Wine Steeped Chicken Rolls

I have heard and even cooked Drunken Chicken  before but when i saw what my friend, Jinni brought to a Summer Potluck, i had to ask for the recipe.  The dish was so delectable and the chicken rolls so  delicately sliced and presented that i keep on coming back for more.  Jinni had a very light hand and the rolls were not very drunk.  I like the flavor very much, unlike the drunken chicken i made before, the chicken was drunk and the alcohol too overpowering.  Now that i have brewed some very light and sweet tasting glutinous rice wine, i decided that i had to "rock and roll " up some chicken thighs.  The result was so satisfying and i am sharing my version of the recipe.  Thank you, Jinni. I will be cooking alot more recipes using the home-brewed wine and the residues.  Please do come back and thanks for visiting.  Will be posting  step by step on how to roll the chicken thighs.

Ingredients:

6 boneless chicken thighs with skin

Salt and pepper to taste

1 cup chicken stock

1/2 - 1 cup home-brewed glutinous rice wine (or use Wine that you will drink - I have tried with Japanese Plum Gekkeikan and it was very good)

Garnishes:

Sliced Cucumber, Carrot and Daikon

Spring Onions Shreds 

Method:

Lay 2 pieces of boneless chicken thighs with skin down on a large piece of plastic wrap.  Try and arrange the chicken skin neatly spread and meat as level as possible.

Sprinkle chicken thighs with salt and pepper.

Roll the meat up by holding the 2 ends of the plastic wrap, twist and roll it tightly like you would roll a sausage.  Fold the two twisted ends in to secure.

Repeat with the other chicken thighs - 2 thighs to a roll.

Wrap the rolls up with aluminium foil  and steam the rolls for 30 - 40 minutes until cooked through.  Let it cool. 

Mix the chicken stock and wine together in a large container and let the cooled chicken rolls(removed the foil and plastic wrap and discard) steep in this solution for a day or overnight.

Slice chicken rolls into 1/4 inch slices and serve cold or at room-temperature.

The stock and wine solution can be cooked down and reduced to a stock and drizzle over chicken rolls or use for dipping.

Serves

Chicken Picatta

The word 'piccata' or 'picatta' (wish i know which is the correct spelling cos both should sound the same) is generally associated with veal. but the chicken piccata recipe is more popular. Deliciously rich, lemony flavored and it is even made better by the fact it's so simple to prepare. The term 'chicken piccata' is quite a generic one and it gives the gourmets among us a great chance of creative experimenting. Add a little twist to the traditional capers by adding some mushrooms

Ingredients:

4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
2 tbsp all-purpose flour season with salt and pepper
4 tbsp oil preferably olive
1/2 cup chopped onions
1/2 cup white wine
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup chicken stock
2 tbsp capers
2 tsp minced fresh garlic
3 tbsp cold butter
salt and freshly ground black pepper for seasoning the chicken breasts
8 ozs spaghetti - cooked till al-dente and kept warm
2 tbsp chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley





Method:

Trim all visible fat and tendons from the chicken breasts. Cut each one in half to make two pieces about the same size. One at a time, place each breast between 2 sheets of heavy-duty plastic wrap; pound to 1/4-inch thickness using a meat mallet. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Dredge chicken in flour and shake off excess.

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken, and cook for 3 minutes on each side or until browned. Remove chicken from pan; keep warm.

Add chopped onions, white wine, chicken stock, lemon juice, half of the capers, and garlic , scrape pan to loosen browned bits. Cook until stock is reduced by half.

Turn off heat and add cold butter, stirring until butter is melted. Return the chicken to the pan and add the other half of capers and parsley.

Serve chicken over pasta.


Note:

When a recipe calls for wine as an ingredient, it's nice to find a bottle that is delicious enough to drink but affordable enough to toss a little in the skillet. I used Beringer 2004 pinot grigio as i found this in the pantry. It also has the necessary acidity to greet the potent acid of the capers.

Malaysian Satay (Sate)

Every time we have satay, i never have the opportunity to take a picture because it disappeared, devout as soon as they are off the grill. Fortunately, this time, 2 sticks and 2 pieces of cucumber were reserved for me. I was told that the word 'satay' is actually hokkien - 'sa' means three and 'tay' means pieces. That's why there are 3 pieces of meat in a stick.

Ingredients:

600 gm/1 1/3 lb beef , chicken or pork meat

Marinate:

10 small onions / shallots
5 cloves of garlic
2 inch long galanga /lengkuas
2 stalks lemon grass /serai
1 tsp pepper
3 tbsp kurma curry powder
1/2 tsp belacan powder(shrimp paste)
A teaspoon tumeric (kunyit)
4 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tsp dark soya sauce
1/2 tsp salt

2 tbsp oil or thick coconut milk

a bundle of 6 inch bamboo skewers

1 lemon grass(serai) - crush

oil/coconut milk for basting

Method:

Using the microplane, grate lengkuas and lemon grass.

Using the food processor, chop up the shallots and garlic. Add in the grated galanga ,lemon grass and the rest of the marinate.

Cut meat into 1/4 inch thick and 4 - 6 inch length.(with this length i will have 2 pieces to a skewer)

Marinate meat with the marinate for at least 2 hours.

Skewer meat with bamboo skewers.

Grill meat and using a crushed lemon grass as a brush, baste meat with oil/coconut milk.

Serve grilled meat with Satay sauce, cucumber and onions. Ketupat or Nasi Impit would be good but i stopped serving them as they are always not consumed and wasted all my effort to make them.

Satay Sauce:

1 lb raw peanuts - soak overnight in water and 2 tsp potassium carbonate & sodium bi-carbonate solution (for picture of bottle refer to Ban Jian Kuih).

1 packet of Chan Hong Instant Curry Assam Mix (available online at http://mytasteofasia.com/)

1/2 lb roasted peanuts - chopped fine

Drain peanuts and wash away the potassium carbonate & sodium bi-carbonate solution(kan sui) Steep in clean water for 1 hour.

Using the pressure cooker, cook peanuts in water for 15 minutes from hissing.

Remove some liquid (if you have used too much water to cook the peanuts as sauce should be thick ) and use a potato masher, mash the soft peanuts.

Add in the packet of instant mix and bring mixture to the boil.

Add in the roasted chopped peanuts.

Adjust the taste.

Chilly oil or sambal chilly can be added to sauce for additional spiciness.

Serves

Rustic Chicken Liver Pate with Pistachios

With the leftover turkey and sides recycled, there is still the turkey livers to be made into something and found this recipe which is very interesting. While classic pâtés are creamy smooth, this version is dubbed “rustic” because of the several added ingredients that give the pâté texture and crunch as well as a wonderful complexity of flavors. Everyone fell in love with this variation, like as though Cupid had double shot his arrow..

Ingredients:

•3 Tbsp olive oil
•1 celery stalk, finely chopped
•2 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled
•8 oz chicken livers - cut into small slices
•1 tsp chopped fresh sage
•1/4 cup marsala (or sherry or Madeira)
•2 anchovy filets, drained and coarsely chopped
•1 Tbsp capers, drained
•1/4 cup shelled pistachios plus 2 Tbsp chopped for garnish
•Freshly ground pepper

Method:


1.Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat, add the celery and garlic and cook until fragrant.
2.Turn the flame up to high and add the chicken livers. Cook, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon, until the livers are crisp outside but still a bit pink inside.

3.Stir in the sage and deglaze briefly with the marsala. Transfer all to the bowl of your food processor.

4.Add the anchovies, capers and whole pistachios. Process until fairly smooth, but not puréed. Taste and adjust the seasoning. The anchovies are salty enough that you should not need to add more salt.

5.Transfer to your serving dish and serve warm or at room temperature. Serve with thin slices of toasted baguette or crackers. It can be dressed up by using it to fill individual endive leaves.

6. Garnish with the chopped pistachios.

Confession:

I did not have all the ingredients mentioned above so i have to improvise. I used 1/2 tsp ground sage as i did not have fresh ones. I had some Riesling leftover from Thanksgiving, so it was used instead of marsala I thought i have a can of anchovy but after looking high and low and could not find it, forget about looking, think fast - ok got it - i used a tiny piece of salted threadfish in oil (malaysian salt fish/hum yee). All these subs must be alright as not only me but everyone who tasted it, gave a thumb-up.

Serves