Trinidadian-Style Chicken

I created this dish a while ago and then when I went searching on my blog for the recipe, I realized that I never posted it - and that is a HUGE oversight because this dish is packed with flavour and definitely one I want to repeat!  The recipe comes from "Everyday Exotic" which is hosted by Chef Mooking.

TRINIDADIAN-STYLE CHICKEN

Ingredients:

Amise marinade ~

1 bunch green onions, chopped

2 shallots, roughly chopped

6 cloves garlic, chopped

1 bunch parsley, leaves & stems, roughly chopped

1/2 cup vegetable oil

Trini Style Chicken with Plantain ~

1 whole chicken, cut into pieces

Amise Marinade (above)

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/2 white onion, small dice

1 green chili, sliced in half lengthwise (optional, but worth it!)

1 semi-soft plantain cut in half, lengthwise and chopped

4 plum tomatoes, chopped

1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce

1/2 cup chicken stock

1 cup cilantro, leaves picked off stems

Salt

Pickled Topping ~

1/2 cup white wine vinegar

1/4 cup water

1/2 stick cinnamon

1 shallot, sliced in 1/4" pieces

2 jalapenos, seeded and sliced in 1/4" pieces

1 tbsp sugar

Salt

• 
  
  Amise Marinade ~ Place all ingredients in a food processor and puree.  Place in a large bowl or container, and set aside.
• 
  
  Trini-Style Chicken with Plantain ~ Marinate chicken in 1/2 Amise Marinade for a maximum of 24 hours.
• 
  
  In a large skillet, heat sugar and vegetable oil over medium high heat.  Swirl until sugar caramelizes and turns brown, approx. 7 to 10 minutes.
• 
  
  Add chicken, skin side down.   Allow chicken to brown on all sides, approx. 5 minutes.  Add onions, chili, plantain, tomato and Worcestershire sauce.  Stir.
• 
  
  Add chicken stock and bring to a boil.  Add the remaining 1/2 of the Amise Marinade, stir and reduce to medium heat.
• 
  
  Cook for 30 to 40 minutes, season with salt and remove from heat. 
• 
  
  Garnish with cilantro and pickled topping before serving!
• 
  
  Pickled Topping ~ In a small pot, heat white wine vinegar, water and cinnamon stick.  Bring to a boil.
• 
  
  Add shallot, jalapeno and sugar, remove from heat.
• 
  
  Season with salt, hold in vinegar for 10 minutes.  Discard cinnamon stick and strain liquid, reserving pickled shallots and jalapenos.

*Plantains look similar to bananas, but are larger and generally darker in colour (sometimes a deep brown - which means they're ripe!)

Easy Chicken Noodle Soup

My children have embraced chicken noodle soup with great gusto since the weather has become more autumnal...lucky for them that we have poultry a-plenty due to the fact we belong to the poultry share at "Cooper's CSA Farm & Maze"!!  I roasted one of their delicious free-range, pasture raised, hormone and antibiotic free chickens for dinner one day, stripped the carcass and used the bones for making stock (see below on how to do this!), and used some of the meat for this delicious soup that only takes 30 minutes to create!

CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP

Ingredients:

4 cups water

3 cups homemade chicken broth (or the best low sodium store bought)

1 1/2 cups cubed, cooked chicken

3/4 cup cubed celery

3/4 cup cubed carrots

1 small onion, diced

1 1/2 tsp dried parsley flakes

1/4 tsp black pepper

3 cups uncooked egg noodles (I used wide ones, but the matchstick work beautifully too)

• 
  
  In a large pot or Dutch oven, combine the first 8 ingredients.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 10 minutes or until vegetables are crisp-tender.  Stir in noodles; cook 5 to 7 minutes longer or until noodles and vegetables are tender.
• 
  
  ENJOY!

*If you feel that your soup is not 'chicken-y' enough, you could add 1 tsp of sodium-reduced chicken bouillon granules to the pot, however if you're using a homemade stock the flavour should be just fine!

HOMEMADE POULTRY STOCK

Ingredients:

8 cups water

2 3/4 lbs (1.375 kg) of turkey or chicken carcass, wings, legs

1 rib celery, roughly chopped

1 onion, skin on, roughly chopped

2 cloves garlic, peeled and mashed

1 tsp each of Kosher salt and black peppercorns

2 bay leaves

• In a large stockpot or Dutch oven, bring water, carcass, celery, onion, garlic, salt, peppercorns, and bay leaves to a boil; reduce heat and simmer until reduced to approximately 6 cups.  This will take about an hour.
• Strain and skim off foam.
• Store in an airtight container in the fridge for a week, or freeze in cubes and then store in a ziploc bag in the freezer for a couple of months!



Falafal Times Two!!

Falafal is one of those easy foods to create that is tasty, nutritious, and filling. I love the savoury flavour of it and just recently made a huge batch of them! We had them for dinner in pitas with a variety of vegetables, but I still had tons leftover...Today I decided that both my bags of salad greens needed to be used as well as the falafal ~ ta dah~ falafal 'croutons' on my salad, and wraps made of Boston lettuce!! Could anything be easier?!

FALAFAL

Ingredients:

1 cup dried chickpeas or 16 oz. can of chickpeas or garbanzo beans.
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced

3 tablespoons of fresh parsley, chopped
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Oil for frying (my favourite is coconut)

• Place dried chickpeas in a bowl, covering with cold water. Allow to soak overnight. Omit this step if using canned beans. Drain chickpeas, and place in pan with fresh water, and bring to a boil. Allow to boil for 5 minutes, then let simmer on low for about an hour. Drain and allow to cool for 15 minutes.
• Combine chickpeas, garlic, onion, coriander, cumin, salt and pepper (to taste) in medium bowl. Add flour.
• Mash chickpeas, ensuring to mix ingredients together. You can also combine ingredients in a food processor. You want the result to be a thick paste.
• Form the mixture into small balls, about the size of a ping pong ball. Slightly flatten.
• Fry in 2 inches of oil until golden brown (5-7 minutes).
• Serve hot.
• ENJOY!!

Quinoa & Chickpea Soup

I have recently joined the creator of "Booty Camp Fitness", Sammie Kennedy, in her 8 week online challenge. I completed a Booty Camp session in Mt. Albert and had amazing results so since a second session isn't being run, due to my instructor hurting her back (get better Erin!), I decided that this online challenge was just what I needed to give my booty a kick! The challenge consists of completing a 45 mins workout every day and some dietary restrictions (no dairy, no refined sugar, and no or 50% reduction in alcohol...not to mention a big salad daily). I knew that no dairy wouldn't be that huge of a challenge for me, but I didn't realize how difficult it would be to 'kick sugar'...it's in absolutely EVERYTHING! However, I am just watching labels more carefully and making substitutions where necessary.

I created this soup the other day and my family loved it (it was a little spicy for the kids but they ate it)! It's simple to prepare, nutritious, and absolutely delicious!!

QUINOA & CHICKPEA SOUP

Ingredients:

EVOO

4 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 onion, diced

1 tsp smoked paprika (spicy or regular is fine)

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

2 tbsp tomato paste

2 whole tomatoes, chopped

4 cups vegetable stock

1 cup organic quinoa (rinsed and drained)

2 tbsp fresh parsley, roughly chopped

1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained

1 tbsp lemon juice

salt and pepper, to taste

• In a large pot, heat the EVOO over medium high heat. Add the onions and saute until tender. Add garlic, quinoa, paprika and cayenne. Stirring constantly to prevent sticking and burning, cook for 2 mins.
• Add tomato paste, chopped tomatoes, stock, and chickpeas. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to a simmer.
• Simmer for 30 mins. covered, stirring occasionally.
• Add parsley and lemon juice and blend with an immersion blender to desired consistency.
• Taste and add salt and pepper if necessary.
• Serve and ENJOY!

Zesty Citrus & Chicken Salad

This is an extremely refreshing salad that I concocted when I found myself craving fruit and veggies for lunch today! I had some marinated feta that I made for our party on Saturday, leftover roasted chicken and a red grapefruit. These combined with baby spinach, cilantro, and a lime dressing was delicious!!!

Spinach Salad with Marinated Feta, Chicken, Graperfuit & Lime Dressing

Ingredients:

(Dressing)

3 tbsp fresh lime juice

2 tbsp honey

1 clove garlic, minced

1 tbsp sunflower oil or extra virgin olive oil

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp salt

(Salad)

1 cup baby spinach

1/2 breast of roasted chicken, slivered

6 cubes of marinated feta*

1 segmented red grapefruit

1 tbsp chopped cilantro

• Whisk all salad ingredients together in a small bowl and set aside.
• Place spinach in a salad bowl, top with the slivered chicken, feta cubes and red grapefruit segments, and sprinkle the cilantro over top.
• Drizzle the dressing over top and ENJOY!!!

* Marinated Feta:

• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1 tbsp oil-packed sundried tomatoes, diced
• 1 tbsp minced fresh parsley
• 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 tsp dried basil
• 1 tsp minced fresh chives
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1 lb cubed feta cheese

Place all ingredients in a resealable plastic bag and gently toss. Place the bag in the fridge for at least 1/2 hr. Take out of the fridge at least an hour prior to serving to allow the flavours to fully develop.

Backyard Edibles!

In my quest to serve a variety of vegetables that we don't normally eat, I picked up a bunch of dandelion greens in the grocery store yesterday. I wasn't too sure what to do with them, but decided to go onto trusty Recipezaar.com and found this fantastic recipe! The whole family gobbled it down (okay, so three out of four isn't bad...India just ate the potatoes and bacon!)

DANDELIONS WITH FINGERLING POTATOES

Ingredients:

1 lb fingerling potatoes, halved lengthwise

4 tbsp EVOO

dried thyme

salt

1 bunch of dandelion greens

1 cup fresh parsley

3 tbsp sherry wine vinegar (although apple cider or rice wine works great!)

12 oz bacon, cut into 1/2" dice

1/4 cup shallots, diced

• Preheat oven to 4ooF. Mix the potatoes in a bowl with 2 tbsp EVOO, thyme (to taste...I added approx. 1 tbsp), and 1 tsp salt. Roast on a baking sheet with foil over top for 40 minutes (or until potatoes are soft). I took the foil off for the last 5 minutes so that the fingerlings were golden brown.


• Whisk vinegar, EVOO together in a small bowl and set aside.


• Saute bacon until crisp. Add shallots and potatoes. Add the vinegar and saute till all are heated through.


• Season with salt and pepper if you feel it's necessary.


• Gradually add handfuls of the dandelion greens to the saute pan - I cut the leaves into thirds. Stir until wilted down.


• Serve and grate parmesan-reggiano over top!