Blueberry & White Chocolate Pancakes

September 1, 2014December 31, 2018 amcarmenLeave a comment

Hello Everyone! Again apologies for the lack of posts, but I already explained my situation in the last post so I won’t be going through all that again! Anyway, apologies as well as this post was supposed to go up last night but I got so caught up in the kitchen the whole day from morning to afternoon, and night. Basically cooking all day long, firstly because I promised my housemate pancakes, and promised Jialing a baking session to drown her sorrows in, and then an impromptu homemade dinner session with Jialing as well. Recipes will be posted hopefully within the next few days, if I can get them all written up by tonight and just post over the coming days. I was also helping my lover Jialing to prepare her for her interview today, and also helped a fellow housemate with his internship application. The night flew by so quickly that it was way past midnight – I hadn’t written a post, and I needed to go to bed for an early 9am start. But don’t worry, because here it is now for you!

So, I actually promised my housemate Lydia that I’d make pancakes for her for breakfast on Saturday morning, but because I had a pretty rough night on Friday/early morning Saturday, I didn’t end up making pancakes for her. Long story short – it was a friend’s birthday party, things got out of hand, ended up spending my early weekend morning in the hospital until 3:45am. Don’t be alarmed! I was totally fine and sober (even after so many drinks, more than I thought I could handle), it was my friend who was totally out of it and I stayed by her side and made sure she was okay.

Anyway, so yes, pancake making day was pushed to yesterday morning. It was a great success in my opinion – especially since that this was the first time I was trying out this recipe, I mean, I’ve made my fair share of pancakes before, but not particularly with blueberries and white chocolate. So a little back story (because I know a few people out there who enjoy a few creative words on my posts), my housemate Lydia was trying to flip pancakes one night, prepping for breakfast the next day of course, and her pancakes crumbled. She got a few good ones though, but all in all she labelled them as fail pancakes. So the next time she made pancakes again… Well, it was hilarious! Basically we were having lunch together one day or more like our lunch times crossed at one point because I finished eating before her and I went back to my room. To my surprise when I came back down, I saw her in the kitchen and she was flipping pancakes. I asked her how she was going with them, and she replied “not so good. I actually waited for you to go upstairs so you wouldn’t see my fail pancakes!” How cute! So funny!

So basically, I decided to show Lydia how to flip pancakes yesterday. She tried, but still couldn’t flip them – so we made a deal that she will, by the end of the semester, be able to flip pancakes properly and cook me some! She did however participate in the making process – she was in charge of measuring out the dry ingredients while I worked on the wet, flipping of pancakes, presentation, and photography. And before I get on moving with today’s recipe, please check out the original recipe that I followed over on Oh Sweet Basil.

PREP TIME 15 MINS | COOKING TIME 45 MINS | SERVES 3-4

INGREDIENTS

2 cups plain flour
2 cups buttermilk*
2 free range eggs
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
1/2 white chocolate chips
2 tbsp white sugar
2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt

*I didn’t have any buttermilk in the pantry so what I did was for every cup of milk I added a tablespoon of vinegar. Buttermilk has enzymes and lactic acid, which will react with the baking powder to create a light and fluffy texture with lots of little pockets of air for the pancakes. The vinegar in the milk will help to ensure this. Using just regular milk will not give you this result.

METHOD

Preheat oven to 100C. Start by adding all the dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl and whisk to combine.
Separate the egg whites and egg yolks in two small bowls. Using an electrical mixer, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.
In the other bowl whisk the egg yolks until light in colour. Then add in the butter and whisk. Finally add the buttermilk and whisk to combine altogether. Add the egg yolk mixture into the dry ingredients and stir with a wooden spoon.
Fold in the egg whites gently together with the blueberries and white chocolate chips. Be careful as to not to over mix the batter.
Lightly butter a small fry pan over medium heat and add about half a cup of batter. Allow it to cook until the bottom begins to turn golden and bubbles just start to form on the top. Flip and cook until set on the other side. Repeat with remaining batter – should make about 9 pancakes. Place the cooked pancakes on a baking tray lined with parchment paper and place in the oven to keep warm until all the pancakes have been cooked. Serve immediately.

BON APPÉTIT

– Ally xx

Mini No-bake Blueberry Cheesecake

August 23, 2014December 31, 2018 amcarmenLeave a comment

Hello Everyone! Very sorry indeed for the lack of updates! I’ve been quite busy the past two weeks almost since my last post upload. I haven’t had the time to really get into the kitchen and cook up a new dish, or try a new recipe. For starters, uni was hectic last week. I also had a high school friend from Brunei visit me last weekend, ate out lots so expect a few café reviews soon.

And finally, I started my graphic design internship this week with Hello Social, a social media marketing agency that is based in Sydney that works with a variety of businesses to assist in achieving their marketing objective’s, through social media. I am basically now at uni twice a week, and at my internship 3 times a week, which really means that I only have the weekends to really enjoy my cooking. So I’m letting you know now that my posts will not be as regular as they used to be, but I will still upload whenever I take on another culinary adventure in the kitchen. Thank you for understanding.

All that aside! Let’s get on with today’s recipe shall we? So I actually made these (not-so) mini no-bake cheesecakes last week Monday – I just never had the chance to do a write up and post it immediately. Also, I said not-so mini because when I gave one to Marissa, she struggled to eat the whole thing herself in one go. To quote her, “Dude, this is not mini okay?!” She loved it never the less! I honestly wasn’t expecting you to finish the whole thing in one go, even I could only eat half and the other half a bit later!

What actually happened that day was that I had a 9am-12pm Photography class, and interview for my internship straight after, and then a cheesecake bake-off with my food lover Jialing. Well more or like she asked me in advance if she could use my oven (since she doesn’t have one at her place) to bake a cheesecake for her boyfriend and their two-year anniversary! Of course I wasn’t just gonna sit back and watch her make a cheesecake that wasn’t for me to eat as well – so I decided to make a (few) cheesecake(s) too!

Please check out the original recipe here at taste.com.au. Now, this recipe as you can see makes one 6cm-deep, 20cm-round base cheesecake, which equates to about 5 mini tins (I only had 4 with me on hand, so I made the remaining one in two small ramekins and ate it straight out of it – with Jialing of course!

PREP TIME 35 MINS* | COOKING TIME 20 MINS |
MAKES 4 MINI CHEESECAKES

*Add 4-5 hours extra for chilling time in the fridge

INGREDIENTS

For the cheesecake

2 x 250g packets cream cheese, softened
300ml thickened cream, whipped
250g ginger nut biscuits
125g butter, melted
1/2 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
1/2 cup caster sugar
1/4 cup boiling water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Icing sugar mixture, to serve

For the blueberry compote

2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
1/4 cup caster sugar
3 tbsp water
2 tsp lemon juice

METHOD

To make the blueberry compote, combine 1 cup of the blueberries, water, sugar and lemon juice in a small saucepan. Cook over a medium heat for about 10 minutes. Add the rest of the blueberries and cook for 8 minutes more, stirring frequently. Set aside until needed.
Prepare the springform pans by lining the bases with baking paper and greasing the edges with butter. In a food processor, process the ginger nut biscuits until mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Tip it into a medium sized mixing bowl, add the melted butter a mix until well combined. Press the mixture over the base of the prepared pans. Place in the refrigerator for 20 minutes or until firm.
Next, sprinkle the gelatine powder into a mug and add the boiling water to it. Whisk with a fork until the gelatine powder fully dissolves. Set aside to cool for 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, whip the thickened cream in a small mixing bowl using the electric mixer – be careful as to not over whip the cream (this is what I did and ended up with a lumpy mixture, managed to fix it but it still wasn’t a smooth and silky in texture). Set aside. Beat the cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla in a large mixing bowl using the electric mixer. Then, gradually beat in gelatine mixture until combined. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold the whipped cream in.

Now for the fun part! This is where you can get creative with your cheesecakes – and of course, typical me, why make 4 cheesecakes exactly the same when you can use the same ingredients but incorporate them differently into the mixture? But first, let’s separate the cheesecake batter into 2 mixing bowls. Here’s my take on no-bake blueberry cheesecake 4-ways:

Cheesecake #1: Add the cheesecake mixture into one of the springform pan as is and top with the 1/2 cup of blueberries.

Cheesecake #2: Same as the first cheesecake, but instead, top with the blueberry compote

Cheesecake #3: Same as the first two cheesecakes, but instead, marble in the blueberry compote.

Cheesecake #4: Pour the blueberry compote into the cheesecake mixture and using the electric mixer, beat until well combined. Add the mixture into the last springform pan.

Lastly, remember to wrap each springform pan with cling film and place in the fridge for at least 4-5 hours to set. Top the cheesecakes with a sprinkle of icing sugar before serving.

BON APPÉTIT

– Ally xx

Corn Salsa

August 11, 2014December 31, 2018 amcarmenLeave a comment

Hello Everybody! Short post today as I have no long-winded back story for this dish. I just wanted something fresh on the plate to accompany my wings and this came into mind! Please do check out the original recipe here though by allrecipes once again.

PREP TIME 10 MINS | COOKING TIME — | SERVES 3-4

INGREDIENTS

1 can (420g) sweet corn kernels, drained
1 red pepper, diced
1 red onion, diced
1 tomato, diced
Handful of rocket leaves
Juice of 1 lime
Ground salt and pepper to taste

METHOD

Add all the ingredients into a large bowl and toss together until well combined. Chill until ready to serve. Simple as that!

BON APPÉTIT

– Ally xx

Honey & Lime Wings

August 10, 2014December 31, 2018 amcarmenLeave a comment

Hello Everyone! So I made this dish two days back and I must say, it was finger-licking good that I just wanted to devour everything in one go! Note that I made enough for at least 3 meals so downing all of them in one go is actually a lot to eat! Oh well, at least I can enjoy this scrumptious meal for another 2 days.

Anyway, I think you can gather from previous posts that I love me some chicken wings! I don’t actually have much recipes for wings up my sleeves, so for today’s recipe I had to do a little bit of research, to find something new that I hadn’t really had before. I then came across this recipe from allrecipes for honey lime chicken wings. A few of the photographs on the recipe uploaded by others who tried out the recipe looked different, but nevertheless, I stuck to the original recipe and just added an extra step to the cooking process. I also served this dish with a lovely fresh corn salsa on the side (which again the recipe for will be posted separately from this the next day). So much yum!

PREP TIME 5 MINS | COOKING TIME 12-15 MINS | SERVES 4-5

INGREDIENTS

15 pcs chicken mid-wings, washed and cleaned
1/4 cup Capilano honey and ginger blend
1/4 cup vegetable oil, for shallow frying
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
2 tbsp plain flour
Juice and zest of 1 lime
Ground salt and pepper to taste

METHOD

Preheat oven to 180C. In a medium-sized bowl, mix together the honey and ginger blend, lime juice, zest, garlic, salt and pepper. Set aside.
Coat the chicken wings with a flour, salt, and pepper mix. Heat the oil in a large frying pan over high heat and fry the chicken wings until golden brown (about 2-3 minutes per side). Once golden, transfer to a lined baking tray and finish off in the oven for another 6-8 minutes or until cooked through.
Place the cooked wings in the honey/lime mixture one by one and toss to coat well. Serve immediately with a side dish of your choice, in this case I served it with a nice serving of a fresh corn salsa.

BON APPÉTIT

– Ally xx

Mashed Potatoes

August 9, 2014December 31, 2018 amcarmen2 Comments

Hello Everyone! Another simple recipe for you that has already probably come up in a few recipes as an accompaniment to a main dish, but I thought that I’d separate the recipe from a post I did two days ago. I love mashed potatoes. I still even remember the time I “made” them – a cringe-worthy experience I must say! I was THAT inexperienced that I “made” mashed potatoes by simply buying those pre-packed ones where you would just add water and violà! Can’t believe I did that for a year.

And you may think that mashed potatoes are simple and easy to make? Well somehow I still managed to stuff them up one time – it had a glue-like texture to it… It was just awful in texture but at least the taste was somewhat still there. I seriously had NO idea how that happened until I came across a Masterchef Australia’s Masterclass on TV where Gary showed how to make the perfect mashed potatoes. I then understood where my mistakes were and they were mainly to do with temperatures and process of mashing (I used to use a potato masher, but for a smoother consistency…you’ll find out below). Nonetheless, I can say that I’m pretty much there with my mashed potatoes – some days more creamy and some days more fluffy because I pretty much just eyeball the amount of milk and butter. Also always inconsistent with the number of potatoes that I use. So for this recipe, just adjust the amount of milk and butter to your liking.

PREP TIME 5 MINS | COOKING TIME 15-20 MINS | SERVES 3-4

INGREDIENTS

4 medium-sized white potatoes, peeled and cut into small chunks
1/2 cup milk, warmed but not boiling
10g unsalted butter
Ground salt and pepper to taste

METHOD

Steam the potatoes for about 15-20 minutes or until tender (check by piercing a fork into the chunks of potatoes). Drain and pass the potatoes through a sieve back into the pot with the heat turned off. Work in batches if needed.
Add the warmed milk, potatoes and ground salt and pepper, and mix until a smooth and creamy texture. Serve as an accompaniment to a main dish.

Also note the waterlily bowl that I used to hold my mashed potatoes in! If you’re a new follower or have not seen my blog before, head on to a post I did a while back on my Lovelily Tableware Collection where I hand-built plates and bowls for my introduction to ceramics course as part of my degree elective.

BON APPÉTIT

– Ally xx

Honeyed Dutch Carrots

August 8, 2014December 31, 2018 amcarmen2 Comments

Hello Everybody! If you read yesterday’s blog post, I mentioned that I would be posting the recipe to these lovely honeyed Dutch carrots separate from yesterday’s recipe – so here it is now! Don’t worry, I’m not going to write another long-winded post as I have no back story to this. I just wanted some vegetables to go with my steak au poivre yesterday and I looked up some ways that I could make my Dutch carrots a little more fancy than just having them just steamed.

I came across Julie Goodwin’s recipe for honey carrots and they are just divine! Instead of using just regular honey, I decided to go for a fusion by Capliano which is a blend of honey and ginger (recently getting into these honey fusions, if you remember from a few posts I used a honey and maple syrup a couple of time in various recipes). Also, apparently these carrots are in season in Australia around July time (though I am one week into August already), but if you do want to keep on your budget, you can make do with ordinary carrots, just remember to cut them into small batons to cook through well.

PREP TIME 5 MINS | COOKING TIME 12 MINS | SERVES 2-3

INGREDIENTS

1 bunch baby Dutch carrots, peeled and tops trimmed to 2cm
10g unsalted butter
1 tbsp Capilano honey and ginger blend
Ground salt and pepper to taste

METHOD

Steam (or microwave) the carrots for 3 minutes until tender but not soggy. The time will depend on how big that carrots as smaller ones may need even less than 3 minutes.
Melt the butter in a medium frypan over medium-high heat. When it starts to froth, add the carrots and cook for about 1-2 minutes, browning the carrots slightly before adding the honey in. Then toss in the pan for 5-6 minutes or until the honey becomes a lovely dark brown in colour.
Season with salt and pepper and serve immediately as an accompaniment to any dish. In my case, I served with yesterday’s Braised Steak au Poivre in Red Wine dish.

BON APPÉTIT

– Ally xx

Braised Steak au Poivre in Red Wine

August 7, 2014December 31, 2018 amcarmen3 Comments

Hello Everyone! So last night, if you follow me on Facebook or Instagram, you would’ve known that I posted I few images of this dish and apologised for not being able to post the recipe on the same day (just had a lot of course reading material to get through and prepare for class the next day). Anyway, here is the recipe! And an early upload as well than my usual upload time.

So a couple of weeks (maybe 1 or 2 weeks back I guess) I was searching for a slow-cooked beef in red wine recipe as I had a lovely gravy beef steak waiting to be cooked and a bottle of red wine that was given to me by a friend. I don’t usually drink wine so that’s why I figured, why not cook with it instead?

Please check out the original recipe here. I changed mainly the quantities because of the amount of meat I had, but otherwise I kept to the recipe and added a few veggies to the dish. I completely forgot to add in the crème fraîche when I photographed the dish (but I remembered when I was halfway through eating), so I do apologise if the dish is looking a bit dark!

Au Poivre, for those of you who don’t know, is a French dish which translated just means steak (traditionally a filet mignon) prepared or served with a generous amount of coarsely ground black pepper. The peppercorns form a crust on the steak when cooked and provide a pungent but complementary counterpoint to the rich flavor of the high-quality beef.

PREP TIME 10 MINS | COOKING TIME 4 HOURS 10 MINS | SERVES 3-4

INGREDIENTS

450g beef shank, cut into 3 large chunks
220ml red wine
250g small cup mushrooms
3 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp crème fraîche
1 tbsp plain flour
2 tsp whole black peppercorns
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 small zucchini, cut into 1-inch long strips
2 bay leaves
1 sprig fresh thyme (or a tsp of dried thyme leaves)
Ground salt and pepper to taste

METHOD

Preheat oven to 180C. Crush the peppercorns coarsely with a mortar and pestle. Mix the ground peppercorns together with the flour on a plate. Then coat the pieces of meat into this mixture, pressing it well in on all sides.
Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil over high heat in a casserole dish (make sure it is really hot), and quickly brown the pieces of meat on all sides, and then transfer them to a plate.
Keeping to a high heat, add the remaining olive oil to the pan and brown the onions, about 3-4 minutes. Then add in the garlic and cook for another minute. Add in any remaining flour and pepper left on the plate to the pan, stirring well to soak up the juices. Pour the red wine in a little at a time, continuing to stir to prevent any lumps forming, and scraping in any crusty residue from the bottom and edge of the pan. Bring to a simmer.
Once simmering, add the meat to the sauce, season it with salt, then pop in the bay leaves and thyme. Bring it back to a simmer.
Once simmering again, put a lid on the casserole and transfer it to the middle shelf of the oven to cook for 4 hours or until the meat is tender. During the last hour of cooking, add in the cup mushrooms and zucchini strips.
When you’re ready to serve, remove the herbs, add the crème fraîche, stir it in well, then taste to check for seasoning before serving. Serve on a bed of mashed potatoes and a side of honeyed Dutch carrots (optional, open to creativity).

I will post the recipes for honeyed Dutch carrots and mashed potatoes in a separate post so stayed tuned for those two in the next two days!

BON APPÉTIT

– Ally xx

Stir-fried Gravy Beef with Chilli, Ginger & Shallot

July 30, 2014December 31, 2018 amcarmen2 Comments

Hello Everyone! I actually wasn’t planning on photographing and posting today’s dish as I kind of made it up on the go. I usually plan ahead the dishes that I want to make for the week to ensure that I have all the ingredients that I need for the upcoming week – saves me time of having to go back and forth the grocery shops if I forget one or two ingredients. I actually don’t have much in the fridge right now (in terms of accompanying ingredients for my meat).

Last night I took my beef shanks out of the freezer to defrost in the fridge overnight but still not knowing what I was going to make until later on the next day. I still had the pantry essentials, such as chillies, ginger, onions, and shallots – so I decided to whip up a beef stir-fry! I also had all of the ingredients to marinade the beef in so that was good! I kind of eyeballed the measurements though so forgive me if this recipe is too bland or salty; I’m just going to go off by remembering how much of each ingredient I added to the marinade, feel free to adjust though!

PREP TIME 1 HOUR | COOKING TIME 10-15 MINS | SERVES 2-3

INGREDIENTS

For the marinade:

300g beef shank, sliced thinly
1 tbsp cornflour
1 tbsp dark soy sauce
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp sesame oil
2 tsp shaoxing rice wine
Ground black pepper

2 stalks spring onion, cut into 1-inch long strips
2 red bird’s eye chillies, sliced
1 thumb-sized ginger, peeled and sliced
1/2 red onion, sliced
3 tbsp Sunflower oil

METHOD

Add all the ingredients for the marinade in a medium-sized bowl and mix together until combined. Cover the bowl with cling wrap and let the beef marinate for at least an hour before cooking.
Heat the sunflower oil in a medium-sized frying pan over high heat. Add the green onions and ginger. Sauté for about 2 minutes. Then add in half of the chilli slices and onions, and cook for a further 2-3 minutes. Add the beef shank slices and toss to combine. Cook for a further 5 minutes, adding a little bit of water to loosen the sauce a bit. Cook for a further 3-5 minutes or until cooked through.
Garnish with the remaining chillies and serve with steamed rice and asian greens.

BON APPÉTIT

– Ally xx

Pan-fried Whole Snapper with Chilli, Ginger, Shallot & Soy Sauce

July 29, 2014December 31, 2018 amcarmenLeave a comment

Hello Everyone! A couple of posts ago I mentioned that I bought 2 whole snapper for just 15 dollars. Well I thought that today I should cook up a delicious meal with the other – same ingredients to dress it up, but probably a little less healthy than the steamed snapper since it’s pan-fried, but obviously the flavour and texture changes when cooked differently.

As I was having it for lunch this afternoon, my housemate Marissa walked into the dining area and I asked her to try some. She loved it and said “did you take a picture of this?” knowing that I am one to definitely blog about it – I mean, of course I took a photo! She also asked me if I followed a recipe, and I said no, I just whipped this up with the ingredients I had in the fridge. It is actually a dish that my Mom makes very often, but with pompano fish – and dressed with just dark soy, calamansi (small round lime, green on the outside and with a centre pulp that is orange in colour), and a little bit of the fish oil that it was pan-fried in. Deliciously lip-smacking! Also often served with steamed rice and stir-fried kangkung in belacan. The simplicities are always the best.

Anyway, this is my take on my Mom’s pan-fried pompano – as the title says, pan-fried snapper with chilli, ginger, shallot & soy sauce. Marissa asked me if you can tackle this recipe with any type of fish such as barramundi, and I honestly think that it will go well with barramundi and any other types of fishes out there.

PREP TIME 5 MINS | COOKING TIME 10-15 MINS | SERVES 2

INGREDIENTS

1 whole snapper, gutted, scaled, and cleaned
1/2 cup sunflower oil
2 red bird’s eye chillies, sliced
1 thumb-sized ginger, sliced
1 stalk green onion, sliced, green and white parts separated
3 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp chilli oil
Lemon wedge
Ground salt and pepper

METHOD

Season the snapper with ground salt and pepper. Heat sunflower oil in a large frying pan over high heat. Make sure that the pan is scorching hot before putting the fish in as this will prevent the skin from sticking to the pan. Fry the fish for 5-6 minutes per side. Remove the fish from the pan and place onto a serving dish. Drain the oil, leaving about a tablespoon behind.
Add the ginger and sauté for about a minute before adding half of the chilli slices and the pale and white parts of the green onions. Cook for a further 2 minutes. Turn the heat off and add the soy sauce. Mix around for a bit and then pour over the fish. Add the chilli oil and drizzle with lemon juice. Garnish with the remaining green onions and chilli slices. Serve with steamed rice.

BON APPÉTIT

– Ally xx

Baked Buffalo Wings with Blue Cheese-Yoghurt Dip

July 26, 2014December 31, 2018 amcarmenLeave a comment

Hello Everyone! Back again with another lip-smacking recipe that will definitely fill your tummies (I am so full right now that I keep burping out loud, and my burps taste of garlic oops!). I love buffalo wings, just as much as I practically love every other chicken wing dishes out there. Now the easy option would just be to go to Coles and buy a pre-packed marinated bag of buffalo chicken wings and simply throw it on the grill and voilà! I mean, yes I have done that multiple times, at barbecue parties because it’s a quick and easy solution to getting ready-marinated meats on the day. But no, not today; I always have to take the long route, which I think is worthwhile especially if you’re learning how to cook. Taking shortcuts won’t allow me to get creative in the kitchen and experiment with recipes. It definitely won’t allow me to expand my abilities in the kitchen as well. I’ve been wanting to tackle this recipe for a while now, but never got around to until today.

So today I posted these two images on Instagram. If you have an account, please look up @amcarmenskitchen and give me a follow. I usually post teaser images of the ingredients that I will be using for the recipe that will be posted on the blog later in the evening. I also always ask my followers to guess what dish I will be making based on the pictured ingredients. I try to make my Instagram feed as interactive as possible with my followers. Today I posted a blurred image and asked them to guess the 8 ingredients for today’s dip to go with these succulent buffalo wings. Didn’t quite get many responses but thank you to my girl Mel Barrass for guessing an ingredient right! I then posted the other image and got a response from my twin Pamela about how curious she is to know what I’ll be making from these ingredients.

For this, I looked at two recipes from the Food Network and tweaked the method a bit. But please do check out the original recipes as linked:

PREP TIME 10 MINS* | COOKING TIME 35 MINS | SERVES 3-4

*Add an extra 4-5 hours waiting time for chicken to marinate

INGREDIENTS

For the buffalo wings

15 chicken mid-wings, washed and cleaned
85g unsalted butter
1/3 cup sriracha hot sauce
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp salt

For the blue cheese-yoghurt dip

3/4 cup greek yoghurt
1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese
2 tbsp mayonnaise
1 tbsp milk
1 clove garlic, minced
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
Ground salt and pepper to taste

METHOD

Place the wings into a pot of boiling, salted water. Cover and reduce the heat to medium. Parboil the wings for 6-8 minutes. Remove the wings and carefully pat dry. Lay the wings out on baking dish lined with paper towels.
Meanwhile, melt the butter in a small saucepan along with the garlic. Add the hot sauce and salt and stir to combine. Remove the paper towels and pour the hot sauce mixture over the wings and toss. Cover the dish with cling wrap and leave in the fridge to marinate for at least 4-5 hours before cooking.
Meanwhile, combine the yogurt, blue cheese, mayonnaise, garlic, milk and lemon juice in a medium-szied bowl and whisk together until combined but still chunky. Season with salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
Preheat oven to 220C. Line a baking tray with aluminium foil and place the wings skin side up onto the tray. Roast on the middle rack of the oven for 35 minutes, or until cooked through.
Serve with blue cheese-yoghurt dip and a salad of your choice. In this case, I had a 4 leaf mix with a french dressing, and homemade roasted sweet potato fries. A great combination!