Overnight Beef Stew

I have made beef stew several times with different beef cut and the beef always turned out dry. The only time it was good was using oxtail because it was so rich in gelatin and the meat came out tender and moist.

Sandy Yap shared her tips in Singapore Home Cooks and advised to cook this in a covered pot in the oven for 1 to 2 hours. Indeed, the meat turned out fork tender and not dry at all. I had left the covered cast iron pot in the oven at 180 degrees for an hour. The pot was left untouched in the oven overnight. The next morning, mushrooms and potatoes are added and simmered on stove until softened before serving with toast. If you don't mind this rustic way of cooking your beef stew, do give it a try.


Ingredients
300 gm beef shin with some fats marbling, cut into 1 inch chunks
500ml beef stock
2 large tomatoes, cut quarters
2 potatoes, cut chunks
2 tbsp of butter
2 tbsp plain flour
1 whole garlic, with skin on
1 large red onion, cut quarters
1 carrots, cut chunks
1 box of fresh button mushrooms
1 cup of water
1 tsp dried Italian herbs
1 dried bay leaf


Method

1. Preheat your oven at 180 degrees.
2. Using a cast iron pot, melt your butter.
3. Fry the garlic and onions until fragrant.
4. Push garlic and onions aside, brown your beef chunks.
5. Coat the beef chunks with plain flour by sprinkling over them. Stir well.
6. Add 1 cup of beef stock and scrap up the brown bits at the bottom of the pot.
7. Add the rest of the beef stock and carrots. Add a few dashes of italian herbs and bay leaf.
8. Bring to a simmer.
9. Place cast iron pot in oven with lid on.
10. Adjust timer to 1 hour and let it sit in the oven overnight.
11. Next morning, add potatoes, mushrooms and additional water if necessary.
12. Simmer until potatoes turned soft.
13. Season with salt if necessary.
14. Serve with some toast.

Note

280 gm of beef shin cost $9.20 from Cold Storage

Other attempt

Consumed this beef stew straight after one hour in the oven. No issue!

Served them with mashed potatoes, brussel sprouts and mushrooms.

To prepare brussel sprouts, rinse and slice two handful of them into halves. Melt 50gm of butter. Add some salt and freshly grounded black pepper. Toss the brussel sprouts to coat them evenly with butter. Turn them with the core facing down onto the pan to brown them. It will takes about a total of 10 mins to cook them.

To prepare one punnet of fresh button mushrooms, simple wipe away dirt and remove stems. Sauté mushrooms with 50gm butter, salt and black pepper. Cook until softened.

To prepare mashed potatoes, cut three large potatoes into large chunks and boil until softened. Drained away water. Using a handheld blender, mashed potatoes with half cup of milk, 50gm butter and some salt.

Granny's Roasted Pork Belly 婆婆的烧肉

I recalled vividly how I sat at the steps of my grandparents' kampong house in Tanjong Rhu, watching them grilled pork bellies using charcoal and a huge barrel. Grandpa had to stand on a stool and lift slabs of pork bellies hung on hooks into the barrel to grill them. Oh I miss him so so much … *held back tears* My grandpa retired and lived a good life for 20 years in Haikou until he passed away peacefully. His funeral wake was in red.

Many had commented how greasy and smoky can grilling a pork belly gets. I have been putting this off for the longest time until I saw this recipe which have many encouraging results. I thought the method of using vinegar to brush the skin was brilliant in helping to remove excess oil off the rind for a crispy skin. Back then, my grandparents grilled their pork belly vertically so the excess oil from the skin could dripped off during grilling.

I studied the recipes and found many similarities like poking the rind when it's half-cooked and airing the rind. For marination, my granny used to purchase spices from traditional chinese hall, and she could only recalled five spices powder and coriander powder.

I finally attempted my granny's roasted pork belly today.


Ingredients
2 kg of pork belly
3 tbsp salt for marinating rind
2 tbsp white vinegar for brushing rind
2 tbsp chinese wine for marinating meat

Seasoning for meat side
2 tbsp salt
2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp coriander powder
1 tsp five spices powder


Method

Marinating the pork belly

1. Blanch the pork belly
2. Pat dry with paper towel
3. Poke the rind all over using a pork sticker
4. Brush the meat side with chinese wine
5. Rub the seasoning all over the meat side
6. Turn the pork belly with skin side up and make sure it's as dry as possible
7. Rub salt all over the rind
8. Wrap with an aluminium foil leaving the skin exposed
9. Chill overnight in fridge

Grilling the pork belly

1. Remove the pork belly from fridge
2. Let the pork belly come to room temperature by sitting on the baking rack for an hour
3. Line your baking tray with aluminium foil to collect the oil
4. Preheat your oven to 200 degrees
5. Place your baking tray with aluminium foil at the lowest rack
6. Grill the pork belly at middle rack with fan grilled mode for 20 mins
7. Switch to top grill mode and adjust pork belly one rack higher
8. Brush white vinegar on the rind
9. Grill the pork belly with top grill mode for an hour or until skin bubbled
10. Use a paper towel and tong, dabbed the liquid forming on top of the skin every 5 to 10 mins
11. When the entire skin is dark brown, switch off oven
12. Let pork belly cool completely
13. Scrap off any burnt parts
14. Chop into chunky slices

Pork sticker for poking the pork belly

After first 20 mins of grilling with fan grill mode

After 1 hour of grilling with top grill mode

My granny's roast pork belly

Granny's tip: Poke all over the meat side to allow the marination penetrate deeper into the meat side.

Buy from a trusted butcher and hope to get a piece of good quality meat with even layers of fats throughout.

Roasted Pork Belly in Beer

Thanks to my lovely neighbour, Rina for this recipe! Always making sure I get a bite of whatever came out of her kitchen! Muaks!


Ingredients
2 kg pork belly
2 cans of beer
Sea salt

Method

1. Dry your pork belly
2. Make as many incisions all over the pork belly skin with a knife or a pricker
3. Rub a generous amount of salt all over the pork belly skin
4. Place the pork belly onto baking dish
5. Pour 1 can of beer into the baking dish without touching the pork belly skin
6. Roast at 180 degrees for 30 mins
7. You will find that the meat had shrunk and liquid has reduce abit. Pour the other can of beer into the baking dish
8. Continue to bake for 2 hours
9. Switch to 220 degrees and roast for 30 mins to grill the skin until crisp and deep golden brown
10. Transfer the pork belly onto a clean chopping board not meant for handling raw food
11. Cool it before slicing into chunky pieces
12. Use some of the remaining pork lard to mix into sambal belacan and lime for the dipping sauce
13. Serve with dipping sauce

Note

1. The pork belly should not be fully submerged into the beer.
2. The skin should be kept dry throughout the roasting process.
3. If you are making 2 kg of pork, please slice into 1 kg each.

Used some pork lard left in the baking tray to mix with sweet dark soya sauce, sambal belacan and lime as dipping sauce.

Baked Herbal Chicken

Ingredients
1 whole chicken, remove head, tail & feet
1 pkt of Pasar Herbal Soup - Dun Ji Tang
1 pkt Buna-shimeji, aka brown beech mushroom, cut away the roots, rinsed
1 pkt Enokitake, aka golden needle mushroom, cut half inch from the roots, rinsed
1 pkt of fresh wood ear mushrooms, remove the hard part
2 whole garlic, leave skin on
3 inches of garlic, sliced
2 cups of water

Seasoning:
6 tbsp soya sauce
4 tbsp chinese wine

Method

1. Pat dry chicken
2. Rub salt all over
3. Using fan grill mode, grill the chicken at 180 degrees for about 15 mins until skin turns dry
4. Remove from oven
5. Add herbs
6. Stuffed some herbs into chicken
7. Add all the mushrooms
8. Pour seasoning over chicken
9. Add water
10. Cover with parchment paper
11. Bake at 180 degrees for 2 hours

Watch video

Watch video on how to remove chicken head, tail & feet

Salt Grilled Salmon Fish Head

Ingredients
Fresh salmon fish head
Sea salt

Method

1. Line your baking tray with aluminium foil
2. Make a bed of sea salt on the baking tray
3. Spray some mist of water on sea salt
4. Rub sea salt all over salmon fish head
5. Place fish head on bed of salt
6. Grill in oven at 250 degrees for 13 minutes
7. Serve immediately

Baked Chicken in Milk

Adapted from Jamie Oliver

This is a frequent meal on my dining table especially when I need to bring my kids for extra classes. It is so convenient to popped this into the oven and set it to one hour timer. The house is filled with smell of lovely baked chicken when I returned home four hours later.



Ingredients

One chicken, rinse and pat dry
Watch video on how to remove chicken head, feet and tail with scissor

600ml full cream milk (I prefer Meiji as it's more creamy)

4 potatoes, remove skin, cut halves

2 whole garlic, leave skin on
1 carrot, cut chunks

1 tbsp dried Italian herbs
Freshly grounded black pepper to taste
Sea salt to taste

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees.

2. Rub a generous amount of sea salt all over chicken.

3. Using a pot that can fit the chicken snugly, place the chicken breast down in the pot.

4. Switch to fan grill mode, grill the chicken for 15 mins. I did not flip the chicken.

5. After 15 mins, switch off fan mode. Oven temperature maintains at 180 degrees.

6. Remove pot from the oven carefully.

7. Pour milk into pot.

8. Add carrots and garlic into the milk.

9. Laid potatoes around the chicken.

10. Add few dashes of Italian herbs, generous amount of sea salt and freshly grounded black pepper all over potatoes and carrots.

11. Bake the chicken on the lowest rack at 180 degrees for 2 hours. If you find the chicken browning too fast, cover the chicken with aluminium foil but not the entire dish. Add thicken cream at the end of cooking gives you a more creamy broth.

12. To serve, pull out chicken meat from the bones, spoon plenty of juice over and serve with carrots and potatoes.

Watch video

Other attempt

If you don't mind the extra calories, rubbed salt and melted butter all over the chicken before grilling and it will give you a nicely browned chicken skin and buttery gravy.

If you don't have a pot, you can use baking tray too.