Spicy Honey Teriyaki Chicken Drumsticks

Often, when I have an idea for a meal, I would purchase a new sauce. As time goes on, more new sauces appear in my fridge. To save costs, and also to not waste the half open bottles of sauces, I would play with marinating or cooking different cuts of meats with them.

I bought this teriyaki sauce to make stir frys generally but then decided then I could marinate chicken drumsticks with some of the sauce, chili flakes and honey. The roasted version resulted in a sticky and spicy chicken- both which I quite enjoy.

You may choose to omit the honey  although I think it adds a nice carmeralised flavour to it.

Spicy Honey Teriyaki Chicken Drumsticks 

6 chicken drumsticks
1/4 cup of teriyaki sauce 
2 tsp of chili flakes
1 tsp of honey

Marinate chicken with sauces and chili overnight. Bake in preheated oven 200 C for around 30 minutes. Serve with rice and veges.

Coconut Jam Slice

I have never been a fan of dessicated coconut. It's more like the texture that I dislike. Till I met and marry AR...whom you guessed it..love love love anything coconut. I have not met someone who like coconut the way AR does!

Being invited to this gorgeous gorgeous home for a pot luck gathering, I decided to bring a slice that I have been "procrastinating" to make. Given my "keenness" for coconut, you can imagine why I wasn't 100% on board with this bake. But I know AR and some of the guests will prob like this, so I thought it is time to try something new.

This jam slice won my heart. I bite into it and realised that my thoughts of  "surely I wouldnt like this" was wrong. Coconut isn't that bad afterall, and the texture is actually quite nice. Top with the correct ingredients of course.

It pays to try something new always. You might never know what you will discover. And what you may not like in the past, may be transformed.

Coconut Jam Slice (Taken from my first baking cook book "The Essentials of Baking")
1 cup of plain flour
1/2 cup of self raising flour
150 grams of butter  
1/2 cup of icing sugar (I used 1/4)
1 egg yolk
1/2cup of strawberry jam (I used 1 cup!!!)
3 eggs
3 cups of desiccated coconut

1) Preheat oven to 180C. Line square tin with paper.

2) Process flours, butter and icing sugar till it becomes fine and crumbly. Add egg yolk and process till it comes together. Press dough in tin and refrigerate for 10 mins.

3) Bake dough for 15 mins till golden brown. Allow to cool and then spread jam evenly over pastry.

4) Beat caster sugar and eggs together till creamy. Add coconut. Spread mixture onto slice. Gently pressing down with back of spoon. Bake for another 25 mins till it becomes slightly golden. Leave to cool and the lift the slice out. Slice into pieces.

Risoni Salad with Honey Pork Patties

Having discover this cute little riced shaped pasta, I couldn't resist to make a salad out of it. I heard it is good in soups too- so might experiment with it later since the weather is getting colder.

A jar of chargrilled capsicum (I love those stuff), some lemon juice, peans and corn.. a simple salad is made. Pork mince was marinated with honey, 5spice, breadcrumbs, chili flakes, an egg, seasoning and pan fried.

Come to think of it, this meal could probably be easily done on the bbq too! Ah..things we discover afterwards!

Risoni Salad with Honey Pork Patties (Serve 2-3 with plenty of leftovers!)

1 cup of risoni cooked in boiling water as per instructions
1/2 cup of frozen corn and peas
120 gram of chargrilled capsicum
seasoning
squeeze of lemon juice 

200 grams of pork mince
1 tablespoon of honey
1 tsp of 5 spiced powder
1/2 cup of dried breadcrumbs
2 tsp of chili flakes
1 egg
1/4 cup of corn flour
pepper and salt

Marinate pork mince. Shape into patties and pan fried it.
Meanwhile, toss salad ingredients together. Serve warm.


Sharing something different with friends from Presto Pasta, founded by Ruth. This week, it is hosted by Rachel the Crispy Cook.

Loh Mai Kai (Glutinous Soya Pork Rice)

I have raved about this blog before and still continue to draw ideas from this brilliant home cook. When I saw Little Corner's lazy version of this very popular hawker dish, I decided to give it a go. Can you believe that I have not touched this dish for years! (Approx 8 years probably). One reason is because of the oil that goes with this dish. In hawker centre, I can taste the oil sipping through and being very weight conscious, I couldnt bear to take this dish when I can have other options to try (like my favourite Yong Tou Fu!).

Thankfully, home made version means I can adjust oil and seasoning accordingly. It was super easy and while I was in the zone plating this up, I messed up my Kueh Salat (previous post). Oh well, one win and the other one... to try again!

Loh Mai Kai (Glutinous Soya Pork Rice) -Chicken should be used! But I had pork so I used that instead.. 

1 cup of Glutinous Rice  (i did soak it for a few hours) wash, water level as normal and cook in rice cooker
 200 grams of pork sliced marinated in
2 tablespoon of oyster sauce
1 tablespoon of soya
1 tablespoon of dark (I might reduce this next time)
heaps of pepper

garlic
Chinese mushrooms
1 chinese cured sausage (Lup cheong) sliced 

Marinate Pork. While rice is cooking, saute garlic and add lup cheong. When it sizzles, add pork and sauces. Add around 1/4 water if too dry. Taste for seasoning. Add chinese mushrooms. Set mixture aside when cooked.

When rice is nearly done, add in the same portion of seasoning as you would for the pork. Stir well.

Spoon cooked rice into a small bowl. Compact it. Place pork or chicken slices, mushrooms  and lup cheong on top. Press to compact. Place a plate on top of the bowl, turn it over, give it a light tap and remove bowl. Tadah... Loh Mai Kai!

Failed Attempt of Kueh Salat

So for a few days, I whispered to myself daily...."In order to appreciate positives, we have to embrace the negatives. When there is failure, then we appreciate success."

As part of making Kueh Salat, not only do we need to steam the glutinous rice, the custard topping needs to be stirred constantly till it becomes like a creamy looking thick custard. Pour it into the glass pyrex pan, steam it and da-duh, beautiful looking kueh.

Of course, I was distracted (haha, sorry was going through abit of a stress week that particular week!),as I was also making"Lo Mai Kai" (Steam Glutinous Rice with Soya Pork and Mushrooms) at around the same time frame. I was trying to make use of my packet of glutinous rice as much as possible. Not that we are going to finish everything but just to share it with family and friends.

So the custard became lumpy and overcooked just as I glance over to check. It's too late though. Can't be salvaged.. and the lumpy custard was poured into the tray... steamed.. My heart goes out to the custard! Poor custard, it wasn't meant to be! 

back to the drawing board with this one....

Ginger Pork Stir Fry

AR often comment that I seem to be everywhere at once when I am cooking. One minute I am chopping, the other minute I am stirring the pot and when he turned around and I am at the fridge keeping something or getting an ingredient out.

Sometimes, he catches me on the computer reading blogs, putting comments or just replying emails! (oops)

There are times when I concentrate and get into the zone of cooking. When nothing else exists but just you and the kitchen stove? Not on this day while I was doing a stir fry. I was obviously distracted because I overcooked it!!!

You can just imagine AR shaking his head....

Ginger Pork Stir Fry 

300 grams of lean pork meat sliced
1 tsp of corn flour 
1 bunch of spring onion sliced
1 knob of ginger sliced thinly 
1 tablespoon of chopped garlic 
2-3 tablespoon of oyster sauce
1 tablespoon of soya sauce 
1/4 cup of chinese wine (or ginger wine)
dash of white pepper
maybe 1/4 cup of water 

Heat pan up. Lightly coat pork with corn flour. Meanwhile sizzle ginger and garlic. Cook pork through adding seasoning and water if needed. Simmer for 5 minutes (NOT 10!) and quickly toss through spring onions. Serve hot with rice and veges.

Spicy Bacon and Bean Soup

Sometimes, just in a very odd day... I do not feel like cooking.

Ever have one those days?

You know, those days when it is probably towards the end (or start) of the week.. when it has been a long long week, where everything that could have gone wrong has gone wrong. And when you snap at loved one around you who asked you to  to count your blessings ( you know it wasn't that bad afterall). When the last thing you want to do is to face the kitchen and think about what you and your family would like to eat.

I experienced one of those days recently.

The thing is, on those days, action counts. And once I am in there, knowing that I am making something simple and comforting seems to relieve the "pain" for just that 15 mins that I am in the kitchen. When chopping veges actually cleared your head. And slipping hot spicy soup brings warmth to your heart.

What will we do without soup?

Spicy Bacon and Bean Soup (Serves 4-5) 
Beef stock (1 ltr) 
1 can of mixed beans
1 packet of lean bacon (I used weight watchers) chopped
1 onion chopped
1 tsp of chili powder
 1 can of chopped tomatoes
1 red capsicum chopped
1 cup of mushrooms chopped
4-5 stalks of celery chopped 
1 cup of frozen corn (make that 2 please!)
2 fresh tomato chopped 

some Parmesan cheese and toasted bread to serve

Heat soup pot. Cook bacon till it is slightly brown. Add onion and cook till translucent. Toss veges and beans through add stock. Simmer for15-20 minutes. Taste and season. Serve with cheese, cracked pepper and bread.

Chili Garlic Squid Fettuccine with Pinenuts

So we have been in a seafood mood lately. One has to venture away from mince sometimes! I remembered learning how to score squid when I was about 17 years old. An aunt of a housemate invited us over for dinner (She is such a brilliant cook!). As you do, I offered to help and standing in the kitchen, she gave me tips on choosing calamari, cleaning them and of course cutting them into good sized pieces.

I love seeing squid sizzle and curl into a nice shape. I kept this really simple. Marinating the squid with some lemon juice, salt and pepper.I grilled it quickly and then toss the the squid + veges with pasta. Dash of olive oil and sprinkle of pine nuts, dinner was served.

Chili Garlic Squid Fettuccine with Pinenuts 

250 grams of fresh fettuccine (Cooked to packet directions, keep warm in a bowl)

4 squid tubes cleaned and score diamond crosses
1 tsp of chopped garlic
tsp of chopped chili 
1/2 lemon juice
pepper and salt

1 bowl of chopped mushroms
1 zucchini grated/shredded and water squeezed out from it.

1/4 cup of pine nuts toasted
Parmesan cheese to serve if you like it

Heat grill pan to very hot. Quickly toss squid through till cooked. In the same pan, add the veges for 30 seconds. Pour veges and squid into bowl of noodles. Tossing it through with some extra virgin olive oil. Sprinkle pinenuts and cheese to serve.

Dishing pasta love to friends at Presto Pasta founded by Ruth. This week, it is hosted by Susan from the Well Seasoned Cook! I am so getting into the stringly ball game!

Lamb and Grilled Capsicum Pinwheels

Passing by a famous chicken chain shop one day, I noticed that they have quite a few new products this year. I took a closer look and they were featuring chicken pinwheels- Puff pastry wrapped with chicken mince in various flavours. I knew exactly at that moment that it would be something I like to re-create at home.

So armed with some mince (Notice we have been eating and experimenting with more mince recently? Just my bid to reduce grocery costs- the price rises are getting exorbitant now!) and puff pastry.. I started rolling.

This one has chargrilled capsium with fresh tomatoes and cheese. I love they way they turned out.

Any other suggestions for pinwheels? =)

Lamb and Grilled Capsicum Pinwheels

200 grams of lamb mince
1-2 tablespoon of bbq sauce
1/2 red onion chopped 
1 tablespoon of tomato sauce
salt/pepper
1 tablespoon of Worcestershire Sauce
1 tablespoon of corn flour
1 egg
1 cup of bread crumbs 


1/2 jar of chargrilled capsicum strips
1 tomato chopped
cheddar cheese 

3 pieces of puff pastry cut into halves.

Marinate lamb mince.  Place defrosted puff pastry on bench, and spoon lamb mixture on it..flatten it. Add capsium strips and tomato. Sprinkle cheese. Roll it tight. Cut into portions and place on lined tray. Bake in 200C oven for 15-20 minutes. Serve with side salad.

Caramelised Banana and Coconut Cake

There are times when I pick up a magazine and no recipes appeal to me. The last issue of Donna Hay (Feb/March 2010) has quite a few that inspired me. Looking at the gorgeous mouth watering photo of Caramelised Banana and Coconut Cake, I couldn't resist but to bake it for morning tea for work one day.

As I was looking at the ingredients, the thought of  "less is more" this is certainly "more and more" came to my mind. We are talking about caramel, banana, coconut and even passionfruit in one cake!  It all came together in the end though and I was greeted by happy smiles in the office as they bite into this luscious cake. All worth it.

Caramelised Banana and Coconut Cake 

20 grams butter
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup water
8 bananas halved
4 eggs
3/4 cup caster sugar

1 tsp vanilla
1 cup plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
150 grams butter melted (Extra)
1 cup desiccated coconut


passion fruit syrup
4 passionfruit, pulp removed
1/4 cup water 
2 tablespoon caster sugar

To make syrup, place pulp, water and sugar in small sauce plan. Stir till sugar dissolves. Bring to boil, cook for 2-3 mins till it thickens. Set aside

PLace butter, sugar and water in small sauce plan over low heat and stir till sugar has dissolved. Bring to boil and cook for 3-4 minutes. Pour into base of lightly greated and lined 22 cm square tin. Arrange the banana, but side down on top of caramel.


Preheat oven 160C. Place sugar, eggs and vanilla in electric mixer and beat for 8-10 mins till pale and fluffy. Sift flour and baking powder over the egg mixture and fold through. Add the extra butter and coconut and fold through. Pour mixture over banana and bake for 45-50 mins till cooked through when tested with skewer. Allow to cool slightly. Turn cake out onto a platter and spoon over the passion fruit syrup to serve.

Minced Meat Noodles

I was very inspired after reading Little Inbox's Minced Meat Noodles. It looks soooo rich and inviting. The beauty of it is that re-creating this isn't hard at all.

I followed pretty much what Little Inbox did, except that I used fresh egg noodles and added veges and chili. Mine turned out sightly more dry though so I think I probably did not add enough water. I love how the noodles absorbed the sauce and how the eggs taste even better the next day!

Mince Meat Noodles (adapted from Little Inbox)

300 grams of pork mince
around 6-8 pieces of dried chinese mushrooms hydrated and chopped
1 tsp of garlic
few stalks of celery chopped (Not in little inbox's recipe)
4 hard boiled eggs shelled and quartered
fresh chili chopped 
water

2tablespoon of oyster sauce
2-3 tablespoons of soya sauce

dash of sesame oil
1 tsp of dark soy sauce

1) Cook noodles and put aside. Dish into separate bowls. Place eggs on the noodles.

2) Saute garlic and chili. Add mince cooking until nearly done. Add sauces and water. Simmer. Toss in veges and mushrooms. Spoon over noodles and egg.


Dishing this out to my friends at Presto Pasta founded by Ruth. Hosted by Chaya Comfy Cook Blog this week!

Spinach, Feta and Chicken Triangles

And so I am a fan of taking a few short cuts here and there. Having a few friends over for lunch, we decided to have a variety of dishes-the previous dish, honey pumpkin pecan salad was one of them. The plan for this one was to mix up some spinach, feta and chicken, wrap it in filo pastry, bake it and viola! lunch is served!

Two days before the lunch, I realised that in between coming home from church and preparing lunch in 45 minutes means time is tight! Not to mention, I am still a novice in handling filo pastry! I picture torn pastries, with spillage from the filling to the tray from my incomplete mess of trying to handle filo. So I chickened out and used spring roll pastry instead!

Surprise surprise, it was better than expected. Still with the crunch factor but not as flaky as filo of course. I think it was a tad dry and should have less chicken and more feta. Instead of shallow frying, I sprayed the parcels with some oil and baked it for 20 minutes. Lunch was served just in time!

Spinach, Feta and Chicken Triangles (makes around 12) 

1/4 of roast chicken shredded
50 grams of feta cheese crumbed
150 grams of slightly wilted baby spinach leaves
1 tsp of garlic
squeeze of lemon juice
cracked pepper and sea salt
2-3 tsp of poppy seeds

6 spring roll wraps cut in halves.

Mix mixture together. Spoon it on to spring roll wrappers and wrapped it from corner to corner to create triangles. Place them on trays. Spray with some oil and sprinkle poppy seeds over them. Bake in pre heated oven of 180 C for 20 minutes or till golden brown. .

Honey Roasted Pumpkin Salad

I love love love pumpkin. The sweetness of this vegetable just seem to sit well with me. One of the first soup I tasted in Australia was pumpkin soup. That was sold $3 a cup in our college canteen. It was creamy stuff- I am thinking little pumpkin, lots of cream! However, the soup was also my introduction to this fabulous vegetable and I soon realised that home made pumpkin soup is so easy to make and a good pot of it can cost less than $10!

When I am in a cafe, AR can tell what I am going to order if pumpkin is featured on it. Roast Pumpkin toastie? I am in! Pumpkin soup? Yes please! So it is no surprised to him that I thought of roasting it with some honey and pairing it in a salad.

Truth be told though, I hate chopping this vegetable. I feel like I am in a battle with it! Which is why I often eat this in cafes rather than making it at home. Still, I am slowly getting the hang of it, and a sharp chopper knife helps....

If it fails though, I can always say "HUBBY, I need your help!" And of course, the hubs like it as that makes him stronger than I am (maybe that is the reason why I got married... to have a husband to help chop food and open jars? ;p)

Honey Roasted Pumpkin Salad  

Pumpkin can be roasted the night before if serving it for lunch. This can also be used in pasta.

1/2 butternut pumpkin chopped in cubes
2 tsp of paprika
1 generous tablespoon of honey
1 tsp of dried chili flakes
some cracked black pepper 

olive oil spray
Pre heat oven to 200C. Mix all the above together and spread them on a baking tray. Spray with oil and roast for around 20 minutes, checking after 10 minutes or so. Cool and store. 

200 grams of spinach leaves
toasted pecan nuts

Serve warm pumpkin on a bed of spinach leaves and sprinkle some pecan nuts on it for the crunch factor.

Garlic Bread

Food always evoke memories. Garlic Bread must be one of the first food item I learned how to make-together with a few other girls from church. Our church senior taught us how to make the garlic mixture, we toasted them and sold it in our little church cafe to raise funds. That recipe never left me, and every time I made this, it reminded me of my fun teenagehood days.

I made this for our bbq nights when friends come over for some tucker. One huge french loaf will make 3 sticks of it. Always the first to go, it is pure comfort when waiting for the meat to be sizzled on our bbq.

Garlic Bread (enough for 1 french loaf)
around 5-6 tablespoons of spread or butter
2 generous tablespoons of choppped garlic or more if adventurous  
2 tsp of Italian dried mixed herbs
1 tsp of sugar
pinch of salt 

mix everything up till it becomes smooth.. Spread mixture in cut french loaf. Wrap in aluminum foil and bake it in preheated oven 180C for 15 minutes.

Married for 1 year!

It was exactly 1 year ago that AR and I had a blast celebrating our marriage with our closest friends and family members in Singapore. One year! Where did all the time went? It doesn't seem that long ago that we were dating then we got engaged, then there was the wedding planning and of course, the big days themselves.

I will never forget the moment when our pastor pronounced us husband and wife.  Or the beautiful Perth reception we held for 57 people closest to our hearts. Our two tier wedding cake-one Chocolate Mud and the other Carrot Cake. And why we chose those flavours. Chocolate because we love and Carrot because that is the one cake you ALWAYS buy for me when I am ill. Not forgetting our first dance, when we suddenly went into our own little world and cherish that 3 minutes when we danced together.

Nor can I ever forget our Singapore wedding celebrations. How intimate it was to share the moment with everyone. The joy that our families had as we served tea to our relatives. The emotional church ceremony where we gave thanks to God and to our parents for raising us. The fun we had at night, at our banquet and then partying in the bar till 2am in the morning.

How about the Malaysia leg of the celebrations. The grandness of it, the speeches and oh, not forgetting the warm welcome the family gave to us while we were there. 

So how is married life? friends asked...

In this one year, we learned so much about each other than we did dating. Perhaps like all couples, we thought we prepared well. After all, we attended way more than the required 3 sessions of pre marital counseling. We had countless chats about our direction in life. We spoke about our families, careers, children and of course finance.We prepared for the worse, we came out with scenarios and discussed what we will do if that happened.

Come the day when we call ourselves Husband and Wife, it was more than a name change. Yes, the above helped but the reality was much harder than what we anticipated. We learned that marriage is a choice. a DAILY choice. Where we choose our partners in life instead of consulting with them last.  We learned that it is so easy taking each other for granted just because we have signed on the dotted line- and we have to remind ourselves that we are very blessed to have each other. We learned that forgiveness is necessary and saying sorry is essential.We learned that love is to be shown in so many small ways. And yes, it does accumulate.

We fought, we cried, we laughed.

So we learn how to love.

Married life? Is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. It taught us how to grow up, to never take for granted how marriage is a gift. A gift for life. I enjoy having hubby having his arms around me in the morning just as I am waking up. The lunches that we have on Sunday afternoons. The walks we take. Decisions we made together. Celebrating each day as we have this gift that is worth us fighting for. This whole year, not only did we pull off the wedding celebrations, we planned the most awesome 3 weeks Europe honeymoon, traveled to Melbourne, road trip from Adel to Mel, renovated our home and worked hard.

In one year, we achieved so much-only because we are together with God. It's because we vowed that together we will achieve more. This coming year will be a bigger one. Because we are stronger, because we have the will to make it better.

Happy 1 year Wedding Anniversary AR- and many more to come!