All Entries in the "Chicken" Category
Moroccan Chicken and Rice
The main dish which Minoo planned for the South Arm Community Kitchen is a Moroccan Chicken and Rice dish. We were surprised with the use of winter squash in this rice dish.
This Moroccan Chicken and Rice dish is a all in a pot dish. It has protein, vegetable and grain in this dish. This recipe is adapted from Alive Magazine and it serves 4.
The butternut squash and raisins add sweetness to this rice dish. This is a good recipe to make use of winter squashes which are in season now. They are cheap and nutritious.
Here is a tip to peel the tough skin butternut squash. Microwave the whole squash, on high, for 2 minutes. This softens the skins, making it easier to peel. More on following page. Click here to continue reading
Peruvian Cuisine: Chicken in Aji Sauce (Aji De Gallina)
Erika Pereyra is a relatively new member of the South Arm Community Kitchen. We were glad that she’s sharing some of her favourite Peruvian dishes in the South Arm Community Kitchen. Erika shared with us that Peruvian cuisine has lots of influences from Spanish cuisine. One can also find a lot of Japanese and Chinese restaurants in Peru.
I bet you will never guess that Peruvian Cuisine has one of the most diverse in the world and is at the same level of cuisines of the Chinese, Indian, French and Spanish. Lima, the capital of Peru, is referred to as the “gastronomic capital of the Americas”.
The video above on Peruvian Cuisine is a bit long but I find it interesting that the country of Peru is so rich in gastronomic heritage. Did you know too that Peru is home to about 2000 types of potatoes? Peru accounts for 40% of all potato varieties in the world.
The first dish which Erika shared with us is called Chicken in Aji Sauce (Aji De Gallina). Aji is a kind of pepper, also known as Peruvian hot pepper.
The above are two types of Aji pepper which Erika introduced to us, one in the form of paste while another is whole. Erika told us that we can find Peruvian groceries in Killarney Market at 49th Ave East Vancouver. For the Chicken in Aji Sauce, we used Aji paste. More on following page. Click here to continue reading
Crispy Fried Chicken
This recipe is taken from an old recipe book titled Mrs. Lee’s Cookbook. It’s a gift from a friend who bought this from a garage sales long time ago. I made this only once in a blue moon just because Ben and the kids love fried chicken. I do not like the oily smell that lingers in my apartment after deep frying.
On top of that, I think dumping the oil into the garbage is not very environmentally friendly. I usually store away the cooled oil in a glass container and dispose it in the normal garbage bin. Is there a better way to dispose off used oil? I know that restaurants have special disposable bins for grease.
Ingredients:
- 1 chicken (about 2 1/2 lbs), cut into pieces & marinated & kneaded with the following:
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon five spice powder
- 1 tablespoon cornflour
- 1 tablespoon light soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon Chinese wine or sherry
- 6 tablespoons water
Sweet potato flour for coating before frying. You may use cornflour but I find that sweet potato flour gives a more crispy texture. Click on more for the instructions. More on following page. Click here to continue reading
Star Anise Chicken
In the South Arm Community Kitchen, Jane Duo made a Chinese chicken dish. She calls it special chicken but I think it’s more proper to call ti Star Anise Chicken. We decided to make some Chinese food upon the request of Blanca and other non Chinese members. They specifically requested to learn how to stir fry bok choy which I will cover later.
This Star Anise Chicken is another very homey Chinese chicken dish. It is flavours with star anise, ginger, soy sauce and sugar.
Ingredients
- A whole chicken, cut into pieces or just drumsticks or wings.
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 6 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 inches ginger, sliced
- 4 star anise
- salt to taste
- soy sauce
- cooking wine
- sesame oil
Jane premarinated the chicken with some soy sauce, cooking wine and sesame oil.
Mini Empanadas
Christina and Stella were assigned to this recipe, Mini Empanadas. However, everyone lends their helping hands when it comes to forming the Mini Empanadas. This recipe is adapted from Southern Living. It yields 36 tiny empanadas.
These little Latin-inspired Mini Empanadas are irresistible right out of the oven. They’re are incredibly low in fat because they’re baked, not deep fried and yet they are crispy. The raisins add a touch of sweetness to these empanadas.
Ingredients
- 8 oz skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
- 1/2 small onion, minced (about 1/4 cup)
- 1/2 green bell pepper, minced
- 1/2 tomato, seeded and coarsely chopped
- 4 pimento-stuffed green olives, coarsely chopped
- 2 tablespoons raisins
- 2 tablespoons chicken broth
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon minced fresh cilantro or parsley
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- water
- vegetable cooking spray, or oil
- 1 tablespoon dry breadcrumbs (optional)
- 36 (3-inch) square wonton wrappers
- salt to taste
Easy Butter Chicken
I’m so behind my Community Kitchen posts due to the done time.
The South Arm Cooking Club for Seniors celebrated the Vasakhi in the month of April by making an Indian Feast. Vasakhi (or Vaisakhi) is an ancient harvest festival in Punjab. It also marks the beginning of a new solar year, and new harvest season.
Joyce and Sydney partnered again to make this Easy Butter Chicken.
Charlene prepared a menu of Indian feast which consist of Butter Chicken, Roti, Okra Sabzi and a Samosa style Potatoes and Peas side dish. It was a wonderful meal.
Stella decorated the dining table with the colours of the India flag. The setting adds festivities to the Vasakhi festival. Even the flowers are of the same colour, how thoughtful.
The South Arm Cooking Club for seniors also had another thing to celebrate on that day. They had a few minutes of fame on TV as the senior’s kitchen was filmed and interviewed by the Shaw crews. The seniors kitchen was featured on the Shaw program ”Express’ on the weekend of May 1. Unforturnately, I could not get a copy of the program to show it here.
This recipe is adapted from Allrecipes.com and Tahera Rawji and it serves 6.
Ingredients
- 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs
- 1/2 cup plan yogurt
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon garam masala
- 1/4 teaspoon cayene pepper
Sauce:
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1-inch piece ginger, grated
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 cup crushed tomatoes
- 1 cup half-and-half
- 1/4 cup cashew nuts, ground in a food processor (optional)
Here is an excerpt from ‘The Spice of Life’ on cumin shared by Stella:
Cumin is the seed of a small plant related to parsley but found in hot climates, especially North Africa, India and the Americas. The seeds are boat-shaped and resemble caraway seeds, but are lighter in colour and have tiny bristles. They should be roasted before being ground, but can then be used to spice up a whole range of dishes including curries, stews and rills. Cumin is very commonly used in Mexican, Spanish, Indian or Middle Eastern cooking. A word of warning, however, go easy on cumin as half a teaspoon is ample for a family of four.
Cumin has long been believed to help people suffering from disorders of the digestive tract including heartburn, nausea and diarrhea, probably due to its stimulating the production of pancreatic enzymes. Cumin is also believed to have important anti-cancer properties, due to its ability to neutralize cancer-causing “free-radicals” and by enhancing the liver’s detoxification enzymes.
Italian Wedding Soup
While the meatballs are in the oven, Sydney is busy preparing the vegetables for the Italian Wedding Soup. The term ‘wedding soup’ is originated from the Italian language, minestra maritata which literally means ‘married soup’. It is referred to the green vegetables and meats which go well together.
Joyce was jokingly saying that it’s great to work with Sydney again on this recipe as both of them were working on the Pavlova Roll with Passionfruit Cream with great success at the previous cooking meet. However, she continued to say that she does not need another wedding as she enjoys her single and free life now.
The Italian Wedding Soup is very flavourful and is rich with lots of vegetables, especially the escarole which has a very mild hint of bitterness in it. With the addition of pasta in this soup, it is very filling too and can be a meal by itself. It is also great to serve the soup with some bread sticks which I will blog later.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 medium carrot, chopped
- 2 stalks celery, chopped
- pinch of nutmeg
- 8 cups low-sodium chicken or beef stock (we used a combination of both)
- 1 medium can diced tomatoes
- 1/2 cup small pasta, such as ditalini, orzo, or stars
- 1 12 oz. bag of spinach, or 1 bunch kale, chard, or escarole (broad leaved endive), chopped
- additional parmesan for serving
