Week 5: Firecracker Chicken

The Recipe
1/2 dl hot chili sauce (e.g. Sriracha)
1/2 dl honey
1/2 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
Butter for cooking
450g chicken
salt and pepper

In a small pan, heat chili sauce, honey, soy sauce, vinegar and garlic until the honey has melted.

Melt the butter in a large pan, season the chicken with salt and pepper and brown for about 3-5 minutes per side. Transfer to an oven proof dish and pour a spoonful of the sauce over.

Bake at 200C until the chicken is cooked (about 15-20 minutes depending on the thickness), basting with the sauce every 5 minutes or so.

The Verdict
I served this with baked potatoes, sweet potatoes and parsnips cut up into "french fries". Went really well with the sauce :-D

Quite hot, so I ended up only basting my chicken, and leaving DH's as-is. I really loved it though, and DH liked the tiny bit of sauce his chicken picked up from being baked in the same pan. Quite simple to make too, so definitely something I'll make again.

Week 4: Crockpot Thai Curry

The Recipe
1 can coconut milk
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp curry paste
1 tsp oyster sauce (optional)
1 tsp ground ginger
2-3 cloves garlic, chopped
salt to taste
450g chicken
1 onion, chopped
2 bell peppers, diced
1 squash, diced
1 sweet potato, peeled and diced

Add first 7 ingredients (coconut milk through garlic) to the crockpot and mix until combined. Taste and add salt and extra curry paste to taste. Add chicken, turning over once or twice to make sure it's covered in the sauce.

Add all remaining ingredients. Cook on LOW for 6-8 hours or HIGH for 4-6 until the chicken is done. Shred chicken and return to pot.

Serve with rice.

The Verdict
I'd forgotten the salt, and it showed :-P Fortunately easily remedied though, and I really liked it otherwise. The curry paste added a nice "bite" without being too hot for my less-than-chili-crazy DH. The sauce was a tad thin compared to what I had expected I might try turning the chicken in flour first next time, to see if that makes a difference.

I cooked mine for all 8 hours, which was a tad too much, as the sweet potato had gotten too mushy. I'll try to check after 6 hours next time.

Week 3: Honey Garlic Sesame Chicken

The Recipe
450g chicken
1 onion, sliced
2-3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tsp dried ginger or 1 tbsp fresh
4 tbsp honey
4 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp ketchup
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
1/2-1 tsp sambal oelek (chili sauce)
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds

Place everything except sesame oil and sesame seeds in the crockpot. Cook on HIGH for 2-5 hours or LOW for 6-10 hours.
Shred the chicken and mix it back into the sauce together with the sesame oil and seeds.

Serve with rice and grated carrots.

The Verdict
The taste was very intense, so it definitely needed the freshness of the grated carrots to work. I did like the way it tasted though, so perhaps it was just a tad too acidic? I'll probably try to leave out the vinegar next time.

Week 2: Jerusalem Artichoke Soup

The Recipe
300g Jerusalem artichokes
2 large potatoes
1 onion
2 garlic cloves
1/2l chicken or vegetable stock
2.5 dl heavy cream
lemon juice
salt and pepper

Peel artichokes and potatoes and cut them into smaller pieces. Chop onions. Saute the vegetables in oil for about 5 minutes. Add minced garlic and stir for 30 seconds. Add the chicken stock and let it simmer, covered for about 20 minutes.

Use a stick blender to puree the soup. Add cream and bring it to a low boil again. Add lemon juice, salt and pepper according to taste.

Serve with warm bread, artichoke chips and possibly bacon.

The Verdict
Take two of the recipe - this version was made in 2025 and ended up being MUCH better, so I deleted the old one. Really yummy!