Easy No-Beat Red Velvet Cupcakes

With Valentine's Day just around the corner, one of the most popular cakes would be the Red Velvet - rich, red and luxurious and all that signifies romance. Bake some red velvet cupcakes for your loved ones this Valentine's Day. I've got the perfect recipe that's easy and super delicious - just whisk, mix and bake. Some of you might take a look at the recipe and think "Hmm....no butter in a cake?". This recipe uses oil instead, which makes it ultra soft and moist. The previous version of red velvet cake that I made used butter, and although it was delicious, it was relatively richer and denser, compared to this one which was light, moist, soft and fluffy. If you have to make red velvet cake, try this recipe first. It is so melt-in-your mouth heavenly good you'd fall in love with it.

Chinese Roast Pork (Siu Yuk)

There can never be too many recipes for chinese roast pork (or "siu yuk" as commonly known in Cantonese). Over the years, I have attempted various recipes and methods for achieving the perfect crackling - crispy and brittle enough that it doesn't break your teeth when you bite into it. It has always been a hit and miss for me. Either the skin doesn't fully crackle all over (leaving some parts soft and chewy), or the meat's dried out, or the crackling is burnt in some parts. But now, I have successfully made the almost-perfect roast pork, twice in a row. Woo-hoo! I must be doing something right there?

Oxtail braised in red wine with sweet and sour carrots (sans turnips)

Here is another recipe from the "Gary Mehigan Favourites" cookbook. I thought I'd try it out as it was at the "top of his favourites list", although I had to make a few substitutions, particularly with the Barolo which costs a bomb (even more so as two bottles are needed for this). I used Cabernet Sauvignon instead. The recipe also called for baby turnips which I couldn't find (perhaps not in season?) and so I made do with just the baby carrots. They were delicious, cooked in butter and verjuice.  Quite a lot of preparation goes into cooking this as it also requires beef jus and beef stock. The oxtail turned out pretty well and could have done with another half hour in the oven so that they were meltingly tender all the way through. Tasty nonetheless, very savoury and complements the sweet and sour carrots which I love!

Not quite Bistecca Fiorentina

Based on the recipe "Bistecca Fiorentina with shallots, garlic and mushrooms" from Gary Mehigan Favourites.  The only difference is, I couldn't get hold of aged T-bone steak, which is of course the main ingredient. Still, it tasted superb especially with the caramelized shallots, creamy roasted garlic and tasty mushrooms, all covered in a sweet tangy balsamic vinegar sauce.

Yakitori with Yaki Onigiri (Grilled chicken with grilled rice ball)

 

Grilling chicken tends to dry out the meat easily, so these chicken skewers are best made with drumstick or thigh fillets, and never breast fillets.  If you want to add some chicken skin on the skewers, that's even better (but entirely optional). Yakitori ("grilled chicken") is typically Japanese grilled chicken on bamboo skewers, and could either be plainly seasoned with salt ("shio") or basted with "tare" sauce, which is what I've done here. The kids love it, and it's just something about food served on a stick that makes it so appealing.