Earlier in June, a couple of colleagues and I took part in our company’s Talent Show as part of the D&D celebrations and we came in 3rd! As our way to thank all those who helped us in one way or another (it was also an excuse to have a gathering), we had a house party where I cooked up a feast with part of our prize money.
To make things a lot simpler for me to prepare, I roasted most of the foods – mainly the potatoes, vegetables and chickens. My colleagues were quite shocked at what I used to marinate my chickens. 😉
Roast potatoes
Simply boil the potatoes till they’re soft before cutting them into cubes. Then put it into a baking tray and then sprinkle salt, pepper, rosemary and olive oil on top before baking them for the next 10 minutes at 170 deg C or until they turn slightly brown at the edges.
Roast vegetables
Roughly cut up Shitake mushrooms, bell peppers, red onions and carrots. I added some bacon bits so as to add on a little smokey flavour. Mix it all together and put it into a baking tray. Sprinkle salt, pepper, olive oil as well as about 2 tbsp of broth/water. Cover the tray with aluminium foil and bake it at 170 deg C for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, remove the aluminium foil and bake for another 10 minutes.
Roast Chicken Marinate (for 1 bird):
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp light soy sauce
4 cloves of garlic, peeled
1 thumb length of ginger, peeled
1 tsp cinnamon powder
1 tsp parsley
1 tsp nutmeg powder
3-4 cups Coca Cola/ Pepsi (do not use diet versions)
Everything above is in rough amounts because a lot of times, I don’t measure when I cook. Just ensure that the liquids coat the chicken in a bag. I often marinate my chickens overnight so that the flavours will be properly infused into the birds.
When you’re going to roast the chickens, I often will wrap the whole bird in aluminium foil and bake it at 170 deg C for 20 minutes before removing the foil and roasting it for another 10 minutes. This is to ensure that the flesh of the chicken is still moist and juicy while the final roasting is to have that nice browning of the skin.
The last dish that I made is Crab Mac & Cheese. This thing is super decadent but I added Cognac and Vodka to it so it wasn’t that popular with the kiddos although I felt like it was eating pasta in lobster bisque. The recipe that I followed was from Dine & Dish. As usual, I made quite a few substitutions because I couldn’t find some items in my local supermarket.
Cheeses that I used: brie, gouda and white cheddar.
Instead of panko, I used Ritz crackers.
Instead of chicken broth, I used coconut water, vodka and cognac.
Note to self: do not be greedy with the cheese. Ensure that there is a lot more sauce than pasta when tossing. Otherwise, I really liked this dish and I liked that it’s a more adult version of Mac & Cheese. Will definitely recreate this another day.
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