Category: Poultry

Poultry, South American/Mexican

Enchiladas

7shasha7

One day, I decided to make something cheesy using leftovers. So I did. I had some burritos, some chicken breasts and cheese. So I decided to wrap all these things together and make some sort of a sauce and bake in the oven.

For the sauce, I roasted all these vegetables and then blended them, adding salt.
The result was this spicy sauce. The spiciness came from the small Indian green chillies that I had bought at Mustafa weeks before.
My filling assembly line. The chicken breasts were roasted in the oven simply with salt, black pepper and a bit of olive oil. And then I shredded them. The thick brown sauce is actually vegetarian refried beans.
Put a burrito in a hot pan for just a few seconds. And then place it on a board. Spread the refried beans, top with chicken and the sauce. Put cheese on top (I used one slice of emanthal cheese).
Just roll it up and place it in a baking dish, seam side down.
Pour all the sauce on top, top with mozzarella cheese and bake till bubbly.
This really has to be eaten hot. And one is already a lot. I was ambitious by plating two. It was rich, spicy and completely delicious. One success story here after quite a few bad attempts at some other dishes the previous days.
Asian Dishes, Poultry, Singapore

Singapore Chicken Rice

7shasha7

It truly has been ages since I last update but it’s not because of laziness. My MAC was completely spoilt. And while now it seems to be A-OK, it is working at a very slow speed.

So I shall resume by sharing about my latest craze: making my own chicken rice –  the authentic way. Including how to chop it up chinese style.

It’s all very simple actually. For the white chicken version, I boiled one whole chicken cut in half for easier handling in a pot of water that has lots of sliced ginger and one or two (if small) whole onions. After 20-25 minutes of cooking under high heat, I turned off the heat off and let the chicken just stay in there for a further 20-30 min. And then when I am ready to take the chicken out, I stand by a basin of ice-cold water and dunk the chicken in there. This step is extremely crucial in achieving a gelatinous, firm skin.

For the rice, I used the same water that I had boiled the chicken in, but before that, I used ready-made Chicken rice paste from the shelf to fry my rice (basmati) in. I also added a pandan leaf. Next time, I will try just using garlic and ginger and nothing else.

For the chilli sauce, plenty of fresh red chillies, loads more of chilli padi (red), lime juice, sugar and salt.

Then I decided to make a roasted version just a few days ago. I marinated the chicken with light soya sauce, sweet soya sauce, honey and garlic/ginger paste. The next time, I will also use five spice powder. The real roasted variety found in hawker centres is actually fried but I’d rather roast mine in the oven. The result is OK but the skin will not be as crispy.

And then, I cloned my chicken rice by assembling it the same way as in my favourite halal chicken rice stall -Tang’s Tea house. I sliced cucumbers thinkly the same way and drizzled a mixture of light soy sauce and sesame oil over my chopped chicken.

Speaking of chopped chicken… this is where I learnt how to do it properly last Tuesday. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0gqdhl7PCo

It was so fun! I finally made use of my cleaver.

The roasted variety. To serve, I scattered lots of coriander leaves and drizzled the soy mixture.
The White version.

Alas, I didn’t manage to take a picture of my table that day. But it was enjoyable and I shall be cooking this again and again and again…

Poultry, Sides

Chicken, Apple and Carrot Wontons

7shasha7

I love making wontons. This is my second wonton post. What’s not to love about this tiny little fried parcels?

This time round I used chicken fillet grounded and then added shredded red apple and carrot. I flavoured it with hoisin sauce and a bit of sesame oil. Oh, and a bit of shredded cabbage too. Hence, this time round, the wontons were not dry (normally, I’d just use chicken meat and a carrot or water chestnut) but they were very light and hollow inside. They disappeared fast, though.

The filling.
Aren't they just so cute?
I used to make them and store them in plastic containers to give away to my moms.
I like to eat my wontons with the dark thick sticky sweet soy sauce.
Poultry, Western

Chicken on Coke

7shasha7

Chicken on Coke. Haha. Hmm.. Anyway, I learnt of cooking chicken this way from a friend who is a wonderful cook. I learnt it last year and only today am using this technique. It seems like only yesterday when the whole lot came over and we decided to do a cookout at my place.

Back to the chicken. I marinated in for several hours. The marinade? Smoked paprika (lots of it please), dried mint (a bit), onion powder, garlic powder, safflower (the cheaper version of saffron), salt, zaatar (Arabic thyme), spice mixture (cardamom, cumin, fennel, cinnamon toasted and blended) and brown sugar. I rubbed it into the chicken and added just a wee bit of olive oil onto the chicken and then let it sit, covered, in the fridge till dinner time.

Then, I roasted it together with some vegetables. Potatoes, Japanese sweet potato, carrots and cauliflower. This roasting of cauliflower is new to me. I’ve been watching several cooking episodes where they feature roasted cauliflower so I decided to try.

The result? I overcooked the dish a bit so the vegetables were soft but still delicious because they had flavour. Oh yes, I seasoned the vegetables first with salt, black pepper, olive oil and the spice mixture. The chicken was wonderful because of the intense marinade. But I realise by cooking the chicken in this manner, the drumstick area didn’t crisp up. Hmmm, I will need to go back to my friend on how she resolved that. But the chicken was juicy and tender and so so flavourful.

The leftover chicken breasts (as usual, nobody wanted the breasts though they were very juicy) were made into sandwiches to be eaten for tomorrow’s breakfast. I coated the shredded chicken with some more of the pan juices and stuffed it into the panini sandwich from Gardenia.

Rub the dry mixture all over the chicken and marinade. Overnight is best.
Wash a can of Coke well. Take half of the drink out and then place it in th centre of a lined baking tray.
The fun part is propping the chicken onto the can. After you have managed to do that, arrange vegetables all around the chicken.
Bake on the lowest tray and laugh at your family members reaction. 'Your chicken is standing up!' said one. 'I was wondering how the chicken could stand up. How is it standing up?' Ha ha ha.
Once cooked, remove chicken from the can and then arrange on a plate. Drizzle the wonderful juices from the pan over the chicken.
Save the chicken breast or use whatever leftovers to make a sandwich.