Friday, February 10, 2006

Chicken stew for the busy


I like to come home to a delicious hot meal waiting for me. I like my children upon returning home, to smell the aroma that wharfs in from the kitchen. It's good to be home. Where the heart is. Alas, I am a terrible cook. However, I recently discovered the joy of making chicken stew. So heavenly the aroma. The gravy thick and sweet just right to eat with pipping hot rice. Delicious to eat on it's own too. I would like to share this with all those who do not have the time to cook or have never try cooking. I do really really hope you will give this dish a shot. It is really quick and simple. This is what I call a one pot meal. Healthy and nutritious.

Ingredients:
A whole chicken cut in pieces
One large yellow skin onion shredded
One clove of garlic
2 thick healthy australian leek
One capsicum preferably red
3 potatoes cubed
2 tomatoes quartered
2 thick carrots cubed
A healthy slice of pumpkin cubed

Marinade the chicken with the following:
A good swig of red wine
a handful of spaghetti bolognese spice( masterfood brand)
a dash of worcestershire sauce(optional)
a twist of black pepper
Marinade upon returning home from the supermarket. Leave it in the fridge till you are ready to cook.

Seasoning:
2 table spoon of conflour in quarter bowl water to thicken the gravy.
salt to taste.

Utensil:
A large heavy base pot for simmering. It is good investment to get the AMC pot. Though pricy but it's multi purpose.
A must have for the busy professional: electric stove and a timer.

Method:
To keep the juice sealed in the meat. Heat up the pot and add 3 table spoon of oil. Once oil is hot, Placed the chicken piece by piece ensuring all the pieces are seared well.
When all the pieces are browned add in the onions and garlic.
When the onions are transparency looking give it a stir and add in the rest of the vegetables.
Add in the liquid from the marinade too.
Cover the lid. If you using the AMC pot, put on the alarm, adjust to 3o'clock i.e. get it to simmer.
Let the stew simmering for at least 45min.
If using the electrical stove, switch off the power but leave the pot on the stove.
Add in the cornflour solution. If you prefer it thicker than more cornflour.
Lastly salt to taste.
This stew can be done anytime. Just heat it up when you are ready to serve.
It also taste wonderful if you fridged it.

Hopefully someone out there would give it a try and give me a positive feedback.




2 comments:

Francis Ho said...

You know what?
This is one of my favourite dishes! I like to put soya sauce with chilli-padi when I eat the chicken n potato!

Anonymous said...

hi there, i hv a set of amc as well, but no good at using them. anyway, did you also invest in their atmosfera?