Chinese Soy Chicken

Throughout my life I've been described as an ABC or a banana. For those of you who aren't in the know, that means I'm an Australia Born Chinese, and to take it one further, one who is like a banana - I may be yellow (i.e. look Asian) on the outside, but am all white inside. These two terms I haven't heard since my younger days, but I'm sure are still in common usage amongst Asian teenagers - it wasn't meant in a derogatory fashion, it was instead a label, a way to describe this entire demographic of Asian kids who didn't feel Chinese, sometimes didn't even speak Chinese, and would always describe themselves as Australian first and foremost.

As I've gotten older, I'm come to appreciate my heritage and cultural roots a little more, and feel a need to learn more about my culture so that it is not lost, and so that I may pass it down to my own kids in due course. First stop is learning how to make some traditional Chinese dishes!

The idea to make this dish actually came from a whole organic chicken that I picked up at the supermarket one day - I wondered what to do with it, I was bored with the usual roasting, and somehow this popped into my head. Researching it, I found that there really weren't many recipes available online, and so I kind of played it by ear as well as took bits and pieces from lots of different sites... and I'm surprised and elated to say that it turned out perfect! Super easy, and incredibly authentic, it is just like the stuff you get at the barbecue shops - down to the ginger and scallion (spring onion) dipping sauce!

Ingredients

1 whole organic chicken, about 1.5kg
1 bottle of Lee Kum Kee Chinese Marinade, 410mL (pic below)
410mL water
5 cloves of garlic, smashed
3 x 1cm thick chunks of ginger
1 tablespoon sesame oil
2 x star anise
1 x cinnamon stick
100mL shao xing wine (Chinese cooking wine)

Method

1. Thoroughly wash and dry the chicken, inside and out.
2. In a pot big enough to snugly fit the chicken, heat the sesame oil and add the garlic and ginger. Stir fry for a minute or two until fragrant.
3. Add to the pot the whole bottle of the LKK Chinese Marinade, then refill the bottle with water and pour that in as well.
4. Add the star anise and cinnamon and bring the entire mixture to the boil.

5. When boiling, turn the heat right down to the lowest setting, and add the chicken to the pot. Pour the shao xing wine over the top of the chicken.
6. Leave the chicken to simmer uncovered for 20 minutes.

7. At 20 minutes, turn the chicken over - use a combo of tongs and wooden spoon - and leave to simmer for another 20 minutes. Note: if your chicken is larger than 1.5kg, add another few minutes to the cooking time on either side.

8. Turn off the heat and carefully remove the chicken from the pot - be careful because there will be liquid inside the chicken and it may burn (it sure burnt me!). Let the chicken rest on a plate or chopping board for 5 minutes.
9. Now here is where it gets tricky... I couldn't cut it up nowhere near as precisely as they do in the Chinese restaurant, so mine turned up looking a bit massacred. Using a large and sharp knife, cut down the backbone to split the chicken into half. Then remove the legs and wings and chop the rest - bones and all!
10. Serve on a plate with bowls of rice, the ginger and scallion sauce (recipe below) and some steamed gai lan (Chinese greens).

Ginger and scallion dipping sauce

 
6 shallots, trimmed and cleaned
3 tablespoons of finely grated ginger
Salt
1/4 cup of vegetable oil

1. Finely chop the shallots.
2. Heat the oil in a small fry pan, add the ginger, scallions and a sprinkle of salt - about 1/2 teaspoon.
3. When the oil bubbles and sizzles, stir the mixture so that the ginger and scallions soften - only do it until it has just softened and then remove from heat. It only takes about 2-3 minutes.
4. Put into a bowl and serve in addition to the soy chicken.

Not a bad start to my commitment to learning more about Chinese cooking. They'll make a Tiger Mum out of me yet!

thesuzchef x

Montpellier Public House

Years and years ago, K and I had celebrated our anniversary at Restaurant Balzac with a degustation. I remember that it was fabulous: we had the matching wines, and it was all so romantic that I fell asleep in the car on the way home, happily full and slightly drunk. Lesson learnt: a degustation with matching wines is not conducive to a romantic anniversary celebration!

When we heard that Balzac was closing I was a little sad as I had happy memories of the place. Yet when I heard that Montpellier was opening in its place, with Matthew Kemp still at the helm, I was quite excited at this new venture. For some reason though, it has taken me this long to get there to try it out, despite having heard and read so many wonderful things about it. It took an unbeatable Travelzoo voucher to get me there - $65.00 for a 3-course meal for two people, including a glass of wine or cocktail each. Once I saw this online, I knew I had to snap it up!

Voucher in hand, K and I rocked up this past Tuesday night, having planned this way in advance knowing that Anzac Day fell on the Wednesday. It was a late dinner, 8pm, and when we turned up, we found Montpellier lively and noisy - full of people enjoying the night before a public holiday like we were. The voucher seated us downstairs in the more casual pub area rather than the fancier restaurant upstairs, and our table was set with our menu - two options for each course... and I was a bit sad to see that the bread and butter pudding which many people had recommended to me over twitter, was not on it.

 

K and I did our usual and ordered the alternate of each so we could try everything, except for the main - on this blustery cool evening, we both wanted the braised beef brisket! The voucher came with a cocktail or glass of wine, but as we're both non drinkers, apple juice was the order of the day. It was then that I decided that service was quite disinterested - we barely got a smile from the ladies that were working the floor that evening, let alone anyone asking us how the dishes were! 

The entrees of pea and ham soup, and potted ocean trout with pickled cucumbers, were both fabulous - K and I enjoyed them greatly. The soup was perfectly seasoned and vibrantly green, and the richness of the potted ocean trout was perfectly matched by the pickles. There was a bit of a long wait for the mains, but we were happy with them when they arrived - the creamiest, richest potatoes ever that were just pure comfort that night, but I thought that the beef was perhaps a touch dry for my liking. 

Despite the lack of bread and butter puddling on the menu, I was really looking forward to the dessert - especially the warm chocolate pudding. However, it was the pavlova that absolutely blew me away... as K described it, it was "sweet air"! The pavlova was perfectly executed with this amazing crunchy crust and pillowly soft and shiny centre. It melted away to nothing on the tongue, and was accompanied by this gorgeous vanilla custard and poached peaches... despite my love for all things chocolate, my spoon kept on straying to K's pavlova plate over my own! 

Matthew Kemp closed down Restaurant Balzac to make way for Montpellier Public House - a more casual and rustic dining experience. I know many people who enjoy Montpellier and think it is fabulous, but K and I walked away from our dinner talking instead of how fabulous Balzac was. Our meal at Montpellier was good, it was food that we cannot be overly critical of, but it wasn't something memorable for us - not along the same vein as Balzac. 

Our meal was still great value on the Travelzoo voucher, but as to whether K and I would come back again - with or without the voucher - the answer is probably no. Unless it was just to eat pavlova... and maybe try the bread and butter pudding! 

thesuzchef x

I think I've lost my mojo!

"The details of my life are quite inconsequential... Very well, where do I begin? My father was a relentlessly self improving boulangerie owner from Belgium..."

 I didn't ever think that I would be quoting Austin Powers on my food blog but all I could think about was the famous Mike Myers character late this past Saturday night. So what does Austin Powers and food blogging have in common? Well, my father was never a relentless self improving boulangerie owner but I certainly did lose my mojo. My baking mojo that is.

It was a quiet Saturday evening at home, the husband was out at a pub cheering on his beloved Arsenal against Chelsea, and so I did what I would usually do in that situation - I bake. I decided on two things: Anzac biscuits since the day is coming up and a chocolate cake to take over to Gastronomous_Anonymous' as I planned on dropping in for a visit the next day. The fact that it was almost 10pm didn't faze me at all, both were things that I had whipped up a dozen times with no issue, and it would be a walk in the park...

Oh how wrong I was.

So, how do Anzac cookies taste without sugar? Probably like the dust from the trenches that our dear Anzacs fought in. And how do you beat a cake mix to make it all lovely and fluffy when you've broken your mixer - and I still have not yet figured out how I managed that. By hand you say? Don't be ridiculous! I had confidently also made a double batch of biscuits - so I now have dozens of tasteless dry biscuits that probably never go off. I have a broken mixer that cannot be fixed as one of the whisks has clean snapped off and a sink full of dirty dishes. I have, completely and utterly, lost my baking mojo.

Does anyone remember how Austin got his back? Help me regain mine!

thesuzchef x

Albee's Kitchen, Malaysian restaurant

I don't know about all of you out there but on Friday nights, I'm more likely to be at home in bed early than out and about drinking and socialising. Maybe it's to do with the fact that I'm no longer a sprightly young thing, or a glamorous girl abut town. Blame it on marriage, blame it on age, blame it on work, but on Friday's at 5pm, the only thing I want to do is head home, have a quick feed and just chill out.

Last Friday night was no different, and in the morning as we headed to work the hub and I discussed where to go for dinner. He was the one that suggested Campsie, a bustling multicultural suburb quite close to us, but one which we rarely ever visited and certainly never eaten at. All day I was wondering what options were available in Campsie, and I recalled from the depths of my brain a tiny nugget of information - something about a fairly decent Malaysian restaurant. A quick Google search later confirmed that Albee's Kitchen in Campsie was where I could go to get decent Malaysian hawker fare - it was cheap, unpretentious and quick... exactly what I wanted!

Albee's Kitchen, according to their website, originated from a food court eatery in Kuching. I also see that they have also opened another restaurant in Cabramatta after the success of their Campsie branch. With a shout out on Twitter as to feedback from anyone who had been and what to order, K and I landed on the doorstep of Albee's around 7pm on the Friday night and found it bustling - lots of couples, pairs as well as large groups enjoying their dinner. Now I had been forewarned from the SMH review of Albee's to not expect much by the way of decor, but it was still a bit of a slap in the face. Don't expect anything nice at all. We're talking tiled floors, basic plastic tables and stools to sit on, a very strange mix of things hanging on the walls and wait staff that looked like they hadn't smiled in decades.

I have to admit that I'm not an adventurous Malaysian eater, and I always go back to my favourites, and so I dutifully ordered my usual of char kwey teow, beef rendang (but as part of the nasi lemak) and cendol. For starts, we ordered the lor bak - minced seafood and pork, rolled up in soya bean curd sheets and deep fried. The cendol arrived first, and I was relieved to see that it didn't have any red beans in it, despite me forgetting to ask them to omit it. It was sweet and cold and definitely nicer than the one that I had had in Temasek in Parramatta.

Lor bak: $8.00

The food arrived in quick succession - the lor bak hit the table with a gorgeous sambal that just lifted the dish. Both K and I were enthusing over how good the lor bak was when the CKT arrived next, and our eyes lit up immediately. A huge serving (it was more a platter than a plate), it was studded with prawns and lap cheong (i.e. Chinese sausage) which was a different touch. There was the much sought after "wok breath" and after adding some chili, K and I happily dug in and ate and ate! The nasi lemak with beef rendang arrived shortly thereafter, and although decent, it wasn't nearly as succulent or tender as the version doled out by Jackie M in Concord. The beef was a bit stringy and there were just way too many onions in it... and should there even be onions?

Nasi lemak with beef rendang: $12.00

Char kwey teow: $10.00

With a huge menu, including daily specials, I am eager to come back and try some of the other dishes, especially the laksa when the weather gets cooler. Don't expect anything in terms of service - this is definitely one of those places where you won't get a single smile and can be guaranteed that anything extra you ask for (such as some more sambal as we did - three times!) will never really show up.


For a low key, relatively close by, cheap feed on a Friday night, this definitely ticked all the boxes. Next time I'll be ordering the laksa to give it a shot, but the CKT will also have me coming back!

Albee's Kitchen
282 Beamish Street, Campsie
Open from 10am - 10pm daily

thesuzchef x

Oliver Brown, chocolate cafe

Since the end of Lent, chocolate and I have had a fabulous reunion. After 40 days apart, I came to really miss and appreciate chocolate - the smoothness of it, the sweetness, and of course, the bounce that it gives me, that lift to my flagging spirits. From 12.01am of Easter Sunday, I had chocolate and haven't been far from the stuff ever since, so it only made sense for me to visit a chocolate cafe during the Easter long weekend!

During the Easter long weekend, although it was fabulous to have time off work, I still spent some serious hours logged into my work emails and trying to cross things off my to do list... with some limited success. I spent what seemed like most of the Monday on my work computer working, and it was only at 7pm that I logged off, lured by an invitation from my husband to go to Oliver Brown. He had known of my desire to try Oliver Brown after seeing it all the time in the Top Ryde shopping centre, and he was attempting to get me off work to enjoy what was left of the long weekend! When tempted by chocolate, there really is no contest... so off we went, but to the Oliver Brown at Rhodes as it was closer.

Oliver Brown is a new chain of chocolate cafes in Sydney. With stores at Rhodes, Top Ryde and in Chatswood, it boasts a menu very similar to that of Max Brenner - actually, almost identical, right down to the names! Price wise is roughly the same, maybe a little cheaper, but when it came to quality, I can definitely say that Max Brenner is better. Oliver Brown was tasty, but I thought that the chocolate was not of the same quality - it was like comparing Cadbury to Lindt... you still like the Cadbury and you'd still eat the Cadbury, but Lindt will always be better!

On a quiet Monday night, there were a few locals at the Rhodes branch and we ordered a dark hot chocolate and a waffle with ice-cream. The dark chocolate hot chocolate was absolutely fabulous and highly recommended - it wasn't too sweet at all, and was rich and creamy. I'd definitely enjoy that on a cold night as an after dinner treat! The waffle itself came out smothered in chocolate sauce, even the two token strawberries that were placed on top - I couldn't help but think that it'd look so much better if they put on the strawberries after the chocolate drizzle, just for colour and contrast, but maybe that's me being picky.

The waffle itself was quite good - crispy on the outside, it had that requisite crunch that I like for my waffles. The chocolate was incredibly sweet and made me wonder if they have a dark chocolate version, but I don't think that is an option on the menu. The ice-cream was pretty average - not very creamy and it was probably some generic supermarket brand. I ate all of the waffle though, and then subsequently felt sick due to the chocolate overload after so much time away from it!

See that lump in the middle of my waffle? It's a strawberry!

Oliver Brown is probably what I would consider to fall into the ok territory. When it comes to chocolate cafe's, I think Max Brenner and San Churro are leagues ahead in terms of quality, but if I'm looking for something local for a sweet hit, then I'd go back!

thesuzchef x

Candied Bacon Brownies

Thank you Nigella. Only you could come up with something so naughty, so indulgent, so greedy and gluttonous! And boy, how does something that sounds so bizarre work so well?

I came across this Nigella recipe at the beginning of Lent, when I had just decided to abstain from chocolate for 40 days until Easter Sunday. As soon as I saw the recipe, I knew I had to try it, so I patiently bookmarked the recipe and waited... and waited... and waited! I was so eager to try this recipe that I made the decision that this was going to be the first thing I made on Easter Sunday - and so I made sure I had all the ingredients in advance, and sure enough, 10am on Easter Sunday morning saw me in the kitchen conjuring up this magic.

First of all, for all the people out there who think baking is too hard, or hate melting chocolate (i.e. me!) or are lovers of a salty-sweet balance, you MUST try this. It isn't difficult at all - it is a very simple recipe that uses cocoa instead of melting chocolate, and the most difficult part is probably frying up the bacon... and everyone can do that! As I was making this, I was worried that it would turn out too sweet and too indulgent, but eating it I was pleasantly surprised that it was perfectly balanced by the saltiness of the bacon - and probably also because I used salted butter instead of unsalted... a little adaption to Nigella's original recipe, just as I wanted a more pronounced salt flavour.

So how was it? Call me a glutton, it was fabulous. It was delicious and even my husband, a non-chocolate eater, thought it was a stand out. Super easy, and with ingredients I normally have loitering about my pantry and refrigerator, this will be my special recipe to whip out to impress!

Ingredients

2 thin streaky rashers of bacon, finely sliced and chopped
2 tablespoons of golden syrup
150g butter (I used salted, but you can use unsalted if you'd prefer)
250g light brown sugar
75g cocoa powder
1 cup plain flour
1 teaspoon bicarb
4 eggs, lightly beaten
100g dark chocolate chips / bits

Method

1. Preheat oven to 190 degrees Celsius, and grease a 25cm square cake tin. 
2. Fry the bacon over high heat until it begins to get crispy. Add the golden syrup, stir and let it sizzle for a minute before turning off the heat. Transfer to a plate.
3. Melt the butter over low heat on the stove top. When melted, add the brown sugar and stir until completely combined. Remove from the heat.
4. Add the cocoa, flour and bicarb to the butter and brown sugar mix (you can use the saucepan to reduce cleaning up) and stir to combine thoroughly.
5. Add the eggs and bacon and dark chocolate bits, fold through until the egg is completely incorporated.
6. Pour the brownie batter into the prepared tin. It will be very thick and sticky thanks to the golden syrup, but worry not, it will be delicious in short order!
7. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes for a very fudgy brownie. Remove from oven and let it cool on a wire rack (but still in the tin!).
8. After about 30 minutes, when it is cooled but not completely cold, cut the brownie into 16 perfect squares and try to keep yourself from devouring them all!

The brownie, without the bacon, is a fantastic texture - soft, fudge-like and not at all like a cake... the way that brownies are meant to be. With the bacon, you have these gorgeous little nubbins of salty bacon goodies - I made sure to chop mine so finely so that you didn't get slivers or chunks of bacon in the brownie. It is so unnoticeable in size, that it could be a surprise for whoever is lucky enough to get a square. And there were plenty of people that were lucky enough to get some brownies - as soon as they were cooled, I packed them up to give away so that I wouldn't eat them all!

A brilliant recipe - so easy, so delicious and always original. I will definitely be making these over and over again!

thesuzchef x

One bowl banana cake

I like recipes that don't call for fuss. I especially love recipes that don't require me to cream butter & sugar - because that means I need to be organized and take the butter out early so that it comes to the requisite room temperature, and sometimes that's just too much organization for me.

So when I came across a recipe for banana cake, which must be one of my favorite cakes of all time, that didn't require creaming of butter and didn't require a mixer, I was ecstatic! I had found the original recipe on the Best Recipes website and after reading all the feedback and comments, modified it a little. I've now baked this cake twice in the past week and it has turned out perfect both times. It has definitely been elevated into favorites territory for me!
 

Ingredients

125g butter, cubed
3/4 cups caster sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large bananas, ripe and mashed
1 1/2 cups self raising flour
1 egg
1/4 cup milk (I used skim)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 170 degrees Celsius
2. Grease and line a loaf pan or a round cake tin.
3. In a medium saucepan, place the butter, sugar and vanilla extract and heat over low heat until the butter melts.
4. Remove from heat and add the bananas and egg, stirring with a wooden spoon until all combined.
5. Add the flour and milk and mix until all combined.
6. Pour into the cake tin and bake in oven for 40 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.
7. Leave to cool for 15 minutes in tin before turning out onto rack to cool completely.

I love this recipe as it is so easy and requires very little cleaning up! A no fail, super easy banana cake recipe that turns out perfect every time - what isn't there to love about this?!?

The second time I made this cake I added some frozen blueberries into the batter and that turned out really well. If you're planning to do the same, take the time to toss the blueberries into a spoonful of flour first - this prevents the blueberries from leaking colour into the cake and also from them sinking down to the bottom when in the oven. When Lent is over and I'm free to eat chocolate once again, I would probably make a banana choc chip cake. Coconut and walnuts would also be fantastic, or add some crushed pineapple and turn it into a hummingbird cake!

I always love discovering recipes that are super easy and work every single time. This now rounds out my no fail, universally loved dessert repertoire of tiramisu, coconut sour cream cake and now this!

thesuzchef x

Cookies Subway style

I think cookies are probably my favourite things to make. They're always easy to whip up and I invariably have all the ingredients in my pantry or refrigerator, which is always stocked with at least 2 or 3 blocks of butter! Cookies also seem to be universally loved - even if people don't have a sweet tooth or won't be tempted by cake, they will pretty much never turn down a cookie.

As you may know from my earlier posts, last Christmas I gave my best friend a never ending cookie jar (valid for 12 months only!) that I top up with different cookies pretty much every fortnight. As my biggest consumer of cookies, my best friend has a preference for soft chewy Subway style cookies - a preference that I, and my husband and 3 brothers share. I've never been a crunchy biscuit gal, and I always aim to make cookies that are just slightly under done to get the perfect softness.

Cornflake, choc chip + marshmallow

This past weekend I went on a cookie baking rampage, driven solely out of boredom and also research. I wanted to know how to make those big soft Subway style cookies that are all over the US, and I found the perfect recipe for it in my Ben & Jerry's recipe book - this is the same cookie recipe that they use for their cookie dough ice cream! I tried it (using an ice cream scooper to get the perfect sized cookie) and was happy to see that they turned out pretty much like the real thing!

Ingredients - makes 12 big cookies

125g butter, at room temperature, cubed
1/4 cup caster sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup + 2 tablespoons of flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup dark chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius and line two baking trays with baking paper.
2. In a bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda and salt.
3. In a mixing bowl, beat together the sugars and butter until fluffy. Add the salt, vanilla extract and egg and beat for another minute or two more.
4. Add the dry mixture to the wet mixture, bit by bit in thirds, mixing well after each addition. Mix until all well combined.
5. With a wooden spoon, mix in the chocolate chips and walnuts (or variations of toppings - see below).
6. Using an ice cream scoop, scoop out perfect rounds of cookie dough and place onto the sheets, leaving plenty of space around them as they spread out. Flatten the cookie balls with the back of a spoon until about just under 1cm thick.
7. Bake both trays in the oven for 10 minutes, but switch them after 5 minutes to ensure that the bottom layer doesn't get burnt.
8. After 10 minutes (for a soft cookie, about 12-15 for a crunchier one), remove from oven, allow to sit in tray for another few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool to room temperature. The cookies continue to cook even after you remove them from the oven, so don't leave them in there for too long!

The first batch of cookies turned out so well that I subsequently made variations to it that very same day! Doing a double batch, I split the dough - for one lot I added a cup of cornflakes, 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips and then added mini marshmallows at the very end, pressing onto the top; and for the second batch I added dark choc chips and white choc chips. All three variations came out delicious and they were gobbled up very quickly by my best friend and my brothers!

With what I had left, I was inspired to scoop some vanilla ice-cream in between them and create ice-cream sandwiches. Wrapping them in cling wrap, they're sitting in my freezer calling my name!

thesuzchef x