Good Friday Dinner

With no other plans for Good Friday, I decided to invite my family over to my place for a simple dinner. Dining out with a big group might be rather difficult on holidays. They were very supportive. I wasn't prepared to whip up a storm, so I just prepared some simple foods.

On my dining table were:

1. Chicken Rice. This was prepared using the Prima Taste Fragrant Hainanese Chicken Rice Paste. My eldest son being a chicken rice rice freak, this was the best paste I could find on the supermarket shelves that will satisfy him. I also love this paste very much. You just can't go wrong making chicken rice using this paste.
(Source: Prima Taste Website)
2. Roast Chicken with Potatoes. The roast chicken was very flavourful as I marinated them for a couple of hours before baking. Using my Delonghi oven, I usually get a "burnt" chicken out. Nevertheless, the chicken still taste good, and even the breast meat was soft and tender! I marinated them with mushroom sauce, maggi seasoning sauce, light soy sauce, worchester sauce, HP sauce and chopped fresh rosemary. I also learned from Laureen the butterflied method of roasting. :)

3. Green Salads. The usual salad with coral lettuce, olives, red tomatoes on vine, yellow tomatoes, sweet basil leaves, raisins, sliced almonds, olive oil, pepper and salt.

4. Mushroom Salads. I improvised this from Laura Caulder's show. Infused olive oil with fresh rosemary and thyme, then sprinkle them over your mushrooms and grilled them. I added french beans for a taste of different textures. See recipe below.
5. Chocolate Hazelnut Tart. Using the sweet tart base, I mixed ground hazelnut into valrhona chocolate ganache and let it set. The base was very crispy. The chocolate was bitter sweet and soft with a light hint of ground hazelnut. The 9" tart was finished within one evening! First time I didn't have a chance to keep it overnight.
We ended the evening by driving to 717 Trading to have our dose of durians. Unfortunately, Mao Shan Wang wasn't in season now. So we ended up eating only D24. That was enough to satisfy us too!
Recipe for Mushrooms Salad, modified from Laura Caulder's "French Food at Home".

Ingredients:
200g Swiss button mushrooms (1 packet)
200g White button mushrooms (1 packet)
250g Portobello mushrooms (1 packet)

Some french beans, chopped to about 2" long (optional)

A sprig of fresh rosemary
A sprig of fresh thyme
Some olive oil (depending on how much you want to dress your mushrooms)

Method:
  1. Wash and slice the mushrooms.
  2. Lay them on a baking tray.
  3. Warm up olive oil with rosemary and thyme in a pot, then turn off the heat immediately. Do not let it boil.
  4. Sprinkle some olive oil in your mushrooms.
  5. Bake your mushrooms at 180C for about 20mins.
  6. Remove the mushrooms from the baking tray and place them in a salad bowl.
  7. Stir in the remaining olive oil with herbs and mix thoroughly. Add a dash of black pepper and salt to taste.
  8. If using french beans, blanch them in water. Drain well then mix into the mushrooms.
  9. Serve and enjoy the juicy mushrooms!
Have a bunniful weekend!

12 comments:

Jean said...
April 23, 2011 at 10:19 PM

Everything looks so good! And I love Laura Calder as well, love catching her shows weekly on asian food channel :P

Passionate About Baking said...
April 24, 2011 at 9:17 PM

Thanks Jean! I was so glad Laura is back on AFC. I like hers and Anna Olson shows!

Jocelyn said...
April 25, 2011 at 3:18 PM

Hi, I hv been a silent reader of your blog and I hv to admit that I have been 'stealing' receipes from your blog to try them out myself after seeing the nice picture you hv been putting up but my outcome is nvr as nice as yours. :p

Just want to recommend this Chng Kee Chicken Rice paste that you can easily get from NTUC supermarkets which my family and most relatives feel is better than Prima. Maybe you can give it a try the next time.

You can control the input of oil into your rice but then it's the oil tat makes the rice shiny n taste better (or maybe it's just my own imagination.. ho ho ho).

http://www.fairprice.com.sg/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10051&storeId=90001&productId=276691&langId=-1&categoryId=14087&parent_category_rn=14087&top_category=14087

PapaCheong's 拿手好菜 said...
April 25, 2011 at 8:14 PM

Very Nice Creation you got!

Papacheong
http://home-cook-dishes-for-family.blogspot.com/

Passionate About Baking said...
April 26, 2011 at 8:27 PM

Hi Jocelyn,
Thank you for visiting my blog. I think you are too humble. I'm sure you churn out better foods than me! Anyway, recipes are for sharing, otherwise, no point posting recipes right? I also try other bloggers' recipes. :)

Is Chng Kee the one in glass container? I tried one Kee's Chicken rice paste in glass container and it's so salty we just couldn't swallow it! If it's not, then I'll check out your recommendation. Thanks once again! I didn't add oil into my rice when I use the paste. It's really good enough with the Prima paste itself.

Passionate About Baking said...
April 26, 2011 at 8:29 PM

Thanks Edith! Will try to post it up by end of the week. :)

Hi PapaCheong,
Thanks for popping by! Do try them out!

Jocelyn said...
April 26, 2011 at 11:39 PM

Hi yes it's the one in the glass container. Maybe you hv put too much. Usually if I cook my girl's potion only (which is abt 1/2 cup of rice), I put abt 1/3 table spoon with little of the oil from the paste. My girl especially like it and she can eat the rice alone without any other foods.

Passionate About Baking said...
April 28, 2011 at 3:36 PM

Thanks Jocelyn for your information. You're right, maybe I used too much! :p Since you recommend and like this so much, I shall give this a try again. :)

Jo said...
April 28, 2011 at 9:56 PM

Jane, looks like you really cooked up a storm. Everything looks so delicious. I have not tried any of Prima's paste .... maybe I will coz they do have quite a selection.

thecoffeesnob said...
April 29, 2011 at 12:00 AM

That delicious feast and being surrounded by family- I don't get think Good Friday gets any better than that!

Shirley @ Kokken69 said...
April 29, 2011 at 12:02 AM

I am always seeing you cooking up a feast for your family gatherings :) Looks like great fun and I am everyone had enjoyed the feast.

edith said...
May 19, 2011 at 5:51 PM

Jane, check this out. http://preciousmoments66.blogspot.com/2011/04/easter-party.html

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