Chicken Cacciatore

I made this at the beginning of November, but as I had my university exams around then, I decided to prioritise, and study for those instead of writing a blog post.  Wise choice, because I passed all my classes!

This recipe comes from a recipe book my family has had forever, and I decided I wanted to make this because I felt like pasta, and we had chicken leg pieces to use.  Sometimes it's a matter of finding a recipe that suits what you have in the pantry to use up, instead of going out to buy stuff new and fresh specifically for a recipe, which can end up quite expensive!!

INGREDIENTS

4 chicken leg portions (or 8 drums/thighs, or 4 thighs + 4 drums)
1 tbsp olive oil
1 red onion, diced into thin wedge
1 garlic clove
sprig of fresh thyme (I only had dried, so I used a tsp)
sprig of fresh rosemary
150ml dry white wine
200ml chicken stock
400g can chopped tomatoes
40g black olives, pitted (we didn't have any olives, so I just left them out)
15g capers, drained (again, we didn't have these either, so left them out)
salt and pepper
freshly cooked fettuccine, linguine or pasta shells

METHOD

• Heat 2 tsp oil and lightly brown the chicken pieces for 2 - 3 mins each side
• Remove from pan and set aside
• Add remaining 1 tsp oil to juices in the pan
• Add red onion and gently cook for 5 mins, stirring occasionally
• Add garlic and cook for a further 5 mins until beginning to brown
• Return chicken to the pan
• Add herbs, then pour in wine and allow to bubble for 1 - 2 minutes
• Add stock and tomatoes, then gently simmer for 15 mins
• Stir in olives and capers (if you have them!)
• Cook uncovered  for a further 5 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through and sauce has thickened
• Remove (fresh) herbs and season with salt and pepper
• Serve over freshly cooked pasta (500g dry pasta)

This was WAY yummier than I expected and I really loved the chicken with the tomato!  It was a lot easier to make than I thought as well, so that was a bonus!  Definitely one I shall make again in the future, because you all know how much I love pasta.

Recipe Inspiration: Everyday Cookbook: Low Fat (2006), edited by Gina Steer, p114

Tender Beef Brisket

I've been putting off writing about the brisket I made, and I'm not entirely sure why.  I think I'm getting a bit tired of writing.  Not tired of cooking, just the writing bit.  It takes me about half an hour to do each post, and I've been too busy cooking to sit down and write about it! ;)  Plus, I often write when the TV is on in the background etc. and I've been finding that way too hard... so I need to make time to sit down without TV, just with some good music playing softly so I can concentrate on what I'm saying.  Otherwise it's all jumbled and can easily not make sense!!

Anyway, back to the food.  Brisket is a cut of beef (from the neck, I believe) where there is a lot of marbling in the meat, so you have to cook it looong and sloooow so that it melts the marbling stuff and the meat falls apart.  I've mostly associated brisket with Jewish cooking in the past, and I've never cooked it before and had no idea where to start.  I think this Jewish stereotype comes from The Big Bang Theory possibly, where Howard's mom is legendary for her brisket.

I searched on Pinterest for brisket recipes, and came up with two possibilities I could use.  First was one that used an entire bottle of ketchup mixed with a packet of onion soup, and baked slowly for 4 hours.  The second one is the one I used.  I chose it because I liked that it used a range of ingredients (while still being simple), and I didn't trust the simplicity of the first one.

INGREDIENTS

1 brisket (we used 1.1kg, which is smaller than the original recipe suggested, but it was still good - lots of sauce!  They said around 1.8kg)

2 large onions

2 medium carrots

10 cloves garlic, peeled but left whole

2 cups tomato juice

1 cup red wine

1 cup beef stock

salt and pepper

baking paper and tin foil

METHOD

• Preheat the oven to 180 deg C
• Season the brisket with salt and pepper and place in a LARGE glass/ceramic oven proof dish (9x13 size, the original recipe suggests)
• Top with diced onion, carrots, and garlic cloves, and sprinkle with some more salt and pepper
• Pour over tomato juice, beef stock and wine, making sure it comes up at least halfway on the brisket; if not, add some more broth(the size we used was small, the sauce covered the whole thing! LOL)
• Cover with a rectangle of baking paper that sits just inside the edges of the pan
• Cover the dish tightly with tin foil
• Put in the oven and leave for 3 & 1/2 to 4 hours
• Remove from the oven and take off the covers carefully (watch out - the sauce bubbles madly!)
• Use tongs/fork to make sure the meat is tender (it will come apart easily along the grain of the meat if it is!), and cut into 4 or 5 manageable chunks (if brisket was whole to begin with) and let cool slightly
• Pour the sauce into a saucepan and cook at a high simmer for 5 - 10 mins over medium-high heat, to cook off any remaining alcohol, and to reduce and thicken the sauce for more concentrated flavours, stirring occasionally
• Mix 3 tablespoons cornflour with 3 tablespoons cold water, and add to the sauce to thicken more if necessary
• Put the sauce and brisket back together, and serve!

So this turned out like a casserole, and it was delicious.  We ate it with potato bake and steamed green vegetables - broccoli and peas.  In the sauce, the wine wasn't overpowering or anything, and the garlic cloves were like little nuggets of gold hidden among the meat!  The onion and carrot was a nice change in texture, and the meat itself melted in my mouth.  Delicious!  Going to make this again if we ever get another cheap cut of brisket!!

Recipe Inspiration: http://tummyrumblr.tumblr.com/post/4988668577/pimpin-aint-easy

[Slow Cooker] Chicken Cranberry Casserole

It's Valentines Day, and I had a hot date with the crockpot and comfort food, on the couch watching a TV show about teeny tiny animals - monkeys, piggies, dogs, etc.  

Yes, even a glass of wine was involved - in the cooking!!  (I can't drink with my medication, but that's ok, when it's cooked, the alcohol cooks off, so I still get the flavour!)

Two things that always marry together beautifully - chicken and cranberry.   Seriously.  At school, my favourite thing to buy from the tuck-shop (like a cafeteria, but not) was chicken and cranberry sauce wraps - delicious!  So when I saw this recipe in my mums slow cooker recipe book a couple of years back and asked her to make it, I knew it could only come out well.  And I was right.  :)

Now it was my turn to try to make it, since we had a pack of chicken thighs in the freezer that needed using, and I had bought some dried cranberries specifically to make it.

Serves 4 - 6

INGREDIENTS

1 onion

2 cloves garlic

8 skinned & boned chicken thighs

3 rashers bacon (I used ~200g middle bacon - less fat)

170g packet dried cranberries

1 cup red wine

1 teaspoon chicken stock powder

1 bay leaf

3 tablespoons cornflour

3 tablespoons water

salt

METHOD

• Peel onion and chop
• Crush, peel and chop garlic
• Trim and discard any chicken fat, and cut thighs in half.  I had chicken thigh cutlets to use today, so Mum cut the chicken off the sides and threw the bones in too (we just cooked it longer)
• Derind bacon and chop into pieces
• Place onion, garlic, chicken, bacon, cranberries, wine, stock powder and bay leaf in the slow cooker
• Cover and cook on LOW for 8 hours
• Stir halfway through cooking if possible
• Half an hour before end of cooking, mix cornflour and water together, and mix into the chicken mixture
• Cover and cook on HIGH for 30 mins
• Season with salt and serve on rice or potato with vegetables!

 

Tonight we had the casserole with potatoes Mum had grown in her tubs, and steamed veges.  

It was a bit runny even with the cornflour step at the end (which was in the original recipe), so I'm thinking next time maybe only half a cup or 3/4 cup of wine, to see if that helps.  I'll edit this post if it does (or if not).   

Either way, it's delicious.  The saucyness is less of a problem when served on rice, but when it's not, you kinda want it to be a bit thicker.  Good excuse to mop it up with bread though ;)

My Version of Beef Stroganoff

It was a bit miserable and cold yesterday, and I had gotten some beef blade steak out the day or so before, so it was perfect casserole comfort food weather.   I decided to make a stroganoff from scratch, because there was a can of sliced mushrooms in the pantry that has been annoying me for ages (I couldn't think how I was going to use it) and also because it was the only recipe I found online that specifically stated using beef blade steak.  I didn't want to cook it wrong and have tough meat... nobody likes that!  However, the recipe I found seemed a bit boring and bland, so I based my casserole off it, but I added a few other things that I found had been written in other stroganoff recipes.  

So really, my version of beef stroganoff is a combination of several recipes, plus a little improvising from myself.  I was a little unsure about how it would turn out, but it was actually quite nice.  We ate it with rice and fresh steamed broccoli.

Serves 3-4

INGREDIENTS

400g beef blade steak, diced

2 onions, sliced

1 x small can of sliced mushrooms (in sauce, but I removed most of the excess sauce)

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 tablespoon paprika

1 & 1/4 cups vegetable stock

1 teaspoon crushed garlic

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 carrot, diced small

2 medium potatoes, diced small

sprinkle of onion salt or garlic salt

frozen peas (quantity up to you!)

bay leaf (optional, can be added to sauce)

dried thyme (optional, can be added to sauce)

1/2 cup sour cream

2 tablespoons cornflour mixed w 2 tablespoons cold water (to thicken, at the end)

METHOD

• Preheat oven to 180 deg C
• Place diced beef, onions, mushrooms, potatoes, and carrots in a casserole dish
• In a separate jug, mix vegetable stock, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, onion/garlic salt, garlic and paprika together
• Pour the sauce mixture over the meat and vegetables, and stir through to make sure it's all through
• Cover and cook for 1 & 1/2 hours in the oven (or until meat is tender), stirring once or twice during cooking, and tasting the sauce at least once, so seasoning can be adjusted if needed
• When almost ready to serve, mix through cornflour to thicken the sauce, and add sour cream
• Add frozen peas, stand for 2 minutes to allow the casserole to heat the peas through, and serve!

Goes beautifully with rice for a lighter meal, or mashed potato for real winter comfort food!!  Can also be served over pasta.  And if you don't have sour cream on hand, don't panic!  Normally when making stroganoff (out of a packet) we leave out the sour cream and it's still delicious!

I know I kinda blurred the line here a little bit between stroganoff (mushroom based, usually no carrots or potatoes) and Hungarian goulash (which traditionally has potatoes and carrots in it) but I just felt like the dish needed something a little extra, vegetable-wise, and the peas added at the end gave it a nice bit of greenery (along with the steamed broccoli) and freshness.

Recipe Inspiration: http://www.foodinaminute.co.nz/Recipes/Beef-Stroganoff

Devilled Sausages

Somehow, we ended up with an excess of sausages in our freezer, needing to be used.  I was like "Hmmm.  Sausages.  That's a bit boring." but then I remembered that there was the possibility of devilled sausages.  The day I decided to make this started out as overcast and miserable looking, perfect weather for turning the oven on for comfort food.  (Alas, the day warmed up and by the time we ate dinner, the house was like a sauna!).

Anyway, I didn't have a "go-to" family recipe for devilled sausages (nor did I have a packet of recipe base seasoning that I've used before).  I knew I liked the recipe because of the tart tangyness so decided to just google and see what it came up with.  I picked the recipe that looked the easiest (which was the first one...score!), with the simplest ingredients that I knew we had, and the cool thing about devilled sausages is that it uses all pantry staples - so you can make it from scratch even with bare looking cupboards!  Win!  And lordy, it was FAST to prepare. 

The best part is, it tasted AMAZING, if I do say so myself.  My parents and I were fighting over who would get to eat the leftovers for lunch the next couple of days.  This is a recipe that is also being honoured by going straight in my "Favourite Recipes" book.  It's a new family favourite, and I was so proud to have made it from scratch. :)

INGREDIENTS

600g sausages (pork or chicken, the original recipe suggests)

1 tablespoon canola oil

1 clove garlic, crushed (or pre-crushed garlic, whatever you've got!)

2 onions, thinly sliced

1 large apple, thinly sliced (I used braeburn - nice and tangy)

1 x 400g can chopped tomatoes

1/4 cup tomato sauce

1/4 cup BBQ flavoured sauce

2 tablespoons brown sugar

2 tablespoons malt vinegar

METHOD

• Preheat the oven to 180 deg C (aka moderate oven).
• Cook the sausages (if they are pre-cooked sausages, you can skip that), cool, and chop into pieces.  Place in a casserole dish.
• Heat oil in a frypan, and fry the garlic, onions and apple until soft.
• Mix the soft garlic, onions and apple with the can of tomatoes.
• Add tomato sauce, BBQ sauce, malt vinegar and brown sugar, and stir thoroughly.
• Pour the sauce over the sausages.
• Cover casserole and cook for 25 - 30 minutes.
• Serve with mashed potato or rice and steamed veges.

I'm not normally a huge fan of chunky tomato, and even when it's cooked in sauce I'll often pull bits aside, but this sauce was so amazingly delicious, I ate every single tomatoey morsel on my plate.

So, in advance, I shall say, you are WELCOME.  This recipe, so easy, mind blowing.  YUM.

Recipe inspiration: http://www.bestrecipes.com.au/recipe/Devilled-Sausages-L5797.html