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!

Egg and Lemon Soup

 

Adapted from The Really Useful Ultimate Student Cookbook by Silvana Franco 

Serves 2

750ml vegetable stock (3 cups)

60g long grain rice

2 eggs, beaten until a litte fluffy

juice of a lemon

100g baby spinach, torn or chopped into large-ish pieces (optional)

1 cup frozen peas (honestly, I didn't measure), (optional)

1 tbs fresh parsley, chopped

S&P to taste

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1. Put stock in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Add rice, cover and cook about 15-20 minutes until the rice is just about cooked.

2. Meanwhile, add the lemon juice to the eggs.

3. Once the rice is almost done cooking, add the peas (if using) to the saucepan, bring back to the boil and cook for a minute until the peas are no longer frozen.

4. Turn the heat to low and slowly add the egg mixture to the pot, stirring as you go so it thickens the soup. Add a litte boiling water if it's too thick.

5. Add the spinach, if using, and the parsley to the soup. Stir around for a minute until the spinach is wilted. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

6. Serve, topped with some grated (or powdery) Parmesan.

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*If you live in the Melbourne area, check out Michael's comedy festival show. It's on at 8:30pm every night until 20th and I'll totally give you a discount on the door if you tell me you read my blog. LANGUAGE WARNING THOUGH! And cartoon violence, so not for kids or people offended by these things.

One-Pot Pasta

 

Adapted from She's Leaving Home by Monica Trapaga

500g spiral pasta

1/4 cup olive oil

220g tub bocconcini, drained and sliced

7 Roma tomatoes, diced (I cleaned out the seeds and gunk first coz the tomatoes don't get cooked)

3 cloves of garlic, finely grated (I SWEAR I'm not a plant from Microplane, I just love it)

large handful basil, torn or cut into chiffonade

salt and pepper to taste

splash of balsamic.

1 cup of freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1. Cook the pasta as per package instructions, drain and set aside

2. In a bowl large enough to hold everything, combine the tomatoes, bocconcini, garlic, basil, olive oil and season to taste.

3. Add the pasta to the tomatoes, add the glug of balsamic and toss. Sprinkle Parmesan over the pasta and toss again. 

4. Check seasoning and serve, sprinkled with a little more Parmesan.

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