Three cup chicken

Another healthy eating post but this time, I do have the recipe for it:) I got it from here and edited it according to what I have in the pantry. Not time consuming at all. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
5 chicken drumsticks
5 slices of ginger
4 fresh chilli padis
1 cup Chinese cooking wine
3/4 cup soy sauce
4 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp dark soy sauce
1 tbsp sugar

I don't have any basil leaves with me but I have used some dried chinese mushrooms as a compensation:)

Marinate chicken overnight with the above ingredients, minus the mushrooms and garlic~

1 pot for all~ fry garlic until fragrant, add mushrooms before adding your chicken with it's accompanying juices:9 Allow to simmer until cooked.

Tadaa~ not as chef-y looking as I would like it to be, mainly because I was quite exhausted when I made this but if possible, I would love to have some rice nicely plated next to it, in a porcelain bowl:)

Every Asian's nightmare~ running low on soy sauce! Need to remind myself to get some when I am in Chinatown otherwise I can't cook anything oriental:(

Vietnamese cold rolls

Hello all! Its Monday once more and like most of you, I'm singing the blues. It is going to be a long week for me (nothing extraordinary, just a lot of tiny chores to complete). Here's a post dedicated to healthy eating aka how to eat your veges in 101 ways:9

No recipe here but you can easily google it up (especially the dipping sauce because you would need an accurate balance of flavours to make it work!).

Carrots and lettuce~ lettuce seems to be a bit costly these days..anyone knows why?

Happy days, I finally get to sink my teeth in some sweet rock melon and strawberries. Spring has been good to me:)

An English affair: Scones

Teatime is my absolute favourite time at work because I finally get to have a short rest and indulge myself in all the yummy goodies made by colleagues:) And on one special day, I was lucky enough to stuff down two (or three??) amazing tasting scones made by my colleague and since then, have wanted to try making them myself.

I've got this recipe from Jamie's Great Britain cookbook and was impressed by the end results (despite being skeptical initially).

Ingredients:
150g cold unsalted butter
500g self raising flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons caster sugar
Sea salt
2 eggs
4 tablespoons milk plus extra if needed

Jamie recommends placing all the dry ingredients in a bowl and rub the butter into it. I did exactly as stated and ended up with the above picture.

I then rolled it out between two sheets of baking paper before cutting it (saves me cleaning time hehe).

Bake at 180C for 12 to 15 minutes. Make sure you brush some egg wash on top for that beautiful golden colour:)

Note to self: do not roll out too thin. I didn't read that line in the book and ended up with a thin first batch of scones. Ooopsies..

Second batch was much better as I made sure the height was at least 2.5cm.

Time for some proper food pictures!

Lemon chamomille tea brewing~

Scones can be served with jam, cream or butter but in my case, I wanted to stuff some strawberry slices in mine hehe.

Can't wait to get outside for some badly needed spring sunlight (and to send some winter coats for dry cleaning)!!

Ciabatta with egg salad

The best place to eat is always at home (and in my case, especially if I am staying with my parents haha!). Not only is everything prepared with loads of TLC, but you can be sure about quality. No MSG or excess oil usage and thus, guaranteeing your wellbeing;)

Sadly enough, I live alone so I have to pretend to have an imaginary family to cook for otherwise I would end up with all sorts of nutrient deficiency issues. This time, I played with dough (once again!) but rather than attempting a sweet outcome as seen here, I opted for something that I can nibble at with savoury condiments.

Ciabatta:
375g bread flour
1 tbsp dried yeast
1 1/4 cups warmed water
1/4 cup olive oil
2 teaspoon salt

I have added all the ingredients into a mixer at low speed and bumped it it medium speed whilst slowly incorporating the salt. Mix it at medium speed for 20 minutes before transferring to a floured bowl and allowing to rest for at least two hours in warm room conditions (I placed mine in front of a fan heater hehe).

After 2 hours, you should notice some rising. Place dough on a flat baking tray and flatten it whilst creating some "dimples". If you like, you could add olives or dried tomatoes in those "dimples". Coat with a thin layer of olive oil before sending it to a preheated oven at 215C for 15 minutes.

I've always had this unopened bottle of olive oil in my pantry..must have bought it because it was on special in the supermarket # howtobeacheappo101

Doesn't look promising at the beginning...

And some oven magic happened!

And now, I present to your ciabatta sticks for nibbling on. This reminds me of a scene in Lady and the Tramp when the two doggies had their Italian date:)

Tiny holes to symbolize life (in the form of yeast!)

So...yours truly decided to get more creative with her photo taking skills and played with food placement. Egg salad can be easily made by mashing two boiled eggs and mixing it with a dollop of mayonnaise and a generous handful of cheese (whichever suits your fancy). I've added some parsley into mine for that extra popped of colour. Don't forget to season your egg salad too!!:)

Top three pictures are quite generic, I have to admit:P

St. George Bakery

Have I mentioned that I love anything that pops out from the oven? Yours truly is still on an adelaide-bakery-quest and this time, I am in an award winning pie bakery! Thank goodness for all my reliable food sources, could not have discovered so many places without these incredible bunch of foodies!:)

The weather was perfect that day, it almost felt like summer...

Impressive, I have to admit.

Pura milk~ I am not the biggest fan of milk back in Malaysia but having tried the milk products in Australia, I am proud to admit that I have converted.

Beef and mushroom pie~ we wanted to sample their chunky beef pie but it was already sold out (we were there at 11am)! Ah wells, this pie is still satisfying.

Warm, juicy and succulent beef chunks oozing out of the pie~ the beef pieces as though it had been through some intense slow-braising in the kitchen!

Pastie~ a vegetarian pie, another Aussie favourite.

The loyalty card which entitles diners to a free pie after purchasing 5 pies:)

Curry beef pie~ a mild curry infused into minced beef. Coming from an Asian background and being fairly familiar with my spices, I can say that although a few of the more pungent spices were missing, it is still a really good curry pie with a decent amount of spices incorporated. A really delicious Asian-inspired pie:)

Kranzky~ an old time SWOTVAC (study week of teaching vacation aka study break before the university exams). The sausage here was super juicy and bursting with cheesy goodness which goes perfectly well with the light pastry. Happy reminiscent days:)

Cafe Kowloon

Did not get up to much these past few weeks as I am feeling quite laidback and thus, opted for a simple dinner in Chinatown, where restaurants open till really late at night and warm food aplenty.

I must have been here more than 10 times throughout my stay in Adelaide and although it isn't one of the fanciest or tastiest Chinese restaurants around, the food is decent and affordable. However, do be warned that service can be slightly slow during peak hours so best to place your orders in asap!

Steamed egg with seafood~ nothing too fancy but still a good winter warmer:)

Steamed chicken with ginger and shallots~ the healthy option and plenty of chicken pieces to share. Chicken is neither overcooked nor under-cooked and goes well with the fresh sprigs of shallot slices.

Roast duck~ tastes good overall, especially with the plum sauce but wished the duck pieces didn't have so much bones penetrating them. Would have been lovely if they were bigger too!:)

The following pictures were from my trip to blackbird (again). I was just sampling their newest inventions but for pictures of the regular items, check it out here or here.

Quiche~ one of my favourites:)

Lemon tart~ delicious and refreshing.