Earl Grey Mousse Cake

Specially designed this cake for a colleague birthday, she like Earl Grey so what better way to celebrate her birthday by making her a very earl grey flavored cake. The Earl Grey infused mousse is accompanied by a rich dark chocolate sponge at the bottom, the flavour of the dark chocolate and the Earl Grey compliment each other very well I must say.

Recipes (makes one 10 inch round cake)

For the chocolate sponge

300g           Sugar
125g           Plain flour
pinch of salt
118g          Cocoa powder
1/3 tsp       Baking powder
1/3 tsp       Baking soda
1/3 cup      Butter milk
1               Egg
42g           Melted butter
1/3 cup     Earl Grey tea

Method

- Preheat oven 160 degree C and prepare a 10 inch round cake ring
- Sift all dry ingredient together
- Mix the egg and buttermilk
- Melt butter and add to tea
- Add the butter/tea to the buttermilk mixture
- Pour liquid to the dry ingredient and mix till just combine, do not over mix
- Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, till stick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- Remove and cool in the ring.

For the Earl Grey Mousse 

180g              Milk
180g              Cream
31g                Earl Grey tea leave
60g               Egg yolk
90g               Sugar
15g               Lemon juice
7g                 Gelatin (soak in about 3 tbsp of cold water)
290g             Whipped cream

Method

- Bring the milk, cream and tea leave to a boil and leave to infuse for 5 min.
- Strain mixture and weight out 270g
- Mix egg yolk with sugar and lemon.
- Pour into tea mixture
- Return to pot and cook gently till 85 degree C
- Add soaked gelatin, once gelatin dissolved, strain and cool to 30 degree C
- Fold in whipped cream

Assembly 

- Trim the cake and lay in the bottom of a 10 inch cake ring
- Pour the mousse over the cake
- Set in the fridge over night

Rumby Raisin Chocolate Tart

Rum and Raisin..... dark chocolate.... Vanilla almond Tart..... Mix it all together and you get my very own creation... my rumby raisin Chocoalate tart. The raisin is soaked and infused with rum for 3 days to soak up all the flavor of the rum and the rum itself. The dry raisin become juicy again and when you bite into one in the tart, the rum will burst into you mouth. To thin layer of sponge is placed between layer of chocolate ganache to give it that extra texture when you take one bite into it.

The tart for this recipes can be made in advance and the portion is enough for 2 to 3 10" tart but if you want to make 2, you need to double the ganache recipe. The dough can be kept in the fridge for up to 2 days or a month in the freezer.

This tart seem like a lot of work for one simple tart but trust me.. it is well worth the effort plus the work can be spread over a few days or it is not that difficult to tackle the task as well.

Recipe: 

1/2 cup       Raisin

1/4 cup       Rum or enough to completely soak the raisin.

• Soak the raisin with rum for 3 days to a week before use.

Vanilla almond Tart 

285g           unsalted butter
150g           icing sugar
100g           grounded almond
1/2 tsp        salt
One vanilla pod (seeds only) or 1/2 tsp of pure vanilla extract
2 large        eggs
490g           flour

• Beat the butter in a stand mixer till creamy
• Add sugar, almond powder, salt, vanilla, egg and blend slowly. The mixture may look curdled but it is fine
• With the machine on low, add the flour in 3 to 4 addition 
• Do not over mix
• Gather the dough and divide into 2 or 3 portion and wrap in cling wrap
• Chill the dough for at least 4 hours or over night
• Working on a lightly floured surface, roll the dough to about 3mm thick, lifting the dough often so that it does not stick. 
• If you have problem rolling or not think you not skilled enough to do it, place the dough between 2 large sheet of cling wrap and roll between the layer of wrap taking care to adjust the top layer of wrap regularly
• Slowly place the dough onto a lightly grease tart tin
• Chill the dough for 30 minutes and preheat oven at 180 degree C 
• Before baking, prick the bottom of the dough with a fork and lay a piece of parchment paper onto the tart and fill with dried beans or rice.
• Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, remove the parchment and beans and continue baking for another 3 to 5 minutes
• Transfer the crust to a rack to cool

Soft Sponge 

135g            Egg white
125g            Castor sugar
90g              Egg yolk
125g            Plain flour

• Preheat oven to 250 degree C
• Whisk egg white and sugar together till sift peak 
• Mix in egg yolk 
• Sift in the flour in 3 addition 
• On a large baking tray layered with parchment paper, pour the batter in and spread it thinly about 3 to 5mm thick 
• Bake for 7 minutes. 
• Remove and cool on cooling rack. 

Chocolate Ganache 

215ml         Whipping cream
30g             Invert Sugar (you can use honey if you do not have Invert Sugar but it will affect the taste)
250g           Dark Chocolate, chopped (66% cocoa)
37g             Unsalted butter (room temperature)

• Put the cream and invert sugar into a saucepan and bring to the boil
• Add cream to the chopped chocolate mixing continuously
• Add butter and continue to mix until fully incorporated
• Add in the rum infused raisin and 2 to 4 tbsp of rum depending on how strong of a rum favour you want.

To finish the tart

• Pour a layer of ganache on to the prepare tart
• Cut a piece of the sponge to fit the tart and place it on top of the first layer of ganache
• Pour the remaining ganache onto the tart
• Place into fridge and let to set overnight 
• 
  

  

Stuff Chicken Leg with Masala Sauce

This is yet another recipes adapted from Chef Ramsay.. Stuff Chicken leg with Masala Sauce. Tender chicken leg stuffed with pork meat filled with pistachio nuts, wrapped with bacon that is saute till crispy. It is definitely not something that I would call healthy eating but definitely a yummy treats that one should have once in a while!!  You can watch a video of the man himself cooking this recipes here

Recipes: 

2           Boneless chicken leg
10         Streaky bacon (Approximately)
Sea salt and pepper
3 tbsp      Olive Oil
2 tbsp      Sherry vinegar
1/4 cup     Marsala wine
1.4 cup     Chicken stock

Stuffing 

100g      Minced Pork (Original recipes call for sausage meat)
Handful skinned pistachio nuts
4 sprigs of thyme, leaves only
Handful of flat leave parsley, roughly chopped
Sea salt and pepper, seasoned to taste.

Method

• To prepare the stuffing, mix all the ingredient for the stuffing together. 
• Open out the chicken leg, divide the stuffing between them and roll up to enclose the stuffing. 
• Lay 2 piece of aluminium foil, lightly drizzle with olive oil and spread salt and pepper on it. 
• Lay about 4 to 5 pieces of bacon on the foil, over lapping them slightly  
• Lay the stuffed chicken on top and wrap the bacon around completely to cover using the foil to form a sausage shaped parcel
• Twist the ends to seal the parcels.
• Poach the chicken parcel in a pot of boiling water for about 25 to 30 minutes
• Remove and allow the chicken to cool before placing in the fridge for about 30 minutes to help set the shape. 
• Remove from foil and pat dry to remove excess moisture. 
• Heat oil in frying pan and saute the chicken parcels until the bacon is brown and crispy
• Remove and set aside
• Deglaze the pan using sherry vinegar, add marsala wine and stock. Reduce the sauce by half and check for seasoning. 
• Cut the chicken parcel into thick slices and pour marsala sauce over. I serve my chicken with a pea and Parmesan risotto. 

Chicken Marsala with Mushroom Risotto

After buying a bottle of marsala wine to make my tiramisu and obviously I know wouldn't be using the whole bottle to make the tiramisu so I started to look for recipes to use up the remaining marsala wine. And if you Google marsala wine, the first food will definitely be Chicken Marsala but please do not be confused with the Indian Chicken Masala. This Chicken Marsala is nothing India about it but Italian.

And being myself, I would never allow myself to cook just the chicken without whipping out something to go with it and what is more Italian then a risotto. Found a recipe from my favorite chef, Gordon Ramsay and make some modification to it to suit what I have in my pantry to come out with my version of the Mushroom Risotto.

Recipes (serve 4)

For the Chicken Marsala 

1/4 cup       plain flour
1/2 tsp        salt
1/4 tsp        ground black pepper
1/2 tsp        dried oregano
4                 skinless chicken breast
4 tbsp         butter
4 tbsp          olive oil
1 cup          slice mushroom ( I use portabella)
1/2 cup       marsala wine
1/2 cup       chicken stock
few sprig of fresh oregano
2 clove of garlic, un-peel but smashed lightly

Method

• Mix the flour, salt, pepper and dried oregano together 
• Pound the chicken breast to ensure even thickness
• Coat the chicken in the seasoned flour
• Melt butter in the olive oil and add in the chicken
• Pan fry till lightly brown, turn over, add mushroom, fresh oregano, garlic
• Pour in Marsala wine, be careful as it will flambe. 
• Add in chicken stock 
• Cover and simmer for about 5 min 
• Remove chicken and set aside
• Deglaze the pan with a little more marsala, about 1/2 cup. Reduce to a syrup like sauce. 

Mushroom risotto 

1 large     shallot (finely chopped)
2 clove    garlic (finely chopped)

4 tbsp      olive oil

200g        baby portabella mushrooms

280g        arborio rice (I use carnaroli but any kind will do)

1/2 cup    dry white wine

4 cups      low sodium chicken broth

1 tbsp       fresh basil

1 tbsp       fresh parsley 

2 tbsp       marcarpone cheese

3 tbsp       freshly grated parmesan

Sea salt and pepper to season 

Method 

• In a large sauce pan, sweat the shallot and garlic in the olive oil in low heat for about 3 to 4 minutes
• In a separate saucepan, heat the chicken broth. 
• Add in the mushrooms and saute for a further 5 minutes until the mushroom softened, stirring frequently 
• Stir in the rice and cook for another min or 2. Add the wine and stir. Cook until all the liquid is absorbed, stirring frequently 
• Gradually add the broth over the next 15 minutes, adding more as each amount is absorbed by the rice. This will help to give a creamy texture.Keep stirring frequently. 
• When the rice is al dente (a little resistance in the middle when you bite in), add the herbs, taste check and stir in the cheeses. 
• The risotto can be serve alone with fresh shaved parmesan too.  

To finish the dish, simply serve the chicken on a bed of mushroom risotto and ppour some of the sauce over the chicken and around the plate.

Heston's perfect Fish and Chips

In search of the perfect fish and chips, I have decided to give Heston's perfect fish and chips a go. Thank God I already have the special equipment that is need on hand, well at least something similar. The recipes call for a soda siphon but I do have a cream whipper which is basically the almost the same.

To ensure that the batter cook fast enough not to over cook the fish, this recipes calls for the use of vodka instead of water as water based batter takes a long time to go brown because the water have to first evaporate before it can starts to brown. Vodka is more volatile hence it evaporates more quickly and it also does not develop the gluten in the flour the way water does. This will result in a crisper crust. And the beer and charging the batter with CO2 enchances the batter's crunchiness by introuducing more bubbles.

The chips for this recipes call for a 3 steps process, allowing the chips to cool right down between each steps gets rid of excess moisture that would otherwise escape from the chips as steam during frying causing soggy exterior. The dry air of the fridge helps to remove the excess moisture from the chips.


Recipes (Serve 2)

For the chips

500g of potatoes

Method

• Wash and peel potatoes. 
• Cut into chips about 1.5 to 2 cm thick. 
• Place chips into a bowl of cold running water for about 5 min to rinse off some of the starch. Drain and set aside. 
• Bring a pot of salted water to boil. 10g salt per liter of water 
• Add chips and bring back to boil, once it is back to boil, lower the heat so that the chips will not break apart before they are cooked through. Cook till the chips have almost broken up. 
• Carefully remove the potatoes with a slotted spoon and place on a cake rack. Leave to cool then put in the fridge until cold. 
• Heat oil to 130 degree C and plunge the chips into the oil. Cook until they take on a dry appearance and are slightly colour. 
• Remove from heat and drain off excess oil. Cool on cake rack and return to fridge until cool
• Heat oil to 190 degree C and plunge the potatoes into the oil for the final fry. Cook till golden brown, about 8 to 10 minutes. 
• Drain and season with sea salt to serve.

For the batter and fish 

2 large fillets of firm fish (I use halibut but recipes calls for turbot)

100g         plain flour
100g         rice flour
1/2 tsp      baking powder
1/2 tblsp    honey
150ml       Vodka
150ml        beer (chilled)

Method

• Mix the different flour into a bowl and stir to combine. 
• Add honey, vodka into the flour, stir to combine. 
• Open the beer and pour 150ml into the mixture, stir to combine. It is fine if it is a little lumpy. 
• Pour the mixture into the siphon or cream whipper.
• Charge it with 2 CO2 charger and put in fridge for a minimum of 30 minutes. 
• Rinse and dry the fish fillet with paper towel
• Coat with rice flour seasoned with salt and pepper. Shake of excess flour
• Heat oil in a large pan to 220 degree C. 
• Remove siphon from the fridge, shake vigorously before ejecting the batter onto a medium sized bowl. Don't eject all at once as the batter will lose its bubbles once it leave the siphon. 
• Dip the batter into the foamy batter and into the hot oil. 
• As the fish fry, drizzle a little extra batter over to give it a lovely crusty exterior. When it starts to brown, turn the fillet over and drizzle more  batter on that side. 
• Cook till a golden brown and remove from oil. 

Tiramisu with edible soil (Recipes adapted from Heston Blumenthal, How to cook like Heston)

Plant or dessert?? Was watching how to cook like Heston on Youtube when I came across him making this interesting version of tiramisu, you can also watch his video right here. Hence I decided to take up this challenge and make one myself. It may seen like alot of work but if you get all your ingredient ready, it isn't all that hard at all.

Recipes (makes about 6 to 8 small flower pot)

For the crystallized dark chocolate

200g      white castor sugar
80g        dark chocolate, roughly chopped

For the caramelized grape nuts 

50g          grape nuts cereal (I use macadamia nuts, you can use any nuts)
1/4tsp      salt
15g          brown sugar






To finish the soil

60g          white chocolate
20g          cocoa powder
1/2 tsp     salt
60ml        hazelnut oil (I use macadamia nuts oil)
caramelized grape nuts
crystallized dark chocolate

For dark chocolate layer

200g       dark chocolate

For the marsala cream 

3          eggs
50g      castor sugar
300g    mascarpone
200ml  whipping cream
60ml    Marsala
1.5g    leaf gelatine, softened in a little cold water. (I use gelatine powder)

For the sponge fingers

24          sponge finger
150ml    ground coffee brewed in 400ml water
100ml    Marsala

To serve 

Basil and mint leaves to garnish

Method

• For the crystallized dark chocolate, put 75ml cold tap water and sugar into a saucepan and place over high heat. Bring to a boil and continue to heat until liquid reach 135 degree C or syrup at the side of pan begins to colour.

• Remove from the heat and immediately add the chopped chocolate. Whisk to incorporate and whisk until the liquid has completely crystallized.  

• Pour crystal onto a baking tray to cool. This can be kept in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 1 month.

• To caramelize the Grape nuts, place them in a frying pan over a high heat and allow to toast for about 4 min, shaking the pan from time to time. Add salt and continue to toast for another min. 

• Sprinkle the sugar over the surface of the nuts and stir until surface of nuts is well caramelized. 

• Pour the nuts on to a parchment line baking tray to cool to room temperature.

• To caramelize the white chocolate, preheat the oven to 190 degree C. Place the white chocolate on a parchment lined baking tray and place in oven for 15 min. After the first 5 min, begin to stir the chocolate every couple of minutes until fully caramelized. 

• Mix the crystallized dark chocolate, caramelized white chocolate with the cocoa powder and caramelized nut then add the salt and the hazelnut oil. 

• to make the dark chocolate layers, break the chocolate into pieces and melt in in a bowl over a saucepan of simmering water.

• Pour the melted chocolate over 2 sheet of acetate and place another sheet of acetate over each sheet. Then place a heavy chopping board on top to create a thin layer and place in freezer for 10 min. 

• Using a pastry cutter the size of the inside of the flower pots, cut out 18 discs (You will need 3 discs per pot)

• For the marsala cream, whisk the egg and sugar til light and fluffy.

• In another bowl, whisk the marcapone, whipping cream and marsala until soft peaks form. Fold the cream mixture into the egg mixture in a few addition.

• Place 5 tblsp of the cream mixture in a small sucepan and squeeze out excess water. Add to the pan and warm till just enough to melt the gelatine. Whisk this mixture back into the bulk of the marsala cream. 

• Place all the sponge finger in a flat tray. Mix the coffee and marsala. Drizzle some on top and allow to soak for about 1 min. Turn over the finger and drizzle the remaining coffee mixture over. 

• To assemble, place a disc on the bottom of each pot, add some sponge finger, marsala cream. Place another chocolate disc on top then some more marsala cream, another chocolate disc on top and top with a final layer of marsala cream. Chill in fridge for at least 2 hours 

• Sprinkle the soil on top of each tiramisu flower pot to cover the surface. 

• "plant" the basil or mint leave on top and serve!! 

Okonomiyaki お好み焼き

Okonomiyaki is basically a Japanese savoury pancake containing a variety of ingredients. Okonomi means "what you like" or "what you want" with "yaki" meaning grill hence other the basic ingredient of flour, stock and cabbage, you can very much add what ever you like in the batter, things like cheese, seafood, bacons are some of thing things I can think of right away. If you cannot find Nagaimo which is a type of yam, feel free to leave it out but it can be found usually in Japanese supermarket. 

Recipes 

1 cup      Plain flour
1/2 tsp    Baking powder
1/4 tsp    Salt
1/4 tsp    Sugar
3/4 cup   Dashi stock or water
2            Egg
1/4        Cabbage, about 2 to 3 cups packed and shredded
2-3 in    Nagaimo (grated)
2            Spring onion (finely chopped)
1/2         leek (finely chopped)
1 cup     Squid (cut into small pieces)

Method

• Combine the flour, baking powder, salt, sugar and dashi stock and egg. Whisk to combine.
• Add in the remaining ingredient and mix well
•  In a oil pan, scoop a ladle of batter onto the pan. Do not flatten too much or it will break apart when you try to turn it over. 
• Cook on one side for about 1 to 2 minutes.
• If you are adding bacon, you can lay about 2 to 3 slices onto before you turn over to the other side
• Cook for another 2 minutes or 5 minutes if using bacon.
• Remove from heat, top with Japanese mayonnaise, Okomiyaki sauce, Katsuobushi