Experimental Sunday

Another attempt at baking!

Every once in a while, the home maker gene kicks in and this is what happens...

PIC had to go to work today - a Sunday. Its their busy season and I have learned long ago as an auditor's wife to just go with the flow. 

Funnily enough, I didn't have work of my own to worry me this weekend. Well, I lie. I do have work to worry me, but I just couldn't be bothered. So... I decided I'd cook!

On today's menu is roast chicken ala Bourdain's Les Halles Cookbook and my Aunt Maggie's infamous No Bake Blueberry Cheesecake (recipe shared by my lovely cousin on her own parenting blog).

Roast Chicken Extravaganza

  

I'd never really roasted a chicken from scratch before. Closest I ever got was buying those frozen ready trussed chicken from the supermarket, take the plastic wrapping off, then pop it into the oven. Prior to that, Andok's Manok and Baliwag were two of my best friends whenever roast chicken came to mind.

So when I bought the whole chicken from the butchers PIC gave me this odd look but thankfully said nothing and just went with it. I guess he's pretty used to my wild ideas by now. 

Now, its a bit hard to prepare chicken when you don't know what you're doing. But with a combination of Bourdain's wise ass instructions from the cookbook and my beloved YouTube, I finally figured out what giblets are, where to find them, and how to get them out of my previously feathered friend.Trussing the little thing was slightly more difficult though. As much as I tried and replayed the videos, I could not make sense of all that string, knots, and chicken, so I gave up. I tied it half-assedly and moved on. It was time for fowl loving.

Now, someone really should have warned me that rubbing a chicken all over with salt and pepper would feel really awkward, icky, and just overall dirty. It was like rubbing grandma's wrinkled back with sea salt and sand (ugh). Salt and peppa massage done, it was time for nanna's body butter and stuffing. OK, we can stop the granny references at this point, the line has been reached.

With half an onion, half a lemon, rosemary and thyme stuck up its insides, chicky is shoved into the oven. 

An hour later, my roast chicken is ready and by golly am I happy with the results! 

Less than 30minutes into cooking and the trussing comes undone

Roast Chicken on Rice!

End Result

No Bake Blueberry Cheesecake

The finished product!

I have four favorite cakes in the whole world. In no particular order, they are -- the humble mocha cake, red ribbon's now discontinued strawberry shortcake, the mango cake, and the blueberry cheesecake.

Lucky for me, my Aunt Maggie makes the most awesome Blueberry Cheesecake. 

If you must know, most of the women in my mom's family bake. Unfortunately, I don't really have this talent but I do manage to eke out a baking success every now and then. So while my cousin has shared this recipe with us eons ago, its taken me this long to muster up the nerve to actually take it for a test drive.

I won't bore you with the recipe, you can get that from here. Instead, I'll just share a few of my silly highlights through visual aid.

This was my 2nd time ever using this since I bought it

ooo, it does look like moist sand... cooool, I must be doing something right

OMG the cream does get stiff! I wonder if this is stiff enough?

This is when I realized beaten cream cheese & sugar is UBER YUM
Couldn't stop licking my fingers each time I brushed against it

This is it! Assembly time!

Something tells me I need more filling...

Contender for the thinnest cheesecake on record!

Ta-da!

My two projects done, PIC finally arrives home just in time for dinner. As I wait with baited breath while my temperamental other half takes his first bite, he finally gives an exuberant "Mmm!!" I crank an eyebrow up a few notches, look straight into his eyes and ask again, "how is it?" and he gives me a more convincing response -- "sarap talaga! (it really is good!)" with a please-don't-kill-me-I'm-not-lying look on his face -- and I relax.

I take a bite out the chicken myself and think, that is pretty awesome for a first try!

Dessert time comes next and I almost fall into an apoplectic fit as I struggle to get the springform pan lose. Finally released, the cheesecake looks fantabulous, although a bit on the thin side. Blueberries added and voila! We're ready to serve.

PIC was so happy with the cake, he's even decided to bring some to work tomorrow. And if I must admit, I am pretty proud of my Experimental Sunday. Not only did I manage to roast a chicken from scratch today but I conquered my dessert Everest.

Thanks again Mom Friday for the cheesecake recipe and thanks Bourdain for the chicken inspiration!

Happy PIC :D