Chicken Supreme

I always thought this dish was made with mushrooms but I suppose if all you have to base it on is a memory of a Birdseye microwave meal from the eighties...

Ingredients

• 2 Onions
• 4 cloves of Garlic
• 6 rashers of Bacon
• 3 Chicken Breasts
• 1 Chicken Stock Cube
• 200ml (400ml) of Double Cream
• Black Pepper

Serves 4

Method

Gently fry the sliced onion and the crushed garlic in olive oil until the onion is soft. Remove from the pan and reserve for later.

Cut the bacon into small strips and fry in the same pan you used to cook the onions. Put to one side.

Chop the chicken into bite sized pieces and fry until cooked. 

Add the reserved ingredients and mix it all together. 

Mix the stock cube with 100ml of boiling water and stir into the chicken mixture. Then add the cream evenly coating everything. The original recipe I saw asked for 400ml of cream which is far too much for my tastes so I halved it. Cook until the cream is hot, season with pepper (you shouldn't need salt as the bacon is pretty salty) and then serve with rice.

While there is nothing actually wrong with this we can do better!

Turkey Risotto

Cheap, cheerfull and easy to make. What more do you want..

Ingredients

• 150ml of dry White Wine
• 1 Red Onion
• 2 tbsp of chopped Chives
• 400g of Risotto Rice
• 900ml of Chicken Stock
• 150g of Green Beans or Peas
• 1 tbsp of Olive Oil
• 25g of unsalted Butter
• 200g of Turkey fillets (cooked)
• 50g of grated Parmesan
• Salt and Black Pepper

Serves 6

Method

Bring the stock to a boil and then reduce the heat to give a gentle simmer.

In another pan heat the oil and half of the butter. Chop the onions and then sauté until they have softened. 

Stir in the rice and cook for a couple of minutes. Add the wine and gently stir until it has been absorbed by the rice. Now add a ladle of stock to the rice and gently stir until it has been absorbed. Make sure you move all the rice around so that none sticks to the pan. Repeat with further ladles of stock until you have added half of the stock.

Stir in the chopped or shredded turkey and continue adding the stock a ladle at a time. The rice should look thick and creamy. If you run out of stock before the rice is done use boiling water in the same manner.

With the last ladle of stock add the green beans.

Once that has been absorbed stir in the remaining butter, chives, half of the Parmesan, salt and pepper (to taste).  Serve sprinkled with the remaining Parmesan.

Turkey Risotto with peas.

Carbonara

The classic carbonara - no cream in sight! 

Ingredients

• 225g of Pancetta as a 1cm slice or thick cut Bacon
• 4 cloves of Garlic
• 3 tbsp of olive oil
• 4 tbsp of dry White Wine
• 2 large Eggs
• 4 tbsp of freshy grated Romano Cheese
• 50g of freshly grated Parmigiano-reggiano Cheese
• freshy ground Black Pepper
• 2 tbsp of chopped flat lead Parsley
• 550g of pasta

Serves 6

Method

Cut the bacon or pancetta into strips just over half a centimeter wide. 

Bash the garlic lightly to loosen the skin which you discard. Sauté in the olive oil gently until it is a golden brown. Do not allow it to burn or it will taste bitter. 

Remove the garlic and discard.

Now cook the bacon/pancetta in the garlic infused oil until it just begins to crisp. Add the wine and cook for two minutes before turning off the heat.

Beat the eggs in a large bowl and then stir in the cheeses, the pepper and the parsley.

Once the mixture is thoroughly incorporated add the hot, cooked, pasta and toss rapidly. Make sure the mixture coats the pasta evenly. The latant heat of the pasta will cook the egg.

Warm the pancetta/bacon quickly on a high heat and then mix with the pasta.

Toss throughly and serve with more grated Parmesan. 

Spaghetti Carbonara