Christmas 2012

Been too occupied with Christmas preparations during the past few days that I didn't have much time to blog!  I searched high and low for various Christmas meal options to suit my budget and time constraint but overall, managed to finalize the menu a week before Christmas. Got most of my ingredients in the wee hours of a saturday morning at Adelaide Central Market (good variety of raw ingredients).

As I only had a moderately small crowd to feed, I didn't hesitate to grab a frozen 2kg turkey breast pack which costs about $14. It was already lightly seasoned with some herbs but I wanted to add abit more flair and fun to it. Made a stuffing which consisted of golden raisins, pine nuts, garlic, chorizo and sage leaves. These ingredients were cut into small sizes and lightly fried to bring out some flavour to it.

I left the stuffing to cool before filling up the turkey breast and allowing it to marinade for 2 nights.

As it was winter solstice season, I couldn't resist rolling up a few glutinous rice flour balls for my fellow companions to have. Did not make that many at all but also did not expect that the person whom despised it the most in the past ate more than me!!

Making these balls of flour is not difficult at all and it is a fun method to get family members or friends involved in bonding activities. Boil the balls until they start to float to the surface of the water. It's ready then.

I made barley tong sui (aka barley sweet soup) and thought it completed the tasteless flour balls well:)

On Christmas Eve (which I am very fortunately enough to be able to catch a ride to the city), my siblings were strangely obedient and cooked the turkey, potatoes and vegetables without me haggling them about it. Always good to be welcomed by the scent of slow roasted meat.

Plum sauce made by my sister's colleague. If only Christmas happens on a monthly basis hahaha.

Salad with pancetta and roma tomatoes~ pretty simple as I didn't want to make a big fuss over a bowl of vegetables, especially when most of us just clocked off from an intense day at work.

Potatoes with minced lime skin, lime juice and coriander~ remind me to be more cautious of using unfamiliar websites for food inspirations. Wasn't that bad but could be better (I sweat it looks better on the website!!).

No Christmas function is complete without a bottle or two of good wine to break the ice and set the tone for the evening.

On Christmas day, I decided to be adventurous and attempt to make kaya, a traditional egg custard spread from Malaysia.

I rarely use pandan/ screwpine leaves in my baking as they are not cheap (in comparison to the ones I can get in Malaysia) to obtain but because this recipe required the strong scent of pandan in it, I could not avoid using it.

Made some mushroom and spinach quiche with my leftover pastry.

As it was my first time making it, I did not realize how often I should stir the mixture until it began to curdle at the bottom of the bowl (which was placed over a pot of boiling water). Did I regret my laziness or what. I tried to compensate by stirring the mixture more diligently thereafter but obviously that did not reverse my previous error.

Warmed up a can of beans and cooked some chorizo and spinach leaves for variety. Was a rather simple Christmas lunch indeed.

Hope everyone had a good Christmas day!! I sure did and had heaps of fun experimenting with my camera as usual:)