Chicken Stir Fry with Savoury Crepes

Chicken Stir Fry with Savoury Crepes

The warming temperatures are reminding me of my curves. Or rather the rising temperatures are reminding me of the pertinent need to reduce the size of my curves. Already here we are, on the doorstep of Spring, and that diet I started with such gusto back in April has hardly proved fruitful.

Or is the glass half full? It being August means there is still time for some weightloss before the sweltering heat of December arrives. Yes, I think I will be an optimist and adopt that view - tis best for my sanity.

So I'm going healthy today - gone are my choc chip days! Instead I will turn my attention to a favourite of the dieting/healthy eaters community...Stir fry.

Reading through the recipe you may be tempted to skip the sesame seed oil - resist that temptation! Sesame seed oil is one of the oils that will change your life. It adds a flavour profile to your dishes that you taste buds will adore you for.

Crepes are like the more luxurious but just as healthy version of tortillas. Truthfully I used them out of desperation. I was, uncharacteristically, out of tortillas and was characteristically not in the mood for rice so I quickly whipped up some crepes. Crepes are the lifesavers of the kitchen: If you need a quick snack - crepes. If you need a quick dessert - crepes. If you need something to wrap you stir fry in - crepes. If you need something to satisfy your hunger and still make you feel like you've had a good first day on your diet - crepes.

Ingredients

Stir Fry Sauce

• Low Sodium Soy Sauce ½ cup
• Chciken or vegetable Stock ½ cup
• Corn Starch 1 T
• Honey 1 T
• Sesame Seed Oil 1 t
• Rice Vinegar 1 t
• Ginger 2 cm piece, peeled and grated or finely minced  
• Garlic Cloves 2, grated or finely minced

Chicken Stir Fry

• Chicken breast 2 – 3 boneless pieces, sliced into thin strips
• Red Bell Peppers2, ribs and seeds removed, julienned
• Baby Marrow 1 large, julienned
• Onion 1 large, julienned
• Olive oil

Method

Stir Fry Sauce

1.    In a mason jar or medium size bowl, combine all the stir fry sauce ingredients and stir to combine. Set aside.

Stir Fry

1.    Heat a pan or wok, over medium high heat. Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil, and cook the chicken about 5-7 minutes, until cooked through. Transfer to a medium size bowl.

2.    Add a little more olive oil to the pan.

3.    Saute all the vegetables together. Make sure that you keep your heat high or the vegetables will get soggy.

4.    Once all the vegetables have been cooked, add the chicken back to the wok.

5.    Pour in all of the stir fry sauce, reduce heat to medium, and cook for about 3-5 more minutes until the sauce has thickened and all the vegetables are heated thru.

Savoury Crepes

This recipe was adapted from Alton Brown’s recipe for crepes

Ingredients

Eggs 2 large
Milk 3/4 Cup
Water 1/2 Cup
Flour 1 Cup

Butter 3 T melted

Dried Thyme 1 t

Pinch black pepper

Pinch of Salt
Butter, for coating the pan

Method

1.    In a large bowl combine the dry ingredient and mix together with a whisk

2.    Add the water and milk and gently combine until you have a smooth consistency

3.    Place the crepe batter in the fridge for 1 hour. This allows the bubbles to subside so the crepes will be less likely to tear during cooking. The batter will keep for up to 48 hours.

Heat a small non-stick pan. Add butter to coat.

4.    Pour about a quarter cup of batter into the center of the pan and swirl to spread evenly.

5.    Cook for 30 seconds and flip. Cook for another 10 seconds and remove.

6.    Continue until all batter is gone. After they have cooled you can stack them and store in sealable plastic bags in the refrigerator for several days or in the freezer for up to two months. 

7. When using frozen crepes, thaw on a rack before gently peeling apart 

8. Serve with condiments of your choice and some sliced avocado

Amasi Pancakes with Bananas and Chocolate Chips

Amasi Pancakes with Bananas and Chocolate Chips

I felt like something sweet for a change…actually not just sweet. It was sweet, rich and self-indulgent that I was after. Strangely pancakes came to mind. I say strangely because although, they were one of the first dishes I learnt to make and serve to family with sparkling pride, it’s been several lifetimes since I’ve made them.

Back in the “sparkling pride” days, Saturday mornings quickly became Pancake Day. By the time the family woke up the kitchen was a haze of flour, eggshells and whatever unsuspecting ingredient I decided to throw into the mix. Cinnamon, raisins, yoghurt you name it, all had their turn to twirl in the batter.

As you can imagine the novelty eventually wore off. I discovered muffins, scones, chicken and lamb thus the simple pleasures of fluffy pancakes were forgotten.

Let’s blame it on winter but I recently decided to venture down the corridor of nostalgia, shook off my early-morning-kitchen-laziness and whipped me up something supremely indulgent.

Ironically, a key ingredient in my quest for decadence is the ever-modest Amasi, think of it as Buttermilk’s more rugged and adventurous cousin. It too is a throw back to my childhood. We used mix it with copious amounts of sugar to make a kind of ghetto milkshake. In this case just half a cup of the Amasi gives the pancakes the body and volume they need. I’ve also added some mashed bananas just to convince myself that this is a somewhat healthy breakfast. The chocolate chips were a jovial nod to my childhood kitchen escapades

Word of advice: make these when you have kids around or any composition of a small army of hungry people otherwise resisting the temptation to scoff them down all on your own may very well prove impossible. Also you get the opportunity to pass on the love of pancakes to the next generation.

Banana Chocolate Chip Pancakes

Ingredients:

Flour 1 Cup

Baking Powder 2 t

Salt ½ T

Banana 1 Cup Mashed (about 2 large bananas)

Sugar 1 T

Egg 1

Vanilla Extract 1 t

Amasi ½ Cup

Vegetable Oil 2 T

Milk ½ Cup

Milk Chocolate Chips 1/3 Cup

Method:

1.    In a small mixing bowl, whisk together your dry ingredients i.e the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

2.    In a large mixing bowl, beat mashed bananas, sugar, egg, vanilla extract, amasi and vegetable oil together until smooth. (Use a masher and make sure your bananas are well-ripened)

3.    Add the flour mixture, alternating with the milk and stir until combined.

4.    Fold in the chocolate chips.

5.    Heat a non-stick pan to medium heat.

6.    Using a 1/4 Cup scoop, pour batter on to pan and tilt the pan in a circular motion to spread the batter.

7.    Once you start to see little bubbles form, flip and continue to cook until pancake is browned on each side. Continue until you have used all pancake batter.

8.  Serve with a drizzle of honey and a scattering of chock chips.

Chickpea and Cauliflower Curry with Roti

Chickpea and Cauliflower Curry with Roti

Every now and then I hanker for a deeply flavourful curry. Curry is one of those things that many people think they can cook very well and as a result its also one of those dishes that has sparked many a rivalry between mothers and daughters, sister, brothers and sisters, neighbores, even nations.

This particular recipe isn’t trying to get on to any podium. Nevertheless it does hit all the mark when you’re craving some sumptuous heat and you need a quick fix. I’ll take any excuse to eat chickpeas, so I need no convincing but I will say that they do good creamy counterpart to the kick of the spices. The slight crunch of the cauliflower adds an interesting dynamic too (curry is a good way to get people to eat their veg.)

I say this rather reluctantly, but you could serve it with rice but why do that when there’s the much more adventurous option of homemade roti.

I love making roti, or any kind of bread for that matter. Watching the dough rise, or bubble up in this case, always gives me a rather haughty sense of accomplishment. And then there’s the scent! That alluring and memory-filled scent that transmogrifies a house into a home as it percolates it makes its way from room to room. So yes you can play it safe and boring and boil some rice or you can treat yourself and make some roti – which if you haven’t tried you’ll be happy to know is easier to make than you had previously thought.

I have given direction for the quantity of spices of you should use but as all good cooks know recipes are a guideline not a rule. So if you prefer it spicier go for it! The only rule here is: No Utensils Allowed. Tear up the roti and use it as a spoon to scoop up the curried chickpeas and cauliflower. Make a mess! Enjoy yourself. Such things are encouraged when you get your hands on food made for Tasting Purposes.

Chickpea and Cauliflower Curry

Sunflower oil 2-3 T

Cloves 2

Star anise 2

Onion, 1 medium sized and finely chopped

Garlic cloves 3, finely chopped

Ginger, about a centimeter peeled and finely chopped

Dhania  (ground coriander seeds)1 t

Chilli Powder  ¼ t (or to taste)

Garam masala ¼ t powder

Tomatoes 1 x 400 g can chopped

Chick Peas 1x 400 g can drained

Cauliflower 300g cleaned and cut into small florets.

Fresh Coriander 1 T chopped

Method

1.    Heat oil in pan. Add the cloves and star anis and allow them to heat through for a few minutes.

2.    Add chopped onion, garlic and ginger and fry them until they turn golden brown.

3.    Add dhania, chilli and garam masala and cook, stirring, for a couple of minutes.

4.    Add the  tomatoes and chickpeas and cauliflower florets and cook until the tomatoes reduce and the cauliflower is tender.

5.    Garnish with the tablespoon of fresh coriander.

Now for the Roti

Ingredients

All-purpose flour 2 C

Baking Powder 1t

Water 1 C

Dash of salt

Vegetable oil 1/4 cup

Method

1.    Mix the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Add water slowly and roll the flour onto the water to avoid your fingers sticking too much.

2.    Tip it onto a floured surface and knead with your hands for a few minutes until its all combined and slightly sticky. Leave in the bowl and cover with a damp towel for at least 30 minutes.

3.    Break the dough into golf ball sized pieces

4.    On a floured surface, roll each ball out then brush some melted butter onto it.

5.    Fold the flattened and buttery dough in half and then in half again.

6.    Repeat this with the remaining balls of dough.

7.    Once they’ve all been oiled and folded allow them to rest for another 20 minutes.

8.    On a lightly floured surface roll each package of folded dough out flat.

9.    Heat a nonstick pan to medium high.

10.Place one of the roti’s into the pan and watch the miracle that is roti take place.

11.The dough will begin to bubble up in a rather sultry sought of way. After about 10 minutes flip it over so that the other side can brown.

12.Once you’re the roti has cooked through and browned carefully remove it from the pan and place it on a paper towel

13.Repeat the process with the remaining dough.

Spice

Balsamic and Honey Coated Drumsticks

 

Balsamic Vinegar and Honey Coated Drumsticks

The marriage of Balsamic vinegar and Honey is a blessed one. Here are two ingredients that, at first, don’t seem to belong together. The unenlightened may think that there couldn’t possibly be any harmony between the two masters of the culinary world.

Balsamic vinegar with its audacious punch of flavour is not known for its ability to lurk in the shadows. Oh no dear, Balsamic is the Bentley of Vinegars – made to be admired. Originally from Italy, true Balsamic Vinegar is a reduction of unfermented Trebbiano grape juice. Next time you lament the cost of that bottle you got for less than R100 consider that 100g bottles of the real stuff can cost up to $500 000. The skill and attention needed to produce balsamic Vinegar is akin to that required for the production of wine or whisky.

So what could possibly be the best accompaniment for such an illustrious ingredient? Honey. Yep. Sweet, unpretentious, mischief inducing, I know I shouldn’t but can a little more…Honey.

The honey provides the palate with the subtlety that the balsamic lacks. The result is a surprisingly perfect symphony. This is a good recipe to try on people who, for whatever misguided reason, are weary of balsamic vinegar and for that mater honey too.

So go ahead and prepare a batch of these bold drumsticks for your next braai (they can be both oven roasted or braaied). They make a descent midnight snack too.

The sauce can be bottled and kept in the fridge for whenever you want to add a kick of flavour to a dish. Do try it with meatballs, chicken breast or even lather it some lamb chops and T-bone steaks.

Ingredients

Balsamic Vinegar 1 cup

Tomato Paste 1 T

Brown Sugar ¼ cup

Honey 2 T

Dijon Mustard 1T

Pinch of Salt

Drumsticks 6

Method

Combine all the ingredients except the drumsticks in a small saucepan.

Bring to a boil over a medium heat whilst stirring to combine.

Reduce the heat and allow the sauce to simmer and thicken, this will take about 5 – 8 minutes.

Remove sauce from the heat and allow to cool.

Baste drumsticks with sauce – be liberal.

Allow drumsticks to marinate for at least 30 minutes.

Heat oven to 180° C. Line baking sheet with foil then place drumsticks onto foil and pop in the oven.

After 25 minutes baste drumsticks with more sauce. After 15 minutes turn the pieces and baste on the other side, repeat this action in another 5 minutes.

Remove from the oven.

Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds

Devour.