[3 recipes] Grilled Seafood Platter, Roast Chicken with Bacon plus Beerfest Asia 2014

[Quick Lunch] Seafood Platter

There are times when we just don't feel like cooking in the kitchen especially during hot summer days where we could even sweat rapidly just by doing some simple ingredients preparation like cutting or chopping.  In this post, I will be sharing 3 amazing hassle free recipes which you can get ready two of the seafood dish in less than 15 minutes . Or with a quick preparation of 10 minutes and off it goes into the oven for the rest of the baking time while you can relax at the couch enjoying your favourite drama.

Beside the recipes, I would also like to share our views on some tasting beers that I received from the organizer of this year Beerfest Asia 2014 to go with the prepared dishes too.

GRILLED SEAFOOD PLATTER

[Quick Lunch] Seafood Platter

A very impromptu lunch after my meetup with a Eileen who introduce me to some "wild-caught" salmon from one of the stalls near her wet market. Indeed we had a great deal for these fresh salmon fillets and the aftertaste was good with firm and juicy texture. And to complete the meal, I also add in prawns, pumpkin wedges, mushrooms and etc for a great nutrition intake.

To go with the seafood I open a bottle of Thistly Cross Cider - Real Strawberry (4% ABV) which is a fruit cider packed with natural flavours of fruits such as: Fresh Strawberries with a little zing from the Scottish apples. Overall it has a fragrant strawberry refreshing taste being subtle on the palate.

(Yield: 1 | Preparation: 5 minutes | Cooking: 10 minutes)

Ingredients:

• 150g Wild-Caught Salmon Fillet
• 3 Large Prawns
• 4 Swiss Brown Mushrooms, quartered
• 3 Wedges of Pumpkin, about 1cm thick
• Sea Salt and Pepper
• 10g Unsalted Butter, optional
• Some Cherry Tomato, halved

Method:
1. Baked pumpkin wedges (lightly marinate it with drizzle of olive oil, salt and freshly ground pepper) in toaster oven for 7 - 10 minutes depending on the thickness.

2. Trim and clean prawns then thread them using bamboo sticks (this will retain is shape and enable fast cooking too) and set aside.

3. In a large frying pan. Melt 5g of butter on one side of the pan together with the prawns and add some dry chilli flakes for extra flavour.

4. On the other side of the pan, place salmon skin-side down then season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper and cook for 3 - 5 minutes. Turn salmon over and fry for a further 1 - 2 minutes or until cooked through.

5. While cooking the seafood, I also saute mushrooms with remaining butter on one end of the pan to save time.

PAN-FRY SALMON WITH VEGGIES

Did a pan-fry salmon dish with assorted veggies on a busy weekday night together with a chilled bottle of Desperados (5.9% ABV). For your information Desperados has an unique Tequila flavoured which taste sort of like ginger ale beer with touch of "woodiness" to me and on a side note it is kind of sweet too.

(Yield: 1 | Preparation: 5 minutes | Cooking: 10 minutes)

Ingredients:

• 150g Wild-Caught Salmon Fillet
• 100g Broccoli Florets, blanch in boiling water
• 50g Carrot, cut into 1cm thick strips
• 1 Small Red Onion, cut into wedges
• Some Steamed Potato, optional
• Sea Salt and Pepper
• 10g Unsalted Butter, optional

Method:-
1. Melt butter or olive oil in frying pan then saute red onion, carrot and mushrooms for about 3 - 5 minutes before adding in the blanched broccoli.

2. Give the mixture a quick toss, splash in 50ml of hot water or stock and continue to cook for another minute then remove to serving plate.

3. Using the same frying pan, cook the salmon fillet skin-side down, season with salt and freshly ground black pepper for 3 - 5 minutes (depend on the thickness) then turn the salmon over and fry for a further 2 minutes or until cooked through. Remove to serving plate at the side of the prepared vegetables.

Usually when mum comes over for dinner on Tuesday, I would prepared either one/two additional dish, her favourite double-boiled soup or some new recipes which are on my "explore" lists. Above was a one pan dish on Roast Chicken with Bacon and Assorted Veggies to go with some refreshing chilled fruity ciders on a hot summer night.

ROAST CHICKEN WITH BACON AND ASSORTED VEGGIES

[Dinner] Chilling with Cabbies's and Rekorderlig

While waiting for the last 15 minutes of the roast, we decided to chill the night with some fruity beers from the fridge. Personally I prefer the the refreshing and light taste from the Rekorderlig Passionfruit Cider (4% ABV) as compared to the Crabbies Strawberry and Lime Ginger Beer (4% ABV) that makes from real ginger instead of syrup. Due to the Alcoholic Ginger Beer being seeped in ginger for up to 8 weeks it has a deep and fiery taste when which was too sharp for my liking.

(Yield: 2-3 | Preparation: 10 minutes | Baking Time: 90 - 100 minutes)

Ingredients:

• 1 Whole Chicken, around 1kg
• 150g Streaky Bacon
• 3 Medium Potato, quarter
• 2 Red Onion, quarter
• 200g Pumpkin, cut into wedges
• 1 Sweetcorn, cut into chunks
• 2 Sprigs of Rosemary
• Salt, freshly ground pepper and olive oil

Method:
1. Clean and pat dry the chicken. Rub it with some sea salt thoroughly and stuff the cavity with 1 bulb of garlic (using a knife, cut off 1/4" of the top of cloves, exposing the individual cloves of garlic) and 1 sprig of rosemary (remove leaves from the stick).

2. Place prepared chicken on baking tray, lay the bacon over the chicken and arrange assorted veggies (lightly season the vegetables with olive oil, sea salt, freshly ground pepper, dry chilli flakes and parsley)  around the baking tray.

3. Baked in 180 Degree Celsius oven for about 90 minutes or until chicken is evenly brown and cooked (cover the top of the chicken with foil to prevent the bacon from being burnt). And for a shinny glaze you can brush bacon with some honey or olive oil after 30 minutes of baking time.

Close-up view of the streaky bacon hidden underneath the chicken which are still quite place and juicy.

BEERFEST ASIA 2014
(Singapore)

Beerfest Asia 2014

This coming 12 - 15 June 2014 marks the sixth year of Beerfest Asia for all beer lovers in Singapore and the region. This year with more than 400 different beers from all over the world, Beerfest Aisa provides great opportunity for Food and Beverage Industries as well as public to try out new beer products with trade suppliers and wholesalers.

For your information Beerfest Asia 2014 (Singapore) will be held at Marina Promenade which is located at the Singapore Grand Prix F1 tracks near the Singapore Flyer. Tickets are available from SISTIC (click here for more details and pricing) and each ticket includes one complimentary welcome beer to be redeemed on festival ground. Between you also need to purchase special chips (Beerfest currency) at the Cashier Booths (using cash or credit card) in order to get your beer, drinks, food and etc at the event too.

Rekorderlig Premium Passionfruit Cider

Love those bubbles from this sparking fruity cider (Rekorderlig Passionfruit Cider - 4% ABV) which reminds me of Sunday brunch champagne. Having this cold with some extra berries definitely makes it taste more dreamy. Too bad I don't have any lime on hand that day or else by adding a wedge I am sure it will ultimate the taste.

Well's Banana Bread Beer and Young's Double Chocolate Stout

So far you should realize those beers that I tried were mostly fruity flavour and the two shown above definitely captured my attention while going through the names from the sample list. Young's Double Chocolate Stout (5.2% ABV) is an award-winning brew on many occasions with Gold Medal recognition too. This chocolate milk stout style beer has an aroma of roasted malts, dark chocolate and vanilla plus a nice chocolate flavor with a bit of coffee taste near the end.

Between I used some of it to make a chocolate cake which I would be sharing in another post soon. So do stay tune. Whereas the Well's Banana Bread Beer (5.2% ABV) has a subtle flavour of banana which was not to my preference when it comes to the combination of wheat and banana.


*Disclosure: This is not a sponsored post! All opinions expressed in this post are my own and there is no monetary compensation received. We only received tasting samples of beers from Timbre Group, organiser of Beerfest Asia 2014.