Flavoured Chicken Rice

After many years of buying pre-mix jars of chicken rice paste, I decided to give it a go from scratch, now that I got a Singapore cookbook for my 30th birthday. I did attempt to cook it at the final stage in a rice cooker, but I should have stuck to the stove as I had to switch the rice cooker to from "Warm" to "Cook" a couple of times before I got the rice right. I also had the chicken pieces in the steamer attachment of the rice cooker instead, so that took some time to cook. Serve with sliced cucumbers for a nice cool side.

MIXTURE A
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon msg (or chicken salt)
1 teaspoon dark soy sauce

MIXTURE B
1 thumb-sized piece of ginger, shredded finely
3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
4 shallots, thinly sliced

MIXTURE C
2 tablespoons light soya sauce
1 teaspoon dark soy sauce
1 teaspoon msg (or chicken salt)
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 chicken cube, mashed
1/4 teaspoon pepper

905 g (2 lb) deboned chicken, cut into pieces
115 ml (4 fl oz) lard or oil
4 dried Chinese mushrooms, soaked and sliced thinly
625 g (22 oz) jasmine rice, washed and drained
935 ml (33 fl oz) boiling water
2 pairs Chinese sausages, fried and cut into 4 cm (1 1/2 in) pieces
Chinese parsley, to garnish
Cucumbers, sliced thinly (optional)

Marinate the chicken in MIXTURE A for 30 minutes.

Heat 2 tablespoons oil in hot pan and fry chicken until brown on all sides. Set aside.

Heat lard in wok and fry MIXTURE B until light brown. Add the mushrooms and stir-fry for 1 minute. Add the rice and fry until oil is absorbed.

Mix MIXTURE C in a bowl. Add to ruce together with 935 ml (33 fl oz) boiling water. Cook until rice is quite dry.

Place the fried sausages and the fried chicken pieces on the rice. Allow to cook for 30 minutes over a low heat. Serve hot.

Bacon and Eggs with Garlic Rice

Inspired by Norbert & Zennie Munoz, and Nori Lynn Munoz.

Serves 2

vegetable oil, for frying
3 tsp minced garlic
2 cups cooked rice
8 slices rindless bacon
4 eggs
salt and pepper, to taste
Sweet soy sauce to serve
8 cherry tomatoes, halved, to garnish

Preheat oven to 100 deg C. This will be used to keep food warm. Place large bowl in microwave and heat on high for 1 minute. Leave warm bowl in microwave until needed.

Heat oil in wok over medium high heat, then fry garlic until fragrant, and golden brown. Stir in leftover rice, making sure to break up lumps of rice. Add salt and pepper to taste. Fry until heated through. Turn off oven, scoop rice into microwaved bowl, then place in oven to keep warm.

Meanwhile, heat a little oil in frying pan over medium high heat. Fry bacon, turning over regularly until brown all over. Transfer bacon to warmed plate, and place in oven to keep warm.

Add oil to frying pan if necessary, then heat oil over medium high heat until almost smoking. Break each egg into a small bowl, then slide egg onto frying pan. When underside is firm, turn over and cook other side for a short time before transferring to warmed plate. Repeat for any other eggs which did not fit in the frying pan.

Divide rice onto warmed plates, lay bacon over each bed of rice, then place eggs on top, careful not to break runny yolks. Garnish with cherry tomatoes, then drizzle with sweet soy sauce over bacon and eggs.

Serve immediately, or place in oven to keep warm while you make yourself a latte for breakfast.

Previously posted on Facebook.

Pancakes

Always a Sunday morning treat, the batter I prepared on the KitchenAid while Nick was bathing Cajun, before I was to Cajun for a walk in the park to dry off. I also used a pack of halved strawberries, some water, 2 tablespoons caster sugar, and a teaspoon arrowroot to get the syrup, as pictured below. Serve topped with your favourite ice cream.

2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon caster (superfine) sugar
100 g ( 3 1/2 oz) plain (all-purpose) flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
250 ml (9 fl oz or 1 cup) milk
butter, for frying

To serve:
freshly whipped cream
caster (superfine) sugar
lemon wedges
maple syrup
ground cinnamon

Whip together the eggs, vanilla and sugar. Add the flour and baking powder alternately with the milk, whisking well until it's smooth. Cover and leave to stand at room temperature for at least half an hour.

Melt a little butter in a non-stick frying pan - just enough to coat the bottom. When it's sizzling, add a small ladleful of batter/ Tilt the pan so that the batter swirls out and around to thinly cover the bottom, mingling with some of the butter. Fry over medium heat until the underside is nicely golden, using a spatula to lift up the edge to check. Loosen the side with the spatula and flip the pancake over. Fry until the new underside is lightly golden, then slide out of the pan onto a plate and keep warm while you cook the rest of the batter; adding more butter when you need it. The first pancake is often not so great, but once you've got the hang of it and have got the pan temperature perfect, they'll work well.

Put out bowls of whipped cream, caster sugar, lemon wedges, maple syrup and enough cinnamon for everyone to help themselves to their favourite topping. Make cinnamon sugar by mixing 3 teaspoons of sugar with 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, and that's lovely with a squeeze of lemon juice over the top.

Chocolate Twister Bread

I baked these for Midsumma Carnival, as part of January's Bake Off. I wanted something simple to take along to a picnic with friends, not much fuss with gravies, and easy to clean up after. I might've left them in the oven too long, as they turned out a little hard, but there was no mistaking the chocolate.

1 x Basic Bread Recipe
200 g (7 oz) soft butter
200 g (7 oz) hazelnuts, lightly roasted and crushed or broken up
310 g (11 oz) chocolate (70% cocoa), the best you can get, smashed up or grated

At Stage 5 of the Basic Recipe, divide the dough into 2 equal parts.

After proving for the second time, take each piece of dough and push out into a squarish shape on a floured board. Then roll out to about 17cm (7 inches) wide. At this point, roll the other way and keep rolling to achieve a long rectangle about 0.5cm (1/4 inch) thick - it doesn't have to be exact.

Using a knife, spread the butter thinly across the dough. Sprinkle over the hazelnuts and chocolate and roll up across the width like a Swiss roll. Cut across into 2cm (1 inch) wide slices.

Place the slices next to each other on a greased baking tray, cut side upwards (rather like Chelsea buns), with a small gaps in between.

Bake in a preheated oven at 200 deg C (400 deg F or Gas 6) for around 20 minutes. Allow to cool for 20 minutes before eating with a glass of cold milk.

Basil and Parsley Pesto

"Traditional pesto is made with basil, but here we've included a lighter version, substituting some of the basil with flat-leaf parsley (to make the classic version, use 6 cups basil and leave out the parsley)."

Makes 1 1/2 to 2 cups

2 cloves garlic, chopped
4 cups basil leaves
2 cups flat-leaf parsley leaves
2 tablespoons pine nuts
1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan
sea salt and freshly ground pepper
1 cup olive oil

1. Place the garlic, herbs, pine nuts, parmesan, salt and pepper in a food processor and mix until finely chopped, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula once or twice.

2. With the motor still running, add the oil in a slow, steady stream and mix to a smooth paste.

3. Pack into jars and cover with a thin film of olive oil before sealing, then refrigerate.

From THE THRIFTY KITCHEN by Suzanne Gibbs & Kate Gibbs.

Thai Beef Salad

This is a salad that very much says summer, and is great for an evening meal. I'd also been dreaming about it since our friend Leona made us some when she was visiting last year. This is an easy version by Bill Granger that can be put together quite easily. As with all steaks, be sure to check in, or you might end up with really charred meat... even after 2 minutes!

2 tablespoons oyster sauce
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 tablespoon caster sugar
1 teaspoon sesame oil
2 x 300g rump steaks
1 lemongrass stalk, crushed with the back of a knife and finely sliced
1 green chilli, finely chopped (deseeded first, if you like)
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 tablespoon soft brown sugar
4 tablespoons fish sauce
4 tablespoons lime juice
1/2 cabbage, cut into wedges
a handful of mint leaves
a handful of coriander leaves
1/2 cucumber, cut into chunks
1 small red onion, thinly sliced

Mix together the oyster sauce, fish sauce, caster sugar and sesame oil in a large bowl. Add the steaks, turn to coat them well and leave to marinate for 5-10 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the dressing by mixing together the lemongrass, chilli, garlic, brown sugar, fish sauce and lime juice. Arrange the cabbage, mint, coriander, cucumber and red onion on serving plates.

Heat a chargrill pan over high heat. When very hot, add the steaks and sear for 2 minutes on each side. Transfer to a warm plate, cover loosely with foil and leave to rest for 5 minutes.

Finely slice the steaks and drape over the salad. Drizzle with the dressing.

Serves 4.

Braised Shallots in Tuna Sauce

This is an unusual dish I chose on our road trip over Christmas and New Year's. We were making our way back from Woodford Folk Festival in Queensland, and our friends had offered us their place in Sydney to stay. The day before they arrived home. It only seemed apt we made them dinner the next night. It was fun working in someone else's kitchen, working with different equipment and ingredients at hand. Overall it turned out great, but I would have held back on the salt, mostly because there's quite a bit of it in the capers and anchovies.

20 small shallots, peeled
olive oil for baking
2 cloves garlic, peeled
4 tablespoons capers
10 anchovy fillets
3/4 quantity Mayonnaise
1 x 425 g tin dolphin-friendly tuna, drained and flaked
juice of 1/2 lemon
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
pale celery leaves (from centre of bunch), to garnish

Preheat the oven to 200 deg C (400 deg F). Place the shallots on a baking tray and sprinkle with olive oil, cook until brown - about 15-20 minutes.

In the meantime, prepare the tuna sauce. Place the garlic, capers and anchovies in the food processor and blitz to a puree. Turn the processor off. Add the mayonnaise and tuna to the puree, and use the pulse button, cautiously, to combine the ingredients. Taste the sauce, and add lemon juice and salt and pepper as needed.

Remove the shallots from the oven and allow them to cool. Arrange them on a serving dish. Spoon the sauce over the shallots - they should be quite well covered - and scatter with celery leaves.