Christmas Turkey - the ALL-Time holiday favourite

I love Christmas holidays with all the happy festivities bubbling everywhere. Just another of those moods to spend time shopping and cooking up a feast. And, of course, I feel like a frozen-Turkey hunter every Christmas. Hope no one see The dishevelled Mummy scouring around on the day before the Eve of Christmas and looking for her Beloved Turkeys.

Well, not that I know how it looks like under all those plastic wraps (LOL), I must look for the best size Turkey to fit my oven. haha... I quickly zoomed on 2 Turkeys. Phew.. last few left.

I guess if you must know, years ago, I have been the reigning appointed Turkey Cook for my family and in-laws. ;-) I am still waiting to bequeath my title.. hmm ..still waiting..

A little history. Almost every year at least for the past 10 years, I have been cooking Turkey without fail except for that one last year when the family decides to give me a break and we bought those pre-cooked ones to reheat. Bad choice. BIG mistake. A real disappointment as the meat tasted hard and non-juicy. Verdict ? They missed my home-cooked one.

This year, I decided to try a different Baked Roasted Turkey, alot more buttery sauce with flavoured herb Turkey. Well, this version is surprisingly more tender and juicy. Mr H is so easily impressed. The boys are equally full of accolades ! Hehe.. wonders of being someone's wife and mother.. isn't this so thrilling. I have my own red carpet right at my home and in-laws ;-)

Some pictures of the children tucking into a feast !

What is Required

Turkey
1 tbsp black pepper
2 tbsp salt
1 tbsp Teriyaki sauce
2 onions (sliced)
2 stalks celery (chopped to cubes)
2 carrots (chopped to cubes)
2 tsp rosemary leaves , 1 bay leaf
200g of fresh mushrooms

Herb Butter Ingredient
250g butter
1 dash of 5 spice powder
1 tbsp black pepper
1 tbsp garlic powder
2 tbsp spaghetti bolognese herb

How to Do It

1. Season the Turkey exterior with Teriyaki Sauce.
2. In the Turkey interior, season with black pepper and salt. Add in the Rosemary leaves.
3. To make a flavoured Butter, add the Herb butter ingredient. Use a fork to mix it.
4. Use a spatula to gently insert a pocket of space under the turkey skin for both sides of the Turkey.
5. Insert the Herb Butter into the Skin pocket and spread it inside the skin. Do for both sides
6. Spread the remaining of the herb butter onto all over the exterior of the Turkey.
7. Add in the carrot, celery, onion and mushrooms together with the Turkey for baking.
8. Add 2 cups of water and the bay leaf.
9. Cover top of the turkey with aluminium foil to prevent the top from getting burn.
10. Bake for 60mins at 190C. Insert a skewer to check that the Turkey is cooked. Otherwise, cook for another 5 to 10mins and check again.

Have a tenderising Turkey ! Cheers to everyone and have a wonderful Holiday Season !

Oyako Don

Another of my favourite .. yummy Oyako Don.

One of my earliest recollection of Oyako Don was eaten at the then Tampines DBS Centre where there was a Japanese restaurant at its Basement. That was way back then. Those days, Japanese food was still not the "In" thing , where most of the innocent people like me (I hope so), always thought that Japanese food was all raw. I was pleasantly surprised to find cooked chicken rice (the Japanese version).

Till this day, I still love eating Oyako Don (Chicken) and Mr H still loves his Katsu Don (Pork). Am I glad that we both seek to keep Mother Nature's poultry in-balance ! hehe..

Here's my attempt to make this gluey eggy chicken rice with all the onions that goes along with it.. I love it when the eggy sauce covers the rice entirely and seeps through the rice.

Can't stop drooling even as I am writing and looking at these pics !

It's simple to make.. unbelievable.

What is required
6 bowls of cooked rice
4 big thigh drumstick chicken, cut small cube sizes
2 tbsp oil
2 big onion, sliced
6 eggs, lightly beaten , 1 egg for each bowl of rice

Toasted Nori (seaweed)

Marinate

1tbsp corn flour
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp mirin
3 tbsp oyster sauce
2 tsp sugar
A pinch of salt

Seasoning:
1 tbsp mirin
1 tsp soy sauce
3 tbsp oyster sauce
2 cup water (depends on preference for liquid consistency)

How to Do it
1. Add the marinate sauce to the chicken pieces and rest for 15 minutes.
2. In a wok, fry the onion for 2 mins.
3. Add all chicken bites until cooked.
4. Add in the seasoning sauce and 1/2 cup water for 5 minutes and simmer for 2 mins and turn off fire.
5. Set aside cooked chicken. Divide the chicken into 6 equal portions
6. For each divided portion of chicken, saute with 1/4 cup of water in the wok and add in 1 lightly beaten egg on top of chicken and do a quick stir
7. Scoop chicken, onion and egg mixture onto the bowl of rice
8. Repeat step 6 to 7 until all bowls of rice has been completed
9. Sprinkle Seaweed on top of rice and serve.

Have your appetite been whet ? It's easy to cook, try it !

Chawanmushi - Japanese steam egg

My elder son loves steam eggs ! He is mad about steam eggs, especially if it is the Japanese Steam Eggs. So if you happen to see a young chap gorging down Chawanmushi available at buffets, you know it's him ! And.., should anyone knows of Gorge-ALL-You-Want-Chawanmushi place, you know whom would desparately want to know as well.

Oh..Pray let there be Chawanmushi always.. it's the one way to get him to EAT. He needs all the proteins he can get. So anything to LEVEL-UP ( gaming word , how about that ! , LOL ) his palate , I am always game to try it. (note : The Mummy is ever so afraid that the elder son will "vanish" into thin air because the younger one eats much faster and at times gobbles down his brother's share...sigh).

My elder son has been asking for mummy's chawanmushi for quite a while. I had this chawanmushi recipe for months now. Ughh.. no chawanmushi cups. Well, my elder son was quick to point out during a recent shopping spree when he saw the cups ! No escape.

My many-months-kept chawanmushi recipe

What is Required - cook for 6
2 tbsp Ikan Bilis powder or 1 cube of Fish Stock
6 large eggs
3 1/2 cups of water
2 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp salt
100g shitake mushrooms (sliced)
100g ham (slice square)
12 cooked peeled prawns (or equivalent of cooked crabstick, chicken, ham)


How to Do it
1. Pre-prepare the Stock. Boil the Fish stock. Leave it to cool in a fridge to bring down the temperature. Note : This is to prevent the eggs from being cooked once the stock is added.
2. Break eggs into a bowl. No stirring.
3. Add in the cooled stock into the eggs. Gently stir the eggs to mix well but not to beat the eggs.
4. Add in soy sauce and salt. Stir gently.
5. Divide and add equal portion of mushrooms, ham and prawns equally into the 6 cups. Leave some for top decoration later.
7. Use a sieve to pour the egg mixture into the cups gently.
8. Fill the wok with water (or electric steamer ) and bring to a boil.
9. Seal the cup with aluminium foil but leave a small gap for the steam to escape.
10. Put the cups into the wok (or steamer) and ensure water is hot.
11. Steam for 15mins.
12. Garnish the top and steam for another 1min and serve

My younger boy decides to give his portion of chawanmushi for his elder brother. The elder one ate 2 cups ! Too little. LOL

Domino Jelly

Just to make life more colourful and since it is Christmas season, here's bringing you some wonderous rainbow-coloured jello.

Why all sudden interest in Jello ? I am not one to fancy such stuff. Well. somehow, I came across this delightful front-cover dessert recipe book with a picture of an amazing rainbow chequered-coloured Jello. I swear I could hear it beckoning me to "try me", and it kept on whispering to me for so many weeks .

This is the first time I fell all-over for a Jello. It's like a love-hate relationship. Somehow, I couldn't resist buying this recipe book. I guess I just had to have it. Maybe, I may grow to like Jellos. Hmm.., problem was how to get hold of the domino jelly mould . I had hunted down this mould over Singapore, to the end of Singapore... hehe.. boy, am I glad to have found it. It's the only shop now selling the dominos since the manufacturer has closed shop and they bought all the dominos mould over. To think I am one of the lucky few to get this piece of gem !

Anyway, here's sharing some of my pictures on my zealous Agar Agar attempt.

You can find the recipe from My Secret Recipes Series- Delightful Sweet Treats by Madam Wong. Hope you have as much fun as I have !

Strawberry Mousse Cake

I have been dreaming of Strawberries since my family trip to Cameron Highlands. So here's one for all the Strawberry-crazed people out there..

Picking strawberries are fun ! Exactly what my boys did ! Not that my boys are dying to eat them, that's the least that they want to do, it's just the temptations of resisting to pluck is just too strong. **LOL ** Just as well that I am the "plucky" mummy..

ALL these strawberries into this cake ...

Somehow, pink does not fit into the context of my boys.. hmm.. it's just interesting to see them bite into a piece of my Strawberrryyyyy cake, grimacing their faces...hahaha. Surprisingly, my younger one, the ever-pleasing one, while helping me out, can't resist dipping his little finger into the strawberry icings and commented that it tasted real good !

To sweeten the deal, using the leftover swirl cake side wrappings, I slice into into 4 layers with added peanut butter for my younger one. On another swiss-roll piece , my elder one had yummy cheese spread over it. What a supper for the nite..

Not forgetting dearest Mr H, he gamely joined in as well. Oh.. believe me, I do really love my boys, and the boys love the Mummy. Isn't this great ! Hahaha...

I must really find others to amuse my cake with..

Anyway, here's how you can have fun with your strawberries.

What is Required

(A) Sponge cake

10 egg yolks

400 gm. cake flour

200 gm. sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

1 cup water

1 cup cooking oil

2 tsp. vanilla essence

4 tsp. baking powder

(B) 10 egg white

1 tsp. cream of tartar

150 gm. sugar

(C) Strawberry cream

200g strawberry

100g castor sugar

4 tsp gelatine powder

3 tbsp hot water

500g whipped fresh cream

How to Do it

1. Mix all the ingredients (A) together until smooth.

2. Whisk ingredients (B) to create a stiff peak, suggests using a cake mixer.

3. Add this whipped egg white into (A) and fold with a spatula.

4. Put a grease proof paper at bottom of tin.

5. Divide mixture into 3 portions.

6. To bake the coloured swirl cake, take 1st portion for the side decoration. Again, spilt the mixture into another 2 separate portions. Add 1/2 tsp of rose colour to 1st separated portion and mix it well. Pour into a 12" square cake pan and spread it out. Slowly dip the remaining white portion into patches randomly into the cake. Use a tooth pick to swirl the cake. Bake for 20mins at 190C.

7. To bake the sponge cake, pour into a 9" cake tin and bake for about 60 mins till cooked at 190C. Remove from oven and leave to cool completely on a cooling rack.

8. Slice the sponge cake into 2 layers.

9. To make the strawberry cream, boil strawberry and sugar in a doubled-boiler pan.

10. When cool, blend the mixture until fine. Stir gelatine with the hot water and add into mixture. Fold in the whipped cream.

11. Spread the strawberry cream between the 1st layer and 2nd layer of the sliced sponge cake.

9. For the side decoration, slice the swirl coloured cake around 2 inches width and wrap round the sponge cake.

12. Top up the rest of cake with the strawberry cream. Keep it in the fridge over night.

13. Have fun with the decoration.

Enjoy this yummy strawberry cake !

Oreo Yogurt Chocolate Cake

Past 2 weeks had been a madness for the mummy ! Totally washed out. I was scrambling to decide what cake to make for my younger son's 10th birthday. Panic. 2 days to count-down ! I have 10+ hungry kids to feed for his birthday home party ! And that's only the cake saga..

As always, my beloved Chatty one had gone ahead to tell his friends that mum's cooking crabs for this birthday ! Wow..That's super Sales talk, unbelievable thrown-in freebies ! He had totally forgotten his recent sudden onslaught of crab allergy , hmm..how convenient ! And that's only the crab saga...

As ever the "Gung-ho" mummy, as ever the sacrificing mummy, oh.. , there is no backing out. My son nonchalantly flipped through the cake recipe book and pointed out a gorgeous looking Oreo cake picture - a white fondant cake with Oreo toppings. And so, sealed my fate !

It's a change from the usual Chocolaty cake. I guess this will be fun to experiment with my version of Oreo. It's still Oreo, without doubt .. ** fingers crossed **.

My whipping cream was running out. So, I thought why not add yogurt as well.

What I did .. for a 12" by 12" square tin

(A) Chocolate sponge cake
10 egg yolks
400 gm. cake flour
200 gm. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup water
1 cup cooking oil
2 tsp. vanilla essence
4 tsp. baking powder
3 tsp. cocoa powder

(B) 10 egg white
1 tsp. cream of tartar
150 gm. sugar

(C) Filling - Oreo Cream
150gm oreo biscuit (crushed)
200gm plain yoghurt
150gm sugar
300 gm Dairy Whipped cream
50 gm pure cream

(D) Decoration :
Oreo biscuits, chocolate twists , icing sugar



1. Mix all the ingredients (A) together until smooth.
2. Whisk ingredients (B) to create a stiff peak, suggests using a cake mixer.
3. Add this whipped egg white into (A) and fold with a spatula.
4. Put a grease proof paper at bottom of tin. Pour into a 12" by 12" square tin and bake for about 45 mins to 50 mins till cooked at 180C. Remove from oven and leave to cool completely on a cooling rack. Slice into 2 layers.
5. To make oreo cream, mix yoghurt with sugar. Fold in whipped cream and pure cream. Add in the crushed oreo. Blend in until all mixed.
6. Spread oreo cream over 1st layer of sponge cake. Add the top layer of the sponge cake and spread all oreo cream all over.
7. Decorate with oreo biscuit and other desired toppings. Use a sieve to sprinkle icing sugar




I love the final touching up.. it so so fun..




Only managed to taste the cake on my son's big day. The kids went crazy over the chocolate twist... grabbing and gorging down the side Oreo biscuits ! Thank goodness, the taste came out right !

ALL I can say is that fantastic kids .. well done ! His friends was like "Aunty.. you bake this cake..?" I was like Who me ?? Best of all..was the appreciation from the birthday boy who said.."mummy..this cakes taste very good".

Kids are real honest ! I agree.. ;-)