A Few of My Favourite Things !

Dinner tonight was fresh barramundi steamed with ginger, soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar, salt, white pepper in chicken stock. Only takes 10-15 min, during which time I lightly fried some ginger and garlic to sprinkle over the top, blanched some lovely seasonal asparagus and boiled a mix of thai red and basmati rice to accompany the fish. So simple and yet delicious

So, the idea was to make something to welcome Clare Eats of Eat Stuff back from the hospital after she suffered a nasty infection from some bites that she received from Kiri following a scare from their friendly neighborhood dog. The question was what to bake? I made sardine puffs for Kiri’s birthday a couple of weeks back so I was intent on baking something sweet this time.

I remembered a recipe for Maxence’s grandmother’s Gateau au Yaort that recently appeared on Chocolate and Zucchini. The recipe seemed to be pretty strightforward but it looked like one of those cakes that you crave when you want something delicious and not overly creamy to have with a cup of tea (like a madeira cake). I looked back on Clotilde’s posts until I found the ingredient list and easy instructions for this cake. I had some plain yoghurt on hand that I wanted to use up and I also had some eggs in the fridge that were crying out to be drowned in cake batter. But I didn’t want it to just be a plain yoghurt cake. I wanted something a little more comforting…say something like an apple teacake. After all, didn’t Ruth Reichl name her book ‘Comfort Me with Apples’ for a reason? Yes, I really liked this idea of filling the kitchen with the aroma of sugar and cinnamon - mmmm. So, I decided that I would just place some slices of Granny Smith on top of the yoghurt cake batter and sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon.

I placed all the ingredients I needed for this recipe on the countertop and proceeded to measure out the ingredients using the yoghurt tub. The idea with this recipe is that you can use the yoghurt tub to measure out all your ingredients. The problem was that my yoghurt was sitting in a 500ml tub - way too large for this recipe. So, I used a 200ml tub that held just a tablespoon of leftover sourcream. Seeing as there was only a smidgeon of sourcream left, I decided to include it in the batter. After pouring the yoghurt-sourcream mix into a large bowl, I started adding the sugar and flour. Halfway through this, I realised that somehow I had gotten confused and started measuring out double the amount of all the ingredients after the yoghurt step! What was I going to do seeing as I had no yoghurt left? Well, there was an unopened tub of sourcream in the fridge and that was going to have to do. I continued with the recipe by adding oil, baking powder and vanilla extract. I skipped the rum because I didn’t have any. Fortunately, everything seemed to go smoothly after that. I poured the batter into the cake tin and placed it in the oven to bake at 180C for 45 min. Of course, I ended up having to bake it for about 90 min instead because I had doubled the recipe. Well, it just meant we would have more cake to go around anyway and that can’t be bad, right?

The cake came out of the oven looking pretty good, so I left it on the counter to cool. Being a thoroughly impatient type of gal, I didn’t leave it to cool for much before cutting a slice to look at the inside. I could tell something was wrong immediately. Initially, the cake did not appear to be fully baked on the inside but upon closer inspection, I realised that it was cooked through but it had a definite sheen from the oil. I wondered where I had gone wrong with such a simple recipe - sigh. How disappointed I was! I had wasted all these ingredients for naught, and I didn’t even get to use up my eggs in this recipe…hang on, didn’t I read something about eggs before? I quickly looked at the recipe again. Horror! I was meant to have added two eggs at the start. Actually, seeing as I had doubled the recipe by mistake, that should have been four eggs! ARGGHHHH. (Of course, the sharp-eyed reader will notice that the eggs are missing in the above photo, which is supposed to show all the ingredients). Well, you gotta laugh, right? I tried and it’s the thought that counts (sheepish grin), and the cake doesn’t look so bad, does it? Cheers, Clare, and we hope that you are recovering well.

Here is Tasha, who knows that she looks great against A’s new red toy car pajama pants from Peter Alexander!

This week, WCB is being hosted by Boo-licious at Masak-masak again this week:

Check out Amy’s lovely flowers and get well message at Beauty Joy Food;
Check out the cute Babaganoosh with his good wishes at passionatenonchalance;
Check out Kalyn’s beautiful snapdragons which are beckoning Clare and Kiri to get well soon at Kalyn’s Kitchen;
Check out Squirt’s life story and well wishes at …slowly she turned… ;
Check out Tasha, cake (yum!), flowers and get well wishes at A Few of my Favourite Things;
Check out Flotsa in a Berkeley window at Middle-Fork;
Check out the kitties, Fridolin and Maruschka at Rosa’s Yummy Yums;
Check out the Cat who is sad but has lovely flowers for Clare and Kiri at Belly-Timber;
Check out Flotsa who is sending Clare and Kiri some virtual ice-cream at Far Cartouche;
Check out Earl and Toejam looking so cute they will definitely cheer up Clare and Kiri at So Cal Foodie;
Check out the sweetie, Tigger who looks like he can give lots of loving to Clare and Kiri at Shelli’s Sentiments;
Check out Phoebe and Trina giving cute winks to Clare and Kiri asking them to get well quickly at Indy Foodie;
Check out the adorable kitty antics which will bring a smile to Clare and Kiri’s faces at Tigers & Strawberries;
Check out Macroom who is sleeping away on a very cute chair (my Mum’s favourite cartoon character!) at Dispensing Happiness;
Check out Gigolo Kitty who is trying to negotiate better terms with Santa this year over at Gigolokitty!;
Check out River who is making sure there are no stray doggies around for Clare and Kiri at kitchenmage;
Check out Lixue who offers furry cuddles to cheer up Clare and Kiri (extra ones for Kiri as she loves him - I am so jealous but I understand as Kiri is such a hunky cat) at Look Hunny, I Cooked;
Check out Aggie who sent a hug, chocolate cake and flowers to Clare and Kiri at kayaksoup;
Check out the most adorable kitten fight ever plus candy for Clare and Kiri at Anne’s Food;
Check out Leo who sends his best wishes at my little kitchen;
Check out darling Molly Doodlebug with beautiful heart cookies and a lovely message for Clare and Kiri at Farmgirl Fare;
Check out Tanuki who wanted to post himself to Sydney to see Clare and Kiri at A Cat in the Kitchen;
Check out Marlin sprucing himself up as he brings S’more Treats to Clare and Kiri to cheer them up at Heather’s Space;
Check out Maggie sitting in a sink and offering lots of wishes to Clare and Kiri to get well soon at Love and Cooking;
Check out Miss Kitty with a lovely get well message and flowers for Clare and Kiri at Culinary in the Desert;
Check out Maggie and Wellington offering to go Down Under to see Clare and Kiri at Modern Girls Kitchen;
Check out at the kitties from France who bring flowers for Clare and Kiri at Lali et Cie
Check out Princess LouLou who sends her royal wishes to Clare and Kiri at Stalking the Waiter;
Check out Alicat’s former kitties and Spanks with lots of good wishes to Clare and Kiri to get well at Something So Clever;
Check out Billy Lee, the cyber kitty who is up to tricks at The food pornographer;
Check out Jack and Charlotte who both sent lots and lots of hugs to Clare and Kiri (I want one too!) at My Adventures in the Breadbox;
Check out Tyson who will beat up that doggie which tried to hurt Kiri at Food Chronicles (I’m sad about Meggiecat’s loss too!);
Check out Dale who sends his love and hugs to Clare and Kiri plus apologies for his species at One Hot Stove;
Check out Miss Domino who is looking for Clare and Kiri at Farmgirl Fare;
Check out Dusty who is concentrating very hard to be worried at bakingsheet;
Check out speedy Trixie who offers good wishes to Clare and Kiri at greengirlart;
Check out Snoopy who is joining us for the first time at everybody likes sandwiches;
Check out Red-Boy who wishes Clare and Kiri well at bunnyfoot;
Check out Lyle who offers Kiri a safe place to play at Basic Juice;
Alisha and Mattie sends Clare and Kiri well wishes at Playin’ Whaley;
Check out Shishi, Mel and Spot who all offer well wishes plus good advice to Clare and Kiri at s’kat and the food;

Dad returned from an overseas trip just this morning and as mum is going to be away for another week and a half still, she has prepared for her absence in the kitchen by cooking and freezing a batch of lunches and dinners.

As this was his first day home, I thought it would be nice for him to have a hot meal that need not be defrosted. I set out to cook a simple dish for him to have with rice (which he manages very well indeed). I have tried cooking claypot chicken once before without any success. It turned out to be bland and unexciting, however I came across a recipe in the Women’s Weekly ‘Great Asian Food‘ cookbook. The Women’s Weekly Cookbooks are widely available from most newsagents and supermarkets in Australia. These recipes are certainly not haute cuisine but they are simple and well-tested. The claypot chicken requires just two easy steps - marinating the chicken before baking in a claypot with onions and bok choy.

Although I didn’t make the full recipe, I knew that not all the ingredients would fit into the little claypot that I own. I remembered, however, that A had a pot (from before I met him) for brewing chinese herbal medicine that is also made from clay. Although the shape is a little rounder and higher and it has a spout from which to pour the herbal medicine, it’s still a ‘claypot’ isn’t it? I can also assure you now that the chicken turns out just as deliciously!

1. Combine chicken and marinade in large bowl and mix well. Cover and leave in refridgerator for at least 3 hour.
2. Place chicken in claypot with remaining ingredients and mix gently. Bake at 180C for 1 hour or until chicken is tender.