Wednesday, August 26, 2020

Week 35: Mustard Chicken

The Recipe
15g butter
1tbsp oil
4 chicken thighs and 4 chicken drumsticks
150g bacon or 4 frankfurter sausages
2 leeks, sliced and separated into greens and whites
3 tbsp mustard
2 tbsp flour
1/2 l chicken stock
salt and pepper

In a pan, melt butter and oil and cook chicken until browned on all sides, transfer to crockpot.

Cook white part of the leeks and bacon for ~5 minutes. Add flour and mustard and then the chicken broth a bit at a time. Once all flour has been incorporated, leave to simmer for a bit until it's thickened up some. Transfer to crockpot. Add corn and stir

Cook on LOW for 8-10 hours. Add green parts of the leeks and cook for another 15 minutes.

Serve with mashed potatoes.


The Verdict
REALLY needed more salt - and even with that added, it was still a bit bland - you couldn't taste the mustard at all. It was a good start, but I think I'd add a bit more mustard and possibly also some chili next time.

Weirdly enough, it didn't really work as left-overs though... which unfortunately probably takes it out of my rotation completely.

Wednesday, August 19, 2020

Week 33: Lemony Asparagus Pasta

The Recipe
~250g pasta
2 cups asparagus cut into 1" pieces (~8-10 asparagus)
2 spring onions, chopped
3 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp lemon juice
150g bacon (optional)
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 tsp pepper
A handful of cherry tomatoes, quartered

Cook pasta according to directions. Add asparagus to pasta during the last 3 minutes of cooking.

Meanwhile cook bacon until just crisp. Add spring onions and let them soften a bit. Add garlic and stir for a few minutes.

Drain pasta. Stir in all remaining ingredients.

Serve with parmesan cheese.


The Verdict
Surprisingly bland. Not something I'm likely to make again.

Tuesday, August 11, 2020

Week 32: Beijing Soup

The Recipe
(Serves 2)
100g assorted mushrooms
250g chicken (about 3 thighs)
1 carrot
1 leek
1.5l chicken stock (incl. reserved water from boiling the chicken)
4 tbsp vermouth (Martini)
3 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp soy sauce
3 tsp sambal oelek
20g rice noodles (I couldn't find any, so used ramen noodles instead)
2 egg whites
4 tbsp corn flour (optional)

Bring water to boil in a pot and cook the chicken for about 1 hr. Remove chicken from pot (reserving the water) and leave to cool for a bit. Once it's cold enough to handle, peel the chicken, discarding the skin and bones.

Cut the mushrooms, carrot and the white part of the leek into thin stripes, about 2cm long.

Add chicken stock to the reserved water until you have about 1.5l. Bring this to a boil and add vermouth, lemon juice, soy sauce and sambal oelek. Add the mushrooms and let it simmer for 10 minutes.

Add chicken and noodles and leave to simmer for a few minutes.

Gently whisk the egg whites (they should be frothy - NOT whipped) and add them to the soup while stirring. Stir until the eggs are fully incorporated into the soup and not just lying on top (this will take awhile, but they will eventually turn into thin white threads). Add carrot and leek and leave to simmer for a few more minutes. If desired, add corn flower mixed with water to thicken up the soup a bit (I omitted this step - I prefer my Beijing soup thin).

The Verdict
Beijing Soup / Peking Soup (not entirely sure what the difference is) is probably my very favourite thing to order at a Chinese restaurant, so I was eager to try to make it for myself. Fortunately this recipe was almost perfect! I do think it needed a tad more carrot, but otherwise it was almost exactly the way I like it. Definitely something I'll make again!