Christmas is just around the corner, and for those celebrating the festive season, there will be a rush to put up decorations, bake cookies and shop for presents. Then there is the Christmas feast to look forward to – for everyone else except the poor people who have to prepare it, of course. 🙂

Anyway, H & I got to attend a media cookout with Philips Malaysia and celebrity Chef Zam at his international cooking school, Silverspoon Academy. Now, if you know me, you’ll know that I’ve always been more of a nerd than a household wizard. I suck at handywork, I suck at cooking, I suck at all those detailing thingies like sewing and crotcheting. So you can guess how hilarious it was at the cookout… it was a miracle I didn’t accidentally stab anyone in the foot with a falling knife. 

Chef Zam was friendly and patient with us, even though it must have been a nightmare for him, watching us cut vegetables in uneven sizes, boiling things too early, mixing ingredients that shouldn’t go together, etc. If it weren’t for the convenience of the Philips appliances, things would have gone way worse! 😛

They split the media group into two teams, and we had to prepare three dishes. The first was Roast Chicken with Vegetables. Luckily for us, the chicken had been cleaned thoroughly by the staff : all we had to do was bathe it in olive oil and season well with rosemary and pepper, before stuffing it with more herbs, onions and lemon; then popping it into the Philips Airfryer (which can comfortably hold a 1.4kg bird).

In a separate fryer, we put in carrots and potatoes (leave the peel on!). No oil or anything extra was necessary except a bit of seasoning.

While waiting for the chicken to roast, we started preparing for our next dish: the Penne with Savoury Ratatouille. For the veggie stew, we had to have loads of veggies: capsicums, zucchini and tomatoes.

One of the most amazing appliances was the Philips Noodle Maker. Seriously, I’ve never used anything more convenient – all you have to do is measure out flour, water and egg, place it in the maker and it will churn out pasta for you. Wow. Even kitchen noobs like me can do it. 

The maker also comes with different molds, so you can make all sorts of shapes, like spaghetti, angel hair, penne, and more.

We couldn’t end without a dessert, so it was Coffee Bread & Butter Pudding. This was one of the easiest dishes to make, as we simply had to blend milk, coffee powder, cream cheese, whipping cream and tear white bread pieces to soak in the mix, before pouring them into the bowl and putting it in the Airfryer. Yes, apparently the Airfryer is not only good for roasting,baking, grilling and frying. You can bake desserts in it too. 🙂

The ratatouille was done, so we stirred in the penne. Hot and ready to serve 🙂

The chicken was also done. Decorated it with the roasted veggies and bathed it in its own juices.

Finally, plated and garnished the penne with some grated cheese.

Tada! A feast fit for a king.. prepared by a couple of noobs, with lots of help from the cooking academy staff lol. Sure looked good, but how was the taste like?

Let’s just say we didn’t mess it up. haha

I had expected the roast chicken to be dry, but it wasn’t. It was juicy, with a perfectly golden brown colouring. The meat was tender and the roast vegetables were very flavourful. As good a roast chicken as was prepared with a conventional oven.

The penne had an al-dente texture, but I think we didn’t put it enough salt into the ratatouille. Other than that, it was good. The bread and butter pudding turned out nice with a strong flavour of coffee and milk, and was warm, fluffy and bouncy to the bite.

Chef Zam with ‘our’ dishes. Honestly, we wouldn’t have made it that well if it weren’t for his help and the guidance from the cooking school staff! … it also made me realise that many Gen-Y girls my age do not know how to cook to save their lives lol.

The event was a lot of fun and we got to eat our tasty dishes afterwards. I’d say the Airfryer is super convenient, but it’s also rather pricey at Rm999. If you’re someone who likes to cook for the fam but is always on the go, this is the perfect thing to get for Christmas because it’s so convenient, even noobs like me can make a somewhat decent meal.

More details at http://www.philips.com.my