Toasted pumpkin seeds .. Hmm...

Quite nice. Toasted on a non stick skillet on hob

Potato leek soup from scraps

I used 4 potatoes, garlic, and one leek. 

But I also had some spare cabbage, carrot, cucumber, Wan Sui, celery, mushroom, and thyme. Also a little bit of home brew chicken stock. So I used it all to make this soup. Chop up and sauté all veg with some dried oregano till soft and fragrant. Then add stock and diced potatoes. Top up with just enough water to cover and add the thyme and Wan Sui. Bring to a boil and simmer for 30 mins covered. Then take out herbs and blend in a blender. Add the blended soup back and then add chopped mushrooms and cook till mushrooms are done. Salt to taste. I squeezed some limes to add a slight touch of acidity.

Tastes not too bad for me personally, but I think the leek taste might be slightly strong for some. Tomorrow having it for lunch with home made baguettes.

To

250C baguette

This is the highest temp I've ever dared with this bread though it supposedly is the right one.

Oven spring was big, but the internal temp hit 100C well before it browned. Here's to hoping it isn't too dry inside. Eating tomorrow.

Chocolate oatmeal tart

Not very good. Though edible.

[second day] goes well accompanying Hagen Daz "summer berries and cream"

The base is a typical oatmeal cookie type batter. Topping is a chocolate granche. One mistake was the crust is too thick. Another is that I blind bake it without weighing the crust down (recovered somewhat by weighing it down after it came out.

3 chickens

Quite happy that my oven can accommodate 3 medium sized chickens. 4 chickens are a bit of a squeeze. 

Also quite happy with the taste. I like this particular version.

Brine the chickens overnight (8hrs) with a 5% brine (liquid is half classic coca cola and half water)

Take out, wash thoroughly and pat dry. Put in fridge for at least a few hours.

Cut a garlic bulb in half and rub all over. Then stuff the cavities with some cut garlic, wan Sui and Rosemary and half a lemon. Oil the chickens.

Roast one hour at 150c with steam injection. Then open oven door to cool and roast another 50-60 mins at 100c without steam.

Bring second oven to 235c. Transfer chickens and lower to 220c. Roast until chickens brown and oven is starting to show smoke.

Decant the drippings into a pot. Bring to a boil and then add roux and lemon juice. Boil till it thickens. Strain, and use as sauce.

The smoke gave me an idea. Next time I may experiment with an actual smoking with wood chips.