Roasted Peri Peri Chicken (Nando's copycat)

All of sudden I crave Nando's peri peri chicken and of course we don't have Nando's in the country. To satisfy this craving I simply followed this video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3LLD5R995s) and boy, it turned out so good!

Roasted Peri Peri Chicken

Chicken - either whole, drumsticks, wings or thigh, your choice

Blend together and marinate :-
Red sweet pepper
Red onion
Garlic, a lot
Lemon juice
Bird's eye chilli , to taste (I used dried)
Smoked paprika powder
Oregano
Salt and pepper, to taste
Sugar
Red wine vinegar (I used apple cider vinegar)
Olive oil

Please watch the link given above for detailed instructions.

Baked Malaysian Satay

On Sunday at the last minute I decided to try out this satay recipe that I've seen the night before. I have to say I did not follow the recipe completely due to lack of ingredients. Despite this, the meat turned out satisfying especially it was done in the oven and not bbq.

Chicken satay
Recipe by : Lauren's Kitchen

Ingredients A For Chicken satay :
Makes: 25-30 skewers
5 shallots
3 cloves garlic
4 stalks lemongrass ( white part only)

15g ginger
25g galangal
15g turmeric

600g chicken meat
1 tsp salt
2tbsp sugar
1 stick lemon grass (to spread oil on satay while bbq)

Method:
1. Blend all the ingredients (A) . Mix the blended ingredients with chicken , add salt and sugar , combine well . Cover with cling paper and marinate in the fridge for at least 1 hours or even over night if you want.
2.Soak Skewers in water while you are marinating chicken to prevent them to burning.
3. Thread the marinated chicken onto the skewers .
4.Grill it until cook using bbq method / grill in oven (180°c ,10-15min both side) , brush oil on top (both sides) using lemon grass stick .

served with peanut sauce and fresh vegetables

Using the stove to add some smoke flavour

Cottage cheese pastry bites

An easy recipe from my neighbour. As this pastry is quite rich, best serve them on special occasions.

Cottage cheese pastry bites

Ingredients :-

Pastry
200gm All purpose flour
200gm Butter, cold
200gm Cottage cheese
a pinch of salt

To glaze
Egg wash

Toppings (optional)
Grated cheese of your choice
Cumin seeds



Method :-

1) Pre-heat oven at 180°c

2) In a bowl, combine all pastry ingredients and knead until just combine. Don't over work it.

3) Let dough rest in fridge for 15 mins.

4) After 15 mins. roll out dough to thickness of 0.5 - 1 cm. cut into shapes that you wish.

5) Glaze pastry with egg wash.

6) If using, sprinkle your choice of toppings all over pastry.

7) Bake in oven for about 18 mins. or until golden brown.

Baked Honey mustard chicken wings

One of my go-to chicken wings flavours is honey mustard. It's quick and perfect as finger/party food.

Baked Honey Mustard Chicken Wings


Ingredients
Chicken wings
Honey
Mustard
Ketchup
Soy sauce
Garlic powder
Salt
Pepper

Method
1) Pre-heat oven at 190-200˙c
2) In a zip-lock bag, place chicken wings, sprinkle salt, pepper and garlic powder all over chicken wings or to taste. Next drizzle honey, ketchup, mustard and soy sauce all over. Close the bag, massage the bag to combine the wings with seasoning and spices. Let it sit in the fridge for min. 30 mins.
3) After 30 mins. line a baking tray with baking sheet, place chicken wings one by one on to tray sans marinade. Bake for 20 mins. brush each wings with marinade, sprinkle on the sesame seeds and bake for another 15 mins. or until fully cooked.
4) Serve immediately.

Holiday Baking : A dessert named "Lonci"

We first tasted this "cake" at my sister-in-law, and my husband loves it. So, he asked for the recipe from his sister. Nobody knows why the name "Lonci". We tried searching online with no result. For me, the looks is exactly like a Gerbeau slice, except for the fillings, of course.  I would say that the filling is too mild and the chocolate taste takes over. However, I do like the result of the pastry and this method of making butter cream intrigues me. Perhaps I'll test out the pastry and buttercream separately in other bakes in the future.

Lonci (Creamy Gerbeau Slice)

Ingredients

For pastry

400gm flour

1/2 sachet baking powder

120gm shortening (used goose fat)

120gm sugar (reduced to taste)

1 egg

sour cream , as needed (less than a cup)

For filling

200gm butter, softened

250gm powdered sugar (reduced according to my taste)

500ml milk

2 Tbsp sugar

4 heap Tbsp flour

flavourings :-

Rum

cocoa

1 tsp vanilla extract or 1 sachet vanilla sugarFor cocoa glazing

4 Tbsp water

8 Tbsp sugar

3 Tbsp cocoa powder

120gm butter

Method

For Pastry

1. Mix together all ingredients in a bowl except for sour cream. Add sour cream gradually and knead until you have a smooth dough
2. Divide dough into 3. Roll each dough out into a rectagular sheet and blind bake each sheet until golden brown in a meadium heat oven
3. 
   

For filling

1. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy set aside.
2. Cook milk, sugar and flour in sauce pan until it thickens. Place the thicken mixture onto cold water to cool. Stir the mixture continuously until cooled.
3. Mix together buttercream (1) and milk mixture (2) . Divide this into 2 portions.
4. One portion flavour with cocoa and rum ; while another portion add in vanilla extract or a sachet of vanilla sugar

For cocoa glazing

1. Bring water and sugar into a boil and mix in cocoa powder. Remove from heat and add in butter and mix until well combine

Assembly

1. Place 1 sheet of baked pastry onto serving dish, spread with all of cocoa flavour filling. Then place seconc sheet of baked pastry over it. Next spread vanilla flavoured filling over the pastry and place final baked pastry sheet on top.
2. Finish off by pouring cocoa glazing while glazing is still warm . Let cake rest for at least a day before serving.

Holiday Baking : Chocolate coins

With the left over melted chocolate from Ischler cookies, I've decided make these chocolate coins. The inspiration came from Jamie Oliver's edible gifts for Christmas.

What I did.
1) Put a thin layer of melted chocolate (no less than 60% cocoa content) in cupcake cases. Mine was a bit too thick.
2) Sprinkle some finely chopped candied citrus fruit and toasted nuts onto chocolate.
3) Let it set in room temperature.
4) Once set, peel away the cupcake cases and store in jar. I keep the jar in the fridge.

Holiday Baking : Buttermilk scones { kefires pogácsa }

Savoury scones are popular during family gatherings and parties over here. I'm glad that I finally tried my hand at making Hungarian scones which has more process than the English one.

Buttermilk Scones
Makes : 40 pcs mini-scones
via Arany Tepsi

Ingredients
50gm Flour
1 tsp salt
25ml milk
15gm yeast
1/2 tsp sugar
1 small egg yolk
125gm margarine
75ml kefir (buttermilk)

For glazing
1 egg yolk

Preparation :-
1) Heat up milk in sauce pan until warm NOT hot. Once milk warm to touch, switch off the heat and pour our milk in a jar, put in the sugar and crumbled yeast. Let this mixture sit for 10 mins. to a activate the yeast.
2) Once yeast has been activated, place flour in a mixing bowl, sprinkle in the salt. Cut in the margarine, mix it until crumbly texture. Then make a well in the centre, pour in the yeast, egg yolk and kefir. Knead until just everything come together, do not over work it.
3) Place dough on a slightly bigger tray as the dough will grow as it rest. Let it rest in the fridge for 1 hour.
4) 30 mins. into resting time, start pre-heating the oven at 180°c.
5) After 1 hour, halved the dough and place the other half back in the fridge. Roll out dough on floured surface until 1.5cm thickness. Score the top of the dough in a criss-cross patent. Use a round cutter, cut out dough, place on lined baking tin. Give some space between each cut dough. Glaze with egg yolk.
6) Repeat rolling and cutting process again until dough is finish.
7) Bake in pre-heated oven for 20-25 mins.

Jamie Oliver Roasted Pork Belly {燒肉}

The last time and also the first time I roasted Chinese-style pork belly was in 2007! Although nothing wrong with the recipe and the taste, I failed in achieving the crackling skin. So, when this week the pork belly goes on sale, I thought why not try a different recipe and see how it goes. 
The verdict : I did it, I  achieved the crispy crackling! Also, seasoning with just salt and pepper were the perfect way to eat this. I'll definitely be using this recipe again!

I've since made this recipe several time and will be my go-to roasted pork belly going forward.

Jamie Oliver Roasted Pork Belly
adapted from Jules Food 

for 2-3 pax

Ingredients
600gm pork belly
Sea / kosher salt
fresh ground pepper

Method
1) Pre-heat oven 220°c / Gas 7
2) Clean pork belly and pat dry with kitchen towel. 3) Start by scoring pork rind, in a criss cross manner, 1cm apart. *Do not score to deep, just until the fat not meat*
4) Rub salt all over the scored skin well. Get rid of excess salt.
5) Season the underside of the meat with salt and ground pepper.
6) Place pork belly, skin side up on baking dish. Bake in the oven for 1/2 hour until the skin of the pork has started to puff up and you can see it turning into crackling.
7) After 1/2 hour, remove pork belly from oven and reduce temperature to 180°c/Gas 4. Put pork belly back into oven and cook for another 1/2 hour. *At this point, you may add onion, garlic, any vegetables and herbs to roast*  8) After the second 1/2 hour, remove pork belly again, baste the drippings on pork belly and put it back in the oven to cook for final 15-20 mins. or until meat falling apart.
9) Let it rest before serving.

Quick and Easy Donuts

Quick & Easy Donuts
Source : Ste/ A te recepted Sep 2011
Makes 12-16 donuts
Ingredients
150gm plain flour (changed to 130gm)
pinch of salt
1 sachet x 10gm baking powder (half baking powder + baking soda)
1 egg
150gm yoghurt, natural flavoured (changed to 1x130gm tub)
Oil for frying
To serve with dips
sweet option Good quality fruit preserves/jam or dust with powdered sugar,
savoury option sour cream and grated cheese
Method
1) Whisk together  egg and yoghurt, then mix in flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Mix until well combine. Let it rest for 10 mins. Meanwhile , heat oil in frying pan
2) Make sure oil is hot enough, or it will be too greasy. Use a spoon to scoop out batter and fry 1.5 mins. each side until golden brown. Drain fried donuts on kitchen paper.
3) Serve while still warm with preferred dipping sauces.

Orange Cake

Tasty recipe from Almost Bourdain
In view that the link above doesn't work anymore, I have included the whole recipe from the direct source.

What I did differently :-

Halved the recipe based on 2 eggs.  Baked using 18cm spring form.

Used plain flour (instead of self-raising) added in baking powder.

Verdict

Love it - Light and fluffy! A keeper but I'll add more orange zest the next time.

Sicilian orange cake
Serves about 8 
via:  The Guardian

Ingredients
250g lightly salted butter, at room temperature, plus extra for greasing
250g caster sugar
4 medium eggs
1½ teaspoons finely grated orange zest
250g self-raising flour
85ml freshly squeezed orange juice

For the icing:
125g icing sugar
5 teaspoons freshly squeezed orange juice

Method :-
Preheat the oven to 170C/gas mark 3. Grease and line a 22cm clip-sided round cake tin with non-stick baking paper.
Using an electric whisk, cream the butter and sugar together for 4-5 minutes until very pale. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, beating well between each one, if necessary adding a spoonful of flour with the last egg to prevent the mixture from curdling. Beat in the orange zest. Add the flour all at once and mix in well, then slowly mix in the orange juice. Spoon the mixture into the tin and bake on the middle shelf of the oven for 45-50 minutes or until a skewer, inserted into the centre of the cake, comes out clean. If it starts to brown too quickly, cover loosely with a sheet of lightly buttered foil.
Leave the cake, in its tin, to cool on a wire rack, then carefully remove the sides and base of the tin and peel off the paper. Put it onto a serving plate.
Sift the icing sugar into a bowl and stir in the orange juice until you have a spreadable consistency. Spread it over the top of the cake, letting it drip down the sides, and leave to set. Serve cut into slices.

Cottage cheese spread { Körözött }

Körözöt is something that my FIL whipped up whenever we return to visit on weekends. He has kindly written down the recipe recently as below. Now I can make them at home !

 
Cottage cheese spread 

Simply mix together the ingredients :-

100-150gm Cottage cheese (I think Ricotta cheese should be fine ,too)
165ml sour cream
3-4 Tbsp butter, room temperature
1-2 tsp sweet / spicy paprika powder
pinch of cumin, ground or whole
salt & pepper, to taste

At this point, you've already made a basic Körözöt ; however, my FIL makes it special by adding ...

Hungarian green pepper, chopped finely
1-2 hard boiled egg(s)
1-2 tsp mustard
Onion, finely chopped , to taste
cold cuts, chopped finely

Garnish with dill , parsley or paprika powder. I think a drizzle of olive oil would be nice, too :)

Note that sour cream and butter (or margerine) are crucial in this recipe ; while the rest of the additions can be to your taste.

Cantonese egg tarts { 蛋挞 }

Egg Tarts is a popular dessert amongst the Cantonese community. The tart shell should be flaky and light while the egg custard silky smooth. As you can see from mine, it is neither :D. I'm still in the process of refining my technique. The reason I'm posting here is to note down the recipes that I've followed.
 
Cantonese Egg Tart { 蛋挞 }
For the tart shells, recipe from Anncoo Journal

125g Cold butter - cut to cubes

120g Icing sugar, sifted

1 Egg

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

320g Plain flour - sifted

• Cream butter and icing until light and fluffy. Add in egg and mix well.
• Pour in flour and mix for few seconds, stop machine.
• Use a rubber spatula to fold the flour mixture into a soft dough.
• Put soft dough in a plastic bag and chill in the fridge for 30 mins or freezer for 20 mins.
• Divide the pastry into 15 small balls and evenly press into 15 tart moulds. If you find the pastry is too soft and sticky, just return it to the fridge to harden a little.
• Prick the bottom of the pastry with a fork to allow steam to escape as the shell bakes.
• Bake in preheated oven at 180C for 10 minutes or until lightly brown. Remove from oven and leave to cool.

For the filling , recipe from Yummy Bakes
200g boiling water

150g sugar

5 eggs

250g fresh milk

1. Dissolve sugar in boiling water, let it cool, add egg and fresh milk.  Do not beat, just stir and mix.
2. Strain the mixture and pour into the pre-baked tart shells  Bake at 180C for 20 mins or until cooked.

Choux pastry

Choux pastry is not just easy but versatile for sweet and savoury fillings. I'm going to experiment more with ways to fill and decorate these delicate and tasty parcels.

Choux Pastry

via GBBO masterclass

Makes: 12 eclaires

Ingredients

50gm butter

150ml water

65gm plain flour

2 eggs, beaten

Method

1. Pre-heat oven at 200°c / Gas 6
2. In a sauce pan, bring the water and butter to a full boil. In goes the flour. Beat the mixture until smooth. When it come together into a ball shape, remove from heat. Loosen the dough and add a little of the beaten egg at a time. Combine well.
3. Prepare piping bag with a 1cm nozzlel. Put the dough into piping bag and pipe out 6” strip on to baking dish lined with grease proof paper. You should get 12 strips. Spray some water on to the dough by using a spray bottle. This will create steam.
4. Place baking dish in the oven and bake for 10 mins. Then lower to 170°c and bake for another 20 mins. Or until it is light golden colour.

Once fully cooled, fill with desired fillings.

Easy shortcrusrt pastry biscuits

This is a great nibble for parties and for family and friends who are visiting. You should also check out the link below to see how the recipe creator uses the dough to make sweet treats.
 
Easy shortcrust pastry biscuits  
translated from Web Cukrászda
 
Ingredients
150gm unsalted butter, cold
250gm flour
pinch of salr
5-7 Tbsp cold soda water
egg yolks, for egg wash
sesame seeds, grated cheese etc as garnish
 
Preparation :-
1) Pre-heat oven at 190°c.
2) Freeze butter for about 15 mins.
3) Pour flour in a glass bowl, sprinkle in a pinch of salt, grate over (medium size) frozen butter on to flour. Use a fork or your fingers, combine the mixture until it resembles large of bread crumbs. Make a well in the middle, add in little by little cold soda water, knead until mixture just combine, do not over work it!
4) You can rest the dough for 15-20 mins. in the fridge or immediately roll it out. *I rested it.
5) Roll out dough into the thickness of 0.5cm. cut in to desired shapes. brush egg wash. Sprinkle your chosen garnish.
6) Bake in the pre-heated oven for around 12-16 mins. or until golden brown and crispy.
7) Keep in air-tight container to maintain crispness. What I did was freeze them in freezer safe bags until I need it. Just defrose on serving plate about 1 hours before guests arrive. and reheat in low oven for 5 mins.

Salty short bread

Salty Shortbread 

Source : No salty
Time : kneading + freeze 30 mins. + bake 20 mins. + rest 1 hour

Ingredients
For dough
200gm butter, melted - warm not hot!
100ml whipping cream
375gm plain flour
2 egg yolks
8gm salt

For Toppings
1 egg yolk, for egg wash
seeds of choice (sesame, poppy, sunflower) or
grated cheese

Method
1) In a bowl, combine salt and plain flour and set aside.
2) In another bowl, mix warm melted butter with whipping cream and egg yolks. Add in the flour/salt into wet mixture. Knead until just come together. Do not over knead!
3) Roll out dough to about 0.5 to 1cm thickness, depending on your liking. Place on a sheet and let it set in freezer for 30 mins.
4) When dough has been rested for 10 mins. Start pre-heating the oven at 200°c.
5) Remove dough from freezer after 30 mins. and let it defrost a little. Cut dough into desired shapes and sizes. Glaze with egg yolk, sprinkle with your choice of topping(s).
6) Bake in pre-heated oven for about 20 mins. or until golden brown and crispy.
7) Let it rest for at least 1 hour before serving.

Pastry with peach

Simply use shop-bought puff pastry, cut into squares, use a knife to slit (not too deep) another square about 1cm inside each squares to stop the pastry puffing too much where the filling to be. Placed sliced tinned peach. and then glaze with egg wash on the sides. Bake until pastry turn golden brown. Easy!

Oven baked Sesame meat balls

Oh, baking meat balls is so easy! Just pre-heat oven at 204°c/400°F/Gas mark 6 for at least 20 mins. before putting your meat balls in. Bake for 20-25 mins. and it is ready! No oil splatters or greasy kitchen to clean ;)
Sesame meat balls
Ingredients
500 ground pork, or your choice of ground meat , you can also mix 2 types of meat
garlic granule, to taste
1/2 tsp cumin,
1 tsp ground paprika
salt & pepper , to taste
1 egg
1 day-old bread
bread crumbs & sesame seed, for coating
Method :-
1) Soak stale bread in milk/stock/water for few minutes. Squeeze out the excess liquid after few minutes and tear into pieces
2) Put ground meat in mixing bowl, add cumin, garlic granule, ground paprika, salt, pepper, torn bread and crack in the egg. Use your hand to mix the ingredients until well combine. Let it rest for 30 mins.
3) While meat is resting, start to heat oven at 204°c/400°F/Gas mark 6 for 20  mins.
4) Shape meat mixture into balls, coat with bread crumbs+sesame seeds. Place on well-greased baking dish. Bake first for 10 mins. After 10 mins. take out from oven , flip over the meat balls and bake for another 10-15 mins., until meat is fully cooked.

Creamy Salad { Francia Saláta }

Hungarian "Francia Saláta", literally translates to "French Salad", is often served in new year's eve party platter. The origin of this salad is unknown to me, but this year I thought why not make my own instead of serving the store bought one.
Creamy Salad {Francia Saláta}
source : No salty
Ingredients (I have halved from the original)
150gm frozen green peas
100gm carrots, diced
1 apple, diced
1-2 pcs of gherkins, diced
185ml sour cream
1 Tbsp mayonnaise
1 tsp mustard
1 tsp sugar, or to taste
1 tsp salt, or to taste
1/2 tsp lemon juice
Method
1) Cook diced carrots in cold salted water. When carrots are almost done (al-dente) add in frozen green peas, when both are ready, drained and set it aside to cool
2) When carrots and peas are cooled, start the dressing by mixing mayonnaise, mustard, sugar, salt and lemon juice.
3) Finally mix in carrots, peas, diced apple and gherkins.
4) Keep in the fridge until time to serve. You can serve this as a side to any main meals or cold cuts.

Vegetables Croquette

Vegetables Croquettes

Makes : 12 Croquettes

Receipe from My Kitchen Snippetsy

Ingredients:

Vegetables to be roasted

800gm potatoes

2 carrots

1 onions

1 Kolhrabi

2 cloves of garlic

1-2 tbsp of regular breadcrumbs (added sour cream as mixture too dry)

3 spring onions – chopped
2 tbsp grated cheddar or parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper to taste

For coating:

½ cup flour (omitted)
2 eggs – beaten
2 cups regular bread crumbs 

1. Roast vegetables on medium heat (180°c) until golden and al-dente (30 mins + 20 mins. + 15mins)

2. Put the roasted vegetables in a food processor and give it a few pulses. It should not be too fine. 

3. Remove and add in the spring onions, parmesan cheese, breadcrumb (if needed), salt and pepper. Mix well. Shape the mixture into croquettes. 

4. Let the croquettes rest in the fridge for 15 minutes. Heat up oil over medium high for deep frying. Dust each croquette with flour, coat in beaten eggs and then roll it on the breadcrumb.

5. Heat up some vegetable oil over medium heat for deep frying. Working in batches to avoid crowding, fry croquettes, flipping once, until golden brown, 1 to 2 minutes total. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to paper towels to drain. (Adjust heat between batches as needed to keep oil at a steady temperature.)
6. Serve warm or at room temperature with your favorite dipping sauce.

Fried Pizza base

There's no way I'm turning on the oven in summer; so, I thought let's try fried pizza!
My pizza dough recipe was based on http://www.italianrecipesmadeeasy.com/fried-pizza.html . Please visit the link to see different stages of this recipe but I'll still post the recipe below just in case the link doesn't work in the future.
 
Fried Pizza
Italian Recipes Made Easy
serving : For about 8 mini pizzas
300g of strong white flour
1 tea spoon of dry yeast
1 tea spoon of salt
1 tea spoon of sugar
20ml of extra virgin olive oil
190ml of warm water
vegetable oil
1)For the dough put flour, yeast, salt, sugar, olive oil in a bowl.
2)Using your hands and adding slowly the water mix all the ingredients together until you obtain a soft and smooth dough (if too dry add more water, if too sticky add more flour).
3)Cover and let the dough rise for a couple of hours or until has doubled in size.
4) At this point take small pieces of dough, shape them into mini pizzas and fry in hot vegetable oil. Drain them on kitchen paper.  To me this recipe is good not only to top with pizza garnishes but also good with sour cream, cheese or just plain powdered sugar.
To make into pizza :-
5) In the middle of each mini pizza pour one or two table spoons of the tomatoes sauce and grated parmigiano to your taste.
Serve immediately.