Spaghetti with Clams and Tomatoes - Spaghetti alle Vongole com Pomodorini

Rezept auf Deutsch - Spaghetti mit Venusmuschel und Tomaten
中文食譜 - 蜆肉番茄意大利粉

Spaghetti with Clams and Tomatoes
Spaghetti alle Vongole com Pomodorini
Ingredients for 4 servings

• 400g Spaghetti
• 1 small red chile
• 3 cloves of garlic 
• 1/2 onion
• 500g cherry tomatoes
• 1kg small clams
• 1 cup dry white wine
• few stalks fresh parsley
• olive oil
• salt and black pepper for seasoning

Preparation

• In a soup pot, cook the spaghetti in salted boiling water until al dente according to the packing instruction. Turn off the heat and drain the pasta in a sieve.
• Deseed the red chile and cut into small pieces, peel and mince the garlic and onion, cut the cherry tomatoes into half and set aside.
• Spread the clams evenly in a large pan. Cover the pan and cook the clams in high heat for 3~5 minutes. Put the opened clams into a bowl and save the juice. Discard any clams that do not open or sandy.  
• Heat olive oil in a pan, sauté red chile, garlic and onion in medium heat for 1 minute. Add cherry tomatoes and sauté 2 more minutes until slightly soften.
• Add the white wine and spaghetti. If the spaghetti seems too dry, then add ¼~½ cup of clam juice. Finally, add the clams, chop and fold in the parsley. Season carefully with salt and pepper. Mix well the spaghetti and serve with a lemon wedge.

Sea Lion Woman - Feist

The clams dig by myself, super fresh and delicious.

Pui O beach in Hong Kong Lantau Island, the clear water and soft sand.

I reserved the big clams as my mother's birthday gift.

Ingredients checklist: Spaghetti, small red chile, garlic, onions, tomatoes, clams, white wine, parsley, olive oil, salt and pepper.

Cut the chiles open, discard the stem and seeds, leave the meat and cut into small pieces.

Get ready all the ingredients! Cook the spaghetti, cut the garlic, onion and tomatoes.

When you hear the popping noise, it means the clams are opening. I like to transfer them into a bowl once it is opened, and throw away the sandy and close calms : (

The clam juice may contain sand and dirts, drain them away when reserving the juice.

Slightly fry the red chile, garlic and onion to sizzle.

And fry the tomatoes until slightly soften.

My wine guy just arrived. He brought me a vintage 2009 Graves from Chateau Villa Bel Air.

I love cooking with wine, because I am fascinated by the fruity sweet vaporized from the alcohol. 

Add the spaghetti, clams, clam juice, parsley and seasoning. Don't forget a touch of lemon juice can bring up the freshness taste of the clams. 

The Hong Kong local seafood, the original taste from south italy. A perfect combination of Spaghetti alle Vongole com Pomodorini...Buon Appetito!

Mini Note:

Italy is surrounded by sea and gifted from the nature. Since ancient time it abounded with wide range of seafood. Clam digging used to be a poor people activity, cause they could not afford buying food from the market,  and so they dug around in the sand to get their dinner ingredients. Time after time, seafood and clam become a staple of Italian cuisine history.

For example, the Christmas eve dinner "The Feast of the Seven Fishes  - festa dei sette pesci". In tradition holy days, meat and dairy products were forbidden in Roman Catholic, so people prepared their dishes from seafood and vegetables like octopus salad, spaghetti with clams, Crab stuffed mushrooms, dried salt cod, fried eel, shrimps and scallops. After the big seafood feast, the whole family visited the midnight mass at church.

Today, if you order Spaghetti with Clams in a restaurant in italy. The waiter may ask you "without - in bianco" or "with tomatoes - com Pomodorini". For sure, both preparations are very tasty.

Mini Tips:

• For me, I dig my clams from the beach, so I only need to bring a bucket with seawater to bring my clams home. For most of the people who buy clams from the market, just soak the clams in water with added sea salt, and the clams will spit the sands after few hours. Fresh seafood must be eaten within 24 hours.
• The clams I get from the beach called "sand white - 沙白". In italy, the major species are Vongole, Cozza and Tellina. You can use any type of clams as you like, the most important ingredient is "fresh".

Reference recipe: Italian Food Forever by Deborah Mele

Thai Green Curry Chicken 泰式青咖哩雞

Rezept auf Deutsch - Thai grünes Curry Hähnchen
中文食譜 - 泰式青咖哩雞

Thai Green Chicken Curry
แกงเขียวหวานไก่
Ingredient for 2~4 Servings

• half chicken
• one can (400 ml) coconut milk
• 6 green thai eggplants
• 1 teaspoon palm sugar
• 8 kaffir lime leaves
• 8 thai basil leaves

Green Curry Paste

• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon black peppercorns
• 1 teaspoon galangal
• 1 kaffir lime
• 1 stalk lemongrass
• 2 shallots
• 4 cloves garlic
• 2 small thai green chilies
• 1 teaspoon shrimp paste

Chicken seasoning

• ½ teaspoon sugar
• ¾ teaspoon corn flour
• ½ teaspoon soy sauce
• ½ teaspoon rice wine
• a pinch of salt

Preparation

• Wash the chicken and cut into chunks, marinade with the seasonings and set aside.
• Now prepare the spices. Remove the skin of galangal and slice into shreds. Grate the kaffir lime zest. Take the bottom half of the lemon grass and cut into rings. Remove the roots of shallots and garlic then peel and roughly chop it. Then, remove the head of the chilies.
• Put salt, black pepper corns, galangal and kaffir lime zest into a stone mortar, smash it with a pestle for 3~5 minutes.
• And now add the shallots, garlic and green chili, continue smash the ingredients for few more minutes. To finish, add the shrimp paste and mix together.
• Heat a frying pan with some oil, Sauté the chicken in medium high heat until slightly golden, remove from heat and set aside.
• In another frying pan, heat the coconut milk in medium heat. When it start to boil, add the spice paste and stir fry for 3 minutes until it start to fragrance. If the paste dry out, add more coconut milk to avoid burning.
• Add the chicken and half cup of coconut milk, reduce to low heat and cook for 10 more minutes, stir occasionally to avoid burning. You may add some water or more coconut milk for the desired consistency.
• In the mean time, prepare the Thai egg plants. Remove the leaves of the egg plants and halve into quarters.
• Add the egg plants and palm sugar into the curry and cook for 3 more minutes. Before serving, squeeze some kaffir lime juice, and drop few pieces basil and kaffir lime leaves. With this 100% original Thai Green Curry Chicken... Hey, don't forget your fragrant rice!

Massive Attack - Sly

Ingredients checklist: chicken, coconut milk, thai eggplants, palm sugar, kaffir lime leaves, thai basil leaves, black peppercorns, galangal, kaffir lime, lemongrass, shallots, garlic, thai green chilies, shrimp paste, sugar, corn flour, soy sauce, salt and cooking oil.
Utensils checklist: a stone mortar and pestle, a knife, a chopping board, frying pans and a spatula.

Marinade the chicken first.

Get all the spices prepared. We only take the bottom half of the lemon grass, cause all the aroma is concentrated here.

Make the dry ingredients first, smash the salt, black pepper corns, galangal, kaffir lime zest and lemon grass altogether.

It just takes few minutes. I’m not kidding, this unique fragrance make me feel like being in Thailand.

Then make the wet ingredients, smash the shallots, garlic and chilies. You may adjust the amount of chilies as you like. Opps… I am kind of person cannot eat hot, this little red chilie is too strong for me.

Add the shrimp paste at last. No need to worry it looks so rough. I guarantee, this handmade texture give you better flavor than what you get in the restaurant.

Fry the fatty skin side first can give a nice brown colour. It also can save your cooking oil.

Bring the coconut milk to simmer, sauté the spice paste till your kitchen is filled with aroma. 

Bring in the chicken and more coconut milk, simmer till the sauce is thicken. Don't forget to stir occasionally to avoid burning.

Prepare the egg plants before going into the pan, cause the meat of the egg plant can go dark easily.

Add the egg plants and palm sugar and cook for few more minutes.

Squeeze some kaffir lime juice, and garnish with basil and kaffir lime leaves to increase the flavor. And it is perfectly ready to serve.

Mini Tips:

Don't have a stone mortar and pestle? No problem, you can always work with an electric blender.

Find the fresh spices and Thai egg plants in south east Asia grocery store. Of course, you may replace with instant curry paste all the time, please still use spices like basil, lemon grass, shallots and garlic to keep the flavor.

Spanish Eggs in Casserole, Huevos a la Cazuela

Rezept auf Deutsch - Spanische Eier in Kasserolle
中文食譜 - 西班牙砂鍋焗蛋

Spanish Eggs in Casserole 
Huevos a la Cazuela
Ingredients for 4 Servings

• 1 onion
• 3 spicy sausages
• 1 bell pepper
• 600g tomatoes
• 120g peas
• 3 eggs
• 3 table spoon tomato paste
• 1 table spoon cooking oil
• seasonings: 1 teaspoon spanish paprika, pinch of salt and pepper

Preparation

• Preheat oven 200°C (gas mark 6).
• Cut the onion and sausages into crunches, remove the seeds of bell pepper and slice to pieces, skin and chop the tomatoes.
• Heat oil in the Casserole, add onion and sauté until transparent and soft. Add sausages, bell pepper, tomato and peas, mix well all the ingredients and simmer gently for 30 minutes, and follow with the seasoning.
• After the mixture become soft and thick, turn off the heat and level the surface with a spatula.
• Break 1 egg into a bowl, by using the back of a serving spoon, make a hollow in the mixture and pour in the egg. Repeat this step to place all the eggs into the mixture.
• Place the casserole in oven uncovered for 10 minutes, or until the eggs are "just" set. The wonderful combination of this thick spicy sausage tomato sauce with the egg white and egg yolk sauces. I love to serve with crusty french bread or pasta, delicioso!!!

Dancing with Myself - Nouvelle Vague

Ingredient checklist: onion, spicy sausages, bell pepper, tomatoes, peas, eggs, cooking oil, salt, black pepper and spanish paprika.

Sauté all the ingredients.

When the mixture become soft and thick, add seasonings and gently beat in the eggs.

Mini Tips:

A healthy fresh tomato's meat and skin should join together tightly. Just follow these simple steps to peel the tomato's skin easily.

• Prepare a pot of boiling water, off from heat and add the tomatoes. Cover the lid and wait for 1 minute. Take the tomato and cool down under running tap water and then the tomatoes are ready to be skinned.

Place the tomato into hot water first, and cold water afterward

Now, you should able to remove the skin easily

Pimentón - Spanish Paprika

Thanks for Christopher Columbus brought red peppers to Spain in his second voyage in 1493. This biting sharp little red fruit shocked King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. The Monks cultivated this plants from the New World and transform to a aroma dust for Monastery cooking. Until 17th century, this secret ingredient was unfolded and became the red gold in Spanish cuisine. 

The quality paprika are produced in  La Vera and Murcia, these Denomination of Origin (Denominación de Origen - DO) have perfect climate for growing peppers.

Pimentón de La Vera

The hand-harvested capsicum peppers can only roasted with oakwood and drying for 15 days. This traditional way of preserving can permeates them with flavor. There are three types of Pimentón de La Vera for different type of tastes.

'Pimentón Dulce' is sweet and mild and good for flavoring potatoes, rice and fish dishes.   

'Pimentón Agridulce' is bittersweet and medium hot and used for meat stews and for curing sausages.   

'Pimentón Picante' is made from long red peppers offer spicy hot and direct heat. Can be used for grilled meat or soups.

Pimentón de Murcia

The peppers, once ripe, are harvested by hand then spread and dried under the sun for several days, or in hot air dryers and finally milled. These intense bright red precious powder giving a great stability of color and aroma.

Reference

Pimentón de la Vera

Pimentón de Murcia

Spanish Gourmet.com

Spaghetti Carbonara 白汁煙肉意大利粉

Spaghetti Carbonara - Rezept auf Deutsch
白汁煙肉意大利粉 - 中文食譜


Spaghetti Carbonara
Spaghetti alla Carbonara
Ingredients for 4 servings

• 400g Spaghetti
• 350g La Pancetta
• 50g Pecorimo Romano Cheese
• 50g Parmesan Cheese
• 3 egg yolks
• few stalks fresh parsley
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• salt and black pepper for seasoning

Preparation

• Cut the Pancetta into small pieces, chop the parsley and grate the cheese finely. Set the ingredients aside.
• In a deep pot, cook the spaghetti in salted boiling water until al dente according to the packing instruction.
• Heat olive oil in another frying pan, fry the Pancetta until crispy and golden brown, turn off the heat and set aside.
• Beat the egg yolks into a bowl, gradually add grated cheese and mix well to form a egg sauce, add some egg white if the sauce is too thick.
• Turn off the heat when the spaghetti is done, pour out excess water and leave about ¼ of the spaghetti portion. Add the cheese sauce and Pancetta … don't forget the frying oil!!! Finally sprinkle with parsley, salt and black pepper to finish. The mouth watering Spaghetti alla Carbonara flowing with creamy cheese sauce and savory Pancetta. It is an unquestioned perfect comfort food.

Carlo Buti - Facetta Nera

This classic Italian dish just can be done by few simple ingredients, if you don't have Pecorimo Romano Cheese, use Parmesan alone also fine.

Cut the Pancetta in small pieces, and grate the cheese finely.

Combine the cheese end egg yolk to form a rich cheese sauce.

Cut the spaghetti in the middle and put it under the light, check the middle uncooked part is thin like silk. Oh! this is what we call "Al Dente".

... Sorry! When I mixed all the ingredients, because the Carbonara was too tempting, I forgot to take picture for you. 

Mini Tips:

La Pancetta, which is translated to Italian bacon. In fact, the real Pancetta are not smoke processed. The Italian use pork belly, with natural sea salt, nutmeg, pepper, fennel, chili pepper and garlic, to dry-cure the meat for 3 months. The process is difference from the US smoked bacon.

There are many stories about the origin of Spaghetti alla Carbonara. According to legend, the coal miners using the only ingredients they had "eggs and Pancetta", and prepared with the simplest method. It was said that "Carbonara" came from italian word "Carbone", meaning coal. The story went on until the second world war. At that time italian only received rations of bacon and egg from the american troops, so Carbonara became their main dish. For sure, after the american soldiers tried the tasty Carbonara, they brought the recipe to their hometown, added cream and other ingredients. But I believe, the most basic is the best to experience the simplicity of Carbonara. 

Music: Facetta Nera

Basic Risotto with White Wine, Vegetable Risotto - Risotto Base al Vino Bianco, Risotto di Verdure

Grundrisotto mit Weißwein, Gemüserisotto - Rezept auf Deutsch
意大利基本白酒燴飯, 意大利蔬菜燴飯 - 中文食譜


Basic Risotto with White Wine
Risotto Base al Vino Bianco
Ingredients for 4 servings

• 350g Risotto Rice
• 2 onions
• 2 glasses dry white wine
• 2 cups vegetable stock
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 tablespoon cream
• salts for seasoning
• Parmesan Cheese

Vegetable Risotto

Risotto di Verdure

• 1 carrot
• 1 zucchini
• 1 bell pepper
• 250g brown button mushroom
• 2 tablespoon mixed herbs

Preparation of Basic Risotto with White Wine

• Preheat the stock, peel the onion and slice into strip
• Heat butter and olive oil in another pan,  sauté the onion until semi-cooked and follow with risotto rice. When the rice become translucent,  pour in the white wine. Keep stirring until the alcohol is absorbed, then add one cup of hot stock.
• Reduce to low heat and simmer for 20 minutes, gradually pour in the stock and seasoning. Keep stirring until the rice become creamy and sticky. If the stock is running out but the rice is not cooked, then add some boiling water.
• Now taste the just cooked risotto should be slightly chewy. Remove the risotto from heat, stir in the cream, cover with a lid and sit for 5 minutes. When it is done, grate with Parmesan cheese, serve withParma ham or Salami... Oh! of course with the white wine. A perfect italian meal... Buon appetito!

Preparation of Vegetable Risotto

• Peel and cut the carrot into cubes, cut the zucchini into small wedges
• Slice the mushroom into pieces, seed the bell pepper and slice into pieces
• When pour in the stock, add carrots, zucchinis, bell peppers mushroom and mixed herbs. Simmer with risotto together.

Rochberg: 52 Caprice Virations, "Paganini" - 24 Allegretto - by Gidon Kremer

Selection of vegetables as you wish

Pour in the white wine when the rice become translucent, Hmm... the evaporated white wine smell fantastic.

Release the starch by stirring the rice, and it will become smooth and creamy basic risotto 

Finishing with cream and cover it up, the risotto will become softer and more creamy

Minitips: 

• Risotto rice is a high starch short grain rice. You may use Arborio, Vialone Nano or Carnaroli rice to make a creamy risotto.
• I selected a vintage 2006 of Muscadet-Sèvre et Maine from J.Moreau & Fils, a French vineyard located in Loire Valley. For other selection of dry white wine, you may try Chardonnay or Pinot Grigio.
• The liquid amount and cooking time may refer to the risotto packing.

Ocean, thanks for your wine recommendations.

Blanquette of Lamb in French traditional Style - Blanquette d'agneau à L'ancienne

Lammfrikassee nach alter Französische Art - Rezept auf Deutsch

傳統法式白汁燴羊肉 - 中文食譜

Blanquette of lamb in French traditional Style

Ingredients for 4 servings 

• 500g lamb
• 4 cups vegetable stock
• half onion
• 1 carrot
• 20~40 pearl onions
• 300g button mushroom
• 2 bouquet garni containing few pieces of leeks and bay leaves, and few stalk of celery and thyme
• few cloves
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 3 tablespoon crème fraiche
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1 egg yolk
• salts for seasoning
• Kitchen string

Preparation

• Rinse the lamb and cut into chunks
• Peel the carrot and cut into chunks
• Sprinkle the lemon juice over the mushrooms and set aside
• Stud the cloves into the onion and prepare bouquet garni
• Place the lamb in a stew pot and cover with cold water, simmer for 15 mins, Pour the water and lamb into a strainer and rinse off the scums.
• Return the lamb into a cleaned stew pot, pour in vegetable stock and cook in medium heat, skim all the remaining scums. Once all the scums are removed and form a clear soup, add carrots, onions and 1 bouquet garni. Cover the pot and simmer for 1~1.5 hours.
• While the lamb is cooking, peel and remove the roots of the pearl onions. In another small pot, place onions with 1 tablespoon butter, 1 bouquet garni and ¼ cup of the stock from the cooking lamb. Cover the pot and simmer for half hour.
• After the lamb become tender, remove the bouquet garni and onion, and pour the stock into a bowl.
• Melt the butter in a frying pan and whisk in the flour. Turn off the heat and pour in the lamb stock and the remaining stock from pearl onions. Return to heat and whisk frequently to avoid the lumps.
• Bring the stock to boil, add mushroom and simmer for 10 minutes, seasoning if desired.
• Pour the mushrooms and stock into the lamb, add 1 tablespoon crème fraiche and mix well. Hmm... the Veal Blanquette is nearly done.
• Before serving- In a small bowl, whisk the egg york with 2 tablespoons crème fraiche and ¼ lamb stock, then pour the mixture back into the pot. Reheat the Blanquette of Lamb in medium heat but do not bring to boil. Serve with pearl onions, white rice, noodles or potatoes and sprinkle with parsley. Oh! My "Blanquette d'agneau à L'ancienne" is done! Bon Appetit!!

Nouvelle Vague - Dance with me

Ingredient checklist: lamb, vegetable stock, onion, carrot, pearl onions, mushrooms, herbs, cloves, butter, flour, Crème fraiche, lemon juice, egg yolk 
Utensils checklist: kitchen string, a whisk, a stew pot, a small soup pot, a frying pan

Stud the cloves into the onion and prepare bouquet garni

Remove all the scums

When it become a clear soup, then place the vegetables into the stock.... Sorry, my Emile Henry is too small

Cook the pearl onions in another soup pot

Then prepare the mushroom

Before serving, prepare the egg yolk sauce

Mini Tips:

Bouquet Garni is very common in French cuisine, usually found in making soup, stock and stews. During cooking the herbs will not fall off into the soup, and it will be removed after the cooking is complete. Apart from using string, the herbs can be enclosed by cheesecloth or teabags. There is no fixed recipe for the selection of herbs, the following Bouquet Garni is one of the common combinations.

First, remove the parsley leaves and cut the leek into small pieces. Place the parsley stems and thyme in the middle, then warp with the bay leaves and leek. And use a string to tie them together.

My dear Ingrid, many thanks for the German Name!