Beef Skewers with Asian Salad

So, the recipe called for rump steak, and my closest and local supermarket was out at the time, so I used chicken breast fillets instead.  I imagine the result was very similar - it was a delicious meal!  Easy, very tasty and quite authentic.  I do plan on making it with the specified Rump steak one day....

I like to marinate my flavours, especially chicken over here in the UAE.  Sometimes the chicken here is hit and miss in terms of 'tough-ness' so marinating always helps tenderise the meat here.  I marinated the chicken strips for about 3 hours.

Taken from Olive Magazine's '101 Quick Fix Dishes', page 88, published 2007

Ingredients
Chinese five-spice powder, 1 teaspoon
vegetable oil
sweet chilli sauce
rump steak, 250g, cut into strips
clear honey, 1 teaspoon
White wine vinegar, 1 tablespoon
Thai Fish Sauce
garlic, 1 clove, crushed
salad leaves, small bag
cucumber, 1/2 halved, seeds scooped out out and sliced
spring onions, 3, finely sliced
dry roasted peanuts 50g, chopped
mint leaves, a handful

Method
Heat a ridged griddle pan or grill to very hot.  Mix the five-spice, 1 tbs vegetable oil and a few drops of the chilli sauce in a bowl.  Add the meat and stir until coated.  Thread the strips on to metal or bamboo skewers (soak bamboo skewers in cold water for 20 minutes first) and griddle or grill for 2-3 minutes on each side until cooked through.
Meanwhile, mix the honey, vinegar, 1 1/4 tbs fish sauce, garlic, a few drops of chilli sauce and 2 tbs oil in a small bowl.  Mix the salad leaves, cucumber, spring onions and peanuts and toss with the dressing.  Rip the mint leaves and add to the salad.  Divide the skewers between two plates and serve with the salad and a little bowl of fish sauce mixed with chilli sauce for dipping.


Serves 2.

Braised Chicken with Olives and Tomatoes

Gotta say, I *love* a meal that is quick and easy to prepare and that the WHOLE family will eat (a rarity around here).

I followed the recipe, except the part about using the thighs or drums - being an old Deli girl from way back, I do know how to cut up a whole chicken correctly into eight pieces, so that's what I did instead.  I did brown off the pieces but I did have to cook the whole dish a lot longer than the specified total time of 35 minutes.  Mine took around an hour.  Don't let the timings put you off, it is worth cooking and was delicious! Nom nom.

Oh yeah, I too par boiled my potatoes (USA baby reds) to make sure they were cooked through, nice and fluffy!

Taken from Olive magazine's '101 Quick Fix Dishes', page 68, published 2007

Ingredients
rosemary, 1 sprig, chopped
onion, 1 large, sliced
garlic, 2 cloves, sliced
new potatoes, 500g small, quartered
olive oil
chicken pieces, 8-10 thighs and drumsticks, skin on
baby plum or cherry tomatoes, 500g
dry white wine, 300ml
chicken stock, 300ml
kalamata olives, 150g, drained
basil leaves, a small bunch

Method
Heat the oven to 220C/fan 200C/gas 7.

Toss the first 4 ingredients in a roasting tray in 2 tbs oil and cook for 25 minutes.  Fry the chicken in 2 tbs oil until browned and almost cooked through.  Add to the tray for the last 10 minutes of cooking, along with the tomatoes, wine, stock and olives.  Scatter with basil and serve.

Serves 4