Roasted Garlic and Rocket Chicken

"September Potluck", the theme for this week at I Heart Cooking Clubs (IHCC). For our potluck theme, we are free to select any recipes from our current and previous featured chefs. 

I was looking for some recipes using rocket leaves, and did not really want to use it in a salad, but with something more than that. Searched thru Donna Hay's website and found this interesting Rocket Dressing! Sounds good and served with Roasted Garlic Chicken, already sounds delicious, as we are garlic lovers and who doesn't love roasted chicken!

My pot of Rocket Leaves (Arugula).

This Rocket Dressing is really nice. The leaves are fragrant, and peppery delicious. It is so simple and easy to make. The Rocket leaves are finely chopped and mix with some olive oil, salt and pepper to taste. 

Donna Hay has used one whole butterflied chicken, for roasting. I have used 3 whole chicken legs as it is only for the three of us. Three heads of garlic cloves are separated and placed under the chicken during the first hour of roasting. And the garlic cloves are pushed to the sides of the baking tray during the last 30 minutes of roasting. I actually placed the chicken legs, skin side down during the first 40 minutes, and turn them over with skin side up, for the rest of the roasting time, till they are brown and crispy. The only seasoning are some olive oil, salt and black pepper to taste. 

This is such a simple, easy and delicious meal. Everyone love the garlic! There's not a single clove of garlic left! Some of the garlic are really soft and creamy, while some which are at the corners of the tray, gets all crispy and crunchy! The chicken is really tasty with just the simple seasoning of olive oil, salt and black pepper, and the skin is deliciously crispy. Served with Rocket Dressing, delicious! Donna Hay does it again, with a simple, easy, fuss-free yet delicious dish. This Rocket Dressing would be great if spread on slices of baguette and grill till crisp. 

Roasted Garlic and Rocket Chicken
(adapted from donnahay.com)
3 small heads garlic, cloves separated
2 tablespoons olive oil
sea salt and cracked black pepper
1 x 1.6kg whole chicken, butterflied (I use 3 whole chicken legs)

rocket dressing :
1 cup baby rocket (arugula) leaves, finely chopped
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 cup (60ml) extra virgin olive oil

Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F). Place the garlic on a baking tray, drizzle with half the oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place the chicken on top of the garlic and rub with the remaining oil, salt and pepper. Roast for 1 hour. Move the garlic from under the chicken to the edge of the tray and roast for a further 30 minutes, or until the chicken is golden and the garlic is tender. While the chicken is cooking, make the rocket dressing. Place the rocket, lemon juice, oil, salt and pepper in a bowl and mix to combine. Serve the chicken with the roasted garlic and rocket dressing. Serves 4.

This post is linked to I Heart Cooking Clubs (IHCC), the theme for this week, September Potluck.

Cheesy Herb Popovers : Bake-Along #68

It's time for our Bake-Along, and for our bake #68, I've chosen "Popovers" to bake together with Lena and Zoe and anyone who wishes to bake along with us.

Do you like eating Popovers? Have you tried baking "Popovers" before? We like eating Popovers and they are really easy to make. Popovers are made with just eggs, flour and milk, and the flavours can varies between sweet and savoury or just plain, eaten with jam. Our favourite in my house are the savoury ones. Popovers are baked using popover pans, but muffins pans works out great. I baked mine using muffins pans, just be sure to grease them really well, so that they pop out easily. There are no leavening or yeast used for making popovers, as they bake, the steam causes the hollow in the centre, making the thin batter rises really high, and they will collapse, not long after baking. Though this recipe I've tried, remained quite puffy, deflating only a little, even after almost an hour after baking.

These are really super easy to make. All the ingredients are mixed in a blender and poured into greased muffin pans and bake! The only thing I added is more chives. Recipe states to add about a scant teaspoon of any fresh herbs, I've used chives, since I have some chives in my garden pot. And have used about 1-1/2 tablespoons for the batter, plus additional for sprinkling over the top. The blended batter has a light tinge of green because of the chives, and smells really nice.

Make sure the muffin pans are well greased. Pour the batter evenly among the 12 muffin cups, and sprinkle the top with some chopped chives and some shredded cheddar cheese. From the photo above, the green colour of the batter cannot be seen, as the green is very light.

Bake in a preheated oven at 220C for 20 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 180C, and bake for a further 15 minutes until they are golden brown and puffy. I like to watch the process of the popovers puffing up! The second photo, about 10 minutes after the placing the tray in the oven, the popovers are already puffing up.

Reduce the temperature as directed in the recipe and bake for a further 15 minutes or until they are golden brown and yummy looking!

Nice and golden. Delicious and fun to eat! Eat it while it is still hot and fresh from the oven.

The kitchen smells of cheese and chives while these are baking. I like the smell of melting cheese as they bake. So good.

This is really, really yummy! Look at the hollow centre. The crust is so crispy, especially the top, really delicious with the "melted-turned-crispy cheese", while the insides are soft and taste "chive-y" good!  Can you see the lightly tinge of green on the inside, that's from the blended chives. All the 12 popovers are gone within an hour. 

Please do join us by baking any Popovers recipe and link your post (must be current) to our linky below. If you have not tried Popovers before, well, maybe this is the time to try it. And don't forget to make a pot of tea!

Cheesy Herb Popovers

(adapted from "Williams-Sonoma Home Baked Comfort", Kim Laidlaw)
makes 12 popovers

3 large eggs
1/2 cup (4 fl oz/125ml) heavy cream
1 cup (8 fl oz/250ml) whole milk
1-1/4 cups (6-1/2 oz/200gm) all-purpose flour
scant tsp minced fresh thyme, chives or oregano (I use 1-1/2 tbsp minced chives)
extra minced chives to scatter the top before baking (my addition)
1/4-1/2 tsp kosher salt (depending on how salty the cheese is) (I use pinch of sea salt)
3 tbsp unsalted butter, melted (use 45gm salted butter)
1/2 cup (2oz/60gm) shredded Gruyere, Cheddar, or Parmesan cheese

Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 425F (220C). Generously butter 12 standard muffin cups, including the top of the pan.
In a blender, process the eggs, cream, milk, flour, herbs, and salt until blended. With the blender running, pour in the melted butter. Pour the batter into the prepared muffin cups, filling them about three-fourths full. Top each with a sprinkle of cheese, (and chopped chives, if using). Bake for 20 minutes (you may want to peek at the popovers, but whatever you do, don't be tempted to open the oven door).
Reduce the oven temperature to 350F (180C) and bake until the popovers are hollow and golden brown, about 15 minutes longer. Immediately unmold the popovers onto a wire rack. They are best eaten right away, while hot (but please don't burn yourself).

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Do stop by Lena of Frozen Wings and Zoe of Bake For Happy Kids, and all our friends who has baked along with us in the linky below :

For our next Bake-Along, we will be baking Maple Nut Pie, from The Williams-Sonoma Baking Book, page 232 or you may get the recipe, here. Our linky which will start on 14th October till 23rd October. Everyone is welcome to join us! 

A friendly reminder when linking to our blog hop :

1. Please mention Bake-Along event in your own post linking direct to any of the hosts' post (Joyce, Lena or Zoe)

2. Please link only new and current post, PLEASE FOLLOW THE BAKE OR THEME provided by us. Unrelated post will be deleted.

3. Feel free to display our Bake-Along badge in your post.

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and I'm sharing this post with :

Cook-Your-Books #16 @ kitchen flavours

Join our blog hop, click on the link to get the codes :
get the InLinkz code

An InLinkz Link-up

Double Crust Apple Pie

I love apple pies. There is something so homey about apple pies, so satisfying with a cup of warm tea. When Little Thumbs Up ingredient for this month is Apples, I  just knew that I'll be making an Apple Pie. 

There are many apple pie recipes which I really wanted to try, and finally selected this recipe, "Double Crust Apple Pie" during the weekend, and it was good with a cup of warm tea.

First, make the pastry. The pastry is a little soft and slightly sticky, not really that easy to handle. I can barely position the first piece in the centre to cover the base of the pie pan, but with a little dusting of flour, it is easier to handle. The pastry uses a whole egg which is whisked lightly before adding to to the flour-butter mixture, the next time I would not put in the whole egg, and would instead add in a tablespoon at a time until the pastry dough comes together. The cold water is not needed at all, as the pastry is already soft and slightly sticky. 

For the filling, the apples are cut to small slices, cook for a few minutes with some lemon juice until just tender, set aside to drain and cool.

The top of the pastry, with some lines on it (oops...!), as I've used a plastic sheet to transfer the dough, and they are the creases mark, from the plastic.

Pinch all around the top of the pastry together to seal, make a hole in the centre, brush with egg and sprinkle with some sugar.

Bake in a preheated oven at 200C for 40-45 minutes, turning the position halfway through for even baking.

Slice and enjoy. The pastry is buttery and flaky, and the apple filling is lovely. Though I usually love eating apples pies while they are still warm, this is pretty good when eaten at room temperature, when it has cooled down for several hours. The pastry remains just as tender and flaky, and the flavours of the apples gets better. Very nice with a cup of warm tea.

Double-Crust Apple Pie
(adapted from "Mastering The Art of Baking", Anneka Manning)
2 quantities sweet shortcrust pastry (* refer below)
1 egg, lightly whisked
1 tablespoon sugar, to sprinkle
vanilla ice cream or whipping cream, to serve

Filling :
2 lb 10 oz granny smith apples
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 cup ground almonds
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
finely shredded zest of 1 lemon

1. Make the 2 quantities of pastry separately and place in the refrigerator to rest, as directed.
2. To make the filling, peel the apples, cut into quarters and cut away the core. Slice each quarter into wedges about 3/4 inch thick. Put the apples in a large, deep frying pan with the lemon juice, cover with a tight-fitting lid and cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, for 5-7 minutes or until just soft. Transfer the apples to a colander and set aside to drain and cool to room temperature.
3. Meanwhile, use a rolling pin to roll out each pastry disc between 2 sheets of nonstick parchment paper to 1/8 inch thick. Place one portion on a large baking sheet, still between the paper, and refrigerate until required. Use the remaining pastry to line a 1-3/4 inch deep, round 8-1/2 inch pie pan, easing it gently into the base and allowing it to overhang the top edge (do not trim). Place on a baking sheet and refrigerate until required.
4. Preheat the oven to 400F/Gas 6. When the apples have cooled, remove the pastry shell and the rolled pastry from the refrigerator. Sprinkle the ground almonds over the base of the pastry shell. Put the apples in a large bowl, add the combined sugar and spices, and the lemon zest, and gently fold through to combine.
5. Spoon the apple mixture into the pastry shell, then brush the edges of the pastry with the egg. Peel the paper away from the rolled pastry and invert the pastry on top of the pie, over the apples. Remove the paper on top and gently press the edges of the pastry to seal, then trim with a sharp knife around the outside edge of the pan. Press and fold the pastry back inside the rim of the pan. Brush the top with egg and sprinkle with the sugar. Cut a small cross in the top of the pie to allow steam to escape.
6. Bake for 25 minutes, then turn the pie around in the oven to ensure even cooking and bake for a further 20 minutes or until the pastry is cooked through and deep golden. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream or cream.

Sweet Shortcrust Pastry

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup confectioners' sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

4-1/2 oz chilled unsalted butter, cubed

1 egg, lightly whisked

chilled water (optional)

1. Sift the flour, confectioners' sugar, and salt together into a large bowl. With your palms facing upwards, use your fingertips to rub in the butter, lifting the flour mixture up as you rub to aerate it, until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
2. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Add the whisked egg and use a flat-bladed knife to gradually incorporate until a coarse dough forms, adding a little water if necessary.
3. Press the dough together - it should be soft, but not sticky. Turn it out onto a lightly floured, cool work surface and lightly knead a few times, until the dough is smooth.4
4. Shape the dough into a disc and then wrap in plastic wrap. Place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to rest before rolling out and using as desired.

** (I use the food processor to mix the dough)

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I'm linking this post to Little Thumbs Up event, organized by Bake For Happy Kids and My Little Favourite D.I.Y. and hosted this month by I-Lost in Austen

and 

Cook-Your-Books #16 @ Kitchen Flavours