Tag: Chicken

Categories
Mains Recipes

Vietnamese Rice Soldiers

I first came across Vietnamese Rice Soldiers on my travels to Australia, where there is a varied range of Asian cuisine and the quality is high.

Initially I thought they were uncooked sausages when I saw them in a deli takeaway. I soon learned that in fact they contain a mix of finely chopped protein, veg, herbs or spices, with rice or noodles, all wrapped up in a piece of transparent, edible rice paper. They are eaten cold as finger food, with a sauce for dipping, and usually accompanied by a stir fry side or noodles.

I sampled them in a restaurant in Little Vietnam, the name given locally to Victoria Street in Melbourne, and immediately became a fan! I brought home a pack of rice papers and am now able to make my own at home. Here is a photo of my latest batch:

A pack of rice papers is essential if you want to give these a try. I bought mine (below) in Aussie supermarket chain, Coles. Availability will depend on where you are in the world, but in the UK I have seen some smaller packs in M&S. The best bet may be a specialist Asian food store or online.

They are made from simply flour, salt and water, requiring just some fresh, lukewarm water to rehydrate and make them soft and flexible.

Servings

This made 8 soldiers. At 2 per serving, that makes 4 adult portions.

Timings

30 mins to chop and prepare the filling. Rolling up takes seconds. The soldiers can be made up in advance and kept in the fridge for a day or two.

You Will Need:

  • 8 circular rice papers
  • a shallow dish filled half with just boiled water, and half with water cold from the tap (so that overall the water is lukewarm, around 50C)

    For the filling:
  • 120g boiled rice, cooled
  • 1 marinaded chicken breast, cooled
  • 1 carrot
  • around 10cm length of cucumber
  • 2 – 3 scallions/spring onions
  • half a red pepper
  • small bunch of coriander/cilantro

    For the dipping sauce
  • 2 tbsp chilli paste
  • 1 tbsp each of soya sauce, rice vinegar, honey and orange juice
  • a good squidge of tomato passata.

Method

  1. Chop the carrot and cucumber into tiny little batons. Chop the other filling ingredients into small pieces and lay everything out on a board.
  2. Take one of the rice papers and submerge it in the lukewarm water. It will begin to soften and take on a slightly, sticky, stretchy feel. Lay it down on a chopping board and put a line of rice across the middle.
  3. Lay a line of chicken pieces on top of the rice, then follow with the carrot, cucumber, scallions, coriander and pepper. Use a little judgment here – you want the soldier to be well-filled but not overstacked.
  4. Lift the flap of the rice paper nearest you and fold over the filling. Tuck in both sides, then roll the whole soldier forward until you have a sealed parcel. Check out my photos below, showing the rolling up in action! Set aside on a tray.
  5. Carry on until all the soldiers are made up.
  6. Put all the dipping sauce ingredients in a clean, screw top jar with lid on. Give it a good shake to combine, then pour into a serving bowl. The soldiers can be dipped into the sauce, or alternatively, once you’ve bitten off the top, spoon it on and let it drizzle down to mingle with the filling. Yum!

Customise It!

Vary the protein to include small pieces of fish, or use chopped cashews if you want to go vegan. A sprinkle of sesame seeds would be an excellent idea. Swap in fine, vermicelli noodles or bean shoots for the rice. Finely chopped root ginger, corn, celery are also options. As always on A Different Kitchen, use your imagination and go with the ingredients you like.

I served these with a side of stir fried bean shoots, pak choi, root ginger, garlic, red onion, carrot and mushroom topped with a sprinkling of sesame seeds (as shown in my main photo at the top of the post). For the stir fry sauce I simply made up more of the dipping sauce and poured that in. Hey – keep things simple!

It’s Superbowl weekend once more, and I am looking forward to staying up late this Sunday to watch the game. I can’t see any other outcome than the Kansas City Chiefs winning again, as they seem to be invincible when it comes to play-off season. Apologies to any Philly Eagles fans, but who knows, maybe you will surprise me?

Here’s a piece of classic Americana – Tom Petty with Running Down a Dream. Enjoy the Superbowl, everybody.

Categories
Mains Recipes

Firestarter Rice with Chicken

Ever find yourself with a spice jar left over from a previous dish, that you’re unsure how to use up? This happened to me recently, with half a jar of shop-bought cajun seasoning lurking towards the rear of the spice rack in the ADK kitchen. I decided it was high time it was put to good use.

In this dish I’ve combined it with some leftover roast chicken, chicken stock, veg and brown rice to make a tasty bowl of sticky, fiery deliciousness. You can see from my photo above that I’ve garnished it with chopped red chilli and scallions, and a slice of fresh lemon.

Some like it hot, they say, and I purposely gave this dish a good dose of cajun kick. Mind you, I also had some sour cream on hand which, when stirred in, acted like a fire extinguisher in the mouth. If that degree of heat is not for you, however, just tone down the amount of cajun seasoning in the recipe, and omit the fresh chilli garnish.

Servings

4 adult portions.

Timings

35 mins to make.

You Will Need

  • 1 clove of garlic, crushed
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 1 tbsp oil
  • 2 tbsp cajun seasoning
  • 1 red pepper, chopped
  • 1 sweet potato, cut into 1cm cubes
  • 200g brown rice
  • 750ml chicken stock
  • some boiling water
  • leftover meat from the wings and legs of 1 roast chicken
  • 1 red chilli, chopped
  • 2 scallions, chopped
  • 1 slice of fresh lemon
  • sour cream to stir in (optional)

Method

  1. Combine the garlic, onion and cajun seasoning in the oil, in a wok over a medium heat.
  2. After a minute or so, stir in the red pepper and sweet potato.
  3. After another few minutes, turn down the heat and stir in the rice. Add in the stock and bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer.
  4. Flake in the leftover chicken and let the dish simmer for around 20 mins. Test a grain of rice to see if it is cooked. If it needs more time, top up with the boiling water, until the rice is cooked and the liquid is absorbed, leaving it with a sticky coating.
  5. Spoon into bowls and top with the chilli, scallion and lemon garnish. Serve with some sour cream to douse the flames, if required!

Customise it!

The jar of cajun seasoning I used is a convenient, ready made mix of chilli powder, cayenne pepper, allspice, black pepper, coriander, ginger, cumin seeds, fennel seeds and cardamom. However, if you wish to make your own mix from these core spices then that should be fine.

If you wish to speed it up a little then use white long grain or basmati rice instead of brown.

Here’s a legendary track that kind of sums up my first few mouthfuls of this dish, as I reached for the nice, cooling sour cream to stir in: The Prodigy with Firestarter.

Categories
Mains Recipes

Jerk Chicken with Roast Peppers

Here’s a really tasty and spicy way to jazz up some chicken and peppers. It’s based on a recipe I obtained from Simon and Tim on TV’s Sunday Brunch programme, which I’ve developed in my usual manner. Once the pieces are cooked, you can enjoy them in various ways: hot with rice, cold with salad or – my favourite – as a filling in a tortilla wrap.

I reported a few posts back that I had opened a new channel for A Different Kitchen on Instagram. I decided to teach myself some reel making skills with this dish, which was enormous fun. I’ll say more about that shortly. First of all, let’s focus on the food!

Servings

This depends on how you intend to serve it, but you will get 4 chicken breasts worth of spicy, meaty goodness to eat as you please.

Timings

15 mins to make the marinade, 12 hours to rest in the fridge, then 25 mins to cook.

You Will Need

  • 4 chicken breasts, cut into chunks
  • 1 red and 1 yellow pepper, also cut into pieces
  • olive oil

For the Marinade:

  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 3 scallions, chopped
  • 1 chilli, chopped
  • 1 garlic clove, crushed
  • 1 tbsp 5 Spice powder
  • 1 tbsp allspice berries
  • 1 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 1 tsp dried thyme
  • 100ml dark soy sauce
  • 50ml veg oil
  • a few twists of sea salt and black pepper

Method

  1. Combine all the marinade ingredients in a bowl. Tip in the chicken chunks and coat all over. Leave in the fridge for 12 hours, then take out.
  2. Place the chopped peppers in a dish. Drizzle the oil over and roast in the oven at 180C for 25 mins.
  3. While the peppers are roasting, tip the chicken pieces and all the marinade into a large frying pan and place on a high heat. Turn the pieces until they are cooked through and the marinade has become a sticky, saucy coating.
  4. When the peppers are done, tip them into the pan and stir in with the chicken so that they are also coated in the spicy sauce. Serve hot or cold.

Customise It!

There are various ways you can cook and serve this. Come the summertime, I fancy threading the marinaded chicken and pepper pieces on skewers for roasting on the BBQ.

On this occasion, I opted to roll some of the cooked chicken and peppers up in a soft, warmed tortilla wrap along with a mango salsa (that I will show you how to make in my next post!)

As I say, I made this the subject of a reel over on my new Instagram channel – you can find it on @differentkitch. I had great fun, and learned a lot in the process – probably the main lesson being to shoot in portrait mode on my camera phone for Instagram, rather than the landscape that I am more accustomed to using over here. I’ve since corrected this in my subsequent reels.

Although jerk chicken is Caribbean-inspired, I felt wrapping it in a flour tortilla gave it a Tex Mex kind of feel. So, when it came to choosing an audio track for my reel, I opted for ZZ Top and Gimme All Your Lovin’. Someone commented that the guys in the band would be pleased the chicken, peppers and other bits were wrapped up in the tortilla, as it meant no stray pieces of food would get tangled up in their trademark long beards. I hadn’t really thought of that, tbh, but you have to say – fair point.

Here’s ZZ Top with Gimme All Your Lovin’.

Categories
Mains Recipes

Spanish Chicken

With the start of the November evenings, I’m declaring the opening of slow cooker season in our household.

The electric slow cooker is a fine invention, in my view. It means I can put the family Sunday dinner together in the morning, and let it spend the afternoon and early evening quietly bubbling away in the corner of the ADK Kitchen, with very little more for me to do. An important benefit of this is that I can then spend the lead-up to dinnertime on the sofa with a cold beer, watching the Premier League on Super Sunday, safe in the knowledge that all prep is taken care of. Get in!

First up is this slow cooked dish combining chicken with Spanish onion, red pepper, tomatoes, spicy chorizo, black olives, stock and Spanish white wine. Left to develop for 4-5 hours, all the flavours will gradually meld together and infuse the chicken. Delicioso!

Servings

4 adult servings.

Timings

20 mins to combine, 4-5 hours to slow cook.

You Will Need

  • 3 chicken breasts
  • Oil
  • 1 large Spanish onion
  • 1 red pepper
  • 1 whole chorizo sausage
  • 700ml chicken stock
  • 400g tin chopped tomatoes
  • 1 large glass of Spanish white wine
  • 15-20 pitted black olives
  • A handful of frozen peas

Method

  1. Switch on an electric slow cooker at the hot setting.
  2. Cut the chicken breast into chunks, and fry in oil in a pan until lightly browned all over. Transfer to the slow cooker bowl.
  3. Chop the onion and pepper and fry. Slice the chorizo into discs, then cut each disc in half. Add to the onion and pepper, and after 5 mins, transfer to the slow cooker bowl.
  4. Next into the pan, put the chopped tomatoes, stock and wine. Stir till it all begins to bubble, then add to the slow cooker bowl.
  5. Put the olives and peas directly into the slow cooker bowl and give it all a stir. Place the lid on the slow cooker and turn the setting down to medium. Leave for 4-5 hours.
  6. Serve with plain boiled rice.

Customise It!

If you don’t have an electric slow cooker, you can use a casserole dish. Put it in an oven at 180C and transfer in the ingredients from the frying pan as described above. When all have been added, turn the oven down to 160C, and leave for 4-5 hours.

You can add in other veg as you like – carrots and celery will go well. You can include a garlic clove or spices if you want, though I find the chorizo brings all the garlic, flavouring and colour needed.

Chicken thighs or drumsticks will work well in place of the chopped chicken breast, if you don’t mind eating meat off the bone.

The next track for the ADK Playlist has a Spanish feel, naturally. This band is one of the New York punk and new wave generation that grew out of CBGBs in the mid to late 70s: Mink DeVille with Spanish Stroll.

Adios!

Categories
Blog

Here Comes the Summer!

We’ve been enjoying a sustained period of warm and sunny weather in the UK recently, and my normal routine has adapted accordingly.

Foodwise, the gas barbecue has been in action in the back garden. I jointed up a chicken and prepared it in a couple of different ways.

The breast meat I diced and marinaded in the Qatari spices I bought at the Souq Waqif in Doha, on my trip there a few months back. After several hours in the fridge, I threaded the pieces on to skewers with slices of red pepper and courgette – see my main photo above.

The Qatari spices have been a reliably good blend that hasn’t disappointed – the meat is turned a golden yellow (which I guess must be the turmeric), and it delivers a spicy yet subtle kick.

It was also great cold the next day, sliced in a sesame bagel with mayo and salad from the garden.

I slashed the thighs and drumsticks with a sharp knife and coated them in a Mississippi Spice Rub I was given as a present. These I am allowing to cool, before taking off the bone for use in a salad.

Musicwise, I have some outdoor concerts coming up that I am really excited about, as they feature some of my favourite bands. First up next week is the Arctic Monkeys, and then Muse at the end of the month. More about these in upcoming posts.

My daytime exercise regime has moved primarily from indoor gym and yoga to outdoor swimming. The Club I belong to has a heated open air pool, with terrace and cafe bar, that is a great resource this time of year. On weeknight evenings I play bowls in the local leagues. Now it’s June, there is sufficient light for us to play until around 9pm, before both teams adjourn to the pavilion for drinks and chit chat.

Whatever you get up to, make the most of summer! Enjoy this feelgood track from The Undertones – Here Comes the Summer.