Green Wheat with Chcken ("Freekeh Ma Dajaj")

One of my favorite Middle Eastern Dishes. Freekeh (or Farik) - is the type of cerela made from green weat which goes through a roasting process in its production. The wheat is harvested while the grains are yellow and the seeds are still soft; it is then piled and sun-dried. The piles are then carefully set on fire so only the straw and chaff burn and not the seeds. It is the high moisture content of the seeds that prevents them from burning. The now roasted wheat undergoes further thrashing and sun-drying to make the flavor, texture, and color uniform. It is this thrashing or rubbing process of the grains that gives this food its name, farīk or “rubbed.” The seeds are now cracked into smaller pieces so they look like a green bulgur. It typically served with chicken, but variation with Lamb is aslo possible.

Ingredients:
1/2 Chicken cut in pieces with bones and skin on
1 cup Freekeh
1/2 large onion
Olive oil
Toasted Pine Nuts
Water enough to cover chicken

Spices:
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. cardamom (or pods)
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. Baharat (Arabic Spice mix)
Black pepper corns
Salt to taste

1. Prepare the chicken and boil it with spices until cooked.
2. Wash freekeh in large amount of water discarding dirt and stones. Drain in colander for 30 minutes.
3. Remove cooked chicken from stock, sprinkle with spices, brush with a bit of olive oil and cook in hot oven for 15 minutes just to give it some crispiness.
4. Drain stock.
5. Cook some diced onions in the skillet with 1 Tbsp. of olive oil until translucent. Add freekeh and cover with chicken stock - 3 cm. above surface. Bring to boil, cover with a lid and let it simmer for 30 minutes. Give it a stir once in a while or add more water or stock if needed.
6. Serve in one plate, garnish with toasted pine nuts or browned onions.

Buffalo Chicken Wings

American Classic for beer night at home!

Ingredients for crispy wings:

5 pounds whole chicken wings

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. black ground pepper

2 Tbsp. hot sauce

2 Tbsp. vegetable oil

1 1/2 cup all purpose flour

Non-stick oil spray

1 cup of Buffalo Sauce (recipe below)

Method:

1. Cut wings into three sections: "tip", "flat" and "drum". We will use two bigger ones only for this recipe - but the smallest section "tip" can be reserved to make chicken stock.

2. To the bowl of chicken wings, add salt, pepper, hot sauce and oil. Toss to coat evenly.

3. Add flout to large plastic bag and pour in chicken wings. Shake to coat the wings in flour.

4. Cover two baking sheets in foil, spray them with non-stick spray. Place the floured wings evenly on the pans in one layer, spray the tops of the wings lightly with oil.

5. Bake in preheated 200 C oven for 30 minutes, then turn over each wing and bake for another 30 minutes, or until wings are golden brown and coating is getting crispy.

6. Transfer wings to a large mixing bowl. Pour the sauce (recipe below) over the hot wings and toss with spoon or spatula to completely coat.

7. Allow to cool for 5-10 minutes before serving, so the sauce will soak into the skin.

Buffalo Sauce:

8 Tbsp. Louisiana hot sauce (best, but i used Tabasco, hence did not find the one)

8 Tbsp. unsalted butter

1 1/2 Tbsp. white vinegar

1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper

1/8 tsp. garlic powder

1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

Salt to taste

Method:

1. Mix all ingredients in saucepan, bring to a simmer over law heat, stirring occasionally, an then turn off the heat.

Spicy chicken Nasi Goreng

Nasi Goreng, literally meaning "Fried Rice" in Indonesian. Dish easy to prepare from left over rice from last dinner. In proper version, can be used tamarind, ginger, red pepper. But we have ow in supermarkets ready thai curry paste which makes this dish simple to make.

Ingredients:

2 medium eggs

2 tsp corn starch

2 Tbsp water

2 cups cooked basmati rice

1 large chicken breast, diced in bite size pieces

6 large pealed (with tales on) cooked shrimps or 150 g. small shrimps

3 medium shallots, diced

Bunch roughly chopped coriander

1-2 Tbsp hot or medium hot red curry paste

0,5 cucumber, pealed, finely chopped.

Method:

1. Beat eggs slightly and strain though a sieve. Mix corn starch in water and mix in beaten eggs. Make thin omelets on slightly oiled pan. Omelets should be thickness on the crepe.

Roll omelets and cut them into stripes. Set aside.

2. Heat wok with 1 Tbsp of canola oil and fry shallots until crispy. Drain from oil excess and keep aside on the paper towel.

3. Wipe wok clean from any oil. Add curry paste and heat it well.

4. Add chicken pieces and stir fry, mixing with two spatulas all he time, coating chicken in curry. Stir fry for 3-4 minutes, until chicken is tender.

5. Add shrimps, rice and stir fry for 2 minutes. Make sure to mix very well so all rice covered in curry paste.

6. Remove from heat, add shallots, coriander, omelets, cucumber and mix.

Serve immediately with thick soy sauce on the side.

Japanese Chicken Hot Pot (with udon)

After our European vocation i got a felling that i am in need of asian flavored light dish. Chicken Bawl is perfect light dish from japanese home cooking. Easy and quick to cook, can be served over rice, or as is did over Udon Noodles.

Ingredients:

(serves 2 persons)

1 big skinless chicken breast

5 cups of water

1 Tbsp of kombu dashi granules

6 leaves of bok choy

4 slices of firm tofu

6 dried mushrooms (shitake, portobello are the best, but is used some white mushrooms from japanese grocery)

1 bunch of enoki mushrooms separated into small bunches

A couple of straws of scallions

Bean sprouts

2 packs of frozen udon noodles

Some soy sauce for garnish

Method:

1. Heat water in a pan with 1 Tbsp of dashi stock.

2. Carefully fry tofu slices in 2 Tbsp of canola or olive oil. Tofu is very soft, while it is raw, so try not to move it on the pan. Place it in hot oil on one side and then tern in to the other side only after making sure, that it is nicely browned.

3. Add dried mushrooms, enoki, mushrooms and tofu into the boiling stock.

4. Reduce heat to medium and simmer for few minutes, add chicken (cut into bite size pieces) and bok choy.

5. Keep simmering until all ingredients are fully cooked.

6. In meanwhile cook udon, as prescribed on the pack (for cooked frozen udon it is 3 min in boiling water).

7. Assembling the dish: put udon into serving plates. Arrange all ingredients from the pot over it, carefully picking them up from the stock with chopsticks. Pour some stock over the dish enough to your liking. Garnish on top some bean sprouts (slightly simmered in the same stock) and scallions.

Enjoy light and healthy dish! And happy dieting :-))

Spiced Chicken with balsamic vinegar and glazed figs

We have a lovely seasonal fresh figs in the supermarkets and i could not miss an opportunity to try it out in main dish recipe. It ended up being a strange combination of sweet glazed figs and spicy chicken. I garnished this dish with few baby asparagus and baby corns. The glazed figs tasted amazing, but i would highly recommend you reduce quantity of black pepper if you are not a fan of spicy food. Of course made it for two people and doubled the proportions. Also i think would valuable to add, that chicken breast would taste even better if coated in spices and cooked as whole piece rather than stripes, as advised below.

This recipe adopted from BBC Food Website.

Ingredients (serves 1):

For the chicken:

1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tbsp ground coriander
pinch dried chilli flakes
½ tbsp crushed black peppercorns
1 chicken breast, skin removed, cut into slices
1 tbsp oil
For the figs:
15g/½oz butter
1 tsp honey
2 figs, cut in half lengthways
splash balsamic vinegar

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 220C/425F/Gas 7.
2. For the chicken, mix the coriander, cumin, chilli flakes and peppercorns in a clean bowl. Place the chicken into the spices and turn to coat well.
3. Heat the oil in an ovenproof pan. Place the chicken into and cook for two minutes, until golden bown. Turn the breast over then transfer to the oven to roast for 10-12 minutes, or until completely cooked through.
4. For the the figs, heat the butter in a frying pan and add the honey. Place the figs open-face down into the pan and then place into the oven to cook for five minutes, or until sticky and soft.
5. Remove the figs from the oven and add a splash of balsamic vinegar to the pan. Place over a high eat for one minute to reduce.
6. To serve, place the chicken onto a plate and place the figs around. Drizzle the juices from the pan over.