Delicious Bovril Chicken

Marmite Chicken is probably more famous than Bovril Chicken. But since I only have Bovril at home, Bovril Chicken it shall be then. It is also my very first try and I am quite pleased with how it turned out.

There are two steps in this recipe. The first step is to fry the chicken and the second is to cook the bovril sauce before coating the chicken with it prior to serving. You will need to have fast hands with cooking the sauce because the sauce can dry out pretty fast. However, if you add too much water (to prevent drying out), it would be too runny and not as nice. Anyway, don’t let that fear you into trying this dish. It’s actually an experiment on my part and it works!

This is my recipe for Bovril Chicken
Ingredients

• 6 chicken supremes (the tender piece of the chicken breast, cut into cubes)
• 1 large onion (quartered)
• 5 cloves garlic (chopped finely)
• about 30 to 50 ml warm water
• Oil for deep frying
• Marinade for chicken
• 2 teaspoons light soya sauce
• 1 1/2 teaspoons chinese cooking wine
• a couple of dashes of white pepper powder
• 1/2 teaspoon of worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon of oyster sauce
• 1 teaspoon corn flour

Seasoning

• 2 heaped teaspoons of bovril
• salt to taste
• 1 teaspoon sugar or to taste

Method
Marinade chicken for 30 minutes or longer and deep fry till golden brown. Set aside.
Leave approximately 2 tablespoons of cooking oil in wok and saute garlic and onions till fragrant. Add seasoning and water and bring to boil. Return fried chicken pieces to wok and stir well to coat the sauce over the chicken.

How To Do Ginkgo Barley Dessert with Foo Chuk?

Ginkgo Barley Dessert with Foo Chuk is one dessert which my wife loves. It is known to be nutritious as cooling. Some chinese restaurants serve this dessert as part of a banquet, though usually for the more expensive menus because the ginkgo nut is rather expensive.
When purchased, the ginkgo nuts usually need to be broken either using a nut cracker or a mortar & pestle with a gentle knock. Ideally, take a toothpick and push the toothpick through the middle section of the nut to remove an “embryo”-like structure. This part of the nut is usually bitter tasting.

As for the foo chuk (soya skin), choose or ask your grocer for the soft type. The hard type is more suited for stews. However, even the soft type has different grades. Some will disintegrate very quickly during cooking whilst some remain intact, but soft enough to eat. The latter is the preferred choice.
This is my wife’s recipe for Ginkgo Barley Dessert with Foo Chuk
Ingredients

• 20 grammes of barley
• About 15 to 20 pieces of ginkgo nuts
• 1 to 2 pieces of foo chuk (more if you like)
• 4 pieces of Screw pine leaves / Daun Pandan (washed and tied to a knot)
• Sugar to taste
• About 1 litre of water

Method
Bring water to boil in a large pot. Add screwpine leaves, barley and ginkgo nuts and let it boil on medium heat for 45 minutes. Add foo chuk and sugar to taste and let it boil for another 15 minutes or so before serving.
Cooking time and amount of ingredients is approximate as it is dependant on your liking. However, the ingredients are essential, of course. You can make do without the screwpine leaves but you will miss out on the fragrance which it imparts.

How to Make Your Cooking Quickly And Relax

Meal time vision quest
As a busy mom, you’ve already mastered the art of time management and multi-tasking and can apply those skills to making dinner. Think about what you’d like to cook for tomorrow’s dinner the night before, and using the list of quick-cook foods below, create a menu. Knowing what you want to cook a day ahead will take the pressure off when it’s crunch time.
Pound, butterfly, dice and mince
Smaller vegetables and thinner cuts of meat will cook faster. The smaller you cut vegetables and herbs, the quicker they will cook, absorb flavors or infuse flavors into a recipe. Vegetables cut to 1/2-inch pieces will cook much quicker than 1-inch or 2-inch pieces. Minced onion, shallots, garlic and herbs will infuse flavor faster. A quicker cook time also ensures nutrients are kept at their peak. Thick cuts of pork, chicken and beef should be pounded to no more than 1-inch thick or butterflied to make them thinner.
Bang for your buck
Use bold ingredients that will build flavors fast. Chicken or vegetable stock used to boil converted rice will add more flavor than just plain water. Water, generously salted, will season pasta or potatoes as they cook. Soups, pan sauces and gravies started with a foundation of diced carrot, celery and onion will infuse complex flavors into the finished recipe. Rich "umami" foods such as tomato paste and crimini mushrooms will also infuse a long-simmered flavor into foods. Wines, vinegars and citrus zest will add a zing to your cooking liquid. A quick marinade of oil, vinegar, salt, pepper and fresh herbs will add a punch of flavor just before cooking. A second batch of the marinade can be made to slather over the cooked meats and vegetables before serving.
Use quick cooking methods
Braising, roasting and long simmered recipes are perfect for lazy weekends, but won’t cut it in a 30-minute kitchen. Stick to shallow pan frying, broiling, grilling, blanching and steaming when you’ve got to get dinner on the table in a hurry.
Cook everything at the same time
If you’ve got four burners, use ‘em all! Keep as many items cooking at the same time as possible. When something is finished cooking, cover it and set it in a warm oven until the rest of the meal is ready. Consider one-pot meals as well. For example, from the list below, you can combine pasta, vegetables and mussels or salmon for a quick, one-pot pasta dinner with a pan sauce of white wine, broth and shallots.
Quick cooking foods
Meat, poultry and fish that cook in 30 minutes or less (no thicker than 1-inch):
Boneless chicken breast: Broiled, grilled or pan-fried, four minutes each side or until temp reaches 160 degrees F. Cover and rest for 10 minutes, temp will increase to 165 degrees F.
Chicken tenderloins: Stir fried, broiled, breaded and pan-fried, two minutes each side.
Boneless pork chops: Broiled, grilled or pan-fried, four minutes each side or until temp reaches 140 degrees F. Cover and rest for five minutes, temp will increase to 145 degrees F. Pounded to 1/4-inch thick, breaded and pan-fried, two minutes each side.
Pork tenderloin: Grilled, broiled, 20 – 25 minutes. Remove from oven when internal temp reaches 140 degrees F. Cover and rest for five minutes, temp will rise to 145 degrees F. Cut into medallions, pan fried, three minutes each side.
New York strip steak: Broiled, grilled, pan-fried, four minutes each side for medium-rare. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes before cutting.
Skirt steak: Broiled, grilled, pan-fried, four to six minutes each side for medium-rare. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes before cutting.
Salmon: Broiled, grilled, pan-fried, steamed, poached, four to six minutes each side for medium-rare. Cover and let rest for five minutes before serving.
Cod and similar white fish: Broiled, grilled, pan-fried, steamed, poached, four to five minutes each side until opaque.
Mussels and clams: Steamed, pan-fried, broiled, three to four minutes or until they open. Discard any unopened mussels or clams before serving.
Common (fresh) vegetables that cook in 10 minutes or less:
The following vegetables can be blanched in water for one to three minutes, and then pan fried/pan roasted to caramelize. They can also be steamed for six to seven minutes:
Carrots, onions, potatoes, green beans, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, squash, zucchini, corn on the cob, asparagus and peas

Claypot Chicken with Bitter Gourd

This is my mother’s recipe. I’ve never acquired the taste for bitter gourd all these years though I know it is packed with nutrients and goodness. I am informed that this dish – Chicken with Bitter Gourd is a favourite amongst many who like bitter gourd. I am also informed that the bigger and older the bitter gourd, the less bitter it is.
So, I thought why not I post it up here on this blog for those who like to eat chicken with bitter gourd but do not know how to cook it. My mum used the claypot to retain the warmth of the dish as well as to ensure that the chicken and bitter gourd continue to simmer slowly though it has been removed from the cooker. If you don’t have a claypot, it doesn’t really matter. Just serve it on a plate.
This is my mother’s recipe for Claypot Chicken with Bitter Gourd.
Ingredients
1 large bitter gourd (wash, remove seeds, cut halved across the bitter gourd and then, cut to chunk bite sizes)
2 whole chicken legs (remove skin and cut to chunky bite sizes. You can keep the skin if you don’t mind the dish slightly oily)
5 pieces dried chinese mushrooms (pre-soaked till soft and cut to two with stems discarded)
1 1/2 tablespoons tau cheo
4 cloves garlic (chopped)
2 tablespoons cooking oil (preferably palm oil)
1 cup warm water
Seasoning
1 1/2 teaspoons dark soya sauce
Salt to taste
a pinch of sugar
Method
Heat oil in wok and stir-fry garlic and tau cheo for 30 seconds. Add chinese mushrooms, chicken and bitter gourd and continue stir-frying till outer layer of chicken meat is cooked.
Add seasoning and water enough to cover the ingredients. Bring to boil. Meanwhile, if you have a claypot, heat it up whilst waiting for the gravy to boil in the wok.
Once the gravy is boiling, transfer contents into claypot and simmer for 15 minutes on medium heat till gravy reduced to your liking. If you do not have a claypot, simmer likewise.

Healthy Pizza Cooking

The original Pizza comes from Italy and can be found in the Pizzeria (Pizza shop) which each portion of pizzanya diameter of approximately 30 cm or more, with a thin dough has been drawn. One of the secret delights of Italy Pizza is the process of pemanggangannya that performed inside the traditional oven with coals. This is because if baked with electric oven, large pizza dough will become tough thin. In this website I will give you easy recipe to make healthy pizza. Hope you can try this recipe.Ingredients:
1.500 g plain flour
2.1 packet instant yeast
3.15 g granulated sugar
4.1 teaspoon salt
5.50 ml olive oil
6.300 ml of warm water
Sauce:
1. olive oil 2 tbsp/corn
2.1 onion, finely chopped
3.2 cloves garlic, memarkan, finely chopped
4.500 g tomato red, finely grated
5.2 tbsp tomato paste
6.1 tsp. ground basil
7.1 tsp oregano, dried leaves (powder)
8.1/2 tsp pepper powder
9.1 tsp salt
10.1 tsp sugar
Topping:
1.50 g of broccoli, boiled briefly the quotation marks,
2.50 g cauliflower, quotation marks, boiled briefly
3.150 g of bacon, sliced, sautéed briefly box small
4. chicken sausage 2 bh, transverse slices, sautéed briefly
5.150 g cheese, grated
How To Make Pizza:
1. Make pizza: place the flour, salt, sugar, instant yeast in a bowl. Create a hole in the Center. Stir in oil, mix well with warm water to tuangi well blended. Put the dough on a clean surface. Knead the dough by hand until the kalis. Bulatkan dough, place it in a warm place for 1 hour to inflate twice again. Kempiskan dough. Gilas batter to thin. Print round 10 cm.
2. Make the sauce: heat the olive oil, saute the onion and garlic until fragrant and wither. Stir in tomatoes and other ingredients. Stir until boiling and condensed. Lift.
3. Basting each with sauce until flat.
4. give toppings, sprinkle cheese on top of it. Bake in hot oven at 200 C for 20 minutes until cooked. Remove and serve.

Delicious Food for Dinner At Home

We recently enjoyed a wonderful dinner at People’s Palace, our favorite thai restaurant in Makati, but came away slightly hungry. The food at People’s Palace is very good, but a bit pricey, and portions are a little modest in size… but I suppose that’s how they are going to turn a profit. :) There was one thing about the dinner on a busy Saturday night that did perturb me more than a bit. Less than two minutes (literally) after ordering our meal, the first three dishes appeared before our eyes.

 I understand it is in their interest to get clients out as quickly as possible to put more diners into the seats, but for the prices they charge, shouldn’t they try to have a semblance of preparing each dish carefully, say allowing a decent interval of 5-10 minutes before they are rushed to the table so that customers have time to savor a drink and think the chefs are slaving away? Rather than give the impression that the Top 10 dishes are pre-made and waiting around a kitchen counter for the final dressing before being whisked to the table? It’s a quibble, but just as food taking too long is irritating, food coming too fast is likewise food for thought.




With the Thai taste buds on full gear, and makrut limes in the yard, all it took to trigger some thai food fever at home was a visit to the weekend markets that yielded lots of dayap, cilantro, pomelos and chilies and had us inviting friends over for dinner on the spur of the moment.

I will say that People’s Palace had a better handle on the spices and the balance of flavors, they are still our favorite, but this home-cooked meal satisfied on several other levels.
Up top, a grilled beef salad made with rare flank steak, sliced on the bias and served over greens together with some sliced red grapes for sweetness (something I tasted at the dockside restaurant of the Oriental Hotel in Bangkok years back) and a spicy dressing of lime juice and fish sauce with chilies. The second photo, a humongous pomelo salad with shredded chicken, brined and poached shrimp, homemade toasted coconut, fried shallots, peanuts, and a dressing of lime, palm sugar and patis.A rather pallid-looking but incendiary green papaya salad that had been dressed and marinated for an hour in the fridge. Authentically bruised papaya, long beans (sitaw) and tomatoes and a bit of cilantro absorbed the flavors of pungent dried shrimp, chilies and fish sauce.

Honey Ginger Chicken Stir Fry

Every week I sit down, flip through my recipes and cookbooks and come up with some semblance of a meal plan for the week. Well, I try and do this anyways. Usually this works out really well and I'm not stuck trying to figure something out for dinner at the last minute.




Occasionally this backfires a little when there is an abrupt change of plans. Like oh, inviting friends over to dinner in the middle of the week. Don't get me wrong, I love to have people over for dinner, but I don't typically like to serve first-time meals to them. If it's my family, sure, they can be guinea pigs. Friends, it's a little different. I want to make sure whatever it is I'm feeding them is good, because, you know, I'd like them to come back after all.



However, I decided to take a chance with this recipe. All the ingredients were familiar and seemed like they should work well together. I guess sometimes risks pay off. It was delicious. Sweet with a little bit of bite from the ginger. Not to mention fairly easy to pull off.1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cubed



2 teaspoons garlic powder



2 tablespoons soy sauce, divided



1/2 teaspoon salt



1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper



3 cups fat-free, low sodium chicken broth, divided



1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon cornstarch



2 tablespoons honey



1 teaspoon ground ginger



1 cup long-grain white rice



1 tablespoon oil



4 cups washed baby spinach



Place chicken in a medium bowl. Season chicken with garlic powder, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, salt and pepper. Set aside.



In a small bowl, combine remaining tablespoon soy sauce, 1 cup broth, cornstarch, honey, and ginger; set aside.



In a small saucepan, bring the rice and remaining 2 cups broth to a boil. Cover and lower heat to medium-low for 20 minutes. Remove from heat, fluff with a fork, recover and let sit for 5 minutes.



Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook chicken for 5 minutes, or until cooked through. Stir in baby spinach; cook 1 minute, or until wilted. Stir broth/cornstarch mixture, then add to skillet. Cook, stirring constantly until sauce is thickened and translucent. Serve chicken and spinach over rice.

Makes Four Personal Pizzas

Pizza Dough




Pasta per pizza



Makes 4 personal pizzas



1 oz. of fresh active yeast



1 glass of milk



1 glass of water



1 finger of extra virgin olive oil



1 finger of beer



1 glass of high gluten flour



salt & pepper



enough all-purpose flour to make a smooth dough



Note: The ‘glass’ size is a typical wine glass. Exact amounts are not important as long as the same glass is used throughout the recipe.



Heat liquid ingredients to tepid.



Add yeast & dissolve completely. Wait 2-3 minutes for yeast to activate.



Join us every Thursday at our Agriturismo/Farmhouse as we fire up the outdoor wood burning oven, dine al'fresco family-style in the garden & enjoy handmade pizzas, salad from our garden, dessert & a quarter litre of wine for 15 Euro per person.



Add high gluten flour & mix in. Begin adding all-purpose flour cup by cup & incorporating until a dough suitable for turning on a board is achieved.



Turn dough out on board, knead for 10 minutes or until dough is smooth & elastic, adding flour as needed.



Return dough to original bowl, cover with a kitchen towel. Allow to double to triple in size in a warm draft-free place. Normally for about 3 hours.



Punch dough down & cut into baseball size balls of dough for individual pizzas.Are you a pizzaiolo at heart? Try our famous hands-on pizza class (featured in Food & Wine) and learn the secrets of making pizza from scratch, rolling & tossing your dough and collecting fresh ingredients for the toppings & sauce straight from our organic garden! Then master the art of firing your pizza in the outdoor wood burning oven!