Stuffed Chicken with Arugula, Almond, Garlic and Butter with Pasta

 

         This week is definitely an emo one for me. Endless rounds of Simon &Garfunkel and Daniel Sahuleka songs really bring me down to memory lanes. Especially “Sounds of silence”, took me back to my childhood time where four of us (my siblings) play Lego with the Asian instrumental rendition of this Simon & Garfunkel song. Oh how I miss those times!   Hundreds “replay” later, I am still caught up in the serenity of those songs. Since I’ve been ordered to bed rest for these two days, I happily lied down on my carpet and surrender myself to the sounds as it surrounds our small apartment. It seemed the music is so right for rainy days, welcoming the not so happy jolly fall.  Oh rainy days really freezes me. I reluctantly looked at the watch and it’s almost 5. Hubby will come home in half an hour and I have not got the kitchen hot!

        I should have been doing something easy and quick, but somehow I went to a different direction. Now I have been meaning to do this for days. Stuffed chicken breast. I don’t know why. I just thought it will be amazing. In fact I have contemplated what stuffing I should put in it since I only have limited ingredients (it’s the end of the week and I haven’t gone grocery shopping). So after much thinking, I decide to stuff the chicken a paste made from arugula, garlic, almond, butter and seasonings. If you yourself or your family member does not like to eat leafy veggies like my husband, changing the texture of veggie such as making it into a paste and stuffed to chicken breast will work like magic!

My husband came home earlier before I finished my cooking, and he requested pasta to go along with the meal. So here is what we ended up eating for dinner.

The execution:

• 1 cup of arugula leaf
• 1 ½ tbsp of minced garlic
• A handful of blanched almonds
• 2 tbsp of butter
• Salt and pepper to season
• Puree all of the above ingredients in food processor to make the stuffing

 

• Put them in a large plastic and form a cone.Cut the tip when you are ready to stuff.
• Take the chicken breast and a slightly wider knife.
• Make a pocket through the middle of the chicken breast by making a 2-3 cm slit but make sure it does not go all the way to either side.
• Take the stuffing cone and stuff the chicken gently.

• Once you are done, wash your hand. Prepare a double batter with 3 separate plates each containing seasoned flour ( salt & pepper), 1 beaten eggs, and bread crumbs.
• Cover the chicken breast with the flour, then eggs and bread crumbs
• Cover them with plastic wrap and leave them in the fridge for at least 15 minutes to overnight.
• This will prevent the butter to leak when frying and let the chicken moisture to be absorbed by the batter.
• Once its ready to be cooked, heat some oil in the frying pan and fry them 5 min on each sides.
• Once its cooked let them rest for 5 minutes before you slice them.
• Serve with vegetables of your choice and potato or pasta!

 If you like what you see or if you have any input please leave a comment,as I am excited to hear your thoughts!

Cheers,



Passion + Patience *Gastrobutterfly* A food to your soul.

Pan Fried / Baked Fish with Edamame Salad and Kecap Manis ( Indonesian Sweet Soy Sauce)

     The past two three months have been hectic and crazy for me. Its a lot of things going on all at once. First the training for Loblaw grad program, and then last month somehow I injured myself at work. This past week I have been on and off work depending how bad my bulging disk is treating me. Most of the time it’s pulling me down and so far it’s not looking good (boo!) I want my speedy recovery!!!

    However, on the brighter side, since I have been home a lot and bed resting in between push up reps ( it really is the only good exercise to heal and soothe the muscle spasm and pain according to the physiotherapist),I am thankful that I can day dream about cooking and fancy meal, or put a quick lunch. This is almost a good break for me although its not really in the best terms. Nevertheless, I have my hours of contemplation. Food and food it is...
    I love thinking about what to cook, how to cook it, and play around with my food. Sometimes I am too silly and excited to even think about it which in turn creating me a hard time to decide. So maybe, if you are kind enough ( I know you are a darling!)...will you give me some suggestion please, about an ingredient of interest?

    Oh and please stick with a reasonable budget...I mean someone wrote one of the ingredient as “love” . Man! That ingredient is way too priceless!( joking Redy if you read this:p, I agree tho...the labour of love will make the most meaningful food), but I need to show ma love in something something good you know! So I need your help!
   Meanwhile you are thinking hard... I will entertain you with my dinner tonite! Maybe you will be interested to come and join us for dinner sometimes?
I cooked a super delish pan fried fish with edamame symphony salad finished by drizzles of kecap manis (Indonesian sweet soya sauce). It was heavenly and easy to prepare.

Here is some food porn to look at:

Now lets get down to the business:
What you need:
•    2 large fillets of haddock/ halibut, or any meaty fish. If fresh fish is an issue you can use Dory/ Basa fillets just like I did.
•    Ground cinnamon
•    Ground coriander
•    Lemon Juice
•     1 tbsp Minced Garlic
•    Olive oil
•    And kecap manis ( Indonesian sweet soya sauce): you can find this in most Chinese grocery store like T&T.
•    Edamame Salad Ingredients:
•     cooked edamame beans,diced tomatoes & Red Pepper, thinly Sliced Red onions,

How to make it good:

    Pat dry the fish and sprinkle both sides with ground cinnamon, black
        pepper, ground coriander minced garlic and salt to taste .( You don’t need
        that much ground cinnamon and coriander)t
    If you want it fried you can add sprinkle some flour to seal the juice and
        heat some oil ( and cook it for about 5-7 minutes on each side.
    But if you are time constraint and don’t want to deal with the hassle of
        frying, you could bake them
    Put the marinated fish in a baking pan and drizzle with little olive oil.
    Put it into the oven for at 350F for 13-15 minutes
    While you are waiting for the fish you can prepare and put together  the
        edamame salad ingredients
    When everything is plated, drizzle the fish and salad with kecap manis and
        squeeze of lemon juice!
    Oh and if you are up for the challenge: add some chilli kick to it:
    And everything will be great for the rest of the day!


Passion + Patience   *Gastrobutterfly*  A food to your soul.

Dark Velvet Ribs with Bacardi

There is no such a thing as too much chocolate! I love chocolate and I like them dark. Lately I have been feeding my noir chocolate obsession through almost everything: mainly mixing dark chocolate in my cooking. I find the whole process of cooking with chocolate is so therapeutic and relaxing especially knowing that I am going to eat them afterward!



Dark chocolate is special because they contain a large amount of antioxidant ( some source says its 8x higher than the amount in strawberries) and it balances the hormones in our body. No wonder it work like magic for us ladies, especially during the “ Pre Monstrous Syndrome “ period, hahaha. Well, while others might disagree with me, let’s just say chocolate melts most people’s heart ( think of how many men woo with chocolate: and it works! ).

Today I am going to attempt to melt your heart too with something devilishly good. But this is not for the faint of heart. Because it requires someone to embrace the feminine touch of the food but eat like a man. You can’t be shy eating these babies either. To be exact it’s like smothering melted chocolate rum sauce all over your finger and licking it while eating your ribs! Yes... you heard me, and even better I made them hot hot spicy and tangy!



“The Super stars”
1 ½ lbs of pork ribs
1 ½ blocks of dark unsweetened chocolate
4 tbsp of brown sugar
½ tsp of salt
Dash of dried chilli powder ( use based on your discretion)
2 tbsp of lime juice
1 tbsp of Worcestershire sauce
1 ½ tbsp of minced garlic
½ tbsp of dried mustard
½ cup of hickory smoked bbq sauce
Small amount of water
2 tbsp of Bacardi rum




The execution:
•In a pan, toss in all the ingredients ( except the rum and the water) for the sauce and bring them to simmer
•Add a small amount of water if the sauce is getting to thick, you want a consistency of a normal bbq sauce.
•Once the sauce reaches the right consistency, remove it from heat and taste.
•Adjust to your liking to add more chilli powder, or lime, etc
•Pre heat an oven at 360F
•Rub the sauce all over the ribs leaving a quarter of the amount for glazing later on.
•Put in the oven with aluminum cover for an hour at 360F.
•After an hour, take out the ribs from the oven and uncover it.
•Bring the rest of the sauce to simmer and mix in the rum
•Glaze the sauce all over the ribs, and put it back in the oven on broil for app 10 minutes with no cover.
•Take it out from the oven and let the ribs stand for 5-10 minutes to reabsorb all the juice
•Serve with fries, and steamed vegetables and lime wedges ( I put extra thai chilli bird on mine)
•Get your finger dirty and dig in!


Does it look messy enough for you? Try eating them!

I almost forgot how it feels to eat like a child! Mr Knife and Miss Fork will have to stay in the drawer for a while!!! We are bringing the fingers and tongue back for real exercise!!!



Passion + Patience *Gastrobutterfly*A food to your soul.

Bobob's Delight

Hello Saturday lover,

Whether you like it or not...fall is right at your door! This means a scrumptious affair with the Apple family.I'm not talking about the Granny Smith or the Golden delicious but their equally exciting cousin: the Pears!

They come in many different varieties but when its fresh they surely are juicy and meaty! I happened to have a bucket of ripe pears and wedges of the "President" brie sitting on my fridge. They would make a good marriage with balsamic and honey reduction. Later on I added some cinnamon honey candied almond to give a little crunchy texture to our soft and warm friend. My husband named the sweet treat Bobob delight since its reminding him of the sweetness of Turkish delight and his wife kindness for making him one!
Remember adjust, reinvent, and be creative... there is no better thrill than a new culinary invention!









* The Superstars

* Couple of pears
* Brie
* Lemon juice from 1/2 lemon
* Brown Sugar
* Cinnamon
* Balsamic Vinegar
* 1 tbsp of butter/ margarine
* Honey
* Dash of salt



* The execution:

* Wash 3-4 Bartlett or Anjou pears, cut them in half and scoop up their core using
mellon baler or small spoon if you don't have one.

* Depending on the type of pear you can keep the skin or skin out.

* Preheat the oven at 400 F

* Put the pear on a pyrex dish, sprinkle with lemon juice, and
2-3 spoon of brown sugar.

* Slice brie thinly and layer them over the pear core

* Roast them with the core facing up so the brie will be melting, in the oven for
approximately 15-20 minutes

* I like to sprinkle some brown sugar and use a blowtorch to give crusty texture
once the pear is out of the oven. But its good as it is without any fancy maneuver
so dont worry!

* While you are waiting for the pear, you can toss some almonds ( a handful or two)
to the oven using a baking sheet

* Make sure you spread the almonds on the flat surface so they will be toasted
evenly.

* While you wait for the almonds and pear to cook, pre heat a pan and melt 1 tbsp
of butter or margarine.

* Add 3 tbsp brown sugar and 2 tbsp of honey and dash of ground cinnamon.

* Simmer until the sugar is all combined and caramelized.

* The almond should take less than 20 minutes so check on min 15th.

* Take it out of the oven and sprinkle with salt lightly

* Drizzle half of the hot caramel sugar on top of almonds to make candied almonds,
let it cool in the fridge for a while to harden the sugars

* Put the half of other caramel back into the heat, pour in 5-6 tbsp of balsamic
vinegar and let it reduced.

* Use the balsamic vinegar reduction for the sauce.



Voila! enjoy your Little Warm Pear Affair!


Love,
Bobob


Passion + Patience *Gastrobutterfly*A food to your soul.

Passion + Patience *Gastrobutterfly*A food to your soul.