This, I take no credit for. I’ve been craving lasagne for a while and isolation lady made it tonight. It made isolation man very happy. And now isolation couple are now on the isolation couch digesting isolation lasagne whilst isolated and libated. The rustic charm of this dish, that appeals to 4/5 senses is completely out of touch with 1/5 senses. On the telly is a 36 hour live dj stream from Beatport called Reconnect and streamed on Twitch. It’s worth watching, connecting to live humans around the world through music is ...lovely. So, stop reading this and get to it...
Due to some miscommunication my butcher, I ended up buying a 9lb leg of lamb. That’s a lot of lamb for two people! Evidently American lamb is a lot bigger than New Zealand lamb. There was a period of shock over just how much money I’d just spent on lamb, and then a follow up period of guilt that people are losing their jobs and can’t afford any lamb (my catholic upbringing ensures that guilt will feature in some form in most situations). Once this subsided I chopped it up into various parts that seemed to me to be roughly appropriate cuts of meat - later viewing of You Tube videos confirmed that I wasn’t entirely off the mark. And onto the bbq one of these cuts went, the rest nestled in the freezer for later consumption. Having relatively limited ingredients does mean some fusion cooking was required. I used a za’atar rub, charred squash and radicchio, and served in on fresh tortillas. Folks, this was the best bbq lamb I have ever prepared and eaten in my life. At the moment I do have a greater appreciation for food than ever before, isolation scarcity will do this I guess. So perhaps there is some covid bias going on. But, come on…how good does that look!
Since moving to LA, shopping at our local farmers market has become a weekly ritual - it helps that the closest market is only a 2 minute walk away. This week some ridgeback prawns at the Wild Local Seafood Co stall caught my eye. I’ve never heard of them before, but after talking to the person at the stall I learnt that they’re local to California, readily available in the wild, and their meat actually tastes more like lobster than prawn (or shrimp as they call it here). After hearing that last part, I knew I wanted to make a bisque sauce which is traditionally made with lobster but can also be very tasty with prawns.
A few years ago when I was still living in Singapore, I posted a recipe for Ravioli with Prawn Bisque Sauce. This is an updated version of that dish using fresh homemade pasta, organic cherry tomatoes and fresh herbs that I picked up at the farmers market. The sauce is still incredibly rich and flavourful, but adding fresh tomatoes instead of cream lightens the dish and allows the sweetness of the prawns shine through. Here I’ve used chervil which has a delicate, aniseed flavour that’s perfect with seafood, but fresh parsley or dill would also work.
What you need
1/2kg or 1lb whole prawns, heads cut off and set aside
1 shallot or small red onion, roughly chopped
1/2 cup dry white wine
2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
Pinch of chilli flakes
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt & pepper
Fettuccine pasta for 4 people
Juice of half a lemon
Handful of fresh herbs (e.g. chervil, parsley, dill), chopped
What to do
Heat 2 tablespoons oil in pot on medium. Add shallots and sweat for about 10mins until soft.
Turn up heat. Add prawn heads and cook for about 5mins until they turn red.
Pour in wine and simmer until reduced by half. Add tomatoes, lower heat, and simmer for 1 hour.
While prawn sauce is cooking...
If you’re making your own pasta, follow the first 3 steps in this recipe.
Boil pot of water. Add pinch of salt, prawn bodies, and cook for 1-2mins until they curl up and turn red.
Drain prawns and allow to cool. Remove meat from shell and set aside.
After prawn sauce is done...
Remove sauce from heat and allow to cool. Transfer to food processor, blend until smooth, and pour through a fine sieve.
Boil large pot of water with 1 teaspoon of salt. Add pasta, cook for about 2mins for fresh or 8mins for dry until al dente, and drain.
Heat 2 tablespoons oil in sauté pan on medium. Add garlic and chilli, and cook for about 1min until fragrant. Stir in prawn sauce, and season with salt & pepper to taste.
Add pasta and prawn meat to pan, and toss well to coat. Add lemon juice and herbs, remove from heat, and serve immediately.
I made these oven baked spicy chicken wings as a snack during Superbowl 51, served with a blue cheese yoghurt dip and crudite. Since they’re not deep fried I can’t call them Buffalo wings, but they definitely satisfy hot wing cravings. I followed Serious Eats’ trick of using baking powder to help the wings crisp up in the oven. Beer and hot wings are a perfect pairing - we chose Boston Lager because the New England Patriots were playing and we used to lived in Boston.
What you need
Chicken wings, separated at the joints
For each 1kg (or 2lb) wings:
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp garlic powder
4 tablespoons hot sauce
4 tablespoons butter
Salt & pepper
For blue cheese dip:
100g (or 1/4lb) blue cheese
Half cup greek yoghurt
2 Tablespoons mayonnaise
2 Tablespoons whole milk
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon garlic powder
Fresh chives, finely chopped
What to do
Take chicken out of fridge at least 1 hour before and dry thoroughly with paper towels.
Preheat oven to 230°C (450°F).
In a large bowl, combine wings with baking powder, cayenne pepper, paprika, garlic powder, and plenty of salt & pepper. Toss until well coated.
Place wings on oven tray and bake for 40mins, turning once after 20mins, until crispy and golden brown.
Meanwhile, combine blue cheese with yoghurt, mayo, milk, lemon juice and garlic powder.
Mash blue cheese until you get a smooth sauce. Add a little more milk if the sauce is too thick. Stir in chives and season to taste with salt & pepper.
When wings are almost done, melt butter and combine in large bowl with hot sauce.
Take wings out of oven, add to bowl with hot sauce, and toss until well coated. Serve with blue cheese dip.
This is the first Chinese New Year I can remember that we’ve spent at home without family. When we lived in Singapore, we could easily hop on a flight to Hong Kong where many of my relatives live. In London, my brother would come over for dinner or we would go to yum cha with our cousins. Even for the one year we lived in Boston, we flew back to New Zealand to spend Chinese New Year with my family. But this year, we’ll be at home in LA where we don’t have any family or close friends. It’s probably the first time since I left New Zealand back in 2011 I’ve felt a little homesick. There’s part of my that just wants to drive toward San Gabriel Valley (where the best Chinese food in LA is) and hope I just run into some Chinese New Year celebrations.
So what do we do? Go all out on a Chinese New Year feast at home of course! Starting with homemade dumplings in the morning - dumplings symbolize wealth because they look like Chinese ingot currency. I made Nick’s favourite lamb dumplings, but I also like pork and prawn and beef and cabbage dumplings.
For dinner we had swordfish yusheng, a raw fish salad that’s eaten only during New Year. Fish symbolizes prosperity because the Chinese word for “fish” sounds a lot like the word for “surplus”. The best part of the dish is the tossing - last year I made this dish for some friends in London and we ended up with salad all over the table.
We finished with a Chinese hot pot for two. Usually hot pots are best with lots of people so you can have lots of different dishes but we made up for this with quality ingredients - prawns, strip loin steak, shiitake mushrooms, daikon and lettuce. I used a soy dashi soup base to start, and of course, every good hot pot finishes with noodles.
If you’re thinking about making your own Chinese New Year feast, other ideas for dishes include poached whole chicken (symbolizes togetherness), whole fish (prosperity and togetherness), and noodles (long noodles symbolize a long life). Also, tangerines are considered very auspicious because it sounds like the Chinese word for “luck”.
I started Cooking In The City in 2011 when I was living in Singapore (the very first recipe was cooking Christmas turkey dinner in our tiny kitchen) because I love to cook and quite honestly, I was less than challenged at work. When I moved to Boston in 2013, I continued posting recipes, though less frequently after starting a new job. In 2014 this job led me and Nick to London, and then in 2015, we started Eat a City to help food lovers like us find great food and travel experiences.
My job has now led us to Los Angeles. Although we are very sad to leave Europe behind (food highlights include Lyles in London, the vibrant food scene in Berlin, and of course Noma in Copenhagen), we’re looking forward to exploring the West Coast and Mexico. But between moving countries, Eat a City and a full-time job, I haven’t had much time left to post recipes this year. I’m still committed to Cooking In The City, so stay tuned for some coming changes.
Prawn noodle soup, also known as prawn mee, is one of the dishes I miss the most from Singapore. Ask any local and you’ll hear about which hawker food stall has the most fragrant broth, which has the biggest prawns, whether they prefer egg noodles, bee hoon (rice noodles) or a mix of both, and pros and cons of the wet (noodles inside the soup) and dry (noodles on the side) versions. Each hawker stll has their own secret recipe for the broth and sometimes pork ribs or crab shells are added to pack in even more flavour. Here I’ve used 100% prawns for the broth (after many weeks of saving up the heads and shells) served with egg noodles, mini bak choy, and the biggest prawns I could find!
What you need
Makes enough for 4
Heads and shells from 500g of prawns (reserve prawn meat for serving, or if using jumbo prawns, reserve for another recipe)
3 banana shallots, roughly chopped
3 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
4 whole jumbo prawns (optional)
4 servings of egg noodles
4 mini bak choy, quartered lengthwise
Fresh red chilli, sliced
Salt
What to do
Heat oil on medium in large pot, added shallots and garlic, and sauté for 1-2 mins until fragrant. Add prawn heads and shells, and fry for 5mins until shells turn red.
Pour in enough water to cover, lower heat, and allow to simmer for 2 hours. Strain stock and season with salt to taste.
If using whole jumbo prawns, slice in half lengthwise, being careful not to lose any of the “coral”. Steam for around 5mins until just cooked through.
If using prawn meat, bring strained prawn broth to boil, add prawn meat and cook for 2mins. Remove with slotted spoon and set aside.
Meanwhile, bring large pot of water to boil. Add noodles and cook until al dente. Add bak choy and blanch for 1-2mins. Drain and set aside.
To serve, place noodles into bowl and top with bak choy and jumbo prawns or prawn meat. Laddle hot prawn broth over and garnish with chilli.
I haven't been posting many recipes lately and there's a good reason why. Nick and I have been working on a little travel project - Eat a City (eatacity.com). We've finally launched so check us out if you're travelling around Europe and Asia, and need a city guide written by food lovers, for food lovers.
I don’t use the word “ultimate” lightly. I’ve made a few variations of ragu, a rich meaty sauce typically served with pasta. The classic alla Bolognese with ground meat, alla Napoletano with whole cuts of beef, pork and sausages, as well as ones with lamb, oxtail and beef short ribs. So what makes this ragu ultimate?
This recipe takes its inspiration from Massimo Bottura’s ragu in his latest book, “Never Trust a Skinny Italian Chef”, which calls for pasta made from “unhatched (embryonic) eggs” and meat cooked sous-vide for 24 hours. I did neither of those things, but I did use some of the same ingredients.
The combination of meaty beef cheek, rich bone marrow and smokey pancetta makes the ultimate ragu. This isn’t a simple recipe but the extra effort to confit the tomatoes, blanch the bone marrow, slowly cook the beef cheek for 4 hours, and of course, make your own pasta is worth it. This is truly something special.
What you need
Makes enough for 4
6 cherry tomatoes
1 beef marrow bone, cut in half
1 onion, finely diced
1 carrot, finely diced
1 celery stick, finely diced
50g pancetta, diced
100g ground veal
1 beef cheek (~500g or 1 pound)
1 bay leaf
1 rosemary sprig
1 glass dry white wine
1 cup good quality chicken stock
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt & pepper
Pecorino cheese, grated
What to do
Preheat oven to 150°C (or 300°F). Place tomatoes in roasting tray, drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast for 45mins until tomatoes are wrinkled. Set aside to cool.
Boil large pot of water with 1 teaspoon salt. Add bone marrow and blanch for about 1min. Remove from pot, gently separate the marrow, and set aside to drain on a paper towel.
Heat 3 tablespoons olive oil in heavy-bottomed pot on medium. Add onion, carrot, celery, and cook for about 10mins until soft. Remove from pot with slotted spoon and set aside.
Turn up heat to medium high, add pancetta and cook for about 5mins until fat starts to render. Add veal and cook until brown. Remove veal and pancetta with slotted spoon and set aside.
Add cheek to pot and brown on both sides. Add bone marrow and cook until brown. Return veal, pancetta and vegetables to pot. Stir in wine and simmer for 5mins until starts to reduce.
Add bay leaf, rosemary, tomatoes, and pour in enough stock to cover. Bring to simmer, then reduce heat to lowest setting. Cover and cook for at least 4 hours until cheek pulls apart easily.
Take out cheek and gently pull apart using fork. Return to pot and simmer uncovered for about 30mins until reduced to a thick sauce. Discard herbs and season with salt & pepper.
Make pasta following first 3 steps in this recipe. Boil large pot of water with 1 teaspoon salt, add pasta and cook for about 2mins until al dente. Drain pasta, add to sauce, and toss to coat.
Monkfish is a strange, and some would say ugly, looking fish with firm, meaty flesh that can stand up to stronger flavours. The salty proscuitto ham - you can use any type of cured ham or even streaky bacon - pairs really well with the sweet, delicate monkfish. Here I’ve added a sprig of dill in the middle and served buttery fondant potatoes on the side.
What you need
1 monkfish tail, skinless and cut into 2 fillets
100g proscuitto
2 sprigs of fresh herbs, e.g. dill, thyme, chervil (optional)
2 Tablespoons olive oil
100g butter
1 cup chicken stock
2 sprigs of thyme
2 garlic cloves
2 large potatoes, cut into 4 round discs around 1-2 inches thick
Salt & pepper
What to do
Lay out proscuitto slightly overlapping to form a sheet just large enough for the monkfish. Place fish in centre and 1 sprig of herb on top. Wrap proscuitto around fish as tightly as you can to form a cylinder.
Heat oil in non-stick pan on medium high, gently add monkfish and cook for 2mins. Turn the fish 45°, cook for another 2mins, and repeat until proscuitto is crisp all over. Set aside to rest for 5mins.
For the fondant potatoes, melt butter in large saucepan on medium heat. When the butter starts to bubble and brown, add potatoes in single layer and fry for around 5mins each side until golden all over.
Pour in just enough stock to cover, add thyme and garlic. Lower heat to simmer and cook for around 15-20mins until potatoes are tender. Remove potatoes from pan and season with salt & pepper.
To serve, cut monkfish in half on an angle and place on plate with fondant potatoes. Garnish with a drizzle of olive oil or some potato poaching liquid on top, and a squeeze of lemon juice (optional).
Don't be put off by the long list of ingredients - once you assemble all the components, the actual cooking is quick, easy and all in one pot. Some ingredients are optional, like the tofu, kimchi, zucchini and mushrooms, and you can use any type of seafood you want. If you absolutely can't find gochujang, then use miso paste and extra chili flakes instead... but it really isn't the same. Serve the stew boiling hot in a claypot for everyone to share with steamed rice on the side.
What you need
100g shrimp or prawns, peeled and deveined
100g squid, cleaned and cut into rings
100g clams or mussels, cooked and deshelled
100g soft silken tofu, cubed
100g kimchi, roughly chopped ?
Half an onion, thinly sliced
Half a zucchini or courgette, diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon chilli flakes
1 Tablespoon sesame oil
1 cup dashi ? or fish stock
1 Tablespoon gochujang ?
1 teaspoon soy sauce
Salt & pepper
Handful of enoki or shiitake mushrooms, sliced
1 spring onion, chopped
1 egg
Heat sesame oil in claypot on medium, add kimchi, onion, zucchini, garlic and chilli flakes. Sautée for 5mins until vegetables are soft.
Stir in stock, gochujang and soy sauce, bring to boil, and simmer for 10mins. Gently add seafood, tofu, and simmer for 2mins. Season with salt & pepper to taste.
Top the stew with mushrooms, spring onions, and an egg. Remove from heat (the egg should continue cooking in the hot broth). Serve with steamed rice.
Lamb shoulder is a great and underrated cut for roasting - packed with so much flavour and surprisingly good value. You can have your butcher debone and roll the lamb for you, but Nick (of course) wanted to do it himself. Here's a video tutorial for how to do this at home. The seasoning we've used here is a mix of Mediterranean and Middle Eastern - lamb shoulder stands up to all sorts of flavours so you can experiment a bit with different combinations. You can substitute the baharat for some lemon zest for a spice-less lamb roast.
Combine garlic, anchovy, rosemary, spices, oil, salt and pepper in a bowl for the seasoning.
Open up the deboned lamb shoulder and rub two-thirds of seasoning all over the inside.
Roll and tie up lamb, then rub remaining seasoning all over the outside. Set aside for up to 1 hour.
Place lamb in oven and roast for 3 hours for <1kg, 4 hours for >1kg. Halfway through cooking, add a little water to the bottom of the tray to help keep the meat moist (this will also make great gravy).
Remove lamb from oven, cover with tinfoil, and set aside to rest for 30mins. Reserve roasting juices for making gravy. Carve lamb into slices and serve with gravy.
My Family Recipe for Chinese New Year Raw Fish Salad (Yusheng)
Growing up, I always looked forward to Chinese New Year. Not only do I get given lai see (red envelopes with money inside), I also get to eat one of my favourite dishes; yusheng (raw fish salad). The dish is made up of raw fish, shredded vegetables, crispy crackers, roasted peanuts, and much more. All of this is combined and tossed at the table, with everyone around the table tossing with their own chopsticks. The higher the tossing, the more good luck is supposed to come your way in the new year.
It wasn't until I moved to Singapore and tried the dish there that I realized my dad had made the recipe his own. The yusheng I remember eating growing up has a much higher fish to vegetable ratio and omits the sweet plum sauce. I know I'm biased but I prefer my dad's version - the flavours are more natural and the subtle spices allow the sweet, fresh fish to be the focus. It's like a Chinese ceviche. So the recipe that follows is not the traditional version you'd find in Singapore or Malaysia, but a delicious adaptation of the iconic Chinese New Year dish. I'm sure you'll love it as much as I do.
What you need for the salad
500g sashimi-grade salmon and sea bass, thinly sliced
1 carrot, peeled and shredded
1 cucumber, peeled and shredded
1 small daikon radish, peeled and shredded
2 spring onions, cut into long, thin strips
2 Tablespoon pickled ginger, thinly sliced
1-2 large red chillies, thinly sliced
What you need for condiments
2 cups deep-fried wonton wrappers or crackers
2 Tablespoons roasted peanuts, crushed
1 Tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
2 Tablespoon red vinegar
2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon five spice powder, mixed with half tsp salt and half tsp sugar
Quarter teaspoon ground chilli powder
Quarter teaspoon ground turmeric
Juice of 1 lime
What to do
Place fish in centre of large platter. Place remaining salad ingredients in small, unmixed piles around fish. Serve with condiments in small containers on the side.
When you're ready to eat, pour or sprinkle each condiment on top of salad, one at a time. Everyone tosses salad with chopsticks as high as possible until well mixed.
izzy806
discoholicmusic
gummygunk
kianamaiart
jbbartram-illu
jacobvanloon
theartofmadeline
yousharknotpass