love our sauces! There are many varieties of dipping sauces, accompanying sauces and condiments at almost every meal. I like my udon soup with cut chilli padi and soy sauce while I love my pan mee with a sour-sweet ish chilli sauce.

Previously I blogged on how to make yam cake (Orh Kuay) but I completely forgot about the recipe for the accompanying sauce so here it is!

Ingredients

• 1kg tomatoes (hard)
• 1 kg red chilli
• 15 cloves of garlic or two whole bulbs
• 1 kg assam belimbing
• 3 cups sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• Juice from 4 yellow lemons

Instructions

• Cut up your tomatoes into small chunks, slice the chilli, peel the garlic and chop the assam belimbing into halves. This is all put into the blender and blended into a paste.
• Pour out the paste into a large pot.
• In case you haven’t seen it, this is what an assam belimbing looks like. It gives the sauce its deliciously sour zing
• Squeeze the juice from the lemons and add to the paste.
• Add the salt and sugar to the pot.
• 
• Simmer on low heat for an hour, stirring every few minutes.
• 

The sauce should keep for about a month and goes amazingly well with yam cakes, chicken, lettuce wraps etc. Feel free to play around with your options!