So - here's another recipe that I've adapted to fit into my various dietary requirements.
It's something I make in bulk , and it's my husband favourite dish. I just made a huge batch of it for his birthday last week.
I usually make it with about 2 kg of de-boned chicken in a huge 9 litre pot , with most of the ingredients eye-balled , tasted and then adjusted for , rather than measured explicitly. So forgive me if the recipe reads a bit haphazard .... I may have forgotten something while typing it up from memory...
Here goes ....
Frozen Vegetables - I either use frozen peas , or I use the mixed veggies with corn, peas and little squares of carrots , so that everything is all small and chopped up and the same size. There is no reason why you couldn't use fresh peas , or canned peas , I would just add the canned peas much later on since they are a touch more fragile than their frozen or fresh counterparts. And I don't particularly like my peas mushy.
Place the chicken into the pot, cover with water , add the sugar/ xylitol and garlic and bring to the boil.
Once the water is boiling , turn the heat down a bit , and leave to simmer for 1-2 hours, checking on the water level and topping up where necessary. The liquid does not have to cover the chicken all the time, but the level should definitely not drop below halfway
Once the chicken is soft and falls apart easily , remove it from the pot, and strain the liquid out of the pot , set it aside in some jugs , or another pot or large bowl. You will need all of this freshly made chicken stock , so don't throw it away. Remove and discard the chicken skins ( and if you have cooked with a whole chicken, then remove and discard all the bones too) . Chop up, or tear apart the chicken into smaller pieces. I usually put on some gloves and tear up the chicken with my fingers ( watch out ,it can be very hot).
Put the pot back on the plate , turn up the heat and melt the margarine , once it is all melted , add the sliced onion and fry until soft. Add another tablespoon or so of margarine , and then add some flour to make a roux. Strictly speaking , a roux contains wheat flour , so lets call mine a pseudo-roux .... Turn the heat down.
2 important points on this pseudo-roux of mine - firstly , wheat flour , and cornstarch can thicken up like nobodies business, and until you get used to it, it's quite an adjustment cooking with gluten free flours, which invariably need more volume to achieve the same results. This means you may need to add more flour to the roux than you would if cooking with wheat flour or cornstarch. Second , you don't need to cook the roux for as long as you would with a wheat based flour , because most gluten free flours don't have that strong 'floury' taste that we associate with an "undercooked" white sauce.
Once it's thick and cludgy , add the chicken stock back to the pot in batches, and turn up the heat stirring in the flour/onion mixture thoroughly before adding each subsequent batch of liquid. Don't worry if it's a bit too thick , or a bit too runny at this point.
Once all the liquid is in the pot , and it's starting to boil , add back the chicken.
Open your cans of mushrooms.
Now - if the sauce looks and feels too thick, or the level is too low for your liking then add all 3 cans of mushrooms with the liquid from the cans. If the sauce is runny , or the level is fine , then add 2 cans of mushrooms drained , and add the third can with the liquid. ( you want the mushroom flavour, which is why we add the liquid)
Add your peas / frozen vegetables , and stir through
Open your can of Soya Milk , and add one to the pot and stir through. Check the thickness of the sauce, if you want it to be thicker, then mix a tablespoon of the flour with the soya milk with a fork , and add the can to the pot, if the sauce is fine ,then add the soya milk as is.
Allow the pot to heat up , cover and cook the vegetables for about 10-15 minutes stirring often .
I serve it with brown rice.
This recipe will make enough for the 3 adults in my house to eat at 4 meals , so I usually freeze the excess , and eat it later.
It is better the next day after sitting in the fridge ( same as with the curry sometimes ... )
If anyone tries it, and has comments or additions , or questions , let me know :-)
Happy Cooking !
It's something I make in bulk , and it's my husband favourite dish. I just made a huge batch of it for his birthday last week.
I usually make it with about 2 kg of de-boned chicken in a huge 9 litre pot , with most of the ingredients eye-balled , tasted and then adjusted for , rather than measured explicitly. So forgive me if the recipe reads a bit haphazard .... I may have forgotten something while typing it up from memory...
Here goes ....
Ingredients
2kg of de-boned chicken breast , with the skin on .
A tablespoon of Xylitol / Table Sugar
Heaped tablespoon of chopped garlic
1-2 Teaspoons of Salt / Veggie Salt
1 large onion
1-2 tablespoons Gluten Free Flour for baking - not the Self Raising kind .
Canola Margarine
Water
3 cans of Mushrooms ( Sliced or whole ) - if you want to be fancy lets call it 3 cans of Champignon
2 cups of Frozen peas , or frozen mixed vegetables
2 Can of Soya Cooking Milk
I use Xylitol , since I avoid refined sugar , if sugar is not an issue for you , then use sugar , just heap the tablespoon a bit . If using Xylitol, use a flat tablespoon.
While on that point , lets chat about the tablespoons. I use a standard tablespoon, which for most parts of the world is 3 teaspoons , or 15ml. An Australian tablespoon is 20ml , or 4 teaspoons ( Go Figure!) , so if you're Australian, measure the tablespoons slightly flatter than normal, and certainly don't heap them . If you're not in Australia , then measure a standard tablespoon, heaped when it's indicated ( like for the garlic).
Garlic - you can buy and use already chopped garlic , just make a note of the ingredients , almost every brand except one here in Melbourne already has sugar in it, so if you are using pre-chopped bottled garlic , decrease your sugar /xylitol .
Veggie Salt - I use a veggie salt , which is a mix of salt and dried veggies and herbs, I prefer the taste, and it has a slightly lower sodium concentration to pure salt. Normal salt is fine , there's really no other reason to use the veggie salt , unless like me, you just prefer it.
Flour. The flour is used to thicken the sauce a little. Do not use self-raising flour. Other than that , any gluten free flour that ends up thickening liquids is fine.
2 Can of Soya Cooking Milk
Equipment you'll need
A pot large enough to hold the chicken covered with water with a well fitting lid
Wooden spoon / spatula - I find the nylon and silicone stuff isn't strong enough to mix the food once it's all saucy , so I prefer the wooden utensils, since they won't scratch my non-stick pot.
A can opener
Notes on the Ingredients and measuring
I cook with chicken breast, but if you prefer any cut of chicken is fine, as long as you keep the skin on. I have adapted this recipe from my Mother in law's recipe , which calls for one whole chicken , bones and all. If you prefer , and you have a large enough pot , you can use a whole chicken, with the skin , and halve all the other ingredients.I use Xylitol , since I avoid refined sugar , if sugar is not an issue for you , then use sugar , just heap the tablespoon a bit . If using Xylitol, use a flat tablespoon.
While on that point , lets chat about the tablespoons. I use a standard tablespoon, which for most parts of the world is 3 teaspoons , or 15ml. An Australian tablespoon is 20ml , or 4 teaspoons ( Go Figure!) , so if you're Australian, measure the tablespoons slightly flatter than normal, and certainly don't heap them . If you're not in Australia , then measure a standard tablespoon, heaped when it's indicated ( like for the garlic).
Garlic - you can buy and use already chopped garlic , just make a note of the ingredients , almost every brand except one here in Melbourne already has sugar in it, so if you are using pre-chopped bottled garlic , decrease your sugar /xylitol .
Veggie Salt - I use a veggie salt , which is a mix of salt and dried veggies and herbs, I prefer the taste, and it has a slightly lower sodium concentration to pure salt. Normal salt is fine , there's really no other reason to use the veggie salt , unless like me, you just prefer it.
Flour. The flour is used to thicken the sauce a little. Do not use self-raising flour. Other than that , any gluten free flour that ends up thickening liquids is fine.
Frozen Vegetables - I either use frozen peas , or I use the mixed veggies with corn, peas and little squares of carrots , so that everything is all small and chopped up and the same size. There is no reason why you couldn't use fresh peas , or canned peas , I would just add the canned peas much later on since they are a touch more fragile than their frozen or fresh counterparts. And I don't particularly like my peas mushy.
How to do it
Place the chicken into the pot, cover with water , add the sugar/ xylitol and garlic and bring to the boil.
Once the water is boiling , turn the heat down a bit , and leave to simmer for 1-2 hours, checking on the water level and topping up where necessary. The liquid does not have to cover the chicken all the time, but the level should definitely not drop below halfway
Once the chicken is soft and falls apart easily , remove it from the pot, and strain the liquid out of the pot , set it aside in some jugs , or another pot or large bowl. You will need all of this freshly made chicken stock , so don't throw it away. Remove and discard the chicken skins ( and if you have cooked with a whole chicken, then remove and discard all the bones too) . Chop up, or tear apart the chicken into smaller pieces. I usually put on some gloves and tear up the chicken with my fingers ( watch out ,it can be very hot).
Put the pot back on the plate , turn up the heat and melt the margarine , once it is all melted , add the sliced onion and fry until soft. Add another tablespoon or so of margarine , and then add some flour to make a roux. Strictly speaking , a roux contains wheat flour , so lets call mine a pseudo-roux .... Turn the heat down.
2 important points on this pseudo-roux of mine - firstly , wheat flour , and cornstarch can thicken up like nobodies business, and until you get used to it, it's quite an adjustment cooking with gluten free flours, which invariably need more volume to achieve the same results. This means you may need to add more flour to the roux than you would if cooking with wheat flour or cornstarch. Second , you don't need to cook the roux for as long as you would with a wheat based flour , because most gluten free flours don't have that strong 'floury' taste that we associate with an "undercooked" white sauce.
Once it's thick and cludgy , add the chicken stock back to the pot in batches, and turn up the heat stirring in the flour/onion mixture thoroughly before adding each subsequent batch of liquid. Don't worry if it's a bit too thick , or a bit too runny at this point.
Once all the liquid is in the pot , and it's starting to boil , add back the chicken.
Open your cans of mushrooms.
Now - if the sauce looks and feels too thick, or the level is too low for your liking then add all 3 cans of mushrooms with the liquid from the cans. If the sauce is runny , or the level is fine , then add 2 cans of mushrooms drained , and add the third can with the liquid. ( you want the mushroom flavour, which is why we add the liquid)
Add your peas / frozen vegetables , and stir through
Open your can of Soya Milk , and add one to the pot and stir through. Check the thickness of the sauce, if you want it to be thicker, then mix a tablespoon of the flour with the soya milk with a fork , and add the can to the pot, if the sauce is fine ,then add the soya milk as is.
Allow the pot to heat up , cover and cook the vegetables for about 10-15 minutes stirring often .
I serve it with brown rice.
This recipe will make enough for the 3 adults in my house to eat at 4 meals , so I usually freeze the excess , and eat it later.
It is better the next day after sitting in the fridge ( same as with the curry sometimes ... )
If anyone tries it, and has comments or additions , or questions , let me know :-)
Happy Cooking !
nice post
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