A New Year, A New Beginning

Happy New Year one and all.

2007 will be a challenging year for me as I embark on new responsibilities and different roles at work. I have much to learn and I have to learn them fast. There is always the initial apprehension and I must psyche myself to overcome the fear of the unknown as only by overcoming this fear will I then be able to perform well. Wish me luck.

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My first bake to usher in the New Year is the Chestnut Tartlets. The insides of tart shells are brushed with melted chocolate before being filled with Cream Patissiere. A dollop of whipped cream is then piped on top of the Cream Patissiere. Finally, chestnut puree is dizzled all over. The whole concoction is then topped off with a single chocolate almond. The rum-laced Cream Patissiere is silky smooth and the chestnut puree is very fragrant. Absolutely wonderful with a cup of black coffee.


For lunch, I had prepared three dishes.

The first is Prime Ribs with Bittergourd in Homemade Glutinuous Wine. The wine was made by DH's colleague. The hearty dish tasted sweetly of wine and is fantastic with a bowl, no make it two, of steaming hot rice.


The next dish is something which I saw during my last trip to Malacca. I was walking past this coffeeshop and saw a newspaper cutting on one of the famous Muar Otah Fishpaste. Accompanying the report was a picture of a dish of longbeans that were fried with the otah fishpaste. I did not get a chance to try this dish as the stall was closed but I had imagine it to be cooked in the same way as longbeans with sambal dried prawns. This dish can be prepared in a jiffy as you do away with all the pounding of spices and dried shrimps for the sambal. All you need is to fry the longbeans in otah fish paste and the dish is ready in a flash.


The final dish is Honey Marmite Chicken. I first tasted this during lunch at Far East Plaza. I liked it so much that I went back a second time just to try to figure out what goes in. I think I have pretty much got it down to pat and dare say I that it tasted even better than the original.

If you want to give it a try, here is my recipe:

Honey Marmite Chicken
3 chicken thighs
Wash and drain the thighs well. Chop each into 4 (or 5 if the thighs are big) pieces. Marinate for half to one hour in 2 tbsp light soya sauce and 1 tbps Hua Tiao wine.

Gravy:
1 rounded tsp Marmite yeast extract
2 tbsp honey
1 tsp dark soya sauce
1 tbsp water
1/2 tsp light soya sauce
Mix everything together.

1 clove garlic, chopped
1 tbsp oil
1/2 tbsp Hua Tiao wine

Method:
1) Deep fry the chicken pieces in batches till golden brown and skin is crispy. Drain on paper towels to absorb excess oil.
2) Heat 1 tbsp oil and saute garlics till light brown.
3) Add the gravy ingredients and cook till glossy.
4) Add the fried chicken pieces and quickly toss to coat well.
5) Splash in the wine from the side of the wok just before dishing up the chicken.

Note:
If you want a bit more gravy, you can increase gravy ingredients by 50%. There should be just enough gravy to coat the chicken (they should not be 'swimming' in it.)