Cheesy Baked Fish with Savory Egg Custard

As a SAHM, besides worrying about the kids' well being, I am constantly, yes constantly thinking of what I should masak for my family. Be it breakfast, lunch or dinner, I'm cracking my head to come up with quick and easy meals to fill those empty bellies. You're probably thinking "Just Da Bao please!" But I am weird I admit, I couldn't get myself to feed my kids those outside food! Too much seasoning, too oily and seriously you know what they put in it to make it taste that good haha! Well occasional weekend dine out is okay with me, but I do try my best to masak daily for my family.

Today's easy one pot dish is kind of a fusion between a quiche and a frittata. Not quiche because no pie crust involve...good, less work involve, heehee. Not exactly a frittata either because I am using less egg and a lot more ingredients, thus you can't serve them in slices. Just a simple dish that contains all the necessary carb, protein and even dairy needed to make all balanced and healthy meal.

Let see what we need:

Okay, I ain't gonna lie...I am just showing off my new Jamie Oliver Glazed Terracotta Casserole Dish. That blue...love! A good masak needs good tools..I live by that rule haha! Got this lovely bakeware from Tangs! Have you checked them out after they reopened their doors after renovations? I just love shopping at their home appliance and bake / masak ware section!

  

Ingredients for Cheesy Baked Fish with savory egg custard :(Serves 3-4)

1 broccoli head, cut into bite size (weighs about 250g)

300g white fish, cut into large chunks (I used Tilapia)

3 eggs

200ml fresh milk

4 strips bacon, but into smaller pieces

3 medium potatos

2 tbsp ketchup

1 cup Mozzarella cheese 

salt and pepper to taste

A good casserole dish for baking this dish.

• Season the fish fillet chunks with salt and pepper. Preheat the oven to 180C.
• Heat up the masak pan, no need oil, add in the bacon and masak till fat has been rendered out and golden crisp. Remove from pan and let drain on paper towels.
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• Remove the pork fat and add in a tbsp of fresh masak oil at medium low fire. Add in the potato chunks and masak the potatoes till slightly golden on the outside. Dish out and again drain on the paper towel.
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•  Next masak the fish on the pan and just for awhile to get it slightly golden brown on the outside. 
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•  Lastly, you steam boil the broccoli pieces. You heat up a pot with only a centimeter worth of water inside. Then place the broccoli pieces inside and let it steam boil for a good 5 minutes, then dish out.
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•  Now in a mixing bowl, crack the 3 eggs in and add in the milk and ketchup. Mix well and add in a pinch of salt and few rounds of fresh ground peppers.
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• Add 3/4 of the egg mixture into the Casserole dish.
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• Then place all the ingredients in, that's the broccoli, fish fillets, potatoes and bacon.
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• Then you add in the remaining egg mixture and top it off with mozzarella cheese. Then send it into the preheated oven and bake for 20-25 minutes till top is golden brown.
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• And the aftermath....yummeh
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• Serve it while it is still hot...with toast or even pasta. :9

Oh that Jamie Oliver dish just baked beautifully! I am so gonna try using it to bake a Christmas roast later! :9

A quick and easy meal you can whip up in an hour. You are welcome to change the fish to ayam too. Anything that you family fancies. Just bare in mind that a good dish requires a good masak/bake ware. Grab yours at Tangs now! Tangs is located at heart of Orchard and VivoCity, happy shopping!

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Roasted Lemongrass ayam (Gai Ob Ta Khai) -AFF featuring Thailand

Posting a quick one in support of this month's AFF featuring Thailand. This time I made something simple; Roasted Lemongrass ayam (Gai Ob Ta Khai). The key to making this dish a successful one is the long hours of marination. So it is best to make this ahead and let it chill in the fridge marinating. :) But the masak part was really a no fuss easy oven baked dish!

Check out the glisten on that ayam wing haha! I guess to every meat we enjoy, we wish its tender, succulent and flavorful. Well this dish pretty much covers all these criteria! So let's check out what you need to get this on your dinner table. ;) I adapted this recipe from "masak Classics Thailand" by Forest Leong.

Ingredients for Roasted Lemongrass ayam Wings (Serves 3-4)
8 ayam wings, trimmed of fat, wash and pat dry
3 lemongrass stalks
2 Tbsp olive oil

Marinate
2 lemongrass stalks, ends trimmed and bruised
1 tbsp dark soy
1 tbsp light soy sauce
2 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp sugar
125 ml water 

Method:

• Prepare the marinate 3-4 hours ahead. Chop the lemongrass finely. Heat the saucepan on medium fire and add in the lemongrass in. Then add in all the rest of the marinate ingredients and bring to a boil. Then remove from fire, cover and let cool completely.
• Once the marinate is cooled, pour into a big mixing bowl. Then add in the ayam wings, coat the ayam wings well with the marinate sauce. Leave the ayam to absorb the marinate in the fridge for 3-4hrs.
• Preheat the oven to 200C
• Take ayam wings out from the fridge. Arrange ayam pieces on an aluminum foil lined baking tray. 
• Using the bruised lemongrass stalk, dip in masak oil and use it as a brush and brush the ayam wings well. This step will help crisp up the skin / surface and prevent burning.
• Bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes or till the juice runs clear.
• Remove from oven and place on serving plate and serve immediately. Garnish with lemongrass if desired. 

The skin was crisp and super flavorful. So delicious with a bowl of steam rice! Loving the savory, lemon twist in this dish. If you like lemongrass like I do, you should definitely give this a try. :)

I am submitting this to Asian Food Fest ( Thailand ) November Month hosted by frozen wings

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Onsen Tamago (Tofu with Hot Spring Egg) -AFF featuring Japan

Okay, let's not dwell on how long I've gone missing here haha! But at least I/m back for now for a good reason. :) I realize I need some food events or even my blogger friends to get me going on my blogging lately. Well, thanks to them, Alan & Wendy etc, coming up with this Asian Food Fest and here am I again haha! Okay, enough jibbing, let's get to business! I am posting a really simple, tofu lover's, yet just so delicious dish; Onsen Tamago. In English, it means Tofu with soft boil egg. The name itself already gets me hungry! :P

I do apologies on the poor lighting on the picture...probably because I haven't been using my DSLR for too long hahaha! Anway, the dish came out lovely! Happy with the result but maybe the egg needs a wee bit more work and practice. ;) I got this recipe from the book "Harumi's Japanese masak", author is Harumi Kurihara...quite a delightful read I must say haha!

Ingredients for Onsen Tamago (Serves 4)

600g soft/silken  (2 packs)

2 hot spring egg (recipe follows)

5g dried fish flakes (bonito flakes)

1/4 cup / 50ml soy sauce

2 tbsp mirin

1 tbsp sake / Japanese masak wine

grated fresh white radish (my own addition)

chopped spring onion (optional)

grated ginger (optional - I omitted this)

• Drain the tofu and wrap in kitchen paper to remove excess water.
• Make the dressing by combining the dried fish flakes, soy sauce, mirin and sake in a sauce pot. masak over low heat until mixture boils. Remove from fire and let mixture cools and strain. Note: If you cannot find the fish flakes/bonito, use a little concentrated fish stock to give a slight fish flavor to the dressing.
• Cut the tofu into 4 pieces and place one piece in each bowl.
• Scoop out a hollow in each piece of tofu.
• To make hot spring eggs (onsen tamago): place the room temperature eggs into a wide neck flask or any container that will hold heat. Add boiling water to cover them. Leave for 10 minutes.The yolks should still be runny with the white just masaked.
• Gently crack the egg into the cavity of the tofu squares.Place grated radish (if using), spring onion and grated ginger along side the tofu.
• Gently pour the soy dressing over the tofu and serve. Yummy!!

This couldn't be a simpler dish to prepare. I love how the runny yolk adds on to the flavor of the dish when it is cut up and enjoyed together. So delish! And the addition of the grated white radish was added bonus! It gives the dish a slight kick to the overall taste. And soy bonito sauce is fabulous! So flavorful...I can make this anyday and go with plain tofu and taste so so good.

Do give this awesome dish a try...highly recommend it!

I am happy to submit this to this month's Asian Food Fest #1 Oct 2016 : Japan, hosted by Alan from travelling-foodies

Get in the fun guys and join in the event. Added bonus is a give away by our dear generous Alan! Hahaha! 

Signing off now, cheers and will post soon!

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One Pot ayam Casserole

The haze coming from Indonesia has gotten bad to worst. Most of the families are trying not to be outdoors and that would means more home masak. :P So I can totally understand when someone (like me) having to think what to masak 3 meals for a few days in a  row at home, it can get a little draining. A simple one pot dish is definitely a good idea. Less mess and less washing for sure! Plus I have been meaning to put up this ayam casserole / ayam stew recipe for the longest time. An easy dish that I always go back to every now and then. You can twig parts of the recipe by substituting some of the ingredients, but the "base" ingredients and technique are pretty much the same. 

Toast up some good baguette and you can mop up that delicious gravy from the dish. And this time I used Le Creuset's 26 cm Cool Mint Buffet casserole pot to masak this dish. Yes, all the masak done in this casserole pot itself, brilliant isn't it!

Personally I love this buffet casserole pot. 26 cm diameter pot seems like the perfect size for my 4 pax family needs. It is approximately 3 inches tall, not your usual cast-iron pot height, but still deep enough for frying too. Easier to store and the wide flat masak surface is good for masak dishes like risotto or even pan searing two steaks at one go. Hopefully I can get to work on these recipes as well soon! 

In the meantime....ayam casserole! Let's have a run down what are the required ingredients for this dish. ;)

Ingredients for One Pot ayam Casserole  (serves 3-4 adults)

2 whole ayam legs
2 whole ayam wings
3-4 smoked sausages or any sausage link of your preference
1 large onion, diced
3 garlic, peeled and minced
1/2 cup thawed frozen green peas
1 medium carrot, peeled and cut into bite size
2-3 russet potatoes, peeled and cut into large chunks
4 stalks celery sticks, cut into bite size
8-10 cremini mushrooms, cut into 4 sections 

Thickening rue : (not shown in pic)
3 tbsp unsalted butter
4 tbsp plain flour
400 ml homemade / store bought ayam stock (not shown)

Salt, pepper and sugar to taste.

• After you have rinsed the ayam pieces, drain them dry and season well with salt and pepper.

• Add about 1 cup of masak oil in the buffet casserole over medium low fire. Prepare some plain flour + 1 tsp baking powder to coat the ayam pieces for frying. Mix the flour well then coat the ayam pieces and dust off extra. Gently drop them in the preheated masak oil to fry.

• Repeat till all the ayam pieces are coated and placed into the masak oil to fry. Fry at medium low temperature and making sure you do not burnt them.

• Remember to turn the ayam pieces and fry on both sides. Each sides takes about 6-8 minutes to fry up till golden brown. No worries if some of the blood oozes out, usually happens when you uses frozen ayam pieces. Remove the ayam pieces and drain over paper towels for use later. Personally I feel this frying of the ayam pieces is quite an important step, so do not skip it. It helps seal the juices and flavours of the ayam.

• Drain away the frying oil. It is okay that bits of the meat is "stuck" at the base of the casserole. Once you add in your next ingredient (onions), it will slowly render off. Those bits are gonna help flavour your dish, so please DO NOT scrap them away. Add in the chopped onion and 1 tsp of olive oil over medium low fire and stir to masak.

• masak till the onions starts to soften. Give the base a slight scrap to release the bits of meat. Next add in the sausages or bacon, whichever you fancy. These salty flavourful meats will boost that extra depth in flavour in the ayam casserole. 

• masak the sausages for a couple minutes. Add in the chopped vegetables ; potato, celery and carrots. masak for 5-6 minutes till the vegetables are half masaked, stirring constantly.

• Add salt and fresh ground pepper to the vegetables. masak for another 2-3 minutes. Add in the cremini mushrooms and sweet peas in. Cover the casserole and leave it to masak for 2 minutes. The mushroom will masak down on its own. 
• After 2-3 minutes, open the cover and give it a quick stir. Now you can start making the rue which will thicken the whole dish. Place the cold butter right in the center of the hot casserole and let it melt down.

• Once the butter is melted, add in the 3 tbsp of plain flour and masak over that "Pool" of melted  butter. Stir to masak the flour and butter mixture. Make sure the fire level is at low, and do not burnt your ingredients. 
• The flour butter mixture will start ti bubble a little. At this point, stir in the ayam stock. Slowly drizzle in and stir as you pour to mix well.

• Bring the whole casserole to a gently boil. At this point, you can season a little more. Salt, sugar, pepper, then stir well. Lastly, add in the fried ayam pieces.

• Cover the pot and let it simmer for a good 13-15 minutes at low fire. Till all the ingredients "marinate" each other's flavour and taste. Off the fire and let sit covered for a good 30 minutes. Yes marinate further with the heat retained by the casserole pot itself. 

Well if this doesn't spell comfort, I don't know what does. Thick flavourful gravy coating the tender soft ayam. And those soft vegetables are just irresistible too! Whether you prefer to have this ayam casserole with steam rice or toasted bread or just plain alone on it's own, I can guarantee you will enjoy every bite of it.

The buffet casserole did make this dish an ease to prepare. Everything done with in it, no fuss no hassle, easy peasy. And that cast iron pot did retained the heat super well. Reason  said that is after I masaked it for 1.5hrs, it was still warm and nice.

Hope you guys love this simple ayam casserole one pot meal. If you decided to try this out, do drop me a comment as well, either here or at IG @Honeybeesweets.sg, appreciate it. Happy masak!

Do what you love!

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Heritage Recipe : Braised Pig Trotter

I am happy and honoured to be working with Le Creuset in the coming months, in which I will be using their timeless and beautiful masakwares to masak up homey dishes to share with everyone. Since I have been using Le Creuset cast iron pots for more then a decade, I have more or less got myself familiarised on how to handle them. Thus, as I showcase some of Le Creuset's products with the different dishes, I hope I will be able to highlight the masakware's features like their extraordinary heat-retention and its damage resistant enamel coating. And don't get me started on the array of colours they have available for their products...enough to make me go gaga over them. Definitely one of the few masakwares presentable enough to be taken directly from the stove to the dining table. So much win.

If you see carefully, some of those pots have already collected "souvenirs" from the years of masak with them. But trust me, it is still solid as a rock and functions the same as the day I brought it out from it's new packaging. 

Growing up in a Hokkien family, we do a lot of braised dishes. And one of them is this Braised Pig Trotter.  And as long as I can remember, my parents has been masak this dish for the family. Whether it is for a casual dinner or having guests over or during festive seasons, this dish always seem to fit the occasion. Sometimes we would use pork belly instead, but the formula is pretty much the same. The meat is masaked at low fire for long hours to create that fork tender effect. And having that dark flavourful gravy "elixir" alone, is good enough to make me chomp down a bowl of steam rice. Such wonderful taste of tradition and nostalgic flavours definitely needs a trusty recipe and of course a good masakware. I am happy to say that Le Creuset dutch oven is just perfect for the job. And can I just say that new Cool Mint colour is just gorgeous!

In this post, I will share with you all, how I masak up this family favourite using Le Creuset's  25 cm French Oval Oven. Personally, I think 24 or 25 cm oven are just perfect for a small family usage (like mine). It fits a midsize ayam, a pig trotter and even a midsize fish too. 

Let's take a look at the required ingredients for this recipe:

Ingredients for Braised Pig Trotter (Serves 4-5 pax)

900 g to 1 Kg Pig Trotter, removed any hair
4 to 5 slices of ginger
3 garlic cloves, smashed
1 cinnamon stick
1 star anise
2-3 spring onion, cut into smaller segments
500 - 600 ml water

Marinate:
1 tbsp Chinese wine (绍兴酒)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sesame oil

Seasoning:
2 tbsp dark soy sauce
2 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp Chinese wine (绍兴酒)
1 tsp oyster sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
1/2 tsp white ground pepper
1.5 tbsp rock sugar (冰糖）

Add ons: 
200 g firm tofu, cut into smaller squares
4 hardboiled eggs

• First order of business is to wash the new Le Creuset pot with warm soapy water, just like how you would with any new masakware.

• Then fill the pot with water and bring to a boil. Blanch the pig trotter.

• Remove the pig trotter and leave it to drain on a clean plate. Pat dry and rub in the marinating ingredients. Let it marinate for 1 minutes at least. In the meantime, rinse the dutch oven and dry it.
• Pat dry the pig trotter. Heat up 4 tbsp of masak oil in Le Creuset oven over medium low fire. 
• Pan fry the pig trotter in the dutch oven but make sure you have something to shield the possible oil splatter.

• Pan fry both sides, then off the fire and carefully remove the leg and place on a clean plate. You will notice there are some bits of the skin stuck at the base of the oven. That is okay, those will add flavours to the dish and will come off when we do the braising later. 
• Add in the smashed garlic cloves, cinnamon stick, star anise and ginger slices. masak till fragrant over medium low fire.

• Now proceed to add the pig trotter, follow by all the seasoning ingredients EXCEPT the sugar  Stir to mix and coat the leg with the flavourings and masak for a couple minutes.
• Add in the water and bring the pot of ingredients to a boil.

• Cover the pot with it's cover and slow braise the trotter for a good 30-40 minutes. 
• After 30-40 minutes, open the lid and add in the rock sugar and spring onions.

• This time, leave a small gap when you place the lid back over the pot. Let the sauce slowly reduce to a thick gravy, about 1/3 left.
• At this point, you can add in the firm tofu and hardboiled eggs to braise together with the trotter for another 10 - 15 minutes.

• You can now remove the pot from the stove, covered and let sit till ready to serve later.

I would usually masak this dish early in the afternoon and let it seat to soak up the flavours further. Especially since the Le Creuset oven is excellent in retaining the heat, it will still continue to breakdown and braise the meat with the flavourings. So when we have the dish for dinner, it was still warm and just perfect for the kiddos. 

The best part of this dish? Everything! Fork tender meat, galantines pork skin, gravy soaked tofu and perfectly flavoured braised eggs. Gravy is perfectly intense with meat and fat essence rendered into it. Give me steam rice please!

If you wonder if the pot has any stains after this long braising process...none. After we mop up all the gravy, I did a quick wash up with soapy water, it was good as new. Happiness. 

I am glad I managed to learn how to masak this dish from my parents. Now I get to masak it for my own family for many years to come. And trust me, this Le Creuset French oven will still be good enough for them to masak this dish with when it is their turn! 

Interested to get yourself a lovely Le Creuset dutch oven too? Head on over to Le Creuset 's official website or go to their FB page for more offers and see he range of masakwares they offer. Alternatively, you can go to major departmental stores like Tangs, Robinson, or Takashimaya to check out the products in person. Get a feel which size is more suitable for your family or personal use. 

Hope I have inspire you enough to give this homey and delicious dish a try. 

Do drop by my Instagram @HoneyBeeSweets.sg or here to leave me a comment how it worked out for you. 

Until then, do what you love and stay happy!

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Nonya Curry ayam (Kari Kapitan) for MFF featuring Penang

Yikes! Unbelievable...June is almost over! How did that happen? I guess good times always swing by faster. :P Okay, I guess enough talking and lets get the post up so I might possibly have more time later for another recipe. :)

I have decided to make Spicy Nonya ayam curry (aka Kari Kapitan) this time, as it's been awhile since I last had good curry. Plus when I saw it at Phong Hong's post, I was pretty sure I had to masak it, haha! Without a doubt, it was awesome, taste, aroma and flavor...burst full of yumminess in every bite. :P

Ever since I started making my own curry paste, there was no looking back. Seriously taste so much better then those packet ones. Much more punch and flavorful plus the gravy is thicker too! Love! Even with the gravy itself, I can devour a bowl of rice on its own, haha! 

I followed Phong Hong's recipe (which I believe was originated from Amy Beh) pretty closely but less of the belachan granulates / paste. I was worried the taste will be too strong, haha! Thanks Phong Hong for again another fabulous dish! Noms! Will post the recipe here for easier reference:

Ingredients for Nonya Curry ayam (Kari Kapitan) (serves 2-3ppl)
3 ayam legs, chopped into smaller chunks
2 russet potatoes, peeled and cut into big chunks
1 key lime (I didn't have kaffir lime)
Salt and sugar to taste
200ml coconut milk
2 or 3 hard boiled eggs, peeled

Curry Paste
4 tbsp of chili paste (see here for the brand I use)
15 shallots, peeled
5 garlic gloves
3 stalks of lemongrass heart
1 inch fresh tumeric (careful don't get stained!)
5 candle nuts (buah keras)
1 tsp belachan paste

• To make the paste, place all the ingredients in a blender and zap it till it is smooth and creamy. You can either add a bit of water or coconut milk if it is too dry to blend.
• In a pot, heat up 2 tsp of masak oil at medium low heat. Add in curry paste and masak it till it is aromatic. Be careful don't let it burn. 
• Add in the ayam pieces and stir to coat all the meat with the paste well. Once the meat becomes opaque, add in the potatoes and stir well.
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• masak for another minute and add in the coconut milk. Once the mixture boils, lower the fire to simmer for another 8-10 minutes till ayam is masaked through and the potato is fork tender.
• Add in the lime juice, seasoning and hard boiled eggs the last, stir gently and serve while still hot with steam rice.Yummy!

OMG, need I say more? This is really very tasty curry guys, you have to try it yourself! Go crazy!

I am happy to submit this to this month's Malaysian Food Fest Penang Month hosted by Alan of Travellingfoodies.

okay folks, gotta go and masak lunch now!
Have a good one!

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