Braised chicken with carrots and mushrooms

This is the first time I used rock sugar in my cooking. Not sure if it was because of the rock sugar but the sauce seemed to decrease rapidly after I added about 4 small pieces, and in the end, there was not much sauce left to go together with the plain rice. But taste wise, it was good. :)

Braised chicken with carrots and mushrooms (recipe from here)Serves 2

Ingredients :
- 500g chicken thigh, chopped to smaller pieces (you can also use half chicken)
- 2 tbsp sesame oil
- 1 carrot, peeled and cut to bite-sized chunks
- 1 stalk of negi (Japanese scallion) or 2 stalks of spring onions, sliced
- 200g fresh shiitake mushrooms, stems removed and sliced
- 150ml water (adjust accordingly to how much gravy you want)
- 1 tbsp dark soy sauce 
- 1 tbsp oyster sauce 
- 1/2 tsp 5-spice powder 
- 2 to 4 small rock sugar cubes
- 3 ginger slices
- 5 garlic cloves, bruised

Directions :
1. Heat sesame oil in wok, then add chicken pieces. Stir fry until the chicken is no longer pink.

2. Add water, carrots, mushrooms, scallions, dark soy sauce, oyster sauce, 5 spice powder, ginger and garlic. Stir well. Cover with lid and let it simmer for about 5 minutes.

3. Using kitchen tongs or spatula, flip the chicken pieces over so that they can absorb the braising liquid. Add rock sugar for sweetness and a beautiful glazed finish. Simmer with lid closed for another 5 minutes or until the chicken is cooked.

Pasta with chicken and mushrooms

There is a slight difference in one of the main ingredients in this recipe, that is the Italian pork and fennel sausage. I really didn't know if it was sold anywhere in Singapore, much less in any supermarket near my place. Therefore, I substituted it with just plain normal minced chicken, which I seasoned with a little salt and black pepper and set it aside for a while before cooking.

However, if there is any chance that I could get the Italian sausage, I would certainly try this again. :)

Pasta with pork and fennel sausages (adapted from "Quick and Easy workday dinners")
Serves 4

Ingredients :

6 Italian pork and fennel sausages (I substituted with minced chicken)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small red onion, finely chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 teaspoon chilli flakes
300g field or button mushrooms, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh thyme
500g penne rigate
grated Parmesan, to serve


Directions :

1) Split the sausage open, remove and crumble the filling, then discard the skins.

2) Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat and cook the onion for 3-4 minutes, or until fragrant and transparent. Add the garlic, chilli flakes, mushrooms and crumbled sausage meat. Cook over high heat, stirring gently to mash the sausage meat, for 4-5 minutes, or until the meat is evenly browned.

If necessary, use a tablespoon to remove any excess fat from the pan, leaving about a tablespoon of oil. Continue to cook, stirring once or twice, for 10 minutes.

3) Stir in the tomato and thyme, then bring the sauce to the boil. Cover and cook over medium-low heat for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally to make sure the sauce doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan.

4) Meanwhile, cook the pasta in a large saucepan of rapidly boiling salted water according to the packet instructions until al dente. Drain well, then add to the sauce, stirring gently to combine. Garnish with Parmesan, then serve immediately.

Braised Chicken with Shallots

Finally, we were rid of the flu and cough bug. So, it was back to cooking chicken for our meals. Looking back at previous meals, I thought it would be good to cook a Chinese dish this weekend. And of course, a simple and quick one at that.

Braised Chicken with Shallots (recipe from here)

Ingredients :

- 4 chicken thighs & drumsticks, chopped
- 10 shallots, washed & peeled
- 2 nos garlic, sliced
- 5 nos ginger, sliced
- 1 tsp black soy sauce

Marinate:
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp light soya sauce
- 4 tbsp Shaoxing wine
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- pepper to taste

Directions :

1. Marinade chicken with the marinate. Set in the fridge for 3 hours or longer.

2. Heat up olive, saute shallots, garlic and ginger till fragrant.

3. Add chicken, stir fry the chicken till tender and fragrant.

4. Add water - the water should cover the chicken.

5. Cover the wok lid. Simmer under low fire for about 10-15mins or till gravy thicken. (Note : The gravy didn't seemed to be thickening at this point, so I added in some cornstarch mixed with water)

6. Add dash of salt.

7. Add black soy sauce, stir well & dish up. Serve hot.

Chicken, Leek and Tomato Soup

This was made a few weeks back and I had forgotten about it until I went through the photos in my phone. No, I didn't use a camera for my photos. Nearly all the photos of the dishes that I cooked were taken by my phone's camera, and thus, the non-professional look and poor lighting. But I do try to make them presentable.

Anyway, I was looking for something light for dinner that day and the husband was feeling abit under the weather, so I thought of soup, and some toasted small buns to go along.

Chicken, Leek and Tomato Soup (recipe from : Quick Short Chicken Recipes)
4 servings

Ingredients :

- 60g butter
- 3 leeks, thinly sliced
- 3 chicken breast fillets
- 3 cups (750ml) chicken stock
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 425g can crushed tomatoes
- 1/4 teaspoon soft brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon chopped basil leaves
- chopped basil, extra, to garnish

Directions :

1) Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat, add the leek and cook for 2 minutes without browning.

2) Halve the chicken breast fillets lengthways and thinly slice them. Increase the heat, add the chicken to the saucepan and cook for 3 minutes, or until the chicken is browned.

3) Add the stock, garlic, tomato, sugar and basil. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 5-6 minutes, or until the chicken is tender. Season and garnish with extra fresh basil. Serve with crusty bread.

Chicken Pasta

I've decided that I had enough of outside food, and so it's back to simple home-cooked pasta again. With the use of chicken broth in this recipe, I was worried that it might turned out to be kind of soupy.. which is weird for a pasta dish. However, my worry was pointless. The moment the pasta and the sauce were mixed together, the broth was soaked up nicely and the dish turned out to be quite flavourful.

Chicken Pasta (recipe from here)

Ingredients :

- 1 pound of linguine

- 1 pound of chicken breast (I used chicken fillets)

- olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, diced
- red pepper flakes (as much or as little as you like)
- salt
- juice of 2 lemons
- 1/2 cup (or more or less, depends on how much sauce you want) low sodium chicken broth
- handful chopped parsley (I used dried parsley flakes)
- handful grated parmesan cheese
 
Directions :
 
1) Start out by boiling the water for your pasta, as that always takes the longest for me. Cook your pasta according to the instructions on the box.

2) Cut up your chicken, and set aside. In a large skillet heat up enough olive oil to cover bottom of pan. Add in garlic and sautee until tender, this should take a few minutes. Add in salt (about a tsp. or so) and red pepper flakes and cook for a minute.

3) Add in chicken and cook through. Once chicken is pretty much cooked through, add in lemon juice, and quickly bring to a simmer. Next add in chicken broth, and bring to a simmer again, yet let it simmer for 5-10 minutes.

4) Once pasta is cooked, either add the chicken mixture to the pasta, or vice versa, depending on how large your pot is. Sprinkle in parsley and cheese, and mix together.

Butter Chicken (Indian Chicken in Tomato Cream Sauce)

This is the second attempt at another butter chicken recipe. I did one back some time ago and it didn't have any sauce. But this was different and we bought a packet of frozen naan from NTUC to go with it.

And I also made some changes to this recipe :

- instead of cooked chicken, I bought chicken fillets and marinated them using the ingredients from the previous butter chicken recipe

- I opted to leave out the garam masala and ground cinnamon coz I didn't want to buy bottles of those just for this recipe (and I thought the marinating would be enough)

- I left out the peas coz I don't like peas

Butter Chicken (Indian Chicken in Tomato Cream Sauce) (recipe from here)

Spice Blend:

• 1 tablespoon garam masala seasoning
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne

Sauce:
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 large onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
• 2 teaspoons jarred minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 (15-ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1 (14 1/2-ounce) can diced tomatoes in juice
• 1 skinless rotisserie chicken, boned out and pulled into 1 1/2 by 1/2-inch chunks
• 1 (10-ounce) box frozen peas, placed in a colander and run under hot water to thaw
• 1/3 cup heavy whipping cream

Directions

1) To make the spice blend: Stir the ingredients together in a small bowl and set aside.

2) To make the sauce: Melt the butter in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring frequently, until the pieces just begin to turn gold, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, tomato paste and spice blend, and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly to prevent burning. The spices will be fragrant. Add the tomato sauce and diced tomatoes and stir will. Add the chicken pieces, spoon the sauce over the top and bring to a simmer. Turn the heat to low and cook, uncovered, until the chicken is warmed through and the sauce is flavorful, about 10 minutes. Stir frequently. Remove the chicken to a serving dish and cover to keep warm.

3) Shake any excess water from the peas. Add the peas and cream to the sauce in the pan, stir well and heat through. Do not boil. Spoon the sauce over the chicken. Serve with rice and warmed pita bread.

Variation: If you prefer shreds of chicken to whole pieces, remove the skin from the chicken and pull the meat into large chunks by hand. Add to the pan along with the garlic, tomato paste and spice blend. Cook for 3 minutes and then add the tomato sauce and continue with the recipe. Serve over basmati rice.

Claypot Chicken Rice

I was actually not very pleased with how this dish turned out. The overall taste was good, but the rice turned out to be too soggy. I always have a problem when it comes to estimation, and I had to admit that it's quite difficult to judge the amount of water when it comes to cooking rice without using a rice cooker. And I also thought to just half the recipe and follow the amount, but apparently, something was wrong somewhere. So, the next time, I'm going to follow what my mother suggested: 1 cup rice = 1 cup liquid.

Claypot Chicken Rice (recipe from here)

Ingredients :

- 1 Chinese sausage

- 4 chicken thighs – cut to bite size pieces
- 2 tbsp oyster sauce
- 1 tbsp dark soy
- 2 tbsp light soy
- 2 cloves of garlic (chopped)
- 1 tsp cornflour
- 2 tbsp of rice wine
- 1 inch ginger (julienned)
- 1 tsp of salt
- ½ tsp of pepper
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 3 spring onions (chopped finely)
- 5 dried shitake mushrooms, (soaked in warm water for 20 minutes)
- 2 cups rice
- 3 cups chicken stock

Directions:

1. Mix the chicken with all the ingredients except the rice, mushrooms, spring onions and stock. Leave to marinade for at least half an hour.

2. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a wok and stir-fry marinated chicken meat for 1 minutes. Add mushroom slices, sliced chinese sausage. Dish out and put aside

3. Put the rice and chicken stock in the cold claypot and place it over a medium heat with the lid on. Bring to the boil and immediately reduce the heat to a low simmer, then leave the rice to steam for 15 minutes. The rice should be nearly cooked, with little holes in the flat surface.

4. Spread the chicken mixture all over the top of the rice, and put the lid back on. Continue to steam over a low heat for another 15 minutes, until the chicken is white and cooked through. Give it a few stir and sprinkle the spring onions over the top and serve piping hot.

Chicken Ngoh Hiang

So I've finally made my ngoh hiang. Yes, with chicken instead of pork coz as I had mentioned before, I can't stand the piggish taste of supermarket pork. Though I suspect that using chicken might not taste as sweet and succulent as pork, but I'm still very satisfied with the overall result. I had made ngoh hiang, of all things. It was not as difficult as I thought it would be.

And I'm also proud to say that I had kind of got the seasoning right this time. According to this post from The Little Teochew, there are 2 ways to get around the saltiness of this dish :

1) Go light on your seasoning of the filling, so that the saltiness of the wrapper makes up for the blandness, or

2) Season your filling as you normally would. Then, using a clean damp cloth, wipe the wrappers a few times (both sides) very gently. Make sure your cloth is damp and not wet, else your wrappers will turn soggy. Rinse the cloth thoroughly after each wrapper has been wiped. Squeeze dry and go on to the next.

And I followed the first method, coz I didn't think I have to patience to wipe and wash, wipe and wash. Heh.

Ngoh Hiang (recipe from here)

Ingredients : 

- 300g minced pork (or any minced meat you prefer)
- 2 cloves garlic, minced finely
- 6 water chestnuts, chopped roughly
- 6 medium sized fresh prawns, shelled, de-veined and chopped into small chunks
- 2 stalks leeks (the white part only), sliced thinly OR substitute with 2 stalks spring onions, chopped (I used both)
- 1 tbs soy sauce
- 1 tbs fish sauce (I omitted this)
- dash of sesame oil
- dash of pepper
- 1 small egg, beaten lightly
- Ngoh Hiang skin (sold in large, folded sheets at dry goods shops ... you have to cut them to size before rolling)

Directions :

1) To the minced meat, add garlic, leeks, prawns and water chestnuts together. Add in 1 tbs soy sauce, 1 tbs fish sauce and a dash of sesame oil.

2) Add in one egg and mix thoroughly. Sprinkle some spring onions for colour.

Note : To see how to assemble the ngoh hiang, follow the recipe link.

Char Kway Teow

Yes, yes, I know my char kway teow is much 'paler' than the original ones that we are used to (unless we are talking about the Penang one). I only eyeballed the dark soy sauce amount, but I think there would not be much difference to the overall taste, except maybe a more distinct sweetness of the sauce if I had put in more.

In fact, this is one dish that I didn't really follow the measurements from the recipe. I only used it as a guide to get the ingredients and the steps to frying it. And I'm glad to say that it turned out quite well. However, I didn't really read the blog post well enough to see the suggestion : The trick to this dish is to use high heat and cooked one serving at a time for maximum 'wok hey' (wok's breath). I'll be sure to keep this in mind coz I know there will be a next time. :)

Char Kway Teow (Recipe from here )

Ingredients :

- 250 gm Kueh Teow (flat rice noodles)
- 150 gm prawns - shelled
- 100 grm of meat or cockles (I used char siew)
- a handful of beansprouts
- 5 stalks chives or spring onions - cut into 2cm lengths
- 2 eggs
- 3 cloves of garlic - finely chopped
- 2 tsp of chili paste - optional
- 3 tbsp of light sauce sauce
- 2 tbsp of dark soy sauce
- Salt and pepper to taste

Directions :

1. Heat up wok to high heat, add oil and garlic and fry till fragrant.

2. Add prawns, meat and ground chili and stir-fry for about 20 secs.

3. Add noodles, stir fry for a few second, add in soy sauce and dark soy sauce. Continue to fry until everything is well combined. Add in beansprouts.

4. Push mixture to edge of wok, add a little oil in centre. Add and fry the eggs and then mix everything together. Check seasoning.

5. Lastly add in chives or spring onions and give the noodles a few toss.

6. Dish out and serve hot.

Braised Ginger Chicken with Potatoes

I admit that when it comes to food, I'm a little weird and maybe a little picky sometimes, yes, just sometimes. Weird in the sense that I only eat the skin of the chicken if it's deep-fried or roasted. I cannot stand the 'squishy-ness' and the slight taste of fat of the chicken skin if it is cooked any other way.

So, understandably, I would choose chicken fillets instead of chicken drumsticks as stated in the original recipe. I also realised that chicken fillets are not as dry as chicken breasts, if cooked quick and right.

Braised Ginger Chicken with Potatoes (Recipe from here)

Ingredients:

- Chicken drumsticks - 5 pcs, chopped into chunks
- Coriander leaves, one handful, chopped (I forgot about this so I used spring onions)
- Potatoes - 2 medium sized, chunks
- Ginger - 10 slices
- Garlic - 2 cloves, minced
- Shallots - 1 pc, sliced
- Salt - 2 tsp
- Dark soya sauce - 2 tbsp
- Sesame oil - 1/2 tsp

Seasonings:

- Light soya sauce - 1 tbsp
- Lee & Perrin sauce - 1 tsp (I omitted this)
- Salt & pepper - Dash
- Sesame oil - 1 tsp

Directions:

1. Marinate chicken drumsticks with seasonings. Set aside for 20 mins.

2. Sautee garlic, shallots, ginger till fragrant.

3. Add in potatoes and sautee till potatoes are slightly brown.

4. Add in marinated chicken, stir fry for 10 mins.

5. Add salt. Stir occasionally till chicken is half cooked and fragrant.

6. Then, add warm water to cover 3/4 of the chicken. Simmer with lid covered till sauce is thicken.

7. When the sauce is half thicken, add in coriander leaves. Simmer for another 10 mins.*

8. Off fire, stir in dark soya sauce and sesame oil, mix well.

9. Dish up, garnish with some coriander leaves and serve.

*Note : If you are using chicken fillets or breasts, I think you can keep the simmering to under 10 minutes, or the better gauge is to check for the consistency of the sauce.

三杯鸡 (Three Cups Chicken)

Sometimes, the cooking mood will strike and I would find myself looking through my online bookmarks to see what I can whip up next for the guinea pig husband. Or a recipe that I had read before will suddenly pop up in my mind and I told myself that I had to try it.

And this was what happened with this Three Cups Chicken recipe. I came across it on a blog a long time ago and thought it might be interesting to try but I didn't keep the link. Until recently, I was reading my latest favourite blog, The Little Teochew, and it so happened that she had cooked the dish. And it didn't seemed as complicated as I remembered. The only thing I would change is to use a fork to poke some holes through the chicken skins before marinating so the sauce would be thoroughly soaked through.

Update : I did this a second time, and poked a few tiny holes through the chicken wings before marinating them. And the final product did taste much much better, with the seasonings getting right into the meat.

Three Cups Chicken (recipe from : here)

Ingredients : (according to what I bought and used)

- 2 packs of chicken (mid-wing parts only)

- 1/3 cup Hua Tiao chinese rice wine
- little less than 1/3 cup sesame oil
- little less than 1/3 cup light soy sauce

- 1 bulb garlic, separated into individual cloves, skins on

- 2 tbsp fine sugar

- 3 large bunches of spring onions, cut into 1 inch lengths

Directions :

1. Marinate chicken with soy, sesame oil and rice wine. At least for 6 hours, although overnight is best.

2. Take the chill off the meat. Heat up some sesame oil in a wok or claypot until it is sizzling hot.

3. Throw in garlic, ginger and spring onions. Fry briefly till fragrant. Add in chicken and sear.

4. Keep stir-frying. Pour in the marinade liquid and the sugar. Continue to cook on medium.

5. Once you have a rolling boil, cover the wok/claypot and let it simmer over a small flame, until all the liquid has disappeared and the chicken is on the cusp of burning.

6. There should hardly be any gravy left. The chicken should be caramelised (charred at parts, even) and sizzling when served.

Stuffed Tau Poks

Once in a long long while, I could surprise myself by being much more hardworking than usual when it comes to food. We were supposed to attend a wedding dinner of a friend, and knowing the time that the actual eating begin at most wedding dinners, I thought that the husband and I could have some snacks before we leave.

This immediately came to mind and I started preparing it around 3 in the afternoon. I didn't know what came over me to be so diligent that day, but I was glad I gave the stuffed tau poks (tofu puffs) a try. Though the preparation and cooking took some time, the final product was worth the effort! :)

Butter Chicken (Murg Makhani)

A few weeks ago, Sam brought us to this North Indian/Pakistani restaurant called Usman at Arab Street. Ever since that meal of delicious butter chicken and naan, we were already planning for our next trip there. Meanwhile, the husband thought I could search the Internet for the recipe and try it at home first. A very big vote of confidence there. :)

Anyway, my search brought up a number of butter chicken recipes and I chose the one that seemed the most authentic (but easy) to try. And as you can see from the picture, there was no gravy at all! I didn't know why since the recipe keeps mentioning the word "gravy", or maybe there was something missing? But luckily, the chicken tasted good, and instead of naan, I think this would go much better with white rice.

However, with the indian spices already bought for use, I will be trying out the other bookmarked butter chicken recipe, which I hope would yield some gravy coz I see that tomato paste is one of the ingredient. But for now, the recipe for this dry version of butter chicken :

Butter Chicken (Murg Makhani) (recipe from here)

4 servings

Ingredients :

For marination :
- 800 grams of chicken cut into pieces (preferably boneless)
- 1 tablespoon(s) slightly sour yoghurt (I didn't use this)
- 1 tablespoon(s) vinegar or lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon(s) each of coriander, cumin and red chilli powders
- 1 onion chopped and made into a paste (optional)
- 2 teaspoon(s) each of ginger, garlic pastes
- salt to taste

For the gravy :
- 4 large tomatoes chopped
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 1 tablespoon(s) fresh cream
- 1 teaspoon(s) each of coriander, cumin, red chilli and black pepper powders
- 2 teaspoon(s) each of finely chopped ginger and green chillies
- salt and sugar to taste
- melted butter, fresh cream and finely chopped coriander leaves for garnishing

Directions :

1) Prick holes and make cuts in the chicken pieces. Mix well the ingredients for the marinade and rub into the chicken pieces. Let it marinate for a few hours, overnight if possible for best results.

2) Heat half the butter on medium level in a heavy-bottomed pan and put in the chicken along with the marinade. cover and cook for about 25 minute(s) or till the chicken is fully cooked. After the liquids have evaporated, stir fry the chicken for some time in the residual fat.

3) Heat the remaining butter in a saucepan and add the red chilli, coriander, cumin and black pepper powders. Fry for a few seconds. Add the chopped tomatoes, sugar, salt and cook uncovered on medium level for about 7 minutes till the puree thickens and the fat separates. Stir in the beaten cream and reduce the heat to low.

4) Add the chicken, chopped ginger and green chillies to the simmering gravy. Sprinkle salt to taste if needed. Mix well. Cover and simmer on low heat for about 10 minutes or till the curry is thoroughly heated through.

5) Just before serving pour melted butter over the curry. Garnish with a swirl of fresh cream and finely chopped coriander leaves.

Note : I got this tip from another blogger, who is a stay-at-home mum. She mentioned that, to prevent your eyes from tearing when cutting onions, just put a lighted tea candle near the work area. The supposed 'fumes' from the onion which made us teared will be burned off. And it really works! :)

Chicken and mushroom wontons

This recipe is taken from Marie Claire : Easy, which I had made the shrimp wontons from it previously too. There was also no noodles this time round because I managed to come up with about 36 wontons and we had it with some carrots and cabbage boiled in chicken stock. The chicken wontons were not too bad overall though we were a bit stuffed at the end. However, I much prefer the taste of the shrimp wontons. Maybe because there was a sweetness of the shrimps or maybe it was because I used chicken cubes in water instead of chicken stock, which might have caused the difference too.

Chicken and mushroom wontons (recipe from : Marie Claire : Easy)

Ingredients :

- 4 dried shittake mushrooms

- 1 cup ground chicken

- 4 tablespoons finely chopped bamboo shoots (I didn't add this coz there was none for sale at NTUC)

- 2 tablespoons light soy sauce

- 1 teaspoon finely grated fresh ginger

- 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil

- 1 pack square wonton wrappers

Directions :

1. Soak the shittake mushrooms in hot water for 30 minutes. Drain the mushrooms, squeeze out any excess moisture and cut off the tough stalks. Finely chop the mushrooms and put them into a bowl with the chicken, bamboo shoots, soy sauce, ginger and sesame oil. Gently stir to combine the filling ingredients.

2. Put a wonton wrapper on a clean work surface and put a heaping teaspoon of the filling into the centre. Moisten the edges and draw all in together. Pinch to form little bags.

3. Put the wontons onto a steamer to steam for 15 minutes.

Note : I didn't steam them but drop them to cook in boiling chicken stock.

Chicken stir-fry with red capsicum

As you can see, I've been bitten by the lazy bug and haven't been blogging for quite some time. So, it's not surprising that it has been a few weeks since I made this dish and only decided to post it now.

This is quite a simple dish and I made some changes from the original recipe coz I didn't want to buy a whole pack of peppercorns just for this. And also, you can use red, yellow or green capsicum for this, it's totally up to individual.

Chicken stir-fry with red capsicum

Ingredients :

- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1 pack of chicken breast fillets, cut into strips (the pack I bought had 4 fillets in it)
- 1 onion, cut into wedges
- 1 red capsicum, cut into strips
- 2 tablespoons oyster sauce

Directions :

1) Heat the frying pan over high heat and add the oil. Add the chicken strips and stir-fry for about 3 minutes, or until browned.

2) Add the onion and capsicum and stir-fry for about 2 minutes, until the vegetables have softened slightly.

3) Reduce the heat and stir in the oyster sauce.

Chicken Meatballs with Spaghetti

Since I had some unexpected off days this past week, I decided to try something new instead of the usual spaghetti with sausages and ham. And so, here are my chicken meatballs draining on a kitchen towel...


Chicken meatballs may not sound as tasty as beef or pork meatballs to some, but this is really quite good though abit dry as expected. I don't really know how to cook beef, and there is this really 'piggish' kind of taste in the packaged pork selling in supermarkets, so I always go for chicken.

However, I felt that meatballs are not that easy to be pan-fried. So the next time I try this again, they will be in patties, not balls.

Chicken Meatballs For Spaghetti (from : Recipezaar)

4 servings

Ingredients

- 1 lb ground chicken
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup parmesan cheese
- 1/2 cup breadcrumbs
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 teaspoons fresh oregano (or the equivalent dried)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons olive oil

Directions

1) Place ground chicken,egg,1/2 cup Parmesan,bread crumbs, garlic,oregano and 1/2 tsp salt in a medium bowl.

2) Knead mixture together with hand till evenly combined.

3) Form mixture into 1-inch balls.

4) In large non-stick skillet,warm olive oil over high heat.

5) Place meatballs in pan,up to 8 at a time,and cook until all sides are browned,approximately 8 minutes for each meatball.

6) Remove with slotted spoon,and add to your favorite spaghetti sauce.

Creamy Chicken & Zucchini Soup

Maybe it's the age factor, or maybe it's the horror image of seeing the needle on the weighing machine going up, up, up, there are times when I simply didn't have much appetite for dinner.

So, this is where all my recipes for soups come in handy. Most of them are easy to make, and soups seem to be healthier too. Ok, maybe minus the cream and butter and other fattening ingredients. But whatever it is, some soups are still much better than any high carb or high fat meals.

This is my first time trying a creamy soup, and it tasted just all right, though we felt that it was a bit too buttery. A few dash of black pepper solved the problem. However, we didn't managed to finish it, because after a while, it became kind of too "heavy",most likely due to the combination of the cream and butter.

Creamy Chicken & Zucchini Soup
(adapted from Quick Short Chicken Recipes)

4 servings

Ingredients :

- 20g butter
- 3 chicken breast fillets, thinly sliced
- 800g zucchini, grated
- 1 onion, grated
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 2 tablespoons plain (all-purpose) flour
- 750ml (3 cups) chicken stock
- 250ml (1 cup) cream

Direction :

1) Melt the butter in a large saucepan, add the chicken and cook over medium heat for 1-2 minutes, or until the chicken changes colour.

2) Add the zucchini, onion and garlic, and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes.

3) Stir in the flour and cook for 1 minute. Add the stock, bring to the boil, stirring until it boils and thickens slightly. Reduce the heat and simmer for 1 minute.

4) Stir in the cream and cook for 2 more minutes. Season and serve.

Salt and Pepper Chicken

The weekend marked the first time trying my hand at deep-frying. Ok, I think it didn't really amount to a really "deep" frying, but it was enough to bring out a slightly disgruntled "why are you deep-frying?" from the husband, and had the smell of fried chicken in my hair for the rest of the night even after a long wash.

Despite me carrying the fried chicken odour around for the rest of the evening, I was really glad that the chicken strips actually turned out to be quite tasty. The difference between this and my previous attempt of baking the chicken strips is that the fried chicken still remained tender and soft compared to the oven-baked one. I might try this again, maybe with just normal shallow frying and see how it turns out.

Salt and Pepper Chicken
(adapted from Quick and Easy Workday Dinners)

4 servings

Ingredients :

- 1/3 cup (40g) plain flour
- 3/4 teaspoon five-spice powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons fine sea salt
- 1 teaspoon ground white pepper
- 750g chicken breast fillets, cut into thin strips
- 1/4 cup (60 ml) peanut oil

Directions :

1) Combine the flour, five-spice powder, sea salt and pepper in a large bowl. Toss the chicken strips in the flour until well coated.

2) Heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the chicken in 3 batches and cook, turning, for about 3 minutes, or until browned. Drain on crumpled paper towels.

Homemade Chicken Stock

I didn't copy this specifically from anywhere. Instead, I searched through the Internet and YouTube and came up with somewhat I thought was the simplest chicken stock recipe, with a little snatch here and there. And I'm real happy to say that I was glad how the stock turned out, except that you have to add your own salt to taste later with whatever you are planning to cook it with.



Homemade Chicken Stock

Ingredients :

- I large onion, cut into chunks
- 2 stalks of celery (with the leaves), cut into thirds
- 2 carrots, unpeeled and cut into thirds
- about 550g of chicken bones, with any excess fats removed
- cool tap water

Directions :

1) Put all the ingredients into a large pot and filled it with cold tap water until everything is just under the water.

2) Bring to a boil at medium temperature. Clear away any froth that floats up to the surface after the stock boils.

3) Bring to a low temperature and simmer half-covered for another 2 - 3 hours. Remove excess fats if needed.

4) Let the stock cool for a few minutes before removing all the pieces of chicken bones and vegetables. Strain the stock through a strainer and discard the rest of the ingredients.

Note :
- If you are plan to make the extra stock for future use, be sure to store the unused stock in small quantities (about 3-4 cups).

- If you refrigerate the stock, it can last about 1 week. If you want to keep the stock for a longer time, freezing it can last up till 3 months.

(disclaimer : there is no guarantee about the storage period coz I just pass on what I have learnt online)

Baked Chicken and Carrot Porridge

Because of the opened pack of chicken stock which had to be used up within 7 days, I went through my collected stack of recipes and found one from Simply Her magazine, which will not only make use of all the stock, and is easy to cook as well. Since I didn't like to deal with chicken bits with bones still attached, I used chicken fillets instead of the stated chicken thighs.

Baked Chicken & Carrot Porridge

4 servings

Ingredients :

- 3 chicken thighs
- 2 cups chicken stock
- 1 cup white rice, washed
- 3 shallots, chopped
- 2 carrots, cubed
- 1 tsp dark soy sauce
- 1 tsp oyster sauce
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 tsp pepper
- spring onions, chopped, for garnish

Directions :
1) Pre-heat oven to 175 deg C. De-bone and remove the chicken skin. Set the meat aside and wash the bones with hot water.

2) Place the chicken bones into a pot of water with the chicken stock. Add the rice and shallots and boil for 30 mins on medium heat. Turn off the heat when a porridge consistency forms.

3) While the porridge is cooking, marinate the chicken and carrots with dark soy sauce, oyster sauce, salt and pepper. Bake for 20 mins.

4) Remove chicken from the oven and slice into pieces, then place on top of the porridge with the carrots. Garnish with spring onions.