Prawn and mushroom risotto

For my first attempt at making risotto, I must say that it tastes almost as good as "kiam peng". The husband will beg to differ although this earned a "very tasty" from him, he still says that he prefers its asian friend. Nevertheless, this took like half the time to make, once again thanks to my magic pot.

Ingredients:
10 large banana prawns, deveined and shelled
Marinate for prawns:
2 tspn corn flour
1 tspn cracked pepper and soya sauce
a dash of fish sauce, salt, sugar and dried chilli flakes (for a spicy kick)

for rice:
1 brown onion, sliced
4 medium size mushroom, sliced
1 clove garlic
300g arborio rice
200ml white wine
600ml chicken stock
200g grated cheese

Directions:
Marinate the prawns and fry with garlic until pink. Leave aside.

In my "magic pot", I put the onions on brown function together with a combination of butter and olive oil. As the onions begin to brown, I put in the garlic. Add the rice and white wine and chicken stock, then the mushroom. I then put it on pressure cook function for 7 minutes and then stir in the grated cheese. I also added in some herbs and freshly cracked black pepper and its ready to serve. So easy and yet yummy at the same time!

Pan seared scallops with balsamic vinegar reduction

Note: top picture only.

Was in footscray market the other day and chanced upon a shop selling japanese frozen scallops for quite a reasonable price. As a lover of seafood, I simply had to take it home, unfortunately, I've never cooked scallops before, so this was a first try for me.

The trick in searing the scallops is to achieve a browning crust on the top and bottom while delicately cooking the scallop such that it is just slightly undercooked in the centre, thus preserving the sweetness of the dish.

To do this, use a combination of butter and olive oil in a pan, you can use it in the ratio 1:1. Make sure your room temperature scallops are washed and dried on kitchen towel before putting them in a pan. Season both sides of the scallop with a dash of salt. When the pan is really hot, place the scallops gently in the pan, if it sizzles, your pan is hot enough. Do not disturb the scallops but let them cook about 2-3 minutes on one side before flipping them over and cooking for another 1-2 minutes.

To make the balsamic vinegar reduction, combine 5 tablespoons of good quality 4 leaf graded balsamic vinegar with a knob of butter the size of your thumb. Bubble on medium heat and then drizzle on the scallops. bon appetit!

Green tea cheesecake

I love all things green tea. But my favourite has to be the matcha powder that goes so well with ice cream, cream cheese and milk. I didn't have matcha powder on hand, so I substituted it with greenmax matcha latte mix instead. The mix contains good quality matcha from Japan and a milky base that is not too sweet.

Ingredients:
- 250g cream cheese
- half cup vanilla yoghurt
- gelatin 2 tablespoons mixed in warm water
- 2 egg whites, beaten till stiff
- sugar, 90g
- Greenmax green tea mix, 2 packets (if you have green tea powder on hand, use 1 flat tablespoon
- digestive biscuits, 18 pieces
- 1 tsp vanilla essence

Directions:
For base
Crush biscuits finely in a plastic bag with the back of a tomato bottle. Put crush biscuits on a tray and mix melted butter into it. Press evenly into the base of a springform tin, then put in the fridge while you work on the rest of the ingredients.

Blend cream cheese, sugar, cooled gelatin, vanilla essence, yoghurt and green tea until smooth. In a seperate bowl, whisk egg whites until stiff and then fold the cream cheese mixture into the egg whites.

Pour the cheese topping on the base and chill in fridge until set. Decorate with green tea powder and enjoy!