What's Cooking Good Looking #1
Greetings #steemians :)
Hope you all had a fantabulous day / night!
As I have mentioned before - alongside many other passions - I absolutely LOVE to cook! Several of my friends often ask me to share my recipes with them and to be honest - I NEVER cook with recipes. I am a "wing it" kinda gal! - and to be quite frank, I can never remember what I did long enough afterward to create a recipe out of it... haha!
Nonetheless, I have decided to begin sharing my cooking adventures with you!
Depending on my mood and general attention span at any given time, some posts will have detail and some wont, so consider this a cooking adventure theme that will mostly have pictures, a bit of blurb and occasionally the recipe details...lol!!
When I am feeling lazy and I don't add much information detail and you are wanting to know more - just SHOUT! and I will gladly give you the details... if I can remember them, haha! (kidding!!)
This side of the world, supper time is approaching - so its the usual what to cook scenario... It is Winter here in Cape Town, so I decided to cook some comfort food today.
CREAMY CORIANDER CHICKEN AND PEAS IT SHALL BE!
Yes, yes, I know - you can't see the peas yet, because I am actually still busy cooking the dish lol and I only add the peas right at the very end - like literally 5 minutes before serving, because nothing is worse than overcooked peas... I like it when they are cooked just slightly so that they pop in your mouth like little bubbles of awesomeness! - oh, and I ONLY cook with baby peas.... they are just SO much better!!
Ok, so... As we all know, coriander (dhania) is most definitely one of those love it or hate it flavours - no points for guessing which sector I fall into!
It is a great herb for when you are looking for a BOLD flavour within a dish and it is also a fantastic "palate freshener" sprinkled fresh on top of a rich dish.
As far as the chicken goes - it isn't rocket science... Basically, I braise the chicken in a pan with a little chicken seasoning on the meat, some freshly ground pepper, olive oil, chopped onion, chopped garlic and a sprinkling of salt - (to assist in the release of the juicy flavours of the onion and garlic.)
While that is busy - I shake up a mix of whichever DRY packet chicken soup / sauce you have a preference for, along with about 2 dessert spoons of flour and approx. a cup of COLD milk, or COLD water if you prefer. Shake it up until mixed well - yes, give those arms a GOOD 'ol workout! lol Goodness knows, its the only workout MY arms see!
Once the chicken has braised nicely, pour the flour mixture into the pot, give it a whirl - add your freshly chopped coriander ( a nice large handful should do it), allow it to come to the boil, then turn it down to a mild simmer, cover.... and bob is your uncle!
And if you love wine as much as I do - you will add a little white wine for extra awesomeness!
ooooh... look at that spillage in the bottom middle of the photo... unacceptable Jayne! (wipes it up with finger and consumes immediately!! lol)
Oh and its a different pot because I got so distracted by writing this post that the bottom of the original pot started to burn! >oops<
If this ever happens - whatever you do - DO NOT SCRAPE THE BOTTOM!! (again - not rocket science) - just pour whatever is still lose, into a clean pot and you are on your way again :)
Fortunately, this time, I caught it in time - before the burnt flavour penetrated the dish. There are many ways to disguise a burnt flavour if you are in rescue mode - but as you know, this dish's prominent flavour is coriander, which is more than capable of overpowering almost anything... so a little more coriander it was!
In other cases, potato is very useful to remove burnt flavour as it is brilliantly absorbent - but... good old Google can help you with more of those tips...
It is basically time to serve, so I am out... :)
I apologise for the lack of pictures in adventure #1, but it was a rather impromptu decision and well - its one of my lazy days! haha!
Looking forward to sharing more!
Until next time!!
oh and PS. yes... I did add the peas ;)