Chicken Teriyaki - sticky fried chicken with stickier sauce

I lifted this recipe from Chow, a brilliant website that has all sorts of useful videos and tips. It seems a little obsessed with cocktails, which in my book pander to a fantasy drink cabinet, because reading the list of ingredient makes me bemused. Who has all that stuff to hand? I don’t even keep tonic water. In a moment of enthusiasm three years ago I went out and bought angostura bitters, only to realise that it was just one component part of the cocktail I wanted to make. I never got around to buying what I needed to put the thing together. I fully expect that bottle to last me my whole life, I am sure I will move house several times with it, fondly imagining the times when I will have all the ingredients I need to make the perfect cocktail such as the Boothby, in the house at the same time. Meanwhile, I find myself occasionally unscrewing the lid and taking a little sniff, to remind me what the hell is in that bottle. In saner moments I recognise that this is what might be called a companion ingredient – I keep it for company, rather than for use. No doubt my kidneys are grateful to my maintenance of an aspirational but incomplete cocktail cabinet, and I can still dream. 

Back to food – my pantry ingredients are more regularly replenished – this is pseudo teriyaki but it is not ersatz teriyaki, as it delivers on flavour. The endorsement of the lovely Kitty, daughter who shuns the home-cooked anything, gives it the flavourful thumbs-up. This is a finger-licking dish, as somehow the sauce gets everywhere. The chicken is pan-fried before the sauce is added, it has a gentle heat from the pepper and the sticky sauce is wonderful with plain rice. 

A quick review of teriyaki recipes that might be thought of as more authentic, finds mirin, sake and sugar putting in an appearance, alongside fresh ginger. Some include different kinds of oil and marinading as part of the process. Some like to cook the chicken with skin on, making it nice and crisply, but I use skinless chickens. Simpler and less fat. This recipe substitutes a bit of bashing about for marinading, and uses honey and soy sauce for the teriyaki. I dilute the soy sauce so that it isn't too salty. In total it takes about 15 minutes. I like it with rice, some green salad and sliced cucumber.

Ingredients

½ cup soy sauce with ¼ cup water

¼ cup honey

1 ¼ tsp peeled, grated fresh ginger (from about a thumb length piece), grated very fine

500g (about four large boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs) the breasts will need pounding…

Freshly ground black pepper

4 teaspoons vegetable oil

If you like, serve with two spring onions (scallions to some), thinly sliced

Method

• Make the sauce first: Heat through the soy sauce, water and honey, bringing it to a simmer in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring often until the honey has completely dissolved, about 5 minutes (alternatively use the microwave, for one minute, stirring after 30 seconds)
• Remove from heat and add the ginger, stirring to combine and set aside
• If using chicken breasts, place them on a cutting board and cover with a sheet of plastic wrap. Use a meat mallet, frying pan or rolling pin. Gently pound them to a 1/2-inch thickness. Cut each in half so you have pieces roughly the same size. (If using chicken thighs, no need to pound or cut.)
• Season both sides of the chicken with pepper.
• Heat the oil in a large frying pan over high heat until shimmering and add the chicken in a single layer, and cook without poking for around 3 minutes. Then flip and cook the second side until equally browned, about 3 minutes more.
• Reduce the heat to medium, slowly pour in the reserved sauce, and cook, turning the chicken occasionally to coat in the sauce, cooking through for around another 3 minutes.
• Take the chicken out, shaking any sauce back into the pan, and put it onto a cutting board. I like to cover the chicken with a bowl to keep the juices in.
• Keep cooking the sauce until it has thickened slightly, about 3 minutes more, then turn off the heat.
• Slice the rested chicken crosswise into 1/2-inch pieces and put it on a serving dish. Drizzle over the sauce and sprinkle the sliced spring onions over the lot.

easy chicken curry

On the way to a friend's house I decided I should whip up a lovely meal for the host. Slightly controlling behaviour, but needs must when visiting someone whose cooking always disappoints and at times may be a health hazard. I armed myself with two chicken legs, some steak mince, a lime, garlic, fresh ginger and a bunch of coriander. I was thinking night one: meatballs. Night two: chicken curry. The basics (onions, tomatoes, olive oil, yoghurt, curry powder, tomato puree) were in the pantry. All the prep could be done at once. 

The chicken is best marinaded overnight and cooks slowly. 

The chicken is tender and the flavours gentle. Very easy to eat. You could make the flavours more delicate by throwing in a couple of cardamom pods, and you could use one of the tandoori mixes to give it that violent red colour. Sometimes it's nice to keep things simple and go with ready mixed curry powder and have done. The garlic, ginger, coriander and lime mix is the key. Or you could use lemon.


This is enough for two people if eaten alone, would stretch if eaten with other dishes.

Recipe

ingredients

2 chicken legs

1" ginger

4 cloves garlic

1/2 bunch of coriander

1/2 pot of yoghurt

1 lime

3 tbsp tomato puree

pepper and salt

method

• take the skin off the chicken
• peel the garlic and ginger and chop finely
• finely chop the coriander, including the stems
• wash the lime, squeeze the juice
• put the chicken in a heatproof bowl with the chopped garlic, coriander, lime juice and both halves of the squeezed lime and yoghurt
• cover bowl with clingfilm and put into the fridge for 2-3 hours or overnight

heat the oven to 325/160/3

·        take the chicken out of the fridge and stir in the tomato paste

·        the sauce may separate, to avoid this add 1tsp of cornflour

·        cook for two hours, stirring occasionally

Eat. With rice or naan, and a small salad. 

I like to eat this with dry cooked ginger potatoes and/or dhal.

cold day spicy biscuit with tea needed

those darker bits are especially delicious

As the leaves start to fall I start wanting to eat biscuits with my tea. I like these biscuits which have a zingy ginger bite and a warming flavour of cinnamon and cloves.

Maybe you do not like cloves? It's worth giving it a go in these biscuits - even my white-food-only daughter does. Although I'm not sure she even knows what a clove is, still she notices when I forget to put them in.

Here in rainy London cookies are creeping up apace. Back in the deprived days of my childhood had someone asked me for a cookie I wouldn't have had the first idea what they were on about. Now it's common culinary currency. So call these biscuits cookies if you like. You can cook them a bit less and have them chewy, or you can cook and cook again, making them teeth-threateningly crisp. That is the origin of the word biscuit after all - bis=twice, cuit=cooked. And don't worry, noone has lost a tooth to biting these biscuits yet.

jumped ship and ate one
 with vanilla ice cream

RECIPE

Ingredients
250g plain flour
110g unsalted butter
150g caster sugar
1 egg
1tbsp treacle
1 tsp cinnamon
half tsp bicarbonate of soda
half tsp salt (leave out if you use salted butter)
half tsp ground cloves
half tsp ginger
demerera sugar

Method
Preheat oven to 200C/gas mark 4. Line two baking trays with baking parchment, or butter them.

Sift the flour, bicarb, spices and salt if using. I actually just stir the lot around with a whisk.
Cream butter and sugar together, beating until light and creamy.
Add the egg, beating all the time.
Add treacle - don't worry if it's a bit more than a table spoonful.
Fold in flour mixture, stirring until you get a stiff dough.

Put some demerera sugar in a bowl.

Use two teaspoons if you don't want sticky hands - take a spoonful of dough and dip it into the demerera, then put it sugar side up on the baking tray.
leave room for spreading.

Bake for 15m - leave to cool before removing from the tray.

If you manage not to eat all the biscuits at once, they store well. They're also welcome as gifts.

grilled marinated chicken strips that make you overeat

Four skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips.

2 med onions
1 clove garlic
2.5cm/1" ginger
1tsp thai green curry powder*
5cm/2" cream coconut
generous handful of powdered coconut
juice of 1 lemon
fresh coriander - approx 1/3 generous bunch - incl. leaves, stem and washed root

good pinch of salt

1 mug water

With blender	Without blender
Grate or chop up cream coconut and add ½ mug boiling water – leave to melt	Grate or chop up cream coconut and add ½ mug boiling water – leave to melt
Peel onions.	Peel onions.
Roughly chop onions, coriander, garlic and ginger, put in blender jug. Add ½ mug water and coconut cream mixture. Blend.	Grate onions, put grated onion into bowl. Finely chop coriander, garlic and ginger and add to bowl. Add ½ mug water and coconut cream mixture and mix.
Add lemon juice, salt, thai curry powder and powdered coconut and mix to a paste.
Mix  chicken strips with paste until they're well covered. Leave for at least two hours or overnight. Thread onto skewers – makes about 8 large skewers. If you haven't got skewers or don't want to use them, you can cook the chicken without, but you'll need to cook the strips in batches and turning them takes longer.
Cook under preheated grill for 10-12 minutes, turning once. Wrap cooked chicken strips in tin foil and leave for at least 10 minutes. Eat hot or cold.

* If you can't find it, try this combo

2 Tbsp fish sauce OR 4 tinned anchovies OR omit

½ tsp ground cumin

½ tsp ground coriander

½ tsp chilli powder, or one seeded green chilli

ground lemon grass or zest of a lemon or lime


other chicken recipes: flattened chicken roast chicken chicken of forty cloves of garlic 

easy chocolate cake - wheat free

I've come up with another recipe for chocolate cake. It seems to satisfy chocolate lovers, and me. It's moist, but not too moist and it's got texture. It's a little bit chewy, not soft and melting, in case that's what you're looking for. If you can eat wheat you can substitute ordinary plain flour for the gluten free flour. 

you don't need chocolate for this, just cocoa powder

this cake doesn't need icing, and is great with ice cream and/or cream. It's also wonderful on it's own.

ingredients

50g cocoa powder

50g gluten free plain flower

100g ground almonds*

125g margarine or butter

150g castor sugar

4 eggs

2tsp baking powder

few drops of vanilla essence

*you can make the ground the almonds yourself, which I prefer, with their skins on, it gives a bit more texture

prepare a 9" cake tin, lining the base with baking parchment and buttering the sides

method

• sift the dry ingredients together, or break up any lumps by stirring them together thoroughtly using a whisk
  
• beat the margarine and sugar together until smooth, or light and fluffy, if you're over 50
  
• add eggs one by one, beating them in as you go
  
• add a few drops of vanilla essence
  
• stir in the dry ingredients until well mixed
  
• pour into prepared, lined tin
  

bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes at gas mark 7 then 10 minutes at gas mark 4 - the cake is ready when a skewer stuck into it comes out clean

photo to follow

An easy supper: Cabbage and bacon

You don’t have to spend a lot of money to have a great meal. In this case that’s as long as you have a good head of cabbage. If you’re veggie, leave out the bacon, add more onion and some red pepper, for colour.

As a kid I was forced to try dishes, including those that I might have rejected in previous samplings. I never came around to tripe or sauerkraut, but hunger, sibling rivalry and the prospect of supper for breakfast meant I managed to choke most things down. This is one I got to love and is so good it also conquered daughter number two without the extreme measures I was subject to. In fact my wasted sensitivity earned me the reproach ‘why didn’t you tell me about this?’

So, let’s debate which type of cabbage to use. This recipe can be made with pretty much any cabbage, but I like Savoy cabbage best. It’s beautiful, with intricate lace-like veining, brain-like bumpiness and it’s leaves range from rich green to sunny yellow at the heart. It tastes great and, by the way it’s also the best cabbage to use if you want to make stuffed cabbage.

So, other than a good head of cabbage, to serve four hungry people you’ll need an onion, a packet of bacon, a knob of butter, a healthy pinch of salt (adjust the pinch if you’re using salted bacon) and some vigorous grindings of black pepper.

Cabbage and bacon Serves 4

What you need

* 1 cabbage
* 1 onion
* 1 packet bacon
* Knob of butter
* Pepper
* Salt

How you do it

1. Remove the core and any damaged outer leaves of the cabbage
2. Slice up the cabbage and leave to rinse in a bowl of cold water
3. Chop up the bacon
4. Put pan onto low heat, add chopped bacon and knob of butter
5. Peel the onion and chop up roughly, then add chopped onion to cook with the bacon, stirring occasionally
6. After about five minutes, or once the onion becomes soft, add the wet cabbage. Don’t shake off the water, that’s all the water needed to cook the cabbage
7. Add pinch of salt and black pepper
8. Cover with pan lid and cook for around 15 minutes, or until the cabbage is soft, and most of the water has cooked off. The cabbage should still be a good colour green.

Eat straight away, on its own, or top it with an egg or some cheese to make a substantial meal

Word of warning: keep the heat low, or you may end up with burnt cabbage

Any leftovers are great mixed with potato and fried up to make bubble and squeak, or as a tasty topping for shepherd’s pie, veggie or meat.