“Greek” Chicken Baked with Potato, Lemon & Feta

I have absolutely no idea if they eat this in Greece or not but it does combine a lot of Mediterranean flavours - lemons, oregano, feta and olive oil.

I like it because everything goes into the oven at the same time and all in the one pan! Great for after work Now, I used the seasoned chicken pieces because they were on special, normally I would just get the plain pieces. Doesn’t matter, they were only sprinkled with salt and paprika by the looks of it.

I served this up with salad dressed with leftover raita thinned down with oil and vinegar - the salad looks odd in my photo - blinding white - but hey, what’s new? My photos aren’t going to win any prizes any time soon The salad was lettuce, tomato, olives, red onion and a bit of feta.

I also served this rice.

It’s stir-fried broccoli, garlic shoots, onion and garlic, added to basmati rice and cooked in chicken stock - very, very nice, I must say.

The chicken dish is easy and doesn’t require exact measurements or anything. I put unpeeled potatoes, tomatoes, fresh oregano and whole, unpeeled garlic cloves in a greased baking pan. I sprinkled it with olive oil and added salt & pepper.

The chicken pieces were spread out on the top and the juice of a couple of lemons squeezed over.

 It went into a hot (450F) oven for about 1 hour. I tossed everything about from time to time and tipped out some of the liquid half way through ( I saved the liquid and added it to the stock for the rice) See if you can bring the potato to the top for a while so it has the chance to crisp up a little bit.

Ten minutes before it was ready I sprinkled about 200g of feta cheese over the top. I know some people add olives to this dish but I decided to have them in the salad.

I’m sorry, but I forgot to take a photo before we ate it…

I’ve made this with lamb chops as well and it’s just as nice, although you need to cut the potatoes smaller as the chops don’t seem to take as long to cook as the chicken pieces.

Nyonya Cuisine - THAT Final Essay

Dear friends - without wanting to sound like a braggart I had to share my results for the final essay with you.

That was the one on nyonya/Peranakan cuisine. This essay completed the Professional Certificate in the post-graduate MA degree in Gastronomy . First stage is over! *cue fireworks!*

I am delighted and humbled to tell you that I scored an 88% - a High Distinction. It was so gratifying to do well on a subject that means so much to me. I think you all know by now that Singapore and Malaysia hold the keys to my heart. Writing and researching about the nyonyas was a pleasure.

I wish you could all come over for a glass of bubbly to help me celebrate. Thank you again for all your kind words of encouragement and inspiration along the way xx

 

Choccy Cupcakes - and Some Special Requests

I’m still doing the cupcakes every week and am improving as far as efficiency goes. I needed to - it’s not a lot of money and coming in from work and starting baking meant I soon started to revisit my methods.

I bake the cakes on a Thursday night. It takes about 2 - 2.5hrs from start to finish. Friday, I get home from work and ice them for collection around 7pm. I have started shopping for ingredients on the way to work - the supermarkets open at 6am and it’s lovely and quiet. It saves me having to go to the shops on the way home which I hate. I get myself a coffee from Gloria Jeans and I’m in and out of the shop in 10 minutes, if that.

The order was a mixed one this week. Blue for little boys and pink for the little girls. I think there was about 90 this week. It’s a great feeling when they’re done!

 

I had an email during the week from a lady who would like me to make an egg-free & nut-free cake for her 40th birthday. I think her son has the allergies and  had one of the allergen-free  cupcakes at a party. I don’t do much private catering any more but am always happy to do it if I can, especially if it’s a referral or special request. Coincidentally I had a dear colleague at work ask for a quote and sample for her wedding day cake. They have a cupcake stand of 60 pastel iced cupcakes in mind with a round cake topper, all dressed with fresh flowers. It sounds beautiful.Vanilla bean sponge and buttercream for that one. It certainly is an honour when you’re asked to do something like that someones very special day

 

Geisha Painting #3

I love this large painting. It hangs in our hallway and is one of the first monty did. It’s acrylic on canvas and is in that minimilist/Japanese woodcut style I like so much. I’m afraid the black didn’t photograph too well  but I hope you enjoy it.

Raita/Tzatziki - Simple and So Yummy

We have quite a few curries and quite often I make something with yoghurt to accompany the meal. BTW, being British I say “YOGhurt” not “Yogurt”, I’m always getting chipped for it…

Anyway, yoghurt is a lovely cooling partner to curries and the perfect base for a dip to have with bread or vegetables. Sometimes we go all global and have curry, veggies and bread This raita/tzatziki combines full-cream plain yoghurt with very, very finely sliced cucumber, very, very finely chopped green chilli, very, very finely chopped garlic, chopped coriander, chopped mint and salt.

I think the trick to a good end result is to drain the yoghurt for an hour or so in a sieve lined with a clean cloth or paper towel. It makes for a fabulous, thick, creamy curd ready for the mixing I didn’t do it this time - it was a quick after-dinner meal, but if you get the chance try draining your yoghurt next time you make a raita or tzatziki type dip.

Come Over For A Coffee & A Chat?

Hello dear friends! It’s been so long since I had this wonderful weekend time to just let you know what we’ve been up to. I wish I could gather you all up and invite you over for coffee

 

Uni starts again at the end of July - Food and Drink In Contemporary Western Society. I haven’t a clue how my long Nyonya essay went but I had a great time researching and writing it. I really do want to study the culture some more one day. I did quite well last semester - 2 high distinctions, a distinction and 2 credits for the 6 papers we had to do. Not so bad considering I haven’t been to uni for about 15 years and I’m still working full-time.

Anyway, now your here would you like to come for a walk in the garden? It’s cold and damp at the moment so everything looks kind-of greener than it did a few months ago. This is my lime tree. These are the little limes. I think they call them Key limes in the US and maybe Calamansi limes in Asia. Lovely tart, “limey” flavour, lots of seeds. I usually cut the cheeks off if I’m serving them to squeeze on food. I keep meaning to make lime pickle…

Here are the new chickens. These girls should start laying in a month or so. They are very docile and settled in very well. Of course the older girls chase them around and harass them. Our chickens are free range and organically fed for the most part although we do sometimes buy pellets. It would be very hard to raise free range vegetarian hens like I see advertised in the shops. Chickens are the most voracious carnivores and will always be on the look-out for insects, meat scraps and, wait for it - live mice! It’s true. If they can they will chase and corner a mouse that gets into the yard and then it’s, well, it’s all-over-red-rover for the mouse. Our hens have quite a bit of room and when we buy hay for their yard we leave it in the bale so they can scratch and pull it apart themselves looking for bugs and stray grain.. It’s good for them and keeps them busy.

Well, I need a lie-down now so you just let yourself out and I’ll see you soon

Black & White Photos & Nyonya Cuisine

The very talented and lovely happygrub set me a challenge I couldn’t resist.

Reproduce some of my food photos in black & white… lovely medium, but, as my regular visitors know, my photos can be “odd” at the best of times Never let it be said that I won’t give anything a go. Laugh if you have to

This first one is a Chinese cabbage or Wombok. It’s a favourite for stir-fries, tonkatsu and pickles. This is the cabbage used when Koreans make kimchee.

This one is of a selection of Vietnamese cakes from the Asian grocers. The wedge shaped ones are made from cassava and shredded coconut and the others from rice flour and coconut cream. These ones are in lovely layers and the texture is like a very firm, “toothy” jelly. I know they are Vietnamese but they do share some similarities to my beloved Malay/Nyonya kuih. That linked site manufactures kuih and has a fabulous range (with photos). Hard to find in Adelaide and very labour-intensive to make at home, the Vietnamese ones satisfy my cravings.

Now this is a lovely photo! My granite mortar and pestle filled with some of the ingredients to make a rempah or spice paste. I think this one for a chicken curry, but it was a while ago so I can’t be sure. The cashew nuts in it make me lean towards something like Kari kapitan. Yep! Did a search on my own blog and found the original post *blush* Another component of Nyonya (which is also spelt Nonya) cuisine, the rempah is an essential part of a very special (food) culture calledPeranakan. Blending Chinese and Malay techniques and ingredients this creolised cuisine has a fascinating history. The Peranakan are also noted for their beautiful kebaya, beadwork, culture and rituals, architecture, and china/earthenware. A fascinating and diminishing culture, my very dearest wish is to study Peranakan cuisine in Malaysia and Singapore one day.

Oooh, I hope I haven’t bored you! This was just supposed to be some black and white photos I am going to pass the batton to whoever would like to have a go. Please let me know if you do - I’d love to see your black & white photos.

Thank you happygrub!

Gastronomic Writing

I am sitting here looking at my books on gastronomy. Not cookery books or recipes books - all gastronomic literature. Authors like Ruth Reichl, Jeffery Steingarten, M.F.K Fisher and Barbara Santich. Now, back in the early ’80’s when I was frantically trying to find something to read there was nothing. Well, there was Elizabeth David and M.F.K Fisher, but it is only in the last 20 years that food writing has really come into it’s own.

I can remember my frustration. I scoured the recipe books for a little bit of text; a “bit of chat”. I wanted to know why people ate, what they ate, how they got the ingredients for what they ate. I never really wanted to recreate any of it by cooking the dishes. The irony is that I must have absorbed all the recipes anyway and went on to make my living cooking food :) 

I shouldn’t be writing this post. I should be writing an essay on the emergence of gastronomic writing in 19th century France. I have writers block. I thought a little chat with my bloggy friends might limber me up so I can get on with it

Now I think I might go and have a coffee, see if that helps. First though I’ll share a very tasty dinner we had the other night.

A beautiful pork loin chop, with sauteed pear and apple, on a bed of salad with the most delicious baked portabello mushrooms.

Wish me luck with the writing - honestly, my brain has a big cramp

 

Geisha Paintings - by monty

My husband knows I have a love of Japanese woodcut paintings and started to do a series as a gift to me. This is the first:

I also adore this painting. It’s a work in progress and I think he is capturing the fabrics of the kimono so beautifully.

monty comes from a family of very talented artists. His sister, Susan Simonini won the Border art prize last year and now makes her living as an artist. I’ve put the link to her latest exhibition HERE.

I really hope monty submits his work to a gallery one day. I don’t think I’m biased - he’s brilliant!

Ribs, Chicken Feet and a Birthday Poker Party

We have 2 birthdays in May - Myf’s and then montys the next week.

My husband, among other things is a beautiful artist. He is doing a series of Japanese geisha at the moment (I’ll take some photos to share with you) Anyway, my gift to him this year was new French box easel. Myf bought him new palettes and chocolates. Will you have a look at how beautifully she wrapped them! She did the origami cranes and pencil herself. I am surrounded by such creative people!

Monty asked his mates over for a daytime poker party to celebrate his birthday this year. I made snacks. Platters of Chinese-style pork ribs and chicken feet. Like the ones you get at yum-cha. I will share the recipe for the ribs in this post. The method I use makes them so tender and tasty. The meats went onto the platter with some simple pickled vegetables and lime cheeks.

This was monty, Myf and Myf’s BF “setting up” the back porch ready for the party

The chicken feet were simply marinated in soy, hoisin sauce, garlic and kecap manis for a day and then cooked. First covered with foil to steam/cook them. Then uncovered to finish them off and glaze them

AMERICAN STYLE PORK RIBS  WITH CHINESE FLAVOURS

I always get my ribs from the Asian butchers. They know pork and don’t take all the meat of the bones the way the supermarkets do. They are also cheaper.

Having said that, it is mostly bone and you will need a couple of kgs for a decent party snack, so not the cheapest party platter to make (so yummy though!) I bought 2.5kg and 6 people demolished that in no time.

The big secret? Boil the ribs before you bake them. I simmer them, whole, in a stock made from water, star anise, cinnamon quills, whole garlic cloves, whole peppercorns, slices of ginger and onion.

When the ribs are tender - I gave them 1.5hrs, take them out of the stock and leave to cool. This is important as they will firm up again as they cool and be easier to work with.

Save the stock. I am going to make a noodle and mushroom broth with mine.

When the ribs are cool use a sharp knife to divide them up. However many per section is up to you. I made them into single ribs. You might like to make smaller racks or 6,8,10, or sections of 2 or 3 ribs.

Marinate the ribs for a couple of hours in your choice of flavours. For this batch I used a packet of red roast pork seasoning mix with some honey, soy and hoisin saice mixed in. Make sure the sauce is touching all the surfaces of the ribs.

Bake on a foil covered tray (for easy washing-up) in a hot oven for about 30 minutes. Try to have the ribs in a single layer so the ones underneath don’t just steam. They will char in places - that’s the honey - doesn’t matter at all.

These can be served hot, or at room temperature. Remember to get pleanty of wet-wipes or damp paper towel out!