Yule Chocolate Log Featured @ Yahoo Makanation

It's three more days to Christmas and I am sure most of us are busy getting gifts, preparing bakes or planning  for the Christmas Menu for family or friends gathering. For this year, if you would like to make something easy and yet filled with festive feel perhaps you could try your hands on this quick and easy Yule Chocolate Log.

About two weeks back I received an email from Lorraine of Makansutra requesting to feature a quick and easy recipe post on Christmas Log Cake. So with some twist on my old recipe, I made a chocolate swiss roll and assemble it with some chocolate spread and whipped cream.

For more read-up and recipe of this Yule Chocolate Log, please refer to the article at Makanation HERE.

Once again!!! I would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and feast more!!!!!

Roast Chicken with Portuguese Seasoning for Christmas

Christmas is just 5 days down the road and everyone is busying preparing Christmas menu and bakes for the coming festive gatherings. This year Christmas is early for us as I have prepared a hearty Roast Chicken with Portuguese Seasoning together with some roasted vegetables for a hearty family meal.

My mum was excited while preparing this dish together with me in the kitchen as this is her first hands-on roasting dish. And she was surprised that it was actually so easy to get everything done within less than 10 minutes and just pop it into the oven and we could enjoy the yummy roast after 2 hours time.

Last two week my brother has bought back some of my favourite MasterFood Herbs and Spices during his holiday trip to Sydney. And these will come in handy for me to prepare some quick and hearty meal within short time. For this post I would be using Portuguese Chicken Seasoning which brings together the flavours of lemon and chillies to create traditional Portuguese Chicken at home and this sure come perfect during Christmas season.

ROAST CHICKEN WITH PORTUGUESE SEASONING

Nothing beats a Hearty Roast like this during Christmas season while you could enjoy quality time with family and friends and at the same time do away with a fuss free cooking hassle in the kitchen.

These are the 3 types of MasterFoods seasoning and herbs using in this recipe but you could always choice to use your desire brand of similar products.

(serves: 4 | Preparation: 10 minutes | Cooking: 1 Hour 30 minutes)
Ingredients:
1.2 - 1.4kg Whole Chicken
1 Tablespoon MasterFoods Portuguese Seasoning
1/2 Teaspoon of Sea Salt
1/2 Tablespoon Olive Oil

Side Dish:
2 Medium Potato, peeled and cubes
300g Pumpkin, washed and cubes
1/2 Teaspoon MasterFoods Chilli Flakes
1 Teaspoon MasterFoods Italian Herbs
1/2 Teaspoon Olive Oil
1 Teaspoon of Soft Butter

Method:-

1. Trim the extra fats, emptied and cleaned the cavity, removed the head, neck and feet. Rinse and pat dry using kitchen paper towel.

2. Place chicken in a big bowl, brush olive oil evenly around the chicken before rubbing the Portuguese Seasoning all over the chicken include the cavity of the chicken and under the skin layers.

3. Sprinkle with salt and set aside in the roasting tray while preparing the side dish.

4. Mixed potato cubes and pumpkin together with the remaining ingredients(except butter) in a bowl and toss till well combined.

5. Stuffed some pumpkin cubes into the cavity and tie both kegs together with unwaxed kitchen string(can be found in Daiso outlets) and arrange the remaining vegetable mix at the side of the baking dish and top with dots of butter.(refer to the 6th photo above)

6. Place the chicken in preheated 180°C fan-forced oven and roast for about 1 hour 30 minutes to 2 hours or until juice run clear when thickest part of chicken is pierced with a skewer.

7. To get an nice even colour for the roast, turn the chicken around after 30 minuets interval during the baking time or basting chicken frequently with pan juice.

8. When done remove chicken from oven, cover it loosely with foil and stand for 10 minutes before serving it with steamed rice, pasta, or salad green.

This is my boy's portion of the roast chicken drumstick together with some roasted vegetables and steamed rice. Although we had added chilli flakes to the roasted vegetable but the taste was still mild as the sweetness of the pumpkin have yet blend in well with the seasonings.

Indeed this is a very simple and hearty meal which you could prepared anytime of the year even if it is not during Christmas. Here is another link of the roast chicken which I have prepared during last year's Christmas, Roasted Chicken With Brown Rice And Chestnut Stuffing.

YULE CHOCOLATE LOG

This year Christmas I have baked a Yule Chocolate Log which is something different from the previous years whereby we only had Gingerbread man, Christmas Cupcake and Fruit Cakes. This Yule Log is made with simple chocolate swiss roll recipe which used only flour, egg and sugar.

Do stay tune for the upcoming recipe soon. Cheers and enjoy the Christmas Roast!!!!

Grilled Salmon with Spicy Sweetcorn Salsa

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Corn also known as maize is one of the world's most popular and nutritious cereal crops. Corn is also used to make corn syrup, breakfast cereal, cornflour, corn chips, polenta, popcorn and etc. Also corn has similar benefits to wholegrains which is rich in carbohydrates, fibre and antioxidants.

Here we are cooking a grilled salmon dish with spicy sweetcorn salsa which is full of vibrant colours that would perk up your day.

GRILLED SALMON WITH SPICY SWEETCORN SALSA

For this dish you could choose either salmon fillet or salmon belly which would be better in texture and taste. And if you could get hold of some white firm fish fillet such as snapper or Barramundi they could also be used for this dish too.

(serves: 4 | Preparation: 15 minutes | Cooking: 10 minutes)

Ingredients for Salsa:
2 Fresh Sweetcorn Cobs, trimmed and halved
400g Can Chickpeas(garbanzo bean), drained and rinsed
1 Ripe Avocado, peeled and diced
1/2 Small Red Onion, finely chopped
1 Small Red Capsicum, diced
1 Long Green Chilli, thinly sliced
1 - 2 stalks of Fresh Coriander Leaves, finely chopped
50ml of Lime Juice
50ml of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
4(150g each) Salmon/Snapper Fish Fillets, halved
Fresh Coriander Leaves, to serve

Method:-

1. Place corn in a pot of boiling water for about 3 minutes, remove and set aside to cool before using a sharp knife to remove the kernels.

2. Combine chickpeas, avocado, onion, capsicum, chilli and chopped coriander in a large bowl.

3. Mix 2 tablespoons lime juice and 2 tablespoons olive oil in a bowl, season with salt and pepper before pouring it into the chickpea and corn kernels mixture. Toss to combine.

4. Heat remaining oil in a large frying pan over medium high heat.

5. Season fish with salt and pepper. Cook in batches for 2 minutes each side or until cooked through.

6. Transfer to plate and drizzle with remaining lime juice.

7. Arrange fish between plates and top with salsa and coriander. Serve plain or with some crusty bread at side.

Apart from having this dish plain on it's own you could also serve it together with some crusty bread for a fuller meal which would be great with it different layer of textures and flavour. And for a more spicy taste, you could also replace the green chilli with the red with or without the seeds on.