CHICKEN & PRAWNS WITH VODKA SAUCE

Well, in less than 24 hours now I will be in Waikiki, Oahu with my lovely family and I will be relying primarily on other cooks' creations for several days. Do not be surprised to see a post or two on Hawaiian fare if I get the chance!

Luckily, I have a good friend to stay and cuddle our needy little cat, Polly, whilst we are away. Things have been hectic lately with all of my daughter's activities, homework and school projects, but I have managed to provide a few tasty treats for the family on minimal time allowances. This, and the fact that hubby loves my cooking, makes me VERY proud of myself.

I borrowed this lovely sounding recipe from Katherine at Smoky Mountain Cafe and I have to say, it was just as good as I thought it might be. I made a few minor adjustments to suit my own tastes (and to feed an extra dinner guest) and it was, in my opinion, a good choice. Oh, yes...those ARE Artichokes in the photo background...and from our little veggie patch in the back garden...just gorgeous!

Thank you Katherine, for the inspiration!


INGREDIENTS:

1 Med Onion or 3 Lg Shallots, finely minced
1 Clove Garlic, crushed
1 Tbsp Butter
1 Tbsp Good EVOO
3 Cups Diced Tomatoes
1 Tbsp Fresh Basil, chopped
1 Cup Cream (I used canned evaporated milk to lower the fat content)
¼ Cup Vodka
½ Tsp Red Pepper Flakes, crushed
300 Gms (½ Lb) Prawns, peeled, tails off & deveined
300 Gms (½ Lb) Chicken, cut into bite-sized cubes
*Salt & Pepper

*Amounts vary to individual tastes


DIRECTIONS:

First, heat the butter and oil together in a skillet over medium heat.

Next, add the minced onion to skillet and saute until transparent.

At this point, I quickly brown the chicken for a few minutes then add the prawns and brown those for an additional minute or so...then, I removed the chicken and prawns and set them aside to add back in later.

Now, add the diced tomatoes and cook over medium heat for about 15-20 minutes or until almost no liquid remains in skillet, stirring frequently.

Next, increase heat and add the basil, cream (or evaporated milk), vodka and crushed red pepper flakes.

Just bring to a light boil then reduce the heat to add back in the chicken and prawns (or whatever seafood you plan to use).

Now, boil this for about 2 minutes until the sauce thickens up a bit.

Lastly, season to taste with salt and pepper.

There you have it. A flavourful and creamy tomato sauce with depth. I added veggies at the last minute and served this with vermicelli noodles, but it would be tasty with other pastas or even rice too.

Enjoy!

SWEET & SOUR PORK

WITH SOMEN NOODLES

In our household, I try not to make too many beef or lamb dishes on account of the health and nutrition issues constantly being reported as risk factors associated with red meat. Instead, we eat quite a bit of chicken, pork and seafood. Yes, on occasion I need to have a steak or make a meatloaf with beef mince, but overall the red meat is more of an occasional treat rather than an everyday main meal.

Limiting any one thing in your diet can present challenges, such as; what to use as a satisfying substitute, how to season and flavour it, how to cook it and, of course, what to eat with it. I sometimes find myself fixing the same old pork roast or the same old sesame chicken and have to stop and think about what other options I have. Usually, the options are limited to what happens to live in the pantry at the time but more, and more often I find that I am actually planning things in advance (shocking, I know) because I have little precious time to do it after 3 o’clock when my darling daughter is off school. Usually, I am racing home for clothing changes and off to the activity of the day...swimming, dance class, gymnastics, whatever - home again just in time to cook dinner.

In this instance, I had found that I was making my same old stand-by sweet & sour sauce for chicken or pork and decided this time was going to be different. Rather than using the old pineapple juice and vinegar method, I tried a distinctively more flavoursome combination that turned out to be quite lovely (even if I do say so myself). Even my finicky daughter devoured her supper, so I must have done something right! One of the keys to getting more flavour into the meat is to marinate for at least an hour – overnight is even better!

So, here we go...

INGREDIENTS:

2 Cloves Garlic, crushed
2 Tbsp Sweet Thai Chilli Sauce
(or one chilli, deseeded and finely diced)
1 Tsp Ginger, crushed
½ Cup Plum Sauce
½ Cup Hoisin Sauce
1 Tsp Chinese Five Spice Powder
700 Gms ~ (about 1 ½ Lbs) Lean Pork, cut into strips or medallions
1 Tbsp Rice Bran Oil
2 Bundles of Somen Rice Noodles
2 Cups Vegetables, diced or julienned for stir fry
(I used carrots, sweet peppers, onion and scallions, but
baby corn, snow peas and cabbage are all great options too!)


DIRECTIONS:

First, combine the garlic, chilli sauce, ginger, plum and Hoisin sauces, and Chinese five spice in a small bowl and mix well.

Next, marinate the pork in this sauce mixture for at least an hour before proceeding to the next step.

Once the meats has marinated, heat the oil in a good sized pan and begin cooking the pork in batches. This will allow the meat to cook thoroughly and, keeps the pan temperature from dropping too low when you add the meat. Use cooking spray in between batches if necessary.

Meanwhile, boil a pot of salted water for the noodles (which only take 2 minutes to cook fully).

Now, remove all of the meat and stir fry your vegetables for about 2 minutes before adding the pork back in.

Cook your noodles while stir frying the veggies and then serve the pork and veggie mixture with the noodles.

Just one more quick & easy recipe that is very tasty even for finicky little ones. This would also be great with chicken, lamb or even beef, if you prefer.

Enjoy!

STATUS UPDATE

Well, my new Dell has arrived and it is as quick as anything, which is a huge relief since the Toshiba that bit the dust a couple of weeks ago now was...let's just say that booting it up was like watching grass grow...waiting for Spring...slow as molasses, it was.

Now the real work begins. The migration of data, copying favourites, creating new Outlook folders AND...last, but not least, loading more software (ugh). There is of course the all important camera and photo tinkering software, the PDA/Smartphone synchronization software fo retrieving contact numbers and email addresses, the video editing software, printer drivers, desktop publishing applications, and all that jazz. At the end of the day, it makes on wonder just what we would do without these virtual windows (no pun intended) to the outside world. These conduits to life; scheduling us, maintaining us, organizing us, entertaining us, etc., etc....

Anyhow, my point is that I should be back blogging in no time...logging in with my new fingerprint scanner and Skyping anyone who will listen! It's been an annoying last few weeks, but...the up-side is that I may actually be learning patience (yeah, right) and, I have had plenty to keep busy with.

Gidday me mates, and catcha soon, eh...