Week 25: Red and Yellow Rice

The Recipe
250g chicken breast
1/2 teaspoon salt - divided
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper - divided
1/2 teaspoon paprika - divided
Vegetable oil
2 bell peppers, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup white rice
4dl chicken broth
1/2 cup white wine
A dash or two of turmeric
1 (14.5 ounce) can stewed tomatoes

Cut the chicken into bite sized pieces and sprinkle it with half of the salt, pepper and paprika.

Heat oil in a large pot. Add chicken and cook until done. Remove chicken and keep warm.

Add bell pepper, onion and garlic and cook for a couple of minutes, until translucent. Add rice, stir and cook for another minute or so. Add broth, wine, turmeric, tomatoes and the remaining salt, pepper and paprika. Bring to a boil, cover and leave to simmer for 20 minutes.

Return chicken to pot and reheat.

The Verdict
A bit too spicy for DH - I really wonder about this paprika of mine! It must be exceptionally potent. However, I think that if I add all the paprika to the chicken and none to the sauce (meaning it doesn't stand and simmer and gather heat) it might be okay. I'll try that next time, because apart from that, both of us really liked it :D

Oh, the original recipe called for saffron instead of turmeric, but I didn't have any of that, so I made do ;)

Week 24: Schnitzles Provencale

The Recipe
2 Schnitzles or pork chops
2 tsp oregano
1 clove garlic
salt, pepper
Oil for cooking

1/2 squash
1/2 eggplant
3 tomatoes
1-2 tsp oregano
fresh basil (optional)
1 tbsp oil
2-3 cloves garlic
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

Cut squash, eggplant, tomatoes and garlic into thin slices. Place layer-wise in an ovenproof dish, sprinkle with oil, balsamico, basil and oregano. Bake at 180C for about an hour.

Meanwhile, blot meat with papertowels and sprinkle with diced garlic, oregano, salt and pepper. Cook in a pan until done.

The Verdict
Not bad, but nothing special either. I LOVE a good ratatouille, but unfortunately this wasn't it. The tastes didn't mix properly, so it ended up being a tad blah. Not worth it for the effort put into it.

Week 23: Coco-Lime Soup

The Recipe
150g pork chop or schnitzel in very thin slices (about 1/2x1/2x3 cm)
2-3 spring onions - sliced
1 tbsp oil
4dl stock (I used vegetable)
2dl coconut milk
1/2 tsp turmeric (optional)
1 tsp sugar
2.5dl frozen peas (~1cup)
1 tsp sambal oelek (optional)
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp concentrated lemon juice or the juice of one lime

Heat oil in a pot and cook meat until just browned. Add spring onions and cook for a couple of minutes. Add stock, coconut milk, gurkemeje and salt. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and leave to simmer for 5-10 minutes.

Add peas and leave to simmer for another 5-10 minutes.

Add sambal oelek, soy sauce and lemon juice / lime according to taste.

Serve with rice.

The Verdict
It has once again been proven - I do not like peas any way other than fresh or sugar peas still in the pod, so unfortunately that definitely detracted from this recipe.

But other than that, I'd have to say that I really enjoyed this :) I added a bit more soy sauce than the recipe called for, and a bit more sambal oelek as well (but then I love my food spicy) and it ended up being very yummy indeed! Definitely something I'll make again... although I'll substitute the peas for something else.