Pink Grapefruit Lemonade

January 27, 2016January 27, 2016 amcarmen2 Comments

Hello Everyone! It’s the last of Juicy January and I’ve got a nice, refreshing drink for you that you can also add a little twist if you want something naughty for all that healthy juicing you’ve (I’ve) been doing for the past month. It was just a normal Sunday morning when I went grocery shopping with my Mom and sister. I saw these lovely, plump, fresh grapefruits on the shelves and Schweppes’ Apple & Pink Grapefruit Mineral Water that I always, or well, most of the time, had in my fridge when I was still studying in Australia, came into mind. So I grabbed these fruits, some lemons, and mint, and decided that I was going to make a Pink Grapefruit Lemonade. When I got around to making them, I realised that I had some strawberries in the fridge that were on the verge of becoming overripe, and so I decided to slice them up and add them to the drink as well.

Grapefruits vary in hue from white or yellow to pink and red and can range in taste from very acidic and even bitter to sweet and sugary. Grapefruits are low in calories but are full of nutrients, and are an excellent source of vitamins A and C. These fruits support clear, healthy skin, can help to lower our risk for many diseases and conditions, and may even help with weight loss as part of an overall healthy and varied diet. To read into more details on how, for example, grapefruits can aid in weight loss, click here.

Mix the juice of one grapefruit together with the juice of a lemon and you’ve got yourself and juice that’s rich in many nourishing elements like vitamin C, vitamin B6, vitamin A, vitamin E, copper, calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium, zinc, phosphorus, protein, and the list goes on. The health benefits of lemons include the treatment of throat infections, indigestion, constipation, dental problems, and fever, internal bleeding, and high blood pressure, while it also benefits hair and skin care. They also help to strengthen your immune system, cleanse your stomach, and it is considered a blood purifier.

Throw in some roughly chopped mint leaves for a fresh, aromatic, sweet flavor with a cool aftertaste. If you happen to have strawberries in your fridge too, or if you actually bought them to try this out, throw them in too for an extra added nutrients and antioxidants, offering a wide range of health benefits that may surprise you – click here for more information.

PREP TIME 5 MINS | COOKING TIME — | SERVES 3-4

INGREDIENTS

650ml cold water
1 punnet (125g) fresh strawberries, sliced thinly
1 large grapefruit, peeled and cut into quarters
1 large lemon, juice squeezed
1/2 bunch of mint, roughly chopped
1/4 cup boiling water
1 tbsp white sugar

Optional:

2-3 tbsp white rum

METHOD

Add the white sugar and boiling water to a large pitcher. Stir until the sugar has full dissolved.
Add the lemon juice together with the cold water, mint leaves, sliced strawberries.
Juice the grapefruit using an electric juicer and then pour into the pitcher. Give it a good stir.

Pink Grapefruit Lemonade

If you’re feeling a little bit cheeky, throw in a few tablespoons of coconut rum (that was the only thing I had available at that time) or just plain white rum, tequila, or vodka – whatever tickles your fancy that is! 🙂 Enjoy and happy juicing!

BON APPÉTIT

– Ally xx

Breakfast Plate

October 1, 2015October 1, 2015 amcarmenLeave a comment

Hello Everyone! I can’t believe that it’s already October! Where did September go?! So I’m sure all of you are aware that a new month calls for a new theme on the blog for the month of October! Those of you who know me, I am a breakfast/brunch person. I mean, I sometimes skip breakfast when the mornings just get a little too hectic for me; that was during my first few years at uni, but towards the end, I made it a habit to pack my breakfast to uni and/or work and eat it there.

I remember my internship days at Hello Social where I’d always be rushing out in the mornings to catch my bus, which therefore meant that I didn’t have time to sit down and enjoy my breakfast. That was where Muffin Making Mondays with Jialing came in, and when I had run out of muffins to take to work (because we only bake fortnightly), I would pack some fruits and even sometimes a small tupperware of cinnamon toast cereal with one of those small drink cartons of milk. When I’d get to the office, I’d pour the milk over my cereal and enjoy breakfast at my table. There was a time where one of the managers asked me what I was having for breakfast and the thought of me bringing a small carton of milk made her laugh so hard. I told her it was practical 😛 Another time when I was also having cereal, my other manager asked if what I was having was shareable; to his dismay, cereal ain’t shareable! He asked what kind of cereal I brought in and I said cinnamon toast. The other manager said that that was so American of me.

Anyway, I mean, if you didn’t already gather what this month’s theme is from my little story, yes it’s breakfast and brunch month on the blog! For the month of October I will be sharing with you some of my favourite breakfast/brunch recipes! I’ll be kicking off tonight’s post with a dish that I threw together when I was still living in Sydney. I was inspired by a post that I saw on Instagram by Raw Pawpaw Café in Brisbane. I was inspired by their plating of one of their dishes, and decided to plate it up with a few of my favourite ingredients for breakfast. I think most of the preparation of the ingredients in this dish is pretty straight forward, and you can get creative yourself by mixing up the ingredients a bit by adding your own favourite breakfast ingredients!

PREP TIME 5 MINS | COOKING TIME 20-22 MINS | SERVES 1

INGREDIENTS

2-3 slices of soy & linseed bread, toasted
2 bacon rashers
2 large free range eggs, at room temperature
1 chorizo sausage, thick slices
1/2 avocado, cut into chunks
Bunch of grape vine tomatoes
Butter, for spreading
Ground salt and black pepper to taste
Handful of cup mushrooms, sliced
Handful of loose baby spinach leaves
Lemon wedges, to serve
Olive oil

METHOD

In a small bowl, marinate the avocado chunks with a little bit of olive oil, salt, pepper, and lemon juice. Set aside.
Preheat oven to 200C. Line a baking tray with aluminium foil and toss the grape vine tomatoes in a little bit of olive oil and salt. Roast in the oven fro about 10 minutes, or until the tomatoes have gone soft. Turn the temperature down to about 80-90C just to keep them warm before serving.
Meanwhile, heat a large grill pan over medium high and cook the bacon rashers and chorizo slices, about 3 minutes per side. Once done, transfer to the baking tray and keep warm in the oven.
Add your sliced mushrooms to the same grill pan and cook until browned and softened, about 4-5 minutes altogether. Turn the heat off and transfer to the baking tray and keep warm in the oven.
Place the eggs in a small saucepan, covering the eggs with cold water. Bring to a boil over high heat, and once boiling, reduce the heat down to medium. Simmer gently for about 3 minutes. Remove the saucepan from the heat and using a slotted spoon, transfer to the egg carton.
Plate up accordingly and enjoy your breakfast!

Just a little side note here before I end tonight’s post – I wanted to choose an egg carton that wasn’t grey just so that it doesn’t look dull. I must say it was hard choosing eggs based on the colour carton they come in because most of the non-grey ones were caged eggs (yes, I don’t buy caged eggs). Good thing these eggs that came in the blue carton were free range, and the blue really suited the plating and contrasted the food colours nicely.

BON APPÉTIT

– Ally xx

Lemon & Blueberry Layer Cake

August 24, 2015January 16, 2019 amcarmenLeave a comment

Hello Everyone! Today won’t be a Review Sunday as I have a special post for you tonight! Today is my sister, Angela’s, 21st Birthday! I can’t believe that she is my not-so-little sister anymore! How time flies by so quickly. I’m glad that after 4 years of being away, I get to spend today with you! Hope you have the most wonderful of birthdays and hope you like my cake that I made for you! Lots of love, Ate Ally ❤

I have never made this cake before, and unlike the original recipe, she uses plain all-purpose flour while I used plain wholemeal flour. The reason? I didn’t have enough plain flour and I didn’t want to go out to the grocers to buy more, plus I still had a brand new pack of wholemeal flour and decided to give that a go! It still tasted great, but the cake was a bit crumbly when I cut into it, but maybe it was because I may have over measured the flour a bit (as Sally says not to in her recipe… Oops)! Check out the original recipe from one of my favourite bakers: Sally’s Baking Addiction.

PREP TIME 30 MINS | COOKING TIME 30 MINS | SERVES 8-10

INGREDIENTS

For the cake batter

230g unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
4 large free range eggs, at room temperature
3 cups plain wholemeal flour, sifted
1 & 1/2 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen
1 cup buttermilk*
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tbsp wholemeal flour
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp ground sea salt
Zest and juice of 3 medium-sized lemons

*Rather than purchasing a whole carton of buttermilk from the store and worrying about what to do with the leftovers before it starts to go bad in the fridge, making your own buttermilk is as simple as 1, 2, 3. Simply measure 1 tbsp of fresh lemon juice (alternatively you can use white vinegar) in a measuring cup and then fill the rest up with full cream milk until you reach 1 full cup. Stir it around, let sit for 5 minutes, and it will be ready to use!

For the zesty cream cheese frosting

1 package (250g) cream cheese, softened
100g unsalted butter, softened
1 & 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1-2 tbsp lemon juice

To decorate

Confectioners’ sugar
Fresh blueberries
Lemon slices and zest

METHOD

Preheat the oven to 180C (about 350F or gas mark 4). With a little bit of butter, grease the bottom and sides of three 8.5-inch cake pans and set aside.
Make the cake batter: Using a electric handheld or stand mixer beat the butter on high until creamy (takes about a minute), then add the granulated and brown sugars. Continue to beat on medium-high speed until creamed, about 2-3 minutes. Add in the eggs and vanilla extract, and beat on medium for a further 2 minutes until the mixture is well combined. Don’t forget to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. Set aside.
In a separate medium-sized bowl, add the wholemeal flour, baking powder, and salt, and toss together. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and beat on low speed for about 5 seconds, and then add in the buttermilk, lemon juice, and zest. Remove from the mixer and stir lightly until everything is just combined.
Spoon half of the batter evenly into the three prepared cake pans. If using frozen blueberries, do not thaw as they will bleed into your cake batter. Toss the blueberries in about a tablespoon of flour as well – this way they won’t burst inside and turn your cake purple. Divide the blueberries equally between the three cake pans. Top with the remaining batter equally between the three.
Bake the three layers for about 21-26 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Mine took about 30 minutes, and I even left it in the oven for a further 5 minutes with the heat off. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before frosting.
Make the frosting: Using an electric handheld mixer, beat the cream cheese and butter in a small bowl until smooth. Then beat in the confectioners’ sugar and a few frozen blueberries.
Assemble: Place one cake layer on a serving plate and spread with about 1/3 cup of frosting. Top with the second layer of cake and again spread with another third of the frosting. Top with the last layer and frost the top and sides of the cake. Decorate with fresh blueberries, lemon slices and zest, and a touch of confectioners’ sugar. Store in the fridge before serving. Enjoy!

BON APPÉTIT

– Ally xx

Graduation Day Lemon Curd Cupcakes

June 17, 2015January 14, 2019 amcarmenLeave a comment

Hello Everyone! Today is the day! Today is the day that certifies that I am no longer a student, and I am officially unemployed! Today is the day that I receive a piece of paper worth AUD$110,000 of tuition fees to say that I have completed my 4-year Bachelor of Design degree! Today is Graduation Day!

It’s supposed to rain today – great. I have the last time slot which means that instead of a nice sunny graduation day, it’s gonna be dark and cold, if the rain decides to dawn upon my ceremony. Yesterday I kept sneezing, and I know that when that starts to happen, a fever, and eventually a cough and sore throat will follow. Not much luck today as far as I can see, and it’s only 8:45 in the morning as I am writing this paragraph. The good news is, I feel fine so at least I can stop worrying about getting sick – I just hope that the sun pops out for a while, while it’s still bright out in the afternoon before my ceremony at 6:30pm.

So anyway, it actually stopped raining when I arrived on campus at around 4:15pm – praise the Lord! The cloud didn’t clear up so it was still grey and gloomy. Oh well, at least we weren’t wet from the rain. It got dark really quick though and therefore photos were not as great 😦 All in all, a fun evening seeing friends, and graduating with fellow design mates; a little nerve-wrecking as I kept thinking that I was going to be THAT ONE student who would trip and fall flat on my face. Thank God I didn’t, and neither did anyone else who graduated tonight.

I picked to bake tonight’s recipe mainly because of the colours that represent the University of New South Wales, which is Black and Yellow/Gold. Enjoy!

PREP TIME 20 MINS | COOKING TIME 18-20 MINS | MAKES 12 CUPCAKES

INGREDIENTS

1 & 1/2 cups plain flour
3/4 cup caster sugar
3/4 cup lemon curd
1/2 cup milk
110g unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 large free range eggs
1 & 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
Icing sugar for dusting
Zest of one large lemon

METHOD

Preheat oven to 180C (350F or gas mark 4). Line a 12 hole muffin pan with paper cases and set aside.
Whisk the plain flour, baking powder, and salt together in a medium-sized bowl, and set aside.
In a small bowl, combine the sugar and lemon zest. Rub together with your fingers until fragrant.
Using a hand-held electrical mixer, beat the butter and sugar mixture together until light and fluffy, and lightened in colour (about 8 minutes). Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula in between mixing.
Add the eggs one at at time, beating after each addition. Then add in the vanilla extract.
Add the flour mixture and milk alternately, starting and ending with the flour. Mix until the flour is just incorporated and be careful as to not over mix the batter. Mix in the lemon juice.
Divide batter evenly in prepared cupcake liners, filling each case 2/3 of the way full. Bake the cupcakes for about 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a wire cooling rack and cool completely.
Once the cupcakes have completely cooled down, using a knife, cut out a small hole in the centre of the cupcake, about the size of a dime. Carefully remove the centre piece and set aside.
Fill each hole with about 1 teaspoon of lemon curd and dust with a bit of icing sugar.
Share with family and friends, and enjoy!

BON APPÉTIT

– Ally xx

Lemon Molten Cakes with Raspberry & Cream

May 10, 2015January 8, 2019 amcarmen2 Comments

Hello Everyone and Happy Mother’s Day to all mothers out there, and most especially to my mother. You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, smarter than you think, and loved more than you know. Happy Mother’s Day to you Mumu; love you forever and always, even if we sometimes don’t see eye to eye.

There is nothing more sincere than a mother’s love for her children, and this picture clearly portrays your love for me while I care more about putting my hairband on for the picture (but really I’ve got my eye on the food).

Last week after my Mom’s birthday celebration (and that whole fiasco that I had with baking her cake), I asked her what she wanted me to bake for her for Mother’s Day, and I’m not gonna lie, but said aloud to her, “please not another cake” – the troubles of my mother being born a week before Mother’s Day. We both started thinking for a while, and then I remembered that I wanted to make this cake back when I was still in Sydney. Now I know I said no cakes, but this technically isn’t a massive layered cake, but instead, mini molten lava cakes.

Somewhere back in July last year, I hosted a tea and scones party for some of my favourite ladies, and one male housemate. We had an assortment of tea of course, homemade scones, homemade strawberry jam, and homemade lemon curd. I had a lot of strawberry jam left over, but I had a way of finishing it by having it with toast in the mornings with a cup of tea. Lemon curd on the other hand I had no clue on how to consume it. I then searched for other recipes that used lemon curd, except for the obvious lemon meringue pie/tart since I am not a huge fan of meringue. I then came across this recipe and I instantly knew that this was the recipe that I was going attempt – but never got around to doing so. Reasons? I actually don’t remember. I think it was because the lemon curd had been sitting in the fridge for weeks and probably already off at the time I decided that I want to make these molten cakes. After that, I wasn’t bothered to make a whole new batch of lemon curd just for this dessert to happen. But now for Mother’s Day – I don’t see any better chance to have a go at these!

The original recipe can be found on The Gallery Gourmet and this recipe makes about 8 cakes but I guess differs on the size of your moulds/ramekins.

PREP TIME 15 MINS | COOKING TIME 13-15 MINS | MAKES 4 CAKES

INGREDIENTS

120g white baking chocolate, roughly chopped
100g unsalted butter
3/4 cup Homemade Lemon Curd
2/3 cup plain flour
1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
4 large free range eggs, lightly beaten
4 large free range egg yolks, lightly beaten
2 tsp freshly grated lemon zest
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Pinch of salt

Accompaniments

Confectioners’ sugar for dusting
Whipped cream
Fresh raspberries

METHOD

Preheat the oven to 220C (425F or gas mark 7). Grease 8 ramekins with softened butter or non-stick baking spray. Place them onto a baking tray and set aside.
Melt the butter and white chocolate in a large microwave-safe bowl, stirring every 15 seconds (for a total of 60-90 seconds) until melted and smooth. Remove from the microwave and whisk until smooth.
Add the flour, sugar and salt; mix well. Then add in the eggs, egg yolks, lemon curd, lemon zest, and vanilla extract and whisk until well blended. Divide the batter evenly into the prepared ramekins.
Bake for about 13-15 minutes or until the edges are just starting to to turn golden brown, and the centre is puffy and just beginning to set. Transfer the ramekins to a wire rack and let cool for 5 minutes.
Run the tip of a paring knife around the edges of the cakes to loosen them and then invert the cakes onto small dessert plates or dishes.
Dust the top with confectioners’ sugar, garnish with fresh raspberries, and serve with whipped cream.
Share with the family (or friends) and enjoy!

PS: I completely forgot about the whipped cream when I was photographing the cakes, and by the time I had the cream ready and whipped, I found out that my Mom and my sister had already dug into the perfect molten cake that I specifically set aside for my photograph (the other cakes weren’t as runny as the one I had opened for the photo). The whipped cream nicely balances out the sweetness and tartness of the cakes.

BON APPÉTIT

– Ally xx

Celery & Green Apple Slaw

January 22, 2015January 4, 2019 amcarmen2 Comments

Hello Everyone! The story behind me attempting this recipe is that I always seem to struggle with celery. There are times where I’d buy a whole bunch for a dollar (on special) when the halves weren’t available or if they didn’t have the bags of pre-cut celery sticks. The thing with me and celery is that I only use it when I’m making a bolognese or minestrone soup. I rarely use it for any of my dishes. So half the time it sits in the fridge waiting to be use, and then eventually thrown out because it’s been sitting there for weeks, possibly months. I know, most of you are probably thinking that I could’ve just eat them like that with some sort of dip, but in all honesty, raw celery isn’t quite my thing. Again, another rabbit food moment here.

So, I bought a bag of celery sticks last week for a dish that will be posted next week, and before going out to do my weekly groceries, I jumped online and search for a recipe that I could make that included celery – yes, I was determined to not waste my bag of celery! I came across this recipe from Taste and I thought that I’d give this one a go. I know, when I thought about it and how I mentioned that “raw celery isn’t quite my thing”, and here I am attempting a raw celery slaw. Well, I thought it was about time that I gave raw celery a chance and it did not disappoint. Well to be honest I could’t distinctly pick out its taste, maybe because from the crème fraîche dressing, but the crispiness and freshness from both the celery and apple paired with the creamy sweet yet tangy dressing really made the dish exciting to my palette. Why did I not think of this sooner! All those celery sticks that went to waste…

PREP TIME 20 MINS | COOKING TIME — | SERVES 2-3

INGREDIENTS

4 celery sticks, cut into matchsticks
1 large green apple, cut into matchsticks
100g Danish feta cheese, crumbled
1/3 cup walnuts, toasted and coarsely chopped
2 tbsp crème fraîche
2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 & 1/2 tbsp chopped fresh chives
Pinch of caster sugar
Salt and pepper to taste

METHOD

In a small bowl, whisk the crème fraîche, lemon juice, sugar and chives in a small bowl. Season with a bit of salt and pepper.
Plate up the celery and apple matchsticks in a deep dish. Pour the crème fraîche mixture over the celery and apples, and top with crumbled danish feta and walnuts. Serve!

If you want to add some protein or omega-3 to this fresh, light slaw, you can have some chicken on the side, or as what I’ve done is grill some salmon to go with this dish. Season with salt, pepper, and lemon juice, pop in the grill oven for about 5 to 7 minutes (for a thin portion as what I had), and serve!

BON APPÉTIT

– Ally xx

Caesar Salad with Lemon & Thyme Roast Chicken

January 20, 2015January 4, 2019 amcarmen4 Comments

Hello Everyone! As mentioned at the end of my last recipe post on Lemon & Thyme Roast Chicken, I made a Caesar Salad to go with the roast. A quick and healthy dish (excluding the mayonnaise), to easily pack and take to work with you, which is exactly what I did last week.

I have a funny, but quite saddening story on my part about this. So as usual, I always pre-pack my lunches the day I make them, which is usually on Monday afternoon, and I made the decision to add the caesar dressing in the morning before going to work because I didn’t want the lettuce leaves to soak in the dressing overnight. Tuesday was fine, but I completely forgot to add the dressing on the salad for Wednesday. I specifically remembered to do it when I woke up in the morning, and even had it running in my mind throughout my morning shower. But for some mystical reason, it slipped my mind and it only hit my that I completely forgot to add the dressing was when I was halfway through the journey to work by bus. I was so devastated when I came to that realisation. I was too devastated that I didn’t even look forward to having my lunch that day. I now know what it’s like to eat rabbit food. Rabbits must have such a hard life to have to go through this every single meal of every single day.

All that aside, even though I had bottled caesar dressing sitting in the fridge, I decided to make my own (sort of) caesar dressing. I say ‘sort of’ because I used bottled mayonnaise; if you really want to go all out, then be my guest and whip up your own healthier version of mayo! Anyway, I wanted to give making my own caesar dressing a go since I had all the ingredients to make it possible already in the pantry. Maybe my next challenge will be to make my own mayo too! Also, I accidentally left the croutons in the oven for a little bit too long that they were overly tanned, but thankfully not burnt. Oops! I made the mistake of not setting a timer to remind me that they were in the oven; I think at that time I was busy carving the chicken. (I picked the least tanned ones for the photographs)!

PREP TIME 20 MINS | COOKING TIME 10 MINS | SERVES 4

INGREDIENTS

Baby cos lettuce, washed and sliced
Garlic infused olive oil
Mini stone-baked pane di casa, cut into small chunks
Roast chicken slices

For the caesar dressing

1/3 cup free range egg mayonnaise
4 anchovy fillets, minced
1 garlic clove, crushed then minced
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
Handful of grated parmesan
Salt and pepper to taste

METHOD

Preheat oven to 180C. Spread the small chunks of bread over a large baking tray lined with parchment paper and sprinkle the garlic infused olive oil over them. Rub the oil into the bread and season with a little salt if you like. Bake for about 8 to 10 minutes, turning the croutons a few times during cooking so they brown evenly on all sides. Once done, remove from the oven and set aside.
Combine all the ingredients for the caesar dressing into and small bowl and whisk together to combine.
Plate up the baby cos lettuce and the roast chicken. Drizzle a generous amount of the dressing, and top with the croutons, shaved parmesan, and a bit of cracked black pepper.

You can skip the chicken if you wish for a great light salad for lunch, and for those who want to bulk it up so that it’s not just leaves, have it with the chicken of course! For this salad, I carved up the breast parts from the whole roast chicken that I posted the recipe to last week. Check it out here on the blog for those of you who missed it!

BON APPÉTIT

– Ally xx

Lemon & Thyme Roast Chicken

January 15, 2015January 4, 2019 amcarmen4 Comments

Hello Everyone! Today’s recipe is pretty much what the title says, a classic whole roast chicken. I know some of you guys out there, myself included, would’ve probably rubbed some herds onto the skin and then pop it in the oven to roast away. I kid you not, I have had my fair share of roast chicken, homemade or from the grocers and almost every time the chicken is quite dry, especially the breast parts (which is why I hated eating chicken breast while growing up as a kid). It wasn’t only until recently I learnt about a cooking technique known as brining (submerging in salted water at the very basic) when we roasted a whole turkey for last year’s Noche Buena. It feels weird saying last year when it was technically less than a month ago. Anyway, the turkey was super moist and flavoursome! So I decided to try out brining again with a whole chicken.

Keeping your bird juicy isn’t that hard – all you need is the right seasoning, and a little bit of patience and motivation to add that extra step before having your lunch or dinner. It does pay off though! Brining chicken not only adds moisture to the chicken, making it nice and plump, it also helps prevent it from drying out when you cook it. The result is a delicious, moist, and juicy chicken. In addition, not only does it affect the texture and juiciness of your chicken, it also affects the taste. A few hours, or even better if overnight, in brine will let the salt penetrate deep into the chicken meat, enhancing its natural flavour. Of course, there is one disadvantage. All the extra water that ends up in the chicken can make it harder to get a crispy skin. Luckily, that’s easy to fix. If you’re going for crispy skin, just let the chicken air dry in the refrigerator for an hour or so. Yes, it does take the extra effort, but it’s so easy to do!

So what actually happens during the brining process? A little bit of high school science for you!

Diffusion: This occurs when particles move from a region of higher concentration to an area of lower concentration. So, as we have established above, the brine has a lot more salt in it than the chicken. Therefore, to balance things out, the salt gets absorbed by the chicken – not just on the surface, but all through the meat.
Osmosis: This is when water (or another liquid) moves through a membrane from one region that has more water to another region that has less water. This is exactly what happens when you brine chicken. The brine has a lot more water than the chicken, so the water moves through the chicken cells, from the brine to the chicken.

Salt is the most important ingredient when brining chicken. It actually doesn’t make the chicken salty in the end, but as explained above, really enhances the chicken’ natural flavour. You can also add some other seasonings to your chicken brine, and they’ll work the same way and diffuse into the chicken. If you’re planning on using extra seasonings in your chicken brine, you’re going to need to boil it. Otherwise, the flavors just won’t penetrate the chicken. Think of it as if you were making tea – if you try making it with cold water, nothing happens. You need the heat to leech the flavour out of your seasonings. But remember to cool your brine down first before submerging your chicken into it. Not only does it end up cooking the chicken just a little bit, it also creates a bacteria farm that could potentially make you sick.

PREP TIME 24 HOURS* | COOKING TIME 2 HOURS | SERVES 6-8

*This includes the brining process.

INGREDIENTS

2kg whole free range chicken, washed and cleaned
3L water
3/4 cup salt
1/2 cup white wine
4 garlic cloves, crushed and peeled
1 medium-sized spanish onion, halved and sliced thinly
1/2 lemon, sliced
2 tsp chicken stock powder
Few sprigs of fresh thyme
Handful of whole black peppercorns
50g butter, chilled

The basic ratio of salt to water for a brine is 4 tablespoons of salt per litre of water.

METHOD

Start by clearing out a space big enough to fit a bowl large enough to hold your chicken in the fridge. Line two plastic bags over your bowl, or if you don’t have one large enough, a cooking pot will do. Place your chicken into the bag, and set aside.
Combine half of the water and all the ingredients, except the butter, chicken, and wine, in a large cooking pot and bring to a slight boil to allow all the flavours and seasoning to incorporate into the liquid. Once boiling, let it boil for a further 5 minutes before removing from the heat.
Add the remaining water and the wine. Set aside to cool down completely. There are other ways of cooling down the brine faster if you are short on time, or a little bit impatient. You can submerge the pot in cold water, or even add ice to the brine.
Once the brine has cooled down completely, slowly and carefully pour it over the prepared bowl/pot of chicken. If there is too much liquid, do not panic! Simply lift the plastic bags up and then pour the remaining brine in.
Tie the bags ups nice and tightly and refrigerate for a few hours, or overnight. If you’re going for crispy skin, just let the chicken air dry in the refrigerator for an hour or so before roasting in the oven.
Preheat oven to 190C. Line a deep baking tray with foil and place a wire rack above it.
Using cooking twine, tie the drumsticks together as well as the wings to hold them in place while roasting. I don’t actually know how to tie the wings properly, so that’s how I tied mine! I don’t even know if tying it the way I did is how it’s done either!
In a small bowl, combine the butter with a few thyme leave, mashing it together just by using your fingertips, and then rubbing it all over the chicken.
Add the garlic and onions from the brining liquid to the drop tray, as well as a little bit of the brine. This will later add flavour to the gravy that you can make combined with the drippings from the chicken. Just combine the pan drippings into a small sauce pan and add flour to thicken it up.
Place the chicken on the wire rack, and into the oven for about 2 hours.
Once done, remove from the oven and tent it for about 10 to 15 minutes before serving. Serve with steamed rice or mashed potatoes and veggies. Alternatively, you can serve with is a nice Caesar Salad which is what I did – stay tuned for the recipe on Tuesday!

BON APPÉTIT

– Ally xx

Breakfast Muffins: Citrus Poppyseed

December 2, 2014December 31, 2018 amcarmen6 Comments

Hello Everyone! So I think I mentioned that last week was supposed to be Muffin Making Monday, but because I was still travelling the outback, scaling one of the best climbs from that trip, and ever, at Kings Canyon. I do apologise if I happen to bring this up in every single post for the next couple of weeks – I just can’t get over such an amazing trip!

Anyway, so technically Jialing and I had our Muffin Making Monday… on a Sunday. Jialing got called into work just for this Monday, but we still didn’t want to miss out on muffins as to quote Jialing “I didn’t have breakfast for the past two weeks” *insert sad face emoji*. So we then decided to bake on Sunday instead! Jialing again whipped up her Raspberry & White Chocolate with Lemon Streusel Muffins (she actually wanted to do a mixed berry one this time, but gutted that Coles ran out of them when we went to do our groceries together). And as the heading of this post states, I made Citrus Poppyseed Muffins, which Jialing actually made before and tasted so good that I wanted to make them for myself this time around. Please check out the original recipe over on Sally’s Baking Addiction. The original recipe calls for 3 tablespoons of poppyseeds, but because I used what Jialing had leftover from last time. I think I only had about a tablespoon for these so they aren’t quite as evident in the photographs.

Poppyseed fun fact: It takes 2,000,000 of these tiny black polka dots to equal one kilo.

PREP TIME 10 MINS | COOKING TIME 15-18 MINS | MAKES 12 MUFFINS

INGREDIENTS

2 & 1/3 cups plain flour
1/2 cup Greek or regular yoghurt
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
115g salted butter, melted
2 large free range eggs
Juice and zest of 2 medium-sized lemons
Juice and zest of 1 large orange
3 tbsp poppyseeds
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
Coarse sugar, for sprinkling

METHOD

Preheat oven to 220C. Line a 12 hole muffin pan with paper cases.
Whisk the flour, white sugar, brown sugar, poppyseeds, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl until well combined. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk the melted butter, lemon juice, lemon zest, orange juice, and orange zest together thoroughly mixed. Then, whisk in the eggs one at a time, and then whisk in the yoghurt and vanilla.
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and gently mix together until no pockets of flour remain. Be careful as to not over mix the batter. The consistency of the batter should be quite thick.
Spoon the thick batter into the muffin cups, filling them all the way to the top and sprinkle each with additional lemon and orange zest as well as coarse sugar.
Bake in the oven for 5 minutes at 220C. Then, reduce oven temperature to 190C and continue to bake for 10-13 minutes longer or until tops are lightly golden. To check if they are done, insert a toothpick in the centre of the muffin. If it’s cooked through, the toothpick should come out clean, if not then bake further at 2-3 minute intervals (as to not accidentally over bake them).
Once done, remove from the over and allow to cool for 10 minutes. Muffins stay fresh in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.

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.