Happy Father's Day Homemade Dinner

We had a simple dinner at home celebrating Father's Day. I didn't make that cake. It's a black and white chocolate mousse cake from Arome bakery, costs about HK$160 (credit card discount) with a free pack of "Japanese" cookies. Good deal!

The dinner prep was really a father-son bonding session. What on earth were they trying to make?


This. Homemade roast pork - the recipe comes with the halogen cooking pot.


Did it work?

We love how it is transparent and we can all argue about the state of the food in the cooking pot. Perfect ice breaker for family gathering!

The father-son bonding only got stronger from there.

Proven by how SC and his dad collaborated plucking out remnants of pig hair...

...and after 15+30 minutes... voila!

Tasty roast pork! The meat's tender enough. The skin could use a little more poking, but not bad at all!

Here's MIL whacking away the siu yuk. She looked damn cool doing it. Don't mess with her.

Tasted AMAZING with rice. Not advisable for those on low carb diet :D

We also had beef curry. Very spicy.


And fish wrapped mangoes FIL learnt from TV.

If I could ever find that TV chef who taught this, Imma have to whack him/her with a cutting board. What a waste of beautiful fresh mangoes!

The cake has tool box shaped chocolate. Everybody loved it.

I grew up without a dad, but I love celebrating father's day with SC's family :)

Happy belated father's day, y'all. Hope you had a fantastic father's day celebration :)

Super Simple Roast Duck

I love Jamie Oliver's recipe, each and every single one that I tried were easy enough for idiots like me, and the results, oh the results...I love the result, and SC's always so happy with the results, he might agree to let me purchase a whole new cabinet-ful of shoes (and a new cabinet to store them too).

I made this roast duck simply following a sentence (ONE sentence!!!) I heard on Travel & Living Channel, it was something like this...(I can't remember the exact words)...
This will make this sentence the shortest "recipe" ever posted here?
Rub lots of salt and pepper all over the duck, grill in a preheated oven, 180C for two hours, flip once after around 1 hour.

Since I love stuffing things up my bird's butt and my mini herb garden is still alive and kicking..in went some rosemary and thyme, as well as half a lime (I needed the other half for my drink :p).

I thought I'd never say this, but my bird's butt smelt fantastical!

Serve with carbs and greens of your choice, but I really wanted to rip this hot bird apart with my bare hands, and consumed it with a plate of hot steamed rice and Indonesian sambal (chilli paste), one of my legs up on my dining chair :D

Honey & Lime Roast Chicken

Oh boy.
Look at that bird's ass.
Golden delicious!

...and it's something I could make while I having a mindless chat, gawking at hot guys/beautiful pictures/delicious food/sinful desserts, or shopping online.

Perfect.

I'll try giving some step by step picture illustrations. Some, not all, since apparently my attention to details = crap.

First, start with the bird. Mine's HK$30 worth of smallish chicken. Rinse thoroughly inside out, pat dry, rub salt (generously) all over the bird, inside out and in between the meat and the skin.

Now, herbaliciousness.

I was really excited to use some goodies from my mini herb garden. I snipped a few sprigs of rosemary, thyme and basil, rinsed, drained them well, crushed 5 cloves of garlic and slice a lime into sections.

Before messaging the bird with some herbs, I prepared my roasting pan...

Being a good partner, I line my roasting pan with foil, for sous chef's easy cleaning later (otherwise, he may refuse to clean forever = my loss). Preheat oven to 180C/350F.

I squeeze lime juice all over the chicken, inside out. Stuffed lime sections, crushed garlic and herbs in the bird's cavity and in between its skin.

Then lay it on the roasting pan...cover with foil...

Dump the whole thing into oven and do whatever you like for about an hour.

After an hour...take out the bird and uncover...and ohmygod!

Nothing happened to the chicken???!!!

Actually it's pretty much cooked, now we just need to brown the skin.
Crank up the heat of the oven to 220-250C. Roast the chicken uncovered, flip once it turns light brown.
Take out the bird again, slather honey (generously. I used cheap BBQ honey, which is pretty much syrup?) all over the skin, drizzle some into the cavity, squeeze lime juice all over...and throw it into oven again until it gets really golden.

Forget being ladylike, civilised, well educated, elegant, blablabla.
Best consumed savagely with bare hands.
Ouch! Hot!

Serve with a side of carb and some greeneries of your choice.

Roasted Duck with Orange Honey Glaze - My Sweet Ugly Duckling

Weird. Isn't this Hong Kong? The land where ducks and geese, roasted or preserved, are just hangin'...at almost every street corner? Yeah! The last time I checked, it still is!

So, I thought finding fresh duck meat might be easier than finding the perfect, comfy high heeled shoes (which is equal to the quest for the holy grail for my troublesome feet), but boy, I was so wrong. Carefully, I searched the fresh poultry stands in wet markets, the frozen sections of supermarkets....I found whole chicken, black chicken, chicken legs, wings, breasts, skin on, skin off, bone on, bone off...but I didn't see no duck, AT ALL!

Naturally (I think you know this annoying human nature), the harder it is to find...the more you want it. A friend told me that chilled duck meat is available (at HK$28/half a duck) in a luxury supermarket far far away (in Western District, like 1 hr and 15 minutes traveling time from my place. In Hong Kong, that's practically a different planet). Do I want it that bad? I was contemplating jumping onto a bus one weekend to get that piece of hot duck azz, then thought better of it and planned to just get a chicken instead.

Surprise, surprise, what did sous chef find lying helplessly at the corner of poultry section of the frozen shop? Bags after bags of frozen whole duckies, at HK$28 for a whole duck! HAHA! Score! By the way, I am crossing the phrase "great attention to detail" off my resume.

I was thinking how to beautify my ugly duckling...and thought of oranges. Hold it. I need to manage your expectations here. This is by no means the classic Duck a L'Orange, baby! This is just my way of perfuming my ugly duckling.

Roasted Duck with Orange Honey Glaze


Recipe

Tenderizing
- 1 duck, defrosted
- 5 cm ginger, crushed, or ginger powder
- 5 cloves of garlic, crushed
- 3/4 onion, sliced into big chunks
- 2 oranges, sliced into big chunks
- hot water, olive oil, salt, white pepper
Trim duck's excess fat (wish I could do the same to mine), wash duck, rub inside out with salt and pepper. Saute garlic, ginger, onion with a bit of olive oil, add duck (I cut the duck into quarters), add orange pieces, add water just enough to cover everything. I used a pressure cooker for 20 minutes. If you are not using pressure cooker, cook until duck meat is tender and you get creamy colored, tasty stock (use the stock for other purposes later). Set the bird aside for grilling.


Glazing

- 1 clove garlic
- 1/4 onion, thinly sliced
- 2 cm ginger, julienned
- juice of 1 orange
- orange peel (of 1 orange)
- orange chunks (of another orange)
- honey, salt, white pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg, olive oil, a bit of hot water
Saute garlic, onion, ginger in a bit of olive oil, add orange peel until everything's fragrant, add honey, orange juice, a bit of hot water, orange chunks, salt, white pepper, a bit of cinnamon and nutmeg, let it caramelized a little. Use some to give the duck a rub, set aside some for sauce.


Grilling

Preheat oven to 250C. Throw the duck on an oven tray (I lined mine with foil - for easy cleaning later), place bits and pieces of glaze in, outside, and all around the duck, sprinkle a bit of salt and white pepper. I added extra honey/glaze from time to time to get more beautiful golden brownage. Grill until golden brown.

It ain't no Gisele...but my ugly duckling was sweet.

Potatoes 2 Ways: Fries with Black Pepper plus Italian Herbs and Roasted Potatoes with Garlic, Herbs and Balsamic Vinegar

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I was feeling rather spuddy the other day. All I wanted was potatoes, potatoes, potatoes...yellow, orange, purple...deep fried, roasted, mashed, baked...if only I could have them all in one night! Plus...I just got myself this bitchin' slicer from the market.....

The super convincing sales lady demonstrated how the device works by gingerly using it to slice and cut various fruits and vegetables into those cute, adorable shapes!!!...and you could do all that...with just HK$30 (less than USD4)!!! WOW!!! It is idiot proof and comes with a safety holder which makes it absolutely safe! You don't have to worry about losing a nail or two in slicing catastrophes!!!...the lady said...

I was impressed...but still contemplating whether or not I should get it, as normally I don't have any luck with any magical products I've bought off street demonstrations. They generally fell apart or wouldn't work in my hands. But this time, I was wowed by those lattice cut veggies! What the heck! Wouldn't it be awesome if I could make my own lattice cut fries at home?

As if!

Fries with Black Pepper & Italian Herbs

From a whole big potato, we only managed to lattice cut these teeny tiny bowl of spud. The rest crumbled into pieces. The slicer was difficult to manouver, the detachable bit always pops out of place, it is not sharp enough, and the safety holder made it even more annoying to operate. HAHAHA!

Recipe
- 1 potato, sliced into any desired shape of fries
- oil for frying
- salt, black pepper, dried italian herb mix (rosemary, thyme, sage, oregano)
Wash and peel potato, sliced, pat dry, fry in hot oil, lay on kitchen towel to drain excess oil, sprinkle with salt, black pepper and mixed herbs.

Roasted Potatoes with Garlic, Herbs and Balsamic Vinegar

After the slicing blooper, I was not about to slice these babies into any funny shapes anymore. I just wanted the ordinary good 'ol thick chunks i can bite into.

Recipe
- 1 potato, sliced into thick chunks
- olive oil, a bit of butter
- salt, pepper, dried rosemary and oregano
- balsamic vinegar
- 3 cloves of garlic, crushed, leave skin on

Preheat oven to 200C. Throw potatoes into a tray, drizzle olive oil, throw in a bit of butter, season with salt, pepper, and herbs, drizzle balsamic vinegar, scatter crushed garlic, give them a little rub, bake until golden brown and a bit charred. My whole flat was perfumed with delicious scents when I was baking these babies.

Will I stop using the slicer? Nah, I'll give it another try...
I guess it's either "practice makes perfect" or "if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is" hehe

Pork Teriyaki Stew & Roasted Zucchini with Balsamic Vinegar

Against all Halloween odds, tonight our celebration doesn’t involve pumpkin, candies or any other spooky-cutey-halloweensy food. We’re going to a Chinese HOT POT joint! Awwww!!!

I stopped by a costume shop yesterday night…and boy! It was a total chaos! All kinds of slutty nun, dirty school girl, naughty nurse, sexy policeman, chubby skeleton, and kinky emperor wannabes were so close to groping each other while trying to grab anything (and anyone) in sight. There were at least 10 languages being shouted to and from every direction and there was almost no more red devil horns head gear by the time I elbowed my way in.

After dodging flailing bloody arms, scary masks, kinky costumes, and neon colored wigs, I got my horns…and the food devil was born…

I was sooo close to wearing the free cut-out mask from yesterday

This dish below has nothing to do with Halloween, but the food devil just loves teriyaki sauce. It is her poison of choice.

Pork Teriyaki Stew & Roasted Zucchini with Balsamic Vinegar

Recipe
Pork Teriyaki Stew
- 1 lb pork ribs (I had some with soft bone)
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1 onion, thinly sliced
-1 cm ginger, crushed
- teriyaki sauce, pepper, olive oil, hot water
Saute garlic, ginger and onion in hot oil, add ribs, add teriyaki sauce, add hot water, stew for 2-3 hours until the meat’s tender. If you have a pressure cooker...grrrr...I am green with envy!

Roasted Zucchini with Balsamic Vinegar
- 2 zucchini, peeled, sliced into 1 cm thick slices
- 4 cloves of garlic
- balsamic vinegar
- salt, pepper, olive oil
Preheat oven to 200C, arrange zucchini in a tray, scatter garlic, rub some oil, add balsamic vinegar, season, roast until zucchini pieces are a bit charred.

Now, ready or not...here I come!

Rosemary Roasted Pork Belly and Stewed Pork Ribs with Potatoes

I woke up this morning feeling pleasantly surprised. The temperature is down to the perfect air-conditioned-like 23C. Wow! Autumn is here! I am super excited to purchase endless supplies of boots, boots and more boots. Low heeled ones to commute, high heeled ones for when I feel sexy or won't be walking at all, chunky ones with fringe to keep up with trend, crocheted ones to match my girly frocks...and so on, and so on, and so on. They will all have something in common, which is....CHEAP! Hehe. Quantity > quality. Maybe that's why my legs and feet are always hurt. :p

I think the little kitchen bitch inside of me felt the arrival of autumn too....as all I wanted to do recently was stewing, stewing and more stewing! It's just like how my joints get painful when a typhoon is coming, minus the pain, just a little itch ^_*

I was wondering if a stew would be a perfect opportunity to use the beautifully dried rosemary I received from Kits Chow recently. Thanks so much, girl! I've been dying to try using more herbs, such as rosemary and oregano, but did not even have the strength to move my azz far enough to buy them from any luxury supermarkets, let alone trying to plant them myself, just like what you did. Bravo!

The feeling of opening a package...I could imagine that it was just like an early Christmas morning (since growing up in Indonesia, I've never actually celebrated Christmas that way hehe)

I got a book of how to make my own natural beauty treatments (I could really use some...other than just my single bottle of Olay)...and the packs of dried rosemary and oregano! Wow! Thanks again so very much, you're awesome!

I saw a pack of beautiful pork ribs and a pack of crazy cheap pork belly, and couldn't resist but to buy them both (just like how I couldn't resist buying pairs after pairs of cheap boots hehe). Plus, I kinda wanted to use the oven...it's been abandoned for quite a while, I am sure it is pretty depressed. I should really name my kitchen appliances, guys. Am I nuts? Does anyone do the same?

Rosemary Roasted Pork Belly & Stewed Pork Ribs with Potatoes

Recipe
- 1 pack (1/2 lb) pork ribs with bone
- 1 pack (1/2 lb) pork belly
- 1 large potato, cut into bite size chunks
- a couple of tbsp chopped dried rosemary
- 4 cloves of garlic, chopped
- salt, pepper, sugar, olive oil, hot water

Rub pork ribs and belly with chopped garlic, rosemary, and olive oil. Heat up pot, throw in ribs and belly (skin down) and let them brown a bit, add hot water just enough to cover everything, bring to boil, add salt, pepper sugar, cook until the meat is cooked, remove pork belly, continue to simmer the ribs in low heat for about 2 hours-3 hours, you will know when it is done when you see the meat falls off the bones. Throw in the potatoes only in the last 30 minutes. Adjust seasoning when necessary. I like them intense and tasty.

Preheat oven to 200C, grill pork belly until the top skin is golden and crisp, basting it with the juices from the simmering ribs from time to time.

You'll get crazy tender pork ribs and super crunchy pork belly to match.

Would it be too crazy to start wearing my boots now when it's 23C? No, right? I saw people started wearing them when it was 32C anyway!

Look at that Bird's Cute Butt! My First Roasted Chicken

Oooohhh la la~! Isn't that the cutest butt I've ever seen! Well, maybe second cutest...the cutest one would be my butt, kindly refer to below picture LOL. Fortunately and unfortunately, I couldn't find one where I was naked...sorry to disappoint ;p

I have never roasted a whole chicken before...but I was totally inspired by Little Corner of Mine's whole roast chicken, which looks so gloriously golden and delicious. Plus it sounded totally doable, even for roast chicken virgins like me hehe. The other thing was, I saw chilled whole chickens being sold for HK$30 (around US$3.8), and they are kinda small, so they will fit into my tiny oven. Since I don't have the ready made marinate recommended by Ching, my plan was just to rub all of my favorite spices onto the bird. This is what I call perfection! I got the plan, the bird, and the tool. Now let's see if I could ruin another idiot proof experiment LOL.

Roasted Chicken with Garlic, Butter, Shallot and Spring Onion

Recipe
- 1 chicken (smallish)
- 5 cloves of garlic, crushed, cut into a few sections
- 3 cloves of shallot, chopped into a few sections
- 1 cm of ginger, crushed
- a few sprigs of spring onion
- zest of half lemon
- butter, salt, pepper

Marinating
Trim off excess fat, stuff 1 tbsp of butter into the hollow part of the bird, along with a few pieces of garlic, shallot, ginger and spring onion, sprinkle a bit of salt and pepper. Stuff similar combination in between the meat and the skin, rub butter, salt and pepper all over the bird, keep in the fridge, preferably overnight, if not, a couple of hours will do.

Roasting
Preheat oven to 175C, use a deep baking tray, as there will be lotsa juice, cover our little bird with foil (shiny side facing the bird), bake for 1 hour. Uncover the bird, remove excess juice, increase heat to 250C, bake until the skin is crisp and golden, flip the bird to crisp the other side.

The end result couldn't be further from a failure. The bird's butt was plump, shiny and golden. The meat was tasty and super moist (I even ate the breast, and normally I am all about legs), and the skin...it is worth all the pounds and kilograms I was gonna gain from eating it :p I served it with herb and butter rice (recipe coming soon) and a plate of broccoli and tomatoes, but it should taste fantastic with anything else.

Now, how do I get my oversized butt to be as cute...