As I stirred a teaspoon of light soy sauce into what's left of the little jar of Maille dijon mustard, I was curious about how it'd smell: light soy sauce plus dijon mustard. That's me (Malaysian Chinese) and the husband (French) in the same jar. A pretty funny thought. But that wasn't what I was thinking at that time.

It is true what researchers claim: that smell can invoke memories. With the tip of my nose into that little jar, I strangely found myself back in my parents' home, as a kid with my three school-going brothers. (Our eldest brother G and sister R were already in campuses out of town.)

This usually took place on Sunday afternoons when Dad was in charge of the household, including lunch. *cringe* Back then, Sunday was a normal school-day for Mom. And she wouldn't be back till after 2pm. Dad would turn the four of us into a team of "house cleaners": the youngest (yours truly) dusts and wipes, the next youngest (S) sweeps, the next (M) mops. While the eldest of the four, R, cleans the compounds around the house (front porch, side garden, back yard). Smart Dad. He'd tire us out by doing the chores, and by lunch time, we'd be so hungry we'd eat anything. 

So what has this got to do with the light soy sauce and dijon mustard mixture?

If not for today's entry, no one will ever guess from whom I learned my first chicken dish. Yes -- first, ever. I was 18 and starving in someone else's kitchen. Not that the last bit mattered because back then, all I knew was to make instant noodles, so who'd care about having a fully equipped kitchen. But for some reason, there was just nothing to eat. Not even a packet of instant noodles. 

"It's very easy, one! Just chin-chai, agak-agak add dark soy sauce, sugar and oyster sauce to it. Then microwave!". That's how we Malaysians talk. But I just didn't think he could pull if off, my brother S, as he took some chicken parts out of the fridge. Why not? S was 20 and had been staying on his own for sometime then. But all our years of growing up, I had never seen him touch raw meat, let alone light a stove, that's why!

Despite our foolishness (him being overly optimistic; me not trusting the brother who watched my back all through our primary school years), we walloped the chicken that day. And that "guesstimate" approach never left my head. This is one chicken dish that tops my list of comfort food. Well, not exactly the way S had done it, but a little variation of it. Nonetheless, if you're making this for the first time, you may want to start with the recommended proportions and fine-tune it subsequently. 

I started this website barely six months ago to accommodate the three Wannabe's in me: writer, cook and photographer. Last month, the blog entry on my should-have-been-strawberry-cheese-tart took me by surprise. Through it, I caught a glimpse of real food-blogging and web-publishing.
 
I still don't quite understand how, but the entry made it to the Top 9 on Foodbuzz on February 14. I suppose too many of us, under Cupid's influence, gave in to the heart-shaped strawberries. To say that it caused a significant surge in traffic on T.U.K. is an understatement. Honestly, I get an average of 30 unique visitors daily. But guess the headcount on that day. 30 short of a thousand!

It was a very humbling experience for me as much as it was a nod to the said Wannabe's. My sincere thanks to you for dropping by, be it out of interest, curiosity, or absolute boredom :-) At the very least, I am rather convinced that the husband is not the only person checking out T.U.K. regularly (my biggest cheerleader nonetheless, yayy!).   

Don't get me wrong. I didn't make just 15 brownies. Among the celebrity chefs who have ventured beyond restaurant kitchens to change the way we cook and eat, my "first love" has gotta be Jamie Oliver. Sir Jamie Oliver. The Naked Chef has certainly come a long way!

"Fifteen" refers to the foundation and restaurant Jamie set up in 2002 to help a selected (no prizes for guessing the number) group of young hopefuls have another chance in life. The first Fifteen restaurant came up in London, with subsequent spin-offs in Amsterdam and Melbourne.

I've lost count of Jamie's publications but I do have two of his cookbooks which were bedtime stories for yours truly. And these two, in my opinion, are the most inspiring books he had written. Cook With Jamie, is perfect for serious beginners who want to start on the right note. And it is this book from which these brownies were adapted. Because I had the luxury of an entire afternoon with my favourite playlist that kept me going, here are some step-by-step photos to go along with it.