Let's make Chicken Stock - it's easy, I promise!

Pot full of goodness!

My poor little poppet has been sick for weeks... It's that time of year unfortunately... Silly winter! Plus she's 18 months old so her little body is trying to build up an immune system, not much fun for anyone.

As much as I believe in Western medicine (to a point...) I also believe in nourishing your body with quality food and plenty of rest when the evil lurgies come around to knock you on you bum. (can I say bum?)

This is why I've started making my own chicken stock, so that I can make my East Meets West Chicken Noodle Soup for my little MissC. We all know chicken noodle soup just seems to make us feel better. By making my own stock, I know that my little one is getting as many nutrients as possible and she seems to love the stuff. Even when she's feeling absolutely rotten, she'll happily drink some plain stock with a handful of soba noodles.

The thought of making my own stock always scared me. Surely it must be laborious and complex? But I swear, it's not! It's so simple and ridiculously easy to make, now I can't stop making it.

Ingredients
1 whole raw chicken, washed under cold running water (cut into pieces is fine but keep the bones in and the skin on)
1 large brown onion, skin on, ends cut off
1-2 heads of garlic, skin on, root cut off
2 carrots, cut in half
2 sticks of celery, cut in thirds
2 tomatoes, cut in half (Roma are preferred)
10 peppercorns
1 tsp salt flakes
5 springs parsley
Optional - Bay leaf or bouquet garni

How to...
- first you will need a BIG pot! Large enough to fit in all the ingredients and a few liters of water.
- next simply throw everything into the pot and add enough cold water to just cover.
- bring the stock to the boil, then turn down low to simmer for an hour. You may like to turn the chicken after half an hour if you are worried about part of it sticking out of the water.
- once the hour is up, carefully lift out the chicken onto a board using tongs. (we'll strip the meat later to make  my East Meets West Chicken Noodle Soup and Sour Cream Enchiladas)
- strain the vegetables out of the stock and discard. They've done their job, all their goodness is now in the beautiful golden liquor in front of you... So many possibilities!
- you will need to add salt at this point, probably up to 2 tsps. Don't be afraid of this, there's a lot of liquid so this will require a fair amount if salt. Add 1/2 tsp at a time and taste.
- you're done! This will keep in your fridge for about 3 days, or pop into individual containers/ziplock bags and store in your freezer up to 6 months.

Note:
- leave the lid off! If you put the lid on, your stock will be cloudy.
- a 'bouquet garni' is a little bunch of mixed fresh herbs which will infuse the stock whilst it's brewing. Feel free to make your own, or you can buy ready made options in the fresh herb section of your local supermarket.

My Thai Chicken Curry

My sister was recently visiting from the US and as anyone with international guests knows, at some point you will land up cooking for an army of people! My family, plus the in-laws, meant I was cooking for 12 people one night including 5 adult men who eat like it's there last meal... you know who you are!!

When you have a bunch of mouths to feed, you have to cook one big pot of something that everyone will enjoy, but I like to add a heap of condiments so everyone can alter their bowl to their preference. I think it makes the meal a bit more fun, especially for the little kiddies!

Too many choices, Mama!

So here's my award winning Yellow Thai Chicken Meatball Curry as enjoyed by little people, 3 yrs old, all the way to Great Grand people - 94 yrs old and still kicking! (By award winning, I mean every bowl was practically licked clean, that's the biggest compliment for any cook in my book!)

Ingredients

mmmm, saucy!

500gr chicken mince

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 small onion, finely diced

Handful of dry breadcrumbs (I use cornflake crumbs)

Small handful of chopped coriander or parsley

Salt and pepper

Jar of Yellow Curry Paste (I use Valcom brand)

400ml can of coconut milk or cream, whichever you prefer

100-200ml of chicken stock, optional

2 tbsp fish sauce

1 tbsp sugar

Serve with rice

Condiments - this is optional but it makes this meal so much fun! Put everything in little bowls and let everyone help themselves to their favorites:

grated carrots, beansprouts, corn, finely sliced spring onions, coriander leaves, sliced chillies, roasted cashews, finely sliced snowpeas, lime wedges.

How to...

- Preheat oven to 180 degrees C

- Cook your rice according to the packet instructions.

- Mix the chicken mince with the beaten egg, onion, crumbs, herbs and a good pinch of salt and pepper.

- Heat a little oil in a frypan over medium heat.

- Roll a tablespoon of the mince mixture in your hands to make a meatball.

- Gently drop the meatballs into the hot pan and fry off so the balls are golden brown all over. Don't worry about the meatballs being raw in the middle, we'll finish the cooking in the oven.

- Scoop the golden meatballs into an ovenproof dish. Once they are all golden, pop them in the oven to finish cooking for 10 minutes. (Break one open to check they are cooked)

- While the meatballs are cooking, get your condiments ready and take to the table.

- Heat the frypan again on a medium low heat and fry off 4-5 tbsps of the curry paste until fragrant. You have to cook the paste as the ingredients are raw. And don't overheat the pan or the paste will spit.

- Once fragrant, add the coconut milk, fish sauce and sugar. Add as much stock as you like to make more sauce. This is optional but I add the stock as it cuts through the heaviness off the coconut - good tip for anyone watching their weight too.

- Add the meatballs to the sauce and you're done!

This recipe feeds four, but you can easily make more or less depending on your crowd. This also freezes really well if you want to make in advance.

Mama's bowl, yum yum!

Mexiday! Orange and chipotle chicken tacos

Believe it or not, we have tacos for dinner once a week. Boring, right? WRONG! I guarantee we never eat the same tacos twice! This is mostly due to the way I cook as I like to throw together a little bit of this and a little bit of that. But that's not how most people cook, so I'll try to document some of my more popular concoctions.

These orange and chipotle chicken tacos are especially quick and easy and popular with little tummies too. If you can't find Chipotle, you could use smoked paprika instead.

500gr chicken breasts, sliced into strips

1 c orange juice

1 tsp chipotle powder or 1 whole chipotle chilli (or more or less to taste)

1 tsp coriander powder

1 tbsp honey

- Mix together the juice, chipotle, coriander and honey together. If you are using a whole chilli, blend the ingredients together to make up the marinade.

- Marinate the chicken for at least 20 minutes in the refrigerator.

- While the chicken is marinating, get your fillings organized - our favorites for these tacos is my Tomato and Corn Pico de Gallo and Greek style yoghurt. Don't forget to get your tortillas or taco shells ready too.

- Heat a frypan on medium flame.

- Drain the chicken from the marinade and cook in batches until cooked through. (if you try to cook all the chicken in one go, it will stew and get tough)

- Once the chicken is cooked, pop it all back in the hot pan to warm through.

- Finally, take it to the table with your warm tortillas (or taco shells) and your favorite fillings so everyone can make their own. Mmmmm!

Sticky Asian Chicken Drumsticks

My hubby loves chicken drumsticks!  So when they are cheap, I buy a few kilos, portion them and put them in the freezer.  The problem I have is my mum only ever ate chicken breasts, so I don't actually know what to do with drummies... but I'm learning!

Hubby remembered his mum used to slow bake drumsticks with soy sauce, but neither could remember what other ingredients made up the sauce.  So off to the internet I went and I actually figured out the original recipe - big pat on the back for me!

This is a great mid-week meal as the total prep time is 5 minutes, is cheap and can easily feed a crowd.  Also, if you have a slow cooker, feel free to use it for this recipe.

Ingredients
- 6 chicken drumsticks
- Olive oil
- 1 onion, finely diced
- 1 clove garlic, crushed
- 1/2 c soy sauce
- 1/4 c brown sugar
- 400gr can of crushed tomatoes
- Steamed rice to serve

How to...
- Preheat oven to 160 degrees celcius.
- Heat a little olive oil, over a medium-low flame, in a oven proof dish that's large enough to hold the drumsticks in a single layer.
- Add the drumsticks and fry each side until starting to colour.
- Whilst the drumsticks are frying, mix the onion, garlic, soy, sugar and tomatoes in a bowl.
- Add the tomato mixture to the drumsticks and move the chicken around to coat.
- Place the lid on top of the dish, or cover with foil and place in the oven for an hour - don't worry if this dish cooks a little longer, it shouldn't dry out too quickly.
- I like to take the lid (or foil) off for the last 15 minutes to let the sauce reduce a little and make the chicken that little bit sticky.
- Serve with rice, spoonfuls of sauce and chopped fresh coriander.

How many chickens can I squeeze into my freezer?

Last night I got home, cold, hungry and broke.  My only option was to cook but what could I do in hurry? After having a quick look in the freezer I noticed I had some frozen chicken thighs, already cleaned and sliced up, perfect for a 15 minute curry and I knew we'd have enough left over for lunch the next day - two meals covered with half the effort!

When storing food, the best time saving tip I can give you is: store food in a way that is useful for you! Well, preparation is super important too... ok, so maybe that's two tips.

It's essential that you store items in a way that best suits your cooking style.  For example, I have two freezers... hey I'm European; I only know how to feed 20 people at a time!  Unlike me, you might only have a freezer the size of a shoebox, so buying in a large quantity might not be an option.  That's ok, but if you optimise the way you prepare and freeze your meats/meals, you'll maximise your space and save time.

Whenever I buy chicken fillets, I always buy in 2 or 3 kg lots - depending on the storage space left in my freezer and the cash in my purse.  But it's how I prepare and store the chicken that is a real time saver.

To store items in the freezer, I use ziplock bags or good quality, airtight plastic containers.  (Obviously containers are better for the environment, but sometimes I run out)

How can I say 'no' to that face?! :)

Firstly, if you've bought chicken breast fillets with the skin on, you'll need to pull it off... unless of course you're making something that requires you to leave the skin on.  I normally pull it off and give to my very grateful puppies - but not too often or they get fat and the Vet yells at me!

Next, separate the tenderloins - it's the little flappy bit underneath the breast.  Again these should just pull off.  Tenderloins are great in a stir fry, on a skewer or crumbed as quick mini-schnitzels.  They cook very quickly so I normally store them all together in one bag, but store them flat so they'll defrost quickly.

Now, slice up 2 of your chicken breasts into strips... now you have about 500gr of stir-fry strips or taco strips ready to go!

Freeze the rest of your breast fillets as singles or doubles depending on how you normally cook.  Singles fit perfectly in the snack size ziplock bags and you should be able to fit between 2-4 fillets in a sandwich sized bag.

Thigh fillets are great for curries, casseroles, bbqs - anything with a longer cooking time or intense heat.  Chop some fillets into nice, big chunks, great for a curry or casserole.

Lastly - and most importantly - grab a permanent marker and write the contents and date on the bags!!  Or put stickers on your containers.  I also include the approx weight just as a quick reference point.  Oh and don't forget, you can only freeze items for certain periods of time.  (Check out my Freezer Guide)

Can anyone make raw chicken look glamorous?!