WE LOOOOOVE our food.
We may be a food haven, but more people are looking to also eat simple, quick dishes that they would like to whip up without too much fuss, but with the chance to dish out some bragging rights.
Whip It UP! will be an ongoing feature in STORM.SG with new recipes from food and beverage professionals to kitchen enthusiasts and those with some culinary chops.
Every Thursday we will add a recipe or two, so that over time, you will have a wide selection of dishes to choose from.
The idea is to keep the dishes relatively simple, with ingredients that are easily found.
With the long weekend ahead, we thought you might like to experiment in the kitchen.
We have helped the cooking process by organising ingredients according to letters of the alphabet. This makes for easy preparation so you can organise yourself before you hit the stove.
After that…just Whip It UP!
If you have a simple recipe you would like to share, do email it to whipitup@storm.sg
Pesce In Guazzetto
(Pan-fried Parrot Fish with Cherry Tomatoes and Taggiasche Olives)
By Gabriel Fratini, Chef, DOMVS By Gabriel Fratini
This recipe is especially easy because a good variety of fresh fish and seafood is so readily available at the neighbourhood markets every day. You would be remiss not to use all that great seafood at home!
The highlight is the sauce — the classic Neapolitan acqua pazza. It loosely translates to “crazy water”, and it’s a traditional way to cook fish. In the old days, fishermen used to sauté/poach the fish with seawater to really bring out the flavours of the sea (or so the story goes) but you can make the simple sauce at home with just a handful of ingredients.
Ingredients
200gm (per person) fillet of parrot fish (or red emperor or sea bass)
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
½ glass dry white wine
Salt and pepper to taste
A.
2 white asparagus (blanched and sliced)
2 cherry tomatoes (quartered)
5 Taggiacsche olives
Directions
1. Heat olive oil in non-stick frying pan over medium fire.
2. Add fish fillet, pan-fry on both sides until golden brown.
3. Add A. asparagus, cherry tomatoes and olives.
4. Add white wine and reduce for a few minutes until sauce thickens. Cooking time should be about 4-5 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fish.
5. If it gets too dry, add a bit of water to maintain the moisture.
6. Salt and pepper to taste.
7. Plate the fish, dress with the rest of the ingredients and top with sauce.
Easy Laksa Pesto
By Leela Jesudason, Founder, The Clever Consumer
Ingredients
1 packet Miracle Noodle Instant Spaghetti
8 shelled & deveined prawns [Optional]
A.
200gm roasted Cashew nuts
3 cups laksa leaves (daun kesum)
3 chilli padi
5 cloves peeled garlic
5 tablespoons virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 tablespoon thick coconut milk
1 teaspoon salt
Directions
1. To make the Pesto, place A (laksa leaves, cashew nuts, chilli padi, garlic, olive oil, fish sauce, coconut milk and salt) in a food processor, and blend till smooth.
2. In a hot pan, heat some olive oil, and quickly sauté the prawns until pink.
3. Add the Miracle Noodles and stir-fry for a minute.
4. Scoop as much pesto as desired into the pan and mix everything.
5. Serve hot with chopped laksa leaves as garnishing if desired.
Breakfast In Bed With Smoked Salmon Scrambled Eggs
By Lena St George-Sweet, Editor, Writer, Tarot Life Coach
This recipe, adapted from Gordon Ramsay’s scrambled eggs, was one my husband cooked for me one Valentine’s Day morning. Well, I should say attempted to cook, we ended making it together so that the kitchen doesn’t look like a war-zone at the end of it!
The original recipe is much simpler with a touch of herbs and served with toast on the side, but with a couple of add-ons, it can be made into a luscious delight to start the day with. I have paired it with, my personal favourite, whiskey & honey smoked salmon. Some caviar would have been great to really top it off but I have gone with some lumpfish roe that I had on hand. Remember to garnish with a little herb — chives, basil, or dill.
Ingredients
6 free-range eggs
3 tablespoons of salted butter (diced)
A dash of fresh milk
Ground pepper
Chives or dill to garnish
Pink Himalayan sea salt [Optional] Only if you like your eggs more salty. Remember there is already salt in the butter, smoked salmon, and caviar.
Directions
1. Crack the eggs into a cold pan and add half the salted butter.
2. Place the pan on to the stove over high heat.
3. Use a spatula to scramble the eggs so that you combine the yolks and the whites.
4. When the mixture begins to set, add the remaining butter. The eggs will usually take about 4 to 5 minutes to scramble. Make sure they remain soft by taking the pan on and off the stove, but stirring continuously.
5. Add a dash of milk and grind the pepper over the eggs.
6. Place them in the middle of a plate and garnish with dill or chives according to your taste.
7. Surround the scrambled eggs with the smoked salmon. I like to top the salmon with some caviar or lumpfish roe (if you prefer something more modest) and decorate with juicy cherry tomatoes and fresh basil flowers.
If you don’t like smoked salmon — use bacon, Parma ham, cheese, or other cured meats — anything you enjoy.
Vegan Noodle Salad
By Shen Tan, Culinary Director, Gastrogig
A. Ingredients
30g carrots (julienned)
30g cucumber (julienned)
30g lettuce (shredded)
100g tau kwa (bean curd), cut into strips
2 stalks spring onions, chopped finely
B. Salad Dressing
1 teaspoon mustard
1 tablespoon tahini (or peanut butter)
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon honey
3 tablespoons hot water
1 tablespoon good quality soy sauce
Mix all the items in B until it is a smooth lump-free dressing.
Directions
1. Cook instant noodles in boiling water for 2 minutes.
2. Drain and then toss in a bowl with 3 tablespoons of the dressing.
3. Garnish with the vegetables and tofu.
Popcorn Parfait (Sweet or Salty)
By Janice Wong, Chef, Founder, Janice Wong Singapore
Be warned, this one is a little harder to pull off compared to the rest of our list. But if you want to satiate the craving for a sweet treat, you have to give this one a whirl.
Singapore’s favourite dessert darling says that popcorn will always bring back her childhood memories — eating a sweet and salty half-and-half popcorn at a funfair.
Take a trip down memory lane with this two-way sweet and salty dessert.
Ingredients
3 packets buttered microwave popcorn
A.
600ml cream
450ml milk
B.
500g caster sugar
100ml water
250g egg yolks
30g gelatin sheets
40g sea salt
Directions
For Sweet:
1. Pop the popcorn in the microwave and transfer into a big bowl.
2. Bring A (cream and milk) to a boil and pour over the popcorn to infuse for 1 hour. Strain the mixture after.
3. In a pot boil B. (sugar and water).
4. In a mixing bowl, add the egg yolks and whisk till light coloured.
5. Add in the sugar mixture (B) and whisk the pate bombe till ribbon stage.
6. Combine the mixture with the popcorn infusion.
7. Whisk 600gm cream till soft peak and fold into the popcorn mixture.
8. Pipe into moulds of your choice for a restaurant style presentation.
For Salty:
1. Pop the popcorn in the microwave and transfer into a big bowl.
2. Bring A (cream and milk) to a boil and pour over the popcorn to infuse for 1 hour. Strain the mixture after.
3. Hand blend in the salt into the popcorn mixture.
4. In a pot boil B (sugar and water).
5. In a mixing bowl, add the egg yolks and whisk till light coloured.
6. Add in the sugar mixture and whisk the pate bombe till ribbon stage.
7. Combine the mixture with the popcorn infusion.
8. Whisk 600gm cream till soft peak and fold into the popcorn mixture.
9. Pipe into moulds of your choice for a restaurant style presentation.
Chicken & Eggplant Kasaundi Pizza
By Wendy Foo, Owner and Co-founder, Ryan’s Grocery
This is a convenient and easy-to-make pizza recipe that is not only great for a quick healthy meal or snack fix, but also an excellent way to get the children involved. This pizza is also gluten-free and nut-free.
Ingredients
1 Red Onion
2 Organic Boneless Chicken Thigh
Salt & pepper to Taste
Olive Oil as required
½ cup Crumbled Feta Cheese (soft marinated)
A.
1 Tbsp Latasha’s Kitchen Eggplant Kasaundi Chutney
1 Silly Yaks 9″ Gluten-Free Frozen Pizza base
B.
4 Brown Mushrooms (sliced)
3 Large Asparagus Stems (diced)
1 Large Red Chilli (sliced)
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 180°C.
2. Spread 1 heaped tablespoon of Latasha’s Kitchen Eggplant Kasaundi Chutney over the Silly Yaks Gluten-Free pizza base. Set it aside.
3. Julienne 1 red onion and caramelize in a pan. When the onion is soft and brown, remove from the heat and set it aside.
4. Sprinkle salt and pepper to both sides of chicken thighs and pan-grill them skin side down first, for approximately 5 minutes per side. When cooked through, leave them to cool. When cooled, roughly chop the chicken meat.
5. Arrange the caramelized onion, chicken and sliced brown mushrooms on the pizza base. Add some diced asparagus stems and sliced red chillies. Then give the pizza a nice drizzle of olive oil over the top.
6. Place the pizza on a tray and bake it for 15-20 minutes.
7. Crumble a few pieces of soft marinated feta cheese all over the top of the pizza before serving.
Goulash Soup
By Chef Dominik Oesterreicher, Brez’n
Ingredients
500g beef shin, cut into small cubes
1 tablespoon of paprika
200ml organic beef stock
1.3 litres organic beef stock
200g potatoes (peeled and diced)
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Sour cream [Optional]
A.
250g onions (sliced)
2 cloves of garlic (peeled and crushed)
1 green pepper (diced)
B.
A few sprigs of fresh marjoram (finely chopped)
½ tablespoon of caraway seeds
Red wine vinegar
2 tomatoes (finely chopped)
1 tablespoon of tomato purée
Directions
1. Add a good splash of oil to a large pan and gently sauté A (onions, garlic and pepper) until softened.
2. Add the beef and continue to cook until the meat is browned and the vegetables are cooked.
3. Stir in the paprika and cook for 2 more minutes, then add 200ml of the beef stock. Bring to the boil and cook until reduced by half.
4. Add B (marjoram, caraway seeds, a splash of vinegar, tomatoes, tomato purée) and season well.
5. Add enough stock to cover and simmer until the meat and vegetables are tender, about 1½ to 2 hours.
6. Add the potatoes, plus any remaining stock and a little water if it looks too dry, and simmer until the potatoes are cooked.
7. Serve with a dollop of sour cream, if you like.
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Main Image: gori910 / Shutterstock.com
I love this new segment of Storm..love it love it love!