who are you calling 'chicken'?

basics

my favourite

So this is my chicken balls post.  

I made some refinements in my balls making processes based on lessons learnt making beef balls and falafel.  

What I can truly say though is that it is a lot of fun!  I feel like a child given a box set of play-doh.  And as I never truly owned a set, you can imagine my excitement.

processed food?

Yin and Yang.  The vegetables and the seasoned minced chicken.

Did I mention that I love how after vegetables come out of the food processor, it smells amazing?

hunger games

I arranged the balls on baking sheets in rows.

When my husband saw me halfway through he said two things.

First was that he didn't realise I could make so many balls.  Second was that maybe I was trying to trick him, that these were in fact all veggie.

domino effect?

I did a trial batch.  I placed some chicken balls into a glass baking dish and popped it into the oven.

When I took out the meatballs, this.  

Polka dots.

New Year food?

i'd like to swim in spaghetti

Finished product.

I have a feeling my husband will dip these in tomato catsup.  Unless of course, I throw them into a bowl of spaghetti.

what matters is who you are inside

While I still have what could be two batches of chicken balls, I can't help but think about my next ball recipe.

Happy Saturday :)

processed

We welcomed a Food Processor into our home during the Chinese New Year.

The decision was long and hard.

My husband and I spend good hours thinking about whether we should get one.  On one hand, I really don't mind chopping, plus with our peeler, (manual) slicer and good quality knives, food prep doesn't take too much time.

I really don't mind doing things manually.  I bake without a mixer.

My growing frustration came from the hard truth that couldn't mince vegetables properly that would allow me to incorporate extenders to meatballs.

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A few weeks later, I had not only made beef meat balls but also falafel--two batches.

I've also been able sneak more vegetables into almost anything.   Dishes I make suddenly have extras.

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This weekend, I'll make chicken balls that are 30% chicken, 70% (natural) extenders.

And I bet, my husband won't mind :)

tokwa!

I decided it was time to make (my version of) tokwa't baboy.

Direct Translation: Tofu and Pig (Pork)

For the tofu, I sliced them thin, painted it thinly with olive oil, sprinkled it with rock salt and parsley.  It went to the oven at 180C.  

I waited.

Patiently.  At first.      

baking in progress

I am guilty of hovering over the oven window, watching things bubble, turn brown, soften, rise.  I love watching the magic happen.

My husband always reminds me that I don't have to do that.  Things will cook.  And he is right, but it is exciting for me.   Watching.

Not productive, but I had time :)

golden

The pork dish was simple.  Using all the standard ingredients for tokwa't baboy like onion, soy sauce, vinegar and black pepper, I something similar to a chunky stew.  I thickened the sauce with some corn starch.

ebony and ivory (of some sort)

My husband and I ate this with brown rice.  Lots.

hummus me

 It is funny how my Mom and I prepared similar dishes for New Year's Eve.

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Hummus.  Somewhat.

naked

I don't have a food processor or a mixer.  No special gadget to make the task easier.  With that, I anticipated that mine will be chunkier, but that's cool!  I am all about the taste.

facade

I did take the extra step of taking out the skin.  

That took longer than I anticipated, taking out the skin.  It would be worth the effort through.  Plastic texture is definitely unacceptable!  

Did I mention, I didn't even have a masher?  (I think I'd get one, together with a new apple corer.)

hardwork

I knew at the beginning that it won't be the traditional hummus, and in fact purists would definitely hate this.  

I wanted to clear ingredients I have, so I decided to put in some sour cream.

Of course, Cumin remained to be the star of the show.  I also added Paprika.  The other ingredients were typical hummus players.  Nothing out of the ordinary.  

alien

In the end, I had a silky somewhat chunky bread dip.  

Not too easy, but A LOT less work compared to mashed potato.  Somehow, I think I have not gotten over how troublesome mashed potato preparation could be.

party ready

…is all around

I had met Gela years before, but it isn't until 2013 that I had a chance to really spend time with her and get to know her.

Incidentally, 2013 was a big year for her--in the sense that there were a lot of changes in her life.  It was an exciting and fruitful year for Gela and my husband and I are very happy to have been part of her journey.

It is double the happiness for us that unknowingly, we are able to share what joy we have to people around us :)

Happy new year! 

CAKE that!

cake cutters

I loved our wedding cake for lots of reasons.  Let me count the ways.

1. Simplicity :)   

2. All cake!

3. Butter, Chocolate, Carrot.  Three layers, three flavours.

4.  Toothsome fondant

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When asked what cake I wanted my immediate answers were "delicious" and "simple".  

I went further to say "maybe the most simple cake you ever made", talking to the baker.

It came out like a dream.  

It was matte all over with satin effect liners for every layer.  There were two white flowers on top, two smaller ones on middle layer and three even smaller ones at the bottom.

Off white on white.  I love the very subtle contrast.

dynamite-ish

My good friend, Oli told me about this thing he and his friends cooked for a party once.  It was called, dynamite.

It was deep fried (crispy) spring rolls with green chilli, minced beef and cheese.

I love the meat, chilli and cheese combination, but I was not sure I was up for some deep frying.

I decided to, make it my own :)

As my brother and sister in law were coming for lunch, I decided it was the best time to try something out.

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For the chilli, I picked the same type used for dynamite.

I sliced off the top, made a slit and pulled out the seeds.  I don't think I'd be able to down one with the seeds intact.

heat

I  bought a pack of green chilli, but was surprised when I opened the bag, there was a smurfette.

more color = more fun

I started to think that I should have gotten traffic light chillies as well.  Maybe next time.

effect of a cold shower

Instead of minced beef, I decided to use the (homemade) chicken and pork longanisa that I had in the freezer.  

I sliced the patties thinly and fried them till they were crispy.

longanisa strips?

Here comes the tough part, assembly!

I used a mix of cheddar and mozzarella cheese.  it was the lining of the chilli.  It will also hold the meat in place.

an experiment on 'proximity theory'

It looked so good that I was tempted to serve it this way!

I think I made twelve.

At this point I was getting tired, after all this wasn't the only item in my menu.  I also had Carbonara, Jalapeño Chicken Wings and Mashed Potato with the latter, deserving it's own blog entry.  Coming soon.  

ready to bake

Popped it into the (overworked) oven and after twenty minutes… this.

party time

I really enjoyed cooking this and it was just a bonus that everyone loved it.  

We had no leftovers!