Chicken
5-Spice Sticky Chicken Wings
(As devoured by everyone at the table including the kids, with enjoyment and much stickiness)
2 kg chicken wings
½ cup honey
¼ cup soy sauce
1 tbsp five spice powder
1 cup chicken stock, or orange juice if you have no stock.
Mix in a baking dish. Bake at 200 ºC for an hour till brown and almost falling apart. You will need to turn them with tongs or a fork two or three times to brown them evenly.
About half an hour before serving mix 1 tb cornflour with a little cold water and mix the paste through the juices. Stir well, then turn two or three times before the end of cooking.
These are good hot, cold, or reheated in the microwave, As with any food, don’t reheat a second time.
Chook with tomatoes and olives
You'll need:
1 leek, chopped
1/2 teaspoon saffron
1/2 cup olive oil
6 deep red tomatoes, peeled and chopped
1 cup black olives
scrape of lemon rind
1 jointed chook
Method:
Preheat oven to 180ºC
Sauté the chopped leek and the saffron in the olive oil for 10 minutes.
Add the chopped tomatoes and bubble for another 10 minutes.
Throw in the olives and the lemon rind then pour the whole lot over a chicken in a small casserole dish. (If the casserole dish is too big, the sauce will form a layer on the bottom. It should cover the chicken. If it doesn’t quite cover the chicken, you will have to baste it regularly with the sauce while it is cooking).
Place in a moderate oven and cook for 2 hours. Serve hot with very fresh bread (to scoop up the sauce) and a salad.
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Thai Style Chicken Soup
This is hot.
12 chicken pieces, or one elderly chook
for paste
6 cloves garlic
2 teaspoons brown sugar
2 teaspoons fresh turmeric
2 teaspoons paprika
1/2 teaspoon cardamom
2 small red chillies, very finely chopped
1 tablespoon oil
1/2 cup coconut milk
Extra tb oil
Optional, and not at all Thai: 4 carrots, peeled and finely chopped
Also: 2 small red chillies, very finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, very finely chopped
2 tablespoons palm sugar
1/2 cup lime juice
Water as needed
At the end: 8 tb fresh coriander leaves, chopped
Mix the paste ingredients. I use a small, wooden spoon handle, but a blender or a mortar and pestle may be used. Saute for a few minutes, stirring well, in the extra oil over low heat. All chicken, other ingredients, including as much water as needed to cover it all. Simmer till chicken is tender, which may take 20 minutes or two hours, depending on the age and tenderness of the meat.
This can be left to scoop off the fat when it cools. Add corader when you reheat, or about 30 seconds before you serve.
Chicken with tomatoes, almonds, orange and basil
This is incredibly delicious. the almonds thicken the sauce.
You'll need:
8 chicken pieces or 1 whole chicken
6 peeled chopped red tomatoes – or a can of pieces if the only tomatoes around are pink and globulous
finely grated zest of 1 orange
1 cup fresh orange juice (not navel as it turns bitter soon after its sqqueezed)
½ cup ground almonds
3 cups chicken stock
4 cloves garlic
6 dessertspoons olive oil
1 teaspoon chopped basil
Method:
Preheat oven to 200ºC
Bake the chicken in the oil till brown and almost cooked. This should take about an hour.
Add the garlic after about half an hour.
Take the pan out of the oven.
Pour off excess fat.
Add other ingredients except for the basic. Bubble for twenty minutes or till it begins to thicken.
Garnish with basil and serve hot, with cous-cous, or on fresh, soft white home-made bread; or a rich potato dish. (Not rice, the textures aren’t compatible).
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Magic soup
1 kg chicken wings
6 carrots
2 cartons chicken stock – large
1 carton water, or more if needed
6 large leeks
2 cans creamed corn
3 tbsp soy sauce
3-6 chopped chicken thighs
½ cup barley
Optional: chopped onion, garlic, parsnip, mushrooms, parsley
Simmer wings in the stock and water for 'a while'. A while depends what book you're reading i.e. half an hour to two hours but check it doesn't boil dry. Remove wings. Do not feed to the cat or dog as the bones may now be sharp. (Peel off the tough bits from the leeks and wash out any grit.
Chop and add to stock. Simmer for another 'while' until they're soft – maybe half an hour. Now add all the other stuff and simmer till the barley is soft – again, at least half an hour.
By now the leeks will have vanished into thick rich soup stock and so will the corn, mostly.
Keep in a sealed container in the fridge for up to a week, or freeze any leftovers.
This is very, very good.
Spiced roast chicken
You’ll need:
1 medium-sized chicken
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
3 cloves garlic, chopped
3 tbsp oil
1 tsp coriander
1 tsp cardamom
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
4 tbsp butter
1 fresh chilli, optional
Method:
Cook the ginger and garlic in the oil for 3 minutes. Add the spices and cook for another 2 minutes, stirring all the time so that they don’t stick.
Take off the heat and leave until cold.
Now mash the oil and spice mixture into the butter. Take a sharp, pointed knife and make small holes in the skin all around the chook.
Insert a little of the butter and spice mixture into each slit.
Place the chook in a buttered roasting pan, or, even better, a close-fitting clay casserole, with a little more butter.
Roast in a medium oven for 11/2 hours.
Serve with the juices from the pan, unthickened.
Chook and apples
You'll need:
1 boiling chook
2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp cornflour
3 cups cider
2 tart apples (such as granny smith)
1 cup cream
black pepper
Method:
Brown the chook in the butter.
Slide it into a casserole.
Add the cornflour to the pan with the butter and brown.
Add the cider quickly and let it bubble for 5 minutes. Pour the sauce over the chook.
Add the apples and put the lid on. Simmer in the oven or on top of the stove as gently as you can until the chook is tender.
(Don’t cook it beyond this stage or it will be stringy.) Remove the chook.
Add the cream and a dash of black pepper.
Reheat. Carve the chook and pour the sauce over it.
Roast chicken soup
(About 8 serves)
The remnants of one large roast chook
4 large red onions, peeled and chopped
1 bulb garlic, peeled and chopped
4 tb olive oil
half a cup barley
10 - 12 cups chicken stock
1 cup creamed sweet corn
3 tb soy sauce
3 sticks celery, chopped, with a few chopped leaves
4 tb parsley, chopped
4 large carrots, peeled and chopped
juice half a lemon or 1 lime
1 tb corn flour (or 2-3 if you like a thicker soup)
optional: 4 tb garlic chives, chopped
4 tb spring onions, chopped
a little fresh cauliflower, chopped
2 parsnips, peeled and chopped
1 cup fresh peas or broad beans
white of 2 leeks, chopped
half cup orange sweet potato, peeled and chopped
1 tb fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
1-3 fresh red chillies, chopped
Stir onions and garlic in olive oil in a large pan till soft. Add the flour; stir. Add the stock, stir so it isn't lumpy. Add everything else except the chook. put the lid on, simmer half to 1 hour. Chop the chicken meat. Add to the pot. Simmer 1-5 minutes. Serve hot with good bread.
Keep in the fridge, and have a good big bowlful for lunch or dinner for the rest of the week.
Quick Roast Lemon Chicken
(Our favourite family chicken recipe)
You’ll need:
1 large roasting chook
4 cups chicken stock
juice of 3 lemons
6 cloves of garlic
1 tbsp fresh summer savoury
1 tbsp fresh thyme
or about 1 tsp of the dried herbs
Optional:
1 – 2 tsp cornflour to thicken, mixed with the stock
Method:
Bake the chicken in the oil till brown and almost cooked.
This should take about an hour at 180C.
Add the garlic after about half an hour. Take the pan out of the oven.
Pour off excess fat.
Add other ingredients except for the basic.
Bubble for twenty minutes or till it begins to thicken.
Garnish with basil and serve hot, with couscous, or on fresh, soft white home-made bread; or a rich potato dish.
(Not rice: the textures aren’t compatible.)
Ultimate comfort chicken soup
Take a very large pot and add:
1 kg chicken wings, chicken carcasses or one elderly chook
6 carrots, chopped
6 leeks, white part only, well chopped
1 bunch celery, well washed (leave on the leaves), chopped
6 red onions, chopped
10 cloves garlic, chopped
1 bunch parsley
1 fresh chilli
¼ cup barley
Cover with water
Simmer 1 hours.
Remove the chook when cool and chop up the meat. Keep soup in the fridge for up to a week, or freeze for up to three months. You can omit the barley, and add your favourite noodles when reheating.
You can also strain off the vegetable and chicken rich liquid; throw the old veg and meat to the chooks, and add freshly sauteed veg (your choice: chopped leeks, skinned tomatoes, chopped carrots, or fresh chopped mushrooms with chopped parsley or coriander) just before serving. This gives you a rich stock plus the taste of fresh veg- more work, but a far more delicious result., But the ‘all simmered together’ soup is wonderfully comforting too, if less haute cuisine)
Ultimate comfort chicken soup