Simple (But Yummy) Recipes for a BBQ

About a week ago I tasked myself with the organising of a friend's birthday BBQ. I didn't actually plan anything until the day of (apart from making the carrot cake and cupcakes two days before - which were a hit!!) but it turned out that if you push yourself hard enough, you can make anything work.

I made Jamie Oliver's Sticky Kickin' Chicken Salad (I don't like radishes so I substituted with cocktail onions - thanks to my friend Karen for this genius idea!), Potato Salad (recipe below), Pasta Salad (recipe below), Fruit Salad (no one needs a recipe for this do they?) and Carrot Cake and Cupcakes (my variations below).

Sadly, I have no photos of the food except for the Carrot Cake but you'll just have to trust me that these are good. I love food, yo!

My Potato Salad Recipe
6 royal blue potatoes
3 eggs
3/4 cup whole egg mayo (or to taste)
3 sweet spiced gherkins
1 tsp chicken stock powder

Method:
1. Chop the potatoes into 1 inch cubes. Cook in boiling water for 15 minutes.
2. Bring another pot of water to the boil and cook eggs for 15 minutes. Once cooked, quarter the eggs.
3. Thinly slice the gherkins.
4. Combine potatoes, eggs, mayo, gherkins and chicken stock powder in a bowl and serve. Simple but tasty!!

My Pasta Salad Recipe 
1 Barilla Fusilli (Spiral Pasta)
1 Avocado
1 Small Bag of Frozen Veg (your choice - I like peas, corn and capsicum)
1/2 cup salad dressing (or to taste)
1 punnet of baby roma tomatoes

Method:
1. Cook the pasta in boiling water for 15 minutes. The box says 11 minutes - ignore this unless you want to eat half cooked pasta. Add olive oil and salt to the water while boiling.
2. Cook the frozen veg in the microwave as per packet instructions.
3. Chop the roma potatoes in half.
4. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and add salt and pepper to taste.

Carrot Cake & Cupcakes
I tried (really, I did!) to follow the recipe linked above except for these teeny, tiny variations:
- 20% more grated carrots (~60 grams)
- A splash of extra oil to make sure its super moist
- I could not find "golden syrup" so took a guess and used Maple Flavoured Syrup - worked well!!
- For the icing, I basically ignored the recipe and went with my tried and tested cream cheese mixture (250 g cream cheese at room temperature, 150 g sifted icing sugar, 60 g butter at room temperature, and 1/2 tsp vanilla essence).
- I added a roasted nuts and seeds topping for the cupcakes (pepitos, almonds, walnuts, pinenuts, sesame seeds, chia seeds, peanuts). I roughly crushed the almonds, walnuts, and peanuts in a mortar and pestle prior to roasting in the oven. Leave for 8 to 10 minutes in 190 deg oven.
- If you are making cupcakes using this batter, fill the cupcake liners 1/2 full and bake in the oven for 25 minutes. Tip: I rotate my tray at the 10 minute mark to ensure even baking.

What a fun day!

Love
Cindy

My Favourite Ikan Bakar (Grilled Fish) Recipe

I love fish. 

Back home in Kalimantan, we eat fish almost daily (at least twice a day - lunch and dinner) and my mum and grandma have a few recipes for marinating and cooking fish that is delicious and healthy. They know exactly which marinate and which recipe would work for different fish based on their natural flavour and texture. 

This recipe is something I have only tried recently, but it is so delicious! My mum gave me her recipe for sambal (chilli sauce) but it was WAY too spicy when I made it. The recipe needs a bit of work for my (and my friends') tastebuds. 

The following recipe is suitable for a medium sized Pink Snapper (~1.5 kg). I would avoid bigger fish as longer cooking time = burnt marinate. You can also try this with other fish (Bream, Sea Bass, Grouper) as long as it is a sweet/mild favoured with moderately firm white flesh. 

Ingredients:

Marinate

1 lemon

1 heaped tsp ground turmeric (tip: turmeric helps to eliminate the fishy smell/taste, I use turmeric in all my fish marinates)

1 heaped tsp ground coriander

6 cloves garlic, crushed 

1 shallot, finely diced

2 tbs extra virgin olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Basting Sauce

3 tbs extra virgin olive oil

6 tbs kecap manis

Dipping Sauce (Sambal Kecap)

1 Shallot, finely diced

1 Long Red Chilli, sliced

1 Small Chilli (the really, really hot one!), finely diced

1 Tomato, chopped

Juice of one lime

5 tbs kecap manis

Method:

1. Rinse the fish thoroughly, taking care to remove any remaining scales on the skin. 

2. Score the fish on both sides, then squeeze lemon juice all over the flesh. Set aside. 

3. Combine the ground turmeric, ground coriander, crushed garlic, shallots, extra virgin olive oil in a mortar and pestle and make into a paste. 

4. Rub marinate into the flesh and cavity of the fish and leave in the fridge for 1 hour. 

5. While the fish is marinating, prepare the basting and dipping sauces. Simply combine the EVOO and kecap manis and set aside. 

6. For the dipping sauce, combine the shallots, chillis, and tomato with the juice of one lime and kecap manis. Leave in the fridge and serve with the grilled fish. 

A fish this size will take 15-20 minutes on each side to cook. Medium-high heat, hood down. 

Use the basting sauce only at the end, when the fish is almost ready to be taken off the grill.

And done! Serve with Sambal Kangkung and Rice for maximum deliciousness.

P.S: Sorry for the horrendous photos. No styling involved, 100% real goodness ;)

Love 

Cindy

Saturday Brunch at The Tuckshop

Perth Foodies will be familiar with this brunch location. It is always busy and if you are willing to wait 30 minutes for a table, then you won't be disappointed!

Karen hates waiting for food! She is wearing the Gold Frog Feet Ring (size small) on her pinky

I ordered one of the specials: a slow cooked lamb ribs with potato, spinach, grilled bacon and fried egg. It is deliciousness on a plate - I highly recommend this dish :)
My other favourites on the menu would be the smoked cod, leek and potato bake with a cheddar toastie and the mushrooms on sourdough toast.

We went to the city afterwards for some shopping and dropped by Cimbalino at Enex 100 for coffee. The decor at Enex 100 is pretty amazing at the moment. 

Today I am wearing some pretty Creature Jewellery. The Shark Jaw Ring fits snugly on my ring finger. This only comes in one size (unfortunately!). My necklace in the blurry background is a Jennifer Zeuner Coco Necklace. Jennifer Zeuner is another jewellery love of mine, a modern yet feminine line of jewellery that is affordable.

Before I run off, a quick note on some cool events happening around Perth this weekend. Check out the RAC Channel 7 Christmas Pageant tonight and The Light Up Leedervile Carnival tomorrow night. More info on my Weekend Events page. 

Love

Cindy

Christmas Comes Early - Creature, Vale and Robyn Rhodes!

My new jewellery loves from Creature Jewellery, Vale Jewelry and Robyn Rhodes Jewellery arrived today... I am so obsessed with the snake fang ring by Creature Jewellery - I can't even!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If you have never heard of Lucy Watson before, she is a cast member in the BAFTA award winning show Made In Chelsea. I recently pulled the trigger on a few items (read: almost everything on the website). Read more about Lucy and her collection here: Creature Jewellery

The rings sit comfortably around the finger. The earrings are adorable, I cannot wait to wear these soon!

The pieces are either silver or 24k gold plated. The website doesn't state the base metal but it is quite hefty. 

Another jeweller that I am a big fan of is Robyn Rhodes - I am hand modelling the Ryan Ring (Gold/Silver Druzy) below. It is certainly a statement piece.

I have been lusting after the Vale Starbust Necklace for so long. Two weeks ago, I finally indulged and pulled the trigger. I wanted a necklace I can wear everyday which has a bit of sparkle but nothing too over the top.

Love
Cindy