Chicken Baked with 40 Cloves of Garlic

I'm sorry for the really long absence but between the old job, the trips to Hong Kong, Macau and Perth and the new job - I haven't felt in the mood at all. I still been trying the recipes in my cookbooks though - although I haven't really been good with taking photographs. I simply did not want to overwhelm myself with editing so many photographs! I guess that's a (wee) bit of a perfectionist streak in me (just a little bit - I am suddenly reminded of how I regaled friends with stories of how I became an underachiever - and oddly enough, very proudly at that). With my wee bit of perfectionist though - I take way too long with tasks and assignments without deadlines because I just need to get the tasks/assignments perfect - and every little tweak (seem to) count.

My new job has been pretty good - decent hours and lovely colleagues. I am now working around the conservation shophouses in the Tanjong Pagar area so the change of environment has been really refreshing. I love walking out to lunch amongst buildings that have got more than 20 years in them, and to coffee shops helmed by uncles who look like they don't belong anywhere else but there. I'm still a bit apprehensive about the work I am doing - I know I can do a good job of it, but I am impatient and can't wait to learn the ropes well enough - to stop being a newbie and someone who is able to speak with authority and confidence. That will take a while - probably 3 to 6 months and while I know I'd get there - I just feel stuck in the present.

Meanwhile, it has been really great without a blackberry in tow. Gone are the days where I bring work out of the office into the home - where the blackberry would sit and vibrate on our dining table and I'd run and check to see if there are work that came in - even in the wee hours of the morning. Blackberries are seriously the ball and chain of work - it is truly liberating to walk around town or go for dinner or even just be at home, and know that I have really left my work where it should be - at work.

OK - back to documenting my experiments. I think this chicken is not too bad (considering that I left out the salt - which would have made the dish much better) but Kevin doesn't like chicken cooked like this so I guess we are not trying it again! And because I couldn't bear to cook with any of the white wine in my collection - I made a substitution and dumped the yellowtail in (because no one will drink it otherwise!) Yes, I know what they say about cooking with wine that you will drink but hey, I refuse to pass on the bottle to an unsuspecting host.

Guinea Fowl baked with Forty Cloves of Garlic

Adapted form Delia Smith How to Cook

Serves 4

1 chicken
30 cloves garlic, unpeeled
10g butter
2 tsp olive oil
6 small sprigs rosemary leaves
1 1/2 tbps rosemary leaves, bruised and chopped
1 1/4 cups white wine
salt and freshly ground black pepper


Season the chicken.

Melt the butter and oil in the pot and brown the chicken carefully on all sides.

Remove chicken from the pot and toss the garlic and rosemary sprigs into the pot. Replace the chicken and sprinkle with chopped rosemary. Pour wine all around the chicken and let it gently come to a simmering point.

At this point, either seal with pot with huff paste*** and cover with lid or place a double sheet of foil over the pot before putting the lid on.

Place the pot in the oven and cook for 1 hour exactly.

Remove the lid and let the chicken continue to cook for another 10 minutes.

Remove the chicken from the pot and allow to rest for 10 minutes before carving. Serve with the cooking juices and garlic cloves.

***Add 150 ml cold water to 2 cups of flour to make a dough. Place all around the rim of the pot.

Eggs Benedict

Saturdays are made for brunches. Last night I promised the husband he will get eggs benedict for brunch. What I didn't expect was that today may just be the first and last time I am making these.

Immediately after plating them, I sighed in exhaustion and declared aloud to all and sundry (i.e. the husband) that I am never ever EVER making eggs benedict anymore.

Well, at least not after I learn what Jan's secret was. A couple of months back, she held a brunch at her place. Menu - eggs benedict. Verdict - yummilicious. She made it look so effortless that I was drawn into complacency when attempting these for the first time today. I thought I'd have culinary success with this simple breakfast fare but I think the sad truth was that I was on the verge of throwing things at the floor in despair a few times.

So how does she do it? I don't know but I told the husband I will need to learn a thing or two from her.

One of the first being, how not to use 8 eggs to cook 4 poached eggs.

Scrambled Eggs

I decided today that we should air the house. That means all the aircons are off and the windows are open. It's getting really warm but I like being able to hear sounds from the outside world - that means the leaves rustling as the wind blows, the water gushing at the fountain near the koi pond, and the neighbour's windchimes.

I made us brunch today. I think it's probably the first time I cooked a proper breakfast at home. We've had breakfast at home before, but as far as I can remember, we've only had cereal and toast - never something quite so greasy! I also thought that today would be good opportunity for me to try the scrambled egg recipe in my Delia Smith cookbook. I never realised until today how many different variations of recipes for scrambled eggs there are (I have four different recipes in my collection which was surprising to me because I didn't even think that scrambled eggs deserve recipes in the first place! It's almost like a recipe for boiling water!)

Anyway, I have always made scrambled eggs by gut feel - crack, beat, add salt and pepper to taste, cook, stir vigorously, serve.

What I didn't know was that there are rules to this. Like how the heat should be not too high and how the eggs should be removed from the heat when 3/4 of the egg is a creamy, solid mass and a quarter of it still liquid. Or what a great big difference butter makes (the more the yummier apparently).

Scrambed Eggs for Two
Adapted from How to Cook by Delia Smith

Ingredients
4 large eggs
20g butter
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Crack and beat eggs in bowl. Add salt and pepper. James Peterson advocates adding a tablespoon of milk or heavy cream for each egg before beating. While my eggs are lovely this time around, I will try milk/cream next time - just to see if there are any real difference. Swirl half the butter in small saucepan over medium heat, until the bottom and the sides are covered. When the butter is just beginning to foam, pour in the beaten eggs and stir briskly using backwards and forwards movements all through the liquid eggs until 3/4 of the egg is a creamy, solid mass, and the remainder liquid. Remove pan from heat, add the rest of the butter and continue scrambling. As soon as there is no liquid egg left, remove from pan and serve immediately.