Cheese and Chilli Chicken with Chips

Yesterday, I realised that it had been quite a while since I had featured chicken on this blog. Although the chicken pieces which I used in this dish had been purchased for an entirely different dish and project, I decided that it was more important to put this apparent neglect right. After all, chicken is of course a hugely popular cooking ingredient and one which many people enjoy.

The chips which I have served with this cheese and chilli chicken are prepared in exactly the same way as I have featured them before on this blog many times. The precise instructions can be found or revisited by clicking here before going any further.



Cheese and Chilli Chicken Ingredients (Per Person)

1/2lb chicken breast fillet (chopped in to 1" cubes)
3oz cheddar cheese (grated)
1 small red chilli pepper (finely chopped - seeds in or out depending upon preference)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1-2 tbsp sunflower oil for frying

Method

Important note: It is immediately before stir frying the chicken that the chips should be put in for their second frying.

The overhead grill should be put on to preheat to maximum. The wok should be brought up to a very high heat and the sunflower oil added to heat through. It should be noted that normally when I am stir frying chicken, I will, "Velvet," it beforehand. This is a procedure used by the Chinese to protect the chicken during cooking and ensure it does not overcook on the outside while remaining raw on the inside. On this occasion, however, I wanted the chicken to be slightly browned and crisped on the outside, so omitted the procedure altogether.



The chicken pieces should then be stir fried for a couple of minutes on maximum heat, until cooked through and slightly browned on the outside. They should be seasoned with a little salt and freshly ground black pepper. It is important to then remove them from the wok, drain them and dry them carefully with some kitchen towel, before placing them as shown in a small ovenproof dish.



The chilli pieces should be stirred through the cheese and the mixture used to evenly cover the chicken. A little extra black pepper can be added at this stage, if desired. The dish should then be placed under the hot grill until the cheese melts and begins to bubble.

The meal can be plated up either by simply serving the chicken in its cooking dish as shown below, or sliding it out of same as shown at the top of this post.

A Scottish Mother's Spaghetti Bolognese Sauce

There is clearly a bit of a story attached to this recipe which it is better to relate before I proceed with the recipe itself. This recipe differs from any other that I have included on this blog - or anywhere else, for that matter - in that it is not one which I created or at least adapted. No, I am not committing plagiarism, nor have I been chatting up any elderly ladies of Italian descent: the recipe is actually my mother's.

This is a recipe which I vividly remember my mother (who has no Italian links) preparing from my earliest childhood but - even as a food writer and editor - I have strangely enough never asked her how she actually makes it until very recently. This is especially surprising, given the fact that it is so good. I therefore deemed to put that fact right and share it with the wider world at large. My mother (a vegetarian!) devised the recipe through trial and error, without clearly ever tasting it herself. I was certainly surprised myself both by certain inclusions and omissions from this recipe but please try it out for yourself before judging it.

The quantities in this recipe provide for two people.

Ingredients

1/2lb minced/ground steak (or beef)
2 small carrots (scraped and diced)
1 medium white onion (moderately finely chopped)
2 large closed cup mushrooms (moderately finely chopped)
8oz tomato puree
1 tbsp tomato ketchup
A little boiling water

Method

Brown the minced/ground steak in a large pot. Ensure that it doesn't burn. Add the carrots and the onion then enough boiling water to ensure that everything is submerged. Simmer gently for ten to fifteen minutes.

Add the mushrooms, followed by the tomato puree and ketchup. Stir very well and leave to simmer gently while the accompanying spaghetti is prepared according to the instructions on the packet.

Drain the spaghetti and arrange on the serving plates, prior to spooning the bolognese sauce on top. Freshly grated parmesan cheese can be added if and as required.

Footnote: I have to admit that there is one thing I always add to this recipe and that is salt. That again, however, is a matter of personal taste.

Bonus Recipe Today! - Bolognese Sauce with Cheese on Toast

I couldn't bring myself to publish this post with my own sole contribution to the recipe being the addition of some salt, so I decided to share with you a way in which I love to eat any leftover bolognese sauce.

Ingredients

2 tbsp Bolognese sauce
1oz grated/shredded cheddar or other hard cheese
1 slice of bread
Freshly ground black pepper

Method

The first step is simply to re-heat the Bolognese sauce. Toast the bread thereafter on one side and turn it over before spooning on and smoothing out the Bolognese sauce. Sprinkle the cheese carefully on top and grind the pepper liberally on top of the cheese. Place back under the hot grill until the cheese has melted and begins to bubble furiously.

This makes a great lunch idea for the day after the Spaghetti Bolognese has been served but remember to ensure that the sauce is refrigerated if being left overnight and very thoroughly re-heated prior to use.

Yet Another Bonus Today

Do you ever have a problem judging how much spaghetti to make per person? I know that it used to be a common problem for me! Not long ago, however, I found this clever little tool on Amazon. You simply determine how many people you are cooking for and use the appropriate hole to determine how much spaghetti to cook. Obviously, it is not foolproof, as peoples' appetites vary, but it should at least significantly reduce the amount of unrequired and cooked spaghetti you are forced to discard - or even worse, the number of occasions upon which you come up short!

Click on either the Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk panel below to go a long way to ensuring that your cooked spaghetti is of the right quantity in future.



Relevant Associated Links for your Further Information

Tomato and Basil Pasta Recipe

Healthy Beef Recipes

How to Easily Make your own Homemade Pasta

Quick, Delicious, Homemade Pasta Dishes

A Pasta Guide from A-Z

Brocolli and Cauliflower Cheese Recipe

It was recently mentioned to me by Linda Joyce, a reader of this blog, that I had not included any recipes for vegetarians. Personally, I am an omnivore - verging upon being a carnivore - and simply hadn't realised this quite unforgivable omission, even though my mother is vegetarian! I am therefore beginning the rectification of this siuation and promise to include more vegetarian recipes on a regular basis.

Most people will have heard of cauliflower cheese and perhaps be very fond of same but whenever I am making cauliflower cheese, I also include broccoli, both for its excellent health benefits and for even tastier results. The following recipe is for two people.

Ingredients

1 head of cauliflower
1 head of broccoli
4 oz plain flour
4 oz butter
12 to 15 fl oz milk (depending upon how thick you like your sauce)
4 oz cheddar cheese (grated or shredded)
Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
Basil leaves for garnishing (optional)

Method

The first step is to wash the cauliflower and broccoli and split them in to florets. Put the cauliflower only in to a large pan of boiling, slightly salted water. This is because the cauliflower will take slightly longer to cook than the broccoli. When the cauliflower has been simmering for four minutes, add the broccoli and cook for a further eight minutes only.

It is vital when making the sauce that the milk be heated first until it begins to simmer. Adding cold milk to your roux can cause it to be lumpy or worse. Pour the milk from the saucepan in to a jug or bowl and slowly melt the butter, then sift in tthe flour. Stir well and cook for a two to three minutes, stirring constantly.

The milk should then be added in three or four stages, stiriing all the time. When a lush, thick sauce has been formed, add the cheese and the grated nutmeg and stir until the cheese is melted.

Drain the cauliflower and broccoli well, place it back in the pot and pour in the sauce. Stir very carefully so as not to break the cauliflower and broccoli florets, then serve, garnished with the basil if required.