Mike and I got the idea for this salad from the Domestic Goddess Herself, watching Nigella Feasts one morning on Discovery Travel and Living. I tweaked her recipe a bit, substituting marsala for pear juice because a) I'm pregnant and b) I can't find marsala in Singapore anyway, and adding avacado - because you can't have chicken salad without avacado.
The first time I cooked this I had a friend over during the preparation and tonight she's staying for tea, having specially requested this salad!
Roast Chicken Salad
3 or 4 chicken breasts, skin on
200ml pear juice
olive oil
Mixed lettuce leaves (crunchy ones! But whichever you like, really)
1 avacado, chopped
Handful golden sultanas, soaked in water/a little pear juice
Handful pinenuts, toasted in fry pan for a couple of minutes
Balsamic vinegar
Pre heat oven to 180C
Splash a couple of slugs of olive oil around the bottom of a roasting pan. Place the chicken breasts in the pan, skin side up, and splash a bit more oil over the top. Pour over the pear juice.
Roast chicken for approximately 30 - 40 minutes in the middle of the oven (will depend on your oven and how many chicken breasts you're cooking). Check chicken is cooked all the way through by cutting into the thickest part of the breast. The skin should be looking nice and crispy! Allow to cool for 10-15 minutes before cutting into chunks. Set aside pan with juices from cooking.
Meanwhile, rinse and roughly tear lettuce onto a platter. Add chicken and avacado, sprinkle with soaked sultanas and toasted pinenuts.
Add about a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar to the juices in the bottom of the roasting pan and stir. Pour over salad. Try to get the salad to the table before you start eating ;)
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Japanese Ginger Pork
I caught up with a couple of fellow tai-tai girlfriends for coffee this morning and we got to talking about what "staple" meals we like to cook. I discovered that most of mine involve ginger! Possibly to do with the pregnancy thing - ginger supposedly being a cure for the nausea and morning sickness - but I have to confess this has been a favourite since the good old days of Yoshinoya hangovers in Tokyo.
Ginger Pork
Buta no Shoga Yaki
Serves 4 (ie pregnant Mrs B, Mr B and enough left over for lunch the next day)
3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons mirin
1/2 - 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger (to taste)
2/3 lb sliced pork (I used "suki yaki" sliced pork today, sometimes buy "shabu shabu" pork)
sunflower or vegetable oil for frying the pork
Mix together the soy sauce, mirin and ginger and dip the pork into this marinade briefly just before cooking.
Heat a little oil in the frying pan over a medium heat. Remove the pork from the marinade and add to the pan, making sure it doesn't stick together or curl up (I can fit in about 4 slices at a time). Turn over after a minute or so and cook until both sides are browned. Don't leave it too long (it's v thin and will cook quickly) but make sure it's cooked through.
Serve on steamed rice. The book I got the recipe from suggests serving with lightly stir-fried beansprouts (trim off the ends) - stir fry them in a little oil and about a tablespoon of garlic. Mike and I prefer very very thinly shredded cabbage, but the sprouts are nice, I've tried them before :)
Ginger Pork
Buta no Shoga Yaki
Serves 4 (ie pregnant Mrs B, Mr B and enough left over for lunch the next day)
3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons mirin
1/2 - 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger (to taste)
2/3 lb sliced pork (I used "suki yaki" sliced pork today, sometimes buy "shabu shabu" pork)
sunflower or vegetable oil for frying the pork
Mix together the soy sauce, mirin and ginger and dip the pork into this marinade briefly just before cooking.
Heat a little oil in the frying pan over a medium heat. Remove the pork from the marinade and add to the pan, making sure it doesn't stick together or curl up (I can fit in about 4 slices at a time). Turn over after a minute or so and cook until both sides are browned. Don't leave it too long (it's v thin and will cook quickly) but make sure it's cooked through.
Serve on steamed rice. The book I got the recipe from suggests serving with lightly stir-fried beansprouts (trim off the ends) - stir fry them in a little oil and about a tablespoon of garlic. Mike and I prefer very very thinly shredded cabbage, but the sprouts are nice, I've tried them before :)
Monday, July 28, 2008
2nd trimester at last!!!
Finally able to announce our "baby to be" on Facebook and later in a group email home to all our friends back home. Left me wondering what on earth people did before the internet ....? Or even how I communicated with people before I joined Facebook last year ... the mind boggles.
I'm still very tired a lot of the time (and having a good chunder most mornings) but am trying to make the most of being able to nap during the day. I'm also going to pre-natal yoga a couple of times a week which is really helping. I'm enjoying the classes a lot, it's just the getting there on the train that's a bit dicey :S
Mike and I went to see Dark Knight this weekend. Was pretty good although a bit long for me - particularly since it didn't start till after 9 and we had Gold Class seats .. very nice but a bit too easy to fall asleep when you have a La-Z-Boy and a blanket. I think I missed the ending .......
I'm still very tired a lot of the time (and having a good chunder most mornings) but am trying to make the most of being able to nap during the day. I'm also going to pre-natal yoga a couple of times a week which is really helping. I'm enjoying the classes a lot, it's just the getting there on the train that's a bit dicey :S
Mike and I went to see Dark Knight this weekend. Was pretty good although a bit long for me - particularly since it didn't start till after 9 and we had Gold Class seats .. very nice but a bit too easy to fall asleep when you have a La-Z-Boy and a blanket. I think I missed the ending .......
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)