Migrating to a new exciting site.

Dear friends, 

I am in the midst of migrating to a new hosting site. I hope to share more that the site. 
Meanwhile, I am taking some time to transfer the past blog posts over and creating new posts at the same time. So please bear with me. 

Here's the link: www.weekendkitchenette.com
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Crispy Nestum Cereal Cookies for Lunar New Year 2015!

It was coming to Lunar New Year and this year I was totally overwhelmed with work that I could not plan for my LNY baking list. As I was browsing the internet, there was few cookies trends going on and I thought I should give a try at some. Well, that was a thought! With time not on my side, I decided to go retro and recreate some of my childhood favourite taste. So I baked pineapple tarts, cornflakes cookies and "Nestum cereal cookies"! 

It must be crispy, aromatic and buttery! I did some research and here it my Crispy Nestum Cookies! 

 Recipe (For about 30 3-cm cookies) 

Ingredients:

• 125g Unsalted butter, softened
• 100g Caster sugar
• 1 tbsp Maple Syrup
• 1/4 tsp Salt
• 1 Egg
• 1/2 tsp Vanilla extract
• 75g All-purpose flour, sifted
• 1/4 tsp Baking soda
• 100g Nestum cereal 
• 20g Nestum cereal, set aside for coating 

Steps:

1. In a bowl, mix all-purpose flour, baking soda and salt together. Set aside. 
2. In a mixing bowl, beat the butter, maple syrup and sugar till creamy white. 
3. Add in beaten egg and vanilla extract. Beat till well mixed. 
4. Add in flour mixture and 100g of nestum cereal. Mix well until you get a dough. 

   

   Sticky dough..feels like eating it right away!

5. Divide the dough into 30 balls. 
6. Coat each balls with nestum. Flatten it into 0.8cm thick and lay them on baking trays. The cookies will spread so please given sufficient space in between them.  

   

   Coated and flattened

7. Bake the cookies in a pre-heated oven of 175°C for about 12 to 15 mins or until golden brown. 
8.  Remove from oven. Let it cool for 5 minutes in the tray and remove the cookies to rest on cooling rack.

Beer Butt Chicken

Sometimes life needs spontaneity! Do you agree? 

On Christmas Eve, My hubby and I decided that we going to stay at home, unlike most would go out to immerse in the festive and celebrative mood with the crowd. We would make ourselves a good but fuss-free dinner to go with some good wine and music at home. 

"Roast chicken would be good!" he said. Also, we wanted to try out a new recipe so we can share a new dish when our family and friends come over in the future. So we searched the internet and spotted an interesting version of Beer Butt Chicken from Jamie Oliver. It asked for several indian spices (which I have in my pantry already) which I guessed the flavours would be gorgeous. On the other hand, I was doubtful. This is because I have tried  a couple of his recipes unsuccessfully and did not quite enjoy the food in his Singapore's restaurant. But anyhow, we took the plunge and we never regretted!

The chicken came out beautiful and the meat was so tender. You won't taste the beer but I suppose the beer did its job of tenderising the chicken. I threw in some vegetables at the last 20 minutes so to make some sides. It also soaked up the juices from the chicken. So yummy!


Recipe (1 whole Chicken) 
Ingredients

• 1 large whole chicken 
• 1 can of Lager (250ml) 

Spice rub

• 1 rounded tsp Fennel Seeds
• 1 tsp Cumin seeds
• 1 tsp Smoked Paprika
• 1 rounded teaspoon Brown sugar
• 1 tsp Chili flakes
• Black Pepper and Salt 
• Olive oil 

Steps:

1. Heat up the oven to 200 degrees celsius, with circulation fan switched on.
2.  Using a mortar and pestle, crush fennel and cumin seeds. Mix with the rest of the spice rub ingredients. 
3. Rub the spice mix over the chicken, inside and out. 
4. Open the can of beer and keep 3/4 of the beer in the can. 
5. Place the chicken cavity over the can, seated on a roasting tray.
6. Roast for 90 minutes and check of doneness with your meat thermometer at the thigh area. It should read 75-80 degrees celsius. 

Recipe is adapted from: http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/chicken-recipes/beer-butt-chicken/

Supporting #SgEatWithUs Carnival

Do you agree that food is the glue to bring people together? #SgEatWithUs is a urban movement which aims to bring people from the community through the sharing of home-cooked food. 

I am sure that each family as a popular or signature home-cooked food and it gets passed down from one generation to another. What is your signature home-cooked food? 

Join me at the #SgEatWithUs carnival and be a part of a movement!