favourite recipes for everyday cooking and baking

  I was inspired to make a Moroccan-style roast after having some super tasty barbecued chicken at Gladstone Park Bowling Club recently. They also served up the most amazingly crispy and delicious roasted potatoes. Best I've ever had. I'm still trying to figure out they made those potatoes, and if I do, you'll see it here first! Anyway, I came across this recipe for Moroccan-spiced roast chicken and thought it might be close to what I was searching for. Well, it turned out really good, and I loved the idea of tossing the cauliflower and sweet potatoes with the spice mix. This is a nice change from the usual lemon and herb roasted chicken I usually make for the family. And with summer just around the corner, this spice rub will be perfect for barbecued chicken wings and thighs.     Moroccan-spiced Roast Chicken Adapted from Leite's Culinaria   Ingredients   One whole  chicken (1.8kg / 4lbs) Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper 2 tbsp sweet paprika 1 tsp ground

In my previous post, I made a Miso Grilled Chicken which I served with garlic fried rice. The recipe for the fried rice is really simple, where I basically fried the chopped garlic until it's lightly golden and crisp before tossing the rice in with some eggs, soy sauce and scallions. Please find the recipe after the jump. Garlic Fried Rice Ingredients Vegetable oil, for frying 2 large eggs, beaten 2 cloves garlic, sliced thinly 1/2 tbsp butter 3 cloves garlic, chopped 3 cups cooked white rice, refrigerated overnight 2 tbsp soy sauce Dash of pepper 1/4 cup chopped scallions Method Heat 1 tbsp vegetable oil in a wok and swirl around to coat. Pour beaten egg into the wok, and when it's almost set, scramble it and chop it up with a spatula. Transfer to a plate and set aside. Heat 1 tbsp oil in the wok and fry the sliced garlic on medium heat until lightly golden. Remove the garlic chips and set aside. Leave the oil in the wok. Add a little more oil to the wok if not enough, plus t

  It's been a busy weekend in the kitchen. The kids have been waiting all year (since last Christmas) to make gingerbread men, and so we did that this afternoon and they had fun painting the gingerbread men, trees and stars pastel colours of blue, green and pink. They enjoyed them so much that I couldn't bear to eat any (maybe I will pinch a bit when they're not looking!). In the midst of the baking and cookie-decorating, I prepared a simple dinner of grilled miso chicken. With the leftover rice in the fridge, I made a  garlic butter fried rice (click here for recipe ) to serve with the chicken. And since there were bones from the thighs I had deboned, I made a chicken soup with carrot and corn. No waste!     For a fuss-free meal (and more time to do Christmas shopping...), let the oven do all the cooking and enjoy this oh-so-tasty grilled chicken with garlic and miso. Grilled Miso Chicken Ingredients 6 medium-large chicken thighs, deboned, skin on Marinade: 4 tbsp Shiro M

There are some things in life that just can't wait, like these beautifully  charred pork dumplings (or gyozas) topped with okonomiyaki sauce , mayonnaise, spring onions and bonito flakes. I was getting my regular TV fix of Destination Flavour Japan last week, and as I watched Adam Liaw flip over a pan of crisp charred dumplings onto a plate, I couldn't help but imagine how tasty those gyozas would be if I could just have a bite. Gyozas are similar to Chinese potstickers (guotie), though their Chinese counterparts usually have thicker skins and are slightly bigger. Both are usually served with a soy and vinegar dipping sauce, sometimes with chilli oil and shredded ginger too. By the way, check out these dancing bonito flakes below! I've never made gyoza wrappers from scratch before, though they are really good because you can roll them out thinly and they get nice and crisp after frying. If you can't spare the time to make them, store-bought wrappers work fine too. In

  As Mr G was clearing the dishes after dinner, he started whinging about how he's always clearing the dishes. I told him "I've always offered you the chance to cook while I babysit and clean up, but you always say that I'm the cook". Well, I knew he would rather "clean up" than cook anyway, and dare I say that I trust my cooking more? Haha. I have to give him credit for some of his culinary skills. Let's see now... Mr G's forte lies in his famous Hainanese chicken rice . Famous because anyone who is invited to our home for the first time is usually treated to this Singaporean favourite. Oooh...he bakes a good pineapple-glazed Christmas ham, and roast beef too. We'll be looking forward to that soon! And last but not least, he does a pretty good lasagne. I say "pretty good" because the recipe is in his head, and sometimes it can be a little inconsistent. The last lasagne he made had too much béchamel and mozzarella cheese in it. He b

  In my previous post , I wrote about my first time dining at a Lebanese (or Middle-eastern) restaurant, Al Aseel . I had ordered the "Mixed Plate", comprising an array of dips and a three types of grilled meats on skewers - chicken, lamb and kafta. I wasn't a fan of the chicken as I found it a little dry. The lamb was not bad, but my favourite was the kafta.   Kofta  generally refers to savoury balls of ground meat (or vegetables, potatoes, lentils etc) mixed with spices, herbs or other ingredients. In Lebanese cuisine, it's called kafta and is usually made with ground beef, allspice, parsley and onions. I decided to make a lamb kofta kebab instead by placing the lamb mince on skewers and then grilling them on the barbecue. You can use either beef, lamb or a combination of both. You may serve this with some Lebanese bread (or any flatbread), hummus and tahini sauce with tabouli as a salad.  I also made some beef kebabs which is simply taking some good quality beef