Mushroom Omelette with Black Truffle Pate

OMG! It's been so long!
Lots have been going on in my life... a new job, a new flat, business trips, etc etc etc...I am overwhelmed!
And naturally, I've been eating a lot of carbs, dumping my diet aside, which is a bit sad since it was going so well :(

Anyway, looking at my old low carb pictures, I am inspired to start again, and I'd like share this one with you. It's meatless but very tasty and satisfying with a touch of luxe ;)

Recipe
- 1 egg, beaten
- half a cup of button mushrooms, sliced
- a tsp of black truffle pate
- butter, salt, pepper

Melt butter in a non stick frying pan, saute mushrooms, season with salt and pepper, pour beaten egg, cook for a bit (do not overcook), flip, serve and add black truffle pate on top.

YUM!

Mushroom & Celery in Black Pepper Sauce - Cute Ingredient

Do you buy ingredients because of...their nutritional value? their natural flavors? they're on sale?...or because you haven't tried them before?

Yes, yes, yes, yes...but you know you also buy certain ingredients because...they cute.

At least I know I do :D

Look at these Korean mushrooms!
They're not on sale.
They're rather expensive.
I know they're gonna be delicious, but so are other mushrooms.
I know they're somewhat healthy, but so are cheaper mushrooms.
But...I haven't tried them before!

...and most importantly, look at how cute they are!
Chubby white stems with tiny little mushroom heads...adorable!
Plus, the lady who gave away the free sample melted my heart.
I have a weakness for free supermarket samples.
But, don't we all?

So, I bought a bag and made this.

Recipe
- 1 bag of mushrooms (you can certainly use other cute mushrooms)
- 2/3 bunch of celery, sliced
- 1 clove of garlic, minced

- 1 clove of shallot, thinly sliced
- dark soy, light soy, sugar, black pepper, corn starch, olive oil

Saute garlic and shallot in hot olive oil, add mushrooms, cook until they're super fragrant and a bit browned. Add celery chunks, season with dark soy, light soy, sugar, lots of black pepper, and thicken sauce with corn starch dissolved in a bit of water.

Perfect for a side dish or vegetarian dinner.

I kinda ruined their cuteness, didn't I?

Good Morning, Breakfast! Mushroom Cheddar Omelette

Dammit.
I need to cut my carb intake.
Doctor's order.
That means no more fried savory donuts and buns for me for a while :(

Ah wells...let's do protein plus then.
Eggs, milk, cheese and mushrooms.

Recipe
- 2 eggs
- a dash of milk
- half cup of mushrooms
- a bit of cheese chunks or grated cheese, I used cheddar
- salt, pepper, butter, olive oil

Saute some mushrooms of your choice with olive oil and a tiny bit of butter (optional), let them brown a bit, season with salt and pepper, set aside.

Beat two eggs, add a bit of milk, season with a bit of salt and mix well. Add a bit of olive oil into frying pan, pour the egg mixture, let it cook gently, we don't wanna overcook the eggs. Add the sauteed mushrooms and chunks of cheese, once the egg is firm enough, flip the empty side of the eggs over the mushrooms and cheese, or you can tilt your frying pan to let some egg mixture to mix and get cooked with the mushrooms and cheese.

I like the outer side of my egg to have a bit of brownage, so I increased the heat a bit to brown the surface.

I like mine with a bit of Indonesian chilli sauce.
Enjoy this with morning coffee.

Ahhh, good mornings! :)

Easy Microwaveable Side Dish: Zucchini & Mushroom in Butter & Herbs

When I saw Little Corner of Mine's Microwaved Broccoli in Butter Thyme post, I thought OMG! Brilliant! Genius! What a fantastic idea! I was so inspired...and finally I did it last night.

We had some leftover pasta dish, and all I need for a balanced dinner is a vegetable side dish...and something microwaveable, how cool is that! No sauteeing, no frying, no steaming, no nothing! Just ding! (Ding = Cantonese for "to heat in a microwave")

Instead of broccoli, I used zucchini with some mushrooms, adding some more herbs, etc, but the principal remains the same...easy and tasty side dish for weekday dinners :)

Recipe
- 1 zucchini, halved lengthwise and cut into 2-3mm thick slices
- about 10 pieces of fresh straw mushrooms, halved
- 2 teaspoon of butter
- a drizzle of olive oil
- 1 clove of garlic, crushed
- 1 sprig of rosemary, a few sprigs of thyme (you can use dry herbs if you don't have fresh ones)
- salt, black pepper, a dash of Worcestershire sauce

Throw all ingredients into a microwaveable bowl, mix well, nuke covered on high for 5 minutes. Done!

Sweet, earthy, buttery, herbalicious goodness!

YUMS!

Now use the time on your hand to do more important things...like buying fried chicken :D

Shitake Mushroom Scrambled Eggs

I needed quite a hearty second dish...and I only had two ingredients on hands...shitake mushrooms and eggs.
What the heck, let's make the max out of the min ;)

Recipe
- 3 eggs, beaten
- a cup of fresh shitake mushrooms, thinly sliced (you can use other kinds of mushrooms)
- olive oil, oyster sauce, fish sauce, white pepper

Saute mushrooms in hot olive oil until softened and browned, add oyster sauce, add beaten eggs, drizzle a bit of fish sauce and white pepper, mix a bit and serve hot. Don't overcook the eggs ;) I love my eggs when there are still runny bits here and there as well as browned bits. I know I'm weird :p

Earthy, rich flavored mushrooms with soft, smooth, runny eggs and some smoky, crispy browned egg bits...easily yummy.

Adding freshly chopped coriander, shallot and red chillies would bring this dish to another level, but I kept it pretty mininum and it was still tasty ;)

Use Campbell Soup for Easy Baked Cheesy & Creamy Rice

I have heard about using Campbell cream soup as a "cheat" cream sauce, but have yet to try it before...yesterday.

I have to thank SC for the idea, he was the one who told me to try...more than that, he was the one who picked up the canned soup and place it in my shopping cart. I was pretty excited about this dish...and let's see what we can do with a little can of Campbell soup...


Recipe
(serves two)
- 1 can of Campbell Cream & Mushroom soup (plus half can of water and half can of milk)
- 1 chicken thigh fillet, remove skin, cut meat to bite sized chunks
- 2 chicken franks, cut into 3mm thick slices (you can replace with good quality sausage, spam, ham, or omit it and use another thigh fillet)
- 1 small clove of garlic, minced
- 1 shallot, sliced thinly (can be replaced with a quarter of onion)
- 1 cup of shimeji mushrooms (you can replace with button or straw mushrooms)
- 1 cup of mixed cubed veggie (corn, carrot and green peas)
- 1 cup of shredded cheddar & mozzarella
- 1.5 cups of cooked rice
- paprika powder, salt, black pepper, dry mixed herbs (rosemary, sage, thyme), worchestershire sauce, olive oil

Saute garlic and shallot in olive oil, add mushrooms, let cook, add chicken & franks pieces, drizzle a bit of worcestershire sauce, let cook and brown a bit, add cubed veggie, season with salt, black pepper, mixed herbs, paprika and worchestershire sauce, let everything cook. In a separate sauce pot, heat up the canned soup, add water and milk, use the same seasonings to spice up the mixture, mix well, pour the cream sauce mixture to the chicken, franks, mushrooms and veggie mix, let everything combine and cook through.

You can pour this deliciousness over rice and consume if you don't need the crusty, savoury, and melted cheese on top...but if you can handle the sin...go further.


Preheat oven to 250C, prepare a oven proof dish, place some rice on the bottom, pour the creamy mixture on top of rice, top off with cheese, generously, and bake until the cheese is golden brown. You can nuke this dish too...the cheese won't be crusty, but it will melt beautifully. YUM!

Have a look...

...and I don't think I need to say anything no more ^_*

Black Chicken (Silkie), Mushrooms & Coconut Soup

When I was browsing through my photo folder to see which food gets flaunted shown off shared today...I suddenly realised that...I still owe you a soup recipe from my junk food fest birthday bash!

The feeling of owing a lot of people (and by "a lot of people" I meant...like two of them ^_^) is not good.
- It's like there's a heavy stone that needs to be lifted off my heart (I was told that this is a result of eating too much unhealthy food and burping will easily solve this)
- It's like there's a heavy person sitting on my shoulders (I was told that this is only natural for a person who spends almost her whole waking hour in front of a computer)
- It's like there's something that clouds my mind, demanding solutions (I was probably only thinking about dinner right after lunch)

I guess all of my "not good" feelings aren't caused by my owing people recipes after all :p

Anyway, here's another super simple recipe.

You love super simple recipes, don't you?

Recipe
- 5 cups of mushrooms of your choice (but straw mushroom and its earthy scent is a must for me), cleaned, sliced
- A pack of coconut meat that's chopped into pieces, rinsed
- 1 silkie chicken (black chicken), rinsed, pat dry
- olive oil, water (or stock), salt, pepper, sugar

Heat up a pot, saute mushrooms with olive oil, add the rest of the ingredients, add water (or stock), bring to boil, lower down heat and simmer for min 2 hours, remember to skim the floaty fatty bits. Season with salt and pepper, add a bit of sugar if you want to have the tasty effect of MSG (without adding MSG), serve hot.

Subtle chicken flavor, earthy mushrooms, sweet 'n smooth coconut...nuff said.

Why did I use black chicken (silkie)?
- I haven't tried it before
- Black is so "in" this winter
- My Chinese friends told me that it has more health benefits (lower calories, lower fat content, more antioxidant) than our good ol' regular chicken
- I was told that it is more mildly flavored than regular chicken (sc hates chicken that smells too "chickeny")
- Have you seen a silkie before? They're so mighty cute I started to feel bad cooking them~

Would it work with regular chicken? I think it would, try it and let me know?

Baked Rice with Mushrooms, Peppers, Turkey Bacon & Cheese

When bloggers stretch their brain upside-down-inside-out trying to write a witty and entertaining opening paragraphs, I wonder if you wanna say "just cut the (not-so-funny) crap and get on with the (not-so-good) food" sometimes?
We all probably do.

Let me cut my crap and get on with the food.

In Hong Kong, we see baked rice dishes all the time, the most famous one being pork chop baked rice, from fast food places like Cafe de Coral, Fairwood, Maxim's, or local Hong Kong cafes. It's deep fried juicy (albeit tenderized) pork chops, placed on a bed of fried rice with "tomato" based MSG laden sauce, topped with cheese and baked until the cheese melted and charred. Generally, freaking delicious.

I never thought of trying to recreate the dish at home. You know we don't deep frying stuff and since there's a Cafe de Coral/Fairwood/Maxim's at almost every corner, where these babies are sold for around HK$ 30something a pop, totally delicious and no effort required apart from ordering & queueing to pick up, why bother? That was my stand....

...until I saw Noobcook's Baked Rice posts, and realised that I can do other versions of baked rice, eliminating the deep frying and all the other complicated stuff, making it perfectly suitable for me, the lazy bummie. I did mine slightly differently from Wiffy's, I started with leftover cooked rice instead of uncooked rice. Try both methods, or be inspired, discover your own way and share :)

This is how I did mine.
Ingredients
(serves 2)
- 1 cup of leftover cooked rice (mine is mixed of white and brown rice), refrigerated overnight
- 1 green bell pepper, 1 yellow bell pepper (you can use any color), remove seeds, diced
- 1 cup sliced fresh shitake mushrooms (or any other mushrooms)
- 4 sheets of turkey bacon (you can use other bacon/sausages/SPAM/etc), cut into small pieces
- 1 cup grated cheese (I used mozzarella and parmesan, you can use other cheeses)
- olive oil, salt, black pepper, worchestershire sauce, dry herb mix (oregano, rosemary, sage, thyme - optional)

Heat up fry pan with a bit of olive oil (the turkey bacon doesn't release much oil. If your bacon releases a lot of oil, omit the olive oil), add bacon until they get browned a bit (do not burn/overcrisp the bacon pieces)...

...add diced peppers and cook until they soften, add sliced mushrooms, cook for a bit until it reaches the desired doneness that you like (I like mine super done and a bit charred).

Add leftover rice, season with salt, pepper, a dash of worchestershire sauce, dry herb mix, and mix well.

Preheat oven to 200C.

Transfer the rice mix (You can sooo already eat this, but don't. At least not all) into an oven proof dish..

...top with grated cheeses...

A little or a lot... depending on how good you wanna look in that pair of skinny jeans...

For me, a lot. (I don't wear jeans, I wear giant skirts and dresses all the time :p)
I also added a dash of dry herbs...hmmm perfumetastic!


Dump it into oven and wait for the magic to happen....15 minutes later...


MAGIC.

OK, that's an exaggeration.
It's no magic, it's easy cooking.

PS. my all burnt and scratched baking sheet is so photogenic, I think I should do another one :p

Korean Potato Noodles with Beef & Mushroom Broth - My Simple Christmas Dinner

This was my Christmas dinner.

If you were expecting some gorgeously golden turkey, tender and juicy steak, super-creative-fancy side dishes, and beautifully crafted desserts, hmm...there was none :P

All the shopping, photo hunting, cleaning & decorating totally consumed me.
That's my official statement.
The reality? I was (again) too lazy to plan anything, and spent most of the day with my ass planted in front of my computer watching my favorite drama series :D

Aaaanyways...
I found this pack of fresh Korean Potato Noodles at City Super (HK$36), and it's a gem!

Update: a HK twitterer who's familiar with Korean food informed me that there is actually very little potato element in this noodle. Interestingly, it is marketed as "potato noodles", probably to attract spud lovers like me. Potato or no potato, give it a try and see if you like it :)

What did I do with it?

Made a simple broth of fresh shitake, straw mushrooms, Chinese cabbage, beef and chicken stock. Meat, vegetables and carb all in one pot. My kind of lazy meal.

Beef & Mushroom Broth
- 1 small clove of garlic, crushed
- 1 cup of beef (HK$20)
- 1 cup of fresh shitake, sliced
- 1 cup of straw mushrooms, sliced
- chicken/beef/vegetable stock
- half a head of large Chinese cabbage, sliced
- olive oil, salt, pepper, sugar

In a medium sized sauce pan/pot, Saute garlic in a bit of hot olive oil, add sliced mushrooms. Hello, kitchen, you smell good! Add stock, bring to boil, add cabbage, cook until it reaches the desired softness, adjust seasoning if necessary, add beef.



While the cabbage was cooking (before dumping beef into broth), prepare a pot of boiling water, cook noodles according to instructions, drain, divide by portion per person, and place in a bowl.

Pour broth over noodles and enjoy is subtle deliciousness.
Perfect for post-holiday-season recovery :D

I don't do "subtle" very often.
So enjoy it while it lasts :)

Grilled Chicken with Sticky Rice Stuffing

This is a homey dish that would impress the heck outta your spouse/bf/gf/in laws/colleagues/spouse's colleagues/frenemies/enemies...well, just about everyone, and it's completely doable!

Thanks to Noobcook for posting the easy-to-follow recipe.
I had been dreaming chicken & sticky rice days and nights after I saw her beautiful bird, and finally, I did it, with a little tweaks here and there.

Do some stretching exercises, take a deep breath...

Ready?
The bird
You'll need:
- 1 small sized chicken (you can go bigger, but my oven can only fit smaller birds, around HK$30 ones)
Remove head, neck, feet, trim excess fat, clean thoroughly and pat dry.

Marinate
- Hoisin sauce, dark soy sauce, light soy sauce, oyster sauce, sugar, white pepper, five spice powder
- 4 cloves of garlic, crushed
- 2 shallots, thinly sliced
- a few sprigs of spring onion, cut into 5 cm long pieces
- 5 cm ginger, sliced thinly
Rub marinate mix all over the bird, place garlic, shallot, spring onion and ginger including in the cavity and in between the meat and skin, refrigerate overnight.

Sing the bird a lullaby if you wish :)

Sticky Rice Stuffing

I soaked 2 cups of sticky rice, 1 cup of dried shiitake mushrooms overnight. Before cooking, drain rice and set aside. Drain and slice mushrooms, reserve the water.


For a little citrus touch, instead of lemon/lime (which I didn't have), I used 9 years old dried orange peel from sc's mom. Soak them in water while preparing other ingredients.


My stuffing also included chestnuts, chopped dried shiitake mushrooms, and the best bit? Chinese sausages (lap cheong), sliced thinly. I like to think that lap cheong is the sweeter, Chinese cousin of bacon.


Heat up a pan, throw lap cheong pieces to release its oil, add mushrooms and chestnuts. Add light soy sauce and dark soy sauce, toss everything around a little...then add sticky rice.


...and add a cup of chicken stock, and 1/3 cup of mushroom water (the one from soaking the mushroom)

Bring to boil, reduce heat to simmer, cover and cook for 20 minutes....

...and it would be really hard to say goodbye to this sticky deliciousness...really really hard, but try.

Stop eating the stuffing!
It has to go into the bird's ass.

Preheat oven to 200C/400F.

Stuff sticky rice into the bird's cavity (I wanted to say ass), and add a bit of thinly sliced rehydrated dried orange peel in the cavity and in between the chicken's meat and skin too.


I gave my bird too much liposuction, I couldn't close it's ass! Arrgghhh! Please remember to leave some skin to allow your bird to seal the rice properly. Place chicken on a roasting pan, covered with foil, let it roast for 1 hour.


After an hour, uncover the bird, oh my!
But I want my bird's skin to be crispier, darker, tastier.
So I basted the skin with a mix of olive oil, oyster sauce, hoisin sauce, dark soy sauce and some sugar.
Baste it good!
Roast it again uncovered until the skin turns deep-brown-beautiful.

You likey? You wanna go deeper?
If you really want it, and because it's the holidays, when I can be guilty and forget the health factor just a little bit...
Baste the bird again and roast it again until you get this...

A little burnt bits here and there...that's all I wanted.
Now my bird is all kinds of beautiful!

Sweet, sticky, savoury tasty skin.
Tender, moist, juicy meat.
Delicious stuffing bursting with flavors.
There was no way I could stop at one bowl. No-bloody-way!

But it's totally worth the leg numbing dance class I had to do after :p

Happy winter solstice festival everyone~
Get cooking.

Hong Kong Christmas Party Gift Exchange

Since most of my workmates don't read my blog, I think it is safe for me to post this.
We're having a work Christmas party tomorrow, and gift exchange is a common activity in Hong Kong Christmas parties.

We were given a budget of HK$100 or more (that means not a cent less, people!), no vouchers, coupons or lottery tickets allowed (Boo for the coupon restriction, I could really use some of that, but I agree that it will blow the surprise factor. Yay for the lottery tickets restriction. I have no luck with lotteries).

Some factors I consider when purchasing for work party, random gift exchange:
1. Within the specified budget (I was so pissed when I received HK$49 worth of heartless gift a few years back - it was Marks and Spencers lotion set, when the guidance clearly said HK$100)
2. Unisex (while I admire the manliness of boys clad in Hello Kitty items, I don't wanna be the cause of that ^_^)
3. Creativity (I had none, I was so dangerously close to buying Ferrero Roche chocolates/towels/scarves/mugs)
4. Usability/Edibility (thus the towel/scarf thoughts)
5. The not-worth-it factor (something one would deem not-worth-buying, but would love to receive as a gift)

So, what did I finally get?

Large Dried Chinese Mushrooms!
They're perfect!
They were sold at the perfect price of HK$100, no more, no less :)

Boys or girls can cook, eat and enjoy em. Worst case, give to your mom to cook them for you. It's definitely creative, unexpected. They've got the wow factor (they are HUGE, more than 12 cm diameter each)! Totally edible and I would not buy these myself, but would love to receive these babies as a gift :D

You likey?

Sadly, this brilliant idea wasn't mine. It was sous chef's. Hehe.
I would've gone for the ferrero roche.
Everybody love em, right?

I am thinking to print out some recipes to include in the gift pack, any ideas?

Grilled Portobello Mushrooms with Pepperoni and Cheese

This reminds me of pizza.

A pepperoni and cheese pizza.

Well...
Minus the wonderfully chewy and fluffy or crunchy pizza base...
Minus the tomatoey sauce...
with too much cheese...
and not enough pepperonis...

OK it's not a pizza.

But still, they're cheesy, herby, tasty, wonderful, and super sinful. Plus, to make these, I didn't have to struggle with yeast and flour, knead, or fling any pizza dough in the air (as if I could ever do that?)...and risk a major failure.

This dish is a no-failure dish.
Maybe except if you consumed all the cheese and pepperonis even before grilling.

Recipe
(Serves 4)
- 4 large portobello mushrooms (I got the ones with around 9 cm diameter, they were on sale!), remove stem, clean with paper towel
- mozzarella and parmesan cheese, shredded
- pepperonis
- butter
- italian mix herbs (thyme, sage, oregano, rosemary)

Preheat oven to 250C, lightly butter a baking sheet (I lined mine with foil for easy cleaning), place mushrooms on baking sheet, add a bit of butter on each, pile shredded cheeses (generously), sprinkle with herbs, arrange pepperonis on top (I placed two pieces on each, you can always add more). Grill until golden brown.

One word = Yum!

...and this one reminds me of a creepy, deformed alien with scary eyes.
Sorry for ruining the fun...but I can assure you that this one, despite its fugliness, is still delicious.