無油煮食

最近有一位朋友說我作的菜用太多牛油，所以不敢嘗試。但一湯匙的牛油只有３０微克(mg)的膽固醇，比美國食品及藥物管理局（FDA）建議每日攝取量300微克差很遠。

但為了大家的健康（其實也為自己），今天的菜沒有下油。雖然如此，味道卻很濃郁。

這道菜用了「球子甘藍」（brussel sprout）。它是一種非常有營養的食材。單是一杯的份量已有足夠一天的維生素Ｃ。

洗菜的時候可放進鹽水中浸三十分鐘，令藏在葉子內的昆蟲走出來。洗淨後把底部老去的部份切去，但要保持菜的完整。再在底部𠝹上十字，令菜容易熟，及幫助吸收汗液。

要注意，若球子甘藍煮的時間不夠會有苦味。所以煮好後的球子甘藍大多會失去青綠色。

另外的材枓是鹽漬鱈魚（salt cod）。煮前要用清水把鱈魚浸透２４小時，其間要換水數次，以保持魚的新鮮。

浸透後的鹽漬鱈魚味道非常鮮甜，鹹度剛好。

若可以的話，用金華火煺切小丁，以增加顏色和風味。

鹽漬鱈魚燴球子甘藍

【材料】
球子甘藍，２００克
鹽漬鱈魚，１００克
金華火煺，小許切丁
清雞湯，適量

【作法】
１．把球子甘藍放在鍋中，加冰清水和鹽。加熱理滾開。
２．水滾後把球子甘藍放在冰清水中冷卻。
３．浸透後的鹽漬鱈魚切片。
４．把鱈魚、球子甘藍、金華火煺放進焗盤或玻璃碟上。
５．捯下清雞湯至覆蓋三分之一的球子甘藍。
６．放進焗爐（３７５度Ｆ）焗２０分鐘即成。

Recently my friend complained that I used too much butter in my dishes that scared my friend away. In fact butter has only 30mg of cholesterol, far less than the 300mg daily limit recommended by FDA. Besides, butter provides a lot of body and flavour to the dish. So why skipping it?

That said, I still want to keep my friend, and myself, a bit healthier. So here it comes something that does not need extra oil.

I used brussel sprout in this dish. This vegetable is high in Vitamin K and Vitamin C, and one cup of brussel sprout provides more than enough of Vitamin C for daily consumption.

When washing brussel sprout, soak it under salted cold water to allow small inscets to come out from within the leaves. After rinsing, cut the bottom brown part out while keeping the entire sprout as a whole. And then make a cross cut at the bottom. This allows an even cooking throughout the sprout, and can keep more sauce inside the sprout.

The other ingredient is salt cod fish. To gain the delicious flavour of the cod, it has to be soaked in clean cold water at least 24 hours before use. Rinse and replace with clean water for a few times while soaking to keep the fish fresh.

If you can find good quality Chinese ham, prepare some fine dices for decoration.

Braised Brussel Sprout with Salt Cod and Premium Chinese Ham

Ingredients
Brussel sprout, 200g
Slat cod, 100g
Chiense ham, diced, enough for decoration
Consommé

Procedure
1. Put the brussel sprout into a sauce pan. Add cold water and salt. Bring it to a boil.
2. Take out the brussel sprout and keep it in cold water.
3. Slice the soaked salt cod.
4. Place the cod, brussel sprout, ham on a baking pan or a glass pie plate.
5. Pour in consommé to cover up to 1/3 of the brussel sprout.
6. Bake under 375F for 20 minutes.

努力的回報

今天為了要賺取一份非常非常珍貴、想要了很久的禮物，我努力作了幾道菜，與爹娘一同分享。

結果，禮物到手了，家人也吃得高興！

【牛骨蔬菜湯】
這道湯非常簡單，只要把小馬鈴薯三個、紅蘿蔔兩條、洋西芹一條、大蕃茄兩個，紅甜菜頭一個、洋蔥等切成大片。然後放進滾開的牛骨湯中（清雞湯或清水也可以），再滾開後轉中火，煮約４５分鐘。喜歡的話可加進洋芫荽，因為我喜歡它清新的感覺。

其實，洋芫荽除了有助增加湯的味道，也有助減低血壓。

Vegetable beef soup
This soup is easy to make: 3 small potatoes, 1 carrot, 1 celery stalk, 2 tomatoes, 1 beet, and 1 onion. Cut vegetable into big pieces, and put them into boiled browned beef stock (you can use chicken stock or plain water as well). Bring it to a boil and then simmer for 45 minutes. Put in parsley leaves at the end of the cooking process to enchance the flavour.

【韮菜炒蛋】
我相信很多人都會做這道菜。為了香口一點，我先炒香碎煙肉，逼出煙肉的油，（可千萬不要弄焦）。除去多餘的油之後，下已切粒的韮菜一起炒到軟身，然後把打好的六個蛋的蛋漿（隨韮菜的多寡而定，原則是蛋漿要能包裹著韮菜。）倒進鍋中。慢火將蛋液煎熟，這時可以輕微下一些油，以防蛋變焦。直到蛋液七八分熟的時候，放下數片千層疊葉，把蛋餅對合一起，即可裝盤，以免蛋變得過熟。
　 調味的時候要小心，因為煙肉已有鹹度。蛋液在攪發時千萬不要太混，只要將蛋白跟蛋黃稍微混合即可，以免煮的時候出水。

Garlic Chives Scrambled Egg
Stir fry chopped bacons under medium heat to release its oil (but do not let them burned). Remove excess oil and add chopped garlic chives, and stir fry until soft. Add enough eggs to cover all garlic chives (slightly mix the eggs) and turn down the heat. Cook until the eggs solidify at the bottom while there is still liquid on the top. Fold the mixture into half and plate it.

Be careful when seasoning, since the bacon is already salted. Also do not stir to mix the eggs vigourously, since this will release water during the cooking process.

【焗秋令什菜】
秋天是根莖類植物的當令季節，所以這道菜所選的都是時令產品，不但甜美，而且價錢便宜。當中的材料其實不用那麼考究。我所選的蔬菜有黃蕪菁（Yellow Turnip）、粗根芹菜 (Celery Root)、紅蘿蔔、蒜頭、紅蔥頭(Shallot)、防風草根(Parsnip)等。切成大塊，混合橄欖油、鹽、黑胡椒碎、新鮮百里香葉碎。用375度F（190度C）焗至蔬菜變軟（約45～60分鐘，視乎大小而定。）即成。切勿把蔬菜焗得太乾身，不時地攪拌可使油充分塗抹在表面上。

Roasted Root Vegetables
This is a peasant style dish, and you can adjust your choice of vegetables that are in season. I used yellow turnips, celery roots, carrots, garlics, shallots, parsnip, and baby beets. Roughly cut all vegetables into large pieces of about the same size, mix with olive oil, salt, cracked balck peppercorn, and chopped fresh thyme leaves. Put the vegetables into a roasting pan and bake under 375F (190C) until the vegetables become soft (around 45-60 minutes, depending on the size). Do not over cook it since the vegetables will become bitter if they are too browned. Also stir occasionally to keep them coated with oil during the process.

【薑汁撞奶】
餐後的甜品是薑汁撞奶，也是很容易做的。
先把薑磨成泥，取大約一湯匙的薑汁放在碗中。煮熱全脂牛奶至70～80度C把熱牛奶倒進有薑汁的碗內，用湯匙輕輕攪拌，一分鐘後待奶凝固，便可食用。可隨意加入糖漿調味。牛奶的加熱的溫度很重要，70～80度C最為理想。若喜歡滑溜的口感，可以把牛奶加熱至85度C。

Ginger Milk
This is served as a dessert. Ground ginger and get its juice (about 1 tbsp) and put it into a serving bowl. Heat up around 250ml whole milk to 70-80'C (160-180'F). Mix milk with ginger juice and stir slightly. Let it stands for a minute until the mixture solidifies. Serve with sugar/syrup to taste.