Sweet & Sour Orange Chicken

On 18th May 2016, This was Dinner…

I was going to delete these unfinished posts due to how old they were, I’m glad I didn’t if just to share this one with you. It took some time and should have really been a weekend dinner, the cooker needed a right good clean too.

It’s from Dirty Food by Carol Hilker which was well worth the fiver I paid for it. I did change mine a little, mainly with regards to the rice

Get set…

• Chop a couple of chicken breasts into pieces
• Whisk up a couple of eggs
• Grate some ginger
• Grate some garlic
• Slice a yellow pepper and a green pepper
• Chops some spring onions
• Cut some pineapple rings (from a tin) into pieces, reserve the juice
• Slice an onion
• Zest an orange
• Get rice, rice wine, soy sauce, white wine vinegar, cornflour, plain flour, sugar, chilli flakes, sesame oil, groundnut oil & seasoning ready

Throw it together…

Mix the eggs with some salt and pepper and a little sesame oil, add the cornflour and plain flour and mix well. Add the pieces of chicken to coat and pop to one side.

To make a sweet and sour sauce, mix soy sauce, sugar, white wine vinegar and water together and add the zest of the orange. Bring to the boil then remove from the heat.

Heat the groundnut oil in a large pan. You need about 2cm of oil (or you could deep fry). Add the chicken a few pieces at a time without overfilling the pan and cook for 4-5 mins each side. Remove and set aside.

Put your rice on to cook.

Heat a little more oil in the pan if required and add the garlic and ginger, stir for a minute then add the green pepper, some chilli flakes and the rice wine, along with half of the pineapple. Stir well then add the juice from the pineapple along with the sweet and sour sauce. Add the chicken back to the pan and leave on a gentle heat to warm through.

Put ANOTHER pan on and heat some oil. Cook the onion and yellow pepper until softened. Add the remaining pineapple and once warmed stir through the rice.

Dish it up…

A good spoonful of rice and the chicken in a bowl scattered with the spring onions. Shut the door on the kitchen and enjoy the delicious goodness of the closest thing to takeaway food there is, worry about the mess later.

Regardless of the time it took it was more than worth it, it was wonderful.

Butter Chicken

On 24th April 2016, This was Dinner…

Oh my! I put this on the shopping list for the month a few weeks ago but in the meantime I happen to watch Vivek Singh make a more authentic one on the last Saturday Kitchen episode involving James Martin. I thought ‘Wow! I;m on to a winner with butter chicken I think’ and I was right.

Get set…

• Cut some chicken breasts into chunks
• Finely slice an onion
• Crush a few garlic cloves
• Finely grate some ginger
• Chop some coriander
• Get passata, garam masala, cashew nut butter, double cream, butter & seasoning ready

Throw it together…

Heat some butter in a large pan and cook the onion until softened.

Add the chicken and cook until starting to brown.

Add the garlic and ginger along with some garam masala and stir for a minute. Pour in the passata and gently bring to the boil. Reduce and lave to simmer for about 20 minutes.

Stir in the cashew nut butter and some of the cream and season to taste.

Dish it up…

With some wilted spinach and steamed rice. Sprinkle with coriander (which isn’t shown here).

It’s yet another BBC Good Food recipe but if you fancy putting some extra effort in then here’s the one from Saturday Kitchen.

Chicken & Chorizo Paella

On 15th April 2016, This was Dinner…

I had some paella rice in the cupboard and some chicken thighs in the freezer so it made sense to take inspiration from this BBC Good Food recipe in the March edition. Apart from the chorizo, most things are store cupboard anyway so I didn’t need to pick anything else up.

Get set…

• Cut some chicken thighs into pieces
• Thickly slice a chorizo
• Prepare some chicken stock
• Finely slice a large onion
• Finely chop a garlic clove
• Chop some parsley
• Get saffron, paprika, turmeric, paella rice, frozen peas, lemon, oil & seasoning ready

Throw it together…

Heat some oil in a pan and brown the chicken. Remove and set aside.

Add the chorizo and cook until it starts to release oil. Remove and set aside with the chicken.

Add the onion and cook until softened. Then add the garlic and cook for another minute.

Add the spices and stir then add the rice and stir again.

Pour in the stock and bring to the boil then add the chicken and chorizo and cook for around 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add the peas and cook for a few more minutes. Check the seasoning.

Sprinkle with the parsley.

Dish it up…

Serve with a squeeze of lemon.

I was going to put some cooked prawns in but forgot to get them out of the freezer in the morning.

South African Chutney Chicken

On 1st April 2016, This was Dinner…

I’m sometimes a little wary of using skin-on chicken thighs. Depending on how you cook it, you can end up with a chewy skin which is absolutely revolting. Not this recipe though, but do brown them first like we did.

Get set…

• Preaheat the oven to 180°c (fan)
• Trim some skin on- bone in chicken thighs
• Chop an onion
• Finely chop a garlic clove
• Finely chop a red chilli
• Get mayonnaise, mango chutney, Worcestershire sauce, oil & seasoning ready

Throw it together…

Heat some oil in a pan and brown the chicken for a couple of minutes each side. Do in batches. Transfer to a foil lines baking dish.

Heat more oil in the pan and cook the onion, garlic and chilli until softened. Stir in the mayo, Worcestershire sauce and chutney. Season.

Spoon the mixture over the chicken and roast in the oven for about 40 minutes.

Dish it up…

I cooked the remainder of some savoy cabbage to use it up. Oh and with chips! Come on! It’s Friday. Spoon the remaining sticky juices over.

Find the original here.

Mustard Milanese with Fennel & Rocket Salad

On 18th March 2016, This was Dinner…

Well it was a toss up which was the best meal of the week – the koftas or these. I’m not going to choose as they were both very good indeed.

I got the idea of these from the Smitten Kitchen cook book. I must say, adding some mustard to the egg is a revelation!

I love some of the different words we use from English to American. Arugula (rocket) and Cilantro (Coriander) being my favourites, or is that favorites 😉 Oh and a special mention for zucchini although courgette is a good word too.

I digress.

Get set…

• Butterfly some chicken breasts then cut in two
• Finely slice a fennel bulb
• Finely shop some garlic
• Bash up some cornflakes and spread on a plate
• Season some cornflour and spread on a plate
• Get olive oil, white wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, wholegrain mustard, egg, rocket & seasoning ready

Throw it together…

Whisk up the egg with some wholegrain mustard, add the garlic and pop on a plate.

Pat the chicken into the cornflour then dip in the egg mixture then coat with the cornflakes. Cover and chill for a bit.

Whisk up some Dijon and wholegrain mustard with a little white wine vinegar and some seasoning then slowly add olive oil to make a dressing, whisking constantly.

Heat some oil in a pan and cook the chicken for 3-4 minutes on each side, depending on the thickness of your chicken, ensuring it is fully cooked through.

Toss the fennel and rocket in the dressing.

Dish it up…

Serve the chicken on the salad with a side of fries

There was far more than this picture would suggest, we picked at it all night!

Chicken Biryani

On 7th March 2016, This was Dinner…

I’m not obsessed with the stats on the blog, I just love doing it, but what I always notice when I’m making sure I’ve replied to my comments is that a Jamie Oliver Lamb Biryani post is my most popular and still gets plenty of views weekly.

So every time I notice it I think ‘I must make that again’. I finally decided to make a chicken one instead after organising my old recipes last week when I came across this Delicious magazine recipe which claims to be ‘The Best Chicken Biryani’.

I must admit, the lamb one was better but this was still good. You won’t forgive me for all the washing up later either.

A bit of prep before – one to two days before…

Halve some chicken thighs.

Bash & finely chop 6 garlic cloves.

Roughly chop 2 green chillies.

Peel & Grate some fresh ginger.

Get Greek yoghurt, hot chilli powder, sweet paprika, ground coriander & ground turmeric ready.

Mix everything (apart from the chicken) together then stir in the chicken pieces. Cover and chill.

Get Set…

• Halve some chicken thighs
• Bruise 6 cardamom pods
• Finely slice a couple of onions & coat in plain flour
• Toast some cashew nuts
• Chop some coriander
• Get vegetable oil, basmati rice, saffron, ghee*, cloves, milk, bay leaves, cumin seeds, ground nutmeg, star anise, tomato purée & salt ready

Throw it together…

Soak the rice in cold water for an hour.

Heat about 1cm of the oil in a pan and cook the onions for 2-3 minutes until golden, do in batches. Remove to kitchen paper.

Heat more oil in a large pan. Add cloves, cinnamon, cardomom, bay leaves, cumin seeds, nutmeg & star anise and allow everything to release their aromas then add the chicken, along with the marinade.

Cook for 5 minutes then add tomato purée and salt. Simmer for about half an hour until the chicken is cooked. Keep warm over a low heat and add water if required but you don’t want the sauce runny.

Soak the saffron in a little milk.

Cook the rice in boiling, salted water for a few minutes then drain and stir in the ghee.

Heat more of the ghee with some water in a casserole pan with a lid.

Put a third of the rice in the bottom of the pan, drizzle with saffron milk then scatter some of the onions. Pop on half of the chicken then repeat finishing with rice and onions on top.

Pop the lid on and turn up the heat to start the steam then turn down low and cook for 20 minutes.

Scatter over the coriander and cashews.

Dish it up…

Just a big old couple of spoonfuls with a beer!

I loved the onions done like this so much that I’ve used the method again since.

** I couldn’t get my hands on any ghee so I just boiled some butter for around 3 minutes then reduced the heat. It produces a foam which disappears. After about 7 to 8 minutes a 2nd foam appears and the butter turns brown. Strain and use this liquid.

Chicken & Bacon Crispy Pancakes

On 29th February 2016, This was Dinner…

I had the day off today, and such a productive day it was. A nice walk with the dog boss, a reorganisation of my wardrobe, a good sort of all my food magazines and a man came and cleaned my oven so it looks like new!

Now I suppose I can’t complain as I haven’t had one in a lot of quite a few years. When I decided to research whether you could still buy the Findus Crispy Pancake (a staple of my youth) I found this recent shocking piece of information. Yes, the demise of the crispy pancake is not only imminent, it has probably already happened.

So if there are any disappointed crispy pancake lovers out there, this recipe is for you, but you might need a little longer than 15 minutes along side your oven chips!

I actually cooked the filling on Sunday then made them on Monday. The mixture needs chilling time so I would suggest this unless you have all day.

Get set…

• Finely chop an onion
• Finely chop some chestnut mushrooms
• Chop some parskey
• Whizz up a couple of slices of bread (without the crusts) for breadcrumbs
• Sift 100g plain flour into a bowl
• Measure out 550ml milk
• Beat an egg and get 2 others ready
• Get smoked bacon lardons, chicken breasts, flour, oil & seasoning ready
• When ready preheat the oven to 180°c (fan)

Throw it together…

Poach the chicken breasts in boiling water for about 17 minutes or until cooked. Remove and set aside.

Heat a pan and cook the bacon lardons until starting to crisp. Remove and set aside.

Add a little oil to the pan if required and cook the onion for five minutes. Add the mushrooms and cook for around 10 more minutes until the mushrooms are done.

Stir in a couple of tablespoons of flour and cook for a minute then add 400ml of the milk a little at a time, stirring constantly. Bring to a gentle boil to thicken a little, a couple of minutes should do. Season.

Chop the chicken into small pieces and add to the pan along with the bacon lardons and parsley. Mix well then leave to cool. When cool, transfer to a dish, cover and chill.

Make the pancakes by adding some salt to the sifted flour and then make a well and crack in both of the eggs. Mix together then slowly add the remaining 150ml milk and whisk to a thin batter.

Heat a frying pan and add just under a ladleful to the pan. Swirl around quickly to cover the surface. When the bottom is golden, flip and cook the other side. Make three more, you should just have enough.

Brush egg around the edges of the pancakes then pop the chicken mixture in the middle. Fold over and press together.

Pop on a baking tray and brush with more egg, sprinkle with breadcrumbs and back for about 20 minutes.

Dish it up…

Well I would have served them with baked beans but Mr S wasn’t bothered so I didn’t open a tin just for me. They are very filling so I’m glad I didn’t bother with chips.

You can find the BBC Good Food recipe here.

I really enjoyed these but I’m not sure I would bother again. Two things to mention. I thought there was far too much filling for the pancakes (but then I didn’t measure anything other than stated and my chicken breasts were HUGE) and my edges would not stick.

Sweet & Sour Chicken Adobo

On 7th February 2016, This was Dinner…

I have to admit to being an pyjama addict. Although if you’ve seen the news this week about the headmistress asking parents not to wear them to school – I’m not that bad. But I will happily get up on a Sunday morning, shower, and pop on a fresh pair.

So I was really angry with myself when I came to make this and realised I didn’t have any coconut milk. I could have made something else but I really wanted to make it as per the recipe. So I resigned myself to putting ‘proper’ clothes on getting dressed and popped to the shops. Mr S chopped everything up whilst I was out.

It turns out I had written the ingredients down from 2 separate recipes in BBC Good Food magazine. Whoops!

I can’t say I had heard of Adobo before so I looked it up and Wikipedia states ‘Philippine Adobo is a popular dish and cooking process in Philippine cuisine that involves meat, seafood, or vegetables marinated in vinegar, soy sauce, and garlic, which is browned in oil, and simmered in the marinade.’ Well there was no marinating with this recipe.

This cooks for quite a while so I made a cake in the meantime.

Get set…

• Trim and halve some skinless chicken thighs
• Roughly chop an onion into chunks
• Crush and chop 5 garlic cloves
• Deseed and roughly chop a couple of red peppers
• Slice a red chilli
• Season some cornflour
• Get coconut milk, light soy sauce,white wine vinegar, light brown sugar, bay leaves, oil & seasoning ready

Throw it together…

Toss the chicken pieces in the cornflour.

Heat the oil in a pan and brown the chicken in batches. Pop to one side.

Make sure there is still some oil in the pan and add the onion, garlic, chilli and peppers. Cook for a few minutes.

Add the soy, vinegar and sugar and stir well. Add the chicken then pour in the coconut milk and season well. Give it all a good stir.

Get it up to a bit of a simmer then pop the lid on, reduce the heat and cook for about two hours. Stirring occasionally. Add a little water from time to time if required.

You might want to leave the lid off for the last 15 minutes to let the sauce thicken up.

Dish it up…

This serving was for the photo only. Serve with whatever you prefer. We sliced, parboiled and roasted some potatoes in goose fat.

Find the original recipe here.  I can’t recommend this dish enough. We had loads left for Monday and just cooked some rice and stirred it through as the chicken just fell apart.

I have to give a special mention to the chips I had in The Leopard in Doncaster yesterday. It’s rare to get home cooked chips these days I’m sure.

The chilli sauce that came with the hot dogs what HOT HOT HOT! Just the way I like it. In a complete coincidence I bought some banana hot sauce on Saturday which also originates in the Philippines.

 

Balti Chicken

On 23rd January 2016, This was Dinner…

We had a quick lunch in town today and then came home and took Walter for a walk. We picked up a couple of beers on the way back and then made this. Far better for you than a takeaway.

I bought some cashews for this and thought I had hidden them well but it turns out Mr S had “stumbled upon them” and they were no more. I stuck flaked almonds in instead.

To cook, it couldn’t be simpler.

Get set…

• Thickly slice an onion
• Finely slice a chilli
• Prepare some chicken stock
• Roughly chop some coriander
• Get chicken breasts, balti paste, chopped tomatoes (tin), rice, flaked almonds, oil & seasoning ready

Throw it together…

Heat some oil in a pan. Brown the onion them remove and pop to one side.

Brown the chicken on each side then add back the onions. Pop the chilli in along with the balti paste and the rice. Stir everything well for a minute or so.

Add the tomatoes and the stock, bring to boil then reduce the heat, cover and simmer for about 25 minutes. Check occasionally and add more water if required.

Check for seasoning and that the chicken is cooked through then add the flaked almonds.

Dish it up…

Serve with a sprinkle of coriander and a cold beer.

A balti is a ‘type of curry served in a thin, pressed steel wok called a balti bowl’ (source: Wikipedia), the balti in this instance refers to the paste I used (and the online recipe from BBC Good Food that I adapted and can be found here.)

Chicken Thighs with Olives & Chickpeas

On 14th January 2016, This was dinner…

I’ve updated my ‘About‘ page. I thought it was time as I’ve been blogging for almost three years now. I was going to keep it nice and short but as usual, I got carried away.

I’m still using up stuff in the pantry and I had a load of dried chickpeas so I cooked them last night to use in this recipe, I still had to buy the other ingredients so not as much of a budget meal as the previous 2 nights.

Preparing:

• Preheat the oven to 190°c (fan)
• Finely chop an onion
• Bash a couple of garlic cloves
• Finely chop a chilli
• Halve some green (or black) olives
• Trim some chicken thighs
• Get smoked paprika, chopped tomatoes (tinned), chickpeas, red wine vinegar, olive oil & seasoning ready.

Making:

Pop the chicken in a bow l and add smoked paprika along with the oil and seasoning. Get your hands in there and give it a good rub.

Transfer the chicken to a roasting dish and stick them in the oven for 15 minutes.

Heat some oil in a pan and gently fry the onion. Add the chilli, tomatoes,chickpeas and vinegar, season and cook to reduce a little.

Add to the chicken along with the olives for another 15 to 20 minutes, ensuring your chicken is cooked through.

I also chucked in a couple of stray jalapeños. Serve with a dollop of sour cream and some garlic bread.

The original Delicious magazine recipe can be found here. Mr S went to the market and I hadn’t specified to buy skin on thighs so we dropped the ‘crispy’ bit.