Creamy Chicken and Spinach Casserole

 

Here's an easy recipe that'll come in handy if you need to feed a crowd. Also perfect for a weeknight dinner (just halve the recipe). You can make a day ahead of time - just bake and serve!

 

Ingredients:

• 1 rotisserie chicken, shredded, mainly white meat (Tip: Costco's your best bet)
• 2 large boxes of fresh spinach
• 2 standard bags of wide egg noodles
• 1 small onion
• 1 quart Whipping Cream
• 1 quart milk
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• Cream crackers, crushed  (or bread crumbs will do)  (Optional)
• Shredded cheese as topping
• Salt and pepper to taste

Method: 

1. Boil egg noodles according to instructions. Drain and set aside.
2. Stir fry spinach and onion with some oil/butter. Drain and set aside.
3. Stir cooked egg noodles, shredded chicken, fried spinach, whipping cream, milk and mayo. Mix well.
4. Add salt and pepper to taste.
5. If making ahead, you can transfer mixture to a casserole-ready dish. Cover with foil and refrigerate.
6. Before serving, spread crushed crackers or bread crumbs on top. Then spread cheese.
7. Reheat in 350 deg F oven until dish is heated and the cheese has melted.
8. In last 5 minutes, set oven to broil on low to brown the top.

Serves 12.

 

Source: Inspired by a Real Simple recipe found here.

Singapore Chicken Curry

Chicken curry is one of my favorite Singapore dishes. There is nothing more satisfying than a simple curry lunch dipped in crusty French bread, which is the way it's often eaten in Singapore.

My version of this curry is adapted from the Kurmah Chicken recipe from Mrs Lee's Cookbook.

Ingredients:

• 8 Chicken thighs, fats removed (leave skin on) mixed with:
• 1 packet curry powder
• 5 Tbs of coconut Milk
• Minced ginger (4 thin slices, minced)
• 5-6 potatoes, halved
• 3-4 tomatoes, quartered
• 1 onion, sliced
• 4 cloves of garlic, sliced
• 10 Tbs of oil
• 1.5 tsps of salt
• 2 cans of coconut milk
• 2 Tsp of Sambal Belachan (I use the ready-made Glory Brand ).
• 1 stalk of lemon grass (optional)

Instructions:

1. Heat a deep frying pan (or wok) until oil and add 6 Tbs of oil. Stiry fry sliced onions over low fire until brown. Remove and set aside.
2. Stir fry garlic and then remove.
3. Add 4 Tbs of oil and stir fry chicken (without the coconut milk) for 5 minutes on medium then lower heat, and fry for 5-10 minutes until the oil comes to the top.
4. Add the remainder of the coconut milk to the chicken mixture, tomatoes and potatoes and stir until all are coated in chicken curry.
5. Add salt.
6. Place the fried onions and garlic on the top of the frying pan and cover to simmer for about 20-30 minutes until the chicken and potatoes are cooked.  If you have lemon grass, add one stalk to the mixture as well for added fragrance.
7. Taste and adjust with more salt if needed. Adjust curry if too thick by adding a bit of water or more coconut milk to thicken.

Serves 4-6

Easy Chicken Stew

Want a delicious meal but don't want to do too much heavy lifting?

Try this easy recipe which only takes 30 minutes of prep time but slow-cook it overnight and you'll wake up to a wonderful aroma in the morning, and ready-made dinners for a few nights!

Ingredients:

• 6-7 chicken thighs, fats removed
• 5 medium potatoes, each sliced into half
• 1/2 head of cabbage, sliced
• 1 bag of baby carrots
• 1 onion, sliced and quartered
• 3-4 cloves of garlic
• 1/2 can of tomato paste
• Chicken broth
• Peas
• Cornstarch
• 2 Tbsp Soysauce (Light)
• 1 Tbsp Soysauce (Dark)
• Salt & Pepper & sugar
• Bay Leaf (optional)

 Equipment:  Crockpot

Instructions:

(A)

1. Marinate chicken thighs with soysauce, 1 tbsp of salt and a dash of pepper.
2. Heat wok with oil to medium heat.
3. Add onions and fry. Then add garlic.
4. Add chicken and stir fry until the outside of the chicken is cooked and slightly brown. OK if the chicken isn't cooked since we're going to cook it a long time in the crockpot.
5. Add a bit of chicken broth to burn off the chicken drippings and add the tomato paste and mix well.

(B)

In the crockpot,

1. Add potatoes first, then cabbbage and then carrots and bay leaf.
2. Next, transfer the chicken with broth into the crockpot.
3. Add more broth until half-way mark. You don't have to completely cover the chicken because the vegetables will give out more water.
4. Set to slow for 8 hours. I usually do this overnight. 

(C)

1. Once the stew is ready, remove chicken pieces and debone them. The chicken will fall off the bones.
2. Remove the vegetables without the broth and set aside.
3. Take the liquid stew and boil to reduce to thicken the stew. To further thicken, use some stew and add 2-3 tbsps of cornstarch, mix well and throw it back in.
4. Add more salt and pepper and a pinch of sugar to taste.
5. When stew is boiling, add frozen peas.
6. Re-assemble chicken, vegetables and stew. 
7. Serve with rice or egg noodles.

Prep time: 30 minutes     Cook time: 8 hours

Honey-Glazed Chicken Wings

A very easy, low-prep recipe for weeknight (or weekend) dinners!

Ingredients:

10 chicken wings
3 Tbsp dark soy sauce
1.5 Tbsp sesame oil
1.5 Tbsp honey
1 Tbsp chinese cooking wine

Instructions:

1. Mix all ingredients together.
2. Marinate overnight or at least 4-5 hours before cooking.
3. Preheat oven to 375 deg F.
4. Coat baking tray with double layer of alumnimum foil.
5. Spray tray with cooking oil.
6. Lay chicken wings on tray, topside up.
7. After about 20 minutes, turn chicken wings.
8. After about 10 minutes, turn chicken wings again. Wings should be topside up again.
9. Turn oven to "Low Broil" for the last 5 minutes, do watch to make sure they don't burn.
10. Serve with rice.

Serve  2.

Notes:

Steps 7-9 seem a bit troublesome but worth the effort to avoid the chicken wings sticking to the tray due to the honey in the marinade. Doing it will help you get shiny, well-glazed, finger-licking good chicken!