Mushroom Soup

蘑菇清湯配帕爾瑪芝士
Category: Soup
Style: Western
Difficulty: Easy
Portion: Serves 8

Ingredients
1 ounce dried mushrooms, such as porcini (about 1 cup)
1 cup boiling water
3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
2 medium onion, halved and thinly sliced into half-moons
6 cloves garlic, minced
2 celery stalk, finely chopped (about 1 cup)
2 lb cremini or white mushrooms, caps and stems thinly sliced lengthwise
1 tsp teaspoon salt
1 cup dry white wine (or substitute with apple juice or white graph juice)
4 cups Beef or Chicken stock
1 tbsp finely chopped fresh tarragon, plus sprigs for garnish
2 oz Parmesan cheese, thinly shaved with a vegetable peeler
Black pepper

Procedures
Soak dried mushrooms in boiling water, covered, until soft, about 20 minutes. Lift out mushrooms; squeeze over liquid. Finely chop; set aside. Pour liquid through a fine sieve into a bowl; reserve.
Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat until hot but not smoking. Add onion, garlic, and celery; cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 8 minutes. Add fresh mushrooms and salt; cook, stirring occasionally, until most of liquid has evaporated and mushrooms are soft, about 12 minutes. Raise heat to high. Add wine, reserved mushrooms and liquid, stock, and 3 cups water; bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to medium-low; cook 30 minutes. Add chopped tarragon.
Serve immediately. Garnish with cheese shavings and fresh tarragon springs.

Maple Syrup Roast Yam

楓糖焗番薯
Category: Vegetable
Style: Western
Difficulty: Easy
Portion: Serves 8

Ingredients
2 yam (also works with pumpkin or butternut squash)
2 tbsp maple syrup
2 oz butter, melted

Procedures
Preheat oven to 450F.
Peel and wash yam. Cut into quarters.
Put in a roasting pan and drizzle with maple syrup and melted butter. Bake in oven for 30 minutes or until fork tender. Baste with syrup often.

Cinnamon Bun Pudding

肉桂甜飽布甸
Category: Dessert
Style: Western
Difficulty: Easy
Portion: Serves 8

Ingredients
3 large cinnamon bun, icing removed
4 cups milk
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup sugar, + 2 tbsp for sprinkling
1/4 cup brown sugar
8 eggs

Procedures
Let cinnamon buns dry overnight (or if in a hurry, chill in the fridge).
Preheat oven to 350 F.
Slice cinnamon buns across, creating 2 spiral-looking halves.
Butter a 9-by-13 inch baking pan and arrange slices into pan.
Heat milk and vanilla just to a simmer.
In a bowl whisk together sugars and eggs. Adding a little at a time, whisk milk into eggs until all is incorporated.
Pour over buns and press down to let mixture soak in. Sprinkle top of pudding with sugar.
Bake for 35-45 minutes, until centre of pudding springs back when pressed.
Serve warm.

Candied Apple Bake

脆糖烤蘋果
Category: Dessert
Style: Western
Difficulty: Easy
Portion: Makes 8 individual servings

Ingredients
1/2 cup butter
2 cups sugar
6 cups water
1 lemon, sliced
6 large Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and cut into medium chunks
2 cups apple sauce
cinnamon and sugar for dusting
melted butter for brushing
For sugar glass
1/2 cup sugar
1 tbsp water
2 tbsp butter

Procedures
Preheat oven to 350F
To make sugar glass: In a small saucepan, melt 1/2 cup sugar with 1 tbsp water. Cook until lightly caramel in colour. Add 2 tbsp butter. Lay one 8.5" x 11" sheet of parchment paper on a cookie sheet, and spread sugar very thinly with a spatula. Let harden and break into 8 pieces, each large enough to cover a 6 oz custard cup. The glass can be made ahead of time.
To make apple filling: In another saucepan over medium heat, lightly caramelize sugar in butter. Carefully add water. Add lemon and bring to boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.
Add apple chunks to syrup and poach until slightly tender. Remove and cool.
Divide apple sauce evenly into 8 6-oz custard cups. Cover with apple chunks, dust with cinnamon and sugar mixture. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes, until apple is tender. Brush apples with melted butter 5 minutes before they are done.
Place a piece of sugar glass over top of apple bake. Return to oven for 3 minutes. The glass will wilt over apples, then harden again like candy and should crunch with a fork.
Serve hot.

Tips
When caramelizing sugar, be careful not to touch the sugar with your hand, because melted sugar is much hotter than boiling water and can seriously burn your skin. Be cautious also when adding cold water to hot caramel. It may splatter. Use an oven mitten to protect your hand and avoid burning.

Grilled Burgers with Lime-laced Yogurt Sauce

燒漢堡扒配青檸乳酪醬汁
Category: Main Course
Style: Fusion
Difficulty: Easy
Portion: Serves 8

Ingredients
Burgers
1 small red onion
4 cloves garlic
4 eggs
2 lb ground beef
2 tsp dried Italian herbs
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
Yogurt Sauce
1/2 cup plain yogurt
2 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
1.5 tsp lime juice
zest of 1/2 lime
1 or 2 tsp chili-garlic sauce

Procedures
Finely chop onion. Mince garlic. In a medium-size bowl, whisk eggs. Add meat. Sprinkle with onion, garlic, herbs, salt and pepper. Using your hand, mix just until blended. Overworking the meat will result in tough burgers.
Divide misture into 8 portions and shape into 1-inch thick burgers, about 3.5 inch wide. Place burger on a barbeque and grill until done.
You can also place burger under a broiler. Set rack at the top third of the oven. Place burgers on a roasting rack set on top of a tray. Broil until done, turning once.
In a small bowl, stir yogurt with cilantro, lime juice, lime zest and chili-garlic sauce. Spoon sauce overtop burgers. Serve with buns or English muffin.

Cauliflower Puree

花椰菜純味濃汁
Category: Vegetable
Style: Western
Difficulty: Easy
Portion: Serves 8

Ingredients
2 heads cauliflower, stem and tough stalks trimmed, florets roughly chopped (about 3 to 3.5 lb)
2 cups water or chicken stock
2-3 tbsp sour cream
2 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
salt and pepper to taste

Procedures
Combine cauliflower and water or chicken stock in a large pot, and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to a simmer, and cook until cauliflower is very tender, about 10 minutes. Drain, but reserve cooking liquid.
Transfer cauliflower to the bowl of a food processor. Process until smooth, about 20 seconds. (You may need to do this in batches)
Add sour cream and butter, and process 10 more seconds until combined.
If the puree is too thick, add a little bit of cooking liquid to dilute.
Season with salt and pepper. Serve hot.

Tips
Instead of boiling the cauliflower in stock, you can also steam the cauliflower with a steamer. Add some chicken stock powder to taste if desired.
You can also add a little bit of Dijon mustard to generate some heat.

Summer Citrus Prawns Skewers

夏日橙香串燒大蝦
Category: Appetizer
Style: Western
Difficulty: Easy
Portion: Serves 8

Ingredients
1 lb frozen tiger prawn, thawed, peeled and deveined
3 tbsp orange juice
2 tbsp chili-garlic sauce
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tbsp brown sugar
2 tsp grated fresh ginger
1 tsp finely grated orange zest
wooden skewers

Procedures
Soak skewers in water for 20 minutes to prevent burning.
In a large bowl, stir orange juice with chili-garlic sauce, oil, sugar, ginger and orange zest. Add prawns. Stir until evenly coated. Marinate for 30 minutes.
Thread 3 prawns on each skewer and place on a rack set on top of a rimmed baking sheet. Broil until prawns are cooked, 2-3 minutes. Turn prawns over and continue broiling until cooked through, another 2-4 minutes.
Meanwhile, pour leftover sauce into a small saucepan over high heat. Bring to a boil, uncovered. Continue cooking and reduce sauce to 1/3 cup, approximately 7 minutes. Serve sauce on the side or brush over cooked prawns.
(3.9g carb per serving)

Tips
You can also cook the prawns skewers on the barbeque.

Corona-Steamed Tiger Prawns Kebabs with Pineapple Salsa

啤酒蒸虎蝦串 配鳳梨莎莎
Category: Appetizer
Style: Western
Difficulty: Easy
Portion: Serves 8

Ingredients
2 tbsp honey
1 lime
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp Dijon mustard
32 tiger prawns (about 1 lb), peeled and deveined
1 to 2 bottles Corona
salt and pepper to taste
Pineapple Salsa
1 16 oz. can pineapple tidbits
1/4 cup diced red bell pepper
1/4 cup diced green bell pepper
1/4 cup diced red onion
1 tbsp fresh lime juice
2.5 tsp chopped jalapeno chili pepper
1/4 tsp grated lime peel
salt to taste

Procedures
To make salsa: Combine all ingredients. Mix well. Season with salt. Set aside.
Cut lime in half. Set one half aside and juice the other half.
To make glaze: Whisk together honey, lime juice, soy sauce and mustard and set glaze aside.
Thread 4 prawns onto each of eight bamboo skewers.
Pour Corona into a large pot set over medium heat. There should be at least 1/4 inch of liquid at the bottom of the pot. . Bring beer to a simmer.
Season the skewers with salt and pepper, then put skewers in a steamer. Squeeze the remaining lime half over the skewers. Place on a steaming rack in the pot, cover and steam until the prawns are cooked through, about 5 minutes.
Remove the kebabs from the steamer and brush with glaze. Serve immediately with pineapple salsa.

Ginger and Milk Pudding

薑汁撞奶
Category: Dessert
Style: Chinese
Difficulty: Easy
Portion: Makes 2 servings

Ingredients
2 cups milk
3 tbsp sugar
4 tsp ginger juice

Procedures
To make ginger juice: grate fresh ginger with a grater. Pass through a sift and press with a spoon to obtain juice.
Put 2 tsp of ginger juice at the bottom of each of 2 bowls.
Put milk and sugar in a saucepan. Attach a candy thermometer to the inside of the pot.
Bring milk to a boil, about 95C. Remove from heat. Stir milk to lower its temperature to 75C.
Pour milk vigorously into prepared bowls. Let stand 3 minutes and milk will solidify.
Serve immediately.

Tips
The temperature of the milk is critical. Use a thermometer to ensure that the milk is at the right temperature. Candy thermometer is available at kitchen supplies store (like Ming Wo) and most dollar shops.
Milk needs to be between 70C and 80C to solidify. It cannot be either too hot or too cold.
Use Chinese ginger for this recipe. The ginger juice should looks milky. Ginger from Hawaii with clear juice cannot solidify the milk.
The texture of the pudding should resemble very watery sweet tofu pudding. It will not be completely solid like steam custard.
If you want to use skim milk, add 1 tsp of corn starch to the milk for a fuller texture. Make sure that there is no lumps.

Basic Fruit Granita

意大利粗冰沙
Category: Dessert
Style: italian
Difficulty: Easy
Portion: Serves 8

Ingredients
1 cup water
1/2 cup sugar or to taste
3 cups fruit juice
2 tsp lemon juice or lime juice
2 tbsp vodka or gin

Procedures
In a medium saucepan, combine sugar and water and bring to a boil, stirring until sugar dissolves. Let cool. Stir in fruit juice and lemon or lime juice and pour into a chilled 13 by 9 inch baking dish.
Place baking dish in the freezer and freeze, stirring every 20 to 30 minutes with a fork until all frozen pieces are broken into small shavings and mixed well with the remaining liquid. Continue to stir and freeze until no more liquid is in the granita. Serve.

5-Minute Strawberry Ice Cream

五分鐘自製草莓雪糕
Category: Dessert
Style: Western
Difficulty: Easy
Portion: Serves 8

Ingredients
3/4 cup icing sugar
5 cup frozen strawberry
1-1/3 cup chilled whipping cream
fresh mint leaves, for garnish

Procedures
Put strawberry in a food processor. Sprinkle with icing sugar. Process on high speed until strawberry resemble coarse sand.
While food processor is still running, pour whipping cream into the processor in a thin stream. Continue to process for another 2 minutes. You may need to stop processor and scrap down the side.
Mixture should resemble very thick milk shake. Serve immediately or freeze further for a firmer texture.
Serve with mint leaves as garnish.

Tips
You may need to do this recipe in batches if your food processor is not large enough to handle 5 cups of fruits.
Depending on the size of your strawberries, you may need to use more or less cream. Watch the consistency of the mixture and adjust accordingly.
You can also use other frozen fruits such as blueberries, mixed berries, mango etc. Adjust the amount of sugar for different fruits.

Homemade Mint Oreo

私房巧克力薄荷夾心曲奇
Category: Dessert
Style: western
Difficulty: Easy
Portion: Makes 2 to 3 dozens

Ingredients
cookies
1.5 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cup icing sugar
3/4 cup cocoa powder
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 egg yolk
2 tbsp milk
3 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
mint filling
2 egg white
1/3 tsp peppermint extract
4 cups icing sugar

Procedures
Beat butter until smooth and fluffy.
Sift together icing sugar and cocoa powder over butter and beat in. Stir in vanilla, egg yolk and milk. Add flour, salt and baking powder and blend until incorporated. Shape dough into a disc, wrap with plastic warp and chill for 20 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350F.
On a surface slightly dusted with icing sugar, roll out dough to 1/8 inch thick. Cut into desired shapes and transfer carefully to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake for 12-15 minutes, until cookies can be lifted easily away from the parchment. Allow to cool completely on baking sheet.
Put egg white in mixing bowl. Add peppermint extract and mix well. Beat in icing sugar, a few tablespoonfuls at a time, until a soft dough forms. You may not need to use all icing sugar.
To fill cookies, roll a teaspoon of dough into a ball and flatten with the palm of your hand. Sandwich between 2 cookies and press together carefully.

Tips
Always sift cocoa powder as it always has lumps!

Virgin Sangria

Category: drink
Style: western
Difficulty: Easy
Portion:Makes 3 litres

Ingredients
1.5 litre bottled purple, red or white grape juice, chilled
1 litre club soda, chilled
1 cup frozen pineapple
1 cup frozen peach
1 large orange, sliced
2 cups ice cubes

Procedures
Combine juice and soda. Add fruit and ice cubes. Serve in a pitcher or punch bowl.

Light Farfelle Salad

清新蝴蝶粉沙拉
Category: salad
Style: western
Difficulty: Easy
Portion: Serves 8

Ingredients
I lb small pasta bows (farfelle) or shells
1 lb cherry tomato
1 cucumber, diced
1/4 cup black olives, pitted and sliced
2 tbsp fresh chives, snipped
1 pack fresh basil, leaves roughly chopped
dressing
3 cloves garlic
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

Procedures
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Put pasta and garlic in. Cook pasta until al dente, according to package instructions. Drain. Pick out the garlic and set aside. Put pasta in a large salad bowl.
Cut cherry tomato in halves. Add to pasta with cucumber, olives and herbs.
Use a fork to mesh cooked garlic. Adding a little salt will help grind the garlic down.
Put meshed garlic, olive oil and vinegar in a water-tight bottle. Close lid, shake until combined. Season with salt and pepper.
Add dressing to salad and toss to combine. Serve.

Tips
Traditional pasta salad usually uses mayonnaise-based dressing, which makes the salad very heavy. This salad uses a vinaigrette-based dressing which is much lighter.
Remember to keep the tomatoes and cucumber in the fridge until just before you mix the salad and serve. Cucumber will only be crunchy when cold.
Do not mix the salad with the dressing until just before you serve it.

Insalata Caprese (Tomato, Mozzarella and Basil Salad)

意大利式蕃茄軟乳酪蘿勒沙拉
Category: salad
Style: italian
Difficulty: Easy
Portion: Serves 4 to 6

Ingredients
4 very ripe medium tomatoes
16 oz fresh mozzarella or bocconcini
2 tbsp roughly chopped fresh basil leaves
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/8 tsp ground black pepper
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Procedures
Cut tomatoes and mozzarella into 1/4 inch thick slices
Layer tomatoes and mozzarella alternately on a platter.. Sprinkle basil, salt and pepper on top. Drizzle the oil over the platter and allow the flavour to meld for 5 to 10 minutes. Serve immediately.