Sambal Chilli Asparagus and Gruyere Crustless Quiche

Asparagus. The coveted spears of spring. I can't remember where I heard that phrase before but it's been stuck in my head ever since. I love asparagus, and to me, the flavour of fresh British asparagus really can't be beat. The best way to enjoy them is simply steamed, with a knob of butter melted over (try flavoured butters like chilli coriander and lime zest butter).

But asparagus is so terribly expensive though. I actually googled it before - "why is asparagus so expensive". Yes I am that geeky. (What will we do without google??) Anyway. Apart from that fantastic flavour, it's also because asparagus take 2 years to harvest and bring returns and of course, because they only appear for such a short period of time i.e. spring. I figured it would be a shame to let spring slip by without an asparagus dish, so I got some at Pimlico farmer's market and stretched them further in a quiche-- one of my favourite ways to throw in any vegetables and experiment with lots of flavour combinations (even yes, sambal chilli).

Basic Crustless Quiche

I love quiche. It was my staple buy every time we passed a bakery in Paris last summer with my sister. And I will share a proper quiche recipe sometime in the future, I used to be scared of shortcrust pastry but it really isn't that difficult after all! But when you just want an easy lazy Sunday brunch, you can't be bothered with all that mixing and rolling. Without a crust as a base, the ratios are adjusted such that the quiche is less decadently custardy, but it is not a frittata. It's confusing seeing people call their frittatas quiches, because frittatas don't have all that luscious cream (or milk) added; for quiche, think: more cream less eggs.

Ingredients

3 eggs, beaten

1/2 cup cream (preferably grassfed)

1/2 cup whole milk (preferably grassfed)

3/4 cup grated Gruyere cheese (or Emmental or even Cheddar)

a handful of grated Parmiggiano (optional)

Sambal Chilli Asparagus and Gruyere Crustless Quiche

Ingredients

7-8 stalks of asaparagus

1 medium onion, chopped

1 tbsp sambal belachan (replace with chilli paste if not available)

1 tsp chilli flakes (or to taste)

3 eggs, beaten

1/2 cup cream (preferably grassfed)

1/2 cup whole milk (preferably grassfed)

3/4 cup grated Gruyere cheese

pinch of sea salt

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Method

1. Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees celsius.

2. Prepare the asparagus by snapping off the woody bottom part of the stalk. Cut the remaining stalks into halves, leave the top half whole, but further chop up the bottom half into bite sized pieces.

3. Over medium high heat, add the oil to the hot pan, and then add the onions to sweat.

4. Once onions are translucent, add the sambal belachan and the top half of the asparagus, saute for a couple of min, before adding the bite-sized asparagus pieces, and cook for 3 min more till almost tender but not soft.

5. To a inch pie dish greased with some butter or oil, spread the onions and asparagus pieces over the base of the dish.

6. Beat the eggs with the cream and milk, season with the salt and chilli flakes, and pour over. Arrange the asparagus tips on top in a starburst pattern (mine shifted when I moved it into the oven ): )

7. Bake for 30-40 min until set with slightly browned edges but centre looks a little jiggly still, as it will continue to cook out of the oven. Leave to cool before cutting into it.

The chilli adds some kick to a classic quiche, and the belachan (fermented fish paste) in the sambal chilli adds a very special salty savoury depth to the asaparagus, the same way the british use bacon to add an extra something. This quiche is rich with flavour and requires hardly any effort, and I can have it for breakfast, for lunch, as a teatime treat maybe, and then for dinner and then supper after so it's a real time-saver. No I was kidding. Actually, no I wasn't.

This is part of Full Plate Thursday.

Spicy Sardines in Caramelised Onion and Tomato Sauce

I posted a roasted sardine dish earlier to show how we can include fish in our diet without breaking the bank, and here's another sardine dish, this time using sardines from cans. Sardines in cans are much easier to come by for most people and are really cheap. You get the same healthy omega 3 fats, b12, protein and best of all, calcium from the soft bones (no need to worry about picking them out this time because they just crumble). Another good thing about small fishes like sardines is that they are lower in toxins because they're lower in the food chain.

I like sardines in tomato sauce, but I avoid the tomato flavoured canned sardines because they're full of nasty vegetable oils and corn syrup. I get them canned in brine, simply salt and water, and then add tomatoes and onions instead of sugar for the sweetness, and of course, a fiery chilli kick.

Spicy Sardines in Caramelised Onion and Tomato Sauce

serves 1-2

Ingredients

1 can of sardines in brine (or olive oil, but brine is cheaper)

2 medium tomatoes, chopped (or about 1/3 cup of tinned tomatoes)

2 onions, peeled and sliced

1 Thai birdseye chilli, deseeded and sliced (or a milder chilli/chilli flakes/powder, to taste)

1 tbsp sweet rice vinegar (or balsamic vinegar)

1 tbsp coconut oil (or extra virgin olive oil)

Method

1. Heat the coconut oil in a pan over medium high heat. Add the sliced onions and let them cook till brown and caramelised.

2. Add the chopped tomatoes and cook till it disintegrates.

3. Add the rest of the ingredients, including the sardines and cook for a couple of minutes more.

4. Serve with rice and vegetables. If you want to, you can hack at the sardines with your spatula to break them up and then serve like a ragu of sorts over noodles or pasta too.

This is a fast and frugal dish that I can whip up anytime because I always have onions, a can of sardines, tinned tomatoes, and chilli flakes in my larder. Plus it's yummy; any "fishy smell" will cease to exist under all that sweetness from the caramelised onions, sourness from the tomatoes and vinegar, spiciness from the chilli, and saltiness from the sardines.

Quite evidently, I'm back from Romania! To my disappointment Mcdonald's has made its way there too, in fact, is there a country without the famous golden arches? But I had a great time eating my way through yummy bouncy (yes bouncy! how?!) sausages called mititei, cornmeal porridges (like polenta, called malinga) and stuffed cabbage rolls (something I really want to try making a version of really soon ;)

This is part of Real Food Wednesday, Full Plate Thursday, Simple Lives Thursday, Fight Back Friday.

Pan Seared Chilli Soy-Marinated Salmon with Sesame Spinach

Finally! A horrible two weeks of deadlines after deadlines is over!

And to treat myself, I decided to slowly marinate a piece of salmon steak in spicy garlicky tamari and sesame oil for a couple of hours instead of my throw-it-all-together meals the past few days. The actual cooking and preparation time is still very short though, and there's nothing extremely unique or wow about this, but it's one of my favourite (comfort) flavour combinations.

Pan Seared Chilli Soy-Marinated Salmon

serves 1

Ingredients

1 piece salmon steak

1 tbsp coconut oil (or ghee or a mix with evoo, to fry)

Marinade

2 tsp soy sauce (naturally fermented and aged, I used tamari)

1/2 tsp sesame oil

1 small clove garlic, grated

1 cm piece of ginger, grated

1/2 tsp chilli flakes

1/2 tsp unrefined cane sugar or molasses

Method

1. Combine marinade ingredients and cover the salmon with it. Leave in the fridge for a couple of hours. Remove from marinade and bring to room temperature 20 min before cooking.

2. Over medium-high heat, add the oil in a pan and place the salmon into the hot pan. Don't keep poking it, or you won't get a nice sear. Salmon steaks are a bit trickier than the fillets because I can't see the colour change along the sides, but I give it an estimate of about 3 minutes before flipping over and letting it cook for another 2 min.

Sesame Spinach

Ingredients

2 big handfuls of spinach

2 tsp sesame oil

2 cloves garlic, chopped finely

Method

1. Heat the sesame oil in a pan and add the chopped garlic, stirring often till they get browned.

2. Meanwhile, wilt the spinach in boiling water or you can steam it. Refresh in cold water.

3. Toss with the garlic-infused sesame oil.

Sprinkle the toasted garlic all over the spinach and the salmon and serve with rice!

Salty spicy and sweet with the aroma of toasted sesame and garlic --Ah, happy (:

This is part of Hearth and Soul Blog Hop, Slightly Indulgent Tue, Tue Night Supper Club.

Three Cup Chicken 三杯鸡

I know I talked about growing your own herbs, but it's kind of funny because I really only started to learn about herbs after I moved to London.

In Singaporean food, there are a lot of spices involved, but not really herbs. Curry leaves, pandan leaves, banana leaves are used to impart fragrance, but they aren't really herbs are they? In Chinese food, especially, you don't really need anything besides coriander and spring onions. That said, they're used a lot, and go into everything from soups to stir-fries.

But once in a while, you do get the odd herb that's not one of the aforementioned two. Introducing... the Thai Basil!

It has a slight purple-ish tinge to its much tougher stalks.

It's kind of different from the sweet basil that's more commonly used here, because it has a strong anise-like scents that adds a very different dimension to dishes, and also, it holds us a lot better in cooked dishes, unlike sweet basil, which is best eaten raw I feel.

Thai Basil is an important part of Thai dishes (duh) but also in this less known Chinese chicken stirfry reminiscent of the more famous Kung Pow Chicken, called Three Cup Chicken. Three Cup because the original recipe called for 1 cup of each of these 3 Chinese pantry essentials: sesame oil, Chinese rice wine, and soy sauce.

But I guess it's a really small cup, (haha see Chinese tea cups) because you definitely do not need a cup of each. Or maybe because Half Cup Chicken just doesn't have the same ring to it. Nonetheless, what's more important is that you need to keep them in the same ratios, how easy is that to remember!

Three Cup Chicken 三杯鸡

serves 2

2 chicken legs (about 500g), deboned and chopped into small pieces

(it's important to keep them in small pieces, so they all get coated in the sauce, because they aren't marinated in seasonings like other chicken dishes e.g. sesame oil chicken 麻油鸡, and will turn out bland otherwise.)

6 cloves garlic, peeled but left whole

6 thin slices of ginger

2 tbsp sesame oil (traditionally black sesame oil, which has an even stronger aroma)

2 tbsp Chinese rice wine (Shaoxing Hua Diao Jiu, do not replace with cheap cooking wine!)

2 tbsp soy sauce (naturally fermented and aged)

2 tbsp blackstrap molasses (or you can use brown/rock sugar, but I like using molasses when I cook with soy sauce)

handful of Thai basil leaves

3-4 dried red chillies

For velveting the chicken (optional)

1 egg white, beaten but not frothy

1 tbsp cornstarch

1 tbsp Chinese rice wine

Method

1. (optional) 20 min before you are ready to cook, marinate the chicken in the velveting mixture. 20 min later, parboil the chicken in simmering water till they turn white on the surface, but are not yet cooked. Drain and set aside.

(I'm in the midst of my Chinese stir-fry secrets experiments. You can try the baking soda /poaching in oil methods too and let me know! )

2. Heat work/pan on high heat and add the sesame oil.

3. Add the garlic and ginger and stir-fry for 2 minutes till fragrant.

yes they are left whole! If you haven't yet realised, this dish is not shy on flavour!

4. Add the dried chillies and chicken pieces and stir-fry for another few minutes.

Keep stirring or you'll burn your food! This whole dish is cooked on high heat, so the meat is nicely seared and caramelised!

5. Add the other sauce ingredients, and let it simmer, covered for another 4-5 min, till there's sticky and no longer wet.

6. Add the Thai basil leaves and then immediately remove from the heat. They will wilt in the residual heat.

This dish is traditionally cooked in a claypot, so you just serve it in the claypot. I don't have one the right size, so oh well, dish out and garnish with an extra sprig of fresh Thai basil and serve with rice.

This is great humble food, simple yet bursting with flavour. The sweet salty caramelised chicken has a sticky coating of sauce (it's a dry dish, you aren't supposed to be left with a pool of gravy), amped up with the kick from the ginger and whole garlic cloves and chillies, and perfumed with that anise scent from the Thai Basil, and one of my favourite smells in the world--sesame oil! If you can;t find Thai Basil, I guess you can use normal sweet basil, it will still be good, but it will not be Three Cup Chicken.

This is part of Tuesday Supper Club, Hearth and Soul Blog Hop, Pennywise Platter Thursday, Full Plate Thursday and Muhibbah Monday.

Baked Egg in Jacket Sweet Potato, with Chilli Lime and Coriander Butter

Besides making the garlic and herb butter, I also made a flavoured butter, this time infused with the spice of chilli and the freshness of lime zest and coriander. I had them in the fridge anyway because of the type of food I usually cook, and I really wanted to give my own special twist to the usual herb butter.

These few nights have been a mad rush for deadlines, and I haven't had much time to spend fiddling with complicated recipes or those that need me to be hands on. There's been a lot of "throw vegetables and meat and herbs into the slow cooker", and of course, "throw things into the oven". But while I may compromise on effort, I don't compromise on taste or nutrition. A baked sweet potato is simple, yet oozing with sweetness (and vitamins), and topped with an egg, and of course, that yummy butter, I've got a hearty delicious supper ready.

Baked Egg in Jacket Sweet Potato, with Chilli Lime and Coriander Butter

serves 1

Ingredients

1 sweet potato, washed and scrubbed, but skin-on

1 egg

2 coins of chilli lime and coriander butter (see below)

a bit more butter (plain)

coarse sea salt

Method

1. Pre-heat oven to 200 degrees celsius.

2. Pat the sweet potato dry and prick all over with a fork. This allows the steam to escape and prevents it from exploding. Rub melted plain butter over the skin and season with coarse sea salt to get crispier skin.

3. Bake for about 30-45 min (depends how big your sweet potato is!), till tender. Remove, and lower the heat to about 170.

4. Cut the baked sweet potato, but not all the way. Drop one thin coin of chilli butter in so it melts into the soft sweet flesh, then crack an egg over.

Might be a good idea to transfer to an (oven-safe) dish you plan to eat from (if not already), because the egg will probably ooze all over. It's messy, but I don't really mind, I like it when the liquids (egg white, sticky sweet potato juices and spicy zesty butter) all intermingle and caramelise around the sweet potato. Alternatively, you can slice a bit off the top of the sweet potato, scoop out a bit of the flesh, then crack the egg into the hole. That'd be a lot classier, but a pretty dish wasn't really my top priority then.

5. Return to oven for about 10 min more till the egg is set. Serve with another coin of chilli butter and some lightly dressed greens.

Chilli Lime and Coriander Butter

makes 1 little log

Ingredients

1/4 block of butter

2 tbsp chopped coriander leaves (i.e cilantro)

grated zest of 1/2 a lime

1 tsp chilli flakes (to taste)

sea salt (to taste)

Method

refer to my post on making your own flavoured butter!

I love this butter melted on fish (again, see previous post), but particularly on roasted root vegetables or tubers, because the spicy salty nutty melted butter just complements the concentrated sweetness of the root vegetables, and the lime zest and coriander helps to bring some freshness to counteract that stodginess.

This is part of Full Plate Thursday, Pennywise Platter Thursday and Slightly Indulgent Tuesday, and Herbs and Flowers in my Platter- Coriander, (started by Seduce your tastebuds).

Masala Kheema Shepherd's Pie

It'll be St Patrick's day in a couple of days, and I thought it fitting to share a shepherd's pie on this Irish festival. That raised an all-important question though: Is the shepherd's pie British or Irish? I always thought of shepherd's pie as a classic British thing, but others (the Irish?) claim it's Irish. Oh well. I'm doing it Indian-style anyway. Yes, indian. I want the kick of spice in my pie.

I adapted a Gordon Ramsay video recipe for the classic shepherd's pie--the man's brilliant, I love how no-nonsense he is. But I also incorporated the spices in kheema matar (spicy minced meat with peas i.e. matar. I didn't use peas, so it's just a masala mince)-- this man is brilliant too-- for an extra special touch of spicy goodness.

Masala Kheema Shepherd's Pie

serves 4

Ingredients

for the filling

500g lean minced lamb (if it's beef, it'll be cottage pie)

2 large onions, grated

1 large carrot, grated

handful of mushrooms, finely chopped

2 tbsp tomato puree

2 cloves garlic, grated

1 tsp ginger, grated (or 1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste)

1 cinnamon stick

2-3 cardommom pods, crushed

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp chilli powder

1 tsp turmeric

1/2 tsp garam masla

2 green chillies, finely chopped

1/4 cup whole plain yogurt

sea salt, black pepper

1 tbsp flour

for the mash

3-4 large potatoes, peeled and chopped

1 egg yolk, beaten

2 tsp butter

1 tbsp parmesan + extra to top (optional but it's a secret ingredient that'll lift the dish)

sea salt, black pepper

Method

1. Boil potatoes.

2. Add oil to a hot pan, and the whole spices to toast.

3. Add the minced meat, breaking it up and searing the meat to get the caramelised brown. Season.

4. Grate in the onions, carrots, garlic and ginger. This helps them to disintegrate into the sauce better, a Ramsay tip, which is why I didn't add the onions before the mince like what vahchef did. Also add in the flour to cook out, this will help thicken the gravy later.

5. Add the mushrooms, ground spices and tomato puree, cook for 3 min more, then add the yogurt and let simmer for 10-15 min.

6. Meanwhile, your potatoes should be cooked. Drain, mash and season. Add the egg yolk, butter and parmesan to the mashed potato.

"mash that deserves to sit on my mince"

7. Add the green chillies and garam masala powder to the mince and continue to cook uncovered till you get a dry gravy. You don't want a soggy shepherd's pie. Also a good idea to pick out the cinnamon stick (and the cardamom pods) now.

8. Tip the filling into a baking dish, then top with the mashed potato and another sprinkling of parmesan. Fork through (important, to get the crispy edges!), and dot with butter.

9. Bake at 180 degrees celsius for 20-25 min, or till golden.

Serve with a light salad, hopefully more indian style with thinly sliced red onions and cilantro.

How can you not love a good shepherd's pie? You can't go wrong with buttery parmesan-mashed potatoes and minced meat that's coated with rich savoury gravy , but add to that the piquant flavour and aroma of spices, and it's definitely a winner for the singaporean in me!

This is part of Hearth and Soul Blog Hop #39, Tasty Tuesday, Real Food Wednesday, Full Plate Thursday, Simple Lives Thursday.

Chilli Belachan Crispy Pork Belly

What to do with leftover roast pork belly? Honestly, it's not much of a problem, who am I kidding, I'll be more than happy eating it as it is. But just to spice things up a little, I stir-fried the leftover pork belly in true Singaporean style, with some chilli and belachan (fermented shrimp paste).

Chilli Belachan Crispy Pork Belly

Ingredients

~100g of leftover roasted pork belly, sliced into small chunks

1 small onion, sliced thinly (or a couple of shallots would be fantastic)

1-2 dried red chillies, deseeded

1 tsp fermented shrimp paste

1 tsp unrefined cane sugar

1 tsp soy sauce (traditionally brewed)

1 tsp Chinese black vinegar

1 tsp evoo (or unrefined coconut oil or palm oil)

Method

1. Over medium-high heat, fry the sliced onions in the oil, till they turn golden brown.

2. Add the dried chillies and fermented shrimp paste and toast till fragrant.

3. Add the pork belly, along with the vinegar, soy sauce and sugar, and stirfry for about 10 min more.

4. Serve over rice with some fresh coriander leaves (which I didn't have).

This dish really hit home with the mix of salty, sweet, sour, savoury and of course, spicy flavours, and the depth from the fermented shrimp paste. Really, you can't go wrong with crispy pork belly, but you can be more than just "right"!

This is part of Full Plate Thursday.

Chicken in Tomato Yogurt Curry (Dahi Murg)

This is kind of like butter chicken, but the addition of yogurt (dahi) instead of cream makes it a little lighter and tangier, plus having the chicken marinate in yogurt really tenderises the meat. I'm not sure if it follows a real Dahi Murg recipe (if there even is one), because I tweaked a butter chicken recipe to make this, but I believe with Indian food, and all that wonderful combination of fragrant spices, you can't really go wrong and you can't really say there's a "right" recipe out there.

Chicken in Tomato Yogurt Curry (Dahi Murg)

serves 4

Ingredients

500g chicken pieces (I use chicken leg meat, because it has more flavour and texture and most importantly, is cheaper.)

For the marinade

2 cloves of garic, minced

2 cm ginger, minced

1 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp turmeric

1/2 tsp garam masala

1/2 tsp chilli powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice

75 ml yoguty

For the gravy

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 medium onion, minced

1 tsp coriander

1 tsp turmeric

1 tsp garam masala

1 tsp chilli powder

half 500ml can of chopped tomatoes (or tomato passata for a smoother, less chunky sauce)

1 1/2 tbsp ghee (or butter)

To finish

1 tbsp butter

150 ml pot yogurt

cilantro leaves

Method

1. Combine marinade ingredients and mix with the chicken. Leave for at least 3h, or overnight.

2. Over medium-high heat, par-fry the chicken pieces till the outside is nicely seared. Set aside.

3. Now the gravy. Melt the ghee or butter and add the onions and garlic till onion turns translucent and garlic is lightly browned.

4. Add the rest of the spices, stir for 1 min or so just to let their fragrance come through but not burn. Then add the canned tomatoes and bring to a boil.

4. Return the chicken pieces to the pot along with the chicken juices and remaining marinade and let simmer for 15-20 min.

6. Remove from heat, and stir through the butter to give the curry gravy that extra silkiness and sheen, and then the yogurt. Garnish with the cilantro leaves, and serve with roti/naan/basmati rice (it's good enough to go with plain rice, but try it with my Spiced Basmati Rice if you can!)

Oh I just love creamy curries, and while not as rich as the dish it's inspired from, this curry has extra tender chicken and that extra tang from the yogurt to balance the heat and spice. Indian head-wiggle (:

This is part of Tuesday Night Supper Club, Pennywise Platter Thursday and Real Food Wednesday.