Creamy Chicken Kiev

MUNCH RATING: 3/5

 

I was inspired by the Cheat’s Chicken Kiev recipe in the May issue of BBC Good Food magazine to make something similar. We hardly ever eat chicken breast as we normally find it too dry and bland compared to the dark meat (thighs and legs). But I had some soft cheese in the fridge and I thought it would keep the chicken nice and moist, especially when coated in breadcrumbs.

 

CHANGES TO THE RECIPE:

I used Panko breadcrumbs as I always have them in the cupboard for when I make Chicken Katsu Curry. Normally I would pane the chicken by dusting in flour, then coating in beaten egg and then coating with breadcrumbs. But the Good Food recipe said to coat the chicken in olive oil and then coat in breadcrumbs. This method worked just as well as the pane technique and it’s a lot less faffing around! I didn’t flavour the breadcrumbs with parsley or garlic as I flavoured the soft cheese instead.

I flavoured the soft cheese with garlic and fresh chives (from my herb pot!) instead of using a shop-bought garlic and herb soft cheese.

 

TASTE TEST:

I thought the chicken was really moist and tender and I liked the crunch of the breadcrumbs. Steve said he wasn’t too keen on the soft cheese as he thought it had a strange taste, but he’s not a huge fan of it anyway. I think that maybe it was the garlic that tasted strange, as it had a bit of a raw taste to it. So maybe it is better to use a shop-bought garlic and herb soft cheese so that it would have a milder flavour? I would use this method of cooking chicken breast again as the meat was lovely and tender, but I would experiment with the filling. I loved the new technique of coating with the breadcrumbs, so I’ve learnt a new trick!

 

• Serves: 2
• Oven temperature: Gas mark 6/400°F/200°C

 

Ingredients:

• 2 garlic cloves, crushed or grated
• 2 Tablespoons soft cheese (I used Sainsburys Light Soft Cheese)
• 2 Tablespoons chives, finely chopped
• 2 large skinless, boneless chicken breasts
• 4 Tablespoons Panko breadcrumbs (or use fresh breadcrumbs)
• Olive oil

 

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to Gas mark 6/400°F/200°C.
2. Mix together the garlic, soft cheese and chives. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Cut a slit in the side of each chicken breast to make a small pocket. Spoon half the soft cheese mixture into the hole of each chicken breast and press together to seal. (I prepared the chicken up to this stage and then left them in the fridge).
4. Coat the chicken breasts in the olive oil, then coat both sides with the breadcrumbs and drizzle with more oil (optional, I didn’t do this).
5. Place the coated chicken on a baking tray and bake for 20-25 minutes until the chicken is cooked and the breadcrumbs are golden brown.

Thai Sticky Chicken – Rachel Allen

MUNCH RATING: 3/5

 

Rachel made this recipe on her ‘Home Cooking’ series and we thought it looked really good. I made it again the other day as it was Thai New Year between the 13th-15th April!

 

CHANGES TO THE RECIPE:

I’ve made this twice now and made it slightly different both times:

• The first time I used the nam pla (fish sauce) and it completely stunk out the fridge, but it did make the chicken taste good. I marinated the chicken for 2 days.
• The second time I substituted the nam pla for ketchup manis (sweet soy sauce) as I hoped it would make the chicken sweeter and more sticky. I marinated the chicken overnight. I used the remaining marinade in some stir-fried noodles.

 

Both times I used less chicken than the recipe stated (so it would serve 2 people), but I made the right quantity of marinade so we’d have more sauce.

I don’t like coriander leaf (but funnily enough I like the seeds) so I omitted it completely both times.

 

The recipe says to ‘Remove the chicken from the fridge about 30–40 minutes before cooking to bring to room temperature.’ but I didn’t have time the second time I made it, so I nuked the chicken on high for 2 minutes, then cooked in the oven as normal.

 

TASTE TEST:

The chicken tasted much better the first time I made it. I don’t know if it was the extra marinating time or the nam pla, but the flavours (sweet, sour, salty) were just more intense. So I would definitely marinate it for 2 days and store the chicken in an airtight container to stop the stink of the nam pla taking over the fridge!

 

The recipe below is how I made it, you can find the original here.

 

• Serves: 2
• Oven temperature: Gas mark 7/425°F/220°C

 

Ingredients:

• 500-700g chicken, drumsticks and thighs (2-3 per person, depending on size)
• 2 red chillies, seeds removed and chopped
• 2.5 cm piece of root ginger, roughly chopped
• 5 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
• 1 stick lemongrass, outer skin discarded, roughly chopped
• 2 tbsp soft light or dark brown sugar
• 2 limes, juice only
• 3 tbsp fish sauce (nam pla) or ketchup manis

 

Directions:

1. Using a sharp knife, cut slashes in the chicken drumsticks and thighs and place
   them in an airtight box.
2. Place the remaining ingredients in a mini chopper/food processor and blend to a rough paste, then pour over the chicken. Put the lid on the box and shake to evenly coat the chicken in the marinade.
3. Leave to marinate in the fridge, preferably for 2 days, shaking the box occasionally to redistribute the marinade.
4. Preheat the oven to Gas mark 7/425°F/220°C.
5. Remove the chicken from the fridge about 30–40 minutes before cooking to bring
   to room temperature (or heat on high in the microwave for 2 minutes). Remove the chicken pieces from the marinade (reserving the marinade) and arrange in a single layer on a baking tray. Roast in the oven for 35–40 minutes or until the meat is coming away from the bone.
6. Arrange the chicken pieces on a warm serving platter and place the reserved marinade and any juices from the baking tray into a small saucepan and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for a few minutes, stirring with a wooden spoon and scrape any sticky bits from the bottom, until thickened and sticky.

Chicken Rice – Ching-He Huang

 

MUNCH RATING: 1/5

 

I still had loads of Chinese dried mushrooms so I thought this would be the perfect dish to use them in.

 

CHANGES TO THE RECIPE:

I used boneless chicken thigh instead of chicken on the bone as it’s easier to eat and it also cooks quicker. I chopped up the mushrooms into small dice instead of slicing them and I grated my ginger instead of slicing it as we don’t like big bits of ginger. I also added some crushed garlic. I also ran out of sesame oil so I only used 50ml instead of 100ml, but I think it’s such a strong flavour that too much can spoil a dish.

 

I only used one pan as it seemed pointless frying the chicken and mushrooms in one pan, putting the rice in another pan and then pouring the chicken and mushrooms on top of the rice. So I’ve written the recipe to skip this step.

 

TASTE TEST:

This was a very disappointing dish. The rice was overcooked and soggy. Since I’ve bought my Tefal 4-in-1 I’ve been able to cook perfect rice, so I really should stop experimenting with different cooking methods!

 

But the chicken itself was very bland. I don’t think using the correct amount of sesame oil would have helped because then it would have just tasted of sesame oil. It needed something like soy sauce to give it some saltiness and flavour. We ended up pouring lots of ketchup manis (sweet soy sauce) all over our meal to give it some taste! I won’t be making this again!

 

• Serves: 4

 

Ingredients:

• 6 dried Chinese mushrooms
• 1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
• 5cm piece root ginger, peeled and grated
• 1 clove garlic, crushed (optional)
• 300g chicken thighs, skinned and cut into bitesize pieces
• 100ml Shaoshing rice wine
• 50ml pure sesame oil
• 300g jasmine rice, washed well

 

Directions:

1. Soak the dried mushrooms in hot water for about 20 mins. Drain them and cut into small dice, discarding the stalks.
2. Heat a large saucepan over a high heat and add the oil. Add the ginger and garlic and stir-fry for 1 min, then add the mushrooms and cook for 30 secs. Add the chicken and stir-fry until starting to turn opaque, then add the rice wine and sesame oil and cook for 2 mins. Season with about ½ tsp salt.
3. Add the rice to the pan, mix well and then add 500ml water and bring to the boil, then cover and simmer over a low heat for 20 mins. Allow to stand for a few mins, then fluff up the rice (a bit difficult when it’s soggy!) when ready to serve.

Tempura batter (for pork, chicken and squid)

MUNCH RATING: 3/5

 

For some reason the original pork/chicken ball batter that I’d previously used and really liked has not produced good results on all the subsequent occasions that I’ve made it. So I decided to try using John Torode’s batter, which is basically a Japanese tempura batter as it contains cold (sparkling) water.

 

CHANGES TO THE RECIPE:

I decided to batter a selection of things: 1 pork chop, 1 chicken breast and 3 pieces of squid. We didn’t cook the squid for as long, so they are the smaller, paler balls in the photo. The pork and chicken were cooked for about 5-6 minutes, turning occasionally.

 

The amount of batter was sufficient for this amount of meat and seafood. However, I ran out of cornflour for dusting the pork, so I just used plain flour instead and it was fine.

 

I got Steve to make the Sweet and Sour sauce from the original recipe we like, as we know it’s a winner! I’ve rewritten the sauce recipe below.

 

TASTE TEST:

Well the pork and chicken balls were lovely as the meat was moist and succulent. I never normally use chicken breast as I find it dry and lacking flavour. So Steve was very surprised when I told him it was breast and not thigh. Unfortunately the squid tasted very fishy, so I suspect that the frozen squid I used has spoiled, either before or after I bought it.

 

The batter was nice and crispy, but it was a little bit greasy. It might be because we didn’t drain them well enough. Or we perhaps didn’t have the oil hot enough when we dropped the battered meat/squid in, so the batter didn’t create a barrier against absorbing more oil. I still thought the batter was really nice, but Steve said it just wasn’t the same as the take-away ones! So as a batter it is very nice, but it doesn’t get as high a Munch Rating as it’s just not spongy enough in the middle for Steve’s liking.

 

So we’re still looking for the perfect recipe. I’m going to look into why the original recipe we liked hasn’t worked since the first time I made it. I think I might have converted the quantities incorrectly when I downsized the recipe.

 

I have also asked my Dad to ask his friends who own a Chinese take-away for their recipe. Hopefully I will learn some insider secrets!

 

I now have almost a whole bottle of soda water to use up. I could make up a nice drink with it, but I’ve found a recipe for pancakes which uses soda water as it apparently makes them really fluffy. So hopefully I’ll get around to experimenting with that recipe before the water goes flat!

 

• Makes: 6-8 pork balls, 6-8 chicken balls, 12-15 squid rings

 

Ingredients:

FOR THE BATTER

• 100ml soda water, chilled
• 100ml cold water
• 140g self-raising flour
• pinch of salt

 

• selection of skinless, boneless meat/seafood, cut into chunks
• 25g cornflour
• sunflower or vegetable oil, for frying

 

Directions:

1. Line a baking tray with kitchen paper and turn on the oven to low.
2. Fill a large pan 1cm deep with oil and heat until shimmering.
3. Mix the soda water and cold water into the self-raising flour with a little salt (but don’t overmix as it’s OK to have lumps in tempura batter to keep it light)
4. Tip the cornflour onto a plate and dust the chicken/pork/squid with cornflour shaking off the excess, then dip into the batter. One at a time, lower into the hot oil (about 5-6 every batch). Turn up the heat to keep the meat frying, if needed, and cook for 5-6 mins, turning once.
5. When cooked, drain on the tray, and keep warm in the oven. Repeat with the remaining meat. Stack onto a plate with the warm sauce on the side.

 

FOR THE sweet and sour SAUCE:

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup (4 Tablespoons) tomato ketchup
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• 1/4 cup (60ml) white vinegar (I used white wine vinegar)
• 1/4 cup (60ml) water
• 1/2 cup (100g) white sugar
• 1/4 cup (45g) brown sugar, packed
• 1 Tablespoon corn flour
• 1/8 cup (2 Tablespoons) cold water

 

Directions:

1. In a small saucepan combine the first 6 ingredients and bring to a boil whisking constantly.
2. Reduce the heat to medium-low and continue to simmer stirring for 2 minutes.
3. In a small cup dissolve the corn flour in the cold water until smooth, then add to the simmering sauce stirring constantly.
4. Cook for another 3 minutes stirring until bubbly and thickened.
5. I served this at room temperature. You can store it in an airtight container in the fridge for probably about a week or you could freeze it.

Creamy Chicken Hotpot

 

MUNCH RATING: 4/5

 

This recipe is from an old issue of Waitrose magazine and you can find the original recipe on the Waitrose website.

 

CHANGES TO THE RECIPE:

I’ve made it quite a few times now, but I’ve adapted it as I found the pearl barley took quite a long time to cook. So I give it a head start by cooking it in the stock whilst I prepare all the other ingredients (de-bone the chicken, cut up the squash and leeks). I prefer to use crème fraîche rather than cream cheese as I find it a bit too tangy. I’ve also decreased the quantities for some of the ingredients so it will comfortably feed 2 if served on its own, or 4 people if served with something like mash.

 

TASTE TEST:

I really like this dish as I love butternut squash and the chicken is really tender. The pearl barley releases starch which thickens the sauce and the crème fraîche/cream cheese gives a lovely creaminess.

 

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 500g chicken thigh meat (roughly 4 large thighs)
• 2 tbsp plain flour
• 500g butternut squash (about ½ of a large one), peeled, deseeded and cut into chunks
• 1 large leek, washed and thickly sliced
• 750ml hot chicken stock (I used 3 teaspoons of Knorr Chicken Stock granules)
• 75g pearl barley
• 2 heaped Tablespoons ½ fat crème fraîche

 

Directions:

1. Place the pearl barley in a small saucepan with the hot stock and simmer whilst you prepare the other ingredients.
2. Heat the oil in a large pan. Cut each chicken thigh fillet into 4, dust in the flour and brown in the hot oil for 4-5 minutes. Add the squash and leeks, and cook for a further 2-3 minutes.
3. Pour in the hot stock and the parboiled barley. Bring to the boil, then cover and simmer for about 10 minutes. Remove the lid and simmer for another 10 minutes until the sauce has reduced slightly, the chicken is cooked and the barley is tender.
4. Stir in the crème fraîche and mix until melted.

Chicken Tikka Shashlik

MUNCH RATING: 3/5

I first came across Shashlik when Steve had a Chicken Tikka Shashlik Masala Curry in a curry house a few years ago. It’s not a dish that I’ve seen on any other Indian restaurant menu. This is basically the same thing without the masala sauce.

Shashlik is essentially meat on a stick. Apparently it originally comes from central Asia, but there are versions from Russia, Turkey and Pakistan.
Pieces of lamb or chicken are marinated in spices and either oil and lemon juice or in this case yoghurt. The meat is then threaded onto skewers with pieces of onion, green pepper and tomato and traditionally cooked in a tandoor or over a charcoal grill. I had to settle for under the grill.

The chicken was really nicely cooked and the marinade gave it loads of flavour and kept it moist. The vegetables became quite nice and charred, but Steve said it wasn’t quite the same as in the restaurant. I think the grill struggled to get hot enough.

Overall, Shashlik is a healthier way to have curry as it’s not laden with lots of cream or ghee, plus it’s grilled. I served it with rice, but I think it would actually be much better stuffed into a soft naan bread and slathered with loads of mayonnaise. Hey, I never said I was on a diet!

• Serves: 2
• You will need: 8 bamboo skewers, soaked in water

Ingredients:

• 4 chicken thighs, deboned and cut into large chunks
• 2 Tablespoons curry paste (I used Korma)
• 2 Tablespoons natural yoghurt
• ½ onion, cut into wedges and layers separated
• ½ green pepper, cut into chunks
• 2 tomatoes, cut into wedges

Directions:

1. In a large bowl mix the chicken, curry paste and yoghurt. Cover tightly (unless you want to stink out your whole fridge) and leave in the fridge for a couple of hours to marinate.
2. Preheat your grill to high.
3. Thread pieces of chicken, onion, pepper and tomato onto your skewers, leaving a gap at the end so you can turn them.
4. Cover a baking tray with foil (this will save on washing up) and place your kebabs on the tray and season with a little salt and pepper.
5. Cook under the grill for 15-20 minutes, turning occasionally until the chicken is cooked and the vegetables are nicely charred.

COOK’S NOTES:

• If using lamb or chicken breast instead of thighs, then they should only take about 10-12 minutes to cook.

Roast honey and cumin chicken

MUNCH RATING: 1/5

This recipe is from one of those cards you can pick up free from Waitrose. I was really looking forward to making it as I liked the sound of the honey and cumin. The photo on the card made the chicken and potatoes look really crispy and caramelised, so I thought it would be a really tasty dish. It’s also a one-pot dinner, so I thought it would be quick and easy. But it didn’t quite turn out that way!

Basically the liquid that you have to add doesn’t get absorbed by the potatoes or evaporate, so they don’t get nice and crispy. So after the recommended cooking time I drained off the liquid, took the chicken out of the oven to stop it overcooking and then put the potatoes back in the oven at top whack to crisp up a bit. I left them in for 30 minutes as I couldn’t wait any longer! I started cooking at 5.45pm and it wasn’t ready until 7.30pm – the recipe says it only takes 50-60 minutes!

So the method for this recipe was rubbish and to be honest, it was pretty bland too. The honey and cumin was a nice combination, but it lacked punch. Steve said he preferred my garlic roast chicken which is just something I throw together!

I found the recipe on the Waitrose website and it seems everyone else thought this recipe was fantastic! I’m not sure what they’re doing differently, but this isn’t a recipe I’ll be making again!

• Serves: 4
• Oven temperature: Gas mark 7/425°F/220°C
• Prep time: 15 minutes
• Cooking time: 50 minutes to 1 hour (yeah right!)

Ingredients:

• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 1 Tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 2 Tablespoons honey
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 4 chicken legs or thighs, scored
• 700g new potatoes, quartered
• 2 small red onions, quarter (I only had a brown onion)

Directions:

1. Mix together the oil, honey, cumin, garlic and vinegar with seasoning. Pour over the chicken pieces and leave to marinate for 15 minutes (longer if you have time). Whilst the chicken is marinating, preheat the oven to 220ºC, gas mark 7
2. Remove the chicken from the marinade, pour the marinade into a large roasting tin and add the potatoes and onions so that the pieces are in a single layer without much space between them. Pour over 150ml cold water and roast in the oven for 20 minutes.
3. Add the chicken pieces and toss in the juices. Return to the oven for 35–40 minutes, basting regularly, until the chicken is cooked through, and there is no pink meat. Serve with watercress, rocket and spinach salad or steamed green beans.

Chicken Thigh Pie

MUNCH RATING: 4/5

I’ve adapted a Rachel Allen recipe to create a filling with a creamy sauce. I
made the pastry myself and it was lovely and flaky, but ready-made puff pastry would be good for this too.

Next time I will add a bit more beurre manié (equal parts of flour and butter mixed to a firm paste) because the sauce was a bit thin after the pie had been baked – I think the frozen peas released a lot of water.
This was quite a time consuming and labour intensive meal to prepare, but it was worth it as both Steve and I really enjoyed it. You could of course cut loads of corners by using ready-rolled pastry and cooked chicken, but I get so much pleasure out of cooking that I prefer to cook from scratch.

I called this Chicken Thigh Pie as that is the part of the chicken I like to use, but you can use breast if you prefer and adjust the cooking time of step 1 for the filling.

• Serves: 4 people if served as part of a 3 course meal (or 2 very greedy people for a dinner)
• Oven temperature: Gas mark 8/450°F/230°C for 15 minutes, then reduce to Gas mark 5/375°F/190°C for 15 minutes.
• You will need: a shallow 1 – 1¼ pint capacity ovenproof dish

Ingredients for the Flaky Pastry:

• 100g plain flour
• 38g cold butter
• 38g cold lard
• 4-5 Tablespoons water

Directions for the Flaky Pastry:

1. Sift the flour and a pinch of salt into a large mixing bowl, then add half the butter and rub it in with your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
2. Add 4 Tablespoons of water to the mixture and blend lightly together with a palette knife. If the mixture isn’t coming together easily and there are dry bits in the bottom of the bowl then add more water a ½ Tablespoon at a time (there are many factors that affect pastry-making, so only use measurements as a guide).
3. Once you can bring the mixture together with your hands into a soft but not sticky dough, then you can roll it out into a long rectangle, about 30cm long, onto a lightly floured board until it is about 5mm thick.
4. Mark the rectangle of the dough into thirds, without cutting all the way through.
5. Dot the top two thirds with half of the lard, then fold the bottom third up to cover the middle third.
6. Fold the top third down to enclose all the fat. You should now have a small rectangle.
7. Using your rolling pin, seal the edges by pressing down firmly. Give the pastry a quarter turn clockwise.
8. Roll again to form a long rectangle and repeat steps 4 to 6 but this time use the remaining butter.
9. Fold and roll again, but this time use the remaining lard.
10. Fold and roll for the last time without any fat being added.
11. Cover the pastry with cling film and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes before using.

* I thought a diagram would be useful so here are my best efforts using Photoshop and Steve’s help! (click to enlarge):


Ingredients for the filling:

• 500g chicken thighs, bone in
• ½ carrot, cut into chunks
• ½ onion, cut into wedges
• 300ml chicken or vegetable stock
• pinch of dried rosemary and thyme (or fresh if you have it)
• salt and black pepper
• 85ml double cream
• ½ onion, finely chopped
• 3 rashers of bacon, chopped
• 6 button mushrooms, sliced
• 1-2 Tablespoons of beurre manié
• 100g frozen peas
• ½ small tin sweetcorn
• 1 beaten egg, to glaze

Directions for the filling:

1. Put the chicken, carrot, onion wedges, stock, herbs and seasoning into a large saucepan and bring to the boil. Simmer for 20-30 minutes until the chicken is cooked and no blood appears when you cut into the chicken.
2. Remove the chicken and vegetables from the pan (you can discard the vegetables), reserving the stock for the sauce. When the chicken is cool enough to handle, remove the skin and bones and cut the meat into bite size pieces. Put the chicken in the pie dish.
3. Whilst the chicken is cooking, gently fry the chopped onion until it is soft but not coloured. Add the bacon and the mushrooms and cook for a few minutes. Put this mixture into the pie dish with the chicken and mix well.
4. Put the reserved stock back into the saucepan and bring to the boil. Add the cream and whisk in 1-2 Tablespoons of the beurre manié. Boil the sauce for a few minutes to cook out the flour in the beurre manié and for the sauce to thicken. Pour the sauce into the pie dish over the chicken mixture and mix well. (If you are baking the pie immediately then you can proceed with the next steps, otherwise allow to cool before covering with the pastry).
5. When you are ready to bake your pie, add the peas and sweetcorn to the chicken mixture and mix well.
6. Roll out your pastry onto a lightly floured board until it is large enough to cover your pie dish.
7. Cut a strip 1cm wide from the outside of the pastry and place it on the moistened rim of the pie dish, then brush with water.
8. Carefully place the rest of the pastry over the pie mixture and seal the edges together by pressing firmly. Trim off the excess pastry and knock up the edges of the pie with the flat of your knife.
9. Make a small hole in the centre of the pie to allow steam to escape and place a greaseproof paper funnel in the hole.
10. Glaze the top of the pie with the beaten egg.
11. Cook in a preheated oven at Gas mark 8/450°F/230°C for 15 minutes or until golden brown and then reduce to Gas mark 5/375°F/190°C for 15-20 minutes.

Pork Balls in Batter with Sweet and Sour Sauce

MUNCH RATING: 5/5

When I first made this batter recipe it worked incredibly well. But ever since then it hasn't worked as well as the batter has been too runny. I think I might have converted the quantities incorrectly when I downsized the original recipe, so I need to investigate the problem and I will rewrite the recipe. I'm sorry if you have tried this recipe and it has been a disaster! But the sauce recipe is definitely good and I have used it when I tried a tempura recipe.

I asked my Dad to ask his friends who own a Chinese take-away how they make the batter for pork/chicken balls. Their response was:
Dry the meat and season with salt and pepper. Dust with plain flour. Make a batter by mixing self-raising flour (Green Dragon is the brand) with enough water until you get the consistency where it easily falls from the whisk. Dip the meat into the batter and then deep fry until pale golden brown and the 'balls' have formed their shape. In the take-away they will leave them like this until a customer makes their order and then the balls are re-fried until they are dark golden brown.

So I've got a couple of recipes to test out and will post the results asap!



SWEET AND SOUR SAUCE - INGREDIENTS

• 1/4 cup (4 Tablespoons) tomato ketchup
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• 1/4 cup (60ml) white vinegar (I used white wine vinegar)
• 1/4 cup (60ml) water
• 1/2 cup (100g) white sugar
• 1/4 cup (45g) brown sugar, packed
• 1 Tablespoon corn flour
• 1/8 cup (2 Tablespoons) cold water

SWEET AND SOUR SAUCE - DIRECTIONS:

1. To make the sauce: in a small saucepan combine the first 6 ingredients and bring to a boil whisking constantly.
2. Reduce the heat to medium-low and continue to simmer stirring for 2 minutes.
3. In a small cup dissolve the corn flour in the cold water until smooth, then add to the simmering sauce stirring constantly.
4. Cook for another 3 minutes stirring until bubbly and thickened.
5. I served this at room temperature. You can store it in an airtight container in the fridge for probably about a week.

---

** 5th April 2010 - Ignore this recipe! It needs updating! **

PORK BALLS – INGREDIENTS:

• 2/3 cup (80g) plain flour
• 2/3 cup (80g) corn flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 cup (240ml) cold water
• oil for deep frying
• 1.1lb (500g) pork, cut into small cubes (I used Spare Rib Chops. You could also use chicken breast).

PORK BALLS – DIRECTIONS:

1. To make the batter: in a large bowl combine the flour, corn flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, sugar and water and mix until smooth.
2. Put the pork pieces into the batter and mix thoroughly to evenly coat them. (I did this about ½ hour before I was ready to cook them as I find batter benefits from time to rest).
3. Heat the oil in a deep-fryer or large deep saucepan to 375 degrees (I used oil about 3 inches deep in a saucepan. To test the oil was hot enough I dropped some batter in and if it puffed up and sizzled then it was ready).
4. Then drop the pieces into the hot oil piece by piece and fry until golden brown, about 5-7 minutes. (Don’t put too many pieces into the fryer otherwise the temperature of the oil will drop too much, I fried about 10 at a time).
5. Remove and drain on a paper towel and keep warm in a low oven whilst you fry the rest.

Homemade Pizza

MUNCH RATING: 3/5

It’s been a while since my last attempt at cooking with dough (Chelsea Buns in March) and I thought I’d try something a bit simpler, so I found this pizza recipe on the BBC Good Food website.

The dough was incredibly easy to make and had a really good texture, so I’ll definitely be making it again. I imagine these would taste even better if cooked on a pizza stone!

This might seem like a really long recipe, but so many things can be prepared in advance and apparently the dough can be frozen.

The original recipe called for passata for the sauce, but I didn’t have any and we had some tomatoes that had gone soft, so I used those instead to make my own sauce. Unfortunately my basil hasn’t grown big enough otherwise I would have added some! I would of also added garlic, but I’d run out! Plus I was making this pizza with Steve’s mum in mind and as she doesn’t like garlic I was trying to make it as plain as possible. She doesn’t normally like pizza as she doesn’t like the tomato sauce, but she tried some of my sauce and said it was very nice! I had some sauce leftover and this was great mixed with some creme fraiche to make a sauce for pasta.

I also added lots of extra topping ingredients as I find margherita a bit boring!

• Makes: 2 pizzas
• Oven temperature: Gas mark 8/450°F/230°C
• You will need: a large bowl, 2 baking sheets plus 1 in the oven
• Prep Time: 25 mins plus time if you let the dough rise
• Cook Time: 10-15 mins per pizza

Ingredients For The Base:

• 300g strong bread flour
• 1 tsp instant yeast (I used Tesco’s Fast Action Dried Yeast)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 200ml warm water

Ingredients For My Sauce:

• 2 handfuls of cherry tomatoes
• 3 large tomatoes, quartered
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 100ml vegetable stock
• 1 Tablespoon tomato ketchup
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• Black pepper to season

Ingredients For The Topping:

• 125g ball mozzarella, chopped into small pieces
• 100g mature cheddar cheese, grated
• 4 mushrooms, sliced
• 2 sweet orange peppers, sliced
• cooked Cajun chicken, chopped into small pieces*

Directions:
1. Make The Dough: Put the flour into a large bowl, then stir in the yeast and salt. Make a well, pour in 200ml warm water and the olive oil and bring together with a wooden spoon until you have a soft, fairly wet dough. Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 5 mins until smooth. Lightly oil the bowl before you put the dough back into it, then cover with a tea towel and set aside. You can leave the dough to rise if you like, but it's not essential for a thin crust. (I left my dough to rise and the middle photo shows it after 1 hour and the photo on the right is after 2.5 hours).

2. Make the sauce: Put all the sauce ingredients into a saucepan and simmer for 15-20 minutes until the tomatoes have broken down and the stock has reduced and you have a nice thick sauce. Pass through a sieve to strain out the tomato skins. Leave to stand at room temperature whilst you make the base.
3. Roll out the dough: If you've let the dough rise, give it a quick knead, then split into two balls. On a floured surface, roll out the dough into large rounds, about 25cm across, using a rolling pin. The dough needs to be very thin as it will rise in the oven. Lift the rounds onto two floured baking sheets.
4. Top and bake: Heat oven to Gas mark 8/450°F/230°C. Put another baking sheet or an upturned baking tray in the oven on the top shelf. Smooth sauce over bases with the back of a spoon. Scatter with your toppings (drizzle with olive oil and season). Put one pizza, still on its baking sheet, on top of the preheated sheet or tray. Bake for 8-10 mins until crisp (mine took between 10-15 mins as I made my bases quite thick). Repeat step for remaining pizza.
* To make the Cajun chicken I took the skin off and deboned 2 small chicken thighs and marinated in 1 Tablespoon olive oil and 1 Tablespoon of Cajun seasoning (I used Bart’s). Then I cooked in a George Foreman grill for about 5 minutes so it was crispy and charred as if it had been on the BBQ!
You might also be interested in:

• Calzone and Dough Balls
• New and improved pizza!

Butter Chicken Curry

MUNCH RATING: 3/5

When I first got my Tefal 4-in-1 I was desperate to find some decent slow cooker recipes and this is one I found on a forum. I’ve never had Butter Chicken in an Indian restaurant or as a takeaway, but the ingredients sounded nice and it was a simple recipe to follow.

This was the first time I’ve cooked chicken in the slow cooker and it was amazingly tender! We did enjoy the curry, but we couldn’t taste the butter so I would leave it out next time to save on calories! I would also increase the amount of spices as it needed a bit more flavour and chilli!

• Serves: 2 generously
• Cooking time: 4-5 hours

Ingredients:

• 500g chicken thigh fillets, quartered
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 2 Tablespoons butter
• 2 teaspoon garam masala
• 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
• 2 tsp ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon finely chopped ginger (or ½ tsp ground)
• ¼ teaspoon chilli powder
• 1 cinnamon stick (or 1 tsp ground)
• 6 cardamom pods, bruised (or 1-2 tsp seeds or ground – I left these out)
• 2 Tablespoons tomato paste
• 400g tin tomatoes
• 1 Tablespoons sugar (I used honey)
• Salt and pepper
• ½ cup cream, plus extra if desired

Directions:

1. Heat a little oil in a large frying pan and brown chicken. Transfer to preheating slow cooker.
2. Add the onion and garlic to the pan, frying gently until the onion is softened.
3. Add butter and spices, and continue frying gently until spices are fragrant.
4. Add tomato paste, tomatoes, sugar, salt and pepper and increase heat to med - med/high. Simmer for a few minutes, stirring until mixture has thickened.
5. Add cream and stir well to combine.
6. Remove from heat and pour into slow cooker, stirring to distribute the sauce evenly. Replace lid and slow cook for ½ hour on high (if using traditional slow cooker), then about 3-5 hours on low, stirring occasionally.
7. Remove cardamom and cinnamon stick. Add extra cream or yoghurt to taste.

Kung Po Chicken

MUNCH RATING: 3/5

I used Simon Rimmer’s recipe that he made on Something For The Weekend as a base for this dish.

CHANGES TO THE RECIPE:
I made quite a few changes to his recipe by simplifying it. I also added more vegetables and substituted the whole dried chillies for a pinch of crushed dried chillies and I used balsamic vinegar instead of the Chinese black rice vinegar as I couldn’t get hold of any.

I also stirred in some cooked noodles, but this was a mistake as the sauce has such an intense sweet/sour/hot flavour, that I think it would have been better to serve the dish with just some plain rice.

• Serves 6
• Prep time: 1 hour to marinate
• Cook time: 15-20 minutes 

Ingredients:

• 600g chicken, cut into strips (I used thighs and it’s roughly 1 per person if they’re big thighs)
• 3.5 Tablespoons (50ml) shaoxing rice wine
• 3.5 Tablespoons (50g) cornflour
• 3.5 Tablespoons (50ml) vegetable oil
• Pinch of crushed dried chillies
• 5cm piece fresh ginger, grated
• 2 carrots, peeled and cut into julienne pieces
• Some broccoli, cut into even pieces and lightly blanched
• 4-5 spears of asparagus, cut into pieces at an angle
• 3.5 Tablespoons (50g) soft brown sugar
• 75g cashew nuts
• 3.5 Tablespoons (50ml) light soy sauce
• 3.5 Tablespoons (50ml) balsamic vinegar 

Directions:

1. In a bowl, mix together the rice wine and cornflour until well combined, then add the chicken strips and mix until the chicken is completely coated in the mixture. Cover and chill in the fridge for one hour.
2. Heat the vegetable oil in a wok over a high heat. When the oil is smoking, fry the chicken in batches for 2-3 minutes, or until golden-brown. Remove from the wok using a slotted spoon and set aside on a plate.
3. Add the dried chillies and ginger to the pan and fry for 1 minute until fragrant.
4. Add the vegetables and chicken to the pan and stir-fry for a few minutes, then add the sugar, cashew nuts, light soy sauce and vinegar to the wok and stir-fry until the sugar has melted, the sauce is sticky and well combined and the chicken strips are cooked through.

Chicken Tikka Masala

MUNCH RATING: 4/5
 
This is a dish you will need to prepare in advance as you need to marinate the chicken for at least 8 hours or overnight. This makes the chicken lovely and tender and really flavoursome. I served this with pilaf rice which I cooked in my Tefal 4-in-1 rice cooker, but you can do this in the oven using this pilaf recipe.

This dish is actually really easy to make, as the sauce is basically a spicy tomato and onion sauce laced with cream or yoghurt.

• Serves 4

Ingredients:
About 4 – 6 Chicken pieces, cut into 2 inch chunks (I always use thighs but they tend to vary in size, so I allow at least 1 large thigh per person and add a couple extra).

FOR THE MARINADE

• 4 cm /1 ½ inches ginger, grated
• 3 or 4 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 teaspoon garam masala*
• 1 teaspoon curry powder*
• ½ teaspoon chilli powder*
• ½ ground cumin*
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 5 tablespoons natural yoghurt (this is about half of a 150ml pot)

FOR THE SAUCE

• ½ onion, chopped (use the other ½ for the pilaf rice)
• 1 teaspoon curry powder
• 2 or 3 tinned plum tomatoes or third of a tin of chopped tomatoes
• 200ml chicken or vegetable stock
• 5 tablespoons natural yoghurt (this is the other half of the 150ml pot) or double cream for a creamier, less tangy flavour.
• 1 tablespoon honey (optional) 

Directions:

1. Make the Marinade: Put the ginger, garlic, spices, salt and lemon juice into a wide shallow non-metallic dish and mix into a smooth paste, then add the chicken and mix to coat thoroughly. Cover and leave to marinate in the fridge for 8 hours or overnight.
2. Make the sauce: Fry the onion in a tablespoon of oil until softened and golden brown. (If making pilaf rice then set aside ½ of the onion at this stage). Stir in the curry powder and cook for 2 minutes, adding a splash of water if it starts to catch on the bottom of the pan. Add the tomatoes and stir over a high heat for a few minutes until they have broken down. Add the chicken stock and simmer uncovered for 10 minutes until the sauce has reduced and thickened. Take off the heat and use a blender to make the sauce smooth. Return to the heat and stir in the yoghurt or double cream and honey.
3. Cook the chicken: Heat the grill to its highest setting. Arrange the chicken pieces on an oven tray and cook for 5-10 minutes until charred at the edges, then turn the chicken pieces over and cook for a further few minutes until completely cooked through.
4. Add the cooked chicken to the sauce, along with any juices from the oven tray and give it a good stir. Heat through until piping hot and serve with rice.

COOK'S NOTES:
You can adjust the spice mix to your own tastes or whatever you have in the cupboard. The 4 main spices used in curries are: turmeric, cumin, chilli and ground coriander. These were the main spices that were in my curry powder and garam masala and I added extra cumin and chilli as ‘top notes’ to my curry.

Thai Chook Pie (Chicken Curry)

MUNCH RATING: 3/5

We first had Thai Chook Pie at the Ben and Jerry's Sundae Festival from the Pieminister stall and instantly fell in love with it. This recipe isn't an exact replica as they use shortcrust pastry and I have only used the pastry to cover the filling (so it's more of a pot pie) but I think it's a pretty good version and makes a nice change from serving Thai curry with rice.

• Serves: 4
• You will need: 1 large frying pan, 4 pie dishes/oven proof bowls (or 1 large dish)
• Oven temperature: Gas Mark 6/400°C/200°C

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp corn flour slaked with 2 Tbsp water
• 4 chicken breast fillets, cut into 2cm cubes
• 2 Tbsp canola oil
• A few mushrooms, sliced
• 4 Tbsp Thai green curry paste
• 400ml can coconut milk
• 1/2 cup frozen peas
• Squeeze of lime or lemon juice
• 2 tsp sugar
• 2 sheets puff pastry, thawed
• Beaten egg or milk to glaze

Directions:

1. Season the cornflour paste with salt and pepper. Toss chicken pieces in the paste and leave to rest in the fridge for about 20 minutes.
2. Heat the oil in a large frying pan over high heat, then cook the chicken, in batches, for 5-6 minutes or until golden brown on all sides. Add the mushrooms and cook for 1 minute.
3. Add the curry paste and cook, stirring, for 1 minute, then add the coconut cream, lime/lemon juice and sugar.
4. Increase the heat and simmer for 10 minutes until the sauce is nice and thick. Allow to cool.
5. Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 6/400°C/200°C.
6. Lay pastry out on a work surface and cut two 1cm wide strips from the sides of each sheet so you have 4 pastry strips.
7. To create the pie tops, place one of the pie dishes upside down on the pastry sheets and use it as a template to cut out 4 circles, 1cm larger than the rim of the dish or bowl.
8. Divide curry mixture between the pie dishes and sprinkle the frozen peas on top.
9. Press a pastry strip around each rim and brush with water. Carefully place the pie tops over the filling and rim and press firmly around edges to seal well. Trim edges with a sharp knife.
10. Brush pie tops with beaten egg or milk.
11. Bake for 20 minutes or until puffed and golden.

Lazy Sunday Roast Dinner with Roasted Broccoli

Back in the UK Steve's mum always cooks us a lovely roast dinner on Sundays and then we usually spend the rest of the day being complete coach potatoes. So even though the food out in SF is great and special ingredients are easily obtainable, nothing quite beats a Roast Dinner for pure comfort food (although I could quite happily sit and eat a big bowl of mashed potatoes!).

The first time I made Roast Dinner in the apartment it was a bit stressful because we only have 1 shelf in the oven, so I had to juggle a few different baking trays to get everything to be ready at the same time. But I now have this great new method which is so much easier and I can sit back and relax whilst it cooks away in the hotbox.

Also, here is a fantastic recipe for Roasted Broccoli (yes really!) by Alton Brown. It's perfect to serve with roast dinner as you've already got the oven on, you just need to crank it up once everything else is cooked. Being Chinese I've grown up with my parents cooking vegetables perfectly al dente in stir fries etc, so I find nothing worse than overcooked broccoli which has no flavour and the texture of a soggy sponge. This method of roasting broccoli ensures you have perfectly cooked broccoli and none of the vitamins are lost through boiling - bonus! OK so dumping a load of cheese on top probably negates any of the health benefits, but trust me the cheese really makes this so good! I haven't tried it with the panko breadcrumbs yet so will let you know if it's any good!

• Serves 2
  
• Oven temperature: Gas 6/200C/400F
• You will need: Large baking dish/tray about 13 x 9 inches and a baking sheet
  
• Prep time: 10-15 minutes
• Cooking time: 45-50 minutes plus 8-10 minutes for the broccoli
  

Ingredients:

• 2 large Chicken Thighs, bone in and skin on
• 2 large carrots, peeled and chopped into sticks
• 2 or 3 large floury potatoes, peeled and cut into walnut-sized pieces (Russets or Maris Pipers are good)
• 5 or 6 garlic cloves, peeled and slightly smashed
• Salt and pepper
• Herbs & spices of your choice (I used a ready-made Italian Seasoning mix grinder)
• Some olive or vegetable oil
• 2 small heads of broccoli, florets cut into bitesize pieces and stalks cut into batons
• A large handful of grated cheese (I used Monterey)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to Gas 6/200C/400F.
2. Season the chicken and arrange in the baking dish skin side up.
   
3. Mix the oil and your seasoning in a large bowl, add the potatoes and thoroughly coat. Add the potatoes to the baking dish in their own section. Do the same for the carrots.
4. Evenly distribute the garlic around the chicken, potatoes and carrots.
   
5. Put the dish in the hot oven and roast for 45-50 minutes, occasionally turning the potatoes and carrots, until the chicken is completely cooked. About halfway through cooking you might have a pool of oil in the dish as the chicken skin renders the fat, so collect this and save it to use on the broccoli.
   
6. Remove from the oven and cover with foil to keep warm.
7. Now crank up the oven to Gas 7/220C/425F to cook the broccoli.
8. Place the broccoli into a mixing bowl and toss with your reserved oil from the baking dish (or drizzle with some olive oil and seasoning) and then spread the broccoli out on a baking sheet.
9. Roast in the oven for 8-10 minutes or until just tender. (Whilst this is cooking you can make your gravy). Sprinkle the cheese on the broccoli and melt under the grill/broiler (I usually turn this on so I can make the chicken skin and roast potatoes even crispier!).

TASTY TIP:
Serve up the garlic! Even though it has imparted a lot of flavour to the chicken, carrots and potatoes during cooking, it has a lovely flavour when eaten whole and isn't too strong - trust me I ate some thinking it was potato and was pleasantly surprised!

Panko Chicken Nuggets

 

It's been a while since I've blogged on here because I've only recently had a kitchen to do any proper cooking! The hotel we stayed at for our first month in San Francisco only had a microwave and toaster so creating culinary delights was pretty limited. Two staple meals were Jacket Potato with Canned Chilli and Packet Rice with chopped up Frankfurters.

So here is the first recipe I've made in our new apartment which is worth blogging. I'm a big fan of Panko breadcrumbs which are impossible to get hold of in the UK unless you visit an Asian supermarket, but they're everywhere in the US so I might stock up and take some home with me! They're really worth getting as they give a really crunchy coating - if you've ever had Chicken Katsu Curry at Wagamamas then you'll know what I mean.

This recipe also calls for buttermilk which is used in a lot of American recipes but also difficult to find in the UK. However after watching a programme over here called Good Eats (a new favourite!) I learned you can make your own buttermilk. Just add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice to every 1 cup of milk, mix and leave to stand for 15 mins until slightly thickened and then use.

I have also made this recipe without buttermilk by simply coating the chicken pieces in a little bit of oil (I used olive oil for flavour) so that the breadcrumbs stick to the chicken.

I know I said before that I hated the cup measurement system, but that was before I had measuring cups! Now I really like using this method as it's so much quicker and easier than using scales. I do have a conversion page on my blog but it's not very comprehensive so I'll try and add to it. However if you see some measuring cups then I recommend you get some - I saw some in Sainsburys for about £3 before I came to the US.

Serves 2 greedy people (served with potato wedges and veg)

Ingredients:

• 1 large egg
• 1/3 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 pound (that's 3 small) boneless skinless chicken thighs (or breast), cut into bite size pieces
• 1 -1.5 cups panko bread crumbs
• 1/4 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• Salt and pepper
• 1/2 cup canola or vegetable oil

Directions:

1. Whisk the egg and buttermilk in a medium bowl. Soak chicken pieces in egg mixture while you gather remaining ingredients.
2. Meanwhile, in another shallow bowl combine panko with paprika, garlic powder, Italian seasoning, and salt and pepper, to taste.
3. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Lift chicken from buttermilk, letting excess liquid drain back into the bowl, then dip into panko and turn to coat on all sides.
4. Carefully place chicken in oil and cook until they are golden and crispy and cooked through, about for 5-10 minutes per side.
5. If you have the oven on to make potato wedges then you can transfer the chicken onto a baking sheet and pop them in the oven to keep warm/finish cooking whilst you cook your veg.

TIPS:
The buttermilk and egg mixture is enough for 1 pound of chicken. Adjust amount of breadcrumbs accordingly.

Chicken and noodles with coconut satay sauce

MUNCH RATING OUT OF 5:

This is a really quick and easy recipe and is a nice twist on the Thai curry we usually make.

Serves 2 greedy people but the sauce could stretch to serve 4.

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp oil
• 3 small Chicken Thighs (or 2 large) de-boned and cut into small strips
• 1 Tbsp Red Thai Curry Paste
• Your choice of vegetables cut into bitesize pieces (I used half a leek cut into rounds, a few sliced mushrooms and couple of handfuls of spinach)
• 400ml can Coconut Milk Light/Reduced Fat
• 3 Tbsp Crunchy Peanut Butter
• 2 nests of dried Medium egg noodles (1 nest per person)

Directions

1. Cook the noodles as per the pack instructions. Drain and keep warm.
   
2. Meanwhile bring the coconut milk to the boil in a small pan and simmer on a medium heat to reduce and thicken.
   
3. Heat the oil in a wok or large frying pan and fry the chicken for about 5 mins, until just coloured.
   
4. Stir in the Thai paste, then add the leek and mushrooms and fry until vegetables are starting to soften.
   
5. Stir in the peanut butter and then add the coconut milk and the spinach.
6. Simmer for about 5 mins until the sauce is a nice consistency and the chicken is fully cooked.
   
7. To serve: place the warm noodles between 2 serving bowls and ladle the chicken sauce on top.
   

Notes:
If you like a thinner sauce you could skip Step 2, but we like ours thick and I find that reducing the coconut in a separate pan speeds up the process without overcooking the vegetables.

Creamy chicken and leek pasta

I wanted to make a healthier version of a cream sauce because I've been making so many cakes recently and thought I should balance out my diet a bit! This recipe produces a lovely smooth sauce and has a lot of flavour. It would also be great piled on top of a Jacket Potato!

I have to admit I didn't take a photo because I was too focused on eating! But I will definitely be making this again so I'll take a photo next time before I wolf it down!

Serves 2

Ingredients:

• Pasta for 2 people (I used Bucatini which is my favourite)
• 2 rashers of Bacon, cut into small strips
• 2 Chicken Thighs, cut into small strips
• 1 medium Leek, washed and cut into rings
• A few Mushrooms, washed and sliced
• 1 clove Garlic, crushed
• 1 tbsp Plain Flour
• 300ml Stock (I used Marigold Swiss Vegetable Bouillon Powder)
• 1 tbsp Wholegrain or French Mustard
• Pinch Cayenne Pepper
• 2 tbsp Creme Fraiche or low-fat cream cheese

Directions:

1. Cook pasta according to pack instructions whilst you make the sauce.
2. Fry the bacon in a little olive oil until brown and crispy. Add the chicken and fry until brown as well. Remove meat from the pan and put in a bowl, but retain the oils and juices in the pan.
3. Fry the mushrooms and leeks for about 5 minutes until softened, then add the garlic.
4. Return the meat to the pan, then stir in the flour.
5. Add the stock, mustard and cayenne and simmer until the stock has reduced by half.
6. Add the creme fraiche or cream cheese and simmer until dissolved and the sauce is smooth and creamy.
7. Drain the cooked pasta and reserve a couple of tablespoons of the cooking water.
8. Add the pasta to the sauce and toss until fully coated in the sauce. Add some of the cooking water if necessary to help bind and thicken the sauce.