I can't actually claim that this is the actual recipe word for word from the cookbook Bangkok, although the element of it is there. There are a million (don't quote me on this!) recipes out there for satay but I figured this being a traditional Thai cookbook, it should be the real deal!
I wasn't overly enamoured by the beef tenderloin with Thai basil recipe but I wanted to give another recipe a try. I had left-over chicken from making stock, so I wanted to use the marinade as a salad dressing and combine it all together!
Yay or Nay: Yay
I'm glad I gave another recipe a chance, this was unexpectedly good and it worked really well as a salad. The cumin was a surprise element in Thai cooking, the sweetness of condensed milk with the nuttiness of coconut cream gave a deeper flavour, also, using real peanuts instead of peanut butter converted me!
I've been waiting to get my hands on this book for a while, now that the popularity of it has died down, I can finally borrow it from the library. I merely mentioned the word 'kiev' and that pique my husband's interest. He had no idea what it was, for me however, it conjured up memories of school dinners - mainly tom toms which were breaded chicken in the shape of spheres with, wait for it, tomato ketchup in the insides! Obviously chicken kiev is not the same, but the idea is, a breaded chicken with a buttery herb filling oozing out when you cut through it.
Anyway, Hemsley + Hemsley's recipe for Chicken Kiev is here.
Yay or Nay: Yay
I have to say I was skeptical at first because the outside is breaded with almond meal as opposed to a breadcrumb or panko but it helped balance the richness and full-fatness of the parsley butter. My only gripe with this, was that all the butter had melted out of the chicken breast as I had butterflied it, so next time I would cut a mini pocket instead so try and retain the parsley butter inside the meat - although I don't know if that would help either!
I stumbled upon the cookbook, Sirocco, while looking for Hemsley + Hemsley's, but had seen it elsewhere before so I knew I wanted to flick through this given the chance. While browsing through the book, my eyes were immediately drawn to a recipe for Chickenberry rice. It's pretty much what the name suggests, chicken, berries and rice but the seller was the crispy bottom (you have to see the picture to know what I'm walking about!)! It is similar to an Indian Biriyani although this has more of an Iranian flavour profile to it. I found a similar recipe for chickenberry rice here.
Yay or Nay: Yay
This was delicious, the berries after being steamed are sweet, plump and juicy; the chicken was delicately spiced and the rice soaked the flavour of everything!
TIP: The recipe does state, if using a gas stove, to use the lowest heat but even doing that I still burned the bottom, so I would shorten the steaming time and cook the rice a little more in the first part of the recipe to avoid burning!
When both of us wants pie, we usually go for the fail-safe steak and ale, so for something a little different I remembered making a chicken and chorizo pie. After searching and searching, I found Curiously Delicious' Chicken and Chorizo Pie but couldn't find the original one I made way back before the blog. This version was the most similar to the original, bar the tomato sauce and peppers.
FYI: I used Jamie Oliver's shortcrust pastry recipe which I have reviewed here.
Yay or Nay: Yay
I've only added photos of the filling, mainly because everyone knows what a pie looks like!! The recipe straightforward and even though it wasn't like the dry original pie, this one I purposely reduced the tomato sauce down (in case of a soggy bottom!) and the chili paste (I used chili powder) gives it some heat. My only gripe is that I cannot for the life of me find real Spanish style chorizo, here in the States, it is more like a regular raw sausage.
TIP: The recipe says to use puff pastry, but I prefer shortcrust. I followed Jamie's recipe for cooking the whole pie, but I would increase the time to about 50mins as I like my pastry crispy and brown.
When a craving for a particular food takes over, you know you just have to have it! I don't know what it was that spurred my craving for katsu curry but I knew I had to find a version that I could cook at home. I found Just One Cookbook's recipe for Crispy Baked Chicken which is a healthier version of tonkatsu which is made with pork. I knew pork was already on the menu for this week so I went for something different and chicken won. I admit straight off that I won't be making the curry sauce as that seems like it would be tricky and nothing worse than being disappointed after all that effort - besides, the Japanese make a great instant version!
Yay or Nay: Yay
This ticked all the boxes, healthy, authentic tasting and delicious!! It took me right back to the first time I had it, in a UK Japanese chain restaurant called Wagamamas. Yes, it's not real-real Japanese food but it's comfort food for me and it was great! The breading was similar to how I make fish fingers so it wasn't difficult and the sauce was pretty much boil water and dissolve the curry cubes! SO EASY!
Having left over chicken in mind, I was trying to think of a tasty recipe to use them up. I didn't want anything soup based as we were having Pho most of the week. We wanted something spicy and, lo and behold, I remembered this recipe from my friend's Korean wife. I can't recall how she made it so relying on fail-safe Maangchi's Korean recipes I knew it wouldn't be far off.
This goes under several names dakdoritang or dakbokkeumtang but it is pretty much a spicy chicken stew which has enough heat to warm you up in the colder months. You definitely need this with rice to temper the heat of the chicken!
Yay or Nay: Yay
I mean, I knew this already going in but just for the sake of the blog! I did opt out of adding the extra spicy/chili pepper as I didn't want to overdo the spiciness. I felt like there was enough heat for me, however if you like really spicy then feel free to add at your own risk!
I first heard of Chrissy Teigan when I randomly read a gossip mag and realised she was married to singer John Legend. I think I was more taken with the fact that she was half-Thai and that she had turned from swimsuit model to food blogger to daytime TV cook. Personally, I am not a 100% convinced on her credentials, but maybe her new cookbook would reveal all.
I was eager to get my hands on her cookbook, Cravings, to see what she came up with, and I must say the recipes were too decadent for me. The only recipe that stuck out was her Sesame Chicken Noodles which I figured were pretty healthy and easy enough to make to put on the rotation, that is, if it is any good.
Yay or Nay: Nay
To be honest, it's not like I hadn't made a version of this recipe before, I think I was expecting something different from the ginger peanut sauces I have made in the past. The tahini does add a earthy depth but overall it is nothing special. I did use different noodles as I forgot to buy flat noodles so it does look different to the book pic but it doesn't really affect the taste. Sorry Chrissy, stick to the day job.
Who doesn't love a box of 6 chicken nuggets? Ok a box of 10! If you don't you're lying to yourself. Every now and then I get cravings for nuggets but every bite is a reminder that it probably isn't real chicken and that it is whole heartedly (pardon the pun) bad for you! Researching recipes for healthier versions I came across this recipe for Baked Buffalo Chicken Nuggets, and the as the Hubby grew up not far from Buffalo I knew this could be a winner!
Yay or Nay: Yay
These were deliciously tangy with a spicy kick at the end. The only downside was that it wasn't as crispy as I'd hoped they would be. I didn't add oil when I got round to baking them so perhaps that was what it was. For the prep, it was pretty much roll it around in the breadcrumbs and then cook. I would add more red hot next time and up the amount of breadcrumb as it didn't completely coat them. Yes, there is no finished picture as we pretty much polished them off so that kind of speaks for itself.
I had a craving for some juicy, spicy and crispy chicken and I knew Jerk Chicken would hit the spot. I tried to make some before but it didn't have the depth of flavour I was expecting. I was hoping that researching several spice combinations would help see what I might be missing or could do without. This spice mix from Diethood looked simple enough and I combined it with a slow cooker method for Jerk Chicken.
Yay or Nay: A 50/50
The method itself was easy, cook for a few hours and then finish off in the broiler in order to make the skin crispy. The spice mix was a little lacking, so I think next time I'll either buy a ready made spice mix or try another recipe.
This isn't the OFFICIAL recipe for Bojangles' Dirty Rice, I got this through randomly clicking through Pinterest so it is from Nosh Cook Book instead. I was looking for a side dish for some jerk chicken I was making, naturally the spicy moreishness of this spicy cajun rice (not dissimilar to jambalaya) was a natural pairing. Now, I love me some Bojangles but you can't get it in Upstate NY so any trip down South means a trip to the nearest Bojangles!
Yay or Nay: Yay
It was pretty much fry off the sausage and onion then dump everything else in, boil, cover and simmer for 20 minutes and that's it! I used brown rice instead of white, omitted the celery salt as I had none and used leftover chorizo instead of ground pork. Still tasted good though!!
As much as I love Italian food I've never been a big fan of meatballs, I think it's the unknown quality of the meat hidden under a tomato sauce. My husband's mother makes great meatballs and it kind of made me want to try to make my own ones. I was struggling for ideas for healthy weeknight dinners and the Chicken Meatballs and Garlic Bread was in a Real Simple I was flicking through.
Yay or Nay: Yay
Like it says on the tin, real simple! Surprisingly tasty, filling and great for leftovers. I did substitute turkey for chicken mainly because I couldn't find any mince chicken! Any ideas as Wegmans and the local public market do not have any?? No I didn't make my own tomato sauce but the Rinaldi Marinara one was pretty good!
I know I should publish pictures of the finished product but it's hard when you're hungry after work!
