Sweet and Sour Chicken

Who doesn't love Chinese food? We do.  I am sure you do as well, maybe not all (like us) but some!.. How about some Sweet and Sour Chicken? The tangy flavor that lays in between sweet and sour, just as its name says, is a delicious dish! the added pineapple makes it taste tropical and exotic.  I love fruit in main dishes..

This was the first time I tried this recipe, including the sauce, which I thought at first to buy it ready, but then I was like I should try it!  I was skeptical at first for the quantity of sugar it takes in, now we know why it is sweet, and was surprised that apple cider vinegar was used to brake in the sweet taste.  

Forget take-outs or even going to a Chinese restaurant and try this quick and effective go-to recipe for when you want to enjoy this classic at a fraction of the cost.

         

Sweet and Sour Chicken

Ingredients

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (cut into bite size chuncks)
Salt and pepper
2 cups flour
5 teaspoons cornstarch
2 teaspoons baking soda
3 eggs (beaten with a fork)
oil (for frying)

1 ½ cup sugar
1/2 cup ketchup
3/4 cup cider vinegar
2 Tablespoon soy sauce
2 Tablespoons garlic powder

Vegetables

1 red pepper, sliced

1 yellow pepper, sliced

1 orange pepper, sliced

1 onion, cut into wedges/sliced

1 can of cut pineapples

Method

In a bowl mix flour, baking soda and 1 teaspoon of cornstarch. In another bowl beat the eggs. Dip chicken pieces first then the flour mixture, then in the egg mixture and then again in the flour mixture.

Fry in oil in a wok or in a deep fryer at 350 degrees in batches until golden brown. Drain on a tray, if you want use kitchen paper towels.

Place chicken in a single layer on a baking sheet. Mix sauce ingredients together and pour half of  it over the chicken and toss to coat. Bake for about 10 minutes at 200ºC, flipping them every 5 minutes. 

Meanwhile cook your veggies. Put a little oil in a pan and stir fry them. Bring the remaining sauce

to a simmer in a small pot and let thicken about 8 minutes. Pour the sauce over the vegetables. Mix the chicken and veggies together and add the pineapple and stir slowly so that the chicken pieces don’t break.  Serve over white rice. 

ENJOY!

Creamy Pumpkin Soup

This pumpkin creamy soup is simple and delicious, slightly sweet in taste; smooth in texture and beautifully yellow in color, will invite your diners with a pleasing fragrance and the warm golden hues of autumn. Filled with anti-oxidants and vitamins and gentle on the tummy, this is a warming soup that helps strengthen your immune system. Simple but delicious, this is a perfect soup to serve on a cold fall day, and it's also a great way to use up any pumpkins that aren't turned into jack-o-lanterns.

Wonderfully comforting soup, let me tell you..

Creamy Pumpkin Soup

Ingredients

1 kg pumpkin flesh, cubed
2 tbsp canola oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp paprika
1 litre of chicken stock
salt

ground black pepper
half cup of cream

Method

Cut the peeled and seeded pumpkin into chunks, finely chop the onion.

Heat the oil in a saucepan, onions and stir. Fry gently for about five minutes, then stir in the cubed pumpkin.
Add the stock, season with salt, pepper, cumin and paprika. 

Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for about 20 minutes, until the pumpkin has softened.

Pureé the soup in a blender of hand processor until smooth. Once before serving, pour in the cream.

Or if you want you could leave the cream for when its served, people can serve it with a dollop of cream and croutons (optional). 

ENJOY!

Classic Baked Chicken

This dish it quite quick and delicious.  I learned it from a friend, and was surprised it contains so much garlic it doesn't taste like it!  We can't deny, garlic adds delicious taste and aroma to the dishes, so if you are a fan of this, you will love this recipe!

Sometimes I prepare this a night before, and store in the fridge and its ready to be made the next day in case I have a busy day ahead. 

Classic Baked Chicken 

Ingredients

1 kilo and half chicken pieces like breast, thighs, legs, etc. - washed and dried

1 whole garlic head, mashed

5-6 tbsp of ketchup

Juice of 2 lemons

Salt

Pepper

Oil

Method

Heat oven to 200 degrees C.

Mash the garlic cloves with a little salt.  Place it in a big bowl, mix in the ketchup, lemon juice, oil.  Add the chicken pieces, and put in desired salt and pepper.  If you think you need to add anything extra, go ahead, based on your taste! :)  

Place the final product in a baking tray, preferably a little deep like a rectangular pirex tray.  Cover with aluminum foil, and bake it for around 40 minutes.  Uncover and broil to give a nice color.

Serve with rice, mashed potato, steamed veggies, fries, you name it!

ENJOY!

Ricotta Tart with Strawberries

If you want to try and make a cheesecake without a crust, go ahead and try this delicious dish!  This recipe is super friendly and made of ricotta instead of cream cheese. Very light, and delicious for a tea party - or any party! Just use a blender, and done, you can go ahead and slice it.

 

 

Ricotta Tart with Strawberries

 

 
Ingredients

 
4 eggs
Juice of 1 lemon (06 tablespoons)
500g ricotta
250g cream without serum
1 can of condensed milk
1 teaspoon of vanilla essence
200g of chopped strawberries

 

Method

 
Beat the 6 first ingredients in blender and pour into a pan of 22cm in diameter (mine has a removable rim), only oiled (no need to flour) ...

 
Place the chopped strawberries and put in oven for 1 hour or until the toothpick test it and it comes out clean.

 

 Adding the strawberries

 

Just out of the oven

 

Allow it to cool and place it in the fridge for a minimum of 4-6 hours and serve.

 

TIP: If you do use the ring-shaped as I did, place a tray below it to avoid the risk of leaking and soiling your stove, and giving you a hell of a job after to wash ...

 

ENJOY!

Maqluba (upside-down rice)

Maqluba, sometimes pronounced as Maaluba or Maglubais a traditional Levantine dish, believed to have originated in historic Palestine. The dish includes a meat, rice and fried vegetables placed in a pot, which is then flipped upside down when served, hence the name maqluba which translates literally as "upside-down".

Maqluba is usually served with either plain yogurt and/or a simple Arabic salad of diced tomato, cucumber, lettuce, lemon juice and olive oil. 

Ingredients

For the chicken broth

1 whole chicken, washed/cleaned

1 carrot, peeled and sliced longwise

1 small onion, peeled and cut in square

2 bay leaves

few cardamom pods

Method

Bring to boil chicken with carrot and onion.  Allow to boil a little and start removing the foam it accumulated from time to time.  After removing it, throw in the leaves and cardamom.  Allow to boil and chicken to cook for around 40-45 minutes.  When you think it has been cooked, remove the chicken to cool, and sift the broth to remove the cardamom and others.  Once chicken is not hot anymore, start removing meat nicely into somehow thick pieces and set aside on a plate for later use.

For the rice

1 big cauliflower head

2 eggplants

2 cups of rice, uncooked (soak the rice for around 15min prior using it in hot water) (Preferably the Uncle Ben's long grain)

4 cups of chicken broth

1 and half teaspoon of cinnamon

1 teaspoon of allspice

Salt

Pine nuts

Slices almonds

Method

Start cutting each cauliflower and wash them, put to drain, and start deep frying them until gold.  Set aside.

While frying them, to save time, start peeling the eggplants and cut them in slices of around 2cm in thickness.  Cut them on its wide side, not length.  Brush each side of the piece and grill them.  Some people fry them, but I think it soaks in so much oil I don't like it!  Once grilled, set aside.

Pour in a pan around 3 tablespoon of oil.  Pour the drained rice, and flip of 2min.  Add 4 cups of chicken broth, and add the cinnamon, allspice, and salt.  Once start boiling, lower heat, and cover. Allow to cook. It should take between 30-40min.

Once the rice is cooked, move them to a bowl for a while because you need to set up in the same pan you made the rice the other ingredients to be able to flip it and get the end product!

Start putting layers: starting from the chicken, then cauliflower, then eggplant, you can play and put them around the pan, finger pressing the eggplant for instance to stick a little on the pan.  Put carefully the cooked rice on them evenly, and make a small pressure.  Cover until its served.

Fry the pine nuts with a little of oil.  Set aside.  Then fry the almond slices and set aside as well.  These are for decoration purposes and also adds tastes to the rice itself, but its optional!

Now for the serving stage, get a tray in a circle shape that can allow the rice to fit relaxed.  I mean, allowing it to if it breaks down it doesn't fall off the tray.  Carefully with a towel, place the tray on the pan, and quickly flip the rice, allowing it to feel that it went down the tray.  Then carefully take out the pan, and sprinkle with the nuts.

ENJOY!

Lebanese Meat Fatteh Recipe

This dish is called Fatteh and is a Lebanese main breakfast dish. It can made a number of ways which include using chicken, rice, ground beef. It is known for containing all the essential vitamins needed to start the day. This dish goes back to early Lebanese history and is widely known around the Middle East.

Garlic flavored yogurt is poured over boiled chickpeas and topped with fried bits of pita bread and fried pine nuts. It can be served as part of an extensive Lebanese breakfast or as a side dish.

Ingredients

5 cups of fried pita pieces

1 can of chickpeas

250 gr of ground beef

1/3 cup of fried pine nuts

5 cups of unflavored yogurt

3 tbsp of tahini (sesame seed paste)

2 mashed garlic cloves

Salt

Cumin

Cinnamon

Oil to fry

Method

First of all cut the pita breads in small squares, I use a kitchen scissor, its size must be around 3cm on all sides.  You can cut them by hand if its easier.  Deep fry them for few minutes until golden.  Remove and set on kitchen tissue to drink up the oil on them.

You can fry the pine nuts to be set aside as well.  Put around 1tbsp of canola oil, and dry them until golden. Set aside for later use.

Boil a little the chickpeas.  I usually do that for 1-2minutes only.  Remove and drain them.  Pour them in a plate and mix on them gently cumin, the more the better!- Set aside.

Mix the the yogurt with the tahini, garlic, pinch of salt, and set aside as well.

Now lets fry the meat.  Just put around 1-2 tbsp of oil and add salt, and if you want any other spices like pepper, cumin, whatever you want.  Fry until cooked.  Set aside.

Now the assembling part:  In a pirex (rectangular dish) place evenly the pita bread, then sprinkle all chickpeas, then add evenly all around the yogurt sauce, then sprinkle also evenly cinnamon (this gives amazing taste) then add all beef around, finally sprinkle pine nuts.

Serve immediately.

ENJOY!