Serve impressive dishes with the Philips Avance XL Airfryer

After successfully served a simple weekday dinner under 30mins using my new Philips Avance XL Airfryer we fell in love with it.  We studied the user manual and the specifications further to see if we can cook something more challenging with the airfryer.

AIR IS THE NEW OIL

That was the tag line I wrote in my earlier post which I did not elaborate much about but now I will share with you how wonderful this kitchen gadget is.  After the first launch of Philips Viva collection airfryer in 2011, the new improved Philips Avance XL Airfryer has 50% more capacity, 30% faster cooking time and uses 80% less fat than conventional fryer.   Yupe, you read correctly, its 80% LESSER fat.  This is possible with Philips Airfryer's patented Rapid Air technology that combines the fast circulating hot air with a grill element to fry the food.   That's where the tagline applies!

I like to watch my food being cooked while taking in its aroma, the thought of putting my food in an enclosed container out of my sight will most likely give me a nervous breakdown.  Luckily this is not an issue with the Philips Avance XL Airfryer, as the air inside the airfryer only takes a short time to heat up I am able to pull out the basket and peep in or add seasoning or do what I like most, taking photos of the food while its cooking.

We love the digital screen on the Philips Avance XL Airfryer with its digital timer and temperature control.  It enables us to control the time and temperature in an easier and precise way, this means the food are cooked at the perfect setting for the best tasting results.  We can also save the settings of our favourite dish and cook it again with a touch of a button.

After discussing, we decided to put our airfryer to test with some fancy shmancy food that will definitely impress our guests who probably will not believe that the food was prepared in a fuss-free manner and in a short period of time too.

Impressive dish #1 - Grilled Lamb Chop

DinoPapa has been wanting to make lamb chop since so long ago but never really get down to do it, I guess the thought of washing & cleaning up after that sort of made him put the idea off.   However, if he is using our new Philips Avance XL Airfryer, he only need to wash the basket without having to clean our oven and half of our kitchen.

DinoPapa came home from the supermarket on one particular weekend with the necessary ingredients and got busy in the kitchen with the preparation.  I was not in the kitchen to watch him at work but according to him, he rubbed some sea salt onto the lamb chops and soak them in fresh orange juice for slightly over 3 hours. The marinated lamb chops are then being air-grilled for about 10mins.

He also prepared the side dish of boiled broccoli, carrot and mashed potatoes.   For the mint sauce, he eye balled the portion for the mint leaves and mixed them with a teaspoon of gelatin and some water.

After the lamb chops are done, he dribbled the mint sauce and some orange juice onto it, added the vegetables side dish and presented us with our dinner for that night.  We sank our teeth into the lamb chops that are soft, tender and juicy.

Impressive dish #2 - Peking Duck

I decided to try my hands in making one of the famous dish - Peking Duck.   The dish is prized for the thin, crisp skin, with authentic versions of the dish serving mostly the skin and little meat.  The meat is then wrapped in a small piece of crepe together with some sweet soy sauce, cucumbers and spring onions before putting the whole thing into your mouth.  I managed to find a airfryer version recipe and is excited to be able to make this delectable dish.   I decided to use duck thighs instead of half a duck because the portion will be just nice for the 4 of us.

Here is a bizarre sight in my kitchen that weekend, air drying my duck thighs using our fan.   I could have hang them to dry over night but with the many ants, lizards, spiders and unknown insects that had made their appearances in our house, I am not taking any chances of them leaving their prints on my ducks.

So, about 5 hours later, I am ready to try out the new recipe and test our airfryer.  During the whole process I was hovering near the airfryer and pacing around the kitchen, watching the digital timer anxiously as it counts down, 25mins later I pulled out the basket to find my beautifully roasted duck thighs.

It tasted as good as those from the restaurants with the crispy duck skin and tender, juicy duck meat.  From now onwards, we will be able to make this famous dish in our small humble kitchen.

There are also a variety of optional accessories for the Philips Avance XL Airfryer such as an extra large baking tray and double layer accessory with skewers which we will be getting soon so that we can enjoy some healthy yakitori or satays in the comfort of our home.

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Peking Duck

by Jennifer Lim (adapted from an air fryer cookbook)

Prep Time: min 4 hours

Cook Time: 30mins

Keywords: Airfryer main duck Chinese

6057293

Ingredients (serves 2)
* 1/4 duck
* Crepes
* 1 Japanese cucumber
* 1 - 2 stalks spring onion

Seasoning
* 1/2 tablespoon honey
* 3 tablespoons sweet dark soy sauce
(or Tian mian jiang 甜面酱, sweet bean sauce, sweet bean paste, sweet soybean paste, sweet flour sauce)

Instructions
1. Clean & wash the duck. Bring a pot of water to boil. Using a ladle, slowly dribble the hot water onto the duck till the skin shrink and tighten.
2. Mix honey with about 2 tablespoon of hot water and brush on the duck skin.
3. Hang the duck with S hooks and leave it to dry over night or blow a fan at the duck for about 4 hours.
4. Preheat the airfryer at 160Deg
5. Put the air dried duck into the airfryer basket and airfry it for 10mins.
6. Pull out the airfryer basket, turn the duck 180deg around, brush some honey onto the skin. Continue to airfry it at 160Deg for another 10mins.
7. Adjust the temperature to 200Deg and airfry it for another 5mins to even out the skin color.
8. Slice the duck skin and duck pieces into bite size pieces.
9. Remove the seeds from the cucumber. Slice the cucumber and spring onions and set aside.
10. Brush some sweet soy sauce onto the crepes, add the spring onions, cucumber and a piece of duck meat, wrap them up and enjoy!

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Now here is a great deal for all of you wonderful people out there!

Cook with Air today! Quote DinoMama and buy the Viva Digital Airfryer at $399 (Usual price: $459), FREE $50 SHOPPING VOUCHER and Avance XL Airfryer at $479 (Usual price: $539), FREE $50 SHOPPING VOUCHER at the PHILIPS EXPERIENCE SHOWROOM. This promotion is valid from 1st December till 31st January 2014.

Limited to 1 Airfryer per person. IC must be produced.

PHILIPS EXPERIENCE SHOWROOM

Address: 620A Lorong 1 Toa Payoh Building TP4 Level 1 S(319762)

Tel: 6882 5800

Opening hours: Monday to Friday: 9.00 am – 7.00 pm

Saturday: 9.00 am – 1.00 pm.

Closed on Sundays and Public Holidays.

The Viva Digital Airfryer and Avance XL Airfryer are also available at regular prices in leading electronics stores, department stores and supermarkets island-wide.

Disclaimer : I received a Philips Avance XL Airfryer from Philips for purposes of this review, all opinions are 100% based on my experience as a first time user of the airfryer. All photos in this review were painstakingly taken by me so they belongs to me.