Lazy Day Nutella Molten Lava Cake

Simple and Delicious! Lazy Day Nutella Molten Lava Cake

 There are lots of lava cake recipes out there that requires quite a bit of steps and ingredients.  It is also hard to find a recipe that does not have tons of egg yolks or butter in it.  So I did my research and made my adjustments.  Even if you over cook this cake, no big deal, it will still be the most delicious Nutella brownie you have ever tasted.  Simply cannot go wrong! Perfect for date night dessert!

Ahhh! The Simple pleasure of Nutella

Pre-heat oven at 350F or 180C. Spray cooking oil and dust with flour

Ingredients: 3 egg yolk, 1 tbs butter, 1 cup Nutella, 1 tbs flour

Mix all ingredients until smooth.  Fill ramekins 2/3 full and bake in 350F or 180C oven for about 13 mins

Remove from oven when you see a crust is formed around the rim and on top.  Let cool for 5 mins and fill in with strawberries or filling of your choice. 

Scrape the side of the cake with a knife and flip over onto a plate.  Dust with powdered sugar and serve HOT!

 YUMOLICIOUS!

Secrets of making very green Pesto Sauce 意大利香蒜醬烹調方法

I started the idea of taking cooking class in different countries rather than taking a professional course at home.  My goal is to learn the most authentic way of making a local recipe.  It has so far been an amazing journey.  Besides from the Pizza and Pasta recipe that I shared, the most eye opening recipe that chef gave me was the Pesto recipe.  I have made pesto so many times, and watched chef making them, but not once I got tips like this.  Here is the recipe and I really hope you go out today and make yourself some delicious beautiful Pesto.

Ingredients:

Fresh Basil (leaves only) 150g
Ligurian extra virgin olive oil 2 cups(light flavor)
Garlic 2 cloves
Pine nuts 25g
Grated Parmesan Cheese 25g
Grated Pecorino Cheese 10g

Preparation Method:
Put the bowl of the blender into the freezer at least 30 mins before blending
Combine pine nuts, oil, garlic, Parmesan and Pecorino and blend until smooth
Add basil and ONLY blend for few second until combine. 
Put mixture in container and pour olive oil on top to prevent from browning and refrigerate until use.

Theory:
Ligurian Olive oil is one of a kind, very light in taste but leaves a peppery taste at the back of your mouth.  I have yet to see it in hk, but if you do, grab some.  Only a few garlic is used, less that what I expected.  He said they don't want the garlic to over power the basil flavor.  Pecorino is a goat's milk hard cheese, similar to Parmesan cheese but it brings citrus and sweetness to the equation.  Finally, the most important thing, a chilled blender.  When you blend, it generates heat that cook the basil and therefore will make it turn brown and loose the lush green look.  The cold blender prevents this process and also by only blending for few seconds, the pesto remains extra green.  Using olive oil to cover on top further prevents the oxidation and guarantees your pesto is both delicious and beautiful.  Chef also mentioned, pesto should never be cooked on direct heat.  It should only be added onto hot pasta.  Once you heat the basil, the flavor is not the same.  For storage, you can leave out the cheese from the recipe and put the mixture into a ice cube tray.  When you are ready to use the basil, defrost and add back the cheese into it and mix with your ingredients.

Usage:
Besides from eating it on toast, chef made this dish with adding pesto to hot pasta, boiled green beans and boiled potatoes.  He called it a vegetable dish but I joke that it is just an excuse for another pasta dish.  I also like pesto in pizza, sandwiches or use it as a salad dressing. 

Milan Cooking Class Part II: Pizza Dough 比薩製作方法

How could you take an Italian cooking class without learning how to make pizza!  The first five days in Milan, I was so in love with their breads especially their bread sticks and crackers.  When chef showed me how to make pizza, I was so amazed how easy it is and we all can make it at home as long as you have a very hot and good oven.  Goodbye pizza delivery, you can have home made thin crisp pizza in two hours.  After return from Italy, I had a create your own pizza party at home and we turned out some amazing pizza right at home.  Here is the recipe and I hope you use it to impress your kids and friends.

Ingredients:

All Purpose Flour 500g
Honey or malt 1 teaspoon
Lukewarm Water 280g
Yeast(dry or fresh) 12g
Extra Virgin Olive Oil 10g
Table salt 10g

Method:

Preheat your oven to the hightest heat 260 C or 500F Degrees.  Melt yeast, honey, olive oil in water.  Spread flour on table and create a large well in the middle. Add yeast  mixture in the well and slowly mix in flour from the inside.  When combined, add salt. mix until a dough is form and dough is smooth.  Place in a large bowl and cover with plastic wrap and place in room temperature. Let rise for an hour or double in size.  Divide dough into your desire size.  To make personal small pizza, I divided it into 8 portions.  Cover with a moist dish cloth and let rest for another 15 mins.  Dust table with flour, shape dough into a round disk and using the palm of your hand flatten it to form a think disk. Grease baking sheet with a little olive oil and place disk on top.  Then you are ready to dress your pizza. Place pizza in the oven and bake for about 7-10 minutes until crust and filling is golden brown or crisp.  Enjoy.

Theory: Make disk as thin as possible, it is ok to have a hole, don't worry, just pinch and fix it on the sheet pan.  HOT HOT oven is key!  You can make the dough a head of time and refrigerate up to two days until use, just take it out from the fridge 30mins before use.  If you find your dough too dry, add a teaspoon of water at a time and keep working.  If the dough is too wet or too sticky, add more flour on the table and keep working.  The dough should not be sticky nor flaky, it should just form a smooth dough that you can work without sticking to your hands.  Working with flour and yeast all depends on your atmosphere.  If it is the summer time, make sure your dough temperature stay within 30-50C or your yeast will die.  You can add or decrease water content depends on the humidity of the day.  Try it a couple of times and you will get your perfectly crisp pizza.

Try these combo:
Tomato sauce, fresh tomato, fresh mozzarella(Drained) and fresh basil.
4 Cheese of any kind with anchovy.
Parmesan cheese, Mozzarella, Parma Ham and top with chopped Rocket lettuce after pizza is out of the oven.
Pepperoni and mozzarella with tomato sauce and pineapple for the kids.
Nutella, marshmallow, banana slices and strawberries for a dessert pizza.

Pasta Dough Recipe from Milan 意大利麵條的製作方法

Day 3 in Milan, I was so in love with all the pasta dishes.  Determined to make the most authentic Italian dishes at home, I booked ahead a two day Italian cooking class at La Cucina Italiana.  It is the most prestige private cooking school in town.  80% of their students are Italians and they too want to make Italian food the right way.

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After a 15 minutes walk from the hotel, I arrived at the school right next to the office of La Cucina Italiana Magazine.  Walking into a professional kitchen with a marble island in the middle, I was greeted by Chef Davide Negri, who will be my guide to a two day intensive crash course on authentic Italian staples, pastas and breads.  Born, raised and trained in Milan, Chef Negri call himself the panda of Milan, "Nobody is from Milan anymore!"  How can you get more authentic than that!

One great thing about making fresh pasta, it is basically the same recipe but you can make many different kinds of pasta.  It all starts from a very basic dough.  One special ingredient that will make this recipe authentic is the Durum flour, some people call it pasta flour, a bit yellow in color and a very strong flour. This is what make the pasta al dante! If you cannot find this, chef said to substitute with strong flour, or bread flour.

Durum Flour

Basic Fresh Pasta Dough Recipe:

200g All purpose flour
50g Durum flour (Strong flour)
2 Eggs
2 Egg yolks
1 tsp Extra Virgin olive oil (light flavored ones)
pinch of salt

Method:
Mix both flour together and create a big well in the middle.
Add remaining ingredients into the well.
Start from the middle, slowly mix liquid into flour until a dough is form.  Knead about 8-10mins.  Dough should be moist, soft but not too sticky.  If it is too dry, spray in a little water.
Cover with plastic wrap and let it rest at room temperature for one hour.  Cut dough into smaller size to fit into pasta machine
Starting with the widest setting of the pasta machine insert dough.  Sprinkle flour on dough before you insert into machine if it is sticky.  Insert dough through machine and decrease setting each time for about 4-5 times.  If the dough is too thin, fold in half and insert again into the machine
Stop at about 1/16 inch or second to the thinest setting and it should be thin enough for most pasta.

Theory:
I made this recipe at home and find it a bit dry. So if your eggs are too small or maybe it is a dry day, add a little more left over egg white to the dough until dough is smooth.  I find a spray bottle with water also handy, give it s spritz and slowly work on it.  Towards the end the dough might seem hard to knead, it is perfect, you want it to be hard so it will be el dante.  The dough should also be just dry enough and not stick to you hands.  If you want to make color pasta, just substitute the volume of one egg with either cooked chopped spinich, tomato paste or squid ink.  You can even make chocolate pasta by adding some coco powder.  You might need a little extra moisture with that dough. 

Tagliatelle:
Let pasta sheet dry for about 10 mins to prevent from sticking, roll it up loosely and cut into 1/4 inch strips.  Pasta can be kept in fridge covered with plastic wrap for up to about three days.

Lasagna:
Cut into squares or your desired shapes.  Boiled in salt water for about 3 mins and run through cold water.  Then add sauces and ingredients to make 5 layers and put into oven until sauce is hot.  No need to cook for a long time since noodles are already cooked

Raviolis:
Using a long pasta sheet, fold into half and make a line in the middle.
Brush a small amount of water onto the small half of the sheet, just enough for it to stick.
Pipe your fillings about one inch apart onto the smaller half sheet.
Fold the larger half of the sheet over, covering the fillings.
Press in between fillings to remove air and seal in the fillings within the pasta sheets.
Cut sheets with knife or pasta cutter and raviolis are ready to be cooked
Cook in a large pot of salted water for about 2-3 minutes, mix with your favorite sauce and serve!

Try this at home and let me know how it turns out!

Spinach Ricotta Raviolis with Sage Butter sauce

Maple Soy Rosemary Rack of Lamb 迷迭香羊排

Rack of Lamb is always impressive to serve at dinner.  A little bit more special than steak and actually very easy to master.  I made this recipe so many times and everyone always enjoyed it.  It gives the lamb added flavor and punch. 

Maple Soy Rosemary Rack of Lamb

Ingredient:
1 Half Rack of Lamb, about 6-8 bone per rack
Marinade:
½ Cup Soy sauce
½ bulb of garlic, smashed
3 tbs of Maple syrup
2 stem of fresh rosemary, smashed stems and leaves
½ tbs of whole black pepper
1 gallon Zip Block Bag
1 tbs of water

Process:
Put all the marinade ingredient in the Zip Block Bag, clean and dry the rack of lamb and place it into the marinade. Remove excess air, zip and place in refrigerator for about 12-24 hours. Best to do it the night before you go to bed and cook for dinner the next day. Put a pan underneath the bag to make sure it does not leak all over your fridge.

Grilled Method:
Prepare your charcoal to about medium high heat. Remove lamb from bag and discard juice. Put lamb on the grill around the flame, NOT DIRECTLY on the flame or it will burn. Turn on each side every 5 -7 minutes. Using a meat thermometer, lamb is ready when it reaches 140-160F. 140 for medium, 160 for medium well!

Pan Seared Method:
Pre heat oven at 375F. Use heavy duty oven prove pan, the heavier the pan, the more heat it produce and the temperature remains constant. Cast Iron is idea for a crisp meat crust. Pre heat the greased pan until you see smoke. Place lamb rack on the pan and you should hear the sizzle. Turn on each side every 5 minutes until meat is nicely brown. Place Pan directly into the oven or place meat onto oven safe pan and finish it in the oven until desired temperature 10-20 mins. You can sear the meat first and wait when you are ready to eat and finish it off in the oven 140F(medium)-160F(Medium Well).

Cut Rack into chops and enjoy! NOT cutting it from the start seals in the juice, also because it has been brined (wet marinated), it is extra juicy so no sauce is needed. Serve with Oven roasted potatoes with garlic, truffle oil and fresh rosemary, some butter pan-fried asparagus, and a little mint jelly, I think your honey will love you forever!

TIPS. By smashing the garlic and herbs, you release their scent and flavor. You don’t have to chop them nicely since you will not eat it at the end, so release some stress and smack them good! This Marinade is also good with duck or pork. Use a serrated knife to carve meats for less tearing of the muscle. You can marinade more meat at the same time and remove the brine and place meat in the freezer for later use. You can also serve this at room temperature, for a finger food appetizer.

Egg Waffles: Gai Dahn Tsai: 雞蛋仔

In 1949, The People’s Republic of China was established under the new Communist Party. Hundreds and Thousands of people fled into Hong Kong each month. The drastic increase of population along with low resources of food supply and strict price control by the government drives the creativity of merchants to make good use of all their products in their store.

The batter of the waffles came about when merchants were trying to find ways to utilize broken fresh eggs. With the influence of the British colony, waffle recipe was modified to local taste. They added flour, sugar, evaporated milk, then poured the mixture into a custom made honey comb shaped cast iron mold. On top of a charcoal burning flame, a golden crust, crispy yet chewy cake like snack was born. As the snack evolves, little egg shaped like iron mold was created for this special snack, hence the name “Gai Dahn Tsai”, a direct translation for little egg tartlets. It became an irresistible cheap street snacks unique to Hong Kong. Back in the days, Gai Dan Tsai was sold by hawker street vendors but nowadays, you will find it in mini snack stalls on busy streets of Hong Kong.

According to the locals, a good Gai Dahn Tsai should have a fragrant egg flavor, very crispy on the outside with a chewy semi-hollow center. Pulling out from a rustic brown paper bag, the individual bite size pieces of little egg shaped waffles should break apart easily. Lots of different flavours are available these days, but to truly experience this snack, I recommend the original flavor. For that extra sweet tooth, try the waffle version sandwiched with peanut butter, condense milk along with some coconut sesame sugar.

利強記北角雞蛋仔

Mr. Liu, owner of Lee Keung Kee Egg waffle shop was soft spoken and humble about his food stall that basically dominate the egg waffle market in HK. Growing up as one of the10 sibling of a street hawker family in the 50s, he followed his family’s foot step and do what they do best and started his own food stall back in the 80s selling egg waffles. Combining his mother’s recipe along with his new ideas and his vision of constantly improving his product, he now owns 8 busy food stalls around HK that always have a line outside his stall. Liu said, the key to his success is the drive to keep this product on its best competitive edge. Still tasting his waffles everyday, the unique factor of why this egg waffles is so addictive lies in the batter. The right amount of egg, along with minimal distracting, the waffle should be crispy on the outer layer, one side hollow and the other side filled with soft and just cooked cake that is al dente. You should always consume the waffle within the minute that it came out from the grill. That is certainly not difficult considering, the light and crisp element of the waffle. Back in the 50s, these egg waffles are sold by the egglet for a cent. Using a charcoal burning stove with two extra large heavy cast iron mold, they crank out these little egglets and made it a business.

This recipe is easy to prepare and especially good for breakfast. If you don’t have the traditional egg shaped iron mold, an electric waffle machine will do the trick.
Recipe:
Preheat waffle machine or egg shaped iron to medium heat about 300°F
1. Flour ⅔ cup
2. Cornstarch 3 ½ tbsp
3. Baking powder 1 tsp
4. Sugar ⅔ cup
5. Evaporated Milk ¼ cup
6. Water ½ cup
7. Large eggs 2
8. Vege oil or melted butter 2 tbsp
9. Vanilla Extract (Optional) 1 tsp
10. Custard Powder (Optional) 2 tbsp
11. Cooking Spray or Melted Butter to Coat Pan

Combine 4,5,6,7,8,9 in mixing bowl.
Add 1,2,3,10 in the egg mixture and whisk until smooth without lumps.
Coat Waffle maker with 11.
Pour batter into pan until ¾ full.
Cover and turn pan upside down and cook until waffle is golden and come off the pan.
Cool Waffles on wire rack for 5 minutes and serve warm.

Turkey Croissants with Dried Cranberry and Garlic Mayo

We made this yesterday for a client of mind and I thought this is such an easy recipe and delicious at the same time.









Ingredient:
Sliced Deli Turkey of your choice
1/2 Cup Dried Cranberries roughly chopped
1/2 Cup Mayo
1 tsp Garlic Powder
1 tsp Lemon Juice
4 Croissants cut in half to create a pocket for filling

Mix Cranberries with Mayo, Garlic Powder and Lemon juice.
Spread mixture onto Croissants and put turkey on top.  Add your favourite veges or cheese if you like and serve. Delicious, easy and pretty.  Perfect for kids party

Homemade Oven Baked Fries

4 Idaho Potatoes
2 tsp Garlic Powder,
1 tsp Paprika,
3 tbs Olive Oil,
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 tbs Truffle Oil
1 tbs fresh herbs of your choice

Pre-heat oven at 375-400F  or 200C
Cut Potatoes into thin fries.
In a large mixing bowl, mix spices and olive oil with potatoes
Spread Potatoes onto two greased sheet pans and make sure they don’t stick together.
Bake about 30 minutes until golden brown, turn fries with metal spatula and bake again until both sides is crispy.
After Fries are cooked, return crispy fries into mixing bowl. Add Truffle oil and Fresh herbs, tossed lightly and serve hot.