Pioneer Woman's Crispy Yoghurt Chicken

fresh out of the oven - so much meat!! totally destroyed our vegetarian sunday


served with pasta and fresh lettuce with self-created cream cheese and yoghure dressing

I've been eying this recipe for some time now, just never had the impetus to go cook it. The thing about feeling blue for lainey is that I usually want to cook a new dish or bake some sweets to feel better. So I got my ass out to make this for dinner. It turned out better than I expected. J likes it more than I did (too much meat!) which is a good sign that it is successful by my standards. Because, hey, what's more important than keeping the man happy through his stomach? ;)

Here's the original recipe - except that I used basil instead of parsley cuz I don't like parsley.

J's rating: 9/10
my rating: 6/10

Mediterranean Chicken (Elaine's version)

Loved Shwang's version when he cooked it for us back in Singapore that I tried to duplicate it, except that I don't have onions, sundried tomatoes or celery at home. So my vegetables are....tomatoes, carrots, zucchini and red pepper. I think it's quite good!

Yumz - great dish to dazzle people at dinner parties!

Jeff says - 7/10, needs less olive oil and more sea salt (I blame Shwang for bad instructions on the salt:p)

Roast Chicken Thigh with Seasonal Vegetables (aka whatever vegetables I found in the fridge)

I improvised a recipe I found on the net (sorry I lost the page) and got this dish instead.

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:
Marinade
Honey
Paprika
Chopped garlic
salt
pepper
half a lemon juice
extra virgin olive oil

Chicken thighs

carrots
mushrooms
cherry tomatoes

Cooking Method:
Mix the marinade together and rub chicken thighs with marinade. Marinate in refrigerator for 30 minutes or more.
Place chicken thighs on baking dish, arrange vegetables on the side, drizzle extra virgin olive oil on top and put in over to roast at 350 farenheit for about 40 minutes, basting continuously.

Jeff and I quite liked it though he suggested putting some chopped chillis for the extra kick...what a Singaporean idea!

Prawn thermidor

Roast Chicken Penne with lemon sauce

Mr Shwang encouraged me to use lemon juice on my pasta. I had feared that it would give a sour taste, instead, it's a nice refreshing twang! Very nice.

Recipe is easy:

1) Fry garlic in olive oil, add mushrooms, cook till mushrooms sweat (JO's term)
2) Add store-bought shredded roast chicken, chopped tomatoes, chopped chilli padi
3) Add salt, pepper to taste. Add juice of 1 lemon.
4) Add penne and fry till pasta is coated with taste.

I was lazy to cook spaghetti so I used penne instead. Don't be lazy, I bet this will taste much better with spaghetti. Stick to tomato based sauces for penne.

:D

Pork chops with mustard and tomato sauce

I still remember hating mustard when I was young, I didn't like it on my burgers but again, as always, after making a dish with mustard in it, I started loving it. Maybe its because its dijon mustard and not American mustard. I am not too sure. Anyway, for this, pan fry pork chops (seasoned with salt and pepper) with butter till they are brown on both sides. Remove from the pan. Add white wine and boil till the alcohol is almost all evaporated. Add cream and tomato puree and simmer for a while. Return the pork to the pan and simmer till the meat is cooked. Add peeled and diced tomatoes, dijon mustard and tarragon Heat thoroughly and serve.

Stuffed chicken breast wrapped in sage and parma ham

From Gordon Ramsay's Healthy Appetite.

Ingredients

chicken breasts
sage leaves
5 heaped tbsp ricotta or feta cheese
parma ham slices
thyme sprigs

Cut a deep slit along one side of each chicken breast, without slicing right through, then open it out like a book. On a clean chopping board, finely chop 4 sage leaves, then mix into the ricotta and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Lay two parma ham slices on the board, overlapping them slightly. Put a sage leave in the middle and lay an open chicken breast on top. Spoon a quarter of the ricotta mixture onto the middle of the chicken, then fold the sides together again, to enclose the filling. Now wrap the Parma ham slices around the stuffed chicken breast. Wrap in cling film. Repeat with the rest of the chicken breasts and chill for 1-2 hours to firm up slightly.



Heat the oven to 180 degrees and place a roasting pan in the oven to heat up. Heat a heavy-based frying pan and add the olive oil. When hot, fry the Parma-wrapped chicken, in batches, if necessary, for 2 minutes on each side until browned. Lay a few thyme sprigs on each chicken breast, then place in the hot roasting pan. Cook in the oven for 12-15 minutes, depending on size



Rest the chicken, covered with foil, in a warm place for 5-10 minutes. Serve