Healthier Southern Fried Chicken

What could be more American than a big bucket of fried chicken!!!! So to celebrate the 4th of July tomorrow I decided to make some southern fried chicken for dinner to celebrate the occasion.

While I admit these fried chicken pieces are not something you should eat everyday, I have significantly reduced the calorie content of the chicken by baking the chicken rather than deep frying. Even though the chicken is healthier they are still finger licking good, and with a slaw accompaniment; in the words of Ina Garten, what's not to like???!!!

This recipe is based on 14 drumsticks. Here was I thinking that we will have the leftovers on our picnic to Dingle tomorrow, no such luck as my ravenous husband ate every last one of them. Oh well that's what they were there for!

Ingredients

• Chicken drumsticks x 14
• 8 tbsp of wholegrain flour
• 2 tbsp of sesame seeds
• 1 tbsp of white pepper
• 1 tsp of salt
• 2 tbsp of paprika
• 4 tbsp of oil 
• 250 ml of butter milk

Method

1. Marinade the chicken in the buttermilk, either overnight, or for at least 4 hours. This really tenderises the meat.
2. In a large plastic sandwich bag, add the flour, seeds, pepper, salt and paprika and ,mix well.
3. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.
4. Take the chicken pieces out of the buttermilk, shake off the excess and place in the flour mixture bag. 
5. Seal and shake the bag well ensuring all chicken pieces are coated.
6. Remove the chicken from the bag, shake a little to remove the excess coating and place on a plate ready to give them a gentle fry before baking in the oven.
7. Put the oil in a non stick frying pan and heat to a high heat, then quickly fry the chicken until lightly browned.
8. Place the browned chicken in a single layer on a baking dish and bake in the oven for 30 minutes, turning once or twice. The chicken should be a beautiful bronze colour when fulled cooked.
9. Serve with a generous side of slaw and lots of napkins.

Happy 4th of July

I Can't Believe its healthy Tamarind Chicken

Looking at these succulent sticky pieces of chicken you would think that they are loaded with calories, right?! Wrong!! The marinade is actually cleverly low in fat and if you bake the chicken piece on a wire rack in the oven all the excess fat drips off. The marinade gives a wonderful South East Asian flavour to the chicken meat, even when ( or IF) you discard the skin, the flavours penetrate all the way through the  juicy meat. This is a super quick recipe to prepare, but obviously the longer you leave the chicken to marinate the better.

The trick to low fat recipes I find is using fresh herbs and spices to flavour the food. Asian cuisine is fantastic for this with the holy trinity of garlic, ginger and chilli. So no need to compromise too much on taste when cooking with South East Asian style and its calorie friendly also.

Ingredients

Marinade

• Tamarind sauce (I used the jar from Marks and Spencers)
• 1 red chilli, deseeded and diced finely
• 1 thumb size piece of peeled ginger, diced finely
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced.
• 1 stick of lemongrass, bruised and diced
• 1 lime, zested and juiced
• 2 tbsp of honey

• Chicken drumsticks or thighs, or even wings

Garnish

• Freshly chopped coriander
• lime wedges

(Note: I have been know to use shop bought chilli paste, garlic paste, lemongrass paste and ginger paste, in place of the fresh counterparts on occasion, making this a real store cupboard winner)

 

Method

1. Combine all the marinade ingredients together in a bowl and stir well to combine everything.
2. Place the chicken pieces in a shallow dish and cover with the marinade and allow to marinate for at least 1 hour but as long as you have really.
3. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees and line a baking tray with 2 layers of foil (to help with the washing up). Place a wire rack over the foil.
4. Place the chicken pieces on the rack and bake in the oven for 40 minutes.
5. Pour the remaining marinade from the shallow dish into a small saucepan and cook over a medium heat until reduced by half. Add another tsp of honey here if you like.
6. With a basting brush, brush the chicken pieces with the marinade every 5 minutes for 15 minutes.
7. When the chicken is cooked, brush the pieces with a final coating of the sauce before serving and scatter with lime wedges and coriander.

Sticky Sesame Orange Glazed Chicken Wings

Whenever I have a crowd coming over for drinks I throw some chicken wings in the oven. They disappear almost instantly. Chicken wings are so versatile, with hundreds of flavour combinations on offer. Seeing as I am following the Paleo diet currently (you may have heard), I decided to come up with a Paleo friendly chicken wing recipe, omitting all paleo no! no!s.

Ingredients

• Chicken wings
• 1 tbsp Cumin Seeds
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup of freshly squeezed orange juice
• 1/2 cup of honey
• 1 crushed garlic clove
• 1 grated piece of ginger
• 1 tsp of chopped chilli
• 1 tbsp of rice wine vinegar
• 1 tbsp of soy sauce
• 1/2 a tsp of sesame oil
• 2 tbsp of toasted sesame seeds

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees
2. Place the chicken wings on a baking sheet lined with baking paper
3. Scatter the wings with the cumin seeds and grind with black pepper
4. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes
   
5. Meanwhile, add the orange juice, honey, ginger, garlic, chilli, vinegar, oil, and soy sauce to a saucepan, bring to the boil and reduce by half.
6. Pour the 80% of the sauce over the chicken wings and return to the oven for 20 minutes.
7. Remove from the oven, pour over the remain sauce and scatter the sesame seeds over the wings.
8. Serve with lime wedges and garnish with corriander leaves. Serve with a side salad. 

Healthier Thai Sweet & Sour Chicken

Bin the take out menus and get cooking rather than dialing!!! When you say sweet and sour chicken, chinese take out normally springs to mind. Chicken coated in a heavy sticky batter in a sickly sweet syrupy sauce! Not good and certainly not healthy!!!

Rather than thinking 'nah, sweet and sour chicken is too unhealthy for me', check out this recipe for a healthy and fresh Thai sweet & sour. A wonderful Thai girl taught me this recupe while on a cookery course on Koh Samui a few years back, and I've been making my own version ever since. (some ingredients have been substituted due to sourcing difficulties).

Ingredients

• 4 chicken legs on the bone
• 1 tbsp of peanut oil
• 3 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 1 stalk of lemongrass, bruised and chopped
• 1 thumb size, peeled and chopped piece of ginger
• 3-4 dried kaffir lime leaves
• 1 red chilli, deseeded and chopped finely
• 1 can of chopped pineapple chunks in juice
• 1 white onion, diced
• 1 cucumber, peeled and cut into bite size
• 3 tbsp of chopped coriander
• 3 tbsp of tamarind juice (you can get tamarind paste in M&S)
• 1 tbsp fish sauce
• 1 tbsp of Heinz Tomato Ketchup
• 1/2 tsp of palm sugar (brown sugar can be substituted)
• 1 tbsp of corn starch (corn flour mixed with water)
• 2 tbsp of hot sweet chili sauce
• Basmati rice and lime wedges, to serve

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees
2. Bake the chicken legs in the oven, in a oven proof dish covered with tin foil. Bake the chicken for 20 minutes.
3. In a wok, add the oil and stir fry the onion, garlic, lemongrass, chili, and ginger.
4. Add the lime leaves, fish sauce, ketchup, pineapple chunks and juice, tamarind juice and palm sugar.
5. Continue to stir fry.
6. Add the remaining ingredients and stir well to combine.
7. Remove the chicken from the oven and pour over the sauce.
8. Return to the oven, and cook for a further 20 minutes.
9. Serve with basmati rice, lime wedges and a  scattering of fresh coriander leaves.

Chinese Style Roast Chicken

New year, new roast chicken version!! Anyone who knows me, know that I'm obsessed with Roast Chicken and I roast a large (free range) chicken every single Sunday. Not only does it cover Sunday supper, but it provides for lunch and dinner the following day also.

Over Christmas I saw Gordon Ramsey do a 5 spice duck, and it inspired me to try a different take on my roast chicken. The result was a very flavorful bird and I added a glaze at the end, which gave it a wonderful bronzed glow and deliciously sticky skin!

Ingredients

• 1 large free range chicken
• 1 thumb size piece of ginger
• 1 red chili, kept whole
• 1 satsuma, pricked with a fork
• 2 cloves of garlic, peeled
• 1 lemongrass bulb, bruised
• 3 tbsp of Chinese 5 spice
• 2 tbsp of honey
• 2 tbsp of soy sauce

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 160 degrees.
2. Stuff the chicken cavity with the chilli, ginger, garlic, satsuma and lemongrass.
3. Rub the chicken generously with the 5 spice.
4. Leave to marinate for 30 minutes.
5. Roast in the oven for 1 hour.
6. After 1 hour, turn the chicken upside down and roast for a further 30 minutes.
7. Turn the chicken back over and roast for another 10 minutes.
8. Whisk the honey and soy sauce together.
9. Turn the oven up to 200 degrees.
10. Pour over the honey and soy glaze and return to the oven, glazing the chicken every 5 minutes for 20 minutes.
11. Take out of the oven and allow to rest for 15 minutes before carving.
12. Serve with steamed greens and brown rice for a healthy roast chicken dinner.

Chicken, Mango & Mint Fresh Spring Rolls

I don't know if I mentioned before that Vietnam is my favorite country in the world I've visited, partially because of the food and partially because of the people! Well I was introduced to so many new flavors/foods on my trip to Vietnam, but one thing that stands out from memory has to be fresh spring rolls!

I remember even exactly where I came upon them for the very first time. It was in a cute little restaurant in the little tailoring town of Hoi An. It was along the river and the restaurant came recommended to us by travelers we had met in our hotel. We had been in Vietnam 2-3 weeks at this stage and at every meal we always ordered spring rolls, the gorgeous small deep fried morsels of heaven!!! Here they asked did we want fresh spring rolls and to me that meant freshly made, not frozen. I remember being embarrassed when the fresh spring rolls and I ask why they weren't cooked!!!

Now I'm on the lookout on every Asian menu for fresh spring rolls!!! They are divine and not to mention so healthy. It's such a shame down here in southern Ireland there are no Vietnamese restaurants. But luckily my local supermarket just started to stock the rice paper wrappers, so now I can make them myself any time I want them

Ingredients

Makes 10 spring rolls

• 2 chicken breasts, cut into thin strips and poached. (or leftover roast chicken is great)
• 1 mango, cut into thin strips
• 100g of thin rice noodles (soaked in boiled water for 10 minutes)
• 10-20 mint leaves
• 10 rice paper discs

Peanut Dipping Sauce

• 2 tbsp of peanut butter
• 1 tbsp of hoisin sauce
• 1 tbsp of soy sauce
• 1 tsp of chilli paste
• 1 crushed garlic clove
• 1 tsp of tomato paste
• water to thin the sauce to desired consistency

Method

1. First make the sauce. Add all the sauce ingredients to a pan and bring to the boil, add water to give you the consistency you require.
2. To assemble the spring rolls, have all your ingredients lined up assembly-line style.
3. Drain the noodles well, and ensure the chicken is seasoned.
4. Take a wide shallow bowl and fill it with water.
5. Take 1 rice paper disc at a time, soak it in the water for 10 seconds or until it become pliable.
6. Lay it on a flat surface in front of you.
7. Add a strip of chicken, mango and some noodles to the bottom quarter of the rice paper. Top it with mint leaves and roll it away from you tucking the end under the ingredients wrapped. 
8. Take in both sides of the roll to the centre and then continue to roll up till the end.
9. Place on a plate and cover with wet chicken paper, whilst you repeat the process with the remaining 9 spring rolls.
10. Serve immediately with the dipping sauce.

Tip: You can use any fillings you wish, i.e prawns or pork and carrots or red pepper strips. Mix and matching is great!

Harissa Spiked BBQ Chicken Kebabs

We have got to make the most out of this glorious summer heatwave we have at the moment, as going by previous summers lately, it could be short lived! So we'll be dining alfresco and having dinner from the bbq grill for as long as we possibly can.
Its not a weekend, so we are trying to keep the dinners low fat where possible. These spicy and smoky harissa spiked chicken kebabs are so tasty, you don't even realise that they are really low fat and very healthy!
I'm pairing the kebabs with a simple green salad and some couscous salad for the hubbie.

Ingredients

• 2 chicken breasts, cut into strips
• 2 tbsp of harissa paste
• 1 lemon, zest and juice
• 1/2 garlic clove
• 1 tsp of orange marmalade
• Pepper

To Serve (optional extras)

• Greek yogurt
• Salad
• Flat breads

Method

1. In a bowl add the chicken and the remaining ingredients. 
2. Mix well and leave to marinade for an hour or so.
3. Fire up the BBQ or preheat a grill to medium
4. Thread a metal/wooden skewer with the chicken and grill, until cooked, turning often.

Super Quick Roast Chicken Fried Rice

The arrival of my baby daughter two weeks ago, means that the blog hasn't been updated in a while, and posts will probably be less frequent in the immediate future as me and my little angel find our feet. She fell into a deep sleep this evening, so I grabbed the opportunity to pull together a quick dinner and photograph it also for the blog. Result! She's such a good little girl!
This recipe is a simple throw-together quick supper for leftover chicken, packed full of spice and flavour! I'm  forever trying to come up with new ways with my leftover roast chicken; and this simple chicken fried rice ticks all the boxes. It's easy, quick, and satisfying. The perfect supper to eat in a bowl curled up on the sofa watching TV after work.

By using the egg as a basket or base to the the dish is a nice twist, instead of breaking the eggs directly into the fried rice dish, sometimes I find that method a results in a 'mushy' rice.

Serves 2 (and allows for seconds)

Ingredients

• Leftover roast chicken pieces
• 2 Carrots, peeled and diced
• 100g of frozen peas
• 8 mushrooms diced
• 1 red pepper, diced
• 1 garlic clove, diced
• 1 inch piece of ginger, peeled and diced
• 1 cup of basmati rice
• 2 cups of tap water
• 4 eggs (2 per person)
• 3 tbsp Stir fry oil
• 1 tbsp Sesame oil
• Soy sauce, as preferred, (I like a lot)
• 1/4 tsp Chilli Paste
• Sweet chilli sauce to serve

Method

1. Cook the rice in a pan with the water over a medium heat for 10 minutes. (Its best to cook the rice a little while before the rest of the dish to allow the rice to cool)
2. Add 1 tbsp of stir fry oil to a hot wok. Add the garlic, chilli paste, and ginger and stir.
3. Add in the peas, carrots, mushrooms and pepper and stir fry for a couple of minutes.
4. Add the chicken to warm through. Stir through the sesame oil and season with the soy sauce.
5. Add the rice and thoroughly combine.
6. In a frying pan, add another tbsp of stir fry oil.
7. Break 2 eggs into a cup and whisk quickly with a fork.
8. Add the eggs to the hot pan and swirl around so the base of the pan is evenly coated with the eggs.
9. Allow to cook for a couple of minutes and turn over for a final 30 seconds. (should resemble a pancake)
10. Remove from the pan and keep warm, and repeat the process with the remaining 2 eggs, for the second portion.
11. To serve, place the warm fried egg into a bowl, and top with the fried rice.
12. Serve with extra soy and sweet chilli sauce.

Harissa & Marmalade Sticky Chicken Wings

When I was recently organizing a casual dinner party for some people I hadn't cooked for before I was faced with the prospect of cooking something that everyone would like. I knew anything to do with seafood, salads, and cheese was out!!!! I was cooking a lamb for main and I didn't want the dinner party to be a total meat feast either. I thought to myself, 'whats more of a crowd pleaser than chicken wings?!!'

EVERYONE loves chicken wings!! Dilemma averted. There was a moroccan theme to the dinner party, so I came up with  Harissa chicken wings! The harissa paste has just the right amount of smoke and heat to give the wings a real kick. But I felt the wings lack that sticky, messy consistency. So last night I made the wings for dinner for myself and my husband, and added some orange marmalade to the marinade. I must say it worked a treat! Napkins and bowl of water of the ready. For me a sign of good chicken wings is sticky fingers that are licked clean.!!!! You could say Finger Licking Good!!!


This recipe of completely simply to make, nothing fussy about it at all; with the end result looking so impressive your diners will think you've been slow cooking and basting for hours.

I teamed the wings with cous cous and a yogurt dressings to be a winning main course, but of course you can leave these out and serve the wings solo, though they are screaming for a cooling sauce accompaniement.

So here it is:

Harissa & Marmalade Wings with Apricot Cous Cous and a Herby Yogurt Dressing

Ingredients

The Wings

• Chicken wings (4-5 per person)
• 2 tbsp of cumin seeds
• 3 tbsp of coarse sea salt
• Juice of half a lemon
• 2 tsp of harissa paste
• 3 tbsp of honey
• 2 tbsp of orange marmalade
• 2 crushed cloves of garlic
• Salt/pepper

The Cous Cous

• 200g of cous cous
• 300 ml of boiled water, with saffron strands (saffron optional)
• 5 tbsp of chopped dried apricots
• 5 tbsp of toasted flaked almonds
• Handful of fresh mint, flat leave parsley, & coriander
• 2 tbp of olive oil
• Salt/pepper
• Juice of half a lemon

The Herby Yogurt Dressing

• 125ml low fat natural yogurt
• Handful of fresh mint, flat leave parsley, & coriander
• Juice of half a lemon
• Salt/pepper

Method

The Wings

1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees
2. Line a baking tray with kitchen paper
3. Lay the chicken wings out in a single layer
4. Coat the wings with the cumin seeds and sea salt
5. Bake in the oven for 40 minutes
6. To make the marinade, combine the remaining wing ingredients and stir the mixture well.
7. Pour over the chicken after the 40 minutes has lapsed.
8. Ensure all the wings are covered and bake for a further 30 minutes.
9. Return to the oven once or twice to turn the wings and baste them with the escaped marinade.

The Cous Cous

1. Put the cous cous in a bowl and pour in the oil and salt/pepper
2. Mix with a fork
3. Pour over the boiled water infused with saffron
4. Cover the bowl with cling film or a plate
5. Leave for ten minutes until all the water's absorbed.
6. Fluff up the cous cous with a fork (not a spoon)
7. Add the chopped apricots, herbs, lemon juice and almonds.
8. Stir to mix together well.
9. To serve spoon the cous cous on a wooden board and leave a whole in the centre for the wings. (very Jamie Oliver of me!)

Herby Yogurt Dressing

1. Add all the ingredients into a bowl and stir well to combine.

To Plate Up

1. Place the cous cous on the wooden board
2. Place the chicken wings in a pile in the middle of the board
3. Drizzle with the yogurt dressing liberally and have a small bowl of the remaining dressing for individual use.
4. Scatter lemon wedges and leftover chopped herbs
5. Lots of napkins, and a bowl of warm bowl are necessary to keep the fingers clean.

Got Leftover Chicken? - Low Fat Chicken & Avocado Salad Mexican Inspired

Still trying to maintain the low fat vibe (whilst I secretly snack on breakfast muffins and leftovers from the bun display), here's a really quick salad I threw together in 2 minutes flat, using leftover roast chicken and my neighbours Peter and Betty's amazing lettuce fresh from their garden. (Best lettuce ever tasted).

Serves 1

Ingredients

• Good lettuce
• 1/2 avocado, sliced
• 1 tomato, deseeded and cut into strips
• 3 inch piece of cucumber, deseeded and cubed
• 4 tbsp of chopped coriander
• 1/2 a deseeded red chilli
• 1 tsp of olive oil
• 4 tbsp of red kidney beans from a can, rinsed
• 2-3 slices of leftover chicken
• 1/2 lime

Method

1. Wash all your ingredients well and dry.
2. Its a simple assembly job of everything on a plate, scatter with the chilli, drizzle with the oil and lime juice.
3. Simple, yet fresh and tasty.

Easy Aromatic Chicken Tagine

For those of you who know me, I'm a big fan of middle eastern/african/asian food! The aromatics and tastes are quite like no other cuisines. Back in Sept my Lamb Tagine was selected by Kerrygold and Rachel Allen for Rachel's Kerrygold Community E-recipe book. To say I was chuffed was a huge understatement!!!!!

Today I've recreated the tagine recipe, substituting the lamb for chicken and adding chickpeas also.

Serves 6


Ingredients

• 10-12 chicken thighs, on the bone
• 2 tbsp ground cumin
• 2 tbsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tbsp turmeric
• 2 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 tsp of maldon sea salt
• 1 tbsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp ground Cinnamon
• 4 minced garlic cloves
• one diced onion
• 4 carrots thickly sliced on diagonal
• 4 tbsp of apricots
• 2 tbsp runny honey
• 1 tin of rinsed chickpeas
• 100g cous cous
• 2 lemons
• 500mls of chicken stock with 4 strands of saffron mixed into it.
• Generous handful chopped Corriander
• 1 tsp of olive oil
• 1 250g tub Greek yogurt (to serve)
• 4 mini pitta breads (to serve)
• lemon wedges (to serve)

Method

1. Combine all the spices, garlic and onion and rub into the meat
2. Leave to marinate, preferably overnight, although an hour should be sufficient.
2. In a lidded oven proof casserole dish, add olive oil on a medium heat.
3. Brown the meat, in batches if necessary.
4. Add all the meat back into the casserole dish, adding the carrots, stock with saffron and salt and pepper.
5. Bring up to the boil and put lid on the dish and put in a preheated oven for 1.5 hours at 180 degrees.
6. Meanwhile, put cous cous in a bowl, add butter, rind of lemon, season with salt and pepper and pour over 150 mls of boiling water and cover for ten mins.
7. Fluff with a fork, adding half the chopped coriander.
8. Put apricots in a jug of boiling water and leave for 5-10 mins for them to rehydrate a little and get nice and juicy, then cut in half. Remove the casserole dish from the oven.
9. Add the tin of chickpeas and allow for them to heat through
10. Add the apricots and runny honey.
11. Return the dish (uncovered) to the oven for a final 10 mins to brown.
12. Put the pittas in the oven to warm through.
13. Remove the dish from the oven and present to the table in the dish adding the chopped coriander.
14. Put the cous cous, yogurt and pittas in bowls on the table and let your guests help themselves, Moroccan style! Enjoy.

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