Lemon Garlic Chicken

There are some recipes that you just want to make at once. They make you forget about the list of chores that need to be completed, the tv shows that you could be watching, and instead you are standing in the kitchen with ingredients laid out on the counter.

This lemon garlic chicken was one such recipe for me. Instead of the Chinese styled lemon chicken, this is more of an Italian version where the chicken is first browned, then cooked with loads of garlic & spices to make this thick gravy that is just delicious served with spaghetti. Ideally you could serve rice with it, but I prefered the noodles. 

Lemon Garlic Chicken

Lemon Garlic Chicken

Adapted from Emeril Lagasse's Lemon Garlic Chicken Thighs recipe.

Ingredients

• 500 grams boneless chicken, cubed
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/8 cup oil
• 1 cup onions, finely chopped
• 12 cloves garlic (about 1 heads) garlic, peeled and smashed (I peel the garlic, put it in a clean plastic bag then use a meat mallet to smash it)
• 1/2 - 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes (adjust to taste)
• 3 to 4 peppercorns
• 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 1/4 cup chicken stock (1 chicken cube dissolved in 1 1/4 cup of water)
• 2 cloves garlic, finely sliced
• 3-4 green chillies, whole 
• 450 grams egg noodles or spaghetti 
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 tablespoon dried parsley
• Spring Onions or Cilantro/Dhania - for garnish

Directions

1. Season the chicken with 1 teaspoon salt & 1 teaspoon black pepper. Sprinkle the chicken with the flour and mix it together. Set aside.
2. In a large saute pan or wok, heat the oil over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, add the chicken and golden brown on both sides. Remove the chicken from the pan and keep aside.
3. Keeping the heat on medium-high, add chopped onions to the pan and cook till light brown. Add the smashed up garlic, red chilli flakes, 1/2 teaspoon salt, peppercorns and cook for 2 minutes. Add the lemon juice, chicken stock and browned chicken back to the pan. Bring the mixture to boil, then turn heat to simmer. Cover pan with lid, and cook for 10 minutes. Remove lid, and cook for about 5 minutes till the gravy is to the consistency you prefer. If you want thick gravy, then add cornflour dissolved in water to thicken it. 
4. Deep fry garlic cloves in a small frying pan or tempering pan (baghar pan) till light golden & crisp. Drain on paper towels. Cut the top of the green chili's, take out the seeds from the top, and then shallow fry green onions till blistered. Drain on paper towels again. 
5. Cook the noodles till al dente (timing specified on packet). Drain well, and toss in a large bowl with the butter & parsley. Sprinkle some of the parsley on top for garnish. Keep the water to boil for the noodles when starting to brown the chicken. The noodles should be added when the chicken is on simmer so both chicken & noodles are ready at the same time for the optimal temperature. 
6. Top chicken with fried garlic & chili's. Another option for garnish is to use sliced spring onions or dhaniya/cilantro. 
7. Serve lemon garlic chicken with noodles on the side. 

Lemon Garlic Chicken with Egg Noodles

White Sauce Pasta with Garlic Mushrooms & Grilled Chicken

I just had a minor epiphany right now - I write VERY long recipes and I am just wondering if that is a good thing or a bad thing. Most people look at a long recipe & go like oh, forget it, I am not making it because it's complicated. But the reason I write detailed recipes is because I want to make sure that none of the steps are missed and you can adjust if required. 

This particular recipe here for white sauce spaghetti has a total of four components - white sauce, grilled chicken, mushrooms & boiled pasta. Sounds long, doesn't it? BUT the chicken recipe I doubled and used for three other dishes (sandwiches, potato skins & this pasta).  That's one component done. The second & third (mushrooms & white sauce) sound long, but they are one pot recipes which can be made in advance. For this particular recipe, I boiled the noodles, made the mushrooms, chicken & white sauce at Iftar (around 7 pm). When it was dinner time (8:30 pm), I warmed everything and then mixed it together. 

So a long recipe does not necessarily mean complicated. But small 'rule of thumb' for whatever recipe you are making: read it at least 2-3 times, make a note of the ingredients you already have & the ones you need, and then plan steps in advance keeping a 15-20 minute buffer margin. This is even more important during Ramadan when you have a strict timeline so its always best to prepare in advance.

Spicy White Sauce Pasta with Garlic Mushrooms & Grilled Chicken

Spicy White Sauce Spaghetti with Garlic Mushrooms, Chicken & Olives

Ingredients

Serves 4-5 people

• 450 grams egg noodles (spaghetti can be substituted) 
• Olives for garnish
• Garlic Mushrooms
  
  
  • 2 tablespoon butter
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon red chilli flakes (omit if you don't want it to be spicy)
  • 1 can of button mushrooms, sliced 
• Peri Peri Grilled Chicken 
• 200 grams boneless chicken, cubed 
• 1/2 teaspoon vinegar 
• 1 tablespoon Peri Peri Sauce (Garlic flavored) - Substitute with the one you prefer
• 1/2 teaspoon salt 
• 1/2 teaspoon white pepper 
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika 
• 1/4 teaspoon red chilli powder (omit if you don't want it to be spicy)
• 1/4 teaspoon red chilli flakes (omit if you don't want it to be spicy)
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic paste
• Cheesy White Sauce
• 3 tablespoon butter
• 1 tablespoon garlic paste
• 2 tablespoon flour
• 1 1/2 cups - 2 cups milk
• 1 Knorr chicken cube
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon white pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon red chilli flakes (omit if you don't want the sauce to be spicy)
• 1 teaspoon paprika (can be substituted with 1/2 teaspoon red chilli powder)
• 200 grams shredded mozzarella cheese
• 3 tablespoon cream
• 4 tablespoon black olives 

Directions:

For Garlic mushrooms

1. Melt butter. Add garlic paste & saute for a minute. Add salt & red chilli flakes, if using.
2. Add sliced mushrooms and saute for 3-4 minutes till they are just light brown and you can smell the delicious garlic aroma. Pour into a bowl and set aside.

For Peri Peri Grilled Chicken:

1. Marinate chicken with rest of ingredients and keep in fridge for about 30 minute. 
2. Using a pastry brush, brush about 1 tablespoon of oil on a grill pan, and add chicken.
3. Grill for about 10-15 minutes on each side, till the chicken is cooked & the water dries. 
4. Slice chicken into small chunks.  
5. When I initially made this chicken, I doubled the chicken quantity and used about half of it in this pasta, and the rest of it in Cheesy Potato Skins and Chicken Sandwiches. It's a versatile recipe which can be used for other dishes. 

For Cheesy White Sauce:

1. Melt butter & add garlic paste. Saute for about half a minute till the raw smell finishes. Add flour and stir for at least 1-2 minutes to cook out the raw taste of the flour. 
2. Pour in about 1 cup of milk, and stir with a whisk to make sure there are no lumps in the white sauce. 
3. Keep heating the white sauce on medium heat till you can see small bubbles on the side after which it should start thickening. Use a whisk to mix the white sauce properly. Add chicken cube & rest of spices. 
4. Add shredded mozzarella cheese and let the cheese melt in the sauce. The sauce will be thick, so add about 1/4 cup - 1/2 cup milk and whisk to get to the right consistency. Add cream & mix in the end.
5. Taste and adjust seasonings if required. 
6. Add black olives in the white sauce.
7. If the white sauce is made in advance, the cheese will thicken & solidify into strands. Just add a little milk and reheat on low flame till cheese is melted and it reaches liquid consistency. 

Assembly:

1. Boil noodles as per packet directions and set aside. 
2. Make garlic mushrooms, grilled chicken & white sauce as per above recipes.
3. Mix the garlic mushrooms & the grilled chicken into the noodles & toss to mix together. Keep a few pieces of mushrooms & chicken aside for garnish.
4. Take noodles out into a big dish.
5. Pour half the white sauce over the noodles and toss lightly. Pour the remaining white sauce over the noodles and make sure they are mixed properly. 
6. Garnish with leftover grilled chicken, mushrooms, olives & a sprinkling of paprika/red chilli powder. 

Spicy White Sauce Pasta with Garlic Mushrooms & Grilled Chicken

Chicken Paprika Stroganoff

This is another recipe discovered quite by chance when I was looking for something to make for dinner - had  come across a recipe for chicken stroganoff which I was thinking of making and adapting to make it a little more flavorful - and then I came across this recipe which was basically exactly what I needed. It's spicy & flavorful, has a delicious sauce which is just brilliant with noodles, and the beautiful color from the paprika makes it stunning to look at. I always thought paprika to be a less spicy version of chilli powder only used for color, and I was so wrong - its got this subtle smoky spicy taste which just transformed this chicken to the next level. I even loved the chicken just on its own, so I am going to experiment with grilling it in the future to add in sandwiches, or to stirfry with noodles. 

Chicken Paprika Stroganoff (Serves 4-5 people)

Recipe: Adapted from Mel's Kitchen

Ingredients

• 1/2 kg boneless chicken, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 1 teaspoon vinegar
• 2 tablespoon paprika (to marinate) + 1 teaspoon (in sauce)
• 2 teaspoon red chilli pepper (can be removed to reduce spice level) - 1 tsp to marinate chicken & 1 tsp in the sauce
• 2 teaspoon red chilli flakes (can be reduced as per taste)
• 2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons oil, plus more as needed
• 1 medium onion, chopped 
• 1 can white button mushrooms, sliced
• 3 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 2 cups chicken broth (1 Knorr chicken cube dissolved in 2 cups hot water)
• 3 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1/4 cup cream + more to garnish 
• Boiled spaghetti or egg noodles, for serving - 450 grams
• Chopped Parsley, for garnish (substituted for dried)

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, toss the chicken with the vinegar, 2 tbsp paprika, 1 tsp red chilli powder, salt and pepper. Sprinkle the flour on top of the chicken and toss to coat.
2. Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet or wok over medium heat until and hot. Make sure the pan is large enough since the sauce will also be cooked in the pan - alternatively, I cooked the chicken in a skillet and then made the sauce in a wok. The reason the skillet is better than a wok is because it has more surface area, and the chicken needs to be cooked in one layer so its properly browned which is why a skillet is better.
3. Add the chicken in a single layer and cook until golden brown on each side. Cook the chicken in two batches if required, and add a little more oil when cooking the second batch. The chicken only needs to be browned at this stage - it will cook for more time in the sauce so it does not need to be completely cooked through. Once the chicken is browned, take it in a place and set aside.
4. Add another teaspoon of oil to the pan, and add the chopped garlic. Cook for 1-2 minutes till the garlic is lightly browned and then add the onions. Cook the onions for 1 minute, and then add mushrooms. Saute the mixture, and keep stirring occasionally till the onions are translucent and mushrooms are browned - its about 5-6 minutes.
5. Pour in about 1/4 cup of the chicken broth and deglaze the pan by scraping up any bits from the bottom. Stir in the tomato paste, whisking to combine. Add the rest of the chicken broth and keep stirring.
6. Add the chicken back into the skillet and simmer the mixture over medium-low to medium heat, until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce thickens slightly, about 5-6 minutes. The sauce will thicken due to the flour coating on the chicken. Add 1 tsp red chilli pepper, 1 tsp of paprika and 2 tsp of red chilli flakes (optional) and stir.
7. Stir in the cream and cook for about 2-3 minutes longer. Taste and adjust seasonings if required (salt & spices). If the sauce is thin, then thicken using a cornflour + water mixture (1 tbsp cornflour with 2-3 tbsp of cold). Add the cornflour mixture into the simmering chicken & sauce and whisk to combine. Keep stirring till the sauce is thickened. 
8. Garnish with cream and parsley.
9.  Serve with noodles. Noodles and chicken can be served separately, or the chicken be served in a platter over noodles. 
10. Comments: The chicken can also be served with rice, which is what I had the leftovers with the next day, however, noodles are better. Alternatively, it could also be served with mashed potatoes and grilled vegetables.  

Sesame Noodle Salad with Shredded Chicken

Hadn't been cooking or baking for a while and started reading my recipe books in order to look for some inspiration. I have this book titled "The New Best Recipe" from the editors of Cook's Illustrated and I personally love how detailed their recipes are. Their recipe format starts off with first telling how great something actually is, but how it has lost its originality and 'taste' due to various factors and then the entire method on how they keep experimenting with different tips and techniques to come up with the "best" recipe. I am not sure about whether they are 'best' but the recipes are pretty fool proof and turn out pretty good.

So while going through the book, this recipe literally said 'pick me' and the idea of a cold noodle salad in the hot & humid Karachi weather sounded like a pretty good idea - also, it wasn't technically a salad and it was easily enough for 3 people at dinner with plenty of leftovers for lunch the next day.

Also, please make sure you serve the dish cold. For some reason, I felt my brothers might not like the idea of something cold for dinner, so I served it warm and well, the flavors just didn't meld properly - kept it in the fridge for a bit and it tasted fantastic. 

 Sesame Noodle Salad with Shredded Chicken
Recipe: The New Best Recipe: From the editors of Cook's Illustrated
Serves 4 people as a main course

1/4 cup sesame seeds
1/4 cup chunky peanut butter
2 medium garlic cloves, minced or pressed through a garlic press (about 2 tsp)
1 tbsp minced fresh ginger
5 tbsp soya sauce (would decrease the quantity of soya sauce to 3-4 tbsp because it ended up giving a really strong flavor to the sauce - had to add a bit of sugar & vinegar to adjust the final sauce)
2 tbsp vinegar
1 tsp hot pepper sauce
2 tbsp light brown sugar
Hot water
1 tbsp salt
1 pound Chinese egg noodles
2 tbsp toasted sesame oil
4 boneless chicken breast (The recipe suggests broiling the chicken - I found that too long, so I just cooked it in a frying pan for a few minutes with a bit of salt, pepper & garlic till its cooked through and tender)
4 scallions, sliced thin
1 medium carrot, peeled and grated on the large holes of a box grater (about 2/3 cup)


1. Toast the sesame seeds in a medium skillet over medium heat, stirring frequently, until golden and fragrant, about 10 minutes. Reserve 1 tablespoon sesame seeds in a small bowl. In a blender or food processor, puree the remaining 3 tablespoons sesame seeds, peanut butter, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, vinegar, hot sauce, and sugar until smooth, about 30 seconds. With the machine running, add hot water 1 tablespoon at a time until the sauce has the consistency of heavy cream, about 5 tablespoons; set the mixture aside (it can be left in the blender jar or food processor workbowl).
2. Bring 6 quarts water to a boil in a stockpot over high heat. Meanwhile, adjust an oven rack to 6 inches from the broiler element; heat the broiler. Spray the broiler pan top with vegetable cooking spray; place the chicken breasts on top and broil the chicken until lightly browned, 4 to 8 minutes. Using tongs, flip the chicken over and continue to broil until the thickest part is no longer pink when cut into and registers about 160 degrees on an instant-read thermometer, 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer to a cutting board and let rest 5 minutes. Using 2 forks, shred the chicken into bite-size pieces and set aside.
I didn't go through the long procedure of broiling the chicken. Just put some salt & pepper on the chicken and left it to rest for a few minutes. Then heated a bit of oil in a frying pan, sauted 1 tsp of garlic paste, added the chicken and let it cook for a bit till the water dried and the chicken was cooked through and tender.
Add the salt and noodles to the boiling water; boil the noodles until tender, about 4 minutes for fresh and 10 minutes for dried. Drain, then rinse with cold running tap water until cool to the touch; drain again. In a large bowl, toss the noodles with the sesame oil until evenly coated. Add the shredded chicken, scallions, carrot, and sauce; toss to combine.
Would suggest adding only half the sauce in the beginning, then tasting and adding more as required. Adding all of it together makes adjusting the taste later on very difficult.  
Divide among individual bowls, sprinkle each bowl with a portion of reserved sesame seeds, and serve.
Serves 4 to 6

Chicken Chowmein

So making full use of my parents being away for the weekend, I decided to do some more experimenting this  Sunday. Spent about all of Saturday evening thinking about what to make and finally settled on Spicy Chowmein & Ginger Wrapped Chicken in Rice (to be discussed in the next blog post). I am not a huge pasta fan (please don't hate me for that) because I think its just a bit too heavy but I absolutely love noodles; egg noodles, chowmein, rice noodles, pad thai, fusion desi noodles of sorts. The noodles turned out really good; loved the style of making the chicken since it cooked really quickly and had that slight crispness which makes it taste non home-madeish (I'm sure this is a made-up word, but I hope it conveys the meaning). However, I would have added a bit of black pepper as I think they just needed a slight kick. 

Hot & Spicy Chowmein

Ingredients
Chicken boneless -  1 cup (thinly sliced)
Salt 1 tsp (For Marinade) + ½ tsp (For Noodles)
Sugar ½ tsp (For Marinade) + ½ tsp (For Noodles)
Corn flour 1 tbsp 

Beaten Egg Half
White pepper ¼ tsp
Cabbage thinly sliced 2 cups
Capsicum 1 sliced
Egg noodles 1 packet (400-450 g) (I don't use the branded egg noodles; i always prefer the Chinese brand egg noodles since they taste better and they also cook much more faster)
Chili sauce 2 tbsp
Soya sauce 2 tbsp
Vinegar 1 tbsp
Crushed garlic 1 tsp
Onion 1 sliced
Carrot 1 thinly sliced
Spring onion leaves 2 inch long strips 1 cup
Oil ¼ cup
Ketchup ¼ cup

Method
Marinate chicken with salt, white pepper, sugar, soya sauce, corn flour 1 tbsp, half beaten egg for 15 minutes.
 Heat ¼ cup oil. Fry crushed garlic till light golden. Add marinated chicken and saute for a few minutes (I personally like to cook chicken longer but 2-3 minutes should be enough). Once the water from the chicken has evaporated, add sliced onion and cook for 1 minute. Add the rest of the vegetables then add chili sauce, soya sauce, ketchup, vinegar,  salt and sugar. Mix well then add boiled noodles. Toss well then taste. In case something is lacking, adjust accordingly. Lastly add spring onion leaves and remove.