Australian Blue Mussels in Creamy Tom Yum Sauce (冬陰公忌廉汁煮澳洲藍青口)

My hubby struggled for some time this afternoon if we should dine-out to give me a break or grab a pack of his favorite live blue mussels and cook at home. Finally, the mussels won and I had to cook ^_^ Actually I like to have dinner at home on weekends and holidays to avoid the crowd, so why not!

We always have bread with mussels because the sauce is the essense and is so good to have bread to absorb all flavors and mop the pot clean. I was so glad that we still had some homebaked foccacia which saved me a lot of work and I decided to make a twist tonight!!!

Ingredients:

• Australian live blue mussels, 1 kg
• Coriander root, cleaned and bashed, few
• Lemongrass, bashed, few
• Kaffir lime leaves, 2-3
• Shallot, 2 cloves, sliced
• Tom Yum Paste, as desired
• Heavy cream, as desired

Method:

1. Rinse the mussels briefly, remove any beard.
2. In a pot of hot water, blanch the mussels for a few seconds until each opened a slit, remove immediately and drain. Keep the clam juice for cooking. I do not want my sauce to be too savory and by blanching slightly, the shells will open and drain away excess brine while will not overcook the mussels. If you do not mind the saltiness, skip this step. 
3. Heat a pot, drizzle with little oil and add the shallots, lemongrass, coriander roots and kaffir lime leaves. Saute for a few minutes to release the aroma. 
4. Add the tom yum paste and give a good stir. Add some of the clam juice and heat to a boil. Add heavy cream and heat to a boil. Add more of the clam juice or cream to adjust the consistency of the sauce to your liking.
5. Pour in the mussels, cover the lid and allow to cook until the shells opened. Discard any unopened mussels. Serve immediately with bread or steamed rice.

I served mine with homebaked foccacia and mesclun with a homemade dressing in Thai style. The following was the ingredients I used to make the Thai style dressing for my salad: 

• Freshly squeezed lemon juice
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Thai sweet and sour chili sauce
• Thai fish sauce

Adjust the proportion to make your unique dressing. If you need a kick, add some crushed chili.

Roasted Spiced Racks of Lamb Shoulder

I always have racks of lamb shoulder in the freezer, but summer is coming and I want to clear the stocked red meat and make some room for frozen poultry, seafood and dessert.

Ingredients:

• 2 racks of lamb shoulders, 4 bones each
• Your favorite spice rub (I always have some spice blend as dry rub, you can search a recipe which you like and blend your own)
• Extra virgin olive oil

Method:

1. Pat-dry the lamb. Make small incisions into the meat with the point of a sharp knife to allow the marinate to penetrate.
2. Mix the rub with extra virgin olive oil to form a paste. Rub the paste all over the lamb. Give it a good massage.
3. Preheat the oven to 200C.
4. Heat a frying pan until sizzling hot. Sear the lamb on all sides.
5. Remove the lamb into the baking tray and cook in the oven for 12-15 minutes until cooked to your favorite doneness.
6. Remove the baking tin from the oven, cover the meat with foil. Allow to rest for 10 minutes before serving.

I still had some herby Greek yoghurt sauce in the fridge and it is very good to go with lamb. This is my favorite sauce which goes extremely well with seafoods, roasted meats and even salads. The ingredients are listed in my other recipe: Baked Panko-Crusted Seabass Fillet

「酥炸」鱸魚柳 Baked Panko-Crusted Seabass Fillet

Love fish and chips but I seldom have it at restaurants. My number one concern is the quality of the oil, secondly, the calories of oil absorbed by the batter and the potatoes. So, why don't I cook it at home?!

The fish fillet was baked instead of fried, with a sauce made with low-fat Greek yogurt, fresh herbs, spices and olive oil, while the new potatoes were pan-fried and tossed with homemade pesto...they were delicious with relatively healthy fats, which make me guilt-free when enjoying my meal ^_^


For the fish fillet

Ingredients

• Fish fillet, 2 pieces
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Cake flour
• Egg, beaten, half
• Panko (Japanese bread crumbs)
• Minced garlic, 1 teaspoon (or replace with a sprinkle of garlic powder)
• Fresh lemon thyme, several sprigs, leaves only (or replace with your favorite dried herb)
• Fresh Italian parsley, 2 sprigs, chopped (or replace with your favorite dried herb) 

Method:

1. In a frying pan, brown panko with a drizzle of oil on low heat. When its slightly browned, add the minced garlic and herbs, keep stirring for even browning. Remove the panko mixture from heat when golden browned. Set aside.
2. Preheat oven to 200℃.
3. Pat dry the fillet. Season with sea salt and black pepper.
4. Coat the fillet lightly with cake flour. Dip the fillet in the egg, then coat them with panko mixture.
5. Put the fillet into the oven and bake for 12-15 minutes depending on the size and thickness of the fish.

For the pan-fried new potatoes tossed with homemade pesto

1. Boil some water in a saucepan. 
2. Add a pinch of salt and add the whole new potatoes. Cook for 10-15 minutes until cooked through. Allow the potatoes to steam-dry until they are not boiling hot.
3. Cut the potatoes into wedges. Pan-fried until golden brown and remove from heat.
4. Toss with homemade pesto. Here is the link for my homemade pesto recipe: http://patscookingjournal.blogspot.hk/2015/03/basil-pesto.html

For the Greek yoghurt sauce

I don't have any measurement for my sauce...as always ^_< and I always make extra because we have salads so often. I'm going to list the ingredients I used for your reference:

1. Low-fat Greek yoghurt, a small tub
2. Extra virgin olive oil
3. Wholegrain mustard
4. Honey
5. Turmeric powder
6. Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
7. Fresh Italian parsley, finely chopped (NEVER replace this with dried herb)
8. Fresh mint, finely chopped (NEVER replace this with dried herb)
9. Minced garlic
10. Gherkins, finely chopped
11. Capers, chopped

Just mix everything and it's done.

我最喜歡的賀年糕點「桂花馬碲糕」

如果要我選一樣較健康的賀年糕點，即是要低脂、低鈉和低糖，我只想到自家製「桂花馬碲糕」。我更喜歡它的桂花香和馬碲爽脆的口感。

我原用的馬碲糕食譜老爸口述，自己筆錄的。不知怎樣丟了筆記本，不想麻煩老爸，於是要自己做功課。翻閱過很多食譜，憑記憶中的味道和口感判斷，經多次修改，成了這個「桂花馬碲糕」食譜。

我用長方型蛋糕模，約 9 x 19 x 5 (H) cm，容量約 715 ml。

材料：

（一）粉漿水

• 清水 240毫升
• 馬碲粉 80克
• 粟粉 5克

（二）其他

• 清水 240 毫升
• 原冰糖 50克
• 馬碲，去皮後 240克，切片
• 桂花糖 2大匙

做法：

1. 在糕模內輕輕抹一層油備用。
2. 把材料（一）拌勻過篩備用。
3. 把材料（二）的水和糖倒入一易潔小鍋內煮溶煮沸，調至慢火。
4. 加入馬碲片乃桂花糖拌勻。
5. 再次拌勻粉漿水加入煲內拌勻。要不停攪拌以免黏鍋，拌至粉漿開始成順滑濃稠狀，即可倒入糕模。
   
6. 可直接放入水波爐純蒸40至45分鐘，至糕完全成透明狀。亦可以鑊燒水，以大火蒸30至35分鐘。如果以鑊燒水蒸，要用錫紙封好，以防有回鍋水（倒汗水）。
   
7. 在糕模中於室溫充份放涼。脫模後以保鮮膜包裹放冰箱保存。
   
8. 吃前切片，在己抹油的易潔鑊以中慢火煎至兩面金黃上碟。

My first attempt to make Japanese-style Pancakes...failed!!!

Our Sunday breakfast is Japanese-style Pancakes with Assorted Berries and Maple Syrup. This is the first time I cooked Japanese-style pancakes. I tried a recipe from YouTube, replaced half of the cake flour with wholewheat pastry flour and the pancakes turned out to be a bit dense. May need more moisture and avoid over mixing next time. Will write a recipe of this when I'm satisfied with the product.

Must mention the Korean strawberries, they're cheap from Wellcome, HKD20 per pack of 2 dozens, and a lot smaller than the Japanese ones but they're sweet and fragrant. They're well worth the money!

為「新拍檔」「開光」，再次「無水」蒸海魚

今天午餐後才到巿場買海鮮，當然選擇不多，仍買到一塊海青斑腩都算幸運！原打算放入爐蒸，但想起有「新拍檔」仍未「開光」，所以繼續所謂「無水蒸」。以蒜茸、自家欖豉醬、味醂、原砂糖、粟粉和米糠油拌勻略醃，蒸熟即可。做法可參考：愛上「無水」蒸海魚

自家欖豉醬蒸海鮮、豆腐、排骨、炒蔬菜皆宜。有時都會多做兩樽留給家人和朋友。下次再做一家會影相，處理好食譜在此分享。

種 Basil (蘿勒) 就是為了做 Pesto (青醬)

鄰居們最初都覺得奇怪：「你為何種那麼多草而不種花呢？」我的花園有幾十盆盆栽，大部分都是食用的香草，因為我喜歡煮、喜歡吃！仍然住高層單位時，因為陽光、溫度、空氣等都不適合種香草，曾一度以為自己是「植物殺手」，只能用乾香草烹調。後來搬至有花園的單位，重新開始種各種香草，常常用來烹調不同菜式。其中種最多是 basil (蘿勒) ，與蕃茄、海鮮非常搭配，我尤其喜歡用蘿勒做 homemade pesto，配意粉、麵包和 new potatoes 簡直一絕!!!

今年的比利時杜鵑、大紅花和牽牛花都開得很燦爛，今天又出花園賞花，發現有好幾種蝴蝶出現，提醒我要以香草入饌，否則又要吃蝴蝶蟲的「口水尾」。於是我怱怱翻開書，再到雪櫃看看食材是否齊全，可惜沒有 Parmagiano，唯有自由發揮。

我今天用 electric mini-mill (a stand-mixer attachment)，可以 food processor, blender 或 mortor and pestle 代替。


以下是二至三人份量：

材料 (A) - 放入 food processor

• Basil leaves (蘿勒葉) ，洗淨印乾，35克
• 蒜，切碎，一粒
• 松子仁，稍稍烘過，一大匙
• 初榨橄欖油，40毫升
• 海鹽，適量

材料 (B) - 最後以手拌入的材料

• 牛油，放至室溫，15克
• Pecorino (芝士)，新鮮磨碎，22克

做法：把材料 (A) 放入 food processor 攪拌至軟滑。把混合物倒至碗中，倒入材料 (B) 拌勻即成。

Basil 經攪碎後易氧化變深色。論味道，pesto 還是現煮現吃最好，如果有剩餘，要以保鮮膜黏着醬汁表面減少氧化，蓋好再放入雪櫃可保存幾天。