Valentines Day Pesto Kiev with Potato Mash

Sooooo, 2 days out from Valentines Day for everyone and today I'll be posting up the 3rd recipe for the week. The main course for your three course Valentines Day meal :)

I had a bit of a dilemma thinking about what to post as I wasn't sure whether or not I wanted something simple and classic such as pasta or something more adventurous......

I think I'll settle for something that is a classic and foolproof but with a slight twist so that your Valentine will always remember your amazing meal. So everyone knows that stuffed chicken breast is a classic favourite, today I'm not going to go with the classic kiev style stuffing, I'm going to be putting a twist on it.

So I guess I'll just get started with the recipe;

Ingredients
2 chicken breasts
2 rashers of bacon
150g grated cheese
6 tbs pesto
30g butter
2 tbs chopped chives
2 tbs minced garlic
salt and pepper
Mash
750g potatoes
125ml hot milk
Salt and pepper

Method
1. First off make an incision in the side of the chicken breast, along the length of it to create a pocket.
2. Next make your kiev stuffing, combine the butter, chives, garlic and season with salt and pepper.
3. Distribute even quantities of the kiev stuffing into the chicken.
4. Then add 2 tbs of pesto into each chicken breast.
5. Stuff all the stuffing in before adding a handful of cheese to fill out the pocket.
6. Rub the remaining pesto onto of the chicken breast to marinate it.
7. Wrap the rasher of bacon around the chicken to seal the opening of the stuffing and secure with a toothpick.
8. Sprinkle more cheese on top of the bacon.
9. Place the chicken into the oven at 200C for 30 minutes, or until it comes out cooked and slightly golden.
10. Make the mash, whilst the chicken cooks. To make mashed potato, place unpeeled potatoes in a medium saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring to the boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-high and gently boil, uncovered, for 30 minutes or until soft.
11. Drain potatoes. Set aside for 5 minutes to cool slightly. Peel and return to pan. Use a potato masher to mash until smooth. Add half the hot milk and use a wooden spoon to beat until combined. Beat in remaining milk and season with salt and pepper.
12. The chicken will has rested and the mash will be steaming hot and you are ready to serve with a side of salad or pasta.

And there you have it, a unique main course for your Valentines Day meal that puts a twist on a classic favourite with new flavours.

I hope that you guys will like that recipe :)

And I really do want to start filming some of these recipes so I will be trying my best to get at least one recipe up soon, and I really do want to film this one. So possibly some time this weekend you will see this recipe being made into a video,  bit too late for Valentines Day this year, but not too late for next year. 

Don't forget that tomorrow my recipe for Valentines Day dessert will be coming out, so stay tuned for that and I will see you guys tomorrow. 

Valentines Day Warm Tandoori Chicken Salad

Hey guys, so I'm back with day 2 of my Valentines Day weekly lead up. I'm pretty happy with myself for even actually being bothered to blog, I have been really lazy over the last month.

So I have decided that I will continue with the Valentines day theme and today I am going to post up an entree, tomorrow will be a main and then on the 14th I will be posting up a dessert, So that you will have a three course meal at your disposal for use on Valentines day with your SO. Maybe next year I should start this earlier....

Anyways, today I'm going to show you guys how to make a Warm Tandoori Chicken Salad. I had one of these at a formal dinner once (not for Valentines Day though, I haven't had the privileged of being to one of those just yet) and it was absolutely AMAZING.

With Sydney cooling down for the week and the rest of the world caught up in a cold snap, Nemo anyone? I thought that it would be a good idea to have something warm as a starter, just so you aren't shivering until the main meal.

This may seem like a really difficult dish to make but there isn't much to it, it is super simple and I am quite proud of it because it is something that I have made up entirely by myself.

I guess we should get started with the recipe:

Ingredients
2 chicken breasts
1/4 cup tandoori curry paste
50g natural greek yogurt
1 T olive oil
Salad
1 cos lettuce
1 red onion
100g spinach leaves
1 cucumber
1 tomato
1/2 carrot
Parmesan Cheese
Dressing
Juice of 1 lime
2 T olive oil
1 T brown sugar
pinch of paprika
Salt and pepper

Method
1. Cut the chicken into strip
2. Marinate the chicken in the tandoori sauce, yogurt and oil for an hour before cooking
3. Whilst the chicken is marinating prepare the salad. Place a couple of leaves of cos lettuce on each plate and top with a bit of the spinach. Cut the onion, tomato and cucumber into slices and arrange those on top too. Grate the carrot and sprinkle on top.
4. Heat up a pan and drizzle with a bit of oil before placing the chicken in and cooking until it is done and slightly crispy.
5. Arrange the chicken on top of the salad whilst still hot.
6. Shave a bit of parmesan on top of the chicken.
7. Quickly mix the dressing ingredients before drizzling on top of everything right before serving,

And there you have it, a warm tandoori chicken salad that is bound to impress as an entree for Valentines Day or any other day of the year for that matter.

I hope that this entree will impress your date for the night, and please to do come back tomorrow because I will be posting up a recipe for the main course. 

Until tomorrow keep on looking for your Valentine because I'm sure they are out there somewhere otherwise search my site for some other comfort food. 

Spicy Chicken Skewers 닭꼬치 Dakkochi

Hi there. I'm back with another blog post because it seems that I just have a lot of time these days. Not much has been happening in my life really, but I do start my job in about 2 weeks so there may be a slow down of posts depending on when I have to work. Or there may be no change. We shall see what happens.

I've decided to come back with a Korean favourite today. You can make it at home or you can buy it from street vendors, it is a popular dish with all ages because it encapsulates the Korean cravings for spicy food. It will be a nice inclusion in your meals as the days are getting colder in the Northern hemisphere and where I am it still doesn't feel like summer yet.

The dish that I am talking about is dakkochi or 닭꼬치 which is spicy chicken skewers. Pieces of chicken are brushed with a slightly sweet red sauce while being grilled over an open flame. The result is a tender, juicy treat bursting with flavor. And is is so simple that you will be able to replicate it at home. You may not be able to exactly replicate the smoky flavour of the skewers found in street vendors at home, but the taste will still be delicious regardless.

And now to get on with the recipe:

Ingredients
500g chicken, preferably from the drumstick
1 tablespoon minced garlic
pepper
salt
3 tablespoon milk
Marinade
1 tablespoon tomato ketchup
3 tablespoon water
3 tablespoon chilli flakes (you can adjust this)
2 tablespoon gochujang (you can adjust this)
2 tablespoon soy sauce
2 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon sesame seeds
1 tablespoon parsley

Method
1. De-bone and remove the skin of the chicken and chop it into bite-size pieces or the size you want for your skewers.
2. Marinade the chicken in the salt, pepper, garlic and milk.
3. To make the spicy marinade mix all of the marinade ingredients together in a bowl.
4. When ready to cook, make the chicken skewers. You can decide how many you want.
5. Preheat an oven to 180 degrees Celsius and then add the skewers.
6. Coat each skewer in the marinade just before you put it in the oven.
7. Continue to brush marinade onto the skewers in 5 minute intervals as they cook in the oven.
8. Bake for about 20 minutes or until cooked whist rotating the skewers.
9. Take it out and garnish if you wish.

And there you have it, simple make at home dakkochi.

This will be it from me today, I hope that you guys will enjoy the recipe. Remember to stay safe, happy and most important of all healthy until I blog again. 

Korean Fried Chicken 양념 통닭 Yangnyeom tongdak

So, like I promised yesterday here is another recipe today. Yesterday we had pork, so today I will be introducing you to a dish with chicken. You all know the standard friend chicken we get in Western countries right? Well the answer is KFC. Well today I will be posting about Korean Fried chicken.

Yangnyeom tongdak (양념 통닭)is a popular dish especially around the time of sporting tournaments, much like KFC. But this chicken is flavoured to suit Korean tastes by being slightly spicy. Today I will be showing you how to have it plain or seasoned, but both as still delicious. The chicken in this recipe is nicely battered and fried with a slightly sweet and spicy sauce. And now to the recipe:

Ingredients
Main Ingredients
1 kg Chicken (About ½ Chicken)
⅛ Cup Milk
¼ tsp Salt
⅛ tsp Black Pepper
1 Pinch Ginger Powder (Optional)
Batter Ingredients
¼ Cup Potato Starch or Cornstarch
¼ Cup Frying Mix or Flour
½ Tbsp Korean Curry Powder
2 Pinches Salt
2 Pinches Black Pepper
Sauce Ingredients
¼ Cup Ketchup
3 Tbsp Red Pepper Paste
2 Tbsp Corn Syrup
1 Tbsp Sugar
1 Tbsp Minced Onion
½ Tbsp Soy Sauce
½ Tbsp Minced Garlic
½ Tbsp Cooking Oil
1 Tbsp Sesame Seeds

Method
1. Combine chicken, milk, salt, black pepper and ginger powder in a bowl. Marinate it for about 10 minutes. This step (especially the milk) helps to reduce some of the bad chicken flavor.
2. If you don’t want to use milk to get rid of bad chicken flavor, here is another way to marinate the chicken; mix the chicken with 1 tsp of minced garlic, ¼ tsp of salt, ⅛ tsp of black pepper, and 1 pinch of ginger powder (optional). Add 2 Tbsp of water or cooking wine for some moisture.
3. To coat the chicken, mix the batter ingredients in a large bag. Shake the bag to mix everything together.
4. Add all of the marinated chicken to the flour mix and shake the bag: so the chicken will be evenly covered with the powder.
5. Take out the chicken from the bag and set the pieces aside while the oil is heating. You will have some leftover flour mixture in the bag; save it for later.
6. Pour the cooking oil in a deep frying pan and heat it on high.
7. By the time, the oil becomes hot, the flour coating of the chicken will be soggy. Coat each piece of chicken again with the remaining flour mixture right before frying.
8. Drop a little piece of the flour mixture to the heated oil, if it floats immediately, the oil is hot enough to fry the chicken. Carefully put the chicken into the oil.
9. Fry the chicken on high for several minutes (8 to 10 minutes) until the pieces become light brown. We will fry them twice, so you don’t have to fry them too long in this step. Take out the chicken, drain the oil, and set the pieces on a kitchen towel.
10. For the second frying, fry the chicken in hot oil again for several minutes (5 minutes) until they become golden brown. This time, make sure that the chicken is completely cooked. You can take out one piece and cut it in half with a knife to check if it is cooked.
11. Meanwhile, add all of the sauce ingredients together in a pan, except for the sesame seeds and cook it on medium.
12. Once the sauce starts to bubble, cook it for one more minute. The sauce amount is enough for only half of the chicken, so mix in half of the fried chicken into the sauce. Turn off the heat and cover the chicken with the sauce. If you want to season all of the chicken, double the sauce recipe.
13. Lastly, sprinkle 1 Tbsp of sesame seeds on top and mix.

And there you have it a recipe for seasoned and not seasoned Korean fried chicken that is delicious however you decide to eat it.





I hope that you will enjoy that dish because it is pretty much fusion food. The Korean take on Western food.

I can't promise when the next time I blog will be because I have got major exams in a month and they go for about a month. The next two months may be a bit quite, but I will try my best to keep on posting when I find the time.

So until next time, be happy, safe and healthy everyone!!!!

Andong Jjimdak (안동찜닭)

Hey guys, so I ma back with another recipe today. You may be wondering why I am posting on a Monday. Well today is the Queen's Birthday holiday, so I get a day of school ^^ See how much I like you guys? I am posting even though it is a public holiday.

Anyways, it has been pretty hot in Korea hasn't it? Well I have got a treat for you guys, because this is a very popular dish that is eaten in the summer. Jjimdak 찜닭 is a uintessential summer food. Jjimdak is made with chicken that’s already been prepared, hot peppers, mushrooms, carrots, and other vegetables. At the end, starch noodles are added and the dish is cooked again at a high temperature. This dish is characterized by its spiciness, so it is good to eat with dongchimi (watery radish kimchi) on the side.

There are two varieties of this dish that are especially well know, they are Bongchu jjimdak (봉추찜닭) and Andong jjimdak (안동찜닭). In fact Bongchu jjimdak is just an adaption of Andong jjimdak.

Andong-jjimdak (seasoned and simmered chicken) is a dish that originated in Gyeongsangbukdo, Andong. In 1980 at Andong Market’s Chicken Town, chefs began adding a variety of ingredients into their roasted chicken, and Andong-jjimdak was born.

To make Andong-jjimdak, you add pre-cooked chicken, various large-sliced vegetables, and finally, Chinese noodles (thin noodles made of starch). Then, the entire dish is mixed with a spicy soy-based sauce and simmered to perfection. The flavors of the juicy chicken, chewy noodles, mouth-watering potatoes, onions, and various vegetables come together to create a delightful dish.

Andong-jjimdak is a dish enjoyed by many, and is served in plentiful amounts on a large plate to be eaten in groups. When eating this dish, you must also try it with dongchimi (water-based kimchi with radishes) for an even more enjoyable meal.

Bongchu-jjimdak (Bongchu-style seasoned and simmered chicken) is a dish that originated in the Gyeongsangdo Andong region long ago, and has now been turned into a fusion dish seasoned with spicy sauces to fit the tastes of the people. To make jjimdak, you first add pre-cooked chicken, extremely spicy peppers, mushrooms, carrots and other vegetables, and finally Chinese noodles (thin noodles made of starch). The dish is then simmered to perfection at a high heat.

Bongchu-jjimdak blends the flavors of chicken, spicy peppers, and a sweet soy-based sauce to create a uniquely tasteful dish. The enormous plate takes up almost half of the table holding abundantl amounts of chicken, noodles, potatoes, and other ingredients. The chicken, noodles, and potatoes are thoroughly marinated in the spicy sauce for an addictive taste that you will want to experience again. Try the dongchimi (water-based kimchi with radishes) for added flavor.

That is a lot of history about the dish. Today I will be posting up a recipe for Andong Jjimdak because the two are really similar^^

Ingredients
1kg Chicken
3 Cups Water
1½ oz Cellophane Noodles (japchae)
1 Cup Potato
1 Cup Onion
½ Cup Carrot
2 Green Onions
1 Dried Red Hot Pepper

Sauce Ingredients
4½ Tbsp Soy Sauce
3 Tbsp Cooking Wine (or 3 Tbsp Water)
3 Tbsp Dark Brown Sugar
1½ Tbsp Minced Garlic
1½ tsp Sesame Oil
¼ tsp Black Pepper
2 Pinches Ginger Powder

Method
1. Get about 1kg of chicken .
2. Blanch the chicken in boiling water.
3. Drain the fatty water and set the chicken aside.
4. Soak japchae noodles in hot water while you are preparing the other ingredients.
5. Add all of the ingredients for the sauce in a bowl.
6. Place the cooked chicken in a wide bottomed pan. Pour the sauce and 3 cups of water on top of the chicken. Once it starts to boil, reduce the temperature to medium and cook for 15 minutes.
7. Meanwhile, cut the vegetables. Cut the potato into 1 inch cubes. Slice the onion and carrot into a ½ inch thickness. Cut 2 green onions and 1 dried hot pepper into ½ inch pieces.
8. After the chicken has cooked for 15 minutes, add the potato, onion, carrot, and dried pepper into the pan and cook for about 10 to 12 minutes on medium-high: until all of the ingredients are almost cooked.
9. Add the drained noodles and green onions. Cook for 3 more minutes and then turn off the heat.

And there you have it, simple Andong JjimDak.





That is it from me today, although it is quite hot in Korea right now, you will love this dish regardless of the heat. Until next time remember to keep warm, healthy and happy. Happy eating guys!!

Kalguksu 칼국수

Hey guys, so I am returning with a post today ^^ Finally right? Well, the weather has gotten a lot colder so I just feel like eating hot foods all day long. Bye bye to cold foods. Even today, I made a batch of hotteok because I wanted to eat a hot snack food.

Anyways, today I will posting a recipe for kalguksu 칼국수, which is also known as cut noodles. The dish is made of handmade, knife-cut wheat flour noodles served in a large bowl with broth and other ingredients. It is traditionally considered a seasonal food, consumed most often in summer.

The record of kalguksucan be found in documents of the Goryeo era, but the descriptions are vague and the nature of the noodles isn't clear. In the 12th century document Goryeo dogyeong it is mentioned that noodles were only eaten on special occasions, as wheat flour was very expensive, being imported from China.

A cooking description can be found in a later document, The Best New Cooking Methods of Joseon, written in 1924. In the 1934 book Simple Joseon Cooking, the recipe calls for the noodles to be boiled and rinsed in cold water before adding broth and garnish, a method that differs from the modern version of boiling the noodles together with the broth.

Often the noodles are made with dough from wheat flour and eggs, and sometimes ground bean powder is added for texture. The dough is let to breathe, then rolled out thinly and cut in long strips. The broth for kalguksu is usually made with dried anchovies, shellfish, and kelp. Sometimes chicken broth would be used.

In order to obtain a rich flavor, the ingredients are simmered for many hours. The noodles and various vegetables, most often zucchini, potatoes, and scallions are added and boiled together. Usually seasoned with salt, the noodles are served with garnish of choice.

And now, to get to the recipe:

Noodles
Ingredients
1 cup All-purpose Flour
1/3 cup Cold Water
1/4 tsp. Salt
1 Tbsp. Oil

Method
1. Mix flour, water, salt oil to form a dough and knead for 10 minutes.
2. Wrap in plastic and let it rest for 30 minutes.
3. On a clean, floured surface, roll out the dough with a roller to a thin sheet. 4. Fold and cut with a knife.
4. Flour the cut noodles to keep each strand separated.

Broth
Ingredients
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
1 cup Carrot, Chopped
1 whole Onion, Chopped
1 stalk Celery, Chopped
1 package Chicken Parts
6 cups Water
1 Tablespoon Salt
¼ whole Zucchini
2 whole Potatoes, Cubed
1 bunch Hand Rolled Fresh Noodles
2 Tablespoons Fresh Ground Black Pepper
2 stalks Green Onion (chopped)

Method
1. Heat your olive oil in a large soup pot. Add chopped carrot, onion and celery and cook until soft and fragrant.
2. Add 4-6 cups of water and chicken parts. Boil chicken for about 15 minutes until the meat is tender and falls off the bone.
3. Remove chicken, but continue to simmer broth. Remove meat from bones and place in a bowl for later use. Put the skin and bones back into the pot and continue to simmer for at least an hour. Add the tablespoon of salt, or season to your taste.
4. In the meantime, you can go ahead and chop up your zucchini and your potatoes.
5. Strain stock when it is ready
6. Add zucchini, potatoes and chicken.
7. Add your fresh noodles.
8. When noodles are ready add pepper and garnish.
Serve hot.



And there you have it, a hot dish that you can eat as the weather starts to turn for the cold. And best thing about it, if you can't handle spicy food this will be perfect to warm you up. Also, you can eat it when you have a cols or are feeling a bit under the weather.

Until next time, remember to keep happy, warm and healthy.