Augustdiners Cooks (NOT!): Gourmet Dinner @ Home

We're grateful knowing that you are still keeping it up with us and our post, here's another one to share with you, i mean two post within a week could be our new record, that's super frequent for Augustdiners style whom seem not be able to cope with one entry per month.


We’ve recently got our hands on some gourmet ingredients- the larger than palm sized foie gras, few kilos of Spanish ribs, and the o-so-tempting pork loin. We’ve also given some really good imported Spanish pork belly which I’m probably going to make char siew later (any good recipes to share?)
So Crazieapple was heading the kitchen that night because she’s still living the life of a jobless bummer. Whilst I came whizzing in after work to assist her with the dirty work, i.e. cutting and shredding vegetables =P

1/Crazieapple preparing to baked her ribs

2/ Foie gras- yums!

3/ *loves*

4/ Pork loin in the making

5/ Almost there

6/ I claimed the biggest piece!

We started our family off with some dips and crackers- 4 types including smoked salmon, caviar, tzatziki, and cream & chives. The dip goes really well with Tucker’s natural crackers, you’ve got to try it! It’s so addictive.

Our menu of the night was pan-seared foie gras with caramelized apple, which had a wonderful combination of flavours. It was an easy done dish, and with Crazieapple doing re-runs on how to properly dissect the foie gras on youtube more than 10 times, it’s safe to say she’s a pro in the area already.

Then there was the Jack Daniel’s spare ribs, which we ran into minor hiccups, but in the end it just turns out so beautifully that I was eating while licking my fingers at the same time. Mr. KFC would approve because it’s so finger lickin’ good. *laughs*


Then the pork loin was expertly wrapped with bacon and stuffing, the presentation was enticing as the bacon was baked to a sexy brown tan, the downside however was that the pork loin was slightly over-cooked for my liking. I enjoyed mine with some slight pinkness to the flesh. But again, she’s hit jackpot with the flavours

Some Roasted Veges on the side: butternut squash, capsicums, and tomatoes.

Also on the side is the rosemary flavored mashed potatoes.

For dessert. =)

Check out the mess we made =)

P/S Just a little excitement to share. Whilst we were pan-searing our foie gras outdoors with the portable gas stove (2 of them), the gas leaked and our whole pan caught major fire, whereby we were all rushing to find water or ways to diffuse the fire (only to find it inflamed bigger), in the end, we manage to kill the flame by throwing two big bucket of water from the swimming pool. But, what is really noteworthy is how all of us re-acted to the situation.


~The ever so smart Chyn puts her hand into the fire to attempt to turn off the gas


~ PK was nowhere in sight….


~ Mom, being the one who always know what to do, ran all the way to the sink area (which is super far away) to get a bucket


~SY gave dad half a glass of water from our dining table as if she thinks that the mere glass of water can save the situation


~ Lil Twin sisters screams “mommy… mommy….!”


And what was Augustdiners reaction?


Ms. Jazz: “It’s GONNA EXPLODE, GET AWAY FROM THAT PLACE”*whilst hiding in the dining room as far away from the fire as possible”- Damn Dramatic OK…hehe


Crazieapple, on the other hand was the classic one…..




“SAVE THE FOOD, SAVE THE FOOD!!” she screams- whilst flapping her hands up and down.


Lucky for us, dad manage to push most of the food away from harm before the mom’s buckets of chlorine filled water came splashing down. But unfortunately, 5 pieces of foie gras had died in vain.


So all excitement aside, the dinner was thoroughly enjoyable. If I knew Crazieapple can deliver a meal so well, I would be willing for myself to sit back with my knife whilst she graces the wok for our next cooking project.

Augustdiners can cook (NOT!): Fat Behaviour - SPAM FRIES

Me and crazieapple has something in common, and i think it applies to a lot of people out there, its call binge eating. It's when you cannot resist food at all times, especially during supper time. It's when you FEEL you need to eat something, and this feeling happens every so often that you end up going to the kitchen to scout for food. So here, Augustdiners is starting a new section call the FAT BEHAVIOUR. Indulge in our simplest recipe that is perfectly available in your daily kitchen cabinet. Total fuss free. I assure you when you are feeling lonely during the night, or in need for something to munch on during movie session at home, or mugging for an exam, these recipes will be your perfect remedy.

Today, i'm sharing with you my all time favourite: SPAM FRIES with "SPECIAL DIP"- this recipe is easy beyond means and require very little ingredients.
P/S: apologies for the bad quality photos as its taken by my blackberry
PPS: not saying that blackberry camera sucks though =D

Ingredients:

1 can SPAM luncheon meat (can be original or hot&spicy)
2:3 ratio of full cream to sour cream
1/2 small onion (brown or red is fine)
Wasabi
Cooking oil (i use olive oil)

a) Slice the Spam luncheon meat in a fries-like shape
b) Heat up the cooking oil (make sure it's not too hot) and slowly Brown it over low heat
c) while waiting for the fries to be crispy brown, prepare the sauce

Dipping Sauce
d) finely chopped the onions
e) Mix full cream, sour cream, and wasabi together with the onion. (the amount of wasabi to add in depends on yourself, if you want a milder taste, one squeeze of the wasabi tube is sufficient) but i went with 3 large squeeze, yums!

f) time to get out those nicely fried fries, and drain the excess oil. Served warm with Dip

Now, can you spell SINFUL?

Augustdiners can cook (NOT!) : CNY dinner

As you may have already been well aware of this, Augustdiners are not particularly a good cook, not exactly the best wife of the year candidate here, but once in a blue moon, we will feel inspiration pouring in and decide to cook for the family. So on the 3rd February after spending long hours watching Junior Masterchef Australia (they are blardy amazing), we felt totally inspired, and start working out a list of what to make for the family. Turns out there will be some guest joining us for dinner, and so the pressure is on to cook an (EATABLE) meal that serves 15pax.
I ordered most of my main ingredients like chicken, seabass, tenderloin etc through my restaurant, and for the rest of the ingredients we merrily went to BSC for some grocery shopping. I LOVE GROCERY SHOPPING IN BSC! As we happily topping away food onto the trolley feeling extremely generous with ourselves in conjunction to the Chinese New Year celebratory mood, everything on the shelves seems to be “necessary” to make this dinner. After a good hour of intense muscle flexing from shelve to trolley, shelve to trolley, we felt so accomplished!!!

The only problem of this joyful exercise is probably the cost. I shall not disclose the exact amount but it’s definitely a four hard earn figure. I dare not think of the RM130 bucks saffron sitting on top of my kitchen counter right now, especially since my attempt of making seafood paella was a failure.com

So as the clock is ticking away, and a good 6 hours ahead of us for preparation, not a single minute was wasted. Chopped the vegetables we did, clean the gooey (and May I add disgusting) chicken butt I did. We roast, we cook, we broil, we grill, in the end of it all, we were ready to throw in our white towels and call it a night.

The menu is a feat on its own, Crazieapple and I repeatedly had a heated argument on what we would be serving to our guest. She was to be in charge on appetizers and desserts while I can focus on my main course. But being a control freak who likes to take control of situation and make sure everything is perfect (yep I’m a true virgo) I crossed off every single thing she propose or had in mind until a point where she refuses to tell me what she’s making. So there you go, we have two chefs here who refuse to communicate and collaborate.

So how will this night turns out, you wonder?

THE PREPARATIONS

One of many ingredients~

The notes.. =)

The Chefs...

The concentration on camwhoring

tomatoes and capsicums sitting on the baking tray ready to be roasted for one of the triple-play soup.

*scroll down to see what this is all about!* =)

Lesson of the day: DO NOT soak a good slab of beef in the water in hope that it will soften faster!

Baby Back Ribs

In the making..

My adorable assistants..

DINNER AT THE NG’S

Appetizer: Warm tomato bruscetta and creamy mushroom on toast

Appetizer: Triple play soup (which crazieapple names it in some Chinese prosperity bull-ah, something which I care not to translate) a combination of peas and asparagus, roasted tomato and capsicum, and cauliflower soup with cheese grissini. This was the one dish that i strongly disagreed to as it takes up way too much effort.. But im glad that Crazieapple insisted to stick to her plan cause these were absolutely divine!! Each of the soup brings up distinctive flavor altogether..Crowd favourite was definitely the roasted capsicum and tomatoes.

Appetizer: Baby Back Ribs with Whiskey Sauce Décor with sauté asparagus wrapped in prosciutto

Main: Jamie Oliver’s perfect roast chicken (HELLO, MR. HUCK if you are reading this, mine was way better!)

I joke of course. I roasted two but only manage to serve one as my guests were all stuffed by now…

Main: Failure.com seafood paella. I never dealt with paella before. And I cheated the recipe by substituting Spanish rice with risotto rice.

To be fair to myself (also as a comfort for my expenditure of the RM130 saffron that I no longer need) the paella DOES taste like paella. Only mine was a soggier version, and I think I was a wee bit greedy with the saffron and put three handfuls of it when the recipe only require one.

Main: Tray Baked Lemon Seabass (perfect lemony flavor and the right doneness with a nice flaky texture)
The Grilled Rosemary Australia Chilled Tenderloin didn’t manage to make it to the table as the guest called TIMEOUT. Oops, so we did overdo our portioning a little.

Side: Assorted roasted vegetables. Just look at those beautiful colours!

Desserts: Our messy love affair with Oreo cheesecake topped with strawberry compote.

Our wine of the night is none other than my favourite Penfold 707 Vintage Cabernet Sauvignon, and our whisky Louis XIII

It was a successful dinner and i could finally sleep soundly that night (and i'm pretty sure it's due to exhaustion) =)

Step by step recipe - CREME BRULEE

Crème Brulee means “burn cream” in French. The popularity of Crème Brulee in today’s food culture is evidenced. The classic dish of smooth custard with caramelized sugar topping has became an all time favourite in restaurants. You can almost see it appear in every menu.

Why pay RM15-20 for a dessert you can easily make at home? Impress your guest with these sweet little treats and be ready to be showered with praises. It’s probably one of the easiest and stress-free desserts around.

STEP BY STEP GUIDE- the making of creme brulee

Ingredients:

2 Cups of full cream

4 egg yolks

1/3 cup castor sugar

Whole Vanilla Bean

brown sugar for caramelizing

Kitchen Tools:

4 Ramekins

Blow torch (i got mine for RM40+ only)

Strainer

 Baking dish (or similar)

Kitchen Towel

1/ Slice Vanilla Beans lengthwise, scrape seeds from half the bean

2/ Place the seeds inside a saucer with the other half of the bean

3/ Add full cream

4/ Scald in low heat, making sure that it is not boiling.

5/ While your cream is warming, whisk egg yolk and sugar together, make sure u just stir gently to minimize air to enter.

Whisk whisk whisk =)

6/ When cream is hot (not boiling!) ladle 1/2 cup into the yolk mix (remember to use the strainer)

Mix Mix Mix, careful not to whip the air into mixture

7/ Remove bubbles with a spoon or even better (torch it away!)

8/ Place a wet towel into the shallow baking dish, this is to stabilise the ramekins to ensure that it doesnt move around.

9/ Pour mixture into ramkins slowly, fill it up almost to the top

10/ Place three ramkins into the baking dish

11/ VERY slowly Add boiling water half way to the top of baking dish, careful not to get any water drips into the ramekins

12/ Add last ramekin

13/ Pop it into the oven and bake for 40 mins at 375 degrees"F / equaivalent to 165"C (as with all bakings, remember to preheat your oven before putting the dish in)

Test doneness by tapping the side of ramekins, custard should jiggle a bit like jelly

14/ Chill the custard for 4 hours in refrigerator. Remove and prepare for caramelizing! Here's the fun part of the whole process! Fill top of each with brown sugar, and shake off any excessive sugar.

15/ Use blowtorch to burn the sugar off each ramekins. Careful on the fingers.

16/ slice up some strawberries for decor. You can also use blueberries, raspberries. Visually appealing colors.

Enjoy digging in with spoonful of sinfully tasty "burn cream" =)

p.s. Some changes i'll try out next time, instead of 40 mins, i'll drag on my baking for longer period- say 1 hour. I'll have to lower down my temperature to approx 140 degrees to avoid browning the custard.

Recipe credit to: http://www.howdini.com/

CRAZIEAPPLE finally posted her penang review. *roll eyes* such lazy bum, for all those craving for CKT, ASAM LAKSA and in need for some food porn, click here