Smoked salmon kedgeree

Ingredients
butter
1 small onion , halved and sliced
1 tsp curry powder
150g basmati rice
300ml chicken stock or vegetable stock
3 eggs
70g smoked salmon , torn into pieces
½ small bunch parsley , chopped
1 lemon , ½ juiced, other ½ cut into wedges

Heat a large knob of butter in a pan. Cook the onion with a pinch of salt on a fairly high heat until golden and caramelised. Stir in the curry powder and cook for 1 minute. Add the rice and stir to coat. Add the stock, bring to a gentle simmer then put on a lid and cook for about 10-12 minutes until all the liquid has been absorbed and the rice is tender.

Meanwhile, drop the eggs into boiling water for 8 minutes, rinse under cold running water, then shell. Stir the salmon, parsley and lemon juice through the rice and divide between 2 dishes. Quarter the eggs and serve on top of the rice with lemon wedges.

Prawn pilaf

From Gordon Ramsay’s Best Menus
Serves 4

Ingredients

500ml light chicken stock
4tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, peeled and finely chopped
1 garlic clove, peeled and chopped
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1.5 tsp mild curry powder
10 cardamom pods
few thyme sprigs (leaves only)
200g basmati rice
sea salt and black pepper
20 large tiger prawns (in shells)

Heat oven to 200C. Cut a circle of baking paper big enough to cover an overproof pan. Cut a steam hole in the centre. Bring stock to boil in another pan.

Heat olive oil in ovenproof pan, add garlic, onion, spices and thyme. Stir over medium heat for 2-3 minutes, then tip rice in and stir well. Add some salt and pepper and toast the rice for a minute. Pour in the boiling stock and arrange the prawns on top of the rice in a single layer.

Lay the baking paper on top to cover, then transfer pan to oven. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until rice is tender and has absorbed most of the liquid. Leave to stand, still covered with the paper, for 5 minutes before serving.

Rice was undercooked but the taste was pretty good! More practice required.

Creamy salmon kedgeree

From Irish Cooking – Clare Connery
Ingredients
Serves 4

50 g Butter
1 large onion (finely chopped)
175 g long grain rice (cooked until just tender)
500 g cooked salmon (boned and flaked)
3 hard-boiled eggs (roughly chopped)
2 tblsp parsley (finely chopped)
150 ml Cream
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp chives (finely chopped to garnish)

Melt half the butter in a large pan, add the onion and fry until it is soft.

Stir in the cooked rice, and season well with salt and pepper.

Add the salmon, eggs, parsley and cream, folding them carefully into the rice to prevent the fish and eggs from breaking up too much.

Pile the kedgeree into an ovenproof dish.

Grease a sheet of foil with the remaining butter and use to cover the dish.

Heat thoroughly in a preheated oven, 180°C (350°F/Gas 4) for 15 minutes.

When hot, serve sprinkled with the chives.

Was in Dublin for a wedding, and I continued my habit from buying cookbooks from the countries I have been to. Bought this irish cookbook to test out its recipes, and started with this kedgeree dish. Very very creamy and filling, and quite tasty too.

Sausage and Rice

It’s been a long time since I posted anything.  Well, I had a baby. Then my mom came and stayed with us so I basically didn’t have to cook. Then now it’s just the husband, the son and I. And I have to cook again. And I am enjoying the process tremendously even though the key to getting the family fed these days is quick and nutritious cooking. I had a brainwave to make sausage and rice after I started yearning for some rice and something hearty. This recipe is made up of in my head based on my knowledge of Paella and the latin Chicken and Rice method.

halfway cooked.

The husband loved it.

Ingredients:

1 onion – chopped
2 cloves of garlic – minced
1 green pepper – chopped
1 carrot – chopped
some celery – chopped
3/4 lbs of hot italian sausage (you can use any other type of sausage meat)
1/2 can of diced tomatoes (I had 1/3 jar of marinara sauce left and used that instead)
2 cups of brown rice (I mixed medium grain brown rice with basmati brown rice just because)
4 cups of chicken stock (I actually just used water because I ran out of chicken stock)
1 Bay leaf and italian seasoning (or whatever you have in your pantry)

Method:
Brown the sausage (remove the links) in olive oil. Drain and set aside.
Cook the garlic and onions in the drippings until onions are translucent.
Add in the rice and toast for a few minutes.
Add in the rest of the vegetables and let them cook for a few minutes.
Add in chicken stock, bay leaf, italian seasoning and stir well.
Add in diced tomatoes (or in my case, the marinara sauce)
Add salt and pepper.
Bring to a boil and cover and simmer until all the water is evaporated. This process takes about an hour. I super cheated and kept lifting the cover and the rice turned out fine, but I’m sure it would be FABULOUS had I not lifted the cover.

Serve with a side of salad.

Chorizo rice

From the BBC website
Ingredients
Serves 4

100g/3½oz chorizo
1 onion, sliced
1 garlic clove, sliced
200g/7oz short-grain rice such as arborio rice
4 tomatoes, roughly chopped
50g/2oz butter
1 tbsp parsley
600ml/20fl oz chicken stock
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.

Heat a heavy-based frying pan over a medium heat and fry the chorizo for 3-4 minutes, or until crisp. Remove the chorizo from the pan with a slotted spoon and set aside.

Fry the onion and garlic in the remaining oil for 3-4 minutes, or until soft.

Place the chorizo, onion, garlic, rice, tomatoes, butter and parsley into a well-buttered casserole dish. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Pour over the chicken stock, cover with a tight-fitting lid and bake in the oven for about 25-30 minutes, or until the rice is cooked.

Curry baked rice

Ingredients

1 onion
1 celery stick
1 chicken fillet, diced
2 tbsp of curry powder
1 cup of peas
Cheddar cheese
1 bowl of cooked rice

Fry onions and celery. Add in diced chicken seasoned with salt and curry powder and fry till the chicken is browned on both sides. Add 1 tbsp of water and the peas.

Place rice in a casserole dish, pour the chicken mixture on top and cover with lots and lots of cheddar cheese. Bake till the cheese is golden brown.

I think Singaporeans first knew about baked rice when Swensons introduced it to their menu a couple of years ago. I am not too sure whether I first tasted it at Swensons or whether I tried it at home. My mom apparently loved it so much, she started making it at home on a regular basis. I think she developed the recipe on her own. I am not too sure. Anyway, I have modified her recipe by adding curry powder to it. Cheese goes really well with curry.

Claypot rice (with a rice cooker)

How it looks in the rice cooker.

Lunch is served.

I remember when I first left for Melbourne for my first degree, my mom would tell me the wonders of the rice-cooker, and how I should make claypot rice. Now claypot rice is a beloved dish in my family. When I was a little girl, my family and relatives would come together on a Sunday evening, drive down to that particular stall in Chinatown, order a few claypots of rice and wait a really long time for it to arrive. The anticipation was full of chatter and excitement and the final arrival of the fragrant, slightly burnt rice was always greeted with oohs and aahs and within minutes, everything was devoured.

So my mom kept telling me that it’s a perfect one-dish meal. And I never cooked it. Lately, I’ve been missing my mom. And when one misses her mom, one will hear her mom’s voice (or nagging?) in her mind’s ears. So yea, it dawned upon me that claypot rice might not be such a bad idea after all.

Marinade chicken wings with oyster sauce, sesame oil, dark soy sauce and light soy sauce overnight. Add some chinese wine if you have (i don’t). Chop some garlic and mix it with rice and cook the rice in the rice cooker the normal way. Then when rice is half cooked, add the chicken wings, pre-soaked and squeezed dry dried shitake mushrooms, and some cabbage. When the rice cooks, drizzle with 1tsp of sesame oil and dark soy sauce, fluff and eat.

It’s a really easy and heartening dish to eat. Jeff loves it! I think what’s missing is the chinese wine and chinese sausage. That will really add complexity to the flavour.

Oh, please add the cabbage last, I put it in wayyy too early with the rice and all I got was wisps of fibre…heh.

Thai olive fried rice

Ingredients

1 shallot, finely diced
1 chili padi, finely diced
1 garlic clove, finely diced
10-15 black olives, finely diced
1 chicken fillet, chopped (seasoned with salt and cornflour)
Prawns
Fish cake (crab stick)
Cooked rice

Fry shallots, chilli and garlic.
Add half of the olives and fry. Add chicken. Add salt. Fry until the chicken is cooked on the outside.
Add the prawns.
Add the rice and mix well.
Add the remaining olives.
Season with salt, sugar and fish sauce.
Mix well and serve with fried shrimps, lime, chili and cashew nuts.

I cooked this for dinner under the watchful guidance of my mom. (My mistake today was forgetting that I was cooking with a wok rather than a non-stick pan. Part of the rice was burnt and stuck to the bottom of the pan.) This is one of the dishes my mom always cooks for me when I come home from the UK. I think I should be able to cook this back in London although I may have some problems getting fish cake in London. I may substitute it with crab sticks..

Chicken biryani

Ingredients:

6 large chicken thighs, skin on
1 large onion, finely sliced
2 tbsp curry powder
350g easy cook long-grain rice
700ml chicken stock,
250g frozen peas

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Heat the oil in a large pan and fry the chicken thighs, skin side down, for 8-10 minutes until the skin is crispy and golden. Tip in the onion and continue to cook for 5 minutes until the onion softens. Sprinkle in the curry powder and cook for 1 minute more, then stir in the rice and pour over the stock. Bring the stock to the boil.

Cover the pan and bake for 30 minutes until all the liquid has been absorbed and the rice is cooked. Stir in the peas and leave the rice to stand for a few minutes before serving.

This is obviously a bastardisation of the original chicken biryani, but it still tastes good and to me, that’s all that matters! (cf: lainey) I used basmati rice instead of long-grain rice and that meant a longer baking time, probably around 50 minutes.

Saffron chicken and rice

First brown 6 chicken thighs with olive oil at high heat. Then remove them from the pan. Next, at medium heat, cook gently 1 diced onion and 1 diced green pepper for five minutes. Stir in some paprika and cook for 30 seconds. Add 1 can of chopped tomatoes and simmer for 1-3 minutes till it thickens. Stir in 3 1/2 cups of boiling water, add 1 1/4 cups of rice and 1/2 tsp of ground saffron. Stir to combine. Season with salt and pepper, bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes, till the liquid has been absorbed and the chicken is tender.