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 !

Grandma's Curry Chicken secret recipe

This is one recipe that my relatives always come to our house for, especially during Chinese New Year period. But, since this is Deepavali, we also decided to have our own family dining with Grandma's Curry Chicken, how's that for a mini celebration !

I could say , the Grandma's curry is so well-received by my relatives that I do not always have a 2nd serving by the time I get my hands on it during CNY. So, here it is, my mum's hand-me down secret recipe.. it's more a combination of Northern Indian thick curry, not the yellowish curry ones which we normally have. It's can be real spicy depending on the type of the curry powder !

Brace yourself for the curry fragance while cooking ... can cause sneezing seizure ..haha ! And brace even more when savouring the curry gravy.. For the Faint-hearted, go slow. For the Brave-hearted Foodie, I say GO For IT ! Hmm.. extra curry spices, anyone ?

So here it is...

What is Required

1 chicken - cut into slices
2 big potatoes (peeled and boiled, cut into cube sizes)
3 tomatoes
2 garlic cloves - minced
2 shallots
1 big onion
1 cinammon stick
1 Star Anise

3 seeds of Cardamon
3 tbsp cooking oil
5 tbsp curry powder
50g coconut milk
1 cup fresh milk
3 tbsp sugar ( taste)

1 pinch of salt

How To Do it

Heat the wok with oil and fry the garlic, shallots.

Add in the Star Anise and the cinnamon stick
Fry until fragrant for 1 minute.

Add in the chicken slices and fry.

Pour in the curry powder, add 5 tbsp of water. and fry for another 2mins,

Add in the onion and the tomatoes and fry for 1 min.

Add in coconut milk and fresh millk.

Simmer until the chicken is cooked.

Add in the potatoes and simmer for about 2 mins.

Stir in the sugar and salt.

Ready to serve... hmm... smells good !

What's life without spiciness !!

Chicken Rice

As promised, since this is the pure Mummy stressed weekend due to PSLE, I tend to cook more again ! Oh no, don’t get me wrong, it’s not me taking the PSLE exam - my elder son is the one ! I am just the study-mama for the next few days, where the typical elder son respond to my usual query on his studies is, “Yes Mummy, I have studied this..” Hmm. does that sound reassuring to the mummy ?

I guess I am just the unconventional one. You guess it ! Putting myself into the madness of cooking ** LOL ** Is this is the typical mummy ? I try to convince myself that in some ways I am contributing meaningfully to this whole exam madness, ie. giving my elder son moral support... in terms of nutrition. If you look at it, it means I need to get away (victim mode), to stay off his path so that I don’t unnerve him and myself . HaHa ;-)

Ok, now.. for something relatively simple would be good to get by this weekend for the family.

Singapore Home Styled Chicken Rice Recipe

What is required for the Chicken

1 chicken (around 1kg to 1.5kg)
5 cloves of garlic (peeled)
1 stalk of spring onion
1 tsp of salt
¾ pot of water ( just ensure the whole chicken is submerged into the water)
3 slices of ginger
1 string
2 tbps of sesame oil (or can be vegtable or olive oil)

How to do it :
1. Salt the whole chicken including the inside of the chicken
2. Stuff the garlic and spring onion into the chicken
3. Tie the 2 chicken drumstick with a piece of string to hold the stuffings
4. Boil the pot of water. Switch off the stove. Put the chicken and ginger into the boiled water. Cover the pot with a lid (no peeping during the 1 hour) to avoid letting the hot steam escape.
5. Remove the chicken and cut the string.
6. Run the chicken under cooling water.
7. Rub the chicken with sesame oil to give it a good taste and shiny look.
8. Proceed to chop the chicken once it is cooled.

You got to try it to believe it , that the chicken meat can be cooked in this manner , without having the stove heat on ! This is One of the wonder recipes taught to me by my HongKong campus friend, Ada while I was studying in Australia.

By not having the stove heat on, this makes the chicken tender and delicious, since it does not overcook it and leaving behind the juiciness of the chicken.

What is required for the Rice
2 cups of rice - cook for 4 adults and 2 kids
5 cloves of chopped garlic
3 cloves of peeled garlic
5 shallots chopped
1 tbps of cooking oil
3 cups of chicken stock (from the boiled chicken above).

How to do it
1. Wash the rice in a pot of water and drain the water. Repeat this until the water is relatively clear.
2. Use a wok (or a pot if you don't have a wok) and heat the oil.
3. Fry the shallot and chopped garlic until fragant. Add in the rice grain and fry for around 5 mins.
4. Remove and put the rice into the rice cooker.
5. Add in the chicken stock and ensure the chicken stock is 1 inch above the rice in the rice cooker .
6. Add in the peeled garlic
7. Let this cook as per normal in the rice cooker.

Hope you enjoy this tenderising chicken rice recipe !