Lemon Chicken

Lemon Chicken

Serves 6

500 g (1lb 2oz) skinless chicken breast fillet

1 tbsp light soy sauce

1 tbsp Shaoxing rice wine

1 spring onion (scallion), finely chopped

1 tbsp finely chopped ginger

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

1 egg, lightly beaten

90 g (3/4 cup) cornflour (cornstarch)

oil for deep-frying

Lemon Sauce

2 tbsp lemon juice

2 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp roasted sesame oil

3 tbsp chicken stock  (or water)

1/2 tsp cornflour (cornstarch)

Instructions:

1. Cut the chicken into slices. Place in a bowl. Add the soy sauce, rice wine, spring onion, ginger, and garlic. Toss lightly. Marinate in the fridge for at least 1 hour, or overnight.
2. Add the egg to the chicken and toss lightly (to coat the chicken). Drain away the excess egg. Coat the chicken pieces with cornflour. (Place in a plastic bag and shake.)
3. Fill a wok 1/4 full of oil. Heat the oil to 375* F (190* C). (Or until a piece of bread fried golden brown in 10 sec once dropped in the oil.)
4. Add half the chicken to the oil, one piece at a time. Fry the chicken, stirring constantly, for 3.5-4 minutes (or until golden brown). Remove with a wire sieve and drain.
5. Repeat with the remaining chicken.
6. Once all the chicken is fried, reheat the oil and return all the chicken to the wok. Cook until crisp and golden brown. 
7. Drain the chicken, pour off the oil, and wipe out the wok.
8. To make the lemon sauce, combine the lemon juice, sugar, salt, sesame oil, stock, and cornflour.
9. Reheat the wok over medium heat until hot, add the lemon sauce and stir constantly until thickened. 
10. Add the chicken and toss lightly in the sauce. 

Matthew made this for me for dinner tonight, out of our new cookbook, The Food of China. We picked it up on the Border's sale rack last weekend and, I have to say, it is a pretty impressive cookbook. The photography is really good and the recipes sound delicious. This was the first one we tried and it was sooo good!

Chicken Stroganoff with Spatzle

Chicken Stroganoff with Spatzle

Serves 4

For the Stroganoff:

  450g (.99 lbs) chicken breast, cut into thin strips

  2 tsp smoked paprika

  50ml (a little less then 1/4 cup) olive oil

  1 finely sliced onion

  3 crushed garlic cloves

  1 sliced green pepper

  Button Mushrooms, quartered (we used a whole package)

  150ml (2/3 cup) chicken stock

  Splash of white wine

  50ml (a little less then 1/4 cup) sour cream

  70g (.15 lbs)sugar snap peas, blanched

  Flat leaf parsley, large handful, chopped

For the Spatzle:

  150g (.3 lbs or just over 1 cup) plain flour

  1 whole egg, plus 2 yolk, beaten

  45ml (.19 cups or just under 1/4 cup) milk

  45ml (.19 cups or just under 1/4 cup) water

  1 tsp salt

  1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg (we used jarred)

  Knob of butter to serve

Instructions:

1. To make spatzle, sift the flour and add the salt and nutmeg. Beat the egg and egg yolk together. Mix egg with flour to form paste. Mix the milk and water, add continually until it forms a thick batter.
2. Boil a pan of water. Rest a colander over the top of the pan. Pour the batter into the colander and push it through the holes with the spatula. Do this in one or two batches. (You can also use a potato ricer by inserting the specific perforated disk, but we used the colander.) Simmer the spatzle for a minute or so, then remove with a slotted spoon on to a plate to cool.
3. Sprinkle the chicken with smoked paprika and season. In a hot pan, add a drizzle of olive oil and pan fry for 2-3 minutes until golden brown and three quarters cooked. Put to one side to rest.
4. Reheat the frying pan with fresh olive oil, saute the onion and garlic until tender, then add the peppers and mushrooms. Cook for a further 3-4 minutes. Deglaze the pan with white wine, add a ladle of chicken stock and bring to boil. And the sour cream and mix through.
5. Add the cooked chicken (and any extra juices) into the sauce and bring back to a boil. Add more chicken stock if it is drying out.
6. Finally, mix the sugar snap peas and flat leaf parsley through the dish. 
7. Meanwhile, in a separate pan melt some butter, season the spatzle with oil, salt, and pepper. Saute the cooked spatzle until golden brown.
8. Serve the stroganoff in warm bowls and sprinkle spatzle on top.

My husband found this German style recipe on Ramsey's "The F Word" website. A link to the recipe is Smoked Paprika Chicken Stroganoff Recipe | Food | Channel4.com. (The F Word's actual website was down when I was writing this.)

Celtic Saying of the Day:

May the sun shine, all day long,

everything go right, and nothing wrong.

May those you love bring love back to you,

and may all the wishes you wish come true!