The Cooking Ninja

My hubby has always been a big lover of Indian cuisine - so much so that whenever we are back in Singapore, the very first restaurant he heads for is Shahi Maharani. We eat there so frequently that even the manager recognises us instantly whenever we are back in Singapore, never mind that he hasn't seen us for over a year.

Since we haven't been back to Singapore for almost a year and I haven't been cooking any Indian food for a long long time, he needed to satiate his cravings, and I gave in after a few days of bugging. Flipping through our favourite Indian cook book, of course, he had to pick THE dish that has an ingredient that not only I had no idea what it was nor where to find it: madras masala paste. The book did not say how to make it or what it's supposed to be like. The Internet came to the rescue, and once I got the paste made it was now time to do this Beef Madras, which according to the book is a popular South Indian curry prepared mainly by Muslims.

Beef Madras

Ingredients

• 4 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 large onions (finely sliced)
• 4 cloves
• 4 green cardamon pods
• 2 whole star anise
• 4 fresh green chillies (chopped
• 2 red chillies (fresh or dried, chopped)
• 3 tbsp Madras masala paste
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 450 g lean beef (cubed)
• 4 tbsp tararmind juice
• salt & sugar

Directions

1. Heat oil in a wok and fry the sliced onions until golden brown.
2. Lower heat, add in the spices & paste and fry for a few minutes.
3. Add in the cubed beef and mix well. Cover and let it cook on low heat for about 2 1/2 hours or until beef is tender.
4. Once beef is tender, remove lid and cook uncovered on high heat for a few minutes to reduce any excess liquid.
5. Stir in the taramind juice, season it with salt and sugar according to your taste.
6. Serve it hot with rice.

The Verdict

It's very aromatic, delicious, tender and super spicy. I personally couldn't take the heat of this dish eventhough I was wise enough to put only 2 green chillies minus the red ones. Hubby loves it so much that he didn't even care if his taste buds were on fire. He had 2^nd and 3^rd helpings. I salute him for his bravery - not bad for a ang mo (a Singapore local word for 'Caucasian').

This dish taste even better the next day.

Notes

I realised when preparing this dish the 3^rd time that how spicy this dish is depending on how spicy is your Madras Masala paste. If you reduced the spiciness in your paste, then you can add more fresh chillies (1 green & 1 red) or whatever combination you prefer. However if your paste is very spicy like mine (when I first did it), reduce the amount of paste added to the dish or simply leave the fresh chilies out.

It's funny how I have thought for years that lasagne were difficult and complicated to make - I mean, looking at the multiple layers of pasta and tomato sauce oozing out with the cripsy cheese on top etc. I thought only chef could whip that up... definitely not for the layman I used to be.

Now you would have thought that since I have now done quite a few dishes, making lasagne would be child's play for me... well, a few days ago I was still thinking that making lasagne was really complicated and beyond my cooking capability. Why in the world do I still think that way, I have no idea. It's strange, isn't it. However after making these lasagne the other night, I realised that sometimes something that may look complicated sometime isn't. You should have seen my jaw dropped on the floor when I was preparing them - it is really is child's play: a layer of this and a layer of that, repeat it a few times and top it with grated cheese. Et voilà !

For this post, I really have Pierre and Michèle to thank for. Why ? If not for him thinking of his mom's lasagne and requesting for it, I wouldn't have overcome my cooking shyness. And thank you Michèle for sharing your recipe with us.

Michèle's Lasagne

Serves : 6

Ingredients

• 1 pack lasagne
• 1 clove garlic (cut into half)
• 3 onions (chopped)
• 450 g minced beef & pork
• 600 ml tomato puree
• herbes de provence
• salt & pepper
• grated cheese
• 750 ml béchamel sauce

Directions

• Prepare your béchamel and meat sauce first and set it aside.
• Rub the halved garlic all over the sides and base of a deep rectangle baking dish (or gratin dish). Don't throw it away after that - chop it up and cook it together with the meat sauce.

Making lasagne

1. Preheat oven at 210°C (410°F - gas mark 7).
2. Spread some béchamel sauce on the base of the prepared rectangle baking dish (or gratin dish), then lay each piece of lasagna side by side. It should more or less cover the dish.
3. Put some meat sauce all over the dish, followed by a layer of béchamel sauce on top of it. Sprinkle some grated cheese on top of the béchamel sauce.
4. Lay another layer of lasagne on top of it, followed by the meat sauce, then the béchamel sauce and some grated cheese. Repeat this until all meat is used up and end the dish with lasagna and a layer of béchamel sauce with grated cheese generously sprinkled all over.
5. Bake it for about 30 minutes. The top should be golden brown like gratin.
6. Serve hot and enjoy !

Making Meat Sauce (Bolognese)

1. Heat up pan with some olive oil, when it's hot, stir-fry the chopped onions until it is golden and sort of transparent (it will be very aromatic). Throw in the chopped garlic.
2. Add in the minced beef & pork and mix it well, making sure that the meat are broken up into small pieces.
3. Sprinkle the amount of herbs de provence according to your liking. Season it with salt & pepper.
4. When the meat is almost cooked, pour in the tomato puree and mix it well. Check to see seasoning is to your taste. Add more if needed.

Making Béchamel Sauce

1. Melt 50 g butter in a pot at medium heat, add in 50 g plain flour and stir it vigorously with a whisk. Continue to stir vigorously until you obtain a mousse like mixture.
2. Stir in 750 ml milk a little at a time (make sure it's well incorporated), vigorously to avoid getting lumps.
3. When about half the milk is in, switch to a balloon whisk and start adding large amounts of milk instead, but always whisking briskly.
4. Whisk it until it thickens, then turn the heat down to its lowest setting.
5. Season it with salt, nutmeg and pepper.
6. Let it simmer for about 10 minutes (whisk it from time to time) and then remove from heat.

The Verdict

The flavour of meat sauce and béchamel blend so nicely together giving these lasagne a rich and creamy taste that makes you long for the next bite, just to get more of the flavour. It is so good that you can easily over-indulge yourself. So be warned! The texture is a bit rich because I put a lot of béchamel sauce, you might want to put a little bit less of it if you like your lasagne to feel less creamy.

Notes

This is a great dish to prepare in several quantity and freeze it to be baked later whenever you wish.

Btw: In the US, this dish is commonly known as 'lasagna' (singular) while the rest of the world refer it as 'lasagne' (plural).

Chili con carne seems to have almost a cult following in the US, and of course especially in Texas. In France however, chili is mostly found in the form of cheap canned food, and is as spicy as some baby powdered milk. This has gotten Pierre interested into cooking some of his own. His recipe is far from the canonical form (which supposedly doesn't include any veggie but kidney beans) but it's easy to make and tasty.

Plain chili is actually quite healthy (if you don't indulge into the cheese, cream or guacamole extra). The beans in particular are full of qualities: they are rich in fibers, iron, proteins and vitamins, while of course low on fat and sugar like other veggies. As they absorb the flavours well and are slow to cook, they are ideal for stews.

This is my contribution to this week's Weekend Herb Blogging (a weekly event) hosted by Truffle from What's on my plate.

Chili Corn Carne

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 2 onions (thinly diced)
• 2 tomatoes (cubed )
• 350 g ground beef
• 250 g dried red beans
• 200 ml of tomato puree
• some tsp of chili con carne spices (according to your taste)
• chili powder for extra hotness (optional - spice it up to your liking )

Directions

1. Soak the kidney beans in cold water for 12 hours or overnight - this is a MUST or else the beans will take a very very long time to cook.
2. Cook the beans in a pot of boiling salted water for about 1 and 1/2 hour. Drain and set aside.
3. Fry the chopped onions in a large and deep pan with a bit of olive oil until they are soft.
4. Add ground beef and cubed tomatoes.
5. Once the beef is cooked, add in tomato puree, chili con carne spices and salt to your liking. If it is not spicy enough to your taste, sprinkle some chili powder for the extra kick.
6. Lastly add in the cooked beans. Mix it well and voilà.

The Verdict

I love Pierre's version. It has an equal amount of meat and beans, great flavour and a nice spicy kick. Best of all, it's not swimming in a pool of sauce. Most of the chili con carne that I had in Tex-Mex restaurants here have either way too much beans (the amount of beef inside the bowl is so pitiful.) or way too much sauce like soup.

Notes

You could skip the onions and cubed tomatoes and still get a decent dish, but the onions add a nice sweetness, while the tomato cubes compensate for the tomato puree dull flavor (well, unless you make your own puree of course). It's better to use ground beef that is not too lean (Pierre buys some with 15% fat) as fat contributes to flavor (much to the chagrin of everyone who's on diet).

Many years ago a friend of mine highly recommended me this cook book by Mrs Lee Chin Koon (the mother of Singapore's Prime Minister Mentor Mr Lee Kuan Yew). She found the instructions to be very easy to follow and had already tried out a few of the recipes with delicious results. While I was tempted to go straight to the nearest book store to pick it up, I realized that it would end up sitting on the shelf like a white elephant for years: my mom reigns over the kitchen and is a great cook...

Funnily enough, I came upon this book by chance while on vacation in Singapore recently and immediately bought it without hesitation. Out of the many delicious recipes to try out, I opted for a beef rendang: it's really one of my favourite dishes!

For those unfamiliar with this fine delicacy, Beef Rendang is very popular in Malaysia and Singapore - traditionally prepared by the Malay community during festive occasions. The recipe originates from Padang in West Sumatra, hence the name Nasi Padang which is sometimes used as well.

Beef Rendang

(taken from The New Mrs. Lee's Cookbook: Nonya Cuisine)

Ingredients

• 1 onion
• 600 g beef shin
• 500 g grated coconut
• 1 rounded tbsp tamarind (asam) pulp
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp salt

Paste

• 4 slices galangal
• 4 slices ginger
• 4 cloves garlic
• 15 dried chillies or 2 tbsp pounded red chillies
• 1 stalk lemon grass
• 1 tbsp coriander powder
• 1/2 tsp cumin

Directions

Paste

1. Soak the dried chillies for the paste in hot water. Deseed them and roughly chop the soaked dried chilies (use a lot less if you are not used to spiciness).
2. Peel and roughly slice the galangal, ginger and garlic.
3. Pound/blend them together with the coriander powder and cumin. Add the peeled and bruised lemon grass last (use the white portion only).

Cooking the rendang

1. Slice the beef into big or small pieces depending on your preference.
2. Peel and slice the onion. Set aside.
3. Prepare the coconut milk using 570 ml water.
4. Prepare the tamarind marinade: soak the tamarind pulp in 120 ml of warm water for 5 minutes. Squeeze the seeds and fiber with your fingers to extract as much juice and flavor as possible. Strain and discard fibers.
5. Combine all the ingredients in a saucepan. Bring to boil then simmer uncovered until the sauce has reduced by half. Cover and simmer for 30 mins until the meat is tender.

The Verdict

The sauce was awesome and tasted as good as I was hoping, but I can't say the same for the beef: it was unfortunately very tough. It seems that I don't have much luck in cooking beef: every time I cook some, the meat never turns out tender. When we are having steak, it's Pierre who cooks it but I so wanted to eat beef rendang. Michèle loved this dish even though my beef was tough. She suggested that I use the normal beef next time as the beef shin takes a long long time to cook for it to be tender. Most likely I didn't cook the meat long enough (that's Michèle's opinion too). If the meat is cooked correctly, it should falls apart and melt in your mouth.

Notes

I can't get any freshly grated coconut here so I replace it with 750 ml of can coconut milk.