All Entries Tagged With: "Chicken"
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
Nando’s Chicken on Marine Way, Burnaby
Nando’s wrote to us out of the blue a couple of weeks ago letting us know that Rochelle Schätzl, the world’s foremost authority on Peri-Peri Chili, will be in Vancouver asking if we would be interested in meeting her. Rochelle is an award-winning author and chef from South Africa, the home of the Peri-Peri Chili. She had written a book about it called “Peri-Peri: The Contrasts and Contradictions of the African Bird’s Eye Chili”.
We said yes, because we knew it will be an opportunity to learn more about the Peri-Peri Chili and its exotic flavours … and boy, was that some learnings we had! Never in my imagination could someone share non-stop about everything Peri-Peri for two straight hours. LOL! We had a great time and this is what we learned.
After a few email exchanges, Mark suggested that we meet at the new Nando’s Restaurant in South Burnaby, in the new big boxes shopping mall by Marine Way. We were greeted by Nick, the owner of this outlet, and Mark and Rochelle. Believe it or not, Suanne and I had never been to Nando’s before because we thought that it was just a spicier version of fried chicken.
We found out how different Nando’s is from KFC and Church’s and that it is not quite the fast food the way we know it. Well, it is like a cross between fast food and slow food is how I would describe it. You place your orders at the fastfood style counter and given a wooden block with a number where there will bring the food to your table when it is ready.
This particular store was busy during lunchtime when we were there during a weekday.
Nando’s originated from South Africa in 1987 and is a restaurant with a Portuguese theme. Nando’s operates in 35 countries today with their biggest market in South African and Britain. There were a lot of other facinating stories about Nando’s history and beginings but am not going to bore you with those.
Anyway, this restaurant we visited carries the South African theme with African decor and artifacts. The restaurant was pleasant, clean and tastefully designed.
Rochelle gave a copy of her beautiful book on Peri-Peri. It took her two years of research to write it. It was a privilege to be given the inside scoop of this brilliant pepper and how it is impacting the global culinary landscape. Specialty Food Magazine recently listed the Peri-Peri Chili as one of the Top 10 Flavour Trends of 2009.
From our time with her, we can clearly see that Rochelle is proud of South Africa, it’s food, people and culture. She told us how the tiny Peri-Peri Chili represents very much a way of life of the South African adding that all restaurants in South Africa will have some form of Peri-Peri.
Peri-Peri is the African version of the Bird’s Eye Chili. It is very much like the South East Asian version of Chili Padi or Thai Pepper. This chili packs a punch despite its size. Peri-Peri is used in a dry form and not fresh. Do you know why?
Let’s see a comparison of Scoville Scale (a measurement of hotness) of Peri-Peri Chili against other common peppers:
- Law enforcement grade pepper spray: 5,000,000 Scoville Rating
- Naga Jolikia (Hottest chili in the world): 1,000,000
- Habanero: 100,000 to 300,000
- Peri-Peri: 50,000 to 175,000
- Thai Pepper: 50,000 to 100,000
- Cayenne Pepper: 30,000 to 50,000
- Tabasco Pepper: 30,000 to 50,000
- Chipotle Pepper: 10,000 to 40,000
- Jalapeno Pepper: 3,000 to 8,000
- Bell Pepper: Zero!
There had been attempts to cultivate Peri-Peri Chilies outside of a small region in southern African but all attempts had failed. Rochelle said that the Peri Peri is a chili with a bad attitude … the harsher conditions and weather, the meaner the chili gets. There had not been much success in cultivating the Peri-Peri commercially.
Suanne and I sampled a lot of food at Nando’s but there is one I love a lot … the Chicken Livers ($7). Oh major yum. I guess it is not for everyone but if can get over the texture and the thought of it, chicken liver is really delicious.
We ignored the bread that came with the Chicken Livers. We can’t help but notice the tempting looking Portuguese Garlic Bread ($2) … 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.
Grilled Chicken, Red Onion and Mint Kebabs
Charlene had planned a sort of Greek menu for the South Arm Cooking Club for Seniors. In the menu are Grilled Chicken, Red Onion and Mint Kebabs, Greek Salad, Carrot Orzo, Creamy Hummus and Lemon Garlic Pita Chips. It was an ambitious attempt to complete all these in 2 1/2 hours especially when the oven is slow and unreliable. It takes ages for those gas oven to heat up and we usually have to set the temperature much higher than the required temperature to achieve the same result. Do you have a problem with your oven? I do as mine takes a long time to heat up if I set it on broiler mode.
Joyce and Sydney partnered up to make this Chicken Kebab dish.
The Grilled Chicken, Red Onion and Mint Kebabs are colourful and moist. It features the popular Greek flavours of mint and oregano. The kebabs can be served over rice or with pita bread..
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds skinless boneless chicken breast halves, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 4 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 teaspoon dried mint
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 bunch fresh mint
- 1 red onion, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 8 x 12-inch metal or bamboo skewers (if using bamboo skewers, soak them in water for 30 minutes to prevent them from burning while broiling)
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
