Savoury Chocolate Chicken

      I'm back! Well, I never disappeared. I just haven't been cooking anything inspiring enough to write about. Yesterday, however, I tried a recipe for chocolate chicken. It is similar to chicken mole, which is a Mexican dish prepared with a few types of chillies, spices and chocolate.

      It wouldn't take a genius to figure out that I am pretty-much addicted to chocolate. Maybe it's the sugar, maybe it's the endorphins that it releases. Whatever it is, I thought I should finally try a savoury dish that includes chocolate. I based my version of the dish on this recipe and made some adjustments to the ingredients and method. It is, of course, low in fat (as are most of my main dish recipes).

      I must say that though the results were far from disappointing, this chicken dish might be an acquired taste. After all, the description by the author of the original recipe above is that it tastes like a cross between rendang and satay sauce. That's really not far from how I would personally describe it. It's like a curry, but not a curry. It is hard to describe in definite terms, but be forewarned that my husband wasn't a huge fan of this dish. He didn't feel that the flavours worked together harmoniously. I, on the other hand, rather enjoyed the texture and exotic flavour! I served this with mashed potatoes, though in hindsight, rice would have been a better option.

      If you are looking for something different to cook for a poultry main dish and bear in mind that some people will love this dish while others might not, have yourself a kitchen adventure by trying this recipe!

Savoury Chocolate Chicken

serves 4 (easily halved)

Cooking spray or vegetable oil
700g chicken breast

1 chicken stock cube

1 cup hot water

40g almonds (or almond meal)

20g white sesame seeds

1 tsp ground cinnamon

3/4 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp black pepper

2 small or 1 big onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 medium tomatoes, chopped

2 TBSP tomato puree

1 tsp dried chilli flakes

25g dark chocolate, finely chopped

2 tsp cornflour

1 tsp cocoa powder

1. Crumble the stock cube into the hot water, stir to dissolve then leave aside to cool.
2. Blend the almonds and sesame seeds together till crumbly and almost powdery. Stir in the cinnamon, ground coriander and pepper.
3. Blend the tomatoes, garlic, ginger and tomato puree together till it is a smooth mixture. Mix the chilli flakes into the tomato mixture.
4. Heat a sauté pan and brown the chicken using oil or cooking spray. You might have to do this in 2 batches.
5. While the chicken is browning, stir the cornflour and cocoa powder into the cooled chicken stock mixture.
6. Remove the browned chicken from the pan and pour the blended tomato mixture into the hot pan.
7. When the mixture has come to the boil, add the chicken stock mixture and bring to the boil again.
8. Now add the ground almond, sesame and spice mixture into the pan and stir, then add the chopped chocolate.
9. When the chocolate has melted, add the browned chicken to the pan and coat with the sauce.
10. Put a lid on the pan and simmer on low heat for 30 minutes, stirring periodically.
When chicken is cooked through and sauce is thickened to your liking, turn off the heat and serve!

Served with boiled or steamed rice and a side of vegetables, this makes a very hearty meal!

Potato Pie Crust

     Potatoes were once shunned by dieters trying to reduce their carbohydrate intake. However, not all carbohydrates are created equally and potatoes are an excellent choice with many nutrients and a high-satiety value. Don't believe me? Check this link out.
          Did you know that you can use mashed potatoes to make a healthy pie crust? I came across a recipe for a potato crust when I was looking for something healthy to use as a base for a quiche. 'Quiche' in my home is usually more like a baked omelette- no crust, no cream, and with cottage cheese to increase the protein content. But I had some leftover cream in my fridge from when I made a birthday cake for a friend. So I thought I'd make a 'proper' quiche with a crust for once. I wanted to lighten up the quiche by having a healthier crust instead of shortcrust pastry. So I tried a mashed potato crust and it turned out well!
       I have since used this potato crust for savoury pies topped with puff pastry (less sinful when potatoes are used as a base, instead of more puff pastry) and have always gotten good results. Try it out sometime if you need a healthy pie crust. A bonus is that it is so much easier to whip up than to make a shortcrust pastry!

Healthy pie crust, anyone?

Potato Pie Crust

makes enough for one pie crust

250g potatoes, skinned and cut into chunks

1 tsp margarine

Cooking/baking spray

1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease one big pie dish or two small pie dishes.

2. Boil the potatoes in cold water till fork-tender.

3. Drain the boiled potatoes and mash well.

4. Add the margarine and stir through.

5. Spoon 1/3 of the mashed potato into the pie dish. Using wet fingers, press the potato to form a thin layer on the bottom of the pie dish.

6. To form the crust up the sides of the pie dish, press the mashed potato upwards from the bottom edge of the pie dish with wet fingers.

7. Spray lightly with cooking spray and bake in the preheated oven until the edges of the crust are lightly browned. 

8. Let the crust cool before adding pie pilling, then bake pie following the normal baking instructions.

     The reason I say to use wet fingers is that it prevents a lot of the mashed potato from sticking to your fingers. The starch from the potatoes is rather sticky and I find that working with wet fingers helps a lot. You might end up with some leftover mashed potato. I had some leftover and gave it to my dog, who enjoyed it!

Ham, leek & mushroom filo pie

     Dinner this evening was a homemade pie. I had some filo pastry in the freezer so I decided to use that instead of potatoes to top the pie. The sauce was made with my usual shortcut white sauce. Look for my 'No-fail, Low-fat White Sauce' recipe
     Filo pastry is a good alternative to shortcrust or puff pastry, if you are concerned with the fat content in your food. It is also versatile in the sense that it can be used for sweet or savoury dishes such as apple strudel, baked chocolate parcels, spring rolls and so on. So if you like filo pastry, be assured that you can store it in the freezer, as long as the sheets of pastry are separated so that you can remove what you need from the freezer. To use frozen filo, simply thaw the frozen pastry in your refrigerator for a few hours.
      I'm not a big fan of filo because it can be so brittle and, hence, tedious to work with. It's good on a pie when you don't need it to look pretty. But for things like samosas, torn filo pastry can be a pain to work with.

My pie bubbled over while baking

Ham, Leek & Mushroom filo pie

makes one 9-inch pie OR 2 smaller individual pies

1 tsp vegetable oil

400g cooked chopped ham

1 cup sliced mushrooms (or more)

250g leeks, sliced thinly

2/3 cup grated carrot, optional

(just to add more nutrition)

1 quantity of my 'No-fail, Low-fat White Sauce'

1/2 tsp dried thyme

salt & pepper

4 or 5 sheets filo pastry

1 TBSP butter/margarine, melted

1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Prepare white sauce.

2.  Heat the oil in a non-stick pan.

3. When oil is hot, add the leeks and mushrooms and sauté till the mushrooms are browned.

4. Add the carrot and ham to the pan and sauté for another 2 minutes.

5. Stir the white sauce and thyme into the pan of sautéed ham & vegetables. 

6. Bring the pan to a simmer then turn off the heat. 

7. Check seasonings, add salt and pepper if necessary. I usually use a lot of pepper.

8. Pour the pie filling into your pie dish/dishes. 

9. Get your melted butter ready and lay one layer of filo pastry on the pie filling. You can tear or scrunch the pastry up to make it fit the pie dish.

10. Using a pastry brush, brush butter on the pastry.

11. Repeat the pastry and butter layers until all your pastry is used up.

12. Bake in the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown.

13. Leave to sit for 10 minutes (just so that the pie isn't too hot) then serve!

Voila!

I made 2 individual pies because I like having a WHOLE pie

     Lately, I've been making individual pies instead of one bigger pie.  I use a small oven-safe dish (about 20cm diameter) for myself and a slightly bigger Pyrex dish for my husband. I like having my own pie to eat at my own pace. Enjoy your pie!!

No-fail low-fat white sauce

      White sauce....also known as béchamel sauce. It is a versatile sauce that every cook should know because it can be used in a multitude of recipes. It can be used for lasagnes, pastas, pies and for mac & cheese. Normally, you make roux using butter and flour to act as a thickener for the scalded milk. The roux should be equal proportions of plain flour and butter by weight. Normally you would melt the butter in a pan without letting it brown then mix in the flour till you get a paste. Then you would whisk milk into the flour paste.
      I used to be alright at making a white sauce, until I moved to the Netherlands. For some bizarre reason, I could never get a traditional white sauce right again. It always turned out lumpy, runny or just plain gross. Maybe it's the flour here. Maybe I never used the right amount of butter. Maybe it was just me. I got tired of trying. Then I discovered a different way to make a white sauce which, although thinner on flavour, is a lot quicker and never fails me.
   
      This method uses no butter at all and cornflour. It is lower in fat than a traditional béchamel sauce recipe (and maybe even gluten free)! No butter needed!
       This sauce can be used for lasagnes, mac & cheese, as a base for a lovely mushroom sauce, as a savoury pie filling etc....

Easy white sauce

makes a little less than 2 cups of sauce

2 cups semi-skimmed milk

1 bay leaf

1/8 stock cube

1 heaped TBSP cornflour

salt & pepper

1. Put the milk into a saucepan. 

2. Take out 2 tablespoons of the milk and put in a small bowl/ramekin.

3. Add the bay leaf to the milk in the saucepan and heat over a low flame.

4. Mix the cornflour into the remaining milk in the small bowl and mix to form a thin paste.

5. When the milk in the saucepan is hot, add the stock cube and stir to dissolve. 

6. Just when the milk starts to boil, remove the bay leaf and pour in the cornflour mixture.

7. Stir gently. Soon the sauce should start to bubble up and thicken. Reduce the heat and simmer the sauce for 1 minute. 

*If the sauce is too thin for your liking, dissolve another 1/2 TBSP cornflour in 1/2 TBSP of room-temperature water and stir into the sauce. Let the sauce simmer for 1 minute.

9. Add salt/pepper and that's it! Done!

Cheese sauce

1 quantity white sauce

1/2 to 1 cup grated cheese

a little mustard powder (optional)

1. Simply stir the grated cheese and mustard powder into the sauce while it is simmering for the last 1 minute.

*Use more or less cheese, if that's what you like.

Chicken Jalfrezi for two

     I cook dinner on most days. Some days I just can't think of what to cook and some days I just don't want to cook. I have gotten better in cooking over the past year. My repertoire of food that I cook well include a variety of dishes now. I have become adept at cooking for two. So here's an easy, healthy curry that feeds two:

Chicken Jalfrezi

serves 2

 Approx 270kcals per portion without oil

200g chicken breast, diced

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper/chilli powder

1 tsp ground turmeric

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp ground ginger

1 1/2 tsp ground cumin

1 1/2 tsp ground coriander seeds

1/2 tsp garam masala

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper/chilli powder (or more if you like)

1 TBSP vegetable oil (or cooking spray)

1/2 cup onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

300g tomatoes, chopped (fresh or canned)

1 cup green capsicum, diced

1/4 cup water

salt, as required

1 tsp butter

1 tsp lemon juice

1. Combine the first 4 ingredients in a bowl and stir well to coat the chicken. Marinate for at least 15 minutes.

2. Combine the next 5 ingredients (the spices) in a small bowl/dish.

3. Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and stir. After 2 minutes, add the minced garlic.

4. Cook the onions and garlic until softened, about 4 minutes. Don't let the garlic burn!

5. Add the marinated chicken to the pan and cook until lightly browned.

6. Now add the tomatoes and spices and cook for 5 minutes.

7. Add 1/8 cup of water to the pan, bring the pan to the boil, then cover and reduce the heat to low.

8. After 10 minutes, check on the curry and add more water if it looks too dry.

9. Add the capsicum to the pan then cover and leave to cook for a further 10 minutes.

10. Lift the lid and savour the aroma of your curry. Give it a taste taste and add some salt if required.

11. Turn off the heat then stir in the butter and lemon juice.

Serve with rice, naan, chapati or whatever floats your boat!