What we’re eating ….

Ginger Chicken with rice and steamed vegies.

This is a new recipe that I hadn’t tried before. It was tasty and the chicken was kind of poached which is nice for a change.

Ginger Chicken

(Nadine Hughes)

4 chicken breasts

250ml/8oz  chicken broth

60g ginger, thinly sliced ( I substituted minced ginger from a jar)

4 green onions, thinly sliced

1 green chilli, deseeded and thinly sliced (left this out so it was kid friendly)

1 tablespoon soy sauce

2 teaspoons lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon sugar

Sauce ingredients

1 teaspoon fish sauce

3 green onions, thinly sliced

1 red chilli, deseeded and thinly sliced (left it out)

60g sugar snap peas (not sure where these fit in. I ended up steaming them and serving them on the side with some steamed green beans and carrots)

coriander to garnish

Preheat oven to 350F/180C.

Place chicken breasts and broth in a large, shallow pan. Add enough cold water to cover chicken

Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 10 mins. Remove chicken and allow to cool, reserving liquid in pan

Simmer liquid until reduced by ½ (about 10 mins)

Add remaining sauce ingredients  to pan and remove from heat.

Slice chicken breasts and arrange on a large piece of foil. Place ginger, onions and green chillies on foil.

Mix soy sauce, lemon juice and sugar, stir until sugar is dissolved. Pour over chicken. Fold foil over and around chicken to make a parcel. Bake for 15 mins.

Serve with noodles or rice.

Crispy baked chicken  (from the Complete Canadian Living Cookbook)

1/3 cup dry breadcrumbs

1/3 cup grated parmesan

2 tablespoons butter, melted

2 tablespoons mayo

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

4 chicken breasts, boneless

Melt butter, combine with breadcrumbs and cheese.

Whisk together mayo, mustard and some pepper. Spread over chicken, then dip into crumb mix.

Place chicken on rack in baking dish and bake for 20 mins at 425F/220C or until golden and cooked through.

We also had mashed potatoes, asparagus and carrots (yellow and orange !)

Really, this chicken recipe is just a variation on crumbed chicken, but a particularly tasty one. The mayo mixture seems to make the whole thing more moist, and then butter added to the breadcrumbs gives them a texture more like fresh breadcrumbs.

For a basic version, I dip chicken in a beaten egg, then  dried breadcrumbs, then fry in a pan. But you need plenty of oil to make it crispy. The alternative is to oven bake. Ideally, drizzle some butter over the chicken to give it that crispy finish. If you like it crispy all over, you need to turn it half way through cooking and/or put it on a roasting rack as otherwise the juices tend to accumulate.

You can leave out the mustard in the above recipe, if you like but honestly, its not a strong flavour and I like it.

 1kg/2lbs boneless chicken, diced

2-4 tblspns Pataks mild curry paste

5 star anise

1 cinnamon stick

2 bay leaves

3 cardamom pods

½ tspn turmeric

1 can peeled tomatoes

1 can coconut milk

ghee 

Melt ghee, add whole spices and fry. Add paste, powdered spices and chicken. Stir frequently. Once chicken is sealed, add tomatoes and juice and coconut milk.Add water or more coconut milk if needed. Simmer until chicken falls apart

Serve with fresh coriander