Burb's Basic Chicken Curry

Ingredients (For 2 People)

2 Chicken Breasts
1 Tin Chopped Tomato
2 cloves garlic
1 Stem of Ginger
2 Finger Chilli’s
2 Large Onions
1 Teaspoon Ground Cumin
1 Teaspoon Ground Coriander
1 Teaspoon Garam Masala
1 Teaspoon Brown Mustard Seeds
1 Star Anise
5 Cardamom Pods
Knob of butter (matchbox size)
¾ mug of basmati rice

Equipment you will need:

Chopping Board, Sharp Knife, 1 Wok or Large Frying pan, 1 Sauce pan, 2 soup bowls and a ladle.

Firstly
Slice the chicken into strips about the size of your finger and leave in one of the bowls. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon of Garam Masala over the chicken and mix thoroughly, leave this in the fridge while you get a few more things ready. Take your second bowl and put each of the other dried spices into the bowl Cumin, Coriander, Mustard seeds, Star Anise and Cardamom), now give it a good mix. Chop the onions into pieces about the same size as the chicken, cut the chilli lengthways and remove the seeds, chop the chilli as fine as you can (mind those fingers you need them to make the rest of the dish!). Now wash your hands thoroughly. Take a piece of ginger the size of a 10p piece and slice finely and leave with the chilli on the side of the chopping board. Crush and chop the garlic and put with the chilli and the ginger.

Secondly

Heat the wok or frying pan up to a high temperature and add a capful of vegetable oil. You will know if the pan is hot enough because the oil will slide around the pan easily and quickly. Add the onions and fry until softened, once soften add the dry spices and keep the onion and the spices moving for a few minutes. Add the butter and the chicken from the fridge, keeping everything moving. Once the chicken has started to colour then add the chilli, ginger and garlic and stir for another two minutes. Add the tin tomatoes, mix thoroughly and add enough water to cover chicken. Once the water has just started to boil, turn the heat down to simmer for 30 – 40 mins. You will need to check back every 10 min to stir.


Almost There

The smells from the pan should be filling your nose with the aroma of India. Now put a pan of water on to boil, add a good pinch of salt. Once the water has started to boil add the rice and stir well. The water would have stopped boiling now because you put rice in the pan, so wait till it starts boiling again and turn the heat down to simmer. The rice will take 10 minutes.

Service
Just before your rice is ready check the consistency of your curry, if it is too sloppy then you can thicken it with thickening granules or tomato puree. If the curry is too thick for you then add a little water at a time and keep stirring. Now for the taste test before you serve, add season to taste. In all the times I have made this I have never had to go overboard with salt and pepper, I have had to sweeten it a few times with a tablespoon of sugar or a good squirt of tomato ketchup. It is down to personal taste and the wonderful thing about Curry is because there are many spices in the dish you can tailor it exactly to your taste buds. Introducing the spices at different times of the cooking process will give a different flavour even though you are using the same quantities of spice. So just experiment with the flavours and get it right for you the important thing is not to be afraid of the flavours because they all go together.
You have adjusted the seasoning and the rice is ready! Drain the rice of any excess water and spoon onto a warm plate, ladle your curry onto the side of the plate. Tuck in and enjoy all your hard work.

Chicken & Mushroom Rissotto

INGREDIENTS (FOR TWO PEOPLE)

2 Small Chicken Breast
1 Medium Onion(red or white)
6 Medium Cup Mushroom
2 Cloves of Garlic
1 Chicken Stock Cube
25g Unsalted Butter
1 Teaspoon of Oil(Olive,Sunflower,Vegetable)
1 Teaspoon Smoked Paprika(Ordinary Paprika will work fine)
1 Tablespoon Oregano
3/4 Mug of Rissotto Rice

Equipment you will need: Chopping board, Sharp Knife, 1 Frying Pan, 1 Saucepan, 2 soup bowl

Firstly

Put 2 pints of water of water on to boil. When this has reached boiling point add the stock cube and stir until all of the cube has dissolved, remove from the heat. While you are waiting for the water to boil(don't watch it because folk law says it won't) you could cut the mushrooms into slices about the thickness of a ten pence piece, leave these in a bowl. Finely chop the onion as small as you can(mind those fingers you will need them for the rest of this dish), leave these on the side of the chopping board. Repeat this process with the garlic and add with the onion to your other soup bowl. Depending on how zippy you are with the knife the water should be done by now. You will need to chop the chicken into bite size pieces, they should be roughly the size of the mushroom you cut earlier. I personally prefer to slice the chicken with a knife, but I have seen people use scissors, I know some people don't like touching raw meat, it's down to you really how the chicken gets chopped.

Secondly

Heat your frying pan for 5 mins and then add the oil, you will know when the pan is hot enough because the oil will move quickly around the pan. Add the chicken and cook until the chicken has browned in colour. Remove the chicken from the pan and add the onions and the garlic, if necessary add half the butter to the pan to prevent the onion and garlic mix burning and sticking to the pan. Cook until onion has soften, now add the remaining butter and the rissotto rice, you may want to reduce the heat in the pan slightly. You need to keep stiring the rice, now add the mushrooms, paprika and the herbs.

Almost There

Continue to stir and slowly add about a mug full of the stock water carefully it may spit a little when you first add it to the frying pan. The idea of frying the rice gently in the pan with butter and the herbs is so the each rice kernal splits and allows the flavours to flow and infuse into the rice when you gradually add the water. You may want to turn the heat up slighty and add little amounts of water often. We are trying to get as much flavour into the rice as possible by letting the water reduce to nearly nothing and then adding more flavour. You do not want the rice swimming in the water and equally nor do want it too dry. Keep stiring and adding flavour. When I have made this recipe the rice cooking time is about 20 mins but depending on the heat you are cooking with the times may vary. When you think the rice is 5 mins from being done you can add the chicken. Don't forget to add liquid if necessary, at this stage it could be just water if you have run out of stock.

Service

Check to see if your chicken has cooked by cutting into it. If the chicken is done then taste the rice to see if that is cooked, it should have a bite to it and the sauce should just coat the rice. Continue to cook if needs be but be sure to get the liquid levels right, its very difficult to take liquid out at this stage but adding is a lot easier.Add salt and pepper to taste, serve and enjoy!

Chicken Chasseur

Cooking experience needed: 

Medium

Ingredients:      

Chicken Thighs (1 per person), Baby onions (3 per person), Chopped Toms (1 tin per 4 people), Baby Button Mushrooms (4 per person), Garlic ( 1 clove per 3 depending on size of garlic), Smoked Back Bacon( 1 rasher per 2 people), Tarragon (dried or fresh -2tbsp per 4 people), Bay Leaf (1 bay leaf per 4 people) Red Wine(1 glass per 4 people), Olive oil.

Kitchen Equipment you will need:

• Frying pan
  
• Casserole dish with cover on (to thicken sauce) or you can use tin foil.
  

Firstly:  

Firstly prepare each of the ingredients, top and tail and peel the baby onions. Open tin of chopped toms, wash and destalk mushrooms, crush and chop garlic, slice bacon into thin strips to about the size of a 10p piece.  

Little tip:  Ideally you want to keep everything around about the same size, so that the flavour is absorbed equally, so if you have a large mushroom quarter it.

Secondly:

Gently fry the chicken thighs in olive oil until all the outside of the chicken is a golden brown colour. Remove the chicken and place on a plate for later. Place the onions, mushrooms, smoked bacon into the same pan and fry gently until golden brown, then add the garlic, the bay leaf and the tarragon(only if you are using dried). Add the wine to the pan and increase the heat, stir occasionally and reduce the wine by half, now add the chopped toms.

Almost There: 

Place cooked chicken thighs into a roasting tin and pour the contents of the pan over the chicken. This would be the point when you add fresh chopped tarragon if you weren’t using dried. Pour enough water over the top of the chicken to ¾ cover the chicken. Add salt and pepper. Cover the roasting dish with tin foil and bake in the oven for 45 mins @ 200 C.

Service: 

Check your roasting dish after 30 mins. Now put on what you will be serving with the chicken. You could serve this with rice, new potatoes or roasted vegetables. When your veg is almost ready take the chicken out of the oven and adjust the flavour and consistency of the sauce. Flavour- salt and pepper to taste, tom ketchup for added sweet tom flavour, add fresh chopped tarragon. Consistency- Add more water if sauce is too thick, if sauce is too sloppy then thicken using chicken gravy granuals. Taste, adjust seasoning if required, Serve and enjoy!