Leeks and Smoked Bacon Quiche (reblogged from Jan 2013)

This savoury tart called quiche in French is an all-time favourite among the tasters. It is surprisingly easy to make yet flavourful enough to use as a one-course meal (served with a salad).

Ingredients:
Tart shell:
200g cold unsalted butter
2 1/2 cup plain flour
3 eggs
1/3 cup cold milk
pinch of salt

In a mixing bowl (I have not many mechanical kitchen aids in my kitchen except for a blender - only hand power!), slowly mix the cold butter with the salt and flour to form a crumbly mixture. Mix in the eggs and a dash of cold milk (adjust accordingly) to form an elastic dough but careful not to overwork it. Chill in the fridge for about 30 mins. Roll out into a thin layer and fold into a tart mould. Pierce holes at the bottom with a fork and blind bake the crust for 18 - 20 mins in an oven.

For the filling:

Few slices of smoked bacon (facultatif)

1 stalk of leeks (large) - sliced finely

4 eggs

1 cup of fresh cream or crème fraîche

salt and pepper to taste.

Dice the bacon and reduce the fat by frying them in a pan. Remove and set aside. Using the oil from the bacon, soften the leeks and set aside. In a bowl, whisk the eggs and the cream. Season to taste. Sprinkle the bacon bits and soften leeks on the bottom of the tart shell. Pour in the cream mixture and sprinkle a good layer of shaved Gruyère or Emmental cheese on the top. Bake for a further 20 mins or until a crust starts to form.

Bon appétit!

Dish from childhood updated (reblogged from 2011)

Now is the season of the sting bean, locally known as petai and this is a special ingredient for many reasons: 

1. it is definitely an acquired taste with its strong pungent flavour;

2. it makes your toilet unusable for the next whole week because the after effects from consumming this bean (it is a diuretic and cleanses the kidneys but resulting in very stinky urine);

3. it is seasonal, mostly collected wild from trees growing in villages' edge or the forest by indigenous people, meaning it is a bio product;

4. it can be consumed both cooked and raw as a salad (which makes it even stinkier)

The good thing is, it does go well with certain ingredients, and the most unassuming ones for most people:

here's a recipe from my childhood days...

 can of sardines, curry powder(or cut chillies), garlic, tomato puree if your using sardines in oil (against sardines in tomato sauce in the original recipe), onions, dried chillis, stems of an edible yam known as 'lambok', the star - sting beans

 The stems of the yam needs to be peeled and thoroughly scrubbed with coarse sea salt to prevent any incident of itchiness due to residual oxalic acid. Then, the spongy cut stems need to be crushed with the hand, thoroughly washed and drained. They can be lightly blanched too...

In a heated frying pan, sear the dried chillis, diced onions and garlic. Add the curry powder, stir and cook until fragrant. Add the blanched yam stems, cover and cook for a few minutes. Add the sardines and tomato puree, season and simmer until the sauce thickens. Add the sting beans, stir and cook for a further 2 minutes. Serve at once with steamed rice.

Nyonya Glutinous Rice cake AKA Pulut Tekan

Ingredients (makes a medium-sized cake for 6-8 persons)

1 kilo glutinous rice, soaked in two different parts overnight

A handful of dried Bunga Telang or Blue Pea flower (Clitorea ternatea)

Salt to season

1/3 cup of vanilla sugar (optional)

1 cup coconut milk

In a cup, pour some hot water over the dried Bunga Telang and let it infuse for 15 minutes. Squeeze and drain the dark indigo coloured liquid. Set aside.

Wash the glutinous rice and drain. Soak 3/4 of the portion separately in a large bowl with clean water overnight, changing the water at least once. The remaining 1/4 should be soaked in the blue liquid overnight.

Drain the rice, season with salt, sugar. Mix the two portions of rice together with the coconut milk, careful not to overmix them. Traditionnaly, they are steamed over a basket lined with banana leaf but if that proves challenging, it can be steamed over a metal plate in a steamer. The time needed would vary according to the thickness of the rice container and the steamer used. The rice should be cooked to the core but still retain its firmness without being "al dente".

Oil a square tin cake mould. Pour in the cooked glutinous rice into the mould and press down the rice to form a firm layer. The cake can be cut according to preference once it cools down. Serve with Seri Kaya (Coconut custard cream).

Asam Heh updated (reblogged from June 2012)

Asam Heh in the Nyonya language (mixture of Malay and Hokkien) means prawns cooked with tamarind. The original recipe that my MIL gave was simple - clean prawns and marinade with tamarind paste (sole seasoning). Deep fry in medium heat oil until crispy and serve. Well, I decided to update her recipe with my own take and I quite like the result...

Ingredients (serves 4):

20 medium-sized prawns

2" Tamarind paste

salt to taste

pinch of sugar

2 limes

1 red onion, finely sliced

1/3 cup of oil for frying

Clean the prawns but keep the shells.

Mash the paste with 1 tbsp of water and juice of the 2 limes. Season with salt, sugar and a dash of soya sauce. Marinade the prawns with this paste.

Preheat the oil in a frying pan under medium heat. Fry the prawns until slightly caramelised. Half-way through the frying process, add the onion slices. When ready, transfer to a serving plate.

Garnish with sliced onion, grated lime skin and slices of lime.

Beignets de fleurs de courgette (reblogged from 2011)

On our way down from Mount Brinchang to Sungei Palas, we stumbled upon a vegetable farm called 'Mountain Strawberry Farm'. I wanted to know if anyone was growing zucchinis (courgette in French) and so we gave this one a try. Happily, they do grow zucchinis - just one single row of it. The worker that attended to us, a Bangladeshi man who has been working in the same farm for the past six years, was surprised that I wanted to buy zucchini flowers above all vegetables offered for sale because he too, eats them from time to time (I didn't ask how). However, when I told him that I only wanted the female flowers (those with a tiny zucchini attached to its stem), he became reluctant because (I could understand why) each female flower plucked equals to one future zucchini fruit lost. Besides, he didn't know what the boss lady might say to him...Not wanting to put him in a fix, I ordered a kilo of fresh zucchinis, some leeks, tomatoes and a head of iceberg lettuce and he happily plucked a dozen of male zucchini flowers for me to 'try'...all's well ends well with a little concession on all sides...

Cabbages in neat rows...

Tomatoes in the green house...

Pea flower...edible but not for sale either. The zucchini patch is on the back row...

The male zucchini flowers...not exactly what I wanted but will do for this time. I am sending the seeds to someone I know in Cameron Highlands to have them grown...

Voila the end result. I was pleasantly surprised with the result as the fried flowers were delicate, fragrant (somewhat like a fried sweet potato) and delicious. A sprinkle of fine sea salt at the end really helped bring out the delicate flavours of this dish.

Recipe for the batter:

In an ice-cold mixing bowl (double bowls with ice put in between)...
1 egg
3 tablespoon of flour
a pinch of salt
pepper
ice cold sparkling mineral water (like Perrier)

Thin the batter to a liquid consistency. Remove the pistils from the flowers and gently rub off the tiny hairs around the stems of the flowers with a piece of kitchen towel. Swirl the flowers gently in the batter and deep fry them in hot oil until golden (this will really only take a minute or two). Drain off the oil with kitchen paper towels and serve immediately with a pinch of fine sea salt.

Confit of foie gras, in cans

Believe it or not, the French make very good canned foie gras and they are about the most consumed type of foie gras (called confit because of the slow cooking method), not only because of the delicate flavour of the liver being preserved but also because it is the most practical - chill, take out from the frigo, open the both ends of the can, slide out and voila! Instant gourmet cuisine.

Most supermarket chains in France produce their own lines for consumers, often in two different grades (price is a good indicator). They also stock brands from producers. For something special, one can often buy from speciality stores but the difference in prices would often make you think twice (though the taste is arguably better, only to the dicerning tongues).

Here are some...

 This is from a speciality store selling products from regional producers, guarantee of authenticity

 This is a common supermarket grade - believe it or not, tasting ten times better than any foie gras that I have tasted in Malaysia so far (even from expensive restaurants)...

 A slightly better quality type from local French producers (this one with port wine)

Those that come in glass jar are much better: this one has a famous chef lending his name to the marketing (also a supermarket brand). If you are at lost, always look for the AOP or AOC label, indicator of its geographic origin, a seal of authenticity (observe the small blue label with yellow fringe on the jar sealer above)

Once taken out from the can, they are cut with a special wire cutter (or any slim warmed blade) to avoid damaging the buttery consistency of the foie gras. Serve cold with toasted bread, savoury jams (usually onion jams but apricot and peach jams do equally well) and if you have, a swivel of balsamic reduction syrup....and to drink? Being a festive food, classically champagne if you are toasting, if not, a good Sauterne (classic choice) or any sweet wine like Monbazillac...They are often eaten at the beginning of a meal...bonne fête. 

Ragoût of haricots blancs

This is a dish that can have a thousand lives, starting as a simple stew and can end up as a bourguignon-styled stew! 

Ingredients:

Seasoning: 2 bay leaves, a pinch of Herbes de Provence, sea salt and pepper, an entier dried Piment d'Espelette (otherwise use any dried mild peppers)

smoked pork belly (about 150g) or lardon fumé in French

200 g ground lamb

200g ground beef 

500g of dried white butter beans (called haricots blancs in French or cannellini beans in Italian)

100g sun-dried tomatoes, chopped roughly

1 big onion, diced

2 medium-sized carrots, cut into coins

3-4 cloves of garlic with skin, smashed

1 cup of dry white wine

Soak the beans overnight, changing the water once or twice (at least 12 hours). Drain and keep aside.

In a large casserole, render the lardon with some olive oil, add the beef and lamb once the lardon starts to brown on the sides. Mix well. Add in the garlic, onions, sun-dried tomatoes and cracked piment d'Espelette (remove the seeds if you want less spiciness). Add the beans and the rest of the seasoning, stir well, add the wine and enough water to cover the whole mixture. Cook on medium heat for about 30 minutes before adding the carrots. Depending on how soft you want the beans, the mix will cook well but under very low heat for 2 - 3 hours. Serve hot with a sprinkle of freshly chopped parsley, a sprinkle of fleur de sel and a squirt of extra-virgin olive oil.

 A whole dried piment d'Espelette -  an AOC produce from the Southwest of France. It has a decidedly smoky flavour and a mild spiciness.

 The beans, soaked for half a day (longer if you need softer beans). Fresh of course, is the best but be careful as it will not stand stewing any longer than a fresh bean should...

Lardon fumé, or smoked pork belly.

The finished product: served with bread it makes a hearty dish for the chills of the onset of autumn. For the Malaysian tropics, well, some restraints with the serving and an air-conditionned environment is ideal...

Leftovers from the dish can be recycled to become the base for a bourguignon-styled stew: 

-add choice of beef cuts or lamb to the stew;

-add 1/2 a bottle of red wine

-stew till stock reduced and beef/lamb tender

-add pan seared mushrooms (Swiss brown or even Shiitake)

-adjust the seasoning

-thicken the sauce with a knob of beurre remanié ( soften butter with flour) 

Terung Asam (reblogged from July 2010)

Terung Asam, or sour aubergine, is a kind of aubergine usually found in small quantities at the wet market sold by farmers. Mostly, they are not cultivated per Se but sprout by chance at the edges of vegetable plots or farmland. There are 2 varieties, a large kiwi fruit-sized variety and these in the below photograph - tiny ones. When they are ripe, they usually have a golden yellow shade with hairy skin. These are mainly used in Gulai, soupy-based cooking or even eaten raw as salad.

A handful of Terung Asam selling for a ringgit at the Farmers' Market in Raub on a Sunday.

Geragao - a prawn fritter nyonya-style (reblogged from Dec 2013)

Recently back in Melaka, we saw fishermen selling geragao or shrimp seedlings (very tiny ones) along the road to Klebang. My MIL had some in her freezer and I requested for a tasting: voila the results...

 The tiny shrimps are actually used for a fermented prawn condiment called Cencalut used in local cuisine. However, fresh geragao can be added into a simple flour mixture (liquid) and then be fried in oil like a fritter. It is usually eaten hot with chilli sauce. It has rather surprising flavour...

The fresh geragao...

Fleur de capucine

My first experience with capucine, or Nasturtium in English, was in La Rochelle at a foster family's. It was end of summer 2003 and there were loads of this plant's flowers and seeds on the flower bed. Micheline (the hostess) showed me that the roughly grounded seeds of this plant can be added to salad giving it a rather peppery taste. The flowers, even better, have a sweet and peppery taste, something which not many people explored (whichever types of flowers) in their salad...

Beignets de crevettes au parfum de la Provence

This recipe has been adapted from a provençal biscuit!

 The recipe (for 1 kg of prawns, medium sized)

2 eggs

1 cup of flour

1 can of cold beer

a pinch of salt

2 tablespoons of dried lavender flowers (the type used for infusions)

1 teaspoon of paprika powder

Peel and clean the prawns but keep the tail. Marinate with 2 tablespoons of Grand Marnier and a pinch of salt. Reserve.

Mix all the ingredients to make a frying batter. Heat oil in a deep casserole for frying (or any frying contraptions you might have in your kitchen). Dip the prawns individually in the batter and slide them into the hot oil to fry, holding the tail. Drain and serve hot. You won't believe the wonderful marriage of lavender scent and fried prawn beignets!