BOK BOK BOK! (Just don't tell Guy about this section.)
Are you craving something with chicken in it? Don't know what to do? Try one of our fun recipes below!
If you have any questions, feel free to comment stating the name of the dish you are querying.
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Axel's Murgh Makhani (Butter Chicken)
Butter chicken is a rich and tasty dish that can be adapted to suit anyone's tastebuds. If you like it hot, add more chillis and chilli powder. If you like mild heat, reduce it. Either way, it won't disappoint.
Ingredients
The Marinade
- 1 3/4 lbs boneless chicken breasts, cut into pieces
- 1 tablespoon yogurt
- 1 small onion (Mince this)
- 1 teaspoon chilli powder
- 1 tablespoon vinegar or lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon coriander (Ground)
- 1 teaspoon cumin (Ground)
- 2 teaspoons ginger paste
- 2 teaspoons garlic paste
- salt, to taste
The Sauce
- 4 fresh tomatoes, chopped
- 4 tablespoons butter (Salted makes for extra flavour)
- 1 tablespoon of whisked fresh cream
- 1 teaspoon coriander (Ground)
- 1 teaspoon cumin (Ground)
- 1 teaspoon red chili powder (heat level of your choice)
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 teaspoons finely sliced ginger root
- 2 teaspoons chillies (Red or green)
- salt, to taste
Method
Take your chicken breasts and prick them with a fork to make little holes. This will let the marinade soak in. Mix all of the marinade ingredients together to form a nice paste and rub into the chicken as much as you can, getting it into all those little holes. To get the best flavour, leave the chicken in the marinade overnight in your fridge covered in cling film.
Once your chicken has finished soaking up the flavour, heat half of your butter in a pan and throw in your chicken and the marinade and cover the pan with a lid and cook for 25 minutes to make sure the liquid evaporates and to make sure the chicken is fully cooked. (Cooking with the lid on essentially steams it, making the meat soft and tender!) After it has finished, you should be left with some fat. Use this to fry the chicken with in a seperate pan.
Then, throw the last of the butter into a pan again and add your chilli powder, cumin, black pepper and coriander. These will be fried for only a few seconds to release the flavour. Next add the chopped tomatoes, and salt and cook for about 6 to 7 minutes to create a puree and so that the fat separates from it. (Add sugar to your tomatoes if you wish. This will help to cook them better and take away the nasty twang taste they sometimes develop from harsh cooking.)
Next, add the whisked cream. Make sure to reduce the heat, or it will burn. After some stirring, add your chicken and some chopped ginger and chillies, as well as a small pinch of salt. After these have been mixed thoroughly, cover it once again with a lid and simmer for roughly 10 - 11 minutes.
[NOTE: If you wish the sauce to be thicker, either add cashew paste, or cornflour to the mix when cooking.]
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Axel's Yellow Curry
Thai food is very fragrant and full of flavour. If you love Thai curry dishes, you'll love this yellow curry recipe.
First things first, we need to make the sauce.
Ingredients
- * 1-2 red chilies (Your choice depending on how spicy you like it), OR 1/2 to 1 tsp. of cayenne pepper
- 2 shallots or 1 small cooking onion
- 1 small piece of galangal OR ginger, sliced
- 3 large cloves garlic
- 1 tsp. ground coriander
- 1 tsp. ground cumin
- 1/4 tsp. fresh nutmeg
- 3 Tbsp. fish sauce
- 1 tsp. dried turmeric OR 1 small piece fresh turmeric, thinly sliced
- 1 Tbsp. brown sugar
- 4 fresh or frozen kaffir lime leaves, snipped into small pieces with scissors (NOTE: Discard the central stem!)
- 1 can of coconut milk
- 1 Tbsp. fresh lime juice (or juice from 1/2 lime)
- 1 Tbsp. tomato paste + 1 tsp. sugar
Place all sauce ingredients together. It's up to you how you want to mix it. You mix the ingredients by hand, pound them all together with a pestle & mortar, chuck them in a food processor, or in a blender. Whatever the case, make sure they are well blended. (If you use a blender or processor, it's smoother, wheras by hand it's more coarse.)
Next we have the other parts of our curry.
- ½ chicken chopped into pieces
- 1 stalk lemon grass
- 2 potatoes, chopped into wedges
- 1 green and/or red bell pepper, de-seeded and sliced
- 1-2 additional kaffir lime leaves, left whole
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes
- 1/2 loose cup fresh coriander
Next we need to prepare our chicken, so place all the chicken pieces in a casserole dish. Add the curry sauce you just
made adding to it the lime leaves (left whole), and the lemon grass. Stir it and cover it. You then need to bake it for 45 minutes at around 375 degrees.
After 45 minutes, take the dish out of the oven and add the potatoes, bell pepper, and cherry
tomatoes. Stir it well to mix the flavours and put it back in the oven and bake for an additional
20 minutes. It'll be done when the potatoes are soft and the chicken is well done.
NOTE: If your curry is too salty, add more lime juice. If it's too hot, add more coconut milk. If it's sour, brown sugar.
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Fancy something a little more spicy?
Axel's Chicken Vindaloo
This is a very hot dish, so be warned.
Ingredients
- 2 tsp cumin seeds, whole
- 1 tsp peppercorns, black
- 1 tsp cardamom seeds
- 1 cinnamon (3 in stick)
- 1 1/2 tsp black mustard seeds, whole
- 1 tsp fenugreek seeds, whole
- 5 tbsp white wine vinegar
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 tsp brown sugar, light
- 10 tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 large yellow onions, peeled and cut into, half-rings
- 6 tbsp water
- 1 ginger, fresh (1-inch cube), peeled, and coarsely chopp
- 10 garlic cloves, peeled and coarsely, chopped (or less)
- 1 tbsp coriander seeds, ground
- 1/2 tsp turmeric, ground
- 2 lb chicken breast (boneless), cut into, bite-sized pieces
- 8 oz tomato sauce
- 1/2 lb new potatoes, peeled and quartered
Grind the blackpepper, cardamom, cinnamon, cumin seeds, black
mustard seeds and fenugreek seeds together. In a separate small bowl you need to combine all of the ground spices with the vinegar, salt, cayenne pepper and brown sugar. After you have done this, set the bowl aside.
Then, heat up some oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Fry yourself some onions until they are cooked. (Golden brown) Remove all of the onions making sure to drain them of the oil and put them in a blender. Turn off the heat, but do
not discard the oil, as you'll need it later. Add about 3 teaspoons of water (or more if necessary) to the onions and blend it until you have a nice, smooth paste. Add the onion paste to the bowl of spices you set aside earlier. This mixture is actually the 'vindaloo paste' that will give you the flavour.
Next, put some ginger and garlic in a blender adding about 3 easpoons water and blend until you have yet another smooth paste.
Then, heat the remaining oil again in the saucepan over medium heat. When it's hot add the ginger and garlic paste. Stir it until the paste browns slightly. Then add coriander and turmeric and stir a few seconds. Add 2lb of chicken, a little at a time, and brown it lightly. Then add the vindaloo paste, some tomato sauce and quartered potatoes to the chicken in the saucepan. Stir it well and bring it to a slight boil. Cover the saucepan, reduce heat to low and simmer for about an hour. The best way of checking to see if it's done is to poke a knife into the potatoes. If they are soft, it's done. Serve this over some white rice.
[Note: Don't undercook the onions. They should be cooked until dark brown. If the onion paste turns out gray rather than brown, then the onions were not cooked enough.]
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Axel's Chicken Nuggets
Most of us love them, so these just had to be added. Best of all? They are easy to make!
Ingredients
- 16 oz(450g/1lb) Chicken breast fillets
- 1oz (30g) plain flour
- 3 to 4 handfuls of breadcrumbs
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 egg (For binding)
- Black Pepper
- Oil (Vegetable, or olive)
Cut the chicken into small pieces and place in a bowl. Next, in another bowl, sieve your flour and add the salt and pepper and, should you want to spice it up a bit, add in any spices you want. (Cajun is good!)
Next, beat the egg and add some oil to the mix and prepare a bowl of breadcrumbs ready to coat your nuggets.
Firstly, you need to dip your chicken nuggets into the flour to coat it lightly, then into the egg to add another layer and finally into the bread crumbs to finish it off. Once you've done all this, your nuggets are ready to cook!
Heat a few tablespoons of oil in a pan and add the nuggets to it. (Should they not all fot, don't panic! Do them a few at a time and keep the cooked ones in your oven on a low setting to keep them warm.) After they have finished, drain them of the oil and serve them.
[NOTE: These can be replaced with any meat you want, or even a vegetarian alternative if you prefer.]
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Axel's Creamy Mushroom Chicken
WARNING: Contains alcohol.
SERVES 1. (Just increase the ingredients for extra servings.)
Ingredients
- 1 large chicken breast
- Single cream
- Pre-soaked porcini Mushrooms (Keeping the water you've soaked them in.)
- 1 small bottle (187ml 'taster' bottles.) or 1 quarter of a fullsized bottle of white wine
- Cornflour
- Olive oil
- Fresh (Or dried) basil
Soak your mushrooms overnight in water and the water will turn brown. This stock is very useful and can be used in the sauce.
Add some oil to a ban and fry your chicken breast for a few minutes each side. Then place the chicken in some kitchen foil, sprinkle with chopped garlic and a little oil and place in the oven for around 20 minutes. (Or until it is cooked.)
Heat your mushroom water (Stock) and leave to simmer. Then add a small knob of butter in a pan and fry your mushrooms until cooked and place in a blender. Add to this around half a tub of single cream, the wine and the stock. Blitz until smooth. Add cornflour to thicken in needed. Heat the sauce again in a pan if needed.
[NOTE: Serve with asparagus and green beans.]
