Turkey Fried Rice

I used our last batch of leftover turkey for fried rice. 3 days of turkey wasn't too bad as compared to a week. Our last turkey lasted us a week as there were only 2 of us. There are 4 of us now, so it finished off quite quickly...phew...enough of turkey until next Christmas.

Ingredients:

• 2 rice cups Rice - cooked, left to cool (1 rice cup=180ml)
• 1 Large Onion - diced
• 1-1 1/2 cup Shredded Turkey Meat
• 1-1 1/2 cup Brussels Sprouts - sliced
• 1 tsp Sugar
• 1 tbs Fried Garlic
• 1 tsp Maggi Seasoning
• 1 tsp Knorr Chicken Powder
• 2 Eggs - beaten with 1 tbs Oyster Sauce
• Chili Oil Flakes (optional)

Directions:

• Stir fry onions until soft.
• Add brussels sprouts, sugar and a bit of water. Cook brussels sprouts until soften.
• Mix in turkey meat and leave to cook for about 2 mins to heat up turkey meat.
• Leave aside for later use.
• Loosen cold rice with a fork or rice ladle. A little bit of oil helps to loosen harden cold rice.
• Heat up rice on a hob.
• Add fried garlic, Maggi seasoning, chicken powder and mix.
• Push rice to the sides, leaving a while in the middle and pour beaten eggs into the hole.
• Start mixing the rice and beaten eggs when the eggs start to cook.
• Mix in turkey and brussel sprouts when eggs are cooked.
• Serve with chili oil!

Comments:

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Turkey Porridge

Turkey porridge is something I look forward to the day after feasting on turkey and stuffing. It's somewhat light and amazingly tasty.

Ingredients: serves 4

• Leftover Turkey Joints
• Leftover Roasted Parsnips & Potatoes
• Turkey juice
• 2 rice cups Rice - washed (1 rice cup=180ml)
• 2 Carrots - cubed
• 1 Large Onion - diced
• 1 tsp Knorr Chicken Powder
• White Pepper

Directions:

• Place all ingredients into a pot and add enough water to cover all ingredients.
• Bring to boil.
• Reduce heat to simmer.
• Add more water and cook until the consistency of porridge you desire.

Comments:

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Brussels Sprouts with Chestnuts & Bacon Lardon

Another must-have Christmas dish - brussels sprouts. I used to hate brussels sprouts because of its bitterness and somewhat weird texture. As I grow older, I learnt how to appreciate it. I cooked this dish with pancetta a few years ago, but this year I couldnt find any, so I used bacon lardon instead. The saltiness of bacon lardon/ pancetta and the sweetness of chestnuts somehow masked the bitterness of the brussels sprouts. It's very flavourful and these 3 ingredients go really well together.

Ingredients:

• 500g Brussels Sprouts – bottom sliced
• 120g Bacon Lardon/ Pancetta cubes
• 1 pack Roasted & Peeled Chestnuts (about 100g) - break into pieces
• 1 cup Chicken/ vegetable stock (unsalted)
  
• 1 pinch Sugar
• Black pepper

Directions:

• Heat non-stick pan over medium heat.
• Add bacon lardon/ pancetta cubes to the pan and cook until crisp and golden-brown.
• Add chestnuts and stir until chestnuts are warm.
• Add Brussels sprouts and stock.
• Cover with lid and simmer until sprouts are tender (~10-15mins).
• Season with pepper.

Comments:

• I was too lazy to peel and roast chestnuts so I bought ready roasted peeled chestnuts.

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Yummy Apple, Sausages & Herbs Stuffing

Jeff insisted that I make turkey stuffing this year, and it has to be homemade as he thinks ALL ready made stuffings are soggy and mushy. I am not a big fan of mushy and soggy turkey stuffing either so I started searching for stuffing recipes. Awesome Sausage, Apple and Cranberry Stuffing from Allrecipes.com caught my eye so I thought I'd give it a try. I made some changes to the ingredients and baked the stuffing separately. This way, I don't have to roast my turkey for too long and I get a nice crust from baking the stuffing. This was my first attempt in making turkey stuffing and I was relieved when Jeff said 'It's damn nice!'. Oh, have I ever mentioned that Jeff is very picky and critical when it comes to food?

Ingredients:

• 100g Wholemeal Bread - cubed
• 100g White Bread - cubed
• 460g Pork Sausages Meat - skin removed
• 1 Large Onion - diced
• 2 stalks of Celery - diced
• 20g Fresh Sage - finely chopped
• 20g Fresh Rosemary - leaves removed from stem and finely chopped
• 1 Granny Smith Apple - coarsely chopped
• 1 cup Dried Raisins
• 1 cup Mixed Nuts - toasted and coarsely chopped
• 20g Fresh Parsley - finely chopped
• 200ml Chicken Stock (unsalted)
• 55g Unsalted Butter
• 1 Egg Yolk

Directions:

• Toast cubed bread at 180°C until brown and crispy. Leave aside for later use.
• Saute onion and celery until soft.
• Add in sausage meat and fry until cooked.
• Mix in sage and rosemary and fry for about 2 mins.
• Transfer sausage mixture into a large mixing bowl, add in all other ingredients (including toasted bread) and mix.
• Pour everything into a caserole dish.
• Cover with foil and bake at 180°C for 20mins.
• Remove foil, switch the oven to broil and cook until the top is browned.

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Merry Christmas & A Happy New Year!!!

This was my 2nd time roasting a turkey for Christmas. It was as tasty and juicy as I remembered it to be, but the skin was darker brown as compared to the 1st time. Was it because of the cinnamon powder in the brine? Or the apple juice? Not too sure, but it was definitely yummy! Brining is a must in my opinion, it keeps the meat really juicy and tender after long hours of roasting and makes the meat very flavourful. I served it with cranberry sauce and bread sauce but Jeff said it was tasty enough without the extra sauces.

Will be posting recipes for the stuffing and brussel sprouts soon. As usual, we couldn't finish the turkey and so we had turkey porridge and turkey fried rice for the next 2 days. Will be posting these recipes as well after more Winter shopping!

Roast Turkey

Ingredients:

• 5kg Whole Turkey

For the brine:

• 3 L Apple Juice
• 1 cup Salt
• 1/4 cup Brown Sugar
• 1 tbs Cinnamon Powder
• 1 tbs Black Peppercorn
• 1 tbs White Peppercorn
• Ice

Aromatics:

• 1 Onion - sliced
• 1 Cinnamon Stick - break into half
• 1 Apple - quartered
• 1 bunch of Thyme
• 1 cup Water

Directions:

• 2 days before roasting turkey, combine all brine ingredients except ice in a pot and bring to boil.
• Remove from heat once salt and sugar dissolved. Leave to cool then refrigerate.
• The night before roasting, pour brine in a clean large stockpot.
• Place turkey in brine. Add ice, cover and leave in a cool area.
• Before roasting, preheat oven to 250°C.
• Remove turkey from brine and rinse thoroughly with cold water.
• Pat dry with paper towels.
• Microwave aromatics for 2 mins.
• Discard water, and add aromatics into the cavity of the turkey.
• Spread oil all over the turkey.
• Line strips of bacon along the top to cover the turkey.
• Roast at lowest level at 250°C for 30 mins.
• Remove from oven and cover the bird with aluminium foil.
• Return to oven, reduce temperature to 180°C and continue roasting for 1 hr 15 mins.
• Remove foil and roast for further 45 mins.
• Remove bird from oven, loosely cover with foil and leave for about 20 mins before carving.

Remember to keep all the leftovers including the awesome juice!

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Steamed Eggs with Minced Meat II

I can still remember my first attempt in making this dish - it was a disaster. Maybe because I was too greedy and put a bit too much minced meat, the meat wasn't cooked. I had to re-steam it and the egg was overcooked. From then on, I always stir fry the meat prior to steaming. Then, I have been trying to get smooth, silky steamed eggs. The trick is to not overbeat the eggs and get rid of all air bubbles or foam before steaming.

Ingredients:

• 150g Minced Meat
• Salt
• Pepper
• 1 tsp Corn Flour
• 1 tbs Minced Preserved Radish (菜脯碎,choi po)
• 2 Eggs
• 2/3 cups Water (eggs to water ratio about 1:2)
• 1/2 tsp Knorr Chicken Powder
• Sesame Oil
• Light Soya Sauce

Directions:

• Mix together minced meat, a bit of salt and pepper and corn flour. Leave for at least 10 mins.
• Stir fry preserved radish and minced meat until pork is half cooked.
• Pour pork into steaming bowl.
• Beat eggs in another bowl. Try not to incorporate a lot of air bubbles.
• Mix together beaten eggs, water and chicken powder.
• Pour egg mixture into steaming bowl through a sieve to get rid of any air bubbles.
• Cover and steam on medium high heat for about 10-15 mins.
• Check for doneness. The middle part will still be wobbly, insert the tip of a chopstick in the middle, if the liquid is clear, it is done.
• Drizzle a bit of sesame oil and soya sauce and serve.

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Sambal Belacan Aubergine & Ladies Fingers with Minced Meat

Homemade sambal belacan is the best. It's very versatile as you can use a little in almost everything. Simple stir fries, fried rice, porridge condiment...you name it. We have some homemade belacan chili made with ikan bilis (anchovies) in the fridge from Jade's mum. It's very spicy and tasty esp with the ikan bilis and it goes really well with this dish.

Ingredients:

• 350g Minced Pork
• 1 Large Onion - diced
• Garlic - Minced
• 1 Aubergine sliced
• Ladies Fingers
• 2-3 tbs Sambal Belacan/ Chili Oil (chili flakes only, oil drained)
• Shaoxing Wine
• 1 tsp Knorr Chicken Powder
  
• 1 tbs Kecap Manis
• Light Soya Sauce
• Sugar

Directions:

• Stir fry onions until soft.
• Add garlic and fry until fragrant.
• Mix in sambal belacan, stir fry for about 2 mins.
• Add in a dash of Shaoxing wine, minced meat, chicken powder and kicap manis. Stir fry until dry.
• Add in ladies fingers, aubergine, 1 tsp sugar and a little bit of water. Stir fry until ladies fingers are soft. Add a little bit of water at a time if too dry.
• Add soya sauce and more sugar to taste.

Comments:

• I prefer to grill the aubergine before stir frying as they become a bit mushy after stir frying.

Grilled aubergine:

• Soak aubergine slices in salt water for about an hr.
• Drain and dry with kitchen towels.
• Place on baking tray and drizzle some olive oil on aubergine.
• Place under the broiler until slightly browned. Turn and continue until the other side is browned.

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Crispy Panko Baked Chicken Wings

Who doesn't like deep fried chicken wings? The crispy coating and juicy meat is to die for. I am constantly looking for healthier options to these kind of snacks that I have been missing ever since I started dieting for the coming wedding (still trying to...). This is a healthier alternative to deep fried chicken wings. They are very crispy, juicy and yummy esp when served with Sweet Thai Chili sauce!

Ingredients:

• 1 kg Chicken Wings (about 12 chicken wings)
• 1 tsp Salt
• 1 tsp Ground Black Peppercorn
• 2 Eggs - beaten
• Panko
• Fry Light Sunflower Oil Spray

Directions:

• Sprinkle salt and pepper on chicken wings, mix and leave aside for at least 1 hr.
• Preheat oven to 200°C.
• Place beaten eggs in a bowl.
• Spread panko breadcrumbs on a plate.
• Line a baking tray with parchment paper.
• One by one, dip chicken wing in beaten eggs then transfer to the plate with panko and coat thoroughly. Pour more panko on plate if not enough.
• Arrange chicken on baking tray.
• Spray the chicken with oil spray.
• Bake at 200°C for about 15 mins. Turn the chicken half way through.
• Broil for about 2-5 mins (each side) until coating is browned.
• Serve with Sweet Thai Chili sauce!

Crispy Panko Baked Boneless Chicken Thighs

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