Roasted Chicken With Brown Rice And Chestnut Stuffing

  Today is Christmas and as a Christian we do value this special and meaning day in December Calender. For the past two years, our church has planned outdoor Christmas Party in the neighbourhood area so that more residents can join us to celebrate this special occasion at the eve of Christmas. So since today is a rest day for family gathering, I decided to try my hand on preparing my very 1st Christmas Lunch.

To be honest, I seldom prepared western dishes because I do not own many of those spices or herbs which we hardly used in our daily Asian cooking. And this Roasted Chicken Lunch that I prepared is also not a fully western dishes too. As when you read the rest of the post, you would notice that I replaced the usual herbs stuffing with brown rice and etc.

Here are some collage photos to show the ingredients and steps on preparing the Brown Rice Stuffing which is quite similar to what I did a few years back on the Baked Pumpkin with Rice Stuffing (link HERE).

Ingredients: (for 1 quantity)

1 Cup of Uncooked Brown Rice Mixture
2 Tablespoons of Frozen Green Peas
6 - 8 Whole Ready to Eat Roasted Chestnuts
1 Tablespoon of Mixed Fried Fruit/Golden Raisin
1 Teaspoon of Minced Garlic
1/2 Teaspoon of Minced Ginger
1/2 Tablespoon of Oil
Seasonings:
Dash of Pepper and Sesame Oil
1/2 Teaspoon Light Soya Sauce

Method:

1. Rinse the rice mixture two to three time then soak in water for about 30 minutes before cooking.(soaking the brown rice prior cooking can decrease the cooking time)
2. Cook the brown rice in rice cooker with the usual method and once it is cooked through stand it rice cooker for another 10 minutes.
3. Next scoop the cooked rice to a place and let it cool off to room temperature while preparing the ingredients for the fried rice and get ready the chicken.
4. When done, preheat a non-stick pan with 1/2 tablespoon of cooking oil, saute the minced garlic and ginger till fragrant then drop in green peas and give it a quick stir before adding the cooked brown rice.
5. Use the back of the spatula, loosen all the lumps of the cooked rice till grains are formed.
6. Stir-fry the rest of the ingredients such as chestnut and mixed dried fruits then follow by the seasoning till well mixed.
7. Transfer the rice mixture to a plate while handling the chicken.

Note:-

~ Mix 1/2 cup each of Brown Rice with normal Long Grain Jasmin Rice. (I do encourage you to try brown rice as it will give this dish a very nutty fragrant and taste)

This is the final Brown Rice Stuffing with Chestnut, green peas and dried mixed fruit mixture which is ready to be used. Since this is used as a Christmas theme stuffing you could realise that the colour that I used seems t be circling with green, red, golden and etc. I am sure this would be something new to you as to add dried mixed fruits into rice stuffing.

Here is another set of collage photos showing the ingredients of the roasted vegetables and steps on stuffing the chicken.

Ingredients For Roasted Vegetables: (Serves 4)

1 Medium Carrot, cut into 2cm thick chunks
2 Medium Potato, removed skin and cut into 6 chunks each
300g of Pumpkin, removed skin and cut into chunks
1 Fresh Sweetcorn, cut into 2cm thick ring, halves
Seasonings:
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
1/2 Teaspoon Freshly Ground Black Peppercorns
1/2 Teaspoon of Dried Chilli Flakes
1/2 Tablespoon roughly chopped Coriander

Method:

1. Mixed all the vegetables together with the seasonings in a bowl and set aside while preparing the chicken.


Since I still have some Seah's Spices available from their complimentary gift (link HERE) set, I decided to use one of this "Seah's Salt-Roasted Chicken Spices" for our Christmas Roast Chicken Lunch. There are two small 20g sachets of spices in each packet where you can roast up to 2 chicken of 600g each.

Ingredients: (Serves 4)

1 20g Sachet of Spices(Seah's Salt-Roasted Chicken Spices)
1 Sakura Chicken, around 1kg size
1 Tablespoon of Olive Oil
1 Quantity of Prepared Brown Rice Stuffing
Prepared Vegetables Chunks for roasting

Method:

1. Before stuffing the chicken, trim the extra fats, emptied and cleaned the cavity, removed the head, neck and feet. Rinse and pat dry using kitchen paper towel.
2.Next brush the olive oil evenly around the chicken before rubbing the powder spices all over the chicken include the cavity of the chicken and under the skin layers.
3. Scoop the rice stuffing into the cavity and pressed tightly using the back of the spoon until all all or most of the stuffing are used up.
4. Place the stuffed chicken in a baking dish, secure the chicken thighs and wings to its body by using some kitchen string.
5. Arrange the prepared vegetables chunks around the sides of the baking dish and roast in a pre-heat 220 degree roast for about 20 minutes.
6. Remove the baking dish from the oven, quickly brush over another layer of olive oil all around the chicken and also give the veggies a quick toss before putting back to the oven to roast for another 20 minutes.
7. To get that nice and crispy outer skin, you can switch the oven function to fan-force mode on the last 7 - 10 minutes of cooking time.



In about 1 hour time, we could enjoy a hearty Christmas Roasted Chicken Lunch with rice stuffing and mixed veggies at our comfort home without need to eat in rush and wait for the festive season queues in the eateries. You can also re-heat some ready served chicken gravy pack or festive cranberry sauce from the supermarket to go with the roasted chicken.

This photo shows the inner cut of the roasted chicken where you can see the colourful brown rice stuffing in the cavity. The rice is so yummy and fragrant by the spices and juice from the roasted chicken too.

Roasted Chicken will be great to serve with Caesar Salad that consists of the crispy romaine lettuce and croutons which dressed with Parmesan cheese, lemon juice, olive oil and etc.You can easily prepared this by getting some fresh romaine lettuce and ready salad dressing pack from local supermarket such as Cold Storage.

This is the 1 person serving portion of our Christmas Lunch. Everyone enjoys this simple and wonderful meal with accompany of white wine and sparking drinks.

Although this year Christmas has almost come to an end in another few hours time but I would still like to wish everyone of my blog readers a wonder and blessed Christmas. Hope you have enjoy this festive season with your loved to ones and Merry Christmas everyone!!!!

And also I am submitting this post to "Aspiring Bakers #2: Christmas! (Dec 2010)", hosted by Passionate About Baking at this link HERE.

Seah's Emperor Herbs Chicken

Steam Herbal Chicken either with steam rice or blanched noodles where we could drizzle those delicious sauce over it. Whenever we unwrapped the chicken parcel, the dining room will be filled with wonder aroma of the herbs. And with the usual tight working schedule, preparing a simple and yet delicious meal is always something challenging for me. So often I would need to settle some of our meals with those quick and easy ingredients or products which can be easily purchase off shelf from the supermarket.

Since most of us are craving for herbal chicken, I decided to fix one over the weekend using one of my favourite Seah’s Emperor Herbs Chicken Spices. This is definitely a quick and easy meal and the main ingredients that you required would be either some chicken parts or the whole chicken plus a packet of ready spices. This recipe I only used half of the chicken for steaming while the other half for making “Chicken, Longan and Burdock Soup” (recipe HERE).

Ingredients:
1/2 packet of Seah's Emperor Herbs Chicken Spices
1/2 Whole Chicken, around 500g
Aluminum Foil and Wrapper(included in packet)
3 Red Dates, cut into thick strips
1/2 Tablespoon Wolfberries
1 1/2 Tablespoon of Drinking Water

Method:
1. Trim, rinse and use some kitchen paper towel to pat dry the chicken.
2. Rub the spices on the external skin and internal of the chicken.
3. Top with red dates and wolfberries then drizzle the water over the top.
4. Wrap the chicken with the wrapper(tie a knot) then follow by aluminum foil.
5. Steam for about 1.5 - 2 hours depending on your preference of the meat texture.

Tips:

~ The purpose of adding water is to have more gravy for the end product.

~ Red dates and wolfberries will further enhance the taste and fragrant.

~ For stronger taste, you can also drizzle a spoonful of D.O.M Benedictine Liquor over the pipping hot chicken before serving.

 

You can get this Seah's Emperor Herbs Chicken Spices at any leading supermarket or provision stalls near your area. And if you would like to try something different, perhaps you can try this less than 30 minutes oven baked "Salt-Roasted chicken Spices" too.

Are you the LUCKY one!!!

A week has past and today we are going to reveal the winner(s) of the Giveaway event. The purpose of this event is to share my joy as well as some Seah's spices premix that I have received from Seah's Spices Food Industries Pte Ltd as a token of appreciation to reward me on using and sharing their products in my posts.

At the Giveaway post (HERE) I have promised to give away 5 packets of the premix spices to a lucky reader who wishes to try out the Seah's Spices. So here we go.........The Lucky reader who can have a chance to pick her choice of 5 packets of Seah's premix spices is:-



And there is another good news here! Since there are so many of you interested in this Seah's premix spices I decided to add on another 2 lucky readers who will be able to receive 2 packets of their desire choice of Seah's spices. Here there are:-

Dear Readers,

Thanks everyone for taking time to participate in this event. Even though some of you might not get away with your desire items this round but I do hope you have fun in this little event with us. And do stay around for more upcoming giveaway event soon.

As for the 3 lucky readers mentioned above, do Email me your list of choice for the Seah's Premix Spices from the post (HERE or email me for details if you are not sure) and I will get back to you as soon as I received your email. Thanks!

Seah's Singapore Chicken Curry

Singapore Chicken Curry is always one of the dishes that most Singaporean craves for when they are oversea for work purpose or studies. Like myself when I was away from Singapore, I always stock up more than a dozen pack with me during my visit home so that I can easily whipped up this all time favourite during special occasions or as when we feel like having some home cook dishes.

Inside my recent gift pack from Seah’s Spices (click HERE to read more), I have found a pack of the Singapore Chicken Curry Spices that I have not tried before. And since mum is craving for some Chicken Curry, we decided to give this new spice a try.

We bought some chicken wings, potato, tomato, onion and coconut cream to cook this dish. But as you notice from the photo above, there is a pack of coconut powder that comes with the curry spices which makes it easier for those who is overseas where coconut cream/milk is not easily found. But in Singapore we do prefer to add in either fresh or ready packed coconut milk/cream to enhance the flavour of the curry.

The method used here is slight different from the method shown on the package as mum preferred to stir-fry the ingredients a while to release the aroma of the onion and spices before adding water. So here goes our modify version of the Chicken Curry:-

Ingredients: (serves 4)
1 Packet of Seah’s Singapore Chicken Curry Spices
8 Chicken Wings
3 Medium Size Potato, cut into chunks
3 Medium Size Tomato, cut into wedges
2 Medium Onion, cut into wedges
800ml Boiling Water
100ml Coconut Cream

Method:
1.Wash and trim the fat off from the chicken wings and set aside.
2. Preheat a soup pot with 1/2 tablespoon of cooking oil, add in the onion and sauté till fragrant (about 30 seconds) then add in the chicken pieces and potato then continue to stir on and off for another 30 seconds or so.
3. Next slowly add in the curry spices and stir the mixture till well combined.
4. Add in 800ml or more boiling water to cover the chicken pieces when the curry comes to boil, add in the tomato wedges and slowly simmer over low heat for about 15 – 20 minutes till the potato soften and meat is cooked through.
5. Lastly, slowly stir in the coconut cream and turn off the heat when the mixture comes to boil.
6. You can served warm with steam rice or baguette.

Note:
~ If you prefer something more spicy or that nice red chilli oil colour on your curry, you can add in 1 teaspoon of Sambal Blachan together with the spices to make it extra spicy.


Although some of the pre-mix spices cannot whipped out the authentic flavour compare to those freshly grind spices but I am sure with all these ready made spices it actually helps to shorten cooking time for working mum like me or overseas friends who missed having those wonderful local dishes.

So if you wish to try out some of these spices, do come and join us on the Giveaway event HERE whereby you can win some Seah’s spices of your choice.

Seah's Premix Spices Gift Pack & Giveaway

Recently I have received an email from the marketing department of Seah's Spices Food Industries Pte Ltd mentioning that they are sending a gift pack in appreciation to me on sharing some of their products in my blog post recipes. Upon hearing that, I was too shock and overjoy to believe that their team actually take the time and effort to go around sourcing and reading recipes blogs such as mine.

After about two weeks from their email, I have received their gift pack yesterday, which consists of a box of their makeover premix spices, oyster sauce and a recipes book on how to use their products.

Their "Roasted & Steamed & Braised food" range consists of my favourite Emperor Herbs Chicken Spices which I used to ask my mum to send it to me while I was in overseas. And now I spotted that they actually have Salt-roasted Chicken Spices and Stewed Fragant Spices too which I am curious to try it out soon.

So far I have tried only two of their "Broth & Soup" products which are "Singapore Bak Kuet Teh"(click HERE) and "Herbal Chicken Soup"(click HERE) that I have shared in my previous posts.

But they do have other products under this range are:- Scallop Shark's Fin Soup, Buddha Jump Over the Wall Soup and Seafood Hotpot which acts as a great helper for festive season meal. Or you might prefer something healthier to build up the family members immune system such as trying their "Nutritious Black Chicken Soup".

Seah's spices also have a range of "Deep-fried food" spices which can be use either as a batter or seasoning for deep-fried stuffs. The sample that I have over here are:- Five-Spices Fried Chicken Spices, Spicy Fried Chicken Spices, Prawn-Flavoured Fried Chicken Spices and Fried Crispy Prawn Spices.

If you prefer some hot and spicy flavour from their products, then these "Stir-Fried Food" range will be great for a choice. Honestly speaking, I have not try any of these before and I am surprised to see some of these spices too. Here you can find:- Pepper Salt Prawn Spices, Black Pepper Crab Spices, Black Pepper Spices(Beef/Chicken) and Curry Chicken Spices.

Until I found these in the gift pack, I didn't know that Seah's also have their very own "Desserts & Beverages" products such as Red Beans Dessert with Orange Peel, Ginseng Chrysanthemum Powder and Creamy Corn Coconut Dessert Powder.

Dear Readers,

I would like to share my joy on some of these special Seah's Spices that I have received with those who is interested in trying these prodcuts. So in this "Giveaway" a lucky reader will have a chance to pick any 5 packets of the above spices that I have shared in the above-mentioned post.

If you are interested to participate in this "Giveaway", what you need to do is just leave your NAME and a comment tag of "I'll love to try these Seah's Spices!" before 2359 hours, 31 July 2010 and I will pick a lucky reader on 01st August 2010 using an online randomiser.

Till then, have fun and join in the Giveaway!!!!! Who know you might be the next "person" like me to be spotted by SEAH's SPICES on using/sharing their products and be rewarded with some of their freebies too :p

p/s: Overseas readers are also welcome to join in this Giveaway too!

Seah's Herbal Chicken Soup

Soup! Most reader of this blog knows that I can't do without Soup and I love to boil soup. I believed a bowl of hot and comfort soup will make a great different for rainy days meal or even to revive your soul from tiring days at work. Chicken soup is always the best and comfort soup found in every home whereby you can see almost all the mothers will boil chicken essence/soup to strength our body and soul during our school time or staying up late at nights.

White Fungus - 雪耳 nourishes the Kidney, invigorates the Qi and benefits the Blood. It is also rich in iron, vitamin C, calcium and phosphorous. Its elastic protein and fibres also ease constipation, lower blood pressure and nourish the skin effectively.

As you have read from my posts, I have tried Seah's Bak Kuet Teh herb pack in one of my post a few months back. (click Here) To me, I feel that their quick and easy pre-packed herbs pack do easy the trouble of whipping out homecook soup in a easier way. Today I am going to share with you another type of their Soup Pack which is known as "Herbal Chicken Soup Spices" that will enable you to have comfort soup without storing up your pantry with different types of Chinese herbs.

Ingredients: (serves 3 - 4)
1 Packet of Seah's Herbal Chicken Soup Spices
3 Chicken Drumsticks
1 Small Can of Button Mushroom
1 Cluster of White Fungus
6 Red Dates
1/2 Tablespoon Wolfberries
1.2 Litre Boiling Water

Method:
1. Rinse and soaked the white fungus in warm water for about 10 - 15 minutes till soften, trim off the bottom stem and take only the soft portion. Rinse and let it soaked in water for another 15 minutes or so before cooking.
2. Clean and trim the fat of the chicken drumstick, blanched in boiling water, rinse and set aside.
3. Bring 1.2 Litres of water to boil, add in all the ingredients, except wolfberries. When the mixture comes to boil again, let it simmer for another 5 minutes before transfer it to the Slow-cooker and let it cook for at least 2 to 3 hrs on AUTO till the white fungus soften. OR
Alternatively you can simmer it on the stove for at least 45 minutes on medium low heat.
4. Serve hot with steam rice.


So you see with only 4 steps, anyone can whip up a pot of homecook chicken soup at anytime of the day. Just put everything into the slow-cooker, set the timer and within a few hours, you can enjoy a bowl of hearty comfort soup with your love one/family at home.

Bak Kuet Teh

Bak Kuet Teh is one of the popular Chinese soup found in Asia countries, such as Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan and etc. In Singapore there are mainly 3 different types of Bak Kuet Teh and the Teochew version is more popular with patrons with its light color soup base that is more pepper in taste. Whereas for the Hokkien who prefer stronger taste soy sauce is added which results a darker soup. But as for Cantonese extra Chinese herbs, gingok nuts and etc are added to create a stronger flavoured soup.