Ginger Wine Chicken

Back in 2008, I made my first ginger chicken. Since then, I have been adapting and adjusting this recipe. It hasn't changed much, but I really like it with chicken thighs-maybe for its tenderness than drumsticks for some reason. The addition of spring onions is good too.


I "inherited" a clay pot when a friend of mine returned back to Singapore. What a gem I thought!! The use of a clay pot makes such a difference. It retain heat and adds a lovely flavour to this stew. Perfect for winter!

I used Stones ginger wine to make this dish. While it is not "authentic" in the sense of making the ginger wine by myself, it is a good compromise. The more I stewed this dish, the better it taste, but I cannot resist adding an additional dash of ginger wine before serving for a stronger taste.

The most funny thing was, back in 2008, I forgot the black fungus. guess what? I forgot it this round too!


Ginger Wine Chicken 
600 grams of chicken thigh diced
1 tablespoon of garlic
5 generous slices of ginger
1.5 cup of ginger wine
1 cup of chicken stock
small bunch of spring onions
10 chinese mushrooms hydrated and sliced
1 tsp of salt
1 tsp of sesame oil

saute garlic and ginger. Brown chicken in claypot. Simmer in stock and wine for 20 minutes or so. Add in mushrooms at the 10 minute mark for it to absorb all the beautiful flavours. Season with salt and sesame oil. Toss in spring onions at the last minute. If you like, add a dash of ginger wine before serving and a little drizzle of more sesame oil.

Lamb Stroganoff

I know that stroganoff is often associated with beef. I did have all the best intentions to pick up some beef for dinner one night, but couldn't resist the lamb mince when I saw it on sale.


The fun bit about winter is making hearty stews and casserole dishes. A good old stroganoff certainly fits the bill. It didn't take me long to make this version at all, and it did taste better the next day.

Grocery shopping is a funny thing. Often I have a list of things to purchase in preparation for meals next week. I do however, change my mind quite rapidly when I spot good deals or thought of something else when I am walking through the aisle.

Do you have this experience too?

Nevertheless, I'm glad I attempted to use lamb instead of beef. Certainly tasty!!

Lamb Stroganoff 
700 grams of lamb mince
1 tablespoon of garlic
1 red onion chopped
50 ml of sour cream
2 tsp of paprika
dash of brandy
2 cups of mushrooms chopped

Saute onion and garlic. Brown lamb mince and add the brandy. Simmer with the mushrooms for around 10 minutes. Add sour cream and taste. Season. Serve with heaps of vegetables!

Ayam Kecap

The beauty about growing up in Singapore, having a Chinese Malaysian father, and a Chinese-Indian Malaysian husband (yes, I followed my mother's footsteps in marrying a malaysian!) is that I get expose to other kinds of food other than traditional Cantonese. Ayam stands for chicken, and Kecap means dark sweet soy sauce. It's a marriage between chinese and malay cuisine really.

At first I thought it is a curry dish. But really, it's more of a spiced stew, probably borderlining being a curry. It requires time to simmer which as you know is abit of a luxury for me these days but once I got into it, I really enjoyed the process.

The colour of the dish comes from the dark soy sauce. It has a generous chill hit and lovely texture to it. Yum!

Ayam Kecap (serves 4)
500 grams chicken thighs -or you can use drumsticks/chicken pieces
3 onions chopped
4 big red chill chopped
3 cloves garlic

1/2 tsp grated nutmeg or ground nutmeg
6 whole cloves
1 tsp tamarind pulp soaked in around 3 tbsp warm water
2-3 tablespoon of dark soy sauce
pinch of salt

In a food processor, blitz chopped onions, garlic and chili. Heat paste in a pan. When warm and cooked, add chopped chicken thighs and cook till brown. Then add nutmeg and cloves. If it is a little dry, add some of the tamarind juice. Simmer for 3-4 minutes and add the rest of the tamarind juice with the soy sauce. If still dry, add some water (I didn't see the need to do that). Taste, adjust seasoning and simmer chicken for another 20 minutes or so.

Soy Bean Paste Chicken Stew

Ok, so I am fast discovering different ways of using soy bean paste. That's the thing about having a huge jar of it in the fridge, you think of ways to use it! LOL


I'm pretty impressed with this chicken stew though. It's really good with rice, easy to cook and tasty. The best thing about this is the sauce of course.


So I wonder.. how many more dishes I could cook up with soy bean paste?

Soy Bean Paste Chicken Stew (serves 4)
400 grams of chicken thigh diced
1 red onion sliced thinly
1 chilli chopped
1 tablespoon of garlic
2 tablespoon of soy bean paste
1/2 cup of water
2 potatoes diced


Saute garlic, onion and chili. Add soy bean sauce for around 3 minutes. Brown chicken with sauce. Add water and potatoes. Simmer for 15-20 minutes. Serve with rice and vegetables.

Slow Cooked Yam and Chinese Cabbage Pork Stew

There is nothing nicer than a hot bowl of rice and stew when I come back from work. Best, if it has been slow cooked and all I needed to do is to heat my rice and stew up. This was one of the "3 meals" I make on a Sunday in preparation for the week ahead.

It makes me realised though, how small my freezer size is. I told AR that we are sooo going for a bigger freezer/fridge in our next home. Plus a dishwasher. 

It's funny how when it comes to chinese stew, I tend to cook by instinct. Or is it by my "stuff it, I need to get it done asap" thoughts? Nevertheless, it made a comfort meal. One that I can count on to make me feel more at home.

Slow Cooked Yam and Chinese Cabbage Pork Stew (serves 4)

400 grams of lean pork
200 grams of yam chopped
1/2 chinese cabbage 
1 tin of straw mushrooms-drained and rinsed
2 tablespoon of oyster sauce
1 tablespoon of soya sauce 
1/4 cup of hua tiao jiu
1 tablespoon of garlic 
150 grams of baby corn chopped 
2 red chili chopped
1 cup of water or stock 

Saute chili and garlic. Add pork and all the seasoning. Cook till nearly done. Add all the veges and yam. Add water and boil. Either place pot back in magic pot or continue to cook for around 1 hr or so. Season with white pepper! =)

Moroccan Style Lamb and Chickpea Stew

 So Spring is upon us.. but I still have a few hearty stews to post! LOL With my working hours recently, I have been cooking 3 or 4 meals during the weekend and freezing them away. Stews are great because I could use my "magic" or thermal pot cooker to stew it for hours. I added some chickpeas to bulk up the meal. This resulted in 3 meals for two of us and even have left overs for an additional lunch for AR.

I made some couscous to go with it- Simply follow packet instructions and add in some cut dried figs, cranberries, toasted almonds and cashews and toss through with some chili and cumin spices.



Moroccan Style Lamb and Chickpea Stew 
400 grams of heart smart lamb diced
1 can of chick peas-rinsed and rinsed to reduce salt content
1 can of diced tomatoes
1 carrot diced
1 capsicum diced
mushrooms
2 tomatoes diced
2 tablespoon of Moroccan spiced mix
1 tsp of chili powder
1 cup of beef stock
1 red onion chopped

Sauté onion in deep sauce pan.  Add in lamb and cook till brown. Add diced tomatoes and chickpeas + stock. Add in all spices. Add all veges Simmer for around 1-2 hours. Serve with couscous or bread.

Italian Sausage Hot Pot

For a change, we decided to cook up a storm using chat potatoes. The "healthy" me says that's better for us because we can have the skin too. But really the "lazy" me just didnt want to peel the potatoes! After a good scrub, they go into a pot of salted boiling water.

I picked up a packet of lean italian sausages from Woolworths the other day. Being time tight, I made this one pot dish for some winter warmth. This tastes better the next day for sure! We even freeze some for a rainy day (pun intended). ;p

Italian Sausage Hot Pot (Serves 4-6) 
1 packet (around 6 small size sausages) lean Italian Sausages
1 onion diced
garlic
1 chopped chili
1 zucchini diced
1 cup of diced mushrooms
1 red capsicum diced
1 carrot sliced
1 tin of diced tomatoes
1 cup of water
2-3 tsp of red chili flakes


8 chat potatoes cooked, drained and set aside.

Saute onion, chili and garlic. Add sausages and cook till brown. Add tomatoes and all other veges. SImmer with some water. Add chili and other seasoning. Simmer for around 15-20 mins. Serve with potatoes.

Creamy Peanut Chicken Stew

What else can you do with a jar of peanut butter?

Recently, I attended a talk on Generation Y. Contrary to what the media portray Generation Y to be (i.e. spoilt brat, wasteful..etc), the seminar spoke about how we are shaped by our environment and Gen Y shouldn't be pointed out as "impatient/selfish ones".

For instance, if you are born in born as part of Generation Y, you probably would have chuck the jar of peanut butter when u r done with it.

BUT, your grandmother/grandfather, would probably pick the jar up, scrap ALL the peanut butter out (like at least 3 more spreads) and then.....

wash the jar out to use it as a container/vase/cup...

Is it because they are environmentally friendly?

Maybe.. but most likely it's because as they were growing up, it was war time! And you HAVE to learn to be careful with what you have during war time. The Y-generations however, were brought up in a disposable culture-hence their behaviours were shaped by their environment. Same thing as why Gen Ys are more tech savy than the baby boomers or builders.

As for me.... well, I'm definately scrapping the end of my jar to make this creamy stew!



Creamy Peanut Chicken Stew (Serves 5)
500 grams of diced chicken thigh
2 carrots peeled and chopped
1 cup of snow peas
1/2 a sweet potato peel and chopped
1 cup of chopped button mushrooms
1 cup of nutty peanut butter
1/4 cup of chicken stock

Heat wok or pan till very hot. Add chicken and stir fry quickly till brown. Lower heat and add veges and stock. Cook till done. Add creamy peanut butter and stir will well combined. Taste to see of require seasoning. Serve with hot rice!

Chilli Cook off!

Running with Tweezers has organised a chili cook off! Whenever I think of a chili cook off, images of fiery mince with crispy tortilla chips come to my mind. oh! and people laughing, gathering around the dinner table having a good laugh and enjoying each other company and tasting different types of chili.

Speaking of which, it's exactly EIGHT days to CHRISTMAS! Next week this time, I will be relaxed and on holidays. Sooooo looking forward to that.

So it's not really winter here (actually summer). However, Perth is going through a strange period with thunderstorms during the weekends and showers throughout the night. Strange indeed. Well, it's my perfect excuse for making a bowl of chili! ;p

A good spicy dish certainly get the taste buds going. ;p This is probably similar to Chili Con Carne. I love mine with lots of spices which is what I have done here. In fact, I got the idea from Nigella Lawson who happened to be cooking her version of this on TV. She added cocoa powder to enhance the spiciness. Love the sound of that!

It's simple, hearty and most of all, delicious with some crisp corn bread that I have toasted.

Spice Medley Chilli
200 grams of lean beef mince
1 onion diced
1 can of diced tomato
1 can of drained kidney beans
3 bruised cardamom pods
2 generous tablespoons of cumin
2 teaspoon of very hot chili powder
2 teaspoon of turmeric
1 teaspoon of dark cocoa powder, unsweetened.
1 cup of beef stock
Cracked pepper

To serve with
chips/corn bread


Method

Heat deep pan with olive oil. Fry onion till transparent. Fry cardamom till fragrant. Add mince in and cook till almost done. Pour can of tomatoes and kidney beans into the pan. Stir. Simmer for 5 minutes. Add all spices and be generous. Adjust to your liking. Add stock in and simmer for another 15-20 minutes. Season to taste. Serve with chips or corn bread.

Miso Stew

In the span of two days, I managed to cut my 9K document to 1K. Having undertook a huge study, the analysis of results were a pain. It was so complicated that I often fell asleep dreaming about statistics (instead of food!). Since this is only study 1 out of 10 studies (study 2 is done) that I have to write up, I was panicking big time. Finally on Monday, supervisor read my 9K draft and said "This is so complicated that only you and I can understand it". In my head I was thinking "that was what I have been trying to tell you for the past 3 months!".

Despite having to cut out pretty much all the work I have been doing for the past few months, there was a sense of relief. Probably because inside me, I knew that wasn't submission standard. Waaayy too much information and I probably have to hand up TWO thesis instead of one given the thickness of the chapter. Also, once I decided what I want to reduce, the writing becomes so much easier. It just came within me. I felt calmer as I write. Probably because I understand what I'm writing. After all, I'm not training to be a statistician, I'm a clinical psych!

Heading to see supervisor this afternoon again. This time round, I'm hoping that my new draft will need small changes (when u have a perfectionist as a supervisor, you will always have chances to make to your drafts) instead of big ones. Also, if I can start the process of analyzing study 3 and 5 (4 is already done), I will be a happy girl.

Which also explains my lack of taking photographs and reading up on recipes for the last few weeks. There were 2 weeks in late Oct/early Nov when I stopped baking altogether (close friends will not believe that huh..). I was so mentally exhausted that I couldn't, just couldn't try new things. Then, I started picking up my mixing bowl again. I went to the extreme and baked lots of cookies instead (I made the cranberries oats twice! heheh). There are a few more cookie posts lined up.. ;p

But today I'm going to be showcasing this wonderful stew. Stews are warm, comforting and so easy to make. I love slurping up the gravy and having it with a bowl of warm rice. East meets West Kitchen made Miso Chicken Stew and I knew immediately that it was an excellent idea. I had a huge pack of red miso paste in the fridge and there were only how many bowls of miso soup and miso green beans one can eat!

I didn't follow exactly what East meets West Kitchen had on her recipe. Simply because there were some ingredients that I didn't have on hand. Largely though, the concept is similar. Please feel free to adapt this to your liking.



Miso Stew (serves 4)
300 grams of cubed meat (I used pork because that was what I had in the fridge, I would have used chicken if there were some left!)
50 grams of mussel meat
2 carrots sliced
2 potatoes cubed
1 capsicum cubed
1 tablespoon of garlic
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1/4 cup of mirin
1 tablespoon of soya sauce
1 tsp of chilli powder
1 generous tablespoon of miso paste
1/4 cup of water/stock

Method

Preheat pan with oil. Fry garlic till fragrant. Add meat cubes. When meat is almost cooked, add to the pan all the vegetables, chilli powder, soya sauce, mirin and water/stock. Simmer for about 15 minutes. Add in mussel meat (if overcooked, this becomes tough, so I usually add it last). Again, simmer for about 3 minutes before adding in miso paste. Stir to make sure that the miso paste is dissolved properly.

Serve with a bowl of rice!

PS No salt was added since the miso provided a salty taste.