{indonesian spicy roast chicken with hermie}

There are many ways to roast a chicken but for some reason I seem to find ones with Asian flavour combinations appeal to me more. It's probably because growing up in a Chinese Malaysian household, spices and herbs like ginger, spring onion, coriander, turmeric and chilli were a weekly staple, bought and used in everyday dishes. My palate is less familiar with 'western' herbs such as tarragon, sage and rosemary. Having said that, one of the unexpected benefits of having Hermie is that I am being more creative and my family is eating a larger variety of food. I'm getting better at cooking western meals and am slowly discovering new flavour combinations.

Having said that, there are times that I just crave rice and a meat and a vegetable dish. The recipe below is really handy and fits into this category. It comes from an 'essential' asian cookbook that has sat on my bookshelf for a while and I've finally had time to peruse it and mark out all the recipes I want to try. First off the list is this Indonesian Spicy Roast Chicken recipe. It's great to use the whole chicken if you're entertaining friends and family, however, if you want to keep it simple, just use some chicken pieces like drumsticks instead. Enjoy!

1.5-1.6kg whole chicken
1 red chilli
3 cloves garlic, peeled
2 teaspoons peppercorns
5 grams brown sugar
40 grams soy sauce
2 teaspoons turmeric
20 grams lime juice
drizzle of vegetable oil (can use butter)

1. Pre-heat oven to 180C.
2. Butterfly whole chicken and place on a roasting rack in a baking tray. Roast for 30mins.

3. Meanwhile, prepare marinade. Place chilli, garlic, peppercorns & brown sugar into TM bowl. Chop 5secs/ speed7. Scrape down sides of bowl.
4. Add in soy sauce, turmeric & lime juice (tip: squeeze lime directly onto lid with MC in to prevent pips going into bowl) and mix 3secs/ speed 4.
5. Take chicken out of oven after 30mins and pour marinade over the top. Using a basting brush, make sure it is spread out all over chicken. Drizzle over some vegetable oil over the chicken and roast for another 30-40mins until juices run clear.
6. Cut Asian style and serve with steamed rice and green vegetables (my favourite is to serve with Kang Kong stir fried with blachan, garlic and chilli).

Serves 4-6 in a shared meal.

Bon Appetit xx

Tips: To turn this into an all-in-one meal, after step 5, do not rinse the TM bowl out. Fill with 1500grams water and steam (300-400grams) rice in Hermie. This will produce a flavourful rice to go with your chicken. Cook for about 15-20mins/ varoma/ speed2. In the last 5 minutes, add some green veg, oyster sauce and sesame oil to the varoma and there you have it!

{savoury and sweet pizza with hermie}

I love eating pizza. It's one of those meals that is so simple, starting with the dough base and then is transformed into something fabulous just from the toppings that adorn the top. Today, I've tried my hand at a classic meatball pizza and then with the dough left over, a chocolate and pistachio dessert pizza.

{DINNER: LAMB MEATBALL PIZZA}

Meatballs
250grams lamb mince
2 garlic cloves, peeled
1 sprig rosemary, leaves only
salt & pepper to taste
olive oil for frying

Tomato Sauce
400grams tin of crushed tomatoes
salt & pepper to taste
1 tablespoon olive oil

Onions
onion jam from the "Everyday Cooking" Thermomix cookbook
If you don't have this, then finely slice 2 brown onions and caramelise in a frypan.

Cheese
1-2 cups sliced mozzarella cheese
handful of grated parmesan

Pizza Base
1 portion of the pizza dough from the "Everyday Cooking" Thermomix cookbook. 
2. Make the pizza dough as per the instructions in the cookbook. Set aside.
3. Place garlic & rosemary in TM bowl to chop 3secs/ speed 6. Scrape into extra bowl.
4. Add mince, salt & pepper into extra bowl with garlic & rosemary. Mix with hands and form small meatballs.
5. Place tomatoes, salt & pepper into TM bowl. Cook 10mins/ 100C/ speed 1. Once they are cooked, blend 10secs/ speed 7.
6. Preheat oven to 200-220C.
7. Fry meatballs in frypan until cooked through. Set aside.
8. Rollout enough dough to cover your pizza pan. Oil and lightly flour the pan and place base on top. 
9. Spread tomato sauce over pizza base. Add remaining toppings. Place pizza in oven and cook 12minutes or until cheese is melted and base is cooked through.

Serves 2.5 hungry people 

Lamb meatball pizza

{DESSERT: CHOCOLATE & PISTACHIO PIZZA}

This dessert pizza is a great follow to a savoury pizza. It's even better that it's made with everyday pantry and fridge items. It's inspiration is taken from the dessert pizza available from Melt in Adelaide. The pistachios used are one of the few nuts Mr S can eat but can easily be replaced by other nuts such as hazelnuts or almonds.

Topping
Extra piece of dough (depending on how large you want this pizza)
2 handfuls dark chocolate drops
1 handful crushed pistachios
cream & icing sugar for serving

1. Roll dough out as per previous instructions.
2. Place chocolate & nuts on top.
3. Dust a small amount of icing sugar over the top.
4. Place into pre-heated oven for 10minutes.
5. Serve with extra icing dusted over the top and a dollop of thick cream on each serve.

Chocolate & pistachio pizza

Serves 2.5

Bon Appetit xx

{dinner.. steamed fish with asian herbs + garlic chive omelette in hermie}

With a young family, easy, healthy and quick meals are a must. This dinner combination is one of those for me to make and is super tasty and not too 'heavy'. The fish is based on a classic steamed fish dish that you can find in most Cantonese restaurants and is usually a whole fish. As my husband and children are eating this, I'm using fillets which do not have bones and also fit easier in the Varoma.

I must admit, this meal combo is for a small family so if there are more mouths to feed, then add another dish such as plum sauce and ginger chicken drumsticks that can be done in the oven at the same time (recipe to come).

Omelette & garlic chives:
1/2 bunch of garlic chives, cut 1 inch pieces
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
3 eggs
1 tablespoon water
salt
pepper

1. Add chives and oil into TM bowl and saute for 7min/ Varoma/ reverse/ stir speed.
2. Meanwhile, beat eggs with fork in a small bowl until a little frothy. Add salt and pepper and a tablespoon of water if required.

3. Ball up a piece of baking paper and lay out over the Varoma tray steamer. Place sauteed chives over this in a thin layer.

4. Pour over eggs and set aside.

Steamed fish with ginger, coriander & spring onions:
40 grams ginger, cut into matchsticks
1 bunch (or 1/2 a large bunch) coriander, roughly chopped
3-4 spring onions, cut into 1 inch pieces
350-400 grams white fish fillets (e.g. ling, blue grenadier, whole rainbow trout)
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
5-10 drops sesame oil

1. Put 1/2 of the ginger, 1/3 of coriander and 1/3 of spring onions in a flat base bowl that will fit into the Varoma.

2. Place fish fillets on top.

3. Put remaining ginger, 1/3 of spring onion and 1/3 coriander on the top. 

4. Season with fish sauce, veg oil and sesame oil. 

5. Place in Varoma bowl and put the prepared Varoma tray on top.

To cook both dishes:

1. Place water in TM bowl up to 1st marker. Heat 6min/ 100C/ stir speed.

2. Put Varoma on to of TM bowl. Steam fish and omelette 10min/ Varoma/ speed 4.

3. Check if fish and egg are cooked. If not, cook an extra 1 min and check again.
4. Drizzle a small amount of soy sauce over the omelette to taste.

Optional:

Heat up 50-75ml of veg oil on the stove until smoking. When the fish is finished, place remaining fresh coriander and spring onion on top and top with hot oil (careful… it will sizzle). This adds a nice gloss and freshness to the fish :-)

Serve with steamed rice. 

Bon Appetit xx

Serves 3.

Tips: 

If you want to be super efficient, you can cook the rice in the TM bowl while you are steaming these dishes. Follow the instructions in the "Everyday Cooking" cookbook from Thermomix and when the timer is 10 minutes from the end, place the Varoma on the top. I myself like to use an old fashioned rice cooker :-) 

Also, if you want to add even more flavour to the omelette, you can add chinese sausage (lap cheong) by slicing thinly and sautéing with the chives in step 1 above of the omelette method.