Quick meals

A quick post! Everything is fast these days at the Sims Household. Quick meals, quick clean up, quick everything!

Recipe for a simple Hainanese Chicken Stew

1 whole chicken leg, cut into bite size
2 potatoes quartered
1 onion, quartered
1 garlic minced
2 tbsp of oyster sauce
2 tsp tomato paste
1/2tsp black soya sauce
2 cups of water
Oil

Marinade
1 tsp 5 spice powder
Dash of pepper
2 tbsp oyster sauce
Dash of sesame oil

1.Marinate the marinade ingredients with the chicken for at least 20 minutes.
2.Heat oil and fry the potatoes till its slightly golden brown but not cooked through, dish out and set aside.
3.Sear the chicken until its browned again not cooked through, dish out.
4.Sauté the onions and garlic before adding in the chicken.
5.Mix well the remaining ingredients with water in a bowl and pour into the pot. Give it a good stir and let it simmer for 5 mins before adding in the potatoes. Continue to let it simmer with the lid on until the sauce thickens, chicken cooked and potatoes soft about 20 mins. 
6.Season to taste and add in a special ingredient, a good pinch of gula Melaka !
7.Dish out and serve.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

This is our first Valentine’s day at our new house. Things have been chaotic for the past few months and I missed writing about food on my blog terribly.  With all the unpacking and settling down into our new house plus a new (clingy) baby I hardly cook these days let alone blog. So today being Valentine’s Day I decided to make a nice dinner for the hubs

Mushroom soup
Salad greens with balsamic vinaigrette
Grilled honey mustard lamb with crushed potatoes and tomatoes
Pasta with chunky tomato & mushroom sauce and grilled rosemary chicken
Trifle

A quick one - brunch at Antipodean

Trying out the blogger for iPhone hence a quick post while I'm having Monday brunch with the hubs and kids.

Nice place, bit crowded though. Muffins super yummy and their open shredded chicken sandwich is delish!

Chinese Sponge Cake

While growing up I would always snack on this cake whenever my mom goes to the wet market. I would always remind her to get a bag home and I just wouldn’t stopped munching on the cake. It’s super light with a just a hint of sweetness.  In Chinese it’s called Ji Dan Gao (Chicken Egg Cake – hehe sounds funny in English doesn’t it) I didn’t know it was that easy to make as it only has 4 ingredients (yeap as you may guessed it one of the main ingredients is eggs!) and the best part it’s steamed instead of baked.  And this recipe doesn’t call for any raising agent BUT you would need some elbow grease and a secret ingredient.

You Need
6 eggs
260 grams  or 1 1/2 cup of caster sugar
300 grams or 2 1/2 cup of all purpose flour, sifted twice
125 ml aerated drink (7 UP, Sprite or ice cream soda) – This is THE secret ingredients. The fizziness in the drink that makes the cake so light and fluffy plus it adds a hint of nice aroma to the cake as well

How To
1. Prepare the steamer or wok while you work on the batter.
2. Beat the eggs and sugar using a hand beater or mixer or a wire whisk until the mixture turns pale and fluffy or double in volume.
3. Divide flour into three portions and fold in the flour alternating with the soda drink, ending with the flour.
4. Pour the batter into a baking tin lined with greaseproof paper. You may use a bamboo steamer if you have any.
5. Steam on high for 25-30 minutes.
6. Leave the cake to cool AND resist the temptations to cut it while it is still warm otherwise it would crumble. Trust me it’s very tempting to have a slice!

A Hearty Bowl of Broccoli Soup

That’s Ashley’s old bib in case you’re wondering. Spent the entire of last night washing Ashley’s old baby clothing to be handed down to her little sister. So this morning instead of tiring myself out with heavy cooking I decided to make broccoli soup, I read that broccoli is a good source of  calcium, vitamin C, folate, and vitamin B6. It’s a fairly simple dish to make and it’s low fat but at the same time it fills you up. Which is something I need at the moment because I’ve gained my allocated amount of weight gain (10kilos) for this pregnancy and I’m only 33 weeks along. Pffttt!

You Need
1 small head broccoli, about 500g, including stems, chopped (separate the florets and stems)
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 medium potato, grated or diced
3 cups of chicken stock or water
2 tbsp olive oil
salt and white pepper to taste

How To
1. Heat oil on a medium pot. Gently sauté onion until translucent or softened. Add in the chopped stems and continue sautéing for 5-6 minutes.
2. Add in the stock or water and bring to a boil before reducing the heat and add in the potato.
3. Leave to simmer for 30 minutes or until the vegetables are softened.
4. Allow the soup to cool slightly, then transfer to a blender and blend until smooth. Return soup to the pot and over low heat, add in the florets. I only add the florets in the end so that it remains slightly crunchy which gives the soup a nice texture. Heat gently and season.
5. Serve with generous servings of grated Parmesan.

It was so hearty and comforting to have a bowl during a rainy morning that I had two servings!