Archive for December 28th, 2011
Christmas Dinner
December 28, 2011 admin
1 Comment

What is better than a nice steak for Christmas dinner? Probably nothing. So this is what I did.

No tips for choosing good beef, but I got this from Cold Storage. It looked good (no funny colours, nice and red like the flesh under my scalpel) and was on offer.

Marination. This is important. I took a shortcut and used a flavoured tenderiser. Let it stand for the whole afternoon in the refrigerator (lower compartment in case the newbies ask).

Balancing yin and yang here. Baby carrots and French beans to accompany the sinful main attraction.

Decided to experiment with sauce-making. Water, corn starch, balsamic vinegar, sugar and black pepper. My own invention. Glad to say that it worked pretty well.

All ready to go into the oven.

After grilling for 10 minutes, the steak and the accompanying vegetables are ready. I heated up the sauce and dressed the steak and vegetables with it.

I just had to have a good wine to go with this. I chose Two Oceans Shiraz because I like exotic, Southern Hemisphere wines and… it’s on offer. Seriously, this wine is medium bodied, not peppery like some Shiraz, but the buttery after taste is still there. Very easy to drink even if you don’t really like Shiraz.

© Chan Joon Yee

Fine Dine
Spring Rolls
December 28, 2011 admin

Is it possible to fry spring rolls with little or no oil? Well, I tried that and this is what happened. This idea occurred to me because I’ve had “roasted” spring rolls while on expedition in Nepal.

The spring rolls look dry and somewhat unevenly browned. In terms of looks, it’s not that great, but taste wise, it’s still good. Skin is crunchy, the filling is still quite juicy. Note that you’ll need a non-stick pan.

Of course, you need a good sauce. A “drop” of garlic chilli sauce on top of a puddle of sweet black sauce does it for me.

© Chan Joon Yee

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