Chicken & Vegetable Stew

So this is the official food of the Beast from the East! This chicken stew will warm you from the inside out and considering that temperatures will not rise above freezing for the next couple of days and there is snow falling as I type then I think this is the recipe for you. 

Talk of Status Red warnings and dangerous driving conditions has blanket coverage on the radio and the television, all this before Storm Emma makes her appearance! 

I love this recipe because apart from a bit of time preparing the vegetables it pretty much cooks itself. Want to add a splash of white wine, no problem any wine that's good enough to drink with your meal can be added at the cooking stage and it will give your stew some extra flavour. Your choice of chicken stock is very important because it will impart the most flavour so don't skimp, add a good quality rich in flavour stock.

Chunky Black Bean and Chicken Soup

This recipe came about after I had some leftover chicken and stock from my previous post - Whole Chicken in a Slow Cooker - so I decided that I could put both to good use in this warming nourishing soup. 

Whole Chicken in a Slow Cooker

One of the first dishes I cooked in my slow cooker was a whole chicken - I was so happy with how it turned out that I have stuck to the recipe ever since. This means that with little or no effort on my part (perfect eh!!) I have a beautiful chicken waiting for me when I get home.

Nigella's Spanish Chicken with Chorizo and Potatoes

 

Okay this is so simple and tasty to make that it would be unfair to get into any long discussions, so here is the important bit, this is the handiest dinner you will make this summer! Seeing as we are actually experiencing some real summer weather this week I'll just let you get on with it.....

Recipe adapted from Nigella's Kitchen 

Serves 8

Ingredients

2 tbsp Olive oil

12 Chicken thighs

750g Chorizo sausage, cut into large chunks (if you cut them too small they'll burn)

1kg Baby salad potatoes, cut in half

1-2 Red onions, peeled and roughly chopped

2 tsp Oregano (dried)

Zest of one orange

Method

Preheat the oven to 220ºC/425ºF/Gas Mark 7. Rub the olive oil into the bottom of two baking sheets (like the ones that come with your new oven, large with shallow sides) the oil will stop everything sticking to the baking sheets. Rub the chicken, skin side down in the oil, turn upright so they will cook with a beautiful crispy skin. 

Divide the chicken between the two baking sheets, interspersed with the potatoes,chorizo chunks and red onion, sprinkle over the oregano and orange zest. It's going to be very crowded but that's okay, it will all cook perfectly don't worry.

Cook for 60-65 minutes, swapping the trays halfway through so everything gets evenly crisp and caramelised. The chicken is cooked through when there is no pink meat and the juices run clear (no pink juices).

Serve with a green salad, a beautifully sunny day and a glass of something cool in a glass!!!

Chicken Chow Mein

There are times when I feel very lazy, dithering between ordering take out or cooking! The very thought of ordering a Chinese take-out is extremely tempting, however I am of an age when lifting the phone will have consequences, namely on the weighing scales!! I wonder how in my twenties I got away with practically living on take-outs and how it didn't really effect my weight...well those days are well and truly over! Now the mere thought of a Chinese take-out has me regretting it....so here is a compromise. This tastes much better that take-out, full of vegetables and is quick to make...what's not to like? Use whatever, noodles or stir-fry vegetables you have, sit back and enjoy!

Serves 4

Ingredients
4 Chicken breasts, thinly sliced
1 tbsp Chinese 5 spice
2 tbsp Dark soy sauce
1 Heaped teaspoon cornflour
300g Dry noodles (such as Blue Dragon Instant Noodles)
1 tbsp Groundnut or vegetable oil, plus extra for the noodles
1 Red pepper, deseeded and thinly sliced
100g-150g Beansprouts or any fresh stir fry vegetables
1 Medium courgette, washed and sliced
Sliced spring onions to garnish (optional)

Method
In a small bowl, mix the Chinese 5 spice, 1 tbsp dark soy and chicken. Mix all the ingredient together with your hands, making sure the chicken is completely covered in the marinade. Cover, leave to marinade for at least 20 minutes (or overnight if possible).

Meanwhile cook the noodles in boiling water for 3 minutes (or according to the pack instructions), drain and drizzle with oil. Set aside.

Prepare the vegetables, it's better to have everything prepared in advance, because the whole cooking process only takes a couple of minutes.  

Uncover the marinaded chicken and mix in a heaped teaspoon of cornflour, this will thicken the sauce but also protect the chicken keeping it moist and tender while cooking. Heat a large frying pan or wok until it is smoking hot, add 1 tbsp of oil.

Add the chicken to the wok, allow the chicken to "settle" in the hot wok for about a minute, this will seal in the juices. Brown the chicken an all sides, add the prepared vegetables (except the spring onions). Cook for 4-5 minutes or until the chicken cooked through (not pink in the middle!).

Add the noodles and season with 1 tbsp dark soy sauce, mix every together. Cook for a further 1-2 minutes until the noodles are warmed through. Add a tablespoon of water to the wok if it all starts to get too brown.

Garnish with the spring onions if using and serve immediately.

*Recipe adapted from Ching-He Haung Chinese Food Made Easy

Hairy Bikers Sweet and Sour Chicken (Lo Cal)

You got to hand it to Dave and Si, they sure know how to dish up a proper meal. There is nothing better than a proper family favourite that keeps the whole family happy! I love this recipe, mainly because is it easy to make, healthy and it is the official end to my "Perfect Sweet and Sour Chicken Recipe" search (phew!!). Oh how I have searched the web, cookbooks and cookery programmes for "the one". Nigella's recipe was too runny and lacked punch, Gok Wan's although extremely tasty was very high in sugar and a bit fussy (I could never really get the whole caramelised sugar thing down to pat). My poor family have sat through many a Friday evening's dinner wondering how the latest attempt would taste, not to mention my ever increasing questions, rating each instalment. I have finally found the balance between not too sweet and not too sour, so much so that my beautiful 5yr old son now requests this meal more that any other.....success!!

288 calories per portion (without rice).

Serves 4

Ingredients
1 x 425g Can pineapple chunks in natural juice
2 tbsp Cornflour
2 tbsp Dark soy sauce
2 tbsp White wine vinegar
2 tbsp Soft light brown sugar
2 tbsp Tomato ketchup
½ tsp Dried chilli flakes
2 boneless, Skinless chicken breasts ( I used 500g Quorn Chicken Style Pieces instead)
2 tbsp Sunflower oil
1 Medium onion, cut into 12 wedges
2 Peppers, red, green, orange or yellow, deseeded and cut into chunks of about 3cm/1¼in
1 x 225g Water chestnuts (I used a carrot which I cut into small matchsticks)
2 Garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
25g Piece fresh root ginger, peeled and finely grated
Freshly ground black pepper

Method
To make the sauce, drain the pineapple in a sieve over a bowl and keep all the juice – you should have about 150ml.  Put the cornflour in a large bowl and stir in three tablespoons of the pineapple juice to make a smooth paste. Add the remaining juice and 150ml water, then stir in the soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, ketchup and chilli flakes until thoroughly combined. Set aside.

Cut each chicken breast into eight or nine even pieces. Heat a tablespoon of the oil in a large non-stick frying pan or wok and stir-fry the onion and peppers for two minutes over a high heat. 

Drain the water chestnuts and cut them in half horizontally. Add the remaining oil and the chicken to the pan and stir-fry for two minutes until coloured on all sides. 

Add the garlic, ginger, pineapple chunks and water chestnuts and stir-fry for 30–60 seconds. Give the cornflour and pineapple mixture a good stir and add it to the pan with the chicken and vegetables. Stir well, season with some ground black pepper and bring to a simmer. 

Cook for 4–6 minutes until the sauce is thickened and glossy and the chicken is tender and cooked throughout, turning the chicken and vegetables a few times. Serve with a small portion of rice.

Chicken Casserole with Fancy Mash!

While out walking with my 5 year old son last Sunday, he asked if this was autumn, the words were just out of his mouth, when a leaf fell at his feet. He is now not only positive that is it autumn but also that he started it!! So now that autumn has "officially" begun and it is definitely getting colder, I recommend this recipe.

I think it would be fair to say that everyone has their own idea of what a chicken casserole is, this is mine. I love the mash, it soaks up all the juices and the chicken is so tender it falls off the bone. It is also economical because even a small chicken can have it's day out with this recipe. This is warming comfort food at it's best. Feel free to adjust the recipe as you please, it's only a guideline. Sometimes if I am under pressure, I add a couple of chopped potatoes into the casserole, so that everything is cooked in the one pot and at the same time, either way you decide.

Serves 4

Ingredients
800g Chicken thighs or a whole chicken jointed
2tbsp Plain flour
1tbsp Vegetable oil
100g Lardons
1 Large onion, roughly chopped
2 Sticks celery, chopped
2 Cloves garlic, chopped
150g Mushrooms, roughly chopped
2-3 Carrots, sliced
500ml Chicken stock
Seasoning

Mash
750g Sweet potatoes, peeled and roughly chopped
750g Potatoes, peeled and roughly chopped
Butter
Milk
1 tbsp Honey (optional)
Salt and white pepper

Method
Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF/Gas Mark 5. Place a large casserole over a medium heat. Prepare the vegetables.

Remove the skin from the chicken pieces and toss in 1 tbsp of seasoned plain flour.

Add the vegetable oil to the casserole and fry the lardons until crisp. Add the floured chicken pieces and seal on all sides (in two batches if necessary).

Remove the chicken and lardons from the casserole, set aside.

Sweat the onions, celery and garlic in the casserole with lid on for 4-5 minutes. Add the mushrooms and carrots, stir. Place the chicken and the lardons back into the casserole, stir in 1 tbsp of plain flour, slowly add the chicken stock.

Bring to the boil, stirring occasionally. Season, cover and cook in the oven for 60-90 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through (no pink meat).

Fancy Mash

About 25 minutes before the chicken is cooked, prepare the sweet potatoes and the roosters, place into two large saucepans.

Season and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for about 20 minutes or until the potatoes are cooked through (the sweet potatoes usually cook first).
Drain, season and mash the sweet potatoes, stir in the honey if using. Drain, season and mash the roosters. Mash with butter and milk until rich and creamy.

To serve, spoon a portion of each mash onto a large plate and top with a piece of chicken, spoon over the vegetables and the sauce. Enjoy!

Homemade Chicken Stock

Making stock is often regarded as a difficult process, I have to disagree. As you can see there is almost nothing to do and the end result is a tasty broth ideal for soups, gravy or adding to casseroles. This recipe is suitable for any poultry, either cooked or raw, so next time you have the Sunday roast carcass knocking about, consider making some stock.

How to Joint a Chicken

I try to stock up on any special offers when I'm doing my weekly shopping, key to this is a chest freezer (I just love mine!!). Sometimes though I get carried away, this is one such occasion. I bought a rather large number of small (1.2kg) whole chickens, not really big enough for a Sunday roast, but they needed to be used all the same. This is my (the freezer's full) solution to getting the best out of small chickens. I sometimes joint before I freeze (if I have time) or defrost and then joint them for a casserole. The carcass can then be used to make Homemade Chicken Stock.

Method

Joint a chicken using a two sharp knifes, a large one for cutting through joints and a small paring knife for cutting away the breast meat from the bone. Use a large chopping board, I find a wood chopping board best, place a damp tea cloth under the board to prevent it from moving while you work on a solid surface. I like to keep my stock pot beside me for the the skin etc.

First cut away legs at the hip joints. Remove the wings (keep for making stock) or if you are jointing a couple of chickens, keep them for Chinese Chicken Wings.

Run your finger along the breast bone and place the paring knife either side of it, slice the flesh away from the bone and right the way across while moving downwards. Use the sharp point of the knife to cut away the flesh.

Divide the breast in two. Repeat with the other breast. Tip the carcass on it's side and remove the thigh. Use the paring knife to remove any remaining flesh, not forgetting underneath the carcass. Skin the breast and legs (optional). Use the skin along with the wings and carcass to make stock.

Thai Chicken Rice Soup

This dish is a staple in the Thai diet, known as khaotom gai locally. It is sold by street vendors 24 hours a day to hungry passers-by either for a warming breakfast or for those who are busy burning the candle at both ends and need our equivalent to the curry chips on the way home from a big night out. This is very quick to make especially as it uses left over rice and cooked chicken. I adapted this recipe from Vatch's Thai Kitchen which is a brilliant book for authentic Thai recipes.

Recipe adapted from Vatcharin Bhumichitr's Vatch's Thai Kitchen

Serves 4-6

Ingredients
1.25ltrs Chicken stock
400g leftover rice (from about 150g uncooked rice)
500g Cooked chicken, diced
410g Can stir fry vegetables (I used Blue Dragon)
2tbsp Thai fish sauce
2tbsp Soy sauce
1tsp sugar
2cm Fresh ginger, finely chopped
White pepper

Method
Heat the stock in a large saucepan, add the cooked rice and chicken, bring to the boil. Stir in the vegetables, fish sauce, soy sauce, ginger and sugar and simmer for about 1 minute. Season and serve immediately.

BBQ Spatchcock Chicken

So the weather forecast has picked up and we are to have a beautiful week of weather here in Ireland (woo hoo!!), now is the time to dig out your barbecue from the back of the garage, chill some beers and get the coals smokin' hot.
Here is my favourite BBQ tear'n'share food, it's messy and delicious. Now I don't restrict this to just the BBQ it is also suitable for oven roasting and I make this all year round especially when I feel like a quick and tasty dinner that reminds me of warm summer days. I covered this bird in BBQ sauce, from a previous post Donal Skehan's BBQ Spare ribs without marinading the bird first, but you can marinade the bird for at least 3 hours or overnight with your own favourite marinade. I have three other BBQ sauces for you to choose from at the bottom of this post for all your other barbecue needs.

Tutorial complements of eat in Magazine Issue 5 September 2009

Serves 4

Ingredients
1.4kg Chicken
1 tbsp Oil
1 tbsp 5-spice powder (optional)

For the Barbecue Sauce:
60g Demerara sugar
4 tbsp Dark soy sauce
4 tbsp  Tomato ketchup
4 tbsp Honey
4 Garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
1 tbsp English mustard
Tobasco Sauce (Optional)

Method
If you are using bamboo skewers, then soak them in cold water. Preheat the oven to 180C or light the BBQ. Turn the chicken upside down. Cut along one side of the backbone, then cut along the other side and remove the backbone completely.

Turn the bird breast side up, open out the bird and using the heel of your hand, slightly crush the bird.

Cut a few slashes into the legs and thighs.

Push a skewer through the left leg to the right wing and another skewer through the right leg to the left wing.

I rubbed the whole chicken with some oil and sprinkled it with Chinese 5-spice powder, roasted it in the oven for 45-50 minutes or until browned and cooked through. To cook on the BBQ, cook over a medium heat for about 40 minutes.

To test if a chicken is cooked, pierce the thickest part of the thigh or breast with a skewer, if the juices run clear (no traces of pink) then the bird is cooked.

Whisk all the ingredients for the barbecue sauce together in a small saucepan. Bring to the boil over a high heat, then reduce the heat and simmer for about 5 minutes until you have a thick sauce.

When the bird is cooked, brush the bird with the BBQ sauce, serve immediately.

Serve the remaining sauce in individual bowls for dipping. I usually plonk the bird in the middle of the table and everyone serves themselves, you will need plenty of wet wipes or individual bowls of warm water with a squeeze of lemon juice to cleanse sticky fingers.

Additional BBQ sauce ideas that will jazz up your chicken or pork, chops, sausages or salmon with these brilliant barbecue ideas.....

Recipes complements of eat in Magazine Issue 4 August 2009
Hot Spiced Chilli & Plum Sauce
Dice 500g stoned red plums, put into a pan with 150ml red wine vinegar, 40g caster sugar, 2 star anise, 1/4tsp 5-spice powder, 1 small dried chilli, 1/2tsp salt and 1/4tsp crushed black peppercorns. Slowly bring to the boil until sugar has dissolved, cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Serve chunky or remove star anise and puree.
Chunky Barbecue Sauce
Heat 1 tbsp sunflower oil in a saucepan, add 1 chopped onion and fry for 5 minutes. Mix in 1 chopped dessert apple 2tbsp tomato puree, 2 tbsp white wine vinegar, 2 tbsp light muscovado sugar, 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce and 200ml vegetable stock. Simmer for 10 minutes. Serve with burgers or sausages.
Roasted Tomato and Basil Sauce
Have 500g plum tomatoes, put on a baking sheet, sprinkle with 2 cloves chopped garlic, salt and pepper. Drizzle with 2tsp honey and 2tbsp olive oil. Roast at 200C Gas 6 for 20 minutes. Puree. Stir in 1tsp of tomato puree and 2tbsp chopped basil leaves. Serve with pork chops, sausages or salmon steaks.