Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Cooking Lab - Chili Chicken Pizza w Roasted Vegetables

If you like thin crust pizza, you'll love this super easy Lavash flatbread pizza. 

For this recipe, I am using the lavash bread as a pizza base with chili chicken breast ham and various chargrilled vegetables and some freshly shaved pamesan cheese. Together, I serve this pizza with a handful of mixed fresh salad. Drizzle some lemon juice and there you have it. A wonderful rustic dinner within 30 minutes. 



(c) GMV - Got My Vote!








I highly recommend lavash. It is a tasty Middle Eastern flatbread, it is very soft and bakes up deliciously in the oven.


Ingredients:

- 1 lavash bread 
- 100g chili chicken ham 
- 100g cherry tomato 
- 100g chargrilled capsicum 
- 100g chargrilled artichoke 
- 100g baby brocolini 
- 100g fresh snow pea sprouts 
- 50g fresh rocket 
- 50g fresh baby spinach 
- 4 tablespoon truffle mushroom sauce 
- 100g shaved parmesan cheese 
- 2 tablespoon light extra virgin olive oil 
- Sea salt and black pepper 

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 180C.

2. Drizzle some light olive oil on the broccolini and cherry tomato. Bake for 5-8 minutes or until tender.

3. Season lightly with salt.

4. Place the lavash on a pizza tray.

5. Generously spread the truffle mushroom pesto sauce on top.

6. Overlap the chili chicken ham slices.

7. Top with chargrilled capsicums.

8. Then add the roasted cherry tomato and the marinated chargrilled artichokes.

9. Finally top with roasted broccolini stems.

10. Drizzle light olive oil on top.

11. Bake in the oven for 5-8 minutes.

12. Remove from oven.


13. Sprinkle the shaved Parmesan cheese all over.

14. Garnish generously with fresh snow pea sprouts, rocket and baby spinach on top.

Note: The salad will soak up any excess oil or grease. 

15. Season lightly with salt and black pepper.


16. Slice and serve it hot.

17. Recommended to drizzle some lemon juice to add a zingy sensation.


It is seriously delicious. It is crunchy with a tiny hint of chili, coupled with all the chargrilled veggie and the tangy lemon juice, it is just a flavour bomb. You won't stop eating. 

Perfect with a nice glass of white.


Sunday, July 27, 2014

Cooking Lab - Mentaiko Baked Potato

Never heard of Mentaiko? 

It is delicious and very moreish. 
It is one of the top 5 Jspanese staple ingredients.

Adding Mentaiko will jazz everything up. 
Today, I am turning ordinary potatoes into something extraordinary!


(c) GMV - Got My Vote!


This morning's breakfast concoction is a moreish dish filled with spicy salty caviar hash & roasted tomatoes with baked egg. Potato lovers will fall head over heels with this dish. 


This is the perfect weekend brunch with friends. 

The flavours are amazing. 






Ingredients:

- 4  potato hash browns 
- 2 stripe sac of Mentaiko 
- 4 tablespoons Japanese Kewpie mayonnaise 
- 6 cherry tomato 
- 2 tablespoon seaweed flakes 
- 2 cherry radish 
- 40g baby snow pea sprouts 
- 20g shave parmesan cheese 
- 20g fresh parsley 
- 2 egg 
- 4 slices of sourdough bread (because 1 is not enough with this moreish dish



Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 180C.

2. Remove Mentaiko from the sac-skin.


    3. Mix Mentaiko, mayonnaise and parsley together.
    4. Bake the hash browns and cherry tomatoes in the oven.

5. Arrange the hash potato and roasted cherry tomato in a terracotta dish. Add a drizzle of olive oil.

6. Lightly sprinkle some cheese.

7. Crack the egg at the center of the dish.

8. Bake for 3 minutes.

9. Add the Mentaiko mayonnaise around the egg and bake for a further 2 minutes.

10. Remove from the oven.


11. Garnish with fresh baby snow pea sprouts and grated cherry radish on top.


Note: Mentaiko is quite salty by itself, so I've omitted salt in this recipe.


12. Toast the breads with a drizzle of olive oil on top.

13. Grill the sourdough breads and top with some parmesan cheese.

14. Garnish the golden toasty sourdough parsley.

15. Serve the sourdough breads with the mentaiko baked potato.






Sprinkle seaweed flakes on top before serving.


Volia! This just looks so delicious.



Spread ample baked Mentai on the sourdough slice.


It is too good, 2 slices of sourdough are not enough. 

Reaching out for another sandwich slice .... 




Saturday, July 26, 2014

Cooking Lab - Black Truffle Open Sandwich

GMV's take on the ultimate breakfast black truffle Toastie.



Now who says you can't have cafe-style breakfast in the comfort of your home. 

Ever since I tried Devon Cafe's Ultimate Toastie, I thought that tasty breakfast dish was not hard to assemble. I thought the high price tag of $27 was due to the preciousness of black truffle. 

Now I am in possession of an actual black truffle, so why not use it for my breakfast dish and pocket $27 at the same time. 

Anyhow. I am super proud of my creation!


(c) GMV - Got My Vote!


















Sunday, July 20, 2014

Cooking Lab - Seared Scallops Salad w Shaved Black Truffle (稀有干貝黑松 露一口吃)

Pan-seared sashimi scallops served with fresh black truffle make this an elegant appetizer that sure to impress your dinner guests. 

I am not using the second derivatives of truffle products, like truffle butter or truffle oil etc. Tonight, it's all about the real deal. A fresh black truffle came all the way from WA and I intend to put it to good use.



(c) GMV - Got My Vote!


今晚的前菜是來自北海道的超大干貝,上面灑上一片片的黑松露。只能豪邁的一口吃。


有黑鑽石之稱的黑松露,算是個珍貴食材。



Ingredients:

- 12 sashmi grade sea scallops 
- 2 slices of Italian prosciutto 
- 10g fresh black truffle 
- 2 cherry radish 
- 2 lebanese cucumber 
- 4 cherry tomato 
- 50g brocolini 
- 20g baby snow pea sprout 
- 20g fresh bean sprout 
- 1 Cara Cara navel orange 
- 30ml lemon-infused olive oil 
- Sea salt flake 


Instructions:

1.Thinly slice the cherry radish into disks.

2.. Skin the Cara navel orange and cut into cubes.

3. Slice Lebanese cucumbers into thin ribbons.

4. Add some ice cubes to keep fresh.

5. Preheat the oven and bake the prosciutto slices till crispy.

6.  Break the baked prosciutto into fine pieces.
7. Pat dry the scallops in paper towels.

8. Cure the scallops in the lemon-infused olive oil.

9. Fire up the blow torch and sear the the top of scallops for 30 seconds.

10. Remove from pan and lightly season with sea salt flakes.

11. The scallops should be very juicy and bouncy at touch.

12. Use the remaining oil to quickly saute the brocolini.


13. On a large serving plate, plate up all the garnishes.

14. Place the seared scallops on the cucumber slice.


15. Top with baked prosciutto crumbles.


Ah-ha, the little precious black truffle gem is ready to make its debut.

Right before serving, freshly grated truffle on top.


One major problem of doing this fine-dining style dishes is that the guests are hungry for more. 

...and since the kitchen is so accessible, they wanted another serving. 

So in this variation 2, I dressed the salad a bit more substantially.