Double-boiled Chinese Pear

It had being quiet sometime for me to post topic relating to soup since my last post on making Lotus Root, Pumpkin and Pearl Bean Soup in May 2008. Today's Soup will be Double-boiled Chinese Pear, it more for nourish of lungs and ease of dry cough. My dear son has being having bad cough for the past one week and after completing his medication he still doesn't seems to have much improvement and the cough is also getting worst. So rather than continue with the western medication, I decided to make him this remedial for cough using some of the Chinese herbs shown below.

Sweet & Bitter Almonds(南北杏), Apricot Seed
Warm. Influences the lung and large intestine channels. Stops cough and moistens the intestines. Commonly used to treat dry cough and constipation.

Chuanbei Mu(川贝母)
Cool. Influences the heart and lung channels. Dissolves phlegm and dissipates nodules. Commonly used to treat chronic cough with yellow or bloody phlegm that is difficult to expectorate.

Gou Qizi(枸杞子), Chinese Wolfberry
Neutral. Influences the liver, lung and kidney channels. Nourishes the essence, brightens the eyes, enriches Yin and moistens the lungs. Commonly used to treat anaemia, sore lower back, vision problems and long term cough.

Sha Shen(沙参)
Cool. Influences the lung and stomach channels. Stops cough, generates fluids and nourishes the skin. Commonly used to treat bloody cough, dry mouth and throat, and dry, itchy skin.

I have made this soup continuous for two days with two different methods. The 1st method will yield a more concentrated amount as I have put some of the ingredients within the pear shell and double-boiled it for it fullness effect. While 2nd method I just placed all the ingredients in a double-boiled and make a more dilute soup. Both me and my dear son prefer the 1st method as it is more sweet, fragrant and concentrated on it's content.

Ingredients: (serve 1)
1 Big Chinese Snow Pear,雪梨
1 Teaspoon of Chuanbei(川贝母) powder
1 Red Date(红枣), removed seed
1 Teaspoon Rock Sugar,冰糖
1 Teaspoon Sweet & Bitter Almond(南北杏)
5 - 8 Gou Qizi,枸杞子
About 80ml - 100ml Of Drinking Water

Methods:
1. Wash the snow pear and cut a small portion off on top and use a spoon to scoop out the core and the flesh to make a pear cup.
2. Wash the herbs and put it into the pear cup together with the rock sugar and Chuanbei Powder.

3. Place the pear cup into a double-boiled then top water to the rim of the pear cup. (do not put any water inside the double-boiler that contain the pear)
4. Double-boiled it for about 2 to 3 hours in a slow cooker and served warm or you can double-boiled it over a stove in a pot for about 30 - 45 minutes over low heat.

Note:
a) Chuanbei powder can get from most Chinese medical hall. Usually I will buy $5 and ask them to grind into powder. If for kid consume it can be divided into 4 serving amount, you can check with the person in the medical hall for more details.

Salmon With Passionfruit Sauce

Cooking with Passion fruit is never to come across my thought as I don't really have passion with this fruit. But after hearing good comments from my friend Tracy on this fruit, I decided to give it a try and at one go I have whipped up a main course and a dessert to pair with it. So today's Menu will be Salmon With Passion fruit Sauce served with Passion fruit Salad and PassionMisu(recipe) here for dessert.

The passion fruit is round to oval, yellow or dark purple at maturity, with a soft to firm, juicy interior filled with numerous seeds. The fruit can be grown to eat or for its juice, which is often added to other fruit juices to enhance aroma. Fresh Passion Fruit is known to be high in vitamin A, Potassium and dietary fibre. Passion fruit juice is also a good source of ascorbic acid (vitamin C).


For this dish I used the passion fruit to make the serving sauce for the salmon and sweet potato as well as the passion fruit salad. I made use of the empty shell of the passion fruit as a serving plate for the salad to the overall dish more presentable. You can make use of any kind of vegetables or fruits that you can find in your fridge compartment. For my Passion fruit Salad the ingredients used are as follow:-

Salad Ingredients : (serves 2)
2 Tablespoons of Cucumber Cubes
2 Tablespoons of Apple Cubes
1 Tablespoons of Tomato Cubes
1 Tablespoon of Passion fruit Pulps
1 Tablespoon of Pomegranate

Methods:
1. Cut all the items into similar shape and sizes then mixed them together and set aside in the fridge.
2. Scoop the salad into the reserved passion fruit shell.

Note:
a) You can use whatever fruits and vegetables that is in your fridge but try to choose those with mild favour to compromise with the passion fruit taste.

As for the main course, I used salmon fillet to accompany the fragrant of the passion fruit sauce and it really blend well with this combination. This salmon dish consists of 3 portion of preparing method for the fish, sauce and side dish. You can use any side dish you prefer, eg. fresh salad greens, mash potato, potato wedges or etc. For my case, I served it with pan-fry sweet potato slices.

Sauce Ingredients:
2 Medium Passion fruits
1/2 Teaspoon Butter
3 Shallots, sliced & roughly chopped
1/2 Teaspoon Honey
1 Tablespoon Cooking Wine

Methods:
1. Halves the passion fruit, scrape flesh into strainer and push it through the stainer and get about 80 - 100ml of juice. Set aside.
2. After frying the salmon, use the kitchen paper towel to wipe the pan then add in the butter and saute the shallot till fragrant, about 1 minutes or less.
3. Add in cooking wine, passion fruit juice and honey then simmer on medium low heat till thickened, about 30 seconds then remove and set aside.

Note:
a) The use of honey is for seasoning purpose as in sweeten and enhance the favour of the passionfruit and it also act as a caramelised agent to thicken the sauce.

Main Ingredients: (serves 2)
2 Pieces of Salmon Fillet, about 200g each
Salt & Pepper
1/2 Tablespoon passion fruit juice
1/2 Tablespoon Cornflour
1 Teaspoon Olive Oil
1 Teaspoon Butter

Methods:
1. Season the salmon with salt, pepper and passion fruit juice then coat it with some cornflour on both side then set aside for about 1 minute.
2. Heat up the pan with olive oil and butter then pan-fry the salmon, skin-side down for about 4 minutes on each side until cooked through. the timing will depending on the thickness of the fillet.
3. Removed the fillet and arranged on serving plate together with the side dish, salad and drizzle some passion fruit sauce on the fillet and served extra sauce on the side.

PassionMisu

I guess you have either heard or tried making or eating Tiramisu before. It is actually one of the most popular Italian desserts which is made of savoiardi (lady fingers) dipped in coffee and mascarpone cream. But for our this week menu, I am trying something new which I called it PassionMisu. The key ingredient use it Passionfruit as this weekend my blogging is base on cookign with FRESH FRUIT. This PassionMisu is to serve with the main course known as Salmon with Passionfruit Sauce.

For this PassionMisu dessert, I used mini sponge cake (kueh Bolu) instead of the traditional savoiardi (lady fingers). I dipped it in Mango juice and spread it with layers of Passionfruit yogurt cream. This is indeed one of the Quick and Easy way to make an easy and impressive dessert for guest.

If you are not keen with passionfruit, you can always replaced it with the traditional Tiramisu ingredients like coffee and mascarpone cream. Or you can use this method by changing the type of fruits to either strawberries, mango or even durian and you can get a wonderful and easy dessert in no time.

Ingredients: (serves 2)
80ml Fresh Mango/Passionfruit Juice
10 - 15 Mini Sponge Cake(kueh bolu)
1/2 or more Tablespoon of Cocoa Powder, dusting

Methods:
1. Cut the passionfruits into halves and remove the pulps and set aside.
2. Cut the sponge cake into halves (side-way) then gently dip the cut side in the juice and arranged it in base of the serving cups or container.
3. Spread a layer of the passionfruit yogurt cream on top and top with another layer of sponge cake dipped with juice.
4. Repeat the top with another layer of the yogurt cream.
5. Wrap the top with clear wrap and put in the freezer for about 10 minutes to get the top almost firm to touch.
6. Dust with generous amount of cocoa powder and decorate with some fruits or extra passionfruit pulp if desire.

Ingredients for Passionfruit Yogurt Cream:
2 Fresh Passionfruits, collect about 3 1/2 tablespoons of pulps
150g Mango/Plain Yogurt
1/2 Teaspoon of Sugar
30ml Mango Juice/Plain Water
1 1/2 Teaspoons of Gelatin Powder

Methods:
1. Dissolve the gelatin powder in the mango juice over simmering water or microwave on medium heat for 30 seconds(stop in between 10 second and stir till dissolve).
2. Next, mix the yogurt and passionfruit pulp together till well combine then stir in sugar and melted gelatin solution.
3. Set aside the mixture for spreading on the sponge cake.

Notes:
a) I arranged mine in a 2 oval baking dish which is 12cm by 8cm in measurement.

Lavender-Cointreau Baked Seafood

Lavender is a genus of about 25–30 species of flowering plants in the mint family. The plant is also grown commercially for extraction of lavender oil from the flowers. This oil is used as an antiseptic and for aromatherapy. Lavender flowers can be candied and are used as cake decoration. Lavender is also used as a herb, either alone or as an ingredient it is also used to flavour sugar, the product being called "lavender sugar", and the flowers are occasionally sold in a blend with black, green, or herbal tea, adding a fresh, relaxing scent and flavour.


You can use this Lavender-Cointreau Dressing for baking other seafood like Prawn or Scallop. Since I still have some frozen scallop in the freezer, I took one of it to bake with the reminding sauce.

Ingredients:
1 Large Scallop
1 Tablespoon of Lavender-Cointreau Dressing
Some Fresh Lemon Rinds
Pinch Of Chilli Flakes

Methods:
1. Rinse and clean the scallop well, pad dry and place it on a big of aluminum foil, fold the sides up to form a parcel so that the sauce will be within the foil when baking.
2. Top the scallop with lemon rind, Lavender-Cointreau Dressing and chilli flakes and baked in the toaster oven for about 3-5 minutes depending on the thickness.
3. Remove it from foil and place it on serving plate.

Lavender + Cointreau + Blueberry + Lemon Rinds + Cod Fillet = Lavender & Blueberry Baked Cod Fillet. What do you think of these combination? Do you dare to give it a try? It's really a combination of favour, fragrant and taste. If you have these ingredients in your pantry, do give it a try and you will be surprised with the outcome :)

Ingredients:
1 Piece of Cod Fillet, about 150g
6 Fresh Blueberries
Some Fresh Lemon Rinds
2 - 3 Cherry Tomato, halves
2 Tablespoons of Lavender-Cointreau Dressing

Methods:
1. Wash and pad dry the cod fillet then place in on the middle of an rectangle aluminum foil, fold the four sides up to form a rectangle parcel so that the sauce will be within the foil when baking.
2. Top the cod fillet with blueberries, lemon rind, cherry tomato and the Lavender-Cointreau Dressing and baked in the toaster oven for about 7 - 10 minutes depending on the thickness of the fillet.
3. When the fillet is cooked, remove it and place it on serving plate and drizzle the sauce from the fish parcel to the fillet.

To make the Lavender-Cointreau Dressing, it's not necessary that you must have Cointreau. You can replace it with Grand Marnier or Orange Juice if this dish is to serve to kid.

Ingredients: (makes about 150ml dressing)
1 Teaspoon of Honey
3 Tablespoon of Olive Oil
1/2 Teaspoon Dried Lavender
1 Tablespoon of Lemon Juice
1 Tablespoon of Cointreau

Methods:
1. Place all the ingredients in a small saucepan or frying pan over moderate heat, stirring with a spoon at all time, until ingredients caramelised into a sticky sauce. (it will be about 3 - 4 minutes)
2. Remove from heat and allow to cool then use it for drizzle over the seafood before baking.