The hot chick

Sunday is roasting day. Or as they say on Little Britain "It's the law". Yes, the British Sunday roast tradition is a tradition for a reason...it's delish. Beef, pork, chicken, lamb... whatever you choose, it MUST come with all the trimmings and be served between 5 and 6pm.
I don't do the Sunday roast as often as I'd like, mainly due to time constraints as PB and don't work a typical M-F work week. However, this Sunday I was committed and determined. It had been too long and it was frankly frickin' freezing outside at -15C with a windchill of -20C. Only a hot roast chicken would take the edge off that.
I had been told that it is possible to roast a chicken in under an hour at a high temp by PB's mum (aka condiment queen). She is a very good cook and so I was intrigued to try this method of cooking and subsequently checked the location of the smoke detectors were very far away from the oven. This was gonna get smoky.
I had a small air chilled chicken from Superstore. They are one of the few places that sells air chilled chicken and IMO, it makes a big difference with the moistness of the meat when cooking.
I checked out some methods online and determined that 425 F/220C was the key temp.
I pre-heated the oven to 425F, brushed the chicken excessively in melted butter and then sprinkled on dried rosemary, sage and savory and threw in some salt.
I put the bird in a really oversized pan (we don't have a smaller one at present) and put the oven light on so I could check that it wasn't on fire without opening the door and adding a whole lot more O2 to said fire.
CQ was right. This method works. Yes there was smoke when I opened the door (and a fair amount of fear-this is why wine is mandatory when trying new recipes) but I attribute that to the (excessive) butter spreading out over the pan base and the chicken fat joining it. I don't have an issue with that and the smoke detectors didn't go off once. 45 mins later I was still skeptical and got my meat thermometer out to do the all important 185F test. The needle on that thing moved faster than the speed of light. This bird was done and done!
And yes it was moist, the skin was crispy, the meat was very tasty and from now on, this will be my default cooking method for poulet!

It's all about the sauce

MMMMmmmm Satay! who doesn't like meat on a stick with a yummy dipping sauce?
This simple satay is one of my favourites and what makes it so is the sauce. The satay skewers are the standard chicken that's been marinated for as long as you have time to do so, but really it's a platform for the amazing dipping sauce it is served with.
Quick grammar lesson!
The term marinate/marinade is often used interchangeably but the correct use is as follows:
A MarinaDe is the sauce you are using to MarinaTe the meat/fish/veg. Marinade is a noun, Marinate is a verb.

Back to the food. Satay is a great appy or light meal and also an ideal choice for finger food when having guests over for casual nibbles and drinks. The chicken marinade is not really a recipe as such, you can throw in what you like but this dipping sauce is from a Weight Watchers cookbook. The only difference I made is that I used full fat coconut milk not reduced fat as the recipe stated.

Chicken Satay with peanut dipping sauce (makes 8-10 skewers)
Skewers:
2 chicken breasts sliced into strips
2 garlic cloves, crushed
juice and zest of 1 lime
1 shallot, finely chopped
1 tbsp fish sauce or soy sauce
1 tbsp fresh ginger, grated

Dipping sauce
6 tbsp coconut milk
3 tbsp peanut butter
4 tsp honey
zest and juice of 1 lime
1 tbsp fish sauce

Soak skewers in water for at least 30 mins. The challenge I find here is finding a vessel long enough that the skewers can lie flat to soak. I used a baking tray.
Mix up marinade for chicken and mix with chicken. Cover and chill for 30 mins-4 hours (however long you have).
Once ready, pre heat broiler/grill to high and lightly oil a baking tray.
Thread the chicken on to the skewers being careful not to pack it too densely otherwise it won't cook through.
cover ends of skewers with foil to prevent them burning.
Place skewers under broiler for a few minutes and then flip over to do other side.

While they are cooking, mix together the ingredients for the sauce and use a fork or whisk so it goes smooth. I have made the sauce a few times and really a recipe is not necessary and the measurements are to be used loosely. The peanut butter and coconut milk are the base so throw in what ever else you want. And don't be afraid of fish sauce. It really does not taste fishy and adds a great light saltiness to sauces and marinades. If you really don't want to use it or don't have it, use soy sauce but go easy on it as it's much saltier.

And that's it. When serving as a main, I usually like to have some steamed veggies on the side with a soy(or tamari) and toasted sesame oil drizzle, as pictured here:

The thighs have it.

For some reason it has taken me a really long time to post this recipe for lemon chicken which is one of my absolute faves. I love making it because there are several steps involved so I always feel like I am really cooking and it's one of those recipes when you can live the cliche of drinking a glass of wine as you cook, because there is wine in the recipe, so of course, the rest of the bottle must not go unwasted and the first pour should always be into your wine glass and not into the food. Secondly, it's an absolutely dee-lish-ous recipe. I cook it at least once a week and have cooked it for friends who all wanted the recipe and mmm'd a lot while devouring it. The chicken literally has a velvety texture and you will want more and more of it. I am salivating right now thinking about it and am making it tonight. Thirdly, it reminds me of a great day of fun at a cooking class (where I got the recipe from) that PB bought as a gift for me last year. Click here to read all about it in a older post. Finally, it was the first meal we cooked in our new kitchen. The first meal was ate was pizza and beer the day we got the keys but that is mandatory and we didn't actually cook as we had nothing in the house to cook, cook with or eat with. The picture above is of a time when I cooked it in the rental apartment. The pic at the end of the post is of the first meal we ate in our new home.

Lemon-licious chicken thighs (serves 3-4)

6-8 small boneless skinless chicken thighs
juice of 2-3 lemons
handful white or wholewheat flour
1 tsp oregano
salt and pepper
1-2 tbsp olive oil
1-2 tsp butter
100 ml white wine (this is optional, you can make it without. There is enough liquid from the lemons for the dish to work)

Pre heat oven to 375F.
Pound out the chicken thighs with a meat mallet until about 0.5-1cm thick. I don't have a meat mallet so I improvise and use a rolling pin wrapped in cling wrap.
mix the oregano and salt and pepper with the flour and put on a plate for dredging.
Dredge Chicken thighs in flour mix
Heat butter and olive oil over medium high heat in heavy based frying pan.
Add chicken thighs, 2-3 at a time to pan and fry on both sides until browned but not cooked through.
Place browned thighs in an ovenproof dish and pour over wine. Top up your wine glass also. Squeeze juice of lemons over top and cover dish with foil.
Bake for 15-20 mins until chicken is cooked.
Serve with steamed veggies and remainder of wine.

Shout out to Steph!

Steph (aka Ms Crow Pose) is PB's sister, a fellow foodie and an excellent cook. She is also great at buying presents and PB and I were very excited to receive a package from her when we moved into the new place. It contained 4 very well wrapped gifts that were clearly not easy shapes to wrap. PB and I grabbed one each and opened them simultaneously after "cheers-ing" with them as we do with many things just because. The first one was the largest and heaviest and a clear candidate for best idea ever....A jar of Maple Bacon Peanut Butter! (Maple Maniac will literally cry tears of joy, or even maple, when she hears about this). Of course I opened it and had a sample right away....yup, that will do nicely.
2nd was a smaller cylinder that materialised into a hot chili sriracha style sauce. I LOVE hot sauce and put it on everything from rice to avocado and even in my green tea and it's great as a dip for marshmallows. okay okay, not the green tea or marshmallow bit. Just highlighting how much I love the stuff. The new kid on the fridge door block is not going to last long I can tell.
3rd and 4th gifts were again "cheers-ed" and ripped open to reveal Japanese Sesame Salt made by the Hot Chick Spice Company whom I love and have mentioned before so click here if you want to read about it. I have made sushi a few times and so I'm keen to make something amazing using this and also to try it as a rub for meats and fish, salmon in particular.
4th and final gift was some gourmet pasta, but not made of wheat.....thanks Steph, so considerate :-) Instead it is made of pumpkin, rice and ginger. And we all know how much I LOVE ginger. I will have to ask Steph to reveal her sources as I'm going to need more and I'm sure as word spreads, others will too and we don't want any riots do we? (Maple Maniac, I'm talking to you).

I'm thinking a good challenge would be to create a dish with all 4 of these ingredients in....Iron Chef style-ee. Now I just need to get Iron Chef Morimoto to come to my house somehow....

New Year, New Kitchen

Jan 1st...again...already?!! 2011 was a good one, a very good one. The move East has been very successful and tomorrow we will move in to our dream home here. I'm excited about the whole house but probably most of all, I'm dying to get into the kitchen. It's much bigger that the current condo sized one we've been in for the past 4 months (which is a good size for a condo kitchen) and although the apartment has been great, both PB and I have struggled with the constraints of the space.

Now we will have lots more space aaaand an island! and to go along with the fab kitchen (pic below complete with moving-in crap all over the island), we have a big deck which will be housing a BBQ as soon as it's warm enough to get out there and grill without the cooked goods being re-frozen before getting them back inside.

I have some foodie plans for 2012 as follows:

• Reduce my sugar intake. I've experimented with this a bit over the past year or so and definitely notice a big difference when I don't eat sugar, like waking up before my alarm in the mornings. It's not sustainable 100% of the time so I will have a cheat day every 6-7 days to indulge a little. Cheating does not mean going crazy and eating crap. It means eating the things I want to eat in moderation and satisfying any cravings. My current craving of choice is a Tim Hortons sausage muffins(minus the egg) and maybe throw in a hash brown. For the purpose of clarification, sugar means starchy carbs, candy, high sugar fruits (bananas, mangoes) and dried fruits.
• Eat more vegetarian and vegan foods. I'd like to commit to this 2 nights a week.
• Have people over for dinner! This was not really an option for the past 4 months due to very limited seating and entertaining options but new house is VERY conducive to hosting guests.
• BBQ. A lot.
• Have a super awesome veggie patch. It's not in existence yet but PB has big plans for the yard. Can't wait for freshly picked lettuce and homegrown strawberries.
• Eat more sushi. I have cut back a lot since moving East as it's more costly here and less prevalent, plus I've been eating home a lot for economic reasons. I've decided I need to plan it into my budget more as frankly, it's a food group I can't live without. Hoping to make more sushi at home like last year too.
• Be a more regular blogger......really. I feel like life has settled down now to a more regular existence and so I'll have more time to relay all my foodie finds to you.
  

Powder Power

I have recently discovered the joys and benefits of using onion powder and garlic powder. In the past I had been aware of them but I absolutely love the real deal when it comes to these 2 kitchen staples.
I think I originally bought them for a chilli recipe and then didn't use them much but then I made some mashed cauliflower (as a lower starch alternative to potato) and I had read a suggestion in a book to use the powders for extra flavour. Turns out, they make things taste pretty good! Since then I have used them with success in a few different ways and they have the advantage of great flavour, no mess, zero prep time and make for a really smooth texture. Here are my fave things to use them for so far:

• Coating for breakfast potatoes. Parboil halved baby potatoes and then pan fry in canola oil over med.low heat for 20 mins until browned and cooked through. When cooked, toss with 1 tsp of onion powder, 1 tsp garlic powder, salt, pepper and dried rosemary.

• Extra quick guacamole (or use as a spread alternative to mayo or butter in sandwiches or burger buns). Mash up an avocado until smooth. Add 1-2 tsp onion powder, garlic powder, salt, pepper, a squeeze of lime and a splash of hot sauce.

• Mashed potato (or cauliflower). Add onion and garlic powder to mashed potato/cauliflower along with butter or olive oil and some of the leftover potato water. If you wish, add some milk or cream.

• Add to chilli

• Add to homemade beef burger mix

• Add to homemade dry spice rubs
  

I also have used dehydrated onion in place of the onion powder. This is a little coarser in texture but again gives a rich onion flavour. I recommend buying organic dried onion/onion powder or garlic powder as sometimes the non-organic version can have other things in them to stabilise them. Or just check the ingredient list before buying. Another bonus is that these seasonings add lots of flavour but are low in sodium.

I have read that you can make your own garlic powder so that is going on my "to do" list along with lots of other things including dehydrating apple rings and making my own Kombucha.

If you've never tried garlic or onion powder, and swear by the real thing, I challenge you to try it out...and report back!

Avo Appy

Merry Christmas to all my readers...hope you are still out there reading despite distinct lack of recent updates. Do not worry, I have been eating and cooking but very busy working 2 jobs and buying a house...as well as Christmas occuring. It's all been good and now that most of the craziness is over (except the actual move next week), I now have a moment to breathe and blog.
PB and I love our appies and this is one that we created together recently. It does come with a warning though, they taste really good so be prepared to eat every single one you make and be too full for your main course!

Prosciutto avocado toasties
Sliced crusty loaf
Super thin prosciutto cut into 1 inch wide x 2 inch long slices
Medium ripe avocado, sliced
Olive oil for brushing

Put broiler/grill on med-high heat.
While it's heating, prepare the topping by wrapping the avocado slices in the prosciutto slices.
brush slices of bread with olive oil on both sides and place on broiler/grill pan.
Broil/grill bread until lightly toasted and flip over and repeat.
Remove bread from broiler/grill and top each piece with avocado/prosciutto rolls.