Southern Fried Chicken

I love fried chicken! found this recipe a while back, made it once but was not really satisfied with it. Tweaked it and finally got something close to my favorite, store bought fried chicken. I also marinated the chicken with coke, one of my favorite drinks, and the result was awesome! This chicken is best marinated overnight to let all the goodness of the spice infused coke be absorbed into the meat.

Ingredients

For the marinade

750ml Coke

1 tablespoon onion powder

1 tablespoon garlic powder

1 tablespoon cayenne pepper powder

1 tablespoon Tabasco sauce

1 tablespoon cajun spice

1 tablespoon black pepper

1 teaspoon mustard

1 tablespoon ginger powder

A few sprigs of thyme

For the coating

1 cup flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

equal amounts of everything that was used in the marinade except the coke and thyme

1 teaspoon salt

6 big chicken wings

2 eggs

Method

Mix the marinade and soak the chicken overnight. You want all the flavour in the chicken wings.

In a bag, mix the flour and spices.

Heat up a pot of oil.

Dust the chicken once, dip  it in the beaten eggs and dust the chicken with flour again.

 

When the oil is hot, fry the chicken and remove it when it turns golden brown.

This chicken is best served with coleslaw and mash. 

Enjoy!

ORANGE AND HERB PORK BELLY

Most of you who know me well know of my love for all things pork. Besides ribs, the belly cut is my favorite part of the pig. The Chinese have been making excellent crackling for as far back as I could remember, and during the Christmas season,  decided to do something which had the crackling of the siu yoke but the flavor of the season.

This is quite a simple, straight forward recipe but if done right, produces a crackling that is extremely crispy and a meat that melts in your mouth. The only problem is that this takes up a lot of time, but trust me, it's worth it!

Ingredients

1kg pork belly

Half of a yellow onion, roughly chopped

One whole garlic, finely chopped

2 sprigs of Rosemary, roughly chopped

2 sprigs of thyme

1 orange, sliced

Some orange juice

Half bottle of orange marmalade

Salt

20pcs Cloves

Rice wine vinegar

1 tablespoon plain flour

Method

With a meat pricker, prick the skin thoroughly

Using a sharp knife, score the skin

Turn the meat over to the flesh side, poke small holes and stuff the cloves in them

Rub a mixture of chopped garlic, onions, rosemary, thyme and orange marmalade

Put it on a pan, skin side up and fill it with orange juice until it reaches just below the skin

Rub salt on the skin and let it sit for 4 hours in room tempreature

When that's all done, put the pan in an oven, preheated to 250 degree Celsius and lower the temperature to 160 degree Celsius for 1 hour

When the first hour's up, increase the temperature to 180 degree Celsius

When the second hour's up, increase the temperature to 200 degree Celsius

When the third hour's up, spray some rice wine vinegar on the skin, increase the temperature to 250 degree Celsius and leave it in the oven until the skin is slightly charred. Don't worry if it's too charred as you can scrape it off at the end of it all

When the meat's done, let it rest for 30 mins before cutting it.

With the remainder of the liquids in the pan, heat it up and add some flour to thicken it and you will have an excellent sauce to go with the meat.

I was so anxious to eat it I totally forgot to take a picture of it before it was cut! Believe me, it was mouth watering!

So, try this and enjoy the results. It's totally worth the work and more!

Shepard's Pie

I come from a St. Patrick's School, a Christian Brother's School with an Irish patron saint and an Irish Principal, the late Brother Joseph McNally. Brother Joe was a damm nice guy. If not for him and some of the very dedicated teachers leading me along the right path, God only knows where I would be now. The true, salt of the earth nature of these people inspired this recipe. Just like them, no stock of any kind is added, but the goodness of the dish still shines through. 

Shepard's Pie is like a Patrician. Ever ready to fulfill your need anytime, all the time and good to the last bite! ;-) You can make this days in advance, keep it in the fridge, and when u wanna eat, just pop in in the oven for a few minutes and it'll be ready. Simple, no fuss, good and nutritious food.

Ingredients

750g minced lamb

250g chopped bacon

3 sprigs of rosemary, finely chopped

3 sprigs of thyme, finely chopped

one yellow onion, finely chopped

one whole garlic, finely chopped

2 stalks of celery, chopped

200g mixed vegs

5 medium size potatoes, peeled

3 tablespoons butter

200ml cooking cream

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

2 teaspoons Tabasco sauce

2 tablespoons black pepper

1 bay leaf

1 can of Guinness, boiled down to half it's volume

1 tablespoon flour

half a can of tomato puree

3 tablespoons mozzarella cheese

3 tablespoons Parmesan cheese

Method

In a pot of salted boiling water, boil the potatoes until soft and put it aside.

In a hot pan, cook the bacon till crispy, then add the onion,  garlic, Rosemary, thyme and celery and cook until the onions are translucent.

Add the minced lamb and a half a can of tomato puree

Now pour in the Guinness and let it cook down to half it's volume. 

Add the Worcestershire, Tabasco sauce and black pepper to taste.

Finally, stir in the mozzarella cheese and flour.

Once that's done, put it in your pie tray and set it aside.

Mash the potatoes with butter and cream. Add salt to taste.

Cover the minced lamb with the mash potatoes an sprinkle the shaved Parmesan cheese on the top.

Put it in a hot oven and cook till the top is slightly brown. that should take about 10 minutes.

This is one damm hearty meal, and a little goes a long way! The remainder can be kept in the fridge to fill your stomach another day. And that's a sure bet, just like a Patrician!

Enjoy!

THE BIG DADDY

It's called the Big Daddy because it's got a pretty big patty. 200g of 60/40 lean fat ratio minced meat.  This is really important if you want a really juicy burger. It's also called the Big Daddy because one should be enough for your lunch ;-)

I love pork burgers, but unfortunately, most come with fillers, too dry or just simply too small. So the only way to get what I want is to make them myself. A nice, tasty, juicy burger, with all real meat. To do that, we have to go back to the basics.

INGREDIENTS

200G 60/40 lean / fat ratio minced pork
1 Tablespoon chopped garlic
1.5 tablespoon chopped onions
3 teaspoons Cajun spice
half teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon beaten egg
1 slice of sharp cheddar cheese
1 burger bun
1 tablespoon butter
1 egg
2 teaspoons black pepper
a little chopped lettuce
your favorite BBQ sauce

Method

Mix the minced pork, onion, garlic, Cajun spice, Worcestershire sauce, black pepper and the beaten egg well and shape it into a patty. The patty should be slightly bigger than the circumference of the bun. Don't worry of it being too big because it will shrink during grilling. 

Put the patty on a pan on high heat, let it sear slightly on both sides before covering the pan and let it cook further on low heat, turning it occasionally. The patty is cooked when it shows signs of shrinking and bulging in the middle. 

When it's done, put a slice of cheese on top and let it sit. Fry up a sunny side up egg and place it on top of the cheese

Slice the bun into two, butter both slices and put it on the pan to toast until it's slightly brown.

Now, to assemble the burger.

Put the completed patty on the bun, add the chopped lettuce and BBQ sauce on and it's ready to go!

It's important to let the patty sit for at least 5 mins in order for the juices to be reabsorbed into the meat. That way you will be rewarded with a really juicy burger. You can use any bun you like, in this case I'm using a wholemeal walnut bun. You can also dress it with ketchup and mustard, but I'm using my favorite, a homemade BBQ sauce. 

Enjoy!

GRILLED CHICKEN SKEWERS

This is one simple to make dish which everyone will enjoy. Serve with creamy mash and coleslaw and you will have a winner on the table! I know, because when I served this at a recent rosary session at my apartment, it disappeared in a flash ;-)

INGREDIENTS

3 de-boned chicken thighs

2 pineapple rings

6 cloves of garlic

1 of each type of bell pepper

1 big onion

1 pack of dried mandarin orange peel

teriyaki sauce

honey

15 bamboo skewers, soaked in water overnight

METHOD

Finely chop the garlic and dried mandarin orange peel.

Cut the rest of the ingredients into 1.5cm cubes.

Put all the chicken in a container, together 

with the garlic and dried mandarin orange peel.

Pour enough teriyaki sauce to cover all the meat, mix them and let it marinade for at least half an hour

Now, it's time to skewer the lot.

I would usually alternate between chicken pieces and the vegs, you can do that too.

When it's done, it's time to put it on a grill. The grill should be hot enough to sear the skewers, and once it's done, lower the temperature to let it cook properly.

Just before it's taken off the grill, baste the skewers with some honey, let it cook for a minute or two and it's ready to be served.

It's always advisable to make more of this, as it'll disappear from the table in no time!

Serve it with mash and coleslaw. I'm sure everyone will enjoy this!

BOTAK'S OTAK OTAK

Now, you must be wondering, this don't look anything like otak otak. Where's the coconut / banana leave wrapping? Being a city slicker, those are hard to come by, so I decided to spread it on a slice of bread and popped it into the oven toaster for 10 mins. Does the job just fine too! My mom used to make the best otak otak that I've ever had, and this comes as a close second. She used to pound the ingredients together, but now I have a food processor, or so I thought. This being the Hungry Ghosts Festival, things can get rather weird..... You can use any fish you like, the default choice is normally spanish mackerel, but waste not, want not, I always believe, and we Peranakans have a unique way of making the off cuts taste good, so I'm using what's left of the salmon and parrot fish meat from my de-boning of the fishes

INGREDIENTS

60g Dried Chilies, seeds removed

30g Lengkus

50g Balachan

12 pcs Buah Keras

200g shallots

8pcs daun limau, finely sliced

50g lemongrass

1 tablespoon tumeric powder

1 tablespoon coriander powder

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

100ml santan

500g of any boneless fish slices

METHOD

Re-hydrate the dried chilies

Put the rehydrated   chilis, lengkus, balachan, shallots, lemongrass, tumeric powder, coriander powder, salt and sugar in a food processor and blend it into a paste.

Add some oil in a pan and cook the paste until the oil rises to the top.

Remove the cooked paste and let it cool to room temperature.

When it's sufficiently cooled, put in the two eggs, half of the fish slices and 100ml of santan into the food processor and make sure everything is properly blended.

Remove from the food processor and add the remainder of the fish and the sliced lime leaves, stir in to make sure they're properly mixed. 

Spread a generous amount on a slice of bread.

Put it in an oven toaster at 200 degree Celsius for 15 minutes.

When it's cooked, remove and cut it to smaller portions and it's ready to be served.

The funny thing was that when i wanted to use the food processor, it broke down. My mom always told me that pounding was the way to go as it released more flavor from the spices. Maybe that's why this batch tastes so good? ;-)

Enjoy! I sure did!

GARLIC SHRIMP PASTA

There's nothing I like more than a juicy, sweet, spicy and tangy shrimp dish, and this dish has all those qualities by the bucket loads! Freshness is another thing that is very important to me, be it cooking for myself or for my customers. That's the reason why my freezer is always almost empty, with the exception of a few blocks of butter and ice cubes.

Was at the local market today and came across some really fresh shrimps. It looked really good, and the price was right too, so I bought a few back to try to cook this dish.

Ingredients

9 shrimps, shelled, leaving the tail
Zest of 1 lime, finely chopped
Juice of 1 lime, without seeds
2 heaped tablespoons of chopped garlic
2 tablespoons honey
A knob of butter
2 tablespoons of roughly chopped dried chili
Some roughly chopped parsley
Some salt
125g angel hail spaghetti
Olive oil

Method

Cook the spaghetti to al dente, toss it with some olive oil and put it aside.
Mix the honey, chili powder, lime zest and juice and put it aside
In a hot pan, pour some olive oil and throw in the garlic and shrimps
Cook the shrimps till it's almost done, then pour in the honey mixture and let it caramelize.
When that's done, add the parsley and the spaghetti, toss it well, plate it and it's ready to eat.

This is one damm easy dish, from the raw ingredients to the table, ready to eat in about half an hour. Just make sure not to over cook the prawns, as there's nothing worse than overcooked seafood.

Enjoy!