Chinese Chicken Hotpot

During the week I love to make quick easy recipes that are tasty. I have a few Donna Hay books, but haven't cooked too much out of them, although this book I have cooked a few things from.

I found this recipe for a Chinese chicken hotpot and thought it sounded healthy and easy to make, but didn't know how good it would be, so I didn't take any photos. When we sat down to eat it I was amazed at how all the flavours worked so well together and thought it was delicious.

So I thought I definitely have to make this again and take pictures, and so I did!

The first time I made the stock with Vegeta and the second time with the Chicken flavoured version of Vegeta. Definitely preferred it the first time, so if you are planning on using powdered stock, use Vegeta!

Also in the recipe the only vegetables it says to include are snow peas, but I added in some bok choy as well, so that it had more vegetables, and it worked very well.

Very good recipes in this book and very easy

Most of the recipes are for 2 people as well, which is good for us being a 2 person home. Although this recipe could easily feed 3, or maybe 4..

Ingredients for the chicken part of the dish


Mixture for topping all ready to go - this is what makes the dish. I would make double quantities of this.

Everything in the pot ready to be dished out.


Ready to eat with a dash of Sriracha about to go on it!

Chinese Chicken Hotpot - Adapted from Donna Hay's No Time to Cook

2 1/2 Cups of Chicken Stock
3 Slices Ginger
3 Cloves Garlic, bruised and peeled
1 1/4 Cups Jasmine Rice
3 x 140g Chicken Thigh Fillets
100g Snow Peas, trimmed
Asian Greens (such as bok choy or gai lan)
Soy Sauce and Sriracha Sauce to serve

Onion Ginger Dressing
1 Green Onion trimmed and finely sliced
1 tablespoon finely grated ginger
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons chopped coriander
1/2 teaspoon sea salt flakes

To make onion ginger dressing, combine all ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.

Combine stock, ginger and garlic in a medium pot and bring to the boil. Add rice, return to the boil. Top with the chicken and cover with a tight fitting lid. Cook for 10 minutes over low heat.

Remove pot from heat, add the snow peas and asian greens and allow to stand for 5 minutes or until all the liquid has been absorbed.

Spoon over the onion ginger dressing, sauces and serve.

Serves 2 (It can serve 3 people really well).

View the original article here

Eggplant Chicken Parmigiana

I love Chicken Parmigiana, it's a bit time consuming and messy to put together, but it tastes so good and you can get it all ready to go and then just stick in the oven when you are just about to eat it.

I usually just have chicken, but this time I had some extra eggplant in the fridge, so decided to fry that up as well and stick it on top of the chicken. It was so yummy!

I served it with a roasted pumpkin salad, in which I cubed some butternut pumpkin and tossed it in olive oil and salt and roasted in the oven for about 45 mins at 180 degrees. I did this while I was preparing the parmigiana, so that it was done by the time I put the chicken in the oven. I let the pumpkin cool and then mixed it with some rocket and Caesar salad dressing just before serving.

 

Chicken on bottom, then eggplant and tomato sauce

 

Cross-section of dish

Ready to go in the oven!

Chicken Eggplant Parmigiana - Serves 2

1 Chicken Breast
Flour for Coating
1 Egg
Breadcrumbs
Olive oil for Frying
Eggplant - Optional
1 Clove Garlic
1 small brown onion
Tin of Crushed Tomatoes
Red Wine Vinegar
Fresh Basil
Mozzarella Cheese
Parmesan Cheese

1. First chop the onion and garlic and saute in olive oil until soft

2. Add the tin of tomatoes to the garlic and onion and let this simmer, while stirring occasionally, while you prepare everything else.

3. Cut the chicken breast in half and then place the halves between glad wrap and smash it with a mallet, or rolling pin, or whatever you fancy

4. Place the flour on a plate and season with salt and pepper, whisk the egg in a wide shallow bowl, and put the bread crumbs on a different plate

5. Grab the flattened chicken breasts and dip in the flour, then egg, then breadcrumbs. Put them on a plate and place in the fridge while you fry the eggplant

6. Slice the eggplant in 1/2 cm slices, put some oil in a pan and get it nice and hot. Once the oil is hot, fry the eggplant until it is nice and soft. You could do this on a grill pan, but I don't have one of those....yet. Once they are done put them on a plate lined with kitchen towel to absorb the extra oil. Eggplant needs a lot of oil..

7. Once the eggplant is done, you can now fry the chicken. Use the same pan, and you will need to add more oil if your eggplant hasn't soaked it up already. Fry the chicken breasts on each side until they are nice and golden.

8. The tomato sauce should be ready now, splash in about 1/2 tbs red wine vinegar and mix through some fresh basil leaves. Taste and check for seasoning. I sometimes add a bit of sugar to my sauce as well.

9. It's time now for layering the dish. In an oven proof dish put the chicken breasts, then layer the eggplant, then spread the tomato sauce all over it. Then grate or slice your mozzarella on top and shave the Parmesan over that. I don't specify any cheese quantities, as it's up to you what you think is enough.

10. Place in a preheated oven at 180 degrees Celsius for about 20 minutes, or until the cheese are melted and turning brown.

I usually serve this with a salad as I find it is quite filling. Hope you enjoy it!

Vietnamese Chicken Salad

The weather in Canberra has been pretty hit and miss lately, although it's finally starting to get warmer and stay warmer at the moment. I made this the other night when I was wanting something healthy, fresh and fast for the warmer weather.

I used a Bill Granger recipe which I found on the lifestyle food website, you can find the recipe here.

I made a few changes to mine, I used coriander instead of basil, and I pulled apart a cooked chicken and used that instead of poaching chicken. I found that the dressing needed a bit more sugar too, but I like my dressings sweet!

I don't like to add the chicken to the salad mix either, cause then you can regulate the amount of chicken each person gets.

Serve it with rice to make it a substantial meal. Very easy and delicious!