Steaming Fish in Parchment Paper

I had just remembered a very convenient way of steaming food, i.e. wrapping in foil or parchment paper and cooking it in the oven.

I tried this technique with my Steamed Vegetarian Tuna recipe yesterday and it worked amazing, without the excess water that dripped from the wok cover. Another reason why this worked great for me is because I do not own a big wok that allows me to place a large place in for steaming, nor do I own a pair of the special tongs that you use to remove a steaming plate of food from the wok.

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F degree.
2. Drizzle some white wine and soy sauce over and around fish. You could use fresh lemon juice or apple juice if you like. The liquid seasonings will create the steam inside the parchment pouch when the dish is baked.
3. Starting with the “point” of the paper heart, roll and crimp the edges until the fillets are totally encased and sealed in the “half-heart” shape.
4. Place the pouches on a cookie sheet and bake in the middle of the oven for about 20 minutes or until the pouches are puffy or had turned light brown in colour.
5. Remove from oven and place the pouches on a plate.
6. Using a pair of scissors, carefully cut an “X” in the center of the pouch, or cut an outline of the half-heart shape on the inside of the folded edges. Use extreme caution because the steam is very hot.

Petite Spinach Pie

I thought that this would be another oven-related faux pas, but to my surprise, they came out perfect!  It’s so easy to make, except for the dough rolling and cutting part.

Ingredients for filling

• 1 pack of frozen chopped spinach (250 g), thawed and drained
• 1/2 sweet onion, chopped
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 1/4 cup sundried tomatoes, sliced
• 1/2 cup feta cheese , crumbled or diced if buying in a block
• 1/4 cup romano cheese, grated

Method

1. Preheat the oven @ 350 F degrees.
2. If using thawed frozen spinach, squeeze excess water and loosen up the spinach.
3. Heat a few teaspoons of olive oil in a pan and cook the onions until transclucent.
4. Add the chopped spinach and sundried tomatoes to the pan and cook thoroughly. Season with salt, pepper and garlic powder. If fresh garlic is preferred, add to the onion mixture and cook with the spinach and sundried tomatoes instead.
5. Remove the mixture from heat let cool for about 15 minutes.
6. Add feta and romano cheeses to the mixture. Mix thoroughly.
7. Add beaten eggs to the spinach and cheese mixture and mix thoroughly.
8. Spoon mixture into pre-made pie shells or frozen pastry dough.
9. Bake for 30 minutes.

If you are using frozen pastry dough like me, prep the rolling surface with flour. Roll the dough to about 3cm thick and cut out circles as wide as the muffin pan holes. You can look for a small bowl or a measuring cup and turn it upside down. Cut the circles out using a knife. Grease the muffin pan with cooking oil and pastry brush. Insert the pastry dough circles into the muffin pan and spoon the spinach mixture into the mould.
You can make spinach puffs with the pastry dough. Simply spoon the mixture onto the middle of the dough circle and fold into half. Press the edge of the pastry to seal the puff. Brush egg white onto the puffs and bake.

Baked Acorn Squash with Balsamic Fig Sauce

I meant to cook this acorn squash that had been sitting in my fridge for a few weeks. Luckily it was still good.

Acorn Squash
Bake 2 halves of a greased (brush with 2tbsp of melted butter) acorn squash cut side up in a pre-heated oven at 375F degrees for 40-50 mins or until tender. Place another small piece of butter on the squash cavity immediately after removing them from the oven.

Balsamic Fig Sauce
This sauce is so awesome. You can serve this with ice cream too.

Ingredients

• 10 Dried figs, chopped
• 6 tbsp of brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp of cinnamon or pumpkin spice 
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1 cup water

Method
Combine all of the ingredients in a non-reactive pot and  boil over medium heat until the sauce caramelizes. Stir often.

Steamed Cauliflower with White Sauce

 

My dad made this for us all the time no matter if we’re having rice or potatoes for dinner, and I had just garnered enough guts to attempt the white sauce this past week. It turned out OK, but I could probably use less flour or cook it over the stovetop for a bit longer to remove the “floury” taste. Nonetheless, it came close. To completely remove the clumps, I stuck my food blender in the pot and blend until I got the sauce to completely smoothen and gives the back of the spoon a silky coat.

To make the white sauce, melt butter in a pan and add a few teaspoons of white flour over low heat. Gradually add milk into the pan by the spoonfuls and while removing clumps with the ladle/spatula. Season with salt. Pour over the steamed cauliflowers (or any vegetables or dish) and season with freshly cracked black pepper.

Sweet Potato and Cucumber Salad with Lemon Yogurt Sauce

First course I made for my Andy’s birthday dinner… and I sliced a big chunk of my finger and couldn’t cook the rest . All big chefs are bound to have kitchen accidents right? I chopped off half of my nail this time, gonna take at least 2 months to grow back .. *sob*sob* Anyway, this is the salad… the sauce is really good for almost evertyhing I think

This is an adapted recipe from this site.

Ingredients

• 1 medium sweet potato, washed and finely sliced into rounds
• 1/2 lebanese cucumber, finely sliced into rounds
• 1 tbsp black mustard seeds, toasted
• 1 large handful parsley (or mint) leaves, washed and chopped
• 300ml natural yogurt
• Small lemon, juiced

Method

1. Toast black mustard seeds in oven @ 350 degree Fahrenheit, or dry-fry in frypan, until fragrant.
2. Season sweet potato rounds with olive oil, salt & pepper. Roast in 400 deg F oven for 30 mins or until the edges start to brown. Allow to cool and toss gently with cucumber, half of the toasted mustard, salt and freshly ground black pepper.
3. Finely chop mint / parsley and add to yogurt and lemon juice in a small bowl. Add in the rest of the toasted mustard seed. Season well with salt and pepper.
4. Place salad on plates and drizzle with yogurt dressing to serve or serve dressing in a bowl as an Indian-style accompaniment.

Goat Cheese Salad with Cranberry Sauce & Caramelized Walnuts

This salad was an inspiration from staring at the bowl of leftover cranberry, cherry & walnut marmalade that I had made for the Tofurky. Because it was the sauce that had made this salad, I’m sharing the recipe for the sauce instead and you can let your creativity go wild with it. The recipe was borrowed from EatingWell.com. The orange zest really made the sauce smell and taste great! To make this salad even tastier, you can add caramelized onions as well.

Ingredients
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup water
1/2 cup port or other sweet red wine (I used Shiraz, not sure what is sweet red wine)
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 cup dried tart cherries
1 12-ounce package fresh or frozen cranberries
2/3 cup chopped walnuts, toasted
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated orange zest

Method
1. Combine sugar, water, port (or wine), cinnamon and nutmeg in a medium nonreactive saucepan; bring to a boil. Add cherries and cook for 1 minute. Stir in cranberries; return to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until about half the cranberries pop, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from the heat.
2. Stir in walnuts and orange zest. Let cool completely. (The marmalade will thicken as it cools.) Serve at room temperature or chilled.