CHICKEN CURRY

I've been wanting to cook chicken curry but the curry powder or curry paste here in UAE is soooo strong. I like our curry powder in the Philippines, just right for my palate. So, when my mother-in-law came here last December to visit us, I asked her to bring me some curry powder. I cooked chicken curry a few weeks ago but it wasn't good. The sauce was so thick because I used coconut cream instead of coconut milk. This time around, it was a success and I never thought it was so easy to prepare... really. *wink*

CHICKEN CURRY

Ingredients:
2 chicken breast, cut into serving portions
1 large potato, cubed
2 medium carrots, sliced into rings
1/2 bell pepper, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 thumb-sized ginger, sliced
1 small tomato, chopped
2 tbsp. curry powder
1/2 tsp. dried oregano (optional)
1 tsp. ginger powder (optional)
1 cup coconut milk
1 tsp. cornstarch dissolved in
1/2 cup chicken broth
salt and pepper
olive oil
1 tbsp. butter

Procedure:
In a bowl, mix the chicken breast with 1 tbsp. curry powder, ginger powder, dried oregano, salt and pepper. Leave for a few minutes.

In a wok, heat some cooking oil and pan fry the potatoes until brown. Drain on paper towel and set aside.

In the same wok, heat olive oil and butter. Saute garlic, onion, ginger and tomato until aromatic. Add the chicken and cook until the chicken are a little bit browned and the oil from the chicken come out, about 5-10 minutes. Add the remaining 1 tbsp. curry powder and mix until fully combined, about 2-3 minutes..

Add the coconut milk, fried potato and carrots. Do not stir and cover just yet to let the oil from the coconut milk to come out, just for a couple of minutes or so. Then cover and continue to simmer until the vegetables are a bit tender. Add the bell pepper and season with salt and pepper according to your preference.

Pour the chicken broth with cornstarch and mix slowly until a little thickenned in consistency. Taste and season again if desired.

Serve over steamed rice.

OVEN ROASTED CHICKEN BREAST

I was looking for a recipe for the chicken breast since it's the only meat left in the refrigerator. Then I stumbled upon this classic baked chicken recipe from Simply Recipes. I just twisted it a bit by adding some more spices. I though that it would make the chicken breast more tastier... and it did. If you want the Simply Recipe for this dish, click here.

OVEN ROASTED CHICKEN BREAST

Ingredients:
1 chicken breast, halved
1 tomato, halved
7 cloves garlic, crushed
1 onion, quartered
2 spring onion, quartered
1 lemon grass, quartered
1/4 bell pepper, sliced
salt
freshly ground black pepper
olive oil
1 tbsp. butter
1/2 tsp. cornstarch, dissolved in
1/4 cup chicken broth

Procedure:
Pre-heat oven to 400ºF. Rinse chicken and pat dry with paper towel. Coat the bottom of roasting pan with olive oil. Rub some olive oil all over the chicken breast in the roasting pan. Sprinkle both sides of the chicken breast with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Arrange the chicken breast skin side up on the roasting pan. Arrange them with a little space in between and around them that they are neither touching each other not touching the roasting pan. Arrange the garlic, onion, spring onion, lemongrass and bell pepper into the sides and between the chicken breast. Place the half of the tomato at the top of the roasting pan and the other half at the bottom of the roasting pan.

Bake for 30 minutes at 400ºF. Then lower the heat to 350ºF for about 20 minutes more (10 minutes per side). You will know it's cooked when the juices comes out clear (not pink) when poked with a knife or toothpick. If your chicken aren't browning to your satisfaction, you can put them under the broiler for about 5 minutes until it turned brown as per your desire.

Remove roasting pan from the oven. Place the chicken on the serving dish with the spices and the tomato. Cover with aluminum foil for 5 - 10 minutes before serving.

To make the sauce:
Take the roasting pan where you baked the chicken with the drippings and place over the stovetop on a medium heat. Using a metal spatula, scrape off the drippings stuck on the bottom of the roasting pan. Add a chicken broth to the pan to deglaze it. Pour the deglazed drippings on a sauce pan with the butter. Continue cooking over medium heat until it reaches your desired consistency (not too thick and not too flowy).

Serve your oven roasted chicken breast with steam rice. Or even make it a filling for your flour tortilla with sliced tomato, cucumber and lettuce.

lime chicken in oyster sauce

This was simply an update to my previous post on Chicken in Oyster Sauce. Actually, this is the fourth version of my Chicken in Oyster Sauce, you can view them here, here and here. Hehehe... The difference?... I just marinated the chicken with lime. It's a bit sour because of the lime but I liked it.

Ingredients:
2 pcs. chicken breast, cut into serving portion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 small onion, sliced
1 tbsp. ginger, minced
1/4 cup oyster sauce
salt and freshly ground pepper
1-2 pcs. lime
1 tbsp. butter
2 tbsp. cooking oil

Procedure:
Marinate the chicken with lime juice for a few minutes.

In a wok heat olive oil and butter and saute garlic, ginger and onion until aromatic.

Add the marinated chicken (optional: you can include or exclude any remaining juice from the marinade) and cook until a little browned and cooked.

Before putting off the fire, add the oyster sauce. Stir until chicken are fully coated with sauce.

Place in a serving dish and sprinkle with some spring onions on top.

chicken mushroom

Today Kim woke up a little bit late already and he was not able to prepare for lunch today. He cooks for lunch before he goes to work in the morning since I'm always too sleepy to do it (sleepless nights taking care of the baby... hehehe...) So, I have to prepare our lunch, for me and Makuy that is, and Kim will have to buy lunch at the Lulu Supermarket near their office.

I still have half of the chicken breast at the refrigerator and I kinda miss chicken in oyster sauce. It's easy to make and since Baby Yano's still sleeping I had to prepare this quick one. Hehehe... And since I only have half of the chicken breast, I just added some button mushroom to make it enough for me and Makuy.

This recipe can serve 1-2 persons.

Ingredients:
1 chicken breast, cut into serving portions
1/2 cup button mushroom, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 small onion, sliced
1/2 tbsp. ginger, minced
2 tbsp. oyster sauce
freshly ground pepper
1 tbsp. butter
1 tbsp. olive oil

Procedure:
Season chicken slices with salt and pepper. Set aside.

In a wok, heat oil and butter. Add chicken slices and cook until golden brown.

Then add onion, garlic and ginger. Continue sauteing until aromatic.

Add mushroom and continue cooking for another 5 minutes.

Add oyster sauce and mix until chicken and mushroom are coated well with the sauce.

Season with pepper (you can add salt if you desire but for me oyster sauce will give it the saltiness). Turn off the heat and serve.

chicken barbecue

i wanted to use my griddle today, so i decided to try stovetop grilling chicken barbeque. i used this recipe here for the chicken barbecue, i just made some changes. it was alright but k commented that it tasted more like a kebabs. hehehe... maybe... i should have just add bell pepper and pineapple then it would be chicken kebab. hehehe... i served the chicken with tomato and cucumber salad.

ingredients:
1 chicken breast, skinless, boneless, cubed
1 cup tomato ketchup ketchup
3 tbsp. calamansi juice
5 cloves garlic
1 cup soy Sauce
1 tbsp. sugar
salt and pepper
wooden skewers

procedure:
mix all ingredients on a bowl and let marinade for 30 minutes.

thread chicken pieces on skewers, then place skewers on a tray. (before threading the chicken, dip the wooden skewers in the water for 30 minutes to avoid burning it later during the grilling).

grill chicken skewers until cooked through.

grilled chicken quesadilla

got to consume the remaining chicken breast from the freezer and the 2 remaining flour tortillas in the refrigerator. i wanted something else beside wraps and i remembered this flour tortilla used just like pizza with toppings. since i have 2 flour tortillas, i decided to make quesadilla instead.

ingredients:
chicken breast
tomato, sliced
onion, sliced
bell pepper, sliced
button mushroom, sliced
mozarella cheese, grated
flour tortillas
tomato sauce

procedure:
season the chicken breast with salt and pepper and then grill until cooked. slice into strips and set aside.

in the same griddle, place 1 tortilla then spread tomato sauce. then top with the chicken, tomato, onion, bell pepper, mushroom and cheese. then place the other tortilla on top.

grill for1 more minute. then slowly, flip over to grill the top tortilla.

• • • • • • •

i later found out that you can also pan-fry the tortilla instead of grilling it.

fried chicken ala max's

wanted to cook a fried chicken or baked chicken for lunch today. i started surfing the net for easy and quick recipe and then i came to this nice foodblog oversea pinoy cooking with his max's style fried chicken. he uses whole chicken and since we're just three in the house, i just used the 2 chicken legs. i wanted to try it since i have been enjoying max fried chicken ever sice... "simut to the bones". it just so sad that while i was deep-frying the second leg that i ran out of lpg! hehehe... so we ended up sharing the one leg that's been cooked (at least we have a leg to eat for lunch rather than nothing at all... hehehe...)

you can view the original recipe here.

ingredients:
2 chicken legs
salt
patis, fish sauce
black pepper

procedure:
wash chicken thoroughly and drain well.

generously rub chicken with salt including cavities and let stand for 15 minutes.

in a steamer put 3 cups of water 1/2 cup of patis/fish sauce and 1/2 tsp. black pepper, bring to a boil.

now arrange chicken legs side by side in the steamer and steam for 15 to 20 minutes, add more water if required.

remove chicken from the steamer let cool down. using your finger lightly rub the steamed chicken with patis, chill in a refrigerator until ready for frying.

deep fry chicken for 5-8 minutes each side until color change to golden brown. for maximum crispiness, after the first frying re-chill and when ready to serve refry for 2-3 minutes each side.

serve with your favorite sauce.

grilled chicken wrap

this was as per k's request of a light dinner every evening... he's dieting... trying to loose weight. hehehe... as for me, i also liked it this way. i don't like to sleep with heavy tummy even if i'm 7 months preggy already. i think i can sleep better if i eat lighter. hehehe...

i was eager to buy a grill pan so that i could grill even inside the house and it has been a while since i was craving to buy one. now that i owned a grill pan (thanks to k), i was so excited to try it with the grilled chicken wrap, or fajitas, or sandwich...

this is simple to make without any complications or special sauce. this is good for 2 persons.

ingredients:
1 chicken breast, sliced into 2
salt and pepper
cumin
1 tomato, seeded and sliced
1 cucumber, sliced into thin strips
1 small white onion, sliced thinly
cheddar cheese, sliced thinly
4 leaves, romaine lettuce¹
2 tbsp. mayonnaise
1 tsp. lemon juice
2 pcs. flour tortillas

procedure:
season chicken with salt, pepper and cumin. rest for a few minutes.

mix the mayonnasie and lemon juice. set aside.

heat grill pan and coat with a little oil. grill chicken until cooked. rest for a few minutes before slicing into thin pieces. set aside.

grill the flour tortillas both sides just until heated and you could see the grill marks.

assemble: line a cutting board with foil/wax paper. lay a flour tortilla. spread with mayonnaise-lemon mixture. then lay 1 lettuce leaves on the center (horizontally). put the grilled chicken slices on over the lettuce leaves. then put tomato, cucumber, onion and cheese on top. top with another lettuce leaves. fold bottom of the flour tortilla to the center, the top to the center and the right side to the center. then wrap with the foil/wax paper until secured.

enjoy...

chicken in oyster sauce with pechay

still wondering what to prepare for lunch today that's just simple and fast. weather's terribly hotter now here in uae and i simply couldn't stand the heat in the kitchen. and since we're refraining from eating pork these days (because of the swine flu and uae temporarily banned importing and selling of pork), we only have chicken in the freezer... i requested that we buy beef next time even if it's a bit expensive here.

i just simply cooked the chicken with oyster sauce and added pechay for vegetable. it's easy and fast and yet delicious.

i already have an entry for chicken with oyster sauce and i put potato wedges, and now i used pechay and i liked it much better and did some revisions.

ingredients:
chicken wings and legs, cut into serving portion
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 small onion, sliced
1 tbsp. ginger, minced
1/4 cup oyster sauce
salt and freshly ground pepper
2 tbsp. butter
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 bunch pechay, separate white part and leaves, chopped

procedure:
season chicken slices with salt and pepper.

in a wok, heat oil and butter. add chicken slices and cook until golden brown.

then add onion, garlic and ginger. continue sauteing until aromatic.

add oyster sauce and mix until chicken are coated well with oyster sauce.

season with salt and pepper according to your taste. add the white part of pechay and cook for about 1 minute. then add the pechay leaves and cook for another 1 minute stirring. turn off the heat and serve.

chicken sotanghon soup

always wanted to have some soup these days... i still have some chicken breast in the freezer and some sotanghon noodle. this was a perfect night for a chicken sotanghon soup. this is just good with or without rice. and the soup is just good for the tummy.


this recipe is good for 3-4 persons.

ingredients:
1 chicken breast, cut into serving portion
2 cloved garlic, crushed and sliced thinly
1 small onion, sliced
1 spring onion, separate white part from green part
1 thumb-size ginger
1 small tomato, seeded and sliced
1 small carrots, julienned
1 handful cabbage, shreded
1 chicken cube dissolved in 3 cups water ¹
125 gm. sotanghon noodles ²
2 tbsp. cooking oil
salt and pepper to taste

procedure:
in a casserole, heat oil and saute onion, garlic, white part of spring onion and ginger until fragrant.

add the chicken and saute until chicken renders oil and fry until a little bit brown.

add tomatoes and saute for a minute.

add the chicken cube dissolved in water. bring to a boil.

add the sotanghon noodles. continue simmering until noodles are cooked. season with salt and pepper according to your taste.

add the carrots and simmer for another minute. turn off the heat and then add the shreded cabbage and cover.

serve hot in an individual soup bowl and top with chopped green part of spring onion.

• • • • • • •

¹ i used chicken cube since i didn't have any homemade chicken broth. homemade broth is always much better that the cubes. you can also just use water instead.

² i prefer not to pre soak the sotanghon noodles in water so that when it is placed in the casserole, it will absorbed the flavor of the chicken stock (soup).

chili coco chicken

category: main dish
serving: makes 2-3 servings

i'm sitting in the dining table wondering what to do with the remaining 5 chicken wings other that making fried chicken and a dish that makuy would eat. makuy's been a picky eater since he turned 3. i don't want to keep on giving him always what he likes, fried chicken, lechon kawali, adobong manok, and others like that (what kids usually likes eats). so i scanned my printout recipes i got from the net. and then i found this recipe of pinoycook, olympic chili coco chicken. it's a simple dish and i believe that the simple the dish the more flavor there is. and somehow i would not complicate the taste buds of makuy. if he doesn't like the smell, he will not taste; therefore, he won't eat it.

but the recipe calls for dried terragon, "hhmmm... what is that?"... that's the first thing that entered my mind. i'm not familiar with terragon, what kind of taste does it give? hehehe... sorry... not so much with spices and i didn't have time to search the net. i don't know what to substitute it with. so, as i was preparing the chicken with the marinate, i was still thinking what to put in place of the terragon. i saw bay leaves, i took one and crumbled it into tiny pieces with the chicken. i'm now wondering how it will turn out. hahaha... well... it turned out well and the good thing there was that makuy ate his share and kim likes it, too. one of these days i'll try this recipe again and i'll make sure i have the dried terragon and i'll compare the taste. the recipe also calls for simmering the chicken thighs and drumsticks for an hour to an hour and a half. i simmered mine for 45 minutes only since i'm using chicken wings and only a few pieces.

ingredients:
5 pcs. chicken wings cut into half
2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
3 cloves garlic, grated
1 thumb-size ginger, grated
1 bay leaf
2 siling haba
2 large tomatoes, diced
1 cup coconut cream

procedure:
place the chicken in a bowl together with the salt, pepper, garlic, ginger and bay leaf. mix well with your hands. cover with cling film and let sit in the fridge for at least an hour.

arrange the chicken in a single layer in a preheated non-stick wok or frying pan (preheating the pan will make the chicken render fat quickly and you won’t have to add any cooking oil at all) and cook over high heat to brown.

when they have browned moderately, remove them with a slotted spoon and pour off the oil rendered from the chicken skins. be careful not to pour off any ginger or garlic. Tten, return the chicken pieces to the pan.

add siling haba and diced tomatoes. you can used canned tomatoes if you like.

next, pour in coconut cream. stir everything gently and bring to a soft boil. lower the heat, cover the pan and simmer for an 45 minutes.

note: the dish would taste much better if let sited for a couple of hours or overnight in the fridge if possible, to allow the flavors to develop fully.

chinese chicken wings

category: main dish
serving: makes 2-3 servings

i got this chicken recipe in one of the foodblog that i constantly visit for some good recipes, blog chef. since i just have to prepare for three, i just adjusted the ingredients and luckily i got a thumbs up from my customers (kim & makuy ;p). this is similar to the buffalo wings in a restaurant although it's not spicy, i can still associate it with that. if you like it spicy and hot, you can always add hot sauce or chillis.

blog chef recommended to marinate the chicken wings overnight or for 24 hours for a more flavorful wings. as he said, the marinate is just as good as a dipping sauce or just simply pour over the rice just like what we did. the original recipe is here.

ingredients:
7 chicken wings, cut into 2
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup pineapple juice
4 tbsp. brown sugar
2 tbsp. vegetable oil
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. ginger powder

procedure:
in a large bowl combine all of the marinade ingredients. add the chicken wings, cover and refrigerate. marinate overnight (or longer).

pre-heat oven to 350º. arrange chicken wings on a foil lined baking sheet. pour marinade over wings.

bake in the oven for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until wings are fully cooked.

oh so quick fried chicken

today's thrusday and my refrigerator's still empty except for three chicken drumsticks. today, i made fried chicken with cucumber salad for lunch. this was a sure hit to makuy.

this fried chicken is so so quick to prepare since i only used three ingredients. as my favorite chef said that the lesser the ingredients the tastier it would be (the less complicated taste it would have).

i cut the drumstick into 2 so that it would cook faster. i used ajinomoto ginisa all purpose seasoning mix in seasoning the cornstarch i used to bread the chicken. but if you don't have it, you can mix garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper powder together with the cornstarch. i used cornstarch instead of flour since cornstarch is thinner and it holds well to the chicken. i don't like the breading to be thick because makuy will end up just eating the breading instead of the chicken meat. and make sure that the oil for deep frying is really hot so that when you fry the chicken, it will immediately seer the chicken, makes the meat juicy and will not absorb the oil. on the other hand, do not overcrowd the chicken in the wok/pan while frying them. this will lower the heat and so the chicken or any other meat or fish won't cook well.


as for my recipe for this, i didn't actually measure the ingredients. this is a more-or-less measurement. with your fried chicken, don't hesitate to add or deduct, it should be as per your own preferences. this recipe makes 2-3 servings.

ingredients:
3 pcs. chicken drumstick, halved
3 tbsp. lemon juice
1/4 cup cornstarch
2 tbsp. ajinomoto ginisa all purpose seasoning mix
oil for deep frying

procedure:
heat oil in a deep pan.

mix the chicken and lemon juice. mix until well combined using hand. drain and pat dry using paper towel. set aside.

on a bowl, combine well cornstarch and the ginisa seasoning mix for the breading.

on a zip lock bag, put together the breading and the chicken. shake well until chickens are fully coated.

when the oil is really hot, drop the chicken into the oil and deep fry until golden brown. maybe between 3-6 minutes depending on the zise of the chicken.

drain on paper towels before serving.

chicken and corn soup

i wanted to have soup for tonight and i have cream corn in my pantry. chicken corn soup immediately came into my mind.

this was all we had tonight for supper with garlic bread. my husband's getting bigger that's why i wanted to prepare light dishes for supper. and besides, it's cold tonight, so a hot soup is nice also.

this recipe makes 2-3 servings:

ingredients:
3 cups chicken stock
1 tbsp. onion, sliced
1 tsp. ginger, grated
1 cup creamed corn
1 cup cooked chicken, shredded
1 cup button mushroom, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup water
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 green onion, sliced
2 tbsp. cooking oil
salt
freshly ground pepper

procedure:
heat oil in a saucepan and saute the onion until wilted.

add the chicken and mushroom. then add the creamed corn, chicken stock and ginger. cook until simmering.

blend cornstarch with water then add to the stock mixture. stir over heat until soup boils and thickens slightly.

gradually add egg, in a thin stream, to simmering soup. continue mixing until the egg is dispersed well. season with salt and pepper.

turn off the heat and add green onion.

chicken menudo

category: main dish
serving: 6

this was my first time i prepared chicken menudo. our housemates seemed to like it, i'm glad. though it was not the complicated usual menudo , it was still menudo. hehehe...



ingredients:
1/2 kl. chicken, cut into serving portions
1/4 cup lemon juice
1-1/2 tbsp. soy sauce
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, sliced
1 tomato, chopped
1 bell pepper, sliced
1 potato, cubed
1 carrots, chopped
1 cup tomato sauce
7 pcs. hotdog, sliced diagonally and cooked
1 tbsp. cooking oil
salt
fresh ground pepper

procedure:
in a large bowl, combine chicken, lemon juice and soy sauce. mix well and marinate for 3 hours in the refrigerator.

in a large pan, heat oil and saute garlic, onion and tomato over medium heat until garlic is fragrant.

add marinated chicken and cooked until lightly browned.

add bell pepper, potato, carrot and tomato sauce. mix well. allow to boil and let simmer, about 5-8 minutes.

add cooked hotdogs and season with salt and pepper. continue cooking for about 2 minutes more.

chicken in oyster sauce

category: main dish
servings: 4

three weeks ago i was not feeling well... makuy and i were not really feeling well but i still managed to cook a dish. hehehe...

i've been into oyster sauce lately. hehehe... it's very obvious right? i just wanted to try it with my cooking. i've never imagined how helpful oyster sauce is to cooking. since i am sick, i needed to prepare a food that's easy toc ook and fast and at the same time tasty also... so, there, oyster sauce comes in. great help. hehehe...

in boiling the chicken, instead of sprite you can use 7-up; or just the simply boil in water with salt, pepper and a little vinegar. as for the hot sauce, it can be omitted if you don't like it with a little kick. you can also add mote hot sauce if you want it more spicy. i just have 1 tsp. so that i can take the spiciness and at the same time kim likes it. i used tabaso hot pepper sauce... mmmm... very nice.

so, here's my version of aying's chicken in oyster sauce.



ingredients:
2 pcs. chicken breast, cut into serving portion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 small onion, sliced
1 tbsp. ginger, minced
1/4 cup oyster sauce
salt and freshly ground pepper
1 tsp. hot pepper
1 can sprite
1 tbsp. butter
2 tbsp. cooking oil
1 medium potato, cut into wedges, season with salt and deep-fried

directions:
boil chicken breast in sprite until liquid evaporates.

add cooking oil and butter. then add garlic, ginger and onion. cook chicken until a little bit browned.

add the oyster sauce and hot sauce. stir until chicken are fully coated with sauce.

add half of the deep-fried potato wedges to the pan and mix again until well coated.

place in a serving dish and add the remaining potato wedges. sprinkle with some spring onions on top.

wala... done in minutes! hehehe...