Chicken with Sweet Soy aka Ayam Masak Kicap

Ingredients:
1/2 kg chicken
2-3 red chili ~ sliced halves
3 tbsp cooking oil
Salt & sugar for taste

Paste:
1-1/2" ginger
2-3 cloves garlic
1 tbsp cumin powder
3-4 green bird's eye
1/2" fresh turmeric

Sauce:
6 tbsp sweet soy sauce
2 tbsp oyster sauce
2 tbsp chili sauce
1 large onion ~ cut round

Directions:

1. Cut the chicken into pieces abt 2".  Wash, drained & set aside
2. Prepare the paste & marinate into the chicken for abt 15-30 mins.
3. In a saucepan, heat oil on medium; add the marinated chicken & cook till the chicken semi-cook.
4. Add the sauce & mix the chicken to coat.  If too thick, add 1/4 cup of water & let it boil for abt 10 mins.
5. Then add the sliced red chili & add salt & sugar (I also add a bit of Ajinomoto too)
6. Lastly add the cut round onion, stir & let it cook for another 5 mins till the onion is softened.
7. Remove from heat & serve with steam white rice.

Chicken Tikka Masala

Ingredients:
Tandoori Chicken Recipe

Spices:
1 stick cinnamon
3 cardamon
5 cloves
1 large bay leaves

Sauce:
1 tbsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp cumin seed
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp cayenne
1 tbsp ginger/garlic paste
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp ghee
1 large white onion ~ finely chopped
1 tbsp tomato puree
3/4 cup water
1/2 heavy cream
1-1/4 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 cup cilantro ~ chopped

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, whisk together the coriander, cumin, turmeric, paprika, cayenne & ginger/garlic paste.
2. In a heavy wide pan over moderately high heat, melt the butter & ghee.  Add the onion & saute, stirring occasionally until light brown & caramelized about 5 mins.
3. Reduce the heat to moderate then stir in the spice & ginger/garlic mixture.  Add the tomato puree, water, heavy cream & salt.  Bring the sauce to a boil.
4. Reduce the heat to gently simmer the sauce, uncovered until thickened slightly abt 10 mins.
5. When all the chicken is cooked, cut it into 1-1/2 inch pcs.  Add the chicken to the simmering sauce & continue to gently simmer it.  Stirring occasionally for 5 mins.
6. Remove the pan from the heat, stir in the black pepper & chopped cilantro & season with salt.
7. Serve with Naan or cooked Basmati rice.

Leftover Tandoori Chicken

Apple Pie (Version 2)

Pastry:
2 cups AP Flour
1 tsp salt
2/3 cup + 2 tbsp shortening
4 - 6 tbsp cool water

Filling:
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup AP flour
1 tsp cinnamon powder
1/2 tsp nutmeg powder (Optional)
8 medium Smith apple ~ thinly sliced
2 tbsp butter or margarine

Directions:

1. In a pastry blender, mix in the flour, salt & shortening until particles are the size of small peas.  Sprinkle with cold water, 1 tbsp at a time till it's becoming a soft dough.
2. Gather pastry dough into a ball.  Divide in half & shape into 2 flattened rounds on a lightly floured surface.  Wrap in plastic & refrigerate abt 45 mins or until dough is firm & cold, yet pliable (Allows shortening to become slightly firm, which helps make the baked pastry flakier).
3. Preheat the oven to 240 dec C.  Roll one pastry into 2" larger than upside-down 9" glass pie pan.  Fold pastry into fourths. place in the pie pan.  Unfold & ease into the pan. pressing firmly against bottom & side.
4. In a large bowl, mix sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg & salt.  Stir in sliced apples until well mixed.  Spoon the mixed apples into pastry-lined pie pan.  Cut butter into small pcs; sprinkle overfilling.  Trim overhanging edge of pastry 1/2" from the rim of the pan.
5. Roll 2nd pastry into 10" round.  Fold into fourths & cut slits so steam can escape.  Unfold top pastry over filling; trim overhanging edge 1" from the rim of pan.  Fold & roll top edge under lower edge; pressing on rim to seal & flute as desired.  Cover edge with 2"-3" strip of foil to prevent excessive browning.
6. Bake 40-50 mins or until crust is brown & juice begins to bubble through slits in crust; removing foil for last 15 mins. of baking.  Serve warm if desired or with ice-cream.

Crispy Cheddar Chicken

Ingredients:
4 large chicken breasts
2 sleeves Ritz crackers
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 cup milk
3 cup cheddar cheese ~ grated
1 tsp dried parsley

Sauce
1 14oz can cream of chicken soup
2 tbsp sour cream
2 tbsp butter

Directions:

1. Cut each chicken breast into 2 or 3 large chunks
2. In a small food processor grind up the ritz crackers
3. Pour the milk into a container & soak the chicken for about 3 hours or more.
4. In 2 separate containers, grated cheese and cracker crumbs.  Toss the salt & pepper into the cracker crumbs & stir the mixture around to combine.
5. Dip the soaked chicken with milk into the cheese & finally the cracker crumbs.
6. Spray a 9x13 dishpan with cooking spray & lay the chicken inside the dish.  Sprinkle the dried parsley over the chicken.
7. Cover the dishpan with aluminum foil & bake at 400 deg C for 35 mins.  Remove the foil, bake for another additional 10 mins or until the edges of the chicken are golden brown & crispy.
8. Into a medium saucepan combine the cream of chicken soup, sour cream & butter with a whisk.  Stir it over medium-high heat until the sauce is nice & hot.  Serve over the chicken. 

Peppermint Hokkaido Cupcakes

Ingredients:
4 egg yolks
35g icing sugar ~ sieved
40g canola oil
75g cake flour ~ sieved
1/4 tsp baking powder
40g fresh milk
1/8 tsp peppermint extract

4 egg whites
100g caster sugar
1/8 tsp cream of tartar

18 mini candy canes (crush 3 of them)

Directions:

1. In the bowl, using a handheld whisk together egg yolks & icing sugar.
2. Add the oil & milk, followed by the peppermint extract.
3. Fold in the sieved flour & baking powder.  Set aside.
4. In a clean bowl, whisk the egg whites until they turn foamy.  Add the cream of tartar & sugar gradually whisking continuously till stiff peaks form.
5. Place 1/3 of the egg whites into the yolk mixture.  Mix it in & fold the remaining egg whites gently into the yolk mixture in two (2) batches.
6. Spoon the batter carefully into cups, filling each until they are about 3/4 full.
7. Lift each cupcake & gently drop it from a height of abt 5cm to remove any bigger air bubbles.
8. Bake in the pre-heat oven at 160 deg C. for 18-20 mins.  The cupcakes will puff up & the tops will be brown.
9. Let the cupcakes cool completely.  As they cool, they will deflate.

Filling

240ml whipping cream ~ cold

35g icing sugar ~ sieved

1/2 tsp peppermint extract

Directions:

1. Whisk the cold cream, sieved icing sugar & mint extract until stiff peaks form
2. Fill a piping bag with the cream.  Poke the piping tip into each cupcake & pipe the cream into the cupcakes.
3. Pipe a rosette on top of each cupcake & top with crushed candy cane & a whole mini-candy cane.
4. Keep the cupcakes chilled until ready to serve.

Gingerbread House

Ingredients:
250g unsalted butter
200g light muscovado sugar
4 tbsp golden syrup
2 tbsp treacle
600g plain flour
2 tsp bicarbonate soda
2 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp mixed spice

Royal Icing:
500g icing sugar
3 tbsp Meringue powder
1/4 cup water
1 tsp vanilla clear extract

or

1kg icing sugar
5 tbsp Meringue powder
3/4 cup water
1 tsp vanilla clear extract

Directions:

1. Mix the plain flour, bicarbonate soda, ginger & mixed spice in a large bowl.  Set aside.
2. Heat the butter, syrup, and sugar in a small saucepan until melted, stirring occasionally.  Set aside to cool the melted butter to the dry flour mix & stir with a wooden spoon until it forms a stiff dough.
3. Shape the dough into a ball & knead for a couple of minutes.  Divide the dough into 6 equal pcs & roll out each to a thickness of 5mm (1/4 in).  Lightly flour non-stick on the baking sheet for the template.
4. Cut out a template using a downloadable guide @ tesco.com/real food.  Put all the pieces of gingerbread on baking sheets.
5. Preheat the oven to 180 deg C & bake for 8-9 mins or until firm.  Remove from the oven & leave to cool for a couple of minutes before trimming to neaten while still warm.  Transfer the pcs to a wire rack & leave to cool completely.
6. Once cold, put the gingerbread pieces in a Tupperware box layered between pieces of non-stick baking paper.  Leave overnight to crisp up (Assemble & decorate the house before it's had time to harden up properly; the pcs won't be firm enough for the home to stay up.
7. Make up the icing and pipe icing to join the 4 walls together.  Stick the walls onto a serving board to keep the house in place.  Put a bowl inside the home to hold up the walls.  Stick on the door with icing & decorate with sweets.
8. Once the walls are set, stick on the roof pcs.  Use a thick line of icing between the top join of the two roof pcs to ensure they stick together.
9. Spread any leftover icing on the board around the house to make a snow scene or decorate the garden with iced gingerbread trees & snowmen; make a little path using colored sprinkles & add any other sweet decorations.

Chocolate Banana Muffins

Ingredients:
2-3 bananas ~ mashed
80ml canola oil
1 egg
100g sugar
1-1/2 AP flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
180g mini chocolate chips
Sugar for sprinkling on tops

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven at 175 deg C and prepare the muffin pan & set aside.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the mashed bananas, oil & egg
3. Add the dry ingredients
4. Using a wooden spoon or spatula, stir the mixture until the flour is just incorporated
5. Add the mini chocolate chips & mix just to combine.  Do not over mix
6. Spoon into the holes of a 12-hole-muffin pan or muffin cupliners & bake for 20-25 mins.
7. Cool in the pan for 15 mins before transferring onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Gingerman Cupcakes

Ingredients:
225g self-raising flour ~ shifted
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp mixed spice
165g brown sugar
125g butter ~ softened
2 eggs
80ml milk
2 tsp vanilla extract
Gingerman cookies

Directions:

1. Cream together butter & sugar until mixture turns pale & fluffy.
2. Add eggs, one at a time & continue to mix
3. Sieve together flour, ground ginger & mixed spice
4. Add flour & milk vanilla extract in the sequence flour-milk-flour & continue to mix until all the flour had been incorporated
5. Dish batter into cupcake liners.  Bake at 160 deg C. for 18-20 mins or until a skewer inserted into a cupcake emerges cleanly
6. Allow cupcakes to cool in the tray for 10 mins before transferring them onto a wire rack to cool completely

Honey Butter Icing

250g butter ~ softened

280g icing sugar

90g honey

1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Place the butter in the bowl of a mixer.  Beat for 6-8 mins until light & creamy
2. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, add the icing sugar, honey & vanilla & beat for 10-15 mins or until pale & fluffy.
3. Frost cupcakes with the icing & coat with gingerman cookie crumbs & decorate with a gingerman cookie if you wish.

Teba Shio / Grilled Salted Chicken Wings

Ingredients:
1kg chicken wings
2 cups (480ml) sake
Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Shichimi togarashi (Optional)
Lemon wedges (Optional)

Directions:

1. In a bowl, place the chicken wings / drumlets or mid-joints.  Add sake & marinate for 15 mins.
2. At the end of 15 mins, dry each wing with kitchen towels.  The wings need to be very dry.
3. Add generous amount of sea salt (not table salt, please) and black pepper & mix to coat the wings.
4. Arrange the wings on a lined & greased oven tray.  Placed the chicken on a wire rack but can place them directly on the tray.
5. Spray or brush the chicken with oil.  Grill @ 200 deg C for 15 mins.  Flip the chicken, spray or brush with oil & grill @ 240 deg C for 15 mins or until the chicken wings are golden brown.
6. Sprinkle shichimi togarashi on the wings & serve immediately.