Chicken Adobo

Tender chicken – one pot, no effort

Every year I am surprised that there are so few hour of light there are in a winter’s day. Inevitably I start dreaming of luxuriant sunshine and far away lands

The Philippines a tropical paradise

I wanted to bring some of those exotic flavours into my cozy, candle-lit winter home. At the same time the cold winter weather is making me crave hearty and rich foods. How to combine these two worlds? Chicken Adobo!

Adobo is  cooking method from the  Philippines that takes me back to my travels through that beautiful country.  This simple chicken stew is full of deep and earthy aromas. Granted it is not sophisticated or refined, but its dark flavours with a hint of sweet and an edge of acidity make for perfect comfort food.

This dish must be the easiest recipe ever. Basically you just throw all the ingredients in a pot and allow it to simmer for at least an hour.  You can make it ahead; the stew actually tastes even better the next day. In my eyes this makes for a just about the perfect weekday dinner.

 

Ingredients
(a found on the blog ‘Chinese Grandma‘)
Serves 2-3
4-6 chicken drumsticks
3 onions, sliced
1-2 cloves garlic
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon black pepper, finely ground
3 bay leaves
70 ml (1/3 cup) soy sauce
70 ml (1/3 cup) apple cider vinegar
70ml (1/3) cup water

 Recipe

1. Remove the skin from the chicken and place it into a large pot. (In the original recipe the skin is left on.)
2. Slice the onion and add.
3. Mince the garlic and add.
4. Add all the remaining ingredients. Sugar, pepper, bay leaf, soy sauce, vinegar and water.
5. Cover and cook for 30 minutes up to 1 1/2 hours depending on how much time you have. Stir once in a while. The longer it cooks the more tender the chicken becomes.
6. Towards the end of the cooking time check the thickness of the sauce. If you find it too runny take of the lid and allow the liquid to reduce.

Serve with

• Rice
• Vegetables like green beans or pak soi
• A salad of cucumber, cherry tomatoes and bean sprouts with a oil and apple vinegar dressing.

Asian Chicken Appetizer

Tender coconut chicken with fresh herbs and a hint of heat

A wonderful little appetizer that is quick to put together but looks stunning on any dinner party table. Lovely for a summer celebration or an Asian feast. This time however it was the third salad I made for my Thanksgiving appreciation of ALL – the sea, the earth and the sky.

Ingredients
(based on a Donna Hay’s recipe from ‘Instant Entertaining’)
Serves 4-6

about 6-8 wonton cups
2 chicken breast
about 1 can of coconut milk
1 chili
2 tbsp lime juice
2 tsp fish sauce
2 tsp Muscovado sugar (or other brown sugar)
35g mint
40g coriander
a few leaves of basil

Recipe
1. Slice the chicken breast down the center into two large thin pieces.
2. Gently heat the coconut milk. Add the chicken and poach 10-12 minutes until tender. Allow to cool.
3. Deseed and chop chili.
4. Combine with lime juice and fish sauce. Set aside.
5. Chop the fresh herbs. Combine the meat, dressing and herbs.
6. When you are ready to serve spoon the filling into the wonton cups.

Tips & Variations
• Instead of serving the chicken in a wonton cup you can also shallow fry a sheet of wonton in some oil, allow to drain and use it as a “cracker”.
• The original recipe uses plaincooked chicken. If I am making this dish from scratch I prefer poaching the chichen in coconut milk – but if you have some chicken leftovers this is a great recipe for using them up.

Roast Mustard Chicken

As my first post was a boiled egg;  it had to be followed by chicken…

Not least because a while back I shared with my parents that I was thinking about starting a food blog. When I told them that I was still figuring out what my first post would be, my mother promptly exclaimed “chicken”.  

Every time the word chicken is mentioned, she will reminisce how it was one of my favourite foods as a child. Even today this recipe, from my very first cookbook, is still one of my  go-to meals. It is a fabulous way of preparing anything from chicken wings, to drumsticks, to a whole chicken.      

Roast mustard chicken - easy and delicious

My first cookbook

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I enjoyed it with another of my childhood favourites: Yorkshire pudding, but if you are looking for a really simple meal just serve it with a French stick and salad.

Roast mustard chicken with Yorkshire pudding - easy comfort food

Ingredients
1 serving

2 drumsticks (but you can also use wings or a whole chicken)
1-2 tbsp mustard
½ tbsp olive oil
mild paprika powder
¼ tsp rosemary (either chopped or dried; you can also use other herbs)
salt
pepper

Recipe

1. Pre-heat oven to 220C. (for a whole chicken 200C).
2. Wash and dry the chicken.
3. Optional: remove the skin from the drumsticks.
4. Mix the remaining ingredients.
5. Place chicken in oven dish and spread mixture over it on all sides.
6. Cook the drumsticks for about 30 minutes or until the juices run clear when you pierce the thickest part of the chicken.
7. Once done take the chicken out of the oven. Ideally you keep the chicken warm and let it rest for about 5 minutes.

Serve with

Yorkshire Pudding and a few vine cherry tomatoes (roasted in the oven for 15 minutes with a dressing of honey, balsamic, oil, salt and pepper)
Or keep it simple by serving it with a green salad and a French stick.