Honey and soy chicken

Honey and Soy chicken

This dish tops all the Chinese dishes I have attempted at home.  It's also very easy to make meaning you can even have a go making it during the week and really is delicious.


Ingredients:
400g chicken breast cut into bite sized chunks
1 cup corn starch

1/2 cup runny honey
2/3 cup chicken stock (low salt)
3 tbs soy sauce
2 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp white vinegar
1 small onion finely chopped
1 clove garlic finely chopped
1 tsp grated ginger
1 tbs corn starch plus 1 1/2 tbs water
Vegetable oil to fry
1 tsp baking powder
2 large eggs beaten
1 tbs sesame seeds
2 green onions chopped

Method:
Mix chicken stock, soy sauce, honey, ginger, garlic, onion and  vinegar together and bring to a boil
Mix the 1 tbs of corn starch with the water and mix well, add to the honey mixture, reduce heat and and cook for about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and cover to keep warm.

Add baking powder and corn starch together and mix well.
Dip the chicken pieces into the beaten egg then coat with the corn starch.
Pour oil into a skillet or heavy based pan (oil should be around 2/3 of the skillet)  and heat.
When oil is very hot; drop 1/3 of the chicken pieces into the pan and fry for 4-6 minutes. Continue with the rest if the chicken until all has been cooked.

Add the fried chicken to the reserved sauce and cook on low heat for about 3 minutes making sure that all the chicken pieces are coated well in the sauces.

Enjoy with some egg fried rice.

Summer Cooking: Grilled nectarine with ice cream.

I am enjoying the warm weather, I love the wide variety of foods one can rustle up in no time at all feast on with family and friends. Desserts at this time are not disappointing.  Anything will do as long as it's teamed up with soft fruits.

Grilled Nectarines

2 Tbs pure honey
1/4 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
1 tbs caster sugar

4 scoops of ice cream (your choice)

Heat oven to 180C on grill
Cut the fruits in half and remove stones
Drizzle fruits with honey the. Sprinkle with sugar
Place on grill cut sides down and grill for 5 minutes, then the fruits to skin down and continue to cook for anouther 3 minute till the fruits are ready
Use the juices or syrup rendered from the fruits to decorate plates, place the fruit onto plate followed by a scoop of ice cream. Drizzle with fruit syrup and enjoy.

Happy Chickens

So I have been busy feeling lazy and only cooking when I really really have to. I am busy enjoying the weather and grabbing each opportunity to eat outside in the garden as much as I can and making full use of the warm sunshine.

One thing for sure is that I'm enjoying the light and easy meals and playing in the garden. Oh, I have six beautiful girls who will soon be gracing my garden soon. They are super cute and beautiful. There is Chirpy, Trouble, Thobekile, Silky, Pinky and Princess.

Quail egg and courgette fritters: starters

Quail eggs are finicky if not a pain to work with but very delicious indeed. The painstaking effort you put in just to peel those tiny gems is well worth it. They are gorgeously delicious; team them up with homemade hollandaise sauce and asparagus spears (or in this case, courgette fritters) and you've got yourself a winning starters. Today I did not bother with the hollandaise sauce because the yolk was perfect and I used that as both sauce for salad and dip for the fritters.

My absolute delight is when the egg has been left with a runny yolk that oozes out when you cut the egg open 😍.

Breakfast in the sun

Seeing that the sun has blessed us again and the kids woke me up early, like 7:30! Their breakfast request was to have Chicken noodle soup in exchange for being good and help tidying up the kitchen. I couldn't say no.

So noodle soup it was 😁

Picnic breakfast; soup, fresh mango slices and orange juice

Noodle soup 

In case you decide to make yours, this is what you need:
1.5 litres chicken stock
100g medium egg noodles cooked as per packet instructions  (I used fine vermicelli because that's what was in the cupboard)
Cooked chicken stripped or roughly chopped into huge chunks
Chicken bones or carcass (leftovers from Sunday roast are perfect)
5cm fresh ginger sliced thinly (with skin on)
3 cloves garlic bruised (unpeeled)
1 medium onion quartered with skin on
Dash soy sauce
2 red chillies sliced into medium chunks (I use crushed chilli because my children are not into heat)
Fresh coriander chopped (about 1tsp)
2 large pack choi or 4 small ones
Star anise
(Throw in some parsley, thyme odd chopped carrot and a bay leaf, if you have these)

Here's How

Add the onion, garlic, ginger and all the odd throw- in bits into the pan with the stock and boil for 10 minutes. Simmer uncovered for 20-30 minutes (most recipes will call for over an hour of simmering but I'm a mom and time is precious).
Strain into a clean bowl and discard all the solids, return the stock into a clean pan and simmer, add the pack choi leaves and shred the stems and add them in.
Add the spring onions and soy sauce and chicken and simmer for 3-5 minutes.

Divide noodles into 4 serving bowls and then paddle the soup on top.
Garnish with the chopped coriander and some chillies.
😋😋

I have had so much going lately; from work to health to children and above all, I have had an amazing time starting my small cake business venture. I'm happy with Tabi's Delights where I sell treats as in desserts and cakes.

I am thankful that my passion and hobby is now helping me to put extra bits on the table and my children couldn't be more supportive.  I am hoping that you will stick around and travel with me as I share my life with you.

May God bless you 🙏🏾🙏🏾.

From me with love to you ❤️❤️

So so sorry

So I have been away from this page for what seems like eternity to me, truth is I've had a lot going on; work, studies, children, ill-health and maybe some laziness too. 

I have missed being here and sharing my cooking adventures, I have missed talking because this is the only place where I can tell a story about my cooking without feeling like I am going to be boring people. As someone who loves writing I find it's the best way of expressing mysel; top that up with food and I am at my happiest. 

So I have missed this place but I AM BACK!!