Chicken Tikka

One of my favourite questions asked each day from my Miss 10 soon to be 11 is "What is for dinner?" (actually probably her favourite, my least favourite). This happens the moment she opens the car door each afternoon when I pick her up from school. Some days I have an immediate answer for her and other days I'd like to pull over on the side of the road and be a crazy lady screaming into the mythical cone of silence!! I now know exactly how my own mum would feel each afternoon arriving home from school and ringing her at work and asking the same question and either getting the answer I want to hear, deathly silence or she would say 'bread and spit'.

I often ask myself why do they bother asking if they know it's going to upset the chef, or if they aren't exactly going to like what they hear. There are a couple of meals that I hear all three kids groan at the mere mention of and they happen to be favourites of mine and ones that I learned from my own Mum. I'm sure B will agree the good old crumbed rissoles were a winner when we were growing up but my three haven't developed the same love for them as Mr M and I have. I will continue making them and continue hearing their cries of disgust each time! (I will win them over one day, make no mistake about that kids).

As most of you know the one particular cuisine that this whole family enjoys is Indian. I'm sure you have all seen and hopefully tried for yourself the "butter chicken" in a previous post. Another chicken dish that has become a regular is one I found in one of my favourite books from Janelle Bloom - "Fab Food for Family and Friends". It has similar flavours and spices and I think that's why kids 1, 2 & 3 all squeal with delight when I mention we are having it for dinner. It really is one of the easiest meals to prepare and the end results are delightfully tasty!

I did everything in the food processor and I have removed the chilli seeds once when I made it but have also left them in (well actually forgot to take them out for the little people but they still ate everything!).

You will need:   Serves 4
4 chicken breasts or 8 thigh fillets (I used chicken breasts)
2 tablespoons ghee (clarified butter)
steamed basmati rice and lime wedges to serve

Marinade
1 red chilli, chopped
1 green chilli, chopped
3 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
3cm piece fresh ginger, peeled, roughly chopped
1 teaspoon grpound coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon tumeric
1/2 teaspoon garam masala
1 lime, rind finely grated, juiced
1 cup Greek yoghurt - Greek is best for cooking as it won't separate and curdle when heated.

Yoghurt sauce
3/4 cup Greek yoghurt
1 cup mint leaves, chopped
1/4 cup coriander leaves, chopped
2 green onions, thinly sliced
1cm piece fresh ginger, peeled, finely grated

For the marinade, combine the chilli, garlic and ginger in a small food processor and process until finely chopped.

Add all the spices, lime rind, 2 tablespoons of lime juice and the yoghurt and pulse until just combined.

Arrange the chicken in a single layer in a ceramic dish. Spoon over the marinade and turn to coat all the pieces evenly. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours, or overnight if time permits.

Meanwhile, for the yoghurt sauce, combine all the ingredients in a bowl and season with salt and freshly ground pepper. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Remove the chicken from the fridge 15-20 minutes before cooking. Melt the ghee in a large, heavy based non-stick frying pan over medium-low heat. Don't be tempted to increase the heat, or the yoghurt and spices will burn and stick to the pan, Add the chicken and cook for 15 minutes (don't be tempted to turn it early). Turn the chicken for a further 5 - 10 minutes, or until it is cooked through.

Spoon rice onto serving plates, top with chicken and serve with yoghurt sauce and lime wedges.

M x

Fiery Dan Dan Noodles

I'm going to admit now before I continue on with this recipe that I'm not a huge fan of hot and spicy food, meaning the kind of hot that blows your taste buds through the roof of your mouth and sends beads of sweat dripping off the tip of your nose and into your bowl of yumminess. However, I can handle a good kick and do enjoy a moderately spiced dish. I know B has made this dish before and it rated highly on her culinary palate so I was eager to have a go.

B & I both have a ton of books from our favourite cooks and chefs and we are eager to work our way through these for you. We've both got a secret crush on Jamie Oliver (although B may actually have more of his cooking 'bibles' than I do!!!) and this fiery dish comes from his "Jamie's America" which I really do love and if you have been a follower of ours from the start you will see a gorgeous chocolate tart that I attempted as my first post for M & B from this same book (I do get a little distracted at the mention of chocolate - back to the fiery noodles!). These noodles are called "Dan Dan Noodles" and Jamie tells us that in the western Szechuan province of China they actually make a similar dish in massive buckets and carry them on poles over their shoulders. The word "Dan" apparently means pole so these are literally "pole pole noodles". I found the dish to be super easy to make and if you're looking for that extra kick of chilli this recipe is for you.

Having little people in our family I tend to have to make things somewhat child friendly and by using all of the chilli oil mentioned by Jamie and reading his comment - "this dish is right on the edge of my chilli tolerance" made me somewhat hesitant to add all of the chilli (but hey, if you're a chilli fan go for it). I will let you know how much I used in the recipe below.

The flavours of these noodles were amazing and it still managed to have a slight kick and keep 2 out of 3 little people happy and of course Mr B was making his usual "nom nom's" of approval. One thing I did do wrong and will definitely do next time is that I added the mince before it was meant to go in making all my effort of getting it nice and crunchy go to waste. Oh well I'm sure I'm not the only one who has had a mishap in the kitchen, right guys???

You will need:   serves 4

1 beef or chicken stock cube

500g mince beef

2 tablespoons runny honey

300g wheat noodles

4 handfuls of mixed green veg (Chinese cabbage, sprouting broccoli, bok choi, spinach) I didn't use spinach only because I forgot

4 cloves of garlic, peeled and very finely chopped

3 tablespoons dark soy sauce

2 teaspoons ground Szechuan pepper

5 tablespoons good-quality chilli oil (I only used 2 and 1/2 tablespoons)

2 spring onions, trimmed and finely sliced

1 lime, quartered, to serve

Crumble your stock cube into a large pot of water and put it on the heat to boil.

Add the beef to a dry pan and, on a medium to high heat, keep moving it around until it's golden and crunchy, which will take about 10-15 minutes. Pour away any excess fat. ( I used lean mince so I never really had any excess fat to tip off and the moisture I did have soon evaporated very quickly )

Add the honey and toss until all the mince is nicely coated. Cook for about 30 seconds, then take the pan off the heat and put your mince in a separate bowl. 

Stir your noodles into the boiling stock and move them about a bit so they don't stick together. Cook according to the packet instructions.

Shred your cabbage into 1 cm strips, quarter your bok choi and snap up the broccoli spears. 

When the noodles have 1 minute to go, throw in the prepared greens to blanch them. Drain the whole lot in a colander, reserving a mugful of the cooking water. Tip your noodles, veg and the mugful of water back into the hot pot.

Add your garlic, soy sauce, Szechuan pepper and chilli oil. Give it all a good mix with the tongs and divide between bowls.

Sprinkle over the crunchy beef (this is where I made my boo boo, I added my mince in with the other ingredients and water) finish with a scattering of spring onions and serve each dish with a lime quarter (you will need it if you go the whole chilli kick!!)

We will be making this one again! Enjoy M x

Grilled chicken wraps with salsa verde

We seem to have wraps quite alot at my place. I think because we have lots of little people to impress and doing that can be hard work. I have to admit I learned very fast with my first child Miss 10 that I really thought my cooking skills were no longer required and we were going to have to buy shares in a noodle company and a sauce company and I was going to hand in my apron!! I was a bit sad about this. I had this tiny little person that I was so looking forward to whipping up some culinary delights and here on her plate was plain noodles with tomato sauce. Mind you the sauce wasn't allowed to touch the noodles (heaven forbid!). I tried everything, offering things over and over and trying different things but no luck. Crying to Mr M about our first born,  I was just about ready to wave the white flag. I decided to just let her go with what she was eating and just keep offering her different choices and not make a huge deal out of things.

The turning point at one stage was when we would have wraps and I would cut everything up and place the ingredients on plates and then everyone would make their own wrap! I think my Miss 10 thought it was fantastic that she got to be more hands on and help and make her own little wrap with what she liked and eventually upgraded and added more and more things. Success!

Our wraps vary from time to time and can be more adventurous at certain times depending on how much time I have. These wraps I came across in one of my Donna Hay books was a winner with all 3 plus Mr M and what made things even better we made our own flour tortillas which were so easy.
This recipe can be found in Issue 59 Oct/Nov 2011 on page 145.

You will need:
4  x 200g chicken thigh fillets, trimmed
1 teaspoon onion salt
1/4 teaspoon chilli powder
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon paprika
vegetable oil, for brushing
coriander leaves, sour cream and lime wedges, to serve.
salsa verde
2 long green chillies, chopped
1 clove garlic
2 green onions, roughly chopped
1/4 cup coriander leaves
1/4 cup mint leaves
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
flour tortillas
4 cups plain flour
1 tablespoon sea salt flakes
50g cold butter, chopped
2 1/2 cups boiling water

To make the salsa verde, place the chilli, garlic, green onion, coriander, mint and vegetable oil in a food processor and process on short bursts until combined. Set aside. Makes 1 cup.

To make the flour tortillas, place the flour and salt in a bowl and mix to combine. Add the butter and rub with your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add the boiling water and mix with a wooden spoon until the dough comes together. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until a smooth dough forms.

Divide the dough into equal size portions and roll each piece out to a 20 cm-round (Don't worry too much on shapes and sizes). Heat a non-stick frying pan over high heat. Cook the tortillas , in batches, for 1-2 minutes each side or intil lightly browned.

To keep warm, stack the tortillas and cover with a tea towel until ready to use. Makes about 18.
Place the chicken, onion salt, chilli powder, oregano, paprika and oil in a bowl and toss to coat.. Preheat a pan or barbecue over high heat.

Char-grill or barbecue the chicken for 4-5 minutes each side or until cooked through. Slice chicken and serve with the tortillas, coriander, sour cream, lime and salsa verde.

You can always use store bought tortillas if you're feeling a little on the lazy side. A nice touch for store bought tortillas is to put them in the pan to heat rather than the microwave, but again sometimes on a Friday night you just want a quick easy meal!

Enjoy! x