Quickie blog: Pressure Cooker Lemon Chicken Stew

Pressure Cooker Lemon Chicken Stew-serves 4 quite hungry people
I only have experience with an electric pressure cooker so I'm not game to give instruction for a stovetop pressure cooker. If you're more of a veteran than I (not hard), adapt to your needs.
Otherwise, just cook it in a skillet.

8 chicken thighs, skin on and bone in
1 onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, diced
500g mushrooms, quartered (if the stems are nice, I leave them on- even easier!)
1 red capsicum/bell pepper, sliced
350g pitted Spanish olives
1 tsp each of rosemary, thyme and organo
1/2 tsp chilli flakes (optional)
1 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup lemon juice
zest of a lemon (optional)
100g feta cheese (the best kind is Danish) (yes, definitively)
250g frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed out (optional)
salt and pepper to taste
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Season chicken thighs with salt and pepper. Set pressure cooker to browning setting and brown thighs in batches. Remove and set aside.

Add onion and garlic to pressure cooker and sautee until translucent, about 5 minutes.

Add mushrooms and capsicum and sautee a minute or two until slightly softened.

Add all other ingredients except spinach and feta to the pressure cooker and season to tastes. Stir well and add chicken thighs back in.

Put lid on and cook for 10 minutes at high pressure. Once the time is up, turn pressure cooker off to stop it switching to Keep Warm (unless of couse you want it to Keep Warm) and quick release pressure.

If using spinach, add it to pressure cooker and stir to combine.

Serve over couscous, rice, pasta etc. with feta crumbled over the top.

If you don't have a pressure cooker: Brown everything in a large skillet using the same instructions as above. Add all the other ingredients (again, except spinach and feta), bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer. Place lid on skillet and leave to simmer for 25 minutes until chicken is tender and cooked through. Follow the rest of the recipe as above.

Come back soon to read all about giardiniera (I'm working on it, I promise!)
If you're interested in listening to Michael and my podcasts, try It's A Duck Blur (all about DuckTales) or Pop Quiz Hot Shot (a hilarious movie trivia show) both on iTunes and wherever cool podcasts are found. Language warning though!

Sushi

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There's so many parts to this I don't really know where to start. Okay....

1) Gomashio: It is truly the most delicious seasoning I've ever tasted. You don't need to make it but it takes the sushi to a whole new level and you will use the rest. Sprinkle it on rice, baked potatoes, stir fry, use it in salad instead of salt, serve it with bread and olive oil like dukkah. It's unbelievable. Recipe here.

2) Julienne some spring onions (green onions/scallions), cucumber (seeds scraped out first) and slice an avocado or two. You can include a couple or all of these plus a sprinkling of gomashio in every roll, along with the main filling.

3) Here is a servicable tutorial on rolling makizushi. But seriously, lady, an all cucumber sushi roll? All aboard the Flavour Express!

4) Here is the recipe I use for making sushi rice except I use the rice cooker. Don't bother fanning the rice either. Get an electric fan and point it at the rice as you stir. It's much quicker and easier!

Fillings:

Kimchi: I used my homemade kimchi that I make using my mum's recipe found on her blog. I make it with julienned carrots and chopped cabbage, not big chunky carrots and daikon like in the recipe. That would be ridiculous in sushi. You can buy kimchi which is also delicious but drain most of the liquid and chop it a little. 

Roll with julienne cucumber, spring onion and gomashio.

Roasted sweet potato: This is barely a recipe, it's embarrassing. My mum makes sushi with this, though, and it's unbelievably good.

Slice two large sweet potatoes in half lengthwise and place cut side down on a lined baking tray. Roast for half an hour at 200°C (390°F) or until flesh is very soft.

Once the potatoes are cool enough to handle, scoop the flesh out and mash. Season with soy sauce to taste.

Roll with julienne cucumber, spring onion, avocado and gomashio.

Sriracha tuna: Also barely a recipe.

Drain a 425g (15oz.) tin of tuna in springwater and break up the flakes in a bowl. Add sriracha and Kewpie mayonnaise to taste (I used 5 tbs of each) and mix together.

Roll with julienne cucumber, spring onion, avocado and gomashio.

Teriyaki chicken: I was going to make chicken teriyaki from scratch but I ran out of time. Also, lazy!

I combined 8 chicken thighs (trimmed of fat), a bottle of teriyaki sauce and a cup of water in a wok. Bring to a boil and then simmer til the sauce is very reduced and coats the thighs. Slice the chicken thighs thinly and stir the slices with the remaining teriyaki sauce in the wok. 

You won't use all of it on sushi (unless you're catering a wedding or something), so use the leftovers for another meal.

Roll with julienne cucuber, spring onion, avocado and gomashio.

Finally, if you're interested in the green tea mousse I made for dessert, the recipe can be found here. I bought a packet of sweet red beans from the Asian grocer, mashed them and served a spoonful on top of each serving. They compliment each other perfectly!

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Thanks for stopping by The Cookbook Resolution! Come back next week for the Valentine's Brains Debacle!

Creamy Mustard, Chicken and Leek Pasta Bake

 

Bear in mind this recipe fed 11 people so feel free to halve it as per your requirments.

Shredded meat off a supermarket BBQ chicken (reserve the chicken juices from the bag it came in)

3 leeks, sliced

900ml cream (I used lite cream, this is totally a diet recipe)

2 tbs Dijon mustard

3 tbs wholegrain mustard

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1kg short pasta (I used tortiglioni)

mozarella cheese, grated (as much as you like to top the bake)

salt and pepper to taste

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1. Preheat oven to 200°C (390°F). Heat a frying pan over medium with a little olive oil.

2. Sauté leeks and garlic until leeks are soften and a little golden. Add the chicken, chicken juicings, cream and mustard and stir everything together. Bring to an almost-boil and then reduce and simmer until thickened, about 20 minutes. 

3. Meanwhile, cook pasta as per package instructions (plenty of salt in the water) and drain a minute or two before it's fully cooked.

4. Season the sauce with salt and pepper to taste. Combine the sauce with the pasta and pour into a baking dish. Top with cheese and bake for 20 minutes or until the cheese is golden.

5. NOM NOM NOM!!! 

*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mate_(beverage)

Chicken Adobo

 

 Adapted from The Asian Grandmothers Cookbook: Home Cooking From Asian American Kitchens by Patricia Tanumihardja

1 1/2 cups white vinegar

1 cup water

6 cloves garlic, crushed

2 bay leaves

1 1/2 tsp peppercorns, crushed

8 chicken Marylands, cut into thigh and drumstick pieces

3/4 cup soy sauce

vegetable oil

chopped spring onions to garnish

1. Combine the first five ingredients in a Dutch oven. Place chicken pieces in the mixture in one layer and bring to a boil on the stove over high heat. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.

2. Add the soy sauce and stir to make sure it's evenly distributed though the sauce. Bring back to a boil, cover and simmer for a further 20 minutes or until the chicken's cooked.

3. Remove the chicken from the sauce, shaking off as much liquid as possible. Pat dry with paper towels and place on a plate. Put the sauce on the back burner and bring back to the boil to reduce a little.

4. Heat about 3 tbs oil in a frying pan until very hot. Fry the chicken pieces all over until crispy and brown. Place all the chicken on a serving dish and pour the sauce over the top.

Serve with rice and sprinkled with spring onions.

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The list goes on! I'm not being paid by Amazon. I just really really love my Kindle.

Curry Roast Chicken

 

Adapted from Feed Me Now by Bill Granger (raita-tzatziki-yogurt stuff by me)

4 chicken marylands

2 tbs red Thai curry paste

210ml coconut milk

2 tbs fish sauce

1 tbs brown sugar

400g tin chopped tomatoes

500ml plain natural yogurt

2 lebanese cucumbers or 1 English cucumber, seeds scooped out and grated

1 tsp ground cumin

2 cloves garlic, finely grated or chopped

small handful of mint, chopped

salt to taste

Note: the original recipe for the chicken doesn't call for salt or pepper and I've made the recipe several times and it's never needed it but feel free to use salt if you so desire...I mean obviously. It's not like I'm going to break into your house and make sure you're ahering to my recipes.

1. In a baking dish big enough to fit all the chicken in one layer combine the curry paste, coconut milk, fish sauce and brown sugar and mix together. Marinate chicken in the mixture for at least an hour.

2. Preheat oven to 190°C (375°F). Add chopped tomatoes to the dish with the chicken and marinade and stir through.  Roast the chicken for an hour or until the chicken is cooked.

3. Meanwhile, to make the raita combine all the remaining ingredients and set aside while chicken cooks so the flavours can develop.

Serve chicken with raita, rice, naan and some sort of vegetable (I made minted peas).

Thai Chicken With Noodles

 

Adapted from Cooking With Coco: Family Recipes To Cook Together by Anna Del Conte

300ml coconut cream

2 tbs Thai red curry paste

2 garlic cloves, minced or grated (OMG MICROPLANE!)

3cm piece ginger, peeled and grated

1 normal or 2 small birdseye chillis, minced (BUT YOU CAN ALSO GRATE WITH A MICROPLANE!!)

juice of 2 limes

1 tsp salt

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, sliced

250g frozen peas

300g egg noodles

few spigs of mint, basil and coriander (cilantro), chopped

1. In a bowl combine the first 8 ingredients, stir and marinate for an hour.

2. Heat a little oil in a pan, add chicken and marinade and cook, not too hot, for 5 minutes or so. Add the peas, bring back to a simmer and cook for another 5 minutes.

3. While this is going on, boil some water and cook the egg noodles as per packet instructions but for 1 less minute than specified (mine just needed to be soaked in boiling water for 4 minutes).

4. Drail noodles and add to the pan with the chicken. Mix all together with tongs or something and cook for another minute. Check seasoning and serve topped with the chopped herbs and a spritz more of lime juice if you have it.

5.Om-nom-nom!