There were probably reasons why we didn’t do Zimbabwe as part of our ‘Around the world’ gig, or at least didn’t study their cuisine deeply. Now we have a reason to correct this. So far so good….
Zimbabwean Chicken Stew
Ingredients:-
3 Chicken Thighs
3 Chicken Drumsticks ( Just buy legs and cut the up!)
1 Large Onion, sliced into rings
2 Red Chillies, deseeded and chopped
2 Cloves of Garlic, minced
1 Carton of Passata
1 Green Chilli, deseeded and chopped
2 Spring Onions, chopped
1 Tsp of Oregano
1 Tsp of Paprika
1 Tin of Chopped Tomatoes
2 Fresh Tomatoes, chopped
Water
Salt & Pepper to season
Method:-
(1) Place the Chicken in a large pan and cover with water.
(2) Add 1/3 of the Onion rings, 1 Chilli, minced Garlic and season with Salt & Pepper.
(3) Cover and cook over a medium heat until the Onions are softened.
(4) Drain and transfer to a casserole dish.
(5) Add the remaining Chilli, Garlic, Passata, Green Pepper, Spring Onions, Oregano and Paprika in a blender – blending to a smooth paste.
(6) Add another 1/3 of the Onion rings and ½ of the tin of Tomatoes and blend.
(7) Pour the sauce over the Chicken adding the remaining tinned Tomatoes, Onion and fresh Tomatoes – covering with foil.
(8) Bake in a preheated oven at 180c for 15 minutes, turning the Chicken every 5 minutes.
(9) Remove the foil and cook until the Chicken is cooked through.
Rice Salad
Ingredients:-
200g of Brown Rice
70g of Black Eye Peas, soaked
3 Tbsp of White Vinegar
1 Tsp of Curry Powder
3 Tbsp Brown Sugar
½ Tsp of Turmeric
2 Tbsp of Soy Sauce
½ of a Red Pepper, chopped
1 Red Onion, diced
60 Ml of Oil
Water
½ Tsp of Salt to season
Method:-
(1) Rinse the Rice & Black Eyed Peas and place in a large pan.
(2) Cover with Water and bring to the boil.
(3) Allow to simmer for about 30 minutes, until cooked and tender.
(4) Drain and set aside.
(5) Mix the Vinegar, Curry Powder, Sugar, Soy Sauce, Turmeric, Oil and Salt – Combining well.
(6) Pour over the Rice / Beans and add the Peppers & Onion.
(7) Mix well and serve as a side.
This was a new flavour combination for us and we really enjoyed the Bean / Rice salad as a side dish. This will easily feed a family of four.
We’ve been doing a bit of freezer mining to clear some space. I’m not quite sure what cut this was, possibly shoulder? But sliced before marinading it worked really well.
Ingredients:-
400g of Pork, sliced
20g of Sugar
½ Tsp of Five Spice
¼ Tsp of White Pepper
½ Tsp of Sesame Oil
1 Tbsp of Shaoxing Wine
1 Tbsp of Soy Sauce (Gluten free for us)
1 Tbsp of Hoisin Sauce (Gluten free for us)
2 Tbsp of Treacle
3 Cloves of Garlic, minced
2 Tbsp of Honey
1 Tbsp of hot Water
Sliced Spring Onions and Sesame Seeds to garnish
Method:-
(1) Combine all the ingredients apart from the Honey.
(2) Reserve 2 Tbsp of the marinade and place in the fridge.
(3) Add the Pork the the remaining marinade and cover in the fridge for at least 4 hours.
(4) Line a roasting tray with foil.
(5) Place the Pork on a rack above the lined tray.
(6) Add about 300ml of water to the roasting tray.
(7) Cook in a pre-heated oven at 200c for 25 minutes.
(8) After 10 minutes reduce the heat to 180c.
(9) After 25 minutes turn the Pork and continue to roast for a further 10 minutes.
(10) In a pan heat the reserved marinade with the Honey and hot Water, allowing to simmer for 2 minutes.
(11) Remove the Pork and drizzle with the sauce from the pan.
(12) Garnish with Spring Onions and Sesame Seeds
We served ours on a bed of mixed fried rice with home fried Prawn Crackers. Very tasty for some random lump of Pig from the freezer!
These boneless Chicken Thighs were in the yellow sticker fridge. So initially we intended to do a Pasta sort of gig. Somewhere at some time our plans were lost in the translation! Looked and tasted quite a lot like a Stir-fry to us…….
Spicy Chinese Chicken
Marinade Ingredients:-
4 Boneless Chicken Thighs, cut into cubes
1 Egg
1 Tbsp of Garlic & Ginger Paste (Sue made her own)
2 Tbsp of Soy Sauce ( Gluten free for us)
1 Tsp of Chilli Powder
2 Tbsp of Cornflour
Sauce Ingredients:-
1 Small Red Onion, sliced
2 Tsp of Garlic & Ginger Paste
1 Green Chilli, de-seeded and chopped
3 Tbsp of Tomato Ketchup
1 Tsp of Honey
1 Tbsp of Sweet Chilli Sauce
1 Tbsp of Soy Sauce (Gluten free here)
A handful of Cashew Nuts, chopped
½ a pack of Baby Sweetcorn
4 Mushrooms, sliced
3 sheets of dried Kelp, soaked and cut into strips
1 Nest of Rice Noodles
Green of Spring Onions to garnish
Sesame Seeds to garnish
Oil to fry
Method:-
(1) Combine all the Marinade ingredients.
(2) Stir in the Chicken and stir well.
(3) Place in the fridge for ½ an hour.
(4) In a large frying pan heat Oil on a medium heat.
(5) Fry the Chicken until crispy and cooked through.
(6) Remove and set aside on kitchen paper to drain.
(7) Add the Onions and cook until softened.
(8) Add the Garlic & Ginger Paste and Chillies – cooking for a further minute.
(9) Add the Mushrooms & Sweetcorn and stir in.
(10) Add the Honey, Soy Sauce, Chilli Sauce & Ketchup and allow to simmer.
(11) Boil the Rice Noodles and drain. Running cold water over them.
(12) Boil ¾ of the Kelp until softened.
(13) Fire up a fryer and heat to 170c.
(14) deep fry the remain Kelp until crispy and set aside.
(15) Deep fry the Chicken to re-heat and brown, until eat piece floats.
(16) Remove and drain.
(17) Run boiling water through the Noodles and add to plates.
(18) Add the boiled Kelp and layer the Chicken over the top.
(19) Pour over the stir-fried sauce.
(20) Garnish with the chopped Nuts, Sesame Seeds and Fried Kelp.
We really enjoyed this, even though it is far from the Italian gig we had planned. The deep fried Kelp worked really well. But when we do this sort of thing again it needs to be served as a side. The steam from below very quickly destroyed the crispy texture and it reverted to its natural slightly vegetative state. (Read it went soggy!)
Yes you read that right, we had a bit of a trip to Germany the other evening. Well in the culinary fashion, at least…..
Rouladen Ingredients:-
2 Beef Steaks, halves
8 Rashers of Streaky Bacon
4 Pickled Gherkins, sliced down the middle
2 Medium Onions, Sliced
1 Large Carrot, sliced
1 Stick of Celery, sliced
3 Cloves of Garlic, minced
2 Tbsp of Dijon Mustard
200ml of Red Wine
250ml of Beef Stock
1 Tsp of Mixed Herbs
100ml of Lactose free Milk
2 Tbsp of ground Cashew Nuts
Salt & Pepper to season
Oil to fry
Method:-
(1) Hammer the steak out with a meat hammer until it is about 5mm thick.
(2) Spread the Mustard over the meat.
(3) Lay 2 Rashers of Bacon on each Steak.
(4) Add the Gherkins and half of the Onions to each steak.
(5) Season with Salt & Pepper.
(6) Roll each Steak tightly and secure with String or kebab sticks.
(7) Heat Oil in a large pan over a high heat and brown the outside of the Steak on all sides.
(8) Remove and set aside.
(9) In the same pan add the Celery, remaining Onion, Carrot and fry on a medium heat to soften.
(10) Add the Garlic, Herbs, Black Pepper, Wine and Stock.
(11) Allow to simmer for a few minutes.
(12) Return the Roulades to the sauce, cover and cook for about an hour over a low heat.
(13) Turn once gently about half was through.
(14) Remove the Roulades and cover to keep warm.
(15) Strain the Sauce and return the liquid to the pan.
(16) Add the Milk and Cashew nuts and allow to simmer to thicken.
(17) Pour the Sauce over the Roulades when you are read to serve.
Kartoffelklöße Ingredients:-
650g of Potatoes, peeled and cubed
100g Lactose free Margarine
270g of Bread, cubed (Gluten free home made bread for us)
A Pinch of Ground Nutmeg
A Pinch of Cayenne Pepper
135g of Plain Flour (Gluten free for us)
1 Tbsp of the Green parts of Spring Onions to garnish
2 Eggs
Salt & Pepper to season
Method:-
(1) In a large pan boil the Potatoes in Salted Water for 15 to 20 minutes until tender.
(2) Drain and set aside.
(3) Melt the Margarine in a frying pan and fry the cubed Break until golden brown.
(4) Remove and set aside.
(5) Mash the Potatoes and Season with Salt, Pepper, Nutmeg and Cayenne.
(6) Add the Eggs and mash until combined.
(7) Add the Flour and mix thoroughly.
(8) Bring a pan of Salted water to the simmer.
(9) Form ball with the Potato mix in your hands and make an indentation into the middle.
(10) Press 2 or 3 Croutons into middle of each Potato ball and close so they are encased.
(11) Lower each Dumpling into the simmering water and cook until they float.
(12) Cover and simmer for a further 10 minutes, flipping them over so they cook evenly.
(13) Crumb the remaining Croutons.
(14) Heat the remaining Margarine in a pan and use to garnish with the crumbled croutons and Spring Onions.
We really enjoyed this with mixed greens. But I bought Rump Steak because it was on offer. It would have been much better with Flank or Skirt which have a longer grain structure and more fat content.
We thought we needed a new theme. Icelandic recipes here we go. Lamb is generally out of budget for us. But Lamb Shanks give a good deal of meat for not a vast amount of money. The recipe said any Lamb cut with bone in, including the head! We might pass on the Head gig…..
Ingredients:-
800g of Lamb Shanks
1L of Beef Stock
1 Large Onion, Diced
2 Carrots, battoned
½ a Swede, diced
4 Parsnips, diced
¼ of a White Cabbage, shredded
50g of Brown Rice
400g of Red Potatoes, quarter
2 Cloves of Garlic, minced
Dried Oregano, Thyme & 2 Bay Leaves
Oil to fry
Salt & Pepper to season
Method:-
(1) In a large pan add a little Oil on a high heat and sear the meat on all sides.
(2) Season with Salt & Pepper.
(3) Remove and set aside.
(4) Add the Onions and reduce the heat, frying until softened.
(5) Add the Garlic and fry gently for a further 2 minutes.
(6) Add all the Vegetables excluding the Cabbage, season again.
(7) Add the Dried Oregano, Thyme & Bay Leaves.
(8) Add the Stock, Rice and Lamb, making sure the Lamb is submerged.
(9) Cover and simmer for an hour or so, stirring occasionally.
(10) Add the Cabbage and simmer for a further 30 minutes.
(11) Find and remove the Bay Leaves before serving.
For a dish with limited ingredients we really enjoyed this. The remaining casserole has been ‘wuzzed’ up into a Soup and frozen.
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