INDONESIAN HONEY GINGER CHICKEN AT INA'S GARDEN

I had to add the honey to the tittle of this very flavour full chicken coz it sure plays a wonderfully sweet role in this chicken.
I mean jus 5 ingredients ,including the chicken , and all u need to do is marinate the chicken overnight , and pop it in the oven the next morn for a delicious treat.

This is the chicken i wanted to bake for this weeks theme at Ina's Garden   and it is April ,of 21st Century Housewife who chose a them which revolves around Chicken , ie Comforting and delicious chicken recipes so if u have ever made any of Ina's recipes , be sure to link them below so we can all check them out as well.

And our next posting at Ina's Garden is on July 7th which is Ina's Zucchini Gratin and u will find the recipe here.

The recipe sure calls for quartered pieces of  a whole chicken but i missed that part and had already kept these pieces ready so i went right ahead with the recipe.
The ground ginger and garlic along with the soy work its magic overnight and the honey ....well the honey sure does too....

I think all the glaze is coz of the honey , and the sauce is rich and dark brown.
I used my fav sweet soy sauce but u can use any one u like and a sprinkle of pepper would be great too though we all loved it the way it was.

Ahh, shrimps ...when i say i love sea food , i always mean shrimps (unless its oysters and clams am referring to) , so i went right ahead and marinated some shrimps too.

 
And am sooo glad i did , the marinade mixing with the juicy juices of the shrimps gives u a good lunch with some lettuce and green onion ...
Actually lodsa mixed lettuce and greens of spring onions is more like it..

 
 And then get really soft and tender and absolutely succulent with all the marinating and baking....

Drizzling jus a bit of sesame oil atop a few of these gives them a nice twist too...

BASQUE POTATO TORTILLA

 I loveee Sundays , something special about Sundays brings on more sunshine n sparkle into my day, and here i was last sunday , whisking up a tortilla , a spanish name to a popular omelet served with salad , and on toothpicks ,for lunch or otherwise.

So this week with FFwD, i travelled to Basque, to relish this , the next time round ,im going to cut out different shapes as also have some fancy toothpicks for it.

The best parts , it came together beautifully , though i weighed and measured nothing but went along with what was available in the pantry , trying my best to stick to the original recipe:-)

This is my first time with tortilla and i loveeed it , we all did and infact i had to make 2 batches of these.
I so wanted to try this so instead of waiting to pick the stuff , i went right ahead with the greens and stuff in the pantry.

CHICKEN B'STILLA -PASTELAO D FRENCH WAY

Memories created around food are immensely special if they involve ur parents , even if u werent involved in the eating and this is another one that accompanies mommies stories and memories.

 

 And when FFwD had B'stilla lined this week , i knew i simply could not afford to give this one a miss and actually i dont fancy missing any , its a wonderful feel cooking and baking the same recipes every week together.

I always make it a point to return the visit of every one who visits here , but more so when my fellow gang at FFwd does , i hop by straight away to see their goodies and say hullo too.

Now if u havent joined FFwD , do so now , u'll love to cook/bake along +no rules and which ever way ie , please leave ur blogs links below.

As a growing kid ,teenageer and young adult , almost every Goan portuguese or Portuguese wedding my mom went to, had Pastelao , which was met with excitement and an eagerness galore from all going to partake the buffet.

~~FRENCH LEEK & POTATO SOUP,2ways with GLAZED CARROTs~~with DORIE & FFwD~~

 GIVEAWAY UPDATE~~CLICK HERE TO ENTER 100$ GIVEAWAY, u'll love it i know:-)

Oh there's a nip in the air , more than ever, and as i love the weather , i think i should simmer some soup, oh im so clever....

Ok ,ok , i tend to get lyrical at Christmas  time to the point of being silly and hope u'll put up with me , for all the love u and me share.
And i know u want to get that pot of soup simmering ,as muc i do, so lemme get going!
Ahh and one important thing before i go ahead, do have some crusty bread rolls at hand , to warm and with a spread of soft salted butter , this soup makes a complete meal!
Oh yeah ,the carrots are fantastic too !

 French Fridays with Dorie, is exciting , and more so , as we are cooking our way thru, our taste buds and the gorgeous book!
U have to hop by there and catch all the deliciousness and if u wanna add a french factor these hols , buy the book and join in too.

Lets begin quickly, to a soup , 2 ways and glazed carrot with shrimps , 2 ways too!

A GRATEFUL HEART 2010@THANSGIVING I WON+A GIVEAWAY{please vote for me too}

Thanksgiving -i love everything associated with it,the significant history, the Biblical connection, hearts of gratitude,celebration of the harvest of plentifuls,

And at its heart a holiday where family and close friends share a wonderfull bond over a table laden with delicious food-a buffet & Thank with gratitude for the wonderfull things that come by in life-a life of plenty & abundance!

STUFFED CHICKEN

 T'was time just before easter .

And besides other things the menu was being decided.

A home cooked meal is always the best but we still called up our local resorte to check on their stuffed birds. 

One thing led to another and before I knew it I was chicken shopping.

One thing I can never miss for easter is marzipan and eggs and one thing I never want to miss for Christmas or thanksgiving is a good stuffed bird.

ROAST CHICKEN LES PARESSEUX & PUMPKIN FLAN@THANKSGIVING SIDES@DORIE@ FRENCH FRIDAYS

 Every body loves a good roast and so do i!!
When Dorie named this Les Paresseux ,she meant for lazy people , u put the lovely roast in , set ur timer and take it out rite at dinner!!

 Well for me ,while it was in the oven the first time round ,i was busy making Potato gratin ,and the second time Pumpkin flan and on both counts doing the dishes!!lol

 These are pics of my second round of the roast....
This one has the home terrifically aromatic with bursts of very flavorful air,wafting around,so welcoming ,so delicious and fantastic, as a roast is!!
THis recipe is a total keeper and it comes together so beautifully too!!

 We begin with seasoning a chicken [well cleant at that], inside out with salt and pepper.

Well, i stretched the salt and pepper a bit and seasoned it with some gourmet salts and peppers rite from Hawaiian red salt to Himalayan pink salt  [exotic but jus a bit is enuf]....

POMMES DAUPHINOIS, HACHIS PARMENTIER & CHAYA'S JAPANESE FISH , THANKSGIVING SIDES@DORIE'S FRENCH TABLE

 There is nothing i dont like about Thanksgiving, the gratefull air [*365], the excitement and heralding the onset of Christmas too!

And this month at FFwD, we have a super cool menu ,that could make a whole meal at ur thanksgiving table!

I begin with sides this friday ,w potato haven, this Potato Gratin is awesome with the Roast chicken[coming soon] , and would pair beautifully with jus about anything!

I also added my dearest Chaya's Japanese Salmon, not only is it sooo easy and comes together super quick but was an absolute ,total hit here.

 More about it below!

Hah, have also added Hachis Parmentier, u could prepare the beef earlier and freeze it, plus point and it gets put really quick too!

VIETNAMESE CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP-French Fridays w Dorie

I jus finished baking 2 gorgeous desserts from Around My French Table and was about to post them too....but wait hang on in there....maybe i'll wait ,coz i have joined the French Fridays With Dorie and am so ♥' n it ...totally...

So as i sat at 1.00 am, going thru the list of ingredients i wondered if this will be my first French Post with Dorie...

And a BIG shout out to a dear buddy CHAYA, coz of whom i joined in and am so so happy to be here!!

And here i am....pretty quick to put by,unless ur blogging about it[longer if with burning eyes:-( ]

I love Dorie's intro to each recipe, and have so muc bookmarked there ,that it excites me as soon as am there.

Being a new blogger , i have jus begun my collection of books @few months has touched 70+ but have barely been able to go thru them all.
To make things more difficult my college books have place right next to all my recipe books:-)
Back to Dorie, i love FFwD group coz i have no restrictions of participating , i can link on any time and what better way to droll over and read everybodys expierence's and see pics galore...

Dorie talks about France's long and deep ties to Vietnam [a former colony, i love in a former portugese colony ,dont i:-) ],so findin a good sprinkling of Vietnamese recipes even in the smallest french towns is so normal...
Love the Bonne Idee of every recipe too...

I simmer soups @daily coz my little bro simply loves soup and i always love simmering fresh soup...
So obviously i was going to be simmering a soup here..but ok i didn have all the ingredients stocked up so was either going to have to sub or have someone to drive me early morning to a nearest local market ....

Ok all i needed was the egg noodles and green basil [why have i still not got hold of some seeds to have my own basil anytime:-( and fresh too]

Ahh , i need cilantro too....the stems ie ....

And with the whole household the flu bug cot me too, and i ended up simmering this soup twice.
First time with all subs like pasta instead of noddles, barely any cilantro stems et all.
Both times i didn add the red chillies and pepper coz we arent a spicy soup eating family [i know]!

An aromatic soup that will have leave ur home fragrant with all the goodness u love!!
I ended with with 48 pics, thats what u get when ur doing a step by step post is it.....but i loved every moment !!!

Lets begin with the spices dat are going to flavor the soup and delightfully so....
Before that we have some very flavorful stems, Cilantro stems, i had no cheese cloth or kitchen twine[ + rember im with flu] so i used my herb choppin device to chop them very finely!

Star Anise ...oh beautiful...and all u need are 2 star points...adds to the fragrant aroma when simmering..

Coriander...ahh i finally had one French ingredient on hand.....dat too hand picked by Le Cordon Bleu..

Oh all i need is to pick all the coriander from the peppers

[see how pretty the pink peppercorns are....]

 till u have a Tsp of coriander to add to the broth!!

And then a nice ,small onion, i used Pink onion, not coz i love Pink [but i do!] but coz dats wat we had in the pantry!

 I love rings...pretty onion rings, i hope u do too, dey are pretty besides there is lods u can do with them!

 Garlic...garlic is good and i always love a little in soups....their flavor and aroma .almost unmatched!!!

  And dont u forget to take off those little green babies in there,

 i thought they were good till a few days back i read somewhere [still tryn to remember wer] that they are bitter....

Ginger...warm warm ginger on a rainy day like today....

  didn mince it ,as the recipe said, i excused my self saying remember i aint well + i love crushed ginger in soups...

Water, all of 6 cups, 6times this pic, actually stock is better, but i used a combi of...

Stock powder+

a stock cube...

 And 14 ounces of milk..Creamy coconut milk!!!

2tbh of Asian Fish sauce, love it.....

1 tsp Brown sugar, organic brown sugar...to add that touch of sweetness...optional but so good!

Chicken breasts, on the bone , u add it later ,but i added it into the cold soup pot, like i would for stock
[ok i didn read the adding later part:-) ]

Button mushrooms, i'll tell u what i did to them in a bit...hang on...its delish!!

 And then there are some orange carrots and sprouts...deep orange carrots and green green okra...

 Lods of Garlic Chives from my little garden, for everything!!

 Noodles, egg noodles would be perfect but i  had these which [was told],are called wooden noodles...

  Boil them in lots of salted water , drain , add some olive oil[butter] ...

  ....and well i couldn stop some garlic chives too...

U need to get the chicken out so u can cool it a bit....

 Cooling it makes shredding so muc easier...

 Optional garnishes..the part i love....

Mushrooms tossed in garlic ,butter, seasoned ,with a touch of chopped chives!

 Cherry toms tossed lightly in the same pan....

 the buttery mushroomy flavor adds something so so good to the toms...

With balsamic vinegar....sweetness heightened very well....

Cucumber Julienned.... not pickled...

 Fresh fresh cucumber....

Carrots...fresh Carrots...

 the hot broth will soften them a bit later......

Blanched Sprouts...soak beans over night and then tie them in a cheese cloth or leave them on a strainer another 24 hours for sprouts...

Cilantro chopped,very nice..

Okra...added to the soup in the last 10 mins...

Stays crunchy and softens at the same time...nice...

Am sure u'd love this recipe ,u'll find it here [India] or here [US] !

Must try version of this soup would be seafood with Shrimps, calamari, crab & lemon grass, i believe it will be very good!


Yeah we arent to type the recipe here but if u really want it ,and for some reason cant buy the book,leave or email here or email me directly!
For a family with flu's & fevers ,with so low appetite's dis is it!!!fantastic!!

The egg is a hearty + nutritious addition.

And to view all the delicious Soups and different versions hop by at French Fridays w Dorie and remember this month the recipes were chosen by Dorie herself!

And if u cant view the pics here head here for a fast view!!!