Friday, October 30, 2009

Chicken Breasts with Mushroom Cream Sauce + Butter Asparagus

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Inspired by Julie & Julia: Supremes De Volaille A Blanc

I couldn't resist testing out some of the recipes and scouted for some recipes online.
And viola! I found the first dish that you saw Julie sauteing mushrooms over the pan.

Here we present: Chicken Breasts with Mushroom Cream Sauce



Cream is to French cuisine what olive oil is to Italian. And, of course, the French do like their mushrooms. Do as Julia says and "don't crowd the pan" when sauteing mushrooms for this silky Chicken with Mushroom Cream Sauce. It's quick, easy, and looks like you put a lot more work into it than you did.

Ingredients

2 5-ounce boneless, skinless chicken breasts, trimmed and tenders removed (see Tips & Techniques)
1/2 teaspoon(s) freshly ground pepper
1/4 teaspoon(s) salt
1 tablespoon(s) canola oil
1 medium shallot, minced
240 mls thinly sliced shiitake mushroom caps
2 tablespoon(s) dry vermouth, or dry white wine
60 mls reduced-sodium chicken broth
2 tablespoon(s) heavy cream
2 tablespoon(s) minced fresh chives, or scallion greens

Directions


  1. Season chicken with pepper and salt on both sides.
  2. Heat oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the chicken and cook, turning once or twice and adjusting the heat to prevent burning, until brown and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part registers 165°F, 12 to 16 minutes. Transfer to a plate and tent with foil to keep warm.
  3. Add shallot to the pan and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add mushrooms; cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 2 minutes. Pour in vermouth (or wine); simmer until almost evaporated, scraping up any browned bits, about 1 minute. Pour in broth and cook until reduced by half, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in cream and chives (or scallions); return to a simmer. Return the chicken to the pan, turn to coat with sauce and cook until heated through, about 1 minute.

Source: http://www.delish.com

Thank You, Julie & Julia!

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Firstly, thank you Asian Food Channel for the pair of tickets to Julie & Julia movie!

I truly enjoy the show and felt inspired by Julie Powell. Julie has a day time job (which she didn't particularly like), turn to cooking for comfort and started food blogging. Her blog started to gain popularity, media attention and she finally managed to fulfill her wish to become a writer by having the opportunity to publish her own book. Best of all? Her story is now screening all over the world in movie theaters! How rocking cool is that???

I've always love cooking and cooking has a therapeutic effect on me. I blogged about my own cooking, food reviews and modeling. I was recently invited by an online media site as a guest columnist and my first article will be publish this very weekend! I certainly hope that the ball will starting rolling for Novia Lim! Muahaha!

I thank everyone for supporting me and giving me the opportunity to share what I love, enjoy and embrace!

Hong Kong 2009 Day 5

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It's our last day in Hong Kong and we've decided to try some roasting.

We randomly walked into a store...


It's early afternoon but the store is already all prepped up.




Char siew and roasted pork rice


Trio : Char siew, chicken and roasted duck - Heaps of rice, meat roasted to perfection and even comes with cabbage to balance up the meal.




Beard papa - Taste as yummy as Singapore's




Steam milk? Mild yet rich tasting... Interesting flavor.




Durian jelly - It's quite interesting and pretty to look at an "embedded" durian mash.


Durian rolls - This is YUMMY!



Mango sago - This is the REAL stuff! Sweet and generous serving of mango.


Some bites before setting off...


Fish pasta


Stir fry chicken.... Oh well... I don't like plane food.... Especially economy class.

Bye bye Hong Kong!

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Hong Kong 2009 Day 4

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Century egg porridge


Forgotten what toast this is.. But it taste quite good.


Char siew puff - Flaky and fresh


Bird nest egg tarts - Yes... There's bird nest on top of the tart.


Osmanthus red bean jelly - Winner for breakfast, distinctive floral taste of fragrant osmanthus and the red bean is not too sweet.


Pan fried carrot cake - Yummy!


Char siew cheong fan - Classic and good


Prawn cheong fan - Crunchy and fresh prawns


Custard and char siew buns - Nice!


Let's go off for some Hong Kong wonton noodles!


You can mix and match the ingredients you like.


Another variation


I had this, sotong balls with fresh fish balls. Good soup base and definitely fresh ingredients.

Monday, October 26, 2009

Hong Kong 2009 Day 3

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What is Hong Kong without dim sum? We passed by a dim sum restaurant around our hotel and decided to give it a go.


Awaiting for breakfast! Oh yes, we were starving!


Charsiew cheong fan is a classic dim sum dish that is tough to get it wrong. Fresh char siew, not too thick cheong fan skin. Excellent.


Stir fry bee hoon - Quite a weird dish to start off the day? This dish isn't the star performer for us.


Custard buns - Nice!


Very fat har gao (Prawn dumpings)


Chicken feet - this is another classic dish that you shouldn't miss. Heavenly!


Charsiew buns - These buns didn't quite work out for me as it's a tad dry and the skin is too thick for my liking.



The custard buns were so good, we could not resist taking more photos of them. You can taste the salted egg yolks in the custard that gives it the distinctive sweet and little tint of fragrance saltiness.


Steam carrot cake - We actually ordered this wrongly as we wanted the pan fried one. But surprisingly it didn't taste too bad and it's definitely a healthier version.


Siew mai - Must order! The fillings were so "happening"! Big prawns, fresh minced pork, what else can you ask for?

We were off to Disneyland today!

Waiting for fast food...


Coffee time...


I felt like taking the cups home!


The wings aren't too bad.


Pretty decent fries.

Off for dinner at some chze char store recommended by Hong Kong friend.

Stir fry eel - Nice wok hei and seasoning was just nice. Must order!


Oyster egg - I don't eat oyster but the egg portion was yummy.


Stir fry four season beans - A bit too overly cooked.


Fried squid - This is the winner for dinner, nice tasting batter with hints of salted egg yolk on the coating. Arrived to the table piping hot and gone within minutes!


Mayo ribs - Very rich and creamy, ribs were cooked just right.


Black bean bamboo clams - The clams were cook just nice without being too chewy and the black bean sauce goes really well with jasmine rice.

Great dinner with great company!