Not Quite Nigella

Un-Fried Fried Chicken!

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This recipe is brought to you by CommBank Signals, a consumer insights hub that shares spending habits of Australians to help Aussies make more informed financial decisions.

I’m one of those people that are curious about what other people eat. So much so that when I get to the supermarket, I look at other people’s trolleys while in the queue. By the same token I’m not perfect and I know that people bored in queues will probably look at anyone’s trolley, mine included, and perhaps judge me on it. Because I make a lot of food by scratch and even though I buy a lot of food for the blog, our grocery bill amounts to about $100 for two a week. About $30-40 of this is spent at the supermarket, about $30 on fresh fish or meat and the remainder on fruit and vegetables.

About three times a week we eat out whether it be at a restaurant or a casual place. Fast food or takeaway is a rarity and is often a sushi roll bought when out grocery shopping. Generally speaking I’m just not a fast food person. Most of the time I find it overprocessed, high in calories and expensive for what you get and I’d rather get a steaming bowl of pho than a mass produced hamburger.

There is probably one exception to my fast food aversion and that is fried chicken. If anyone could invent a diet whereby you could eat it, lose weight and still be healthy then they deserve the million dollars. There’s nothing quite like sinking your teeth into a crunch carapace of seasoned crumbs and then hitting the tender, moist flesh underneath. And when I was reading Cheekyjk’s post where she did a baked version of MsIhua’s Malaysian Fried Chicken I think I had to pick up my jaw from the ground. She had confounded my biggest problem with making fried chicken-deep frying the chicken!

I am usually quite averse to this sort of cooking-I fear the oil splatter enormously and I think once I get into deep frying, then the already creeping calories will multiply exponentially as will my bottom yet it’s the only place where I’m likely to spend on fast food. I’m not the only one and according to the Commbank Signals data out yesterday, the average spend per month on fast food has increased by 23 per cent in the last 4 years and Australia’s favourite dinner takeaway is not actually fried chicken (shock, horror!). It is Chinese, followed by Italian and Thai, with each Australian state differing significantly on their preferred cuisine.

I don’t even know why fried chicken doesn’t specifically feature in the state by state breakdown because clearly not everyone has my fried chicken affliction. In NSW we prefer Thai food while Victorians prefer Italian more than any other state according the CommBank Signals data. South Australians are said to prefer American fast food and West Australians and Queenslanders prefer Chinese (and sorry, no word on Tasmanians!). Those from Victoria spend on average $81 per person eating out whilst fellow New South Welshpeople spend about $79 per person on an average week, while those in South Australia spend the least at $49 per person. ”You can test out if you’re like the rest of your state here.

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But back to the chicken! Keren from Cheekyjk used MsIhua’s processes starting with marinating the chicken in spicy coconut milk and then double dipping it in a spiced flour and buttermilk but she simply baked the chicken instead of frying it. If you want a simpler American style fried chicken, you could marinate it in buttermilk and flavour the flour with salt and pepper and perhaps a teaspoon of cayenne pepper. I asked Keren about it before I made it and she said that she would probably bake the chicken at a higher temperature so I set the oven at 200C/400F and hoped for the best.

What I got 40 minutes later was the most divine, crunchy flavoursome chicken. And do you know how people laud fried chicken if it isn’t greasy but still tastes good? Well this is it exactly. It’s not greasy but it is crunchy and delicious and I had to hold Mr NQN off having two drumsticks and two thighs and I think he would have kept going if I hadn’t had my dinner before he had (I couldn’t help it, as soon as it was out of the oven and photographed, I ate it standing up near the sink because walking to the table was too distracting).

I managed to sneak one thigh out from under his gaze as he was too busy munching on a drumstick blissfully and served it the next day curious to see how it would fare 24 hours on. I microwaved it and it was still good in that way that only cold fried chicken can be. The good thing was that there was no congealed white grease at all. The one downside was that Mr NQN refused to share the piece with me so if I were to advise anything, it’s make double this recipe and keep half for yourself!

So tell me Dear Reader, are you typical of your state? And do you eat fast food and if so, what is your favourite kind? And if you’re interested to see how you fare compared to the rest of your demographic and area, take a peek here. Just under the test is a link to a more thorough breakdown with figures.

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Un-Fried Fried Chicken!

750g chicken pieces (I had two thighs, two wings and two drumsticks)
400ml coconut milk
2 stalks lemongrass, pounded with the butt of a knife to split open
1 tablespoon turmeric powder
1 teaspoon chilli flakes
1 teaspoon salt

Flour and buttermilk coating

250ml buttermilk (or add 1 tablespoon lemon juice to regular milk to curdle and thicken it)
2.5 cups plain all purpose flour
1 onion (or use 2 tablespoons onion powder)
2 cloves garlic (or use 2 tablespoons garlic powder)
2 teaspoons ground ginger
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons smoked paprika
2 teaspoons cayenne pepper (omit if you don’t want it spicy)
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon oil (use this after baking halfway)

Coconut rice

2 cups basmati or jasmine rice
1 cup coconut milk drained from the chicken
1 1/4 cup water
1 golden shallot, peeled and sliced
2 pandan leaves or pandan flavouring (optional)

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1. Firstly wash and dry the chicken pieces. Mix the coconut milk, lemongrass, turmeric, chilli flakes and salt in a large container and mix to combine. Add chicken pieces and marinate overnight.

2. Preheat oven to 200C/400F. Remove chicken from the coconut milk mix and place on a plate. Measure how much coconut milk you have left (set the lemongrass aside when measuring) and make up the rest of the 2 1/4 cup measure with water. Rinse the rice and add to the coconut and water mixture along with the sliced golden shallot, pandan leaf if using and lemongrass sticks and place in a rice cooker or use the absorption method on the stove top steaming the rice without removing the lid for 10 minutes. Turn off the heat and allow to rest for another 10-15 minutes with the lid on to allow it to completely absorb.

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3. While the rice is cooking, get the chicken ready. Line a baking tray with baking paper. Take three bowls and in one add the buttermilk. In another, mix the flour along with the onion, garlic, ginger, salt, smoked paprika, cayenne pepper, cinnamon and black pepper. Mix well to distribute spices. Put half of this into the other empty bowl. You will be doing the coconut covered chicken into the spiced flour, then into the buttermilk and then the spiced flour again. This gets messy so have your tray ready to pop into the oven and I’d recommend putting the larger pieces towards the edge of the tray.

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4. Bake for 20 minutes and then take out of the oven. If you have white floury parts that haven’t turned golden brush these with the extra oil and turn over the pieces and brush the other side lightly with oil (I only needed to use a small amount just on the white bits). Bake for another 20 minutes. Fluff the rice with a fork and serve the chicken with the rice and extra Tabasco sauce if you like it very spicy.

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May 10th, 2013 by Not Quite Nigella

Costco, Lidcombe

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Often, people look at me as if I’ve lost my mind. It’s when I say things like:

“Do you think that we’re all little bugs sitting on leaves and grass and that there’s are giants out there that control the weather and natural disasters and when they step on us, it causes things like tsunamis and earthquakes?”

“I love all kinds of shopping, even grocery shopping”

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Both statements are absolutely true and I recall when Costco first opened up in Sydney. I was so curious about it. There were whispers of designer bags and American snack foods-a friend even swore that she saw a Louis Vuitton bag there. We even drove there one Sunday afternoon and saw the queue visible from the street and Mr NQN refused to go any further (Mr NQN’s other name is “he who does not enjoy grocery shopping”) so we turned around and went home.

This was over a year ago and it wasn’t until I saw my friend Celia’s post where she photographed some Longchamp Le Pliage bags that I decided I had to pay them a visit. Except of course Costco is a different kind of beast than your regular sort of store. Celia informed me that you couldn’t even look into Costco unless you were a member. Unlike overseas where membership is restricted (in the U.K. only people working in certain types of professions are allowed to buy a card) $60 gets you a membership here ($55 if you are a registered business) and only then are you allowed to browse the aisles. If you pay using a credit card, the name must match the name on the membership card.

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So one Monday morning I joined Celia and Pete on one of their runs to Costco. Enormous as expected with a total of about 400 staff, it’s a sight to behold and a testament to American style grocery shopping. They didn’t seem to mind people taking photos and if you want to price match, you could certainly do so if you have the internet on your phone. The savings varied from brand to brand and the first thing we saw is the optical section and the hearing aid section. Celia wrote of a story of a Cook Islands couple who had taken a taxi from Sydney airport and had a hearing aid fitted and purchased for $2,000 because they were quoted $12,000 for the same thing in the Cook Islands.

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Costco differs from a store like Aldi in that they have branded items, all of which are brand new and not end of the line items. There is also their own home brand called Kirkland. There are plenty of American snack foods and drinks. Everything comes in larger sizes and if you know your prices, you could end up with a good bargain although my friend Gina visited and found that some items were the same price or even more depending on where you shopped. The Dyson vacuum cleaner was cheaper than the retail price of other stores although with some research you can find stores that sell it for cheaper or allow for bargaining.

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We went straight to the designer bags and two friendly staff members offer to help and chat to us. They seem unperturbed by me taking photos (I took my tiny Pentax Q instead of the huge DSLR as it was lighter) and the female staff member clarifies that they often get just a few of each bag style. The Longchamp Le Pliage bags are $123 (I bought the same bag at a department store for $139) although the selection is smaller. Nearby at the Swarovski glass display cabinet, she tells us that they get items that buyers tell them the actual Swarovski boutique doesn’t have.

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May 9th, 2013 by Not Quite Nigella

Vegan Banana Cake With Hokey Pokey Caramel Frosting!

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A few years ago, I met a woman that worked in tourism who had also had a past career as a massage therapist. She was very friendly and we spent a few hours in the car driving so the talk inevitably turned to our work and previous jobs. I’m insatiably curious about people and can’t help asking strangers loads of questions-some of them odd.

“Can you tell what the person on your massage table is like?” I asked her hoping that it wasn’t too strange a question. After all, people are drawn to each other or can sometimes get a “bad vibe” from someone through your intuition.

She smiled and nodded and told me that there were times that you picked up the energy of a person and sometimes, you could definitely feel as if you “knew” what they were like through touch and intuition about that person. She had one client that exhausted her and she would leave a session feeling drained and depressed. She later learned that her client had had a recent bereavement. Conversely, some people made her feel energised after a treatment. She also divulged that the best sign of appreciation is a client that is so relaxed that they’re snoring.

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May 8th, 2013 by Not Quite Nigella

Mexico, Surry Hills

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It probably feels like a moot point to tell any Sydney-sider that we’re in the throes of a love affair with Mexican food. It seems everywhere we turn, there’s Mexican food here in Sydney. New places pop up, some better than others, some more authentic than others. Mexican food is easy to do badly. I can recall one recent awful meal at one restaurant where our soft tacos were swimming in half a centimetre of water and the beef was completely bereft of flavour. Thankfully we had forgotten to bring a camera on this impromptu visit and that ended up being a relief. But there are some that are trying harder than others.

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Mexico Food & Liquor sits where District Dining used to. It’s the newest restaurant for District Dining’s chef Warren Turnbull who started off his Mexican love with a version of Mexico in Auckland in his native New Zealand. The colourful wall with murals and fresh flowers ushers you in and a comely skull beauty looks down at you from her perch above the greeting station. No inch has been left unthemed and the walls are covered with picture frames, deity figurines, Day of the Dead artwork and Mexican movie posters. And if you’re waiting for friends because you’ve turned up early, that means lots to rest your eyes on and ponder.

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At Mexico, there are no bookings for lunch or dinner. Dinner I understand but lunch time is usually a time pressed affair for most so on this Friday I worry about us getting in and out in a timely manner. Combine that with the fact that nobody is seated until all guests have arrived and I’m already a bit stressed. I sit at the bar surveying the various tequilas, apparently there are over 80 premium tequilas in total when suddenly I feel a hand on me. It’s Buxom Wench and Silver Fox. A few minutes later, we’re being led to the outer section which looks down onto busy Central station on Chalmers Street.

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Jarritos Mexican soft drinks $5 each

The menu is easy enough to negotiate with a neat list of food on the left hand side while the remaining two thirds of the menu is taken up by drinks. The prices are reasonable and portions are said to be on the smaller side although we’re told they’re “sharing sizes” (which I’d interpret as larger serves so I don’t quite get that). We start with Jarritos, Mexican soft drinks in alarmingly bright neon colours. Even though the colours look startlingly artificial, the mandarin does actually taste like mandarin (unlike say Fanta that doesn’t taste like oranges). We also tried lime and pineapple which weren’t bad but the mandarin was the most like the actual fruit. I know, who expects that a soft drink tastes like the fruit? What can I say, I live in hope

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Salsa roja, house made corn chips $6

The restaurant is busy and it’s about twenty five minutes until we get our first bites of food. First to arrive are the house made corn chips with a salsa roja. The corn chips are crispy and thin and the salsa isn’t bad although there doesn’t appear to be much heat, spices or garlic in the salsa roja at all. The menu states that the hot sauces on the table are added to give heat although with chilli such an integral part of Mexican cuisine, I do wonder why it isn’t just included in the food.

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“Do it yourself guacamole”, warm flour tortillas $8

The DIY guacamole comes out in a little jar and you are supposed to squeeze in some lime and mix it up which isn’t really DIY as it is really quite made up already. The four warm flour tortillas are warm and very soft and we spread them with the guacamole. It’s not bad but it too hasn’t got a lot of flavour so we add some of the salsa roja and chilli sauce on the table.

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Caramelised lamb soft taco with pomegranate, chilli, pepitas and Jalapeno mayo $7

The three tacos arrive next, each in a enamel covered metal bowl. The first one we try is the caramelised lamb soft taco with pomegranate, chilli, pepitas and Jalapeno mayo. The caramelised lamb is quite caramelised an almost a little burnt in parts and the chillis and pepitas add heat and crunch.

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Black bean crema, eggplant pico de gallo, zucchini, queso fresco $7

I must admit that my favourite taco was the vegetarian one filled with black bean crema, eggplant pico de gallo, zucchini and queso fresco. The combination of flavours and textures was perfectly balanced and moreish.

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Tomato, chipotle braised pork taco with lime, radish and grape $8

We chose one of the specials with pulled pork in a tomato and chipotle braise and this was paired with line, radish and halved grapes. Overall it was a nice enough combination although the eggplant taco above was still the pick.

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Mexico’s fried chicken $14

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May 7th, 2013 by Not Quite Nigella

Make Your Own Dark Chocolate From Scratch!

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“I need to bring something to tape your sounds when you exercise” my trainer Nina told me one day. It’s true Dear Reader, you see that when I exercise I have this unfortunate affliction where how shall I put it delicately…I make sex noises.

Yes, I know. And yes it’s completely embarrassing. Even worse is that I absolutely cannot help it. I am Monica Seles, Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams all in one.

I first realised that I did this when we were training hard and Nina asked me to correct my lunge position. Suddenly this deep, dark sound engulfed my ears. My brow furrowed and I looked around. Were people going for it in Centennial Park right next to all the little kids that were playing? I realised that the offending noise was actually emanating from me and from the pit of my diaphragm. It was guttural, it was loud and it was involuntary. I repeated the lunge and there it was again. That noise. I covered my mouth, my eyes alarmed. All I could think about were the kids and their parents nearby to us and polluting innocent children’s auditory streams with my weird noises. Meanwhile Nina was doubled over laughing.

Yes, I make sex noises when I exercise. I’m a sex noise exercising addict. Although that might be taking it too far…

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