Showing posts with label simple sauces. Show all posts
Showing posts with label simple sauces. Show all posts
We eat a lot of chicken in our house. I think we probably have it twice a week in one way or another.
Sometimes we will have a roast chicken, but most of the time we have either breasts or thighs, usually boneless, skinless.
I pick them up a Costco and break them down into smaller packages, and then pop them into the freezer, ready to be used at one time or another.
I wish that I could always afford to buy free-range organic chicken, but it isn't always possible. Once in a while I will treat us to some, but mostly we just can't afford it.
Chicken is a very versatile meat. I do prefer the thighs over the breasts as far as flavour goes, but breasts are healthier, so we eat them most of the time.
Chicken is one of those proteins that adapts itself very well to a variety of flavours. That's why there are about a bazillion delicious ways to cook it.
The recipe I am sharing today is one I adapted from Bunny's Warm Oven. I saw it on Pinterest and it looked really delicious but then again, all of her recipes look delicious!
You can get hungry just scrolling through her feed and looking at the pictures.
Her recipe was for 8 servings however and I didn't want 8 servings, so I adapted it to British measurements and cut the recipe in half.
I think you could probably even cut it in half yet again.
I also changed the method a bit to what I thought worked better and was less trouble, created less of a mess. I like to make things easier if I can.
I am rather lazy at the end of the day . . . yes, truly. If I can save a few steps or a few dirty dishes I will!
Her recipe called for the use of cream. I didn't have any cream. I did have cans of evaporated milk however.
I have always found that in recipes such as this, it makes a great substitute for cream. And is often much lower in fat and calories.
Especially if you use evaporated skimmed milk.
I served them with Slow Roasted Greek Potatoes. I used a recipe for those that I found here. They were okay, nothing spectacular to write home about.
I sauteed some baby spinach to go along with them also. Again, I used the same skillet that I had cooked the chicken in. I just wiped it out. Again.
Spinach is so easy to cook. I simply sautee a bit of garlic in some olive oil and then I start adding the washed spinach by the handful.
It wilts as I add handfuls and by the time I get the last handful added, its all done.
You can remove the stems or not as you wish. I don't mind the stems. When I worked at the Manor, I always had to remove them.
I would remove them here at home for a dinner party or company, but for every day, I don't bother.
Altogether this made for a realy delicious supper for us both, with some leftovers for another day. The chicken was tender and the sauce delicious.
I think the chicken would be even more tender if you pounded it a bit prior to browning it, which I will definitely do the next time I cook it.
Creamy Lemon Chicken
Yield: 4
Tender chicken breasts baked in a rich and creamy lemon sauce.
Ingredients:
- 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- salt and pepper
- 120ml heavy cream, or undiluted evaporated milk (1/2 cup)
- 240ml chicken stock (1 cup)
- the juice of 1/2 lemon
- the zest of one lemon
- 3/4 tsp garlic powder
- 45g grated Parmesan Cheese (1/4 cup)
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1 TBS butter
- 1/2 TBS olive oil
- 1 tsp cornstarch, diluted with 1 tsp water
- 4 slices of lemon
Instructions:
How to cook Creamy Lemon Chicken
- Preheat the oven to 190*C/375*F/gas mark 5.
- Heat the butter and oil together in a skillet over moderate heat, until the butter starts to foam. Season the chicken breasts lightly and add to the pan, top side down. Saute until golden brown, flip over and saute on the other side until golden brown. Transfer to a baking dish large enough to hold them all in a single layer.
- Wipe out the skillet. Add the cream/milk, chicken stock, lemon juice, zest, garlic powder and the remainder of the salt and pepper to the skillet. Whisk to combine. Whisk in the cheese. Cook and simmer for about 10 minutes so that the flavours meld. Whisk together th cornstarch and water and whisk into the sauce. Cook until it thickens slightly. Pour the sauce over the chicken breasts. Top each with a slice of lemon.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes or until the chicken juices run clear. Serve hot with some of the sauce spooned over top.
This would make a spectacular dinner party dish. I don't think I would use cornflour and water in it next time. Instead I would use heavy cream and then reduce it by boiling. Also lemon juice naturally thickens cream. Anyways, this was quite tasty! Enjoy!
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When it comes to pasta, its all about the sauce for me. I could eat a good pasta sauce by the spoonful. If your sauce is lacking in substance and flavour, your whole dish is lacking as far as I am concerned.
The sauce I am sharing with you today is one of my favourite sauces. It is totally low maintenance. It basically cooks itself. All you need to do is to dump a few ingredients into a baking dish and then let the oven do all the work.
The only work basically that you will need to do is to cook the pasta and for this sauce I recommend something with long strands that the sauce can cling to. Today I used Bucatini.
Bucatini is kind of like macaroni. It has a hole in the centre just like macaroni, but its long like spaghetti. It goes perfectly with this lush sauce. I adapted the recipe from one found in Bon Appetit.
Of course when tomatoes are the main focus of a sauce, you want to make sure you use really good ones if you have them. Today I used Buonassai Pomodoro Pelato,
Bio in Salsa. These are fabulously delicious Italian tomatoes.
This was my last jar of them, so boo hoo . . . I will just have to settle for the other kinds I have in the house until I am able to get some more. When I tell you these tomatoes are fabulous, I mean it. Just like eating fresh Italian sunshine.
As I said, this sauce basically cooks itself in the oven.
You use some good peeled plum tomatoes which you crush with your hands in a baking dish . . . okay a tiny bit of work there . . .
Into that you add peeled and crushed cloves of garlic and a couple of anchovy fillets, preserved in oil. If you are not fond of anchovies you can leave them out . . .
Salt, pepper and some crushed red pepper flakes provide some seasoning and heat. Do beware that if you are using anchovies, they are salty so be judicious with the salt.
Also all of the ingredients are going to be roasted together and condensed . . . so the flavours will be condensed also . . .
Butter is dotted over the top before roasting and then you simply roast the whole mess in a hot oven for about 35 to 40 minutes, giving it a stir halfway through the cook time.
What you end up with at the end of the roasting time is a very thick, jam-like substance with beautiful concentrated flavours.
You mash it up with a potato mashed to break up the tomatoes and spread that roasted garlic flavour throughout.
Thick and delicious you will tell yourself, this is too thick for a pasta sauce and you would be right. You will need to add some of your pasta cooking water to it to thin it out a bit. How much kind of depends on the pasta you are using.
Use only enough to give you a sauce which coats the strands of your pasta perfectly . . . .
You can also make the sauce 24 hours in advance of when you need it. So dinner can be on the table in as long as it takes to cook your pasta.
Simply throw the prepared sauce into the saucepan with the cooked pasta and pasta water and heat through.
This sauce isn't just good on pasta however . . . its also great spread onto pizzas and baguettes, or tucked into egg dishes. A layer of it on the bottom of a cheese Quiche adds a special something.
Thin it out with some vegetable stock and add some cooked rice and you have a really delicious tomato and rice soup . . .
But of course my favourite way to enjoy it is on pasta . . . put simply, it is nothing less than delicious.
Butter Roasted Tomato Sauce
Yield: 4
This sauce is fabulous. Roasting tinned tomatoes in the oven with a few ingredients really heightens their delicious flavours. Serve with your favourite pasta for a taste sensation!
Ingredients:
- 2 (400g) tins/jars of whole peeled plum tomatoes (2-14oz) undrained
- 8 fat cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
- 2 anchovy fillets packed in oil
- 60g unsalted butter, cubed (1/4 cup)
- 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
- fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 120ml pasta cooking water (1/2 cup)
To serve:
- 3/4 pound of dry pasta, cooked
- finely grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions:
How to cook Butter Roasted Tomato Sauce
- Preheat the oven to 220*C/425*F/ gas mark 7. Dump your tomatoes into a 13 by 9 inch baking dish. Crush them with your hands and then stir in the garlic, anchovies and red pepper flakes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. (Remember that anchovies are salty, also this sauce will be condensing and so do be judicious with the salt.) Dot the butter over top.
- Roast for 15 minutes, remove from the oven. Toss everything and return to the oven for a further 15 to 20 minutes, at which time the sauce will be quite thick and jam-like. Mash with a potato masher lightly.
- Cook your pasta according to the package directions. Drain, reserving some of the pasta water. Return the pasta to the saucepan along with the reserved water and roasted tomato sauce. Heat, tossing together until the sauce coats the pasta. Serve hot in bowls and pass the Parmesan Cheese.
This is also a great store-cupboard recipe. Simple ingredients put together in a very delicious way. You can't beat this kind of cooking. All you need on the side is a salad perhaps and some garlic bread. Mama mia!
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