Lee Lee's Journeys

Sunday is the day for food prepping - and here is an easy food prep idea - lemony chicken, with a touch of sweetness from honey and the earthiness of sage - and the butter at the end brings it all together! It is delicious with vegetables or rice - and you can make it as saucy as you want - have it liquidy to drizzle on your rice and vegetables, or reduce it to a rich thickness. It doesn't take many ingredients and is quick to put together. It stores well in the fridge or freezer and you can easily double the recipe to make a big batch and feed yourself and the family all week. INGREDIENTS: 850 gm (1.7 pounds) chicken breast or thighs, cut onto 1cm cubes 1 tspn salt 2 tbsp corn flour 2 tbsp olive oil 1 large onion, chopped 2 cloves garlic, crushed Juice of 1 lemon 1/4 cup of honey 1 tspn brown sugar (optional) Sage leaves (about a handful) salt & pepper (to taste) 1 tbsp butter DIRECTIONS: 1) In a bowl, mix the salt, corn flour and chicken together until th...

So I've been on a coconut kick and wanted to use up what was left of the bag of desiccated coconut still sitting in my freezer...so naturally, I wanted to make a coconut banana loaf (or bread, whichever you like to call it). It was perfect that I had three overripe bananas waiting to be used up - it was like they were calling out to me - "I'm ready to be mashed up and thrown into a bowl with the coconut!", so I obliged. In this recipe, I wanted a dense loaf that would hold it's shape when sliced and toasted, yet be soft and moist on the inside - so I substituted some of the all-purpose flour with cornflour to make a home version of cake flour. I prefer 'bread' type loaf's to be a little on the dense side to ensure that it does not break apart when you take it out of the toaster, and also not crumble apart when you try to spread 'not-quite-soft enough-yet' butter over it. What resulted was a 'strong' loaf with a soft interior that ro...

In the spirit of Australia Day, I thought I would contribute by making a version of brownies that would reflect a traditional Aussie cake - the Lamington. So behold, my Lamington inspired Coconut Brownies! These are deeply rich, decadent and chocolatey - the addition of coconut cream adds some moist richness and the desiccated coconut a touch of an exotic island delight. They are not too sweet and is a dream for chocolate lovers... I know that brownie purists may think it sacrilegious to add coconut - but do give these a try and you won't be disappointed! INGREDIENTS : For the Brownie batter: 200 grams dark chocolate (I used 70% cocoa) 110 grams unsalted butter 160 grams granulated white sugar 20 grams brown sugar 3 eggs 1 tspn vanilla extract 30 grams (30 mls) coconut cream or milk 60 grams cocoa powder 80 grams all purpose (plain) flour 40 grams shredded coconut (I used unsweetened) 1/2 tspn coarse salt For the topping : 80 to 100 grams melted chocolate (mi...

Sick of using leftover sourdough starter discard for the same old pancakes? Why not turn it into single serve cake pots! This recipe combines the two worlds of being able to use up your weekly sourdough starter discard (for those of you who do not bake bread often but feed your starter weekly to keep it nice and active until you do), and those of you who want to enjoy a dessert and do not have any desire to bake a whole cake. This is exactly what went through my mind this Sunday afternoon as I put 50 grams of starter back into the fridge following a feed and was thinking about what to do with the discard leftover...the thought of making another pancake was not enticing, nor was going through the process of making English muffins... I wanted something sweet and decadent, yet light and airy all at the same time. I had some leftover marmalade jam in the fridge - and those who know me know that I hate contributing to waste - so, voila! It struck me to make a single serve cake with a mi...

Firstly - Hello and Welcome! And thank you for joining me... I want to start by saying that I will, one day, go into detail and tell you the story of how being in the kitchen baking, cooking and discovering all the culinary adventures that could be had has become something I love and spend my time enjoying. Of how, besides the exciting adventures of travelling, being in the kitchen is also an escape for me - a sanctuary where I can create something out of a little (or a lot) of ingredients and see them come to life. Let's start today with my introduction to Sourdough, and that I have become fascinated with how a live culture, namely sourdough starter, is formed over the course of about two weeks from two simple ingredients; flour and water. The mixture of these two ingredients is allowed to ferment over time, and during this time, will develop living organisms - what is also called 'wild yeast' or 'live culture'. It is this live culture that is the importan...