Tag: chicken

Stuffed lotus root

There is one thing that I don’t cook often but I love, is stuffed lotus root. It is not always easy ro find big, clean or still untouched lotus roots, but when I do, I definitely try to make some stuffed lotus root, changing recipes depending on the available ingredients and the mood of the moment. This weekend I found huge lotus roots that were untouched and perfectly cleaned. And I tried a filling made with chicken meat and curry spices. The result was a crispy melty spicy combo that I served with simple fresh salad and radishes and a bowl of plain rice.

Soup or so

After the snow last week, the snow again this week. The weather in Tokyo was gloomy all of Thursday and Friday and I wanted some simple warm food. One thing I really love in winter is Japanese cabbages. They are perfect steamed with olive oil, thyme and salt, raw with miso, but not only. With carrots, sweet potatoes (or potatoes) they make a perfect rich soup. Soups are an alternative for one plate in winter. And since A. was complaining about the little animal protein we had recently I just added chicken to the basic vegetables soup. Here is my super simple recipe, and very very healthy.

Cabbage soup (for 2 people) 

– 1/2 cabbage

– 2 carrots

– 1 leek

– 1 sweet potato  

– mizuna

– alfalfa  

– 1 chicken breast (optional)

I just wash and chop the vegetables, and put them in a large pan full of water. I cook at high heat until it boils, then lower the heat to low. Chop the chicken breast, add it. Cook for 15min. In the mean time wash some mizuna and cut in 4cm long.

Serve with not too much bouillon, top with the mizuna, and top again with alfalfa. Add a bit of salt, pepper and turmeric if you like. 

 

Curry-rice quiche!

Not enough of the leek tart with some brown rice pie crust, I went further with this curry-rice quiche. All in one dish all in one quiche! Same pie crust as the last post, but this time after half baking it I filled it with a special mix. In a pan I cut roughly a bundle of fresh spinach washed, 2 pieces of chicken breast and cooked at high heat for 5 minutes, then added a block of silky tofu and cooked 10 minutes while stirring, finished with 1tbs of curry powder, some red pepper, nutmeg and salt and pepper, took away from the heat and added 3 eggs. Stirred well and poured everything in the pie crust. Baked for 35min at 180deg, checking regularly after 20min that it wasn’t over cooked but just golden. I served that to friends for dinner with a fresh green salad. Simply delicious and astonishing! 

Butternut squash lasagna

With a tight schedule: in Nagoya yesterday, a rehearsal for the show next Tuesday where our robot appears, a few lectures and talks to prepare and the preparation for moving in less than a month, days are pretty short! But I am always happy to prepare a dinner for friends and never cancel an invitation! And with a bit of planning and organization and waking up 30min earlier to have the time to prepare the vegetables and start cooking nothing is impossible. Of course for week days dinner I usually cook simpler recipes, and to celebrate A. new job and our new life I prepared an Italian inspired dinner. In that case, lasagna are a very good option (though they are hard to plate!!!). This time, I had a beautiful butternut squash and used it as the base. I only added a bit of chicken breast and rosemary and topped with gratted mozzarella. Everybody loved it!!!

Butternut squash lasagna 

– 1 butternut squash  

– 2 skinned chicken breast

– 1 or 2 branches of fresh or dried rosemary

– lasagna pasta ( homemade, fresh or dry) 

– some cream

– some olive oil

– salt and pepper

– mozzarella to grat

First cut the butternut squash and steam it with the rosemary. Once it has cooled down, peel it and remove the seeds. In a pan greased with olive oil cook the chicken breast until golden. In a blender mix the chicken and the butternut squash, add a few leaves of rosemary, and a little of cream. It must not be liquid but rather a purée. If you use dry lasagna pasta poached them. In a large oven dish greased with olive oil lay a layer of pasta, cover with a layer of the chicken-butternut mix, add a bit of cream, add a layer of pasta, then of mix then a bit of cream… up to where you want. Finish with a layer of pasta, and cover with gratted mozzarella. Bake in the oven at 150 deg until the mozzarella is golden!

Enjoy! 

Spinach-chicken ravioli

It is spring today and I am down with very strong pollen allergy, my head is spinning, my eyes are itching and I almost couldn’t move this morning. But I am talking at a public event and I hate to cancel my interventions, let people down. So A. has helped me take my things together, prepared breakfast, drove me to where I work today. Without him I’ll still be lying on the sofa. Now I’m getting ready. It’s going to be a tough afternoon but I’m gonna try! Well, while I wasn’t yet dying with pollen allergy I made some little ravioli. Same pasta asusual, with a filling of spinach and chicken. I wanted some cod or salmon but nothing that really attracted me at the supermarket so it ended being chicken. I cooked the chicken, the spinach and a tablespoon of cream cheese. Then filled the ravioli and served with olive oil. Super delicious!

Stuffed lotus root

It’s been quite a while I wanted to try making stuffed lotus root, but somehow, I never did… Probably because usually I buy rather small and thin lotus roots and I cannot imagine how to stuff them. Finally, I found some huge lotus root, very fresh and nice, so it was THE chance! I hesitated with different option for the filling, but finally opted for chicken. Just chicken. I peeled and washed the lotus root. Stuffing was very easy then I cut them in large slices and cooked them in a bit of oil in a fry pan, flipping them a few times and until golden on both sides. I served them with rice and nori, and with a few little pickled plums. And will try again to stuff lotus roots with some vegetarian or vegan options very soon!!!

Simple pasta

Friday evening and Sunday evening we usually have dinner rather late and I like to have something that can ready quickly with short cooking time, yet still with fresh vegetables. Pasta and gnocchi are usually my best picks for their short and simple cooking, and their versatility in terms of topping and arrangement. Recently I’ve been attracted by green leaves, but not necessarily spinach, and by trying novel associations. So here are two recipes of gnocchi and pasta that use greens. The meat is optional and can be easily removed for the gnocchi recipe and replaced by hard tofu in the pasta recipe for a vegan option.

Gnocchi with rucolla, basil and grilled bacon: for 2 people as a one-dish meal, you need a bundle of fresh basil and a bundle of rucolla, in Japan that would be a bag of each since they come conditioned in bags. You need fresh gnocchi for two (for homemade one check the recipe here), olive oil, salt pepper and additionally bacon and gratted parmegiano. Boil water for the gnocchi. In a pan grill the bacon if using any. Wash the rucolla and the basil, remove hard parts and cut roughly with scissors. One the gnocchi are boiled, in a large bowl add the gnocchi, the greens, olive oil, salt pepper and the bacon, stir well, serve immidiately. Add a bit of gratted parmegiano if you like.

Mizuna and chicken fettuccine: for this recipe for 2 you need: 2servings of fettuccine (fresh or dry); a large pack of mizuna fresh leaves. The younger the better. 100g of grounded chicken breast or 100g of drained hard (momen) tofu, olive oil, salt, pepper. Boil water for the pasta. In a pan heat some olive oil and cook the chiken or the tofu to obtain small crumbles. Wash the mizuna, remove the hardest parts. Cut in 3cm length segments. Add the mizuna in the pan, start with the bottom parts, keep the leafy parts for the end since they do not need so much cooking, add salt and pepper. Drain the pasta serve and add the topping. Add olive oil, salt, pepper, parmegiano to your liking. Have a good week!!!

Spicy stew

In the series of new preparations I really wanted to try fennel seeds together with north african style spices in a stew with plenty of veggies and a little bit of chicken. Something close to a tajine indeed, but served with a little of couscous for the full blast of energy. So I put one potato, ine carrot, a few green beans, one large tomato and some chickpeas and a few pieces of chicken breast together in a pan and cooked them in a bit of oil before ading some water, North African spice mix and plenty of fennel seeds. In the last minute of cooking I added a few okras. Served with steamed couscous. Enjoy!

Saturday lunch

Baguettes, farcis and pissaladiere in the oven
Baguettes, farcis and pissaladiere in the oven

Tonight we had the I. For dinner. It was a dinner to thank them for all they are doing to help us with the house, and in particular with the cats and the kittens. I wanted to cook for them French familial food, things that they wouldn’t have in restaurants. And the market was perfectly in sync with what I had in mind. So I spent a large part of the afternoon cooking: baguettes of course, a pissaladiere, stuffed vegetables my grandmother’s way, capsicum and tume my mother’s way, and neroli sable to accompany some fresh fruits. So the lunch was rather simple: chicken balls, cucumber and radish with miso and rice.

Proudly powered by WordPress | Theme: Baskerville 2 by Anders Noren.

Up ↑

Verified by MonsterInsights