Egg Tarts

Mainly adapted from Christine's Recipe. Visit her website for the original recipe. (http://en.christinesrecipes.com/2009/03/cantonese-egg-tarts-recipe.html#.URtSKxEaySM)


Ingredients for the crust:

225g plain flour
125g butter
50g icing sugar
1 egg, whisked
1 tsp vanilla essence


Ingredients for the custard:

3 eggs
90g caster sugar
225g hot water
85g evaporated milk


Methods for the crust:

1. Place butter at room temperature until softened. Whisk the butter and sugar until the mixture is smooth, fluffy and light in color.

2. Add in whisked egg, half at a time, whisk slowly. Add vanilla extract, mix well.

3. Sift in flour and make sure all ingredients combine well. Knead into dough.

4. Roll out the dough to a 1/2 cm thickness. Cut dough with a cookie cutter that is just a bit smaller than your tart tin in size.

5. Line dough in the middle of tart tins, one by one. Lightly press the dough with your thumbs, starting from the bottom then up to the sides. While pressing the dough, turn the tart tin clockwise/anti-clockwise in order to make an even tart shell. Trim away any excess dough.


Methods for the custard:

1. Add sugar into hot water, mix until completely dissolved. Let the water cool.

2. Whisk egg with evaporated milk. Pour in sugar water. Mix well.

3. Sift egg mixture to get rid of any foam into a tea pot. Carefully pour egg mixture into each tart shell.


Baking methods:

1. Preheat oven to 200C. Bake tarts for 10 to 15 minutes until the edges are lightly brown.

2. Lower the heat to 180C. Keep an eye on them. Once you see the custard being puffed up a bit, pull the oven door open about 2 to 3 inches. Bake for another 10 to 15 minutes until the custard is cooked through. Just insert a toothpick into the custard. If it stands on its own, it’s done.

Snow Pears and Apples Chicken Soup

Serve 6

Ingredients:

3 snow pears (cored and cut into quartered)
2 Fuji apples (cored and cut into quartered)
1 whole chicken breast with bones. (Washed, cut into 4 pieces and blanched with boiling water)
$1 worth of mixed Chinese bitter and sweet almonds
2 carrots (peeled and chopped into chunks)
10 seedless red dates
Water
Sea salt


Methods:

1. Boil a big pot of water.

2. Once the water starts to boil rapidly, put in the chicken breast. Cook for 10 minutes.

3. Add the pears, carrots, Chinese almonds and red dates. Cook with high heat for 10 minutes before reducing the heat and simmer for 1 hour.

4. Add the apples and continue to simmer for another 1-2 hours.

5. Add some sea salt as desired.


Do not peel the fruit so that they will stay intact during the simmering. May add snow fungus too.

Honey Baked Wings

Ingredients:

16 mid joint wings
3 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
2 tbsp honey
1 tbsp garlic powder
2 tbsp ginger juice


Methods:

1. Marinate the chicken wings with all the ingredients for at least 1 hour. Best marinate overnight.

2. Pre heat the oven at 200 degree celsius. Bake the chicken wings for 20 minutes. Turn to 220 degree Celsius and bake for another 5 minutes. This will make the wings looks nicely browned.

Chicken Bolognese Spaghetti

Serve 6

Ingredients:

300g spaghetti
1 big tomato (diced)
1 onion (minced finely)
300g minced chicken
500g pasta sauce (store bought)
2 tbsp olive oil
Water for cooking spaghetti
200ml water
4 tbsp water for cooking the spaghetti
Sea salt
Coarse black pepper
Chopped Fresh Italian parsley (optional)


Methods:

1. Heat the oil in a non stick pot.

2. Sauté the onion for few minutes. Add the minced chicken.

3. Cook the minced chicken for few minutes. Toss in the diced tomatoes. Add the pasta sauce and 200ml of water. Cook for few minutes before turning the heat down and let it simmer for 30 minutes.

4. Boil a pot of water with a tsp of salt. Cook the spaghetti for 10-15 minutes. Drain and set aside. Remember to keep some pasta water.

5. Add 4 tbsp of pasta water into the pasta sauce. Stir well. Season with some sea salt. Stir well and turn the heat off.

6. Place some spaghetti on a plate and ladle some minced chicken pasta sauce on the top. Sprinkle some coarse black pepper.


Easy side dish: Sautéed assorted mushrooms with garlic and soy sauce

Ingredients:

10 Shiitake mushrooms (sliced)
2 packets enoki mushrooms (ends trimmed)
1 packet fresh Yanagi Matsutake mushrooms (ends trimmed)
2 cloves garlic (minced finely)
1 tbsp olive oil
2-3 tbsp soy sauce
Coarse black pepper


Methods:

1. Heat the oil in a non stick pan. Sauté the garlic.

2. Add the shiitake and Yanagi Matsutake mushrooms. Drizzle 1 tbsp of soy sauce. Stir fry quickly.

3. Add the enoki mushrooms and drizzle the remaining soy sauce. Stir fry. Cook till the sauce has dry up and sprinkle some coarse black pepper. Stir well.

Chicken Stew

Ingredients:

10 mid joint wings
10 fresh shiitake mushrooms (halved)
2 potatoes (peeled and chopped into bite pieces)
2 carrots (peeled and chopped into bite pieces)
4 stalks celery (sliced thickly)
1 big tomato (quartered)
20 shallots
20 cloves garlic
20g Italian parsley (chopped finely)
Chicken stock
Sea salt
Coarse black pepper
3 tbsp cooking oil


Methods:

1. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a non stick pan. Pan fry the wings on both sides till golden brown. Set aside.

2. Heat the oil in a pot. Sauté the chopped parsley, garlic and shallots till fragrant.

3. Add the mushrooms,potatoes, carrots, and celery. Stir fry for a minute.

4. Add the chicken stock (about 800ml) and bring to boil. Once boiling rapidly, add the tomatoes and chicken wings. Cook for a minute.

5. Turn the heat down and simmer for an hour. Remember to stir sometimes. The sauce should thicken now.

6. Add some sea salt and coarse black pepper.

Serve with some rice or pasta.