Week 6: Thai Peanut Chicken Noodle Soup

The Recipe
1 can coconut milk
4 tsp red curry paste
4 cups chicken broth
1lb chicken
1 sweet potato, peeled and diced
1/3 cup peanut butter
1tbsp lemon or lime juice
2tbsp soy sauce
2tbsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp tumeric
200g mushrooms, sliced
1 bell pepper, sliced
150g bean sprouts
2 green onions, sliced
4tbsp peanuts
100g rice noodles.

In a large pot, heat the cream from the top of the can of coconut milk. Add the curry paste and cook for a few minutes until fragrant. Add the rest of the coconut milk, the broth, chicken, sweet potato, peanut butter, lemon juice, soy sauce, brown sugar and tumeric. Bring to a boil and leave to simmer until the chicken is cooked - about 20 minutes.
Remove the chicken and cut it into bite sized pieces. Meanwhile, use an immersion blender to puree the soup.
Add mushrooms, bell pepper, peanuts, green onion and noodles and cook for another 5 minutes.

The Verdict
Disappointing : I think the main issue was that there was WAY too much peanut butter, so it completely overwhelmed the other tastes. Also, the rice noodles soaked up too much of the liquid, so it turned into more of a stew than an actual soup. It had definite potential, but unfortunately really didn't work for me. I might try it again another time without the rice noodles, and with only a fraction of the peanut butter.

Week 5: Easy Pasta Dish

The Recipe
1 onion
1 bell pepper
1 can tomatoes
5dl vegetable broth
200g pasta
2.5dl half-and-half (madlavningsfløde in Danish... couldn't find an English equivalent)
150g bacon
Salt, pepper, thyme, oregano, paprika

In a pot, cook bacon until crispy. Remove to a place, reserving the grease - add more oil if there wasn't much grease.
Chop onion and bell pepper and cook them for a few minutes until the onion is fragrant. Add broth, canned tomatoes and pasta. Cook until the pasta is almost done. Add half-and-half and spices and leave to simmer until the sauce as the desired consistency. Add bacon and serve.

The Verdict
Strangely bland. It would probably be better if I replaced the half-and-half with either cream cheese or real cream. As it was, it was okay, but nothing special. Might actually also be better with sausages instead of bacon.

Week 3: Sheet Pan Chicken Nachos

The Recipe
450g chicken breasts
1 bell pepper, sliced
1 large onion, sliced & divided
1tbsp taco/fajita seasoning
1tbsp oil
1 large tomato
1 lime
salt
Shredded cheese
Nachos
1 avocado, diced
Chili sauce / jalapenos (optional)

Preheat the oven to 200C.

In a small bowl, mix together taco/fajita seasoning and oil.

Place chicken, bell pepper and most of the onion (keep back ~1/8 for the pico de gallo) in an ovenproof dish and coat with the seasoning mix. Bake for about 20-25 minutes or until the chicken is just done. Remove chicken and slice thinly. Return to the pan and cover with cheese and half the lime cut into slices. Bake for another 5-10 minutes until the cheese is melted.

While the chicken is cooking, prepare the pico de gallo: Chop and deseed the tomato and chop op the reserved onion. Mix together and add lime juice from the other half of the lime. Add salt to taste. Let it stand for awhile for the flavours to mix properly.

Serve with nachos, avocado and chili sauce/jalapenos for a bit of a kick.

The Verdict
Really good. I'd probably add more veggies another time, but it was a nice alternative to the usual nachos dishes. You were supposed to add the nachos in the end too to heat them up with the rest, but I worried they'd get too soggy with the juices from the veggies, and it worked really well this way too.

Week 2: Baked Honey-Mustard Chicken

The Recipe
450g chicken
4tbsp honey
4tbsp dijon mustard
2tbsp apple cider vinegar
1tbsp soy sauce
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2cup chicken broth
rosemary

Mix together honey, mustard, vinegar, soy sauce, garlic and broth. Put the chicken in an oven proof dish and cover with the sauce. Season with a bit of rosemary (a little goes a long way!). Bake at 200C for about half an hour until the chicken is cooked through.

Serve with boiled or mashed potatoes (you'll want something to soak up all that yummy, yummy sauce!) and a salad or veggie sticks.

The Verdict
REALLY good! The chicken was yummy and moist - not dry at all. There was FAR too much sauce, but that's probably part of what kept it so tasty, so I'll just leave it as-is for whenever I make it next.

Week 1: Chicken Shepherd's Pie

The Recipe
1lb chicken breast, cubed
salt, pepper
Butter
250g mushrooms, sliced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2tbsp flour
3/4 cup half-and-half or milk
1 cup chicken broth
1-2 bell peppers
Mashed potatoes
Parmesan cheese (optional)
Breadcrumbs (optional)

Preheat oven to 175C.

Season chicken with salt and pepper. Melt some butter in a pan and cook chicken until done. Transfer chicken to an ovenproof dish and set aside.
In the same pan melt more butter and saute the mushrooms until soft. Transfer to the dish. Add a bit more butter and cook the garlic until fragrant but not yet brown. Whisk in the flour and cook for about a minute. Pour in both fluids, whisking until smooth. Season with salt and pepper. Add bell pepper and leave to simmer for 2 minutes. Transfer to dish and spread the mashed potatoes on top. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and/or breadcrumbs if you want to.

Bake for 45 minutes.

The Verdict
I'd accidentally added too much broth to the mashed potatoes so the texture was off. I have to remember that it has to be rather stiff for something like this. Otherwise I mostly liked it. The sauce was a bit bland, so I need to play around with the spices a bit (i.e. ADD some that aren't just salt and pepper), but the basic idea was good and an easy way to use up left-over mashed potatoes.

Week 49: Cajun Pork

The Recipe
~500g tenderloin
1/2 tsp each of cumin, cayenne, oregano, salt, garlic granules and brown sugar
A dash of ginger and pepper
Lemon juice
2 large potatoes
2-3 large carrots
2dl boiling beef stock

Mix together cumin, cayenne, oregano, salt, garlic, ginger and pepper. Rub the tenderloin with the mix.

Heat oil in a pan and brown the tenderloin on all sides. Transfer to the crockpot and leave the pan for later.
Peel potatoes and cut them into chunks, placing them around the tenderloin. Pour beef stock and a bit of lemon juice over.

Cook on LOW for 8 hours or HIGH for 4, adding carrots (also peeled and cut into chunks) about half-way through (they get waaaaay too soft if added at the beginning).

Remove the potatoes, carrots and pork and cut the pork into slices. Meanwhile, transfer the sauce to the pan from earlier and bring to a boil, stirring frequently for 2-3 minutes, until the sauce has reduced somewhat.

Serve with a nice salad.

The Verdict
I cooked mine on HIGH for 3.5 hours and the pork had gotten a tad dry already. I think I'll try on LOW next time and then check it after 7 hours. Other than that, I really liked it. It was a tad on the spicy side, so I may leave out the potatoes and serve it over rice another time, but I really liked the way it tasted.

Week 45: Chorizo Pasta

The Recipe
(Serves 3)
Olive oil
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
~200g mushrooms, thinly sliced
1 can (400g) tomatoes
~80g chorizo, cut into thin stripes (optional)
A handful of olives (optional)
Salt, pepper and basil to taste
1 cup (2.5dl) cream
Enough pasta for 3 people

Cook pasta in salted water.

Heat the oil in a wok or similar and saute onion, garlic and mushrooms until soft and fragrant. Add tomatoes, chorizo and olives and bring to a simmer. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add chili, salt, pepper and basil and cook for another 5 minutes. Add cream and cook for yet another 5 minutes.

Serve immediately - it's best piping hot :D

The Verdict
REALLY good!!! The cream makes it taste so decadent :-D I used canned tomatoes with chili which meant the whole thing had a bit more of a kick than anticipated, but the cream cooled it down nicely enough for DH - I might try with non-spicy tomatoes next time though. Because there will definitely be a next time - SO yummy!!!