Brown Stewed Chicken!

Hi! Foodhedonist's 10 Popular Jamaican Recipes is available for purchase on Amazon.com! It will feature this amazing Brown Stewed Chicken recipe, along with other popular & delectable delights! 

I wanted a taste of the Caribbean to celebrate the end of this long drawn out winter! So, brown stewed chicken seemed like a good option. So, here goes!

Easy Stir Fry Chicken with Bok Choi

     I had a craving for some chicken stir fry, so I whipped up the recipe below. It is loosely based on my Mom's chicken and bok choi recipe, or pak choi as it's called in the Commonwealth. It is quick and easy... it takes about 30 minutes to make, tops. Very good for busy people not looking to bother with take-out. Rice noodles make a great side!

Ingredients:

·         1 teaspoon plus 1 tablespoon  oyster sauce

·         2 tablespoons Chinkiang vinegar (Shaoxing wine or cooking sherry are good substitutes)

·         2 tablespoons soy sauce

·         ¼ teaspoon sesame seed oil

·         1 tablespoon cornstarch

·         1.5  pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cubed

·         1 head of broccoli, chopped

·         1 head of cauliflower, chopped

·         2 carrots, chopped

·         4 small bunches of bok choi, chopped (I used baby bok choi).

·         1 ½ cups Mung bean sprouts

·         3 medium garlic cloves

·         1 inch of ginger, shredded

·         2 medium scallions, chopped

·         1 medium onion, diced

·         1 hot chili pepper, crushed

·         1 teaspoon plus 1 tablepoon vegetable oil

·         1/3  cup water

·         Salt and black pepper to taste

·         Boiled rice noodles – or steamed rice -  for serving

Chopped bok choi

Instructions:

1.     Cut the chicken into one inch cubes. Then, combine the sesame seed oil, 1 teaspoon of oyster sauce, one tablespoon of Chinkiang vinegar, one tablespoon soy sauce and the shredded ginger. Add salt and black pepper to taste. Set aside for 15 minutes.

2.     In the meantime, prepare the other ingredients. Mince the garlic; chop the onions and scallions. Set aside in a bowl. Chop the bok choi and also set aside.

3.     Drizzle one teaspoon of oil around the edge of your wok or frying pan. Add the broccoli, carrots, cauliflower and mung bean sprouts. Stir fry for 1-2 minutes, stirring with a spatula, until the vegetables are charred in spots. Remove from pan and set aside. 

4.     Add the remaining tablespoon of oil to the pan. Then, add the chili pepper, onion, scallion & garlic. Stir fry until fragrant (1-2 min minute). Then, add the chicken and marinade. Add the remaining tablespoons of soy sauce, oyster sauce and the Chinkiang vinegar. Cover and cook for another 5-10 minutes. Then, combine 1/3 cup of water and 1 tablespoon of cornstarch together. Add this mixture to the pan.

5.     Add the previously stir fried vegetables and the bok choi to the pan. Stir these in with the chicken, for about 2-3 minutes. Serve immediately with noodles or steamed rice.

Tasty Kale Salad with Balsamic Vinegar & Sweet Potato

Nom Nom Nom! So, I had a bunch of kale in my refrigerator and I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do with it. In the past I’ve had kale steamed with 2 tablespoons of rice wine vinegar and some black pepper. While this is good, I wanted something a little more interesting. So, I tried the recipe below with a few twists of my own!  This salad is a must try: it tantalizes the senses with a wonderful combination of the sweet and savoury. This salad is also low in calories, high in nutrient content, and therefore relatively guilt-free. If it tastes great and is easy on the waist line, I’m all in!

INGREDIENTS

·         1-2 tablespoons butter

·         I medium onion, diced

·         1 red pepper, chopped

·         I sweet potato, cubed

·         4 cups kale

·         4 cloves of  garlic, minced

·         1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

·         ¼ cup Parmesan cheese, shredded

·         salt and pepper to taste

Shredded kale leaves

Chopped red peppers

INSTRUCTIONS

1.     Boil the sweet potatoes until soft. Then remove and set aside. In the meantime, melt one - two tablespoons of butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Then, add the onions and garlic; saute for several minutes until onions are clear.

2.     Add the kale, peppers and balsamic vinegar. Saute until the kale is darker green (before the leaves wilt!). Turn off the heat and serve with Parmesan cheese. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Made from Scratch Thai-Syle Curried Chicken

Don't want to mess with preservatives and fillers from prepared Thai sauces? Here is a way to avoid that!

Ingredients:

2 lbs chicken breast

3 cloves of garlic, minced

1 stalk scallion, chopped

1 medium onion, chopped

1 tsp grated ginger

1 large tomato, chopped

1 yellow sweet (Holland) pepper, sliced

1 small napa cabbage, chopped

1 tbsp of curry powder 

1 tsp of tumeric

2 cups coconut milk

1 tsp oyster sauce

½ tsp corn starch

1 tbsp pepper jelly or mango chutney

1 small chile pepper, crushed

2 tbsp coconut oil

1/2 cup water

Salt and black pepper to taste

Directions:

Cut the chicken into thin 1-inch slices. Season with salt and pepper. Chop the scallion, garlic, ginger and onions and combine the same with the sliced chicken. Set aside. Heat the coconut oil until hot. Lower the flame. Add the turmeric, curry and crushed chile pepper. Stir together until fragrant. Take care not to burn the mixture, or else the meal will taste burnt. Add the chicken, along with the combined ingredients and stir into the curry mixture for 2 minutes. Add the water. Cook for another 2-3 minutes. Add the coconut milk, oyster sauce, pepper jelly/mango chutney. Cook for another 10-15 minutes. Then, add the sliced Holland peppers, chopped tomato and the Napa cabbage. Turn heat down to low and simmer for 3 minutes. Mix the cornstarch with some hot water to thicken the sauce. Serve with steamed rice.

Enjoy!

Jamaican Style Hominy Corn Porridge

Hi! Foodhedonist's  10 Popular Jamaican Recipes is available for purchase on Amazon.com! It will feature this amazing  Hominy Corn Porridge recipe, along with other popular & delectable delights!

This was absolutely my favourite breakfast food as a child. A lot of children did not like porridge in general, but I absolutely loved it. It might have had something to do with the fact that my mom would put a lot of sugar in the porridge, and would probably add half a cup more sugar than called for in the recipe. Good times. :)

Hearty Lentil Soup

There’s nothing like a bowl of some good, hearty soup when it’s cold out. I love soup, and after red peas soup, lentil soup is my favourite.

Ingredients: 

2 tablespoons olive oil

3 medium sized tomatoes, chopped

4 carrots, chopped

2 quarts chicken or vegetable broth

3 stalks celery, chopped

3 pegs of garlic

1 teaspoon ground cloves

3 sprigs thyme

1 stalk scallion, chopped

1 medium onion, chopped

4 stalks parsley, chopped
1 small dried chile pepper

1 tsp grated ginger

1 tsp salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 teaspoon ground coriander 

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin 

1/2 teaspoon grains of paradise (ground)

Directions:

Saute the salt, onion, ginger, scallion, garlic, parsley, thyme, pepper, carrots and celery in hot olive oil. Next, add the broth, tomatoes, lentils and seasonings. Bring to a boil.

Reduce the heat and cover, cooking for about 40 minutes. You may blend for a puree – like consistency. I did not blend mine.