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Honey Sesame Chicken...

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It’s fair to say that 2014 has not been the best year of my life, although I am currently enjoying a 6-week stint with my parents in Mackay, Australia – so things have certainly taken a turn for the better.

They paid for my ticket to Sydney, hotel room and then flight to Mackay plus they have kept me in Tim Tams and Negronis since my arrival a week ago. It felt only fair that I cook them special dinner to say thank you – so I pulled out one of my all time favourites – Honey Sesame Chicken.

This dish gives combines the naughtiness of a Chinese take away with the healthfulness of being able to control the ingredients. It is tasty, decadent and according to my dad an absolute triumph. I highly recommend this super easy recipe from Shelby Law Ruttan. Simply put this is one of the best recipes ever!

Honey Sesame a Chicken

ingredients

12oz or 500 grams chicken breast ( I used thigh fillets) cut into bite sized pieces

1 Tablespoon light soy sauce

1 Tablespoon cooking wine (I used my mum’s Oyster Bay – shhhh!)

1/2 Tablespoon sesame oil

1 teaspoon sugar

2 Tablespoons flour

1 Tablespoon cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

Sauce

1 Tablespoon sweet chili sauce

2 Tablespoons tomato ketchup

1-2 Tablespoons runny honey

1 Tablespoon oyster sauce (I omitted this as I couldn’t find it)

2 Tablespoons light soy sauce

1/4 cup of water

1 Tablespoon toasted sesame seeds ( I used waaaay more – like about 4 Tablespoons)

Directions

Marinate chicken in soy sauce, wine, sesame oil and sugar for about an hour ( or as long as it takes to drink 1 negroni and watch episodes of The Bold and Beautiful, Ben’s Kitchen and Millionaire’s Hot Seat)

Mix flour and cornstarch and place in a large Ziploc bag

Drain chicken and add to flour mixture

Shake gently to coat

Fry in hot oil (350 degrees) until golden brown ( I did mine in 2 batches)

Drain on paper towel

To make sauce

Mix chili sauce, ketchup, honey, oyster sauce, soy sauce and water in a medium sized sauce pan

Bring to a boil then simmer until sauce begins to thicken

Toss sauce with chicken pieces, sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve

Details

Prep time : 1 hour 10 minutes, Cook time: 15 minutes, Total time: 1 hour 25 minutes

Yield: 4 servings

We served ours with sticky white rice and steamed pak choy with garlic and ginger

Enjoy!

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Frying the chicken

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A negroni for the chef!

Happy Hour Cocktail: Mackay Martini...

My parents house move was successful and they are now busily settling in to their new home.

One of the house warming gifts they received was a bag of bush lemons from a friend’s garden. I had never heard of them before and they are certainly strange looking things.

They have a very intense lemon flavour which adds a wonderful fresh zing. I use lemon zest on pasta, in salads, soups, in muffins, breads and on yoghurt. It really brings a fresh summery pick me up to so many dishes.

Lemon juice is ideal for salad dressings, marinades and as an addition to drinks – particularly cocktails.

Last night for happy hour I decided to make one of my favourite drinks: a gin martini. A martini needs a good helping of lemon peel and it gave me a great excuse to try the bush lemons.

It was lemony and delicious and provided a welcome happy hour break from unpacking boxes!

Luna Raye’s Mackay Martini

Ingredients

1 ounce good quality gin ( Bombay Sapphire or Tanqueray are ideal choices)

1 capful of dry vermouth

3 generous strips of bush lemon peel (if you can’t get ahold of bush lemons use the peel from regular UNWAXED lemons).

Add about 1 tsp of fresh lemon juice.

Directions

In a glass add 3 ice cubes.

Add the capful of dry vermouth and swish around the glass coating the ice cubes and bottom half of the glass.

Add the ounce of gin.

Add the bush lemon peel and juice.

(If you aren’t using bush lemons then add the unwaxed peel and juice of a regular lemon).

Enjoy!

If only the oven was working I would love to use the lemons to make a lemon drizzle cake.

Bush Lemon

Bush Lemon an essential ingredient in the Mackay Martini

Mackay Martini

Mackay Martini