Showing posts sorted by date for query lamb. Sort by relevance Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by date for query lamb. Sort by relevance Show all posts
I make fried rice a lot. We usually don't have it as a side dish, but as a main dish and I have always found it a great way to use up leftover cooked meats, along with any bits and bobs from the vegetable drawer that are not enough on their own, but when put together go fabulous in this!
I actually didn't use chicken today, but some turkey that I had which was on the verge of going out of date, which makes this a great dish to make after Thanksgiving or Christmas.
I love the flavour of Chinese Five Spice Powder. Five-spice powder is a spice mixture of five or more spices used predominantly in Chinese and Taiwanese cuisine. It is also used less commonly in other Asian and Arabic cuisines, and can be used for cocktails as well.
The spices traditionally used are Sechwan peppercorns, star anise, ground cloves, cinnamon and ground fennel seeds. On the surface they don't like much like things that would go together, but trust me when I say that together these are like umami magic! I have also seen turmeric, ginger root and cardamom used.
When I made my fried rice these days, I most often use the precooked packages of brown rice. Each pouch serves 2 people generously, and it is perfect for this use. My MIL who taught me how to make fried rice (and she learnt from a neighbour many moons ago) used Minute Rice. I have always used regular rice, and now . . . the precooked rice, and these days I use brown rice instead of white as it is more nutritious.
I grate in my carrot and any other root vegetables I am using. I like to use Swede. It works great in this. And I always use finely shredded, chopped white cabbage as I like the flavour it gives to the dish.
Can you see my every present kitchen companion in this photo? Mitzie is never far away when I am cooking, ever hopeful that I will drop something or let her taste something. I often give her carrots ends and stuff like that. She loves raw vegetables. (Never feed dogs, corn or potato or onion.)
You can use all peas or a mix of peas and corn. I like both for the extra colour they bring to the dish.
Chopped red pepper also adds colour, but you can use any colour of pepper you have. Green is nice and I have always liked to add chopped celery as well, although today I did not.
I always add some beaten egg which I scramble right in the pan, along with some soy sauce. A splash of toasted Sesame oil is also a tasty addition if you have any.
Todd always likes an extra piece of chicken with his. I cooked him a breaded chicken breast which he enjoyed along with some of my homemade Ketjap Manis drizzled on top!
Yield: 4 - 6
Five Spice Chicken Fried Rice
prep time: 15 minscook time: 15 minstotal time: 30 mins
Quick and easy to make, and delicious. I use ready cooked rice and leftover cooked chicken for this.
ingredients:
2 pouches cooked brown rice (each with 2 servings)
250g cooked chicken, cubed (2 cups)
2 tsp Chinese five spice
2 TBS sunflower oil
1 clove garlic, peeled and minced
1 red pepper, deseeded, trimmed and diced
1 small carrot, peeled and diced
150g frozen baby peas (1 cup)
(Can use a mix of corn and peas if you wish)
2 large free range eggs, beaten lightly with 2 TBS cold water
1 TBS soy sauce
3 to 4 spring onions, washed, trimmed and thinly slicedinstructions:
Toss the chicken with the five spice mix. Stir fry to
heat through in half the oil for a few minutes until fragrant. Add the
garlic and vegetables. Stir fry til cooked through and crispy tender,
about 5 minutes Push to one side. Put the oil in the clear space and
add the eggs. Scramble lightly, then mix into the vegetables along with
the rice and soy sauce. Cook, stirring, until all are heated through.
Stir through the spring onions. Serve immediately.
heat through in half the oil for a few minutes until fragrant. Add the
garlic and vegetables. Stir fry til cooked through and crispy tender,
about 5 minutes Push to one side. Put the oil in the clear space and
add the eggs. Scramble lightly, then mix into the vegetables along with
the rice and soy sauce. Cook, stirring, until all are heated through.
Stir through the spring onions. Serve immediately.
Note
- You can add some thinly sliced cabbage, diced swede, chopped broccoli
stems, etc. to the vegetable mix. Just choose what you like. You can also use the equivalent in leftover cooked turkey for this, or fresh boneless skinless chicken breast cubed. In the case of the fresh chicken chicken breast, cook it with the five spice until the juices run clear.
- You can add some thinly sliced cabbage, diced swede, chopped broccoli
stems, etc. to the vegetable mix. Just choose what you like. You can also use the equivalent in leftover cooked turkey for this, or fresh boneless skinless chicken breast cubed. In the case of the fresh chicken chicken breast, cook it with the five spice until the juices run clear.
You can also use 300g uncooked rice (1 1/2 cups) cooked in the place of the ready cooked rice.
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If you are looking for a quick and easy supper dish, you can't go wrong with this. You can use leftover cooked chicken, pork, dry scrambled ground beef, lamb or turkey. Its really very adaptable! Happy Friday and Bon Appetit!
Yes, its another chicken recipe to share with you today. We do eat a lot of chicken. I usually try to intersperse other recipes in between, but I messed up this week, so yes, its another chicken recipe, but it is not only a tasty recipe that I think you are going to really enjoy, but its a great store cupboard recipe, and perfectly sized for two. You can easily adapt it to serve more if you wish.
I was slightly inspired by a recipe I found in Miguel Barclay's latest book, Super Easy One Pound Meals. He has a recipe in there for a chicken parm, which uses skin on chicken thighs. I got rid of the skin in favour of a cheesy breading, which is much more authentic to my way of thinking, and . . . dare I say it???? Why not . . . a tad bit tastier.
I have to confess, I have tried a few recipes from his books, and I will be honest, they (to me) lack flavour. I mean no offense, truly. I did his Moussaka for us the other day, which was in his first book, I believe. The photograph looked really good, and we quite like Moussaka.
First off, the
sauce was pretty tasteless, which was easy for me to fix. I added some
cinnamon, and thyme, and a splash of white wine. I also chose to infuse the milk for the bechamel with some bay leaf. (Just warm the milk with a broken bay leaf added, and let sit for bout 10 minutes.)
The recipe called for eggplant/aubergine sliced lengthwise rather than crosswise, and layered in a pan
with the lamb sauce and the bechamel, which in theory sounds great. I thought to myself, what novel idea. It doesn't work. The end result is tough eggplant (especially when going by the cook time suggested in the recipe) It was actually quite rubbery. I scraped out the meat sauce and put it into a casserole dish, discarding the eggplant and bechamel. I topped it with some frozen mash and Todd had it for dinner as a kind of Greek Shepherd's pie, which he did enjoy. Lemons/lemonade . . . so . . .
Just sharing my experience, that's all. I mean no harm.The chicken parm recipe in his first book sounds and looks delicious, but with a few changes, such as the cheese/crumb coating on the chicken, rather than skin. To be honest, once you add the sauce the skin would lose any crispness, the crumbs stand up much better to sauce, than skin.
He also uses plain passatta (sieved tomatoes) with some oregano added. It sounded bland. I used a basil and garlic marinara sauce, which costs approximately the same, but has a lot more flavour, containing more herbs and garlic . . .
This gets added at the very end, so the crumbs stay nice and crisp, and then I topped the marinara with some Italian Four Cheese Blend, which I also thought had more flavour. It is a mix of mozzarella and other cheeses, so you still get the ooze, but it just tastes better. (Again only my opinion!)
What I did like about his recipe was the idea of roasting potato cubes along with the chicken. They got nice and crisp edged. We quite liked them.
I haven't costed the recipe with my changes, but I can't think that they would increase the cost by much as it is really only adding some herbs and a few different flavours. I have a well stocked herb cupboard.
I think on the whole his books are good for younger inexperienced cooks, the recipes make great canvases for cooks to play with, so its not all bad news. He really tends to play it safe when it comes to flavours, and a more experienced cook can easily play with them and amp things up.
But that is really the mark of a good recipe isn't it . . . its a recipe which anyone can cook, and which inspires you to want to cook, motivating you to want to stretch your abilities/tastes a tiny bit. You look at it and you say to yourself, what a great idea . . . and you grab the ball and run with it. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't.
The changes I applied to this one worked, and they worked well. We were both very pleased with our dinners. I would not cook the moussaka one again. I'll stick to my tried and true one instead. I have always roasted my aubergine first and I would suggest if you try his, you do too, or you could just cook my tried and true recipe, which was adapted from one by the reliable Tamasin Day Lewis. I have never cooked one of her recipes that I did not fall in love with.
In any case, this was good. It was delicious. It was quick. It was easy.
Yield: 2
Quick & Easy Chicken Parm
prep time: 10 minscook time: 30 minstotal time: 40 mins
This is a quick and easy meal, making use of some store cupboard ingredients. For those days when you are feeling lacking in inspiration but still want something really tasty to eat.
ingredients:
2 large skinless, boneless chicken thighs (alternately you can use small breasts)
4 TBS Panko Bread crumbs
2 TBS coarsely grated Parmesan cheese
salt and black pepper to taste
120ml good quality tomato and basil pasta sauce (1/2 cup)
4 TBS Italian four cheese blend
2 medium baking potatoes peeled and cubed
olive oil
instructions:
Preheat the oven to 190*C/375*F/ gas mark 5. Have ready a baking
tray large enough to hold the chicken and potatoes in a single layer.
Toss the potatoes in a bowl with a bit of oil and some seasoning.
Scatter them onto the baking tray.
tray large enough to hold the chicken and potatoes in a single layer.
Toss the potatoes in a bowl with a bit of oil and some seasoning.
Scatter them onto the baking tray.
Lay the
chicken thighs onto the baking tray in a single layer, stretching them
out and opening them up. Season with some salt and black pepper. Mix
together the bread crumbs and Parmesan. Sprinkle evenly over top of the
chicken. Drizzle with a tiny bit of olive oil. Pop the tray into the
preheated oven. Roast for 25 to 30 minutes, stirring the potatoes every
10 minutes. At the end of that time, spoon the tomato sauce over each
piece of chicken and scatter with the cheese blend. return to the oven
and roast until everything is heated through, the cheese has melted and
the chicken juices run clear. Serve hot.
chicken thighs onto the baking tray in a single layer, stretching them
out and opening them up. Season with some salt and black pepper. Mix
together the bread crumbs and Parmesan. Sprinkle evenly over top of the
chicken. Drizzle with a tiny bit of olive oil. Pop the tray into the
preheated oven. Roast for 25 to 30 minutes, stirring the potatoes every
10 minutes. At the end of that time, spoon the tomato sauce over each
piece of chicken and scatter with the cheese blend. return to the oven
and roast until everything is heated through, the cheese has melted and
the chicken juices run clear. Serve hot.
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I don't know as I would bother with the potatoes again. I think really rice or pasta would go much better, but again that's just my opinion. Have a great day and Bon Appetit!
It was quite chilly and rainy the other day and so I decided to make us a nice pot of hot soup for our midday meal. You can't beat a bowl of soup on a cold and drizzly day!
After nosing around the refrigerator I found some ham that needed using as well as some cabbage. I do so love cabbage in a soup and cabbage goes very well with ham! I almost yelled Bingo!
I always keep a variety of chicken stock cubes/pots in my larder. They come in handy for all sorts. Chicken, beef, fish, vegetable, lamb, ham . . . I use them all. They are convenient and work well for all sorts of things.
For this soup I used ham and chicken stocks. You could also use just chicken stock, but I wanted a bit of a smokey flavour.
Cubes of ham are first glazed in a mix of brown sugar and a tiny bit of oil. Try not to overcook the ham, as it can dry out really quickly.
After that you saute leek and onion, and some garlic . . . slowly softened without browning and then simmered in a thickened stock until all are melting tender.
After that you add the some potato and let it simmer until the spuds are tender. Then you add the remaining stock, cabbage, return the ham to the pot and add a bit of white wine vinegar. Trust me on this. It's perfect. While that is simmering make the dumplings.
Who doesn't love dumplings??? Not me! We both adore them in this house. The sight of a dumpling has been known to make my husband jump up and down and rub his hands together in glee! Okay . . . a slight exaggeration, but he does love them a lot!
Cheesy dumplings . . . so good.
These are really tender and delicious. They are the perfect addition to a really tasty soup.
Altogether this is a really, really tasty pot of soup. Nourishing, delicious and filling.
You are going to love this soup. You really are!
Yield: 6
Cabbage & Ham Soup with Cheese Dumplings
prep time: 40 minscook time: 1 hour and 10 minstotal time: 1 hours and 50 mins
Be judicious when you add salt as ham can be quite salty. This is a delicious soup!
ingredients:
For the soup:
60ml vegetable oil (1/4 cup)
350g smoked ham, cut into cubes (11 ounces)
2 tsp soft light brown sugar
2 onions, peeled and thinly sliced
2 leeks, trimmed, washed and thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1 TBS plain flour
1 litre ham stock (6 cups)
480ml chicken stock (2 cups)
black pepper to taste, coarsely ground
3 medium potatoes, peeled and chopped
1/2 savoy cabbage, finely shredded
1 TBS white wine vinegar
For the dumplings:
30g cold butter, cut into small bits (1 ounce)
280g self raising flour (2 cups)
60g finely grated cheddar cheese (2 ounces)
2 tsp finely chopped thyme
120ml water (1/2 cup)instructions:
Heat 1 TBS of the oil in a large saucepan. Add the ham and sugar.
Saute over high heat, stirring continuously, for about 5 minutes, or
until just golden. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper
towels. Add the remaining oil along with the leek, garlic and onion.
Reduce heat to low and cook for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally
to make sure they don't catch, without browning. Stir in the flour and
cook for one minute. Remove from the heat and add the ham stock
gradually. Return to the heat and bring to the boil, stirring, then
reduce and cover. Cook for about half an hour. Add the potato to the
pan and simmer for about 10 minutes. Add the chicken stock, ham,
cabbage and vinegar. Season with black pepper. Cook for a further 10
minutes while you make the dumplings.
Saute over high heat, stirring continuously, for about 5 minutes, or
until just golden. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper
towels. Add the remaining oil along with the leek, garlic and onion.
Reduce heat to low and cook for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally
to make sure they don't catch, without browning. Stir in the flour and
cook for one minute. Remove from the heat and add the ham stock
gradually. Return to the heat and bring to the boil, stirring, then
reduce and cover. Cook for about half an hour. Add the potato to the
pan and simmer for about 10 minutes. Add the chicken stock, ham,
cabbage and vinegar. Season with black pepper. Cook for a further 10
minutes while you make the dumplings.
Sift the
flour into a bowl. Add the butter and rub it in with your fingertips
until the mixture resembles fine bread crumbs. Stir in the cheese and
thyme. Stir in the water to bind the mixture together. Drop by heaped
TBS into the hot soup. Cover and cook for 8 to 10 minutes until the
dumplings are cooked through, plump and look dry on top.
flour into a bowl. Add the butter and rub it in with your fingertips
until the mixture resembles fine bread crumbs. Stir in the cheese and
thyme. Stir in the water to bind the mixture together. Drop by heaped
TBS into the hot soup. Cover and cook for 8 to 10 minutes until the
dumplings are cooked through, plump and look dry on top.
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The leftovers were even tastier. The dumplings were a bit soggy as they had sat in the soup overnight, but that didn't bother us one bit! We will take dumplings any way we can get them! Bon Appetit!
If there is anything I like more than a roast on the first day, it is the wonderful things you can do with the leftovers. Be it chicken, turkey, beef, lamb or pork, I am a master at making the leftovers taste fresh and new and delicious! Nobody in my house has ever said, Leftovers? YUCK! In fact they have always loved them, and I say that not to brag, but as a fact.
This recipe I am sharing today is a simple and easy version of Roast Beef Hash, with the exception being that there is no frying involved. None at all.
Chopped onion, potato and beef are simply combined with some tinned evaporated milk, Worcestershire sauce, seasoning and parsley flakes, poured into a buttered dish, and topped with some buttered cracker crumbs prior to baking.
That is it in its very basic rendition . . . of course you can amp it up a bit with the addition of some garlic powder and herbs. I would suggest thyme and marjoram and maybe some rosemary. You won't need a lot, just a smidgen of each.
You could add a squirt of ketchup and mustard to the milk mixture as well if you like. Both work very well . . . or even a squirt of either BBQ sauce or HP sauce.
You could also add some mixed vegetables if you liked, about a cup of frozen mixed vegetables would be nice, but I wouldn't do any more to it than that. Really, in all truth, it is very delicious even in it's most basic form!
The quantities are for two people, which is a very generous amount. You can easily double it to serve more if you want. Just make sure you have the same amount of potato as beef, and then half again as much of onion. You can precook the onion if you want, but its really not necessary.
I had plenty of leftover veg from Sunday and so I warmed them up and served them on the side and the casserole would easily have served at least three people generously.
We had mashed Swede (rutabaga/turnips) and a mix of peas, corn and carrots, all leftover as well. When I do my Swede, I simply boil it until tender in lightly salted water, drain well and then mash well with a potato masher, stirring in a small knob of butter and a touch of brown sugar, salt and pepper. The Brown sugar really enhances the natural sweetness of the Swede. Trust me on this.
I like to season my carrots with a pinch of sugar and some freshly grated nutmeg. There is something about nutmeg that goes very well with carrots and I know you will love it. I usually don't add any butter, but you can if you want, and some salt and pepper also.
Yield: 2
Oven Hash
prep time: 15 minscook time: 30 minstotal time: 45 mins
A delicious casserole for two to make with the leftovers from your Sunday Roast!
ingredients:
1 cup finely chopped roast beef
1 cup finely chopped cooked potato
150g evaporated milk (2/3 cup)
1 small onion, peeled and minced
1/2 tsp dried parsley flakes
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
salt and black pepper to taste
a handful of crushed rich round crackers
1 TBS butter, melted
instructions:
Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Combine the beef, potato,
milk, onion, parsley, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper. Turn into a
buttered 1 litre/1 QT casserole dish. Toss the cracker crumbs with the
melted butter and sprinkle on top. Bake in the preheated oven for half
an hour, until heated through, bubbling and golden brown.
milk, onion, parsley, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper. Turn into a
buttered 1 litre/1 QT casserole dish. Toss the cracker crumbs with the
melted butter and sprinkle on top. Bake in the preheated oven for half
an hour, until heated through, bubbling and golden brown.
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Todd enjoyed his with some warmed up leftover gravy and mash on the side. Me, I enjoyed mine with a splash of tomato sauce. Yes, I am one of those North Americans who enjoys her ketchup! And we still have some roast beef leftover, which I have even more plans for. Watch this space and Bon Appetit!
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