en primeur day 1

Bordeaux en primeur 2014.

Château Margaux.

Château Palmer.

 Cos d'Estournel.

Château Ducru-Beaucaillou.

hide that beetroot

Chocolate Beetroot Cake

recipe adapted from YoungPost (October 19, 2014), SCMP.

makes one 8 inch square or one 6 inch round double layer cake

INGREDIENTS:

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup good quality cocoa powder

1 tsp baking powder

2 tsp baking soda

1 cup light brown sugar

2 cups pureed cooked beetroot

2 eggs, beaten

3/4 cups buttermilk

1/4 cup olive oil

1 tsp vanilla

Chocolate Frosting

METHOD:

1. Preheat oven to 325F (163C). Grease and line a square 8 inch baking pan or two 6 inch round cake pans.

2. In a small bowl whisk together flour, cocoa, baking powder and baking soda. Set aside.

3. In the large bowl of your stand mixer, add brown sugar, beetroot, eggs, buttermilk, olive oil and vanilla. Mix on medium until well combined.

4. Add dry ingredients and mix on low speed until just combined. Pour batter evenly into cake pans. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean. Rotate pans halfway through baking. Let cake cool in pan for 15 minutes before turning out on a wire rack to cool completely. For a square cake, dust with confectioner's sugar before serving.

5. For a round cake, frost the layers together with buttercream and decorate as desired. If baking ahead, cakes can be frozen by wrapping them in 2 layers of cling wrap. Just remove them from the freezer 4 hours at room temperature prior to frosting.

stout and cake

A year round favourite for stout lovers out there. This cake is especially good around the holidays for sharing and hostess gifts.

Guinness Gingerbread Cake
recipe adapted from Nigella Lawson

INGREDIENTS:
1 1/4 sticks (10 tbsp or 282g) butter
1 cup golden syrup (such as Lyle's)
1 cup (packed) plus 2 tbsp dark brown sugar
1 cup Guinness or your favourite stout
2 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda

1 1/4 cups sour cream
2 eggs

METHOD:
1. Preheat oven to 325F (160C). Line a 13 x 9 x 2 inch foil tray or cake pan with aluminum foil and grease it.

2. Put the butter, syrup, dark brown sugar, stout, ginger, cinnamon and ground cloves into a pan and melt gently over a low heat.

3. Take off heat and whisk in the flour and baking soda. You will need to be patient and whisk thoroughly to get rid of any lumps.

4. Whisk the sour cream and eggs together in a measuring cup and then beat into the gingerbread mixture, whisking again to get a smooth batter.

5. Pour into your cake/foil pan, and bake for about 45 minutes; when it's ready it will be gleamingly risen at the centre, and coming away from the pan at the sides.

6. Let the gingerbread cool before cutting into slices or squares.

Cake will stay moist kept in an airtight container up to 5-7 days.

brisket and wine

Braised Brisket
serves 4-6
Recipe adapted from Post Magazine (October 5, 2014), South China Morning Post.

INGREDIENTS:
3 tbsp olive oil
3 lbs brisket
4 large onions halved and sliced
4 large garlic cloves sliced
1/2 tsp chili flakes
1 1/2 tbsp grainy mustard
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 15 oz can of diced tomatoes
1/2 cup port or red wine
3/4 cups low sodium beef stock
1/4 cup chopped Italian parsley

METHOD:
1. Heat oil over medium in a Dutch oven or large pan (needs to be big enough to hold the beef in one piece). Season brisket with coarse salt.

2. Brown brisket (about 5 minutes per side), remove from pot and then set aside.

3. Add onions and cook until soft, about 10 minutes. Add garlic and cook for 5 minutes longer.

4. Add chili flakes, mustard, vinegar, syrup, tomatoes and simmer for 5 minutes. Then add port or wine, scrape the bottom of the pot.

5. Return beef to the pan and add beef stock. Bring to a boil and then simmer over low heat for 2-3 hours until the brisket is very tender. Stir every 20-25 minutes.

6. You can serve the brisket in long slices topped with the sauce (reduce to thicken as desired). Serve along with a rustic potato and cauliflower mash and arugula salad. Or cut the brisket into pieces and serve over rice or pasta. Garnish with chopped parsley.

Tip - leftover brisket can be used as a filling for ravioli.

wings and chestnuts

Chestnuts are one of our favourite nuts and we'll always order it if we see it on the menu. It's usually an ingredient in Chinese desserts, but we love it in savoury dishes. Here's a comforting dish for the winter cold.

Braised Chicken with Chestnuts

serves 4 as part of a main course
Recipe adapted from Post Magazine (January 22, 2012), South China Morning Post.

INGREDIENTS:

2 lbs chicken parts, drumettes and/or middle joint wings

1 inch piece of ginger, sliced thinly

1 cup chestnuts, halved and  roasted
1/2 cup green onions, cut into 1 inch pieces plus more for garnish

1 cup chicken broth

Marinade:

2 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp cornstarch

1 tsp salt

few dashes ground white pepper

3 tbsp soy sauce

2 tbsp Shaoxing rice wine

1 tsp olive oil

METHOD:

1. In a large shallow bowl, add chicken, ginger and marinade ingredients. Mix well and let marinate in the fridge for 2+ hours.

2. In an Dutch oven or other shallow enamel pot, add chicken including the marinade, chestnuts, green onions and chicken stock. Bring to a boil, stirring consistently to ensure nothing sticks to the bottom, and then lower heat and simmer for 20-25 minutes.

3. Sauce should lightly coat the chicken, stir in more broth if it's too thick. Taste and adjust seasoning as desired. Garnish with remaining green onion or chopped cilantro (optional).

feeling lucky

Have you ever seen double yolks from a single egg? We cracked 4 eggs and got 2 sets of twin yolks. We're feeling lucky...

We love oysters and were recently introduced to Shigokus from Taylor Shellfish Farms. They are plump, sweet and so perfect that all you need is a splash of lemon juice to bring out their ocean-y flavour.

 We also love these roasted sesame seeds from Osaka.

 Great for topping our salads and pork chops.

We love freebies and these samples of BroccoLeaf and Kalettes didn't disappoint. Kalettes are a cross between kale and brussel sprouts, and BroccoLeaf is basically the leafy part of broccoli that you usually trim away.

We also got a sample of nutrient dense red leaf lettuce. It was larger than the regular variety and extra crunchy. Perfect for making lettuce wraps.

what to do about all that pumpkin

A couple of posts back, we got an enormously large can of pumpkin puree. So I'll probably be posting pumpkin recipes for the next little while.

Pumpkin Cakes

makes 24 cupcakes or 2 x 8" square cakes

INGREDIENTS:

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup soft brown sugar

1 cup olive oil
3 large eggs
1 tbsp vanilla extract

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp all spice
1/2 tsp ground cloves

1 3/4 cups (15oz can) pumpkin puree

1 mashed ripe banana

1 cup chopped nuts, toasted pumpkin seeds or chocolate chips (optional)

METHOD:

1. Place oven rack in the middle. Preheat oven to 325F (165C). Line muffin tins or grease pans if using.

2. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and whisk out any lumps. Set aside.

3. In a large bowl, beat together sugar, oil, eggs, vanilla and spices.

4. Stir in pumpkin and banana.

5. Gently fold in dry ingredients from medium bowl until just moistened. Do not overmix or else your cakes will be tough.

6. Fill prepared muffin cups or pans 1/2 full with batter. Top with chopped nuts, toasted seeds or chocolate chips if desired.

7. Bake cupcakes for 15-20 mins or cakes for 25-30 mins, until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Rotate pans halfway for even baking.

Cakes are best eaten the same day, but will keep in an airtight container for 3-4 days.

on a Quest

Chef Que Vinh Dang invited us to the soft launch of his new restaurant Quest. We were excited as we missed his private kitchen TBLS.

Our culinary treat kicked off with Hamachi sashimi, cherry tomato jelly and sea grapes.

Fresh Alaskan King crab with avocado, enveloped in a rice paper roll.

Beef tartar had flavours reminiscent of Vietnamese beef pho.

A perfectly seared Hokkaido scallop served with sweet corn.

A lovely piece of seared Alaskan Black Cod, served on a bed of sugar snap peas.

Charred pork belly with taro and brussel sprouts rounded out our mains.

And to complete our delicious and indulgent meal, a moist almond cake topped with grilled pineapple and homemade salted caramel ice cream.

favourite holiday

Our favourite holiday is here! We love everything about Thanksgiving from the chilly weather and all the cooking, to the smell of pumpkin pie and overeating. It's just simply about being with your loved ones, being thankful for one another and of course, being together to share a great meal.

This year we're doing some Mary's Heritage and Free Range Turkeys.

Roasted - 4 hours.

Deep Fried - 30 minutes.

A large fat separator makes the best pan gravy.

Check out this giant can of pumpkin. It makes 8 pies!

Homemade Pumpkin Pie

makes one 9 inch pie

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp all spice
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs

1 can 15 oz 100% pure pumpkin puree
1 can 12 fl oz evaporated milk (1½ cups)

1  unbaked 9-10” pie crust (Martha Stewart's Pate Brisee)

METHOD:

1. Place oven rack to lower third and preheat to 425F (220C).

2. Mix sugar and spices and beat in eggs.

3. Stir in pumpkin and then gradually evaporated milk. Don’t vigorously beat or over mix. This will create air bubbles which will cause the filling to rise like a soufflé in the oven.

4. Let mixture rest 20 minutes or overnight in the fridge.

5. Take pie shell out of freezer and brush the bottom with egg white (to prevent a soggy crust). Brush the edges with egg wash (yolk + cream).

6. Pour the rested pumpkin mixture into pie shell and cover edge of crust with pie shield. Place pie plate on a baking sheet.

7. Bake at 425F for 15 minutes. Reduce to 350F (180C) and bake for 40 minutes. Remove pie when the centre is still a little wobbly to prevent the filling from over baking and cracking.

8. Garnish with pie cutouts. Cool on wire rack for 2 hours and then refrigerate.

9. Serve cold with freshly whipped cream.

Thanksgiving is not complete without all the sides.

 And the feast (and overeating) begins!