KITCHEN MISADVENTURE SERIES – Swedish chicken balls

This is a recipe that I got from my fave blogger Connie (website: CASA Veneracion), the basic difference is that I used ground chicken meat instead of pork and beef then I also did not bake/broil the meatballs but fried them...next time when I have the inclination to bake, I would, but I wasn't too keen on baking today so I just fried them in oil. For the exact ingredients, just browse her website.

I followed her recipe to form the meatballs and cooked them until lightly browned. Then, I cooked the white sauce and when it had boiled and thickened a bit, I placed the meatballs in a platter, poured the sauce and since I did not have parsley to garnish the dish, I used onion leaves instead...Thank you Connie for another delicious and different viand for our dinner tonight! In fact both of my kids loved it, only the hubby said it was a tad salty but I guess it was due to the cheese.

KITCHEN MISADVENTURE SERIES – CHICKEN SALPICAO A LA POBRE

This is a dish I watched one morning being cooked during a morning TV show and since it seemed easy to make I decided to browse the net for a recipe and this is what I found... I already had sliced chicken fillet in the fridge and I marinated it in liquid seasoning (3tbsp), Worcestershire sauce (3tbsp), and pepper overnight.

The next day, I sauteed garlic in oil and set aside. Then I added some butter in the same pan, removed the chicken from the marinade and pan fried the chicken until brown. After that I added the marinade, let the dish simmer and continued cooking until the sauce was reduced a bit. . Then I added the sliced mushrooms, removed the meat from heat, topped with the fried garlic bits and served with hot rice...yummy!

KITCHEN MISADVENTURES – CHICKEN PATOLA IN MISUA SOUP

This next recipe that I made for our dinner is one that is quite easy to make because all the ingredients were already pre-cooked. I had some time to spare when we arrived home from the office since the hubby had to go off somewhere to finish an errand for his boss. So I followed (a bit) the recipe I got from one of my fave food bloggers, Connie. For complete instructions and ingredients, head over to her site at Casa Veneracion.

I deviated a bit from her recipe since like I said earlier I had already pre-cooked most ingredients of this meal since I usually don’t have much time whenever I get home to cook. I used chicken breast meat from the bones that I pre-boiled and the stock reserved for the soup later on. This meat was sautéed with garlic and onions then patis was added. I also added some patola to give the dish some veggies. Then I poured in the chicken broth, let it boil, then covered and simmered for about ten to fifteen minutes. Lastly, I added the misua and continued simmering until the misua is cooked. Finally, before serving the soup, I adjusted the seasonings (salt, pepper, magic sarap) before bringing it to the dining table while it was still steaming hot.

KITCHEN MISADVENTURE SERIES – CHICKEN A LA POBRE

This is another tasty dish from my favorite food blogger, Connie who has a website named CASA Veneracion (just check out the exact recipe at her website). It was also easy to do since I marinated the chicken overnight then the next day, I simply browned some garlic then removed the chicken from its marinade and fried the chicken in the same pan. After that, I removed some oil from the pan, let the reserved marinade boil then I returned the chicken pieces making sure each piece is rolled and covered in the sauce. When it was done, I placed half the chicken in a serving platter, the other half went to my daughter’s lunch box and topped with toasted garlic.

I also bought some for our lunch and my daughter and the hubby said that the flavor was good it’s just that the chicken was a bit tough to chew, I guess I overcooked the chicken… hehehe. Oh well, next time I know better and follow Connie’s instructions to just cook the chicken for only a few minutes each side. Or maybe I will try using chicken fillets next time. Here’s a pic of my chicken ala pobre. By the way, I googled the term a la pobre and though its Spanish translation means ‘poor’ this is definitely one dish that both rich and poor would surely appreciate. But Connie said that the term ala pobre is in reference to the cheaper cuts of meat that the dish ala pobre uses as opposed to steak cuts…so there, some trivia for us to know. Thanks again Connie!

KITCHEN MISADVENTURE SERIES - CHICKEN AND BABY POTATOES IN CREAM

This is another recipe I got from Mga Luto ni Dennis at iba pa blog…it is basically like chicken a la king but the main difference is the addition of potatoes instead of mushrooms. The dish starts with salting the chicken pieces lightly then they are fried in a bit of butter. Set aside. Then garlic, onions and ginger are sautéed, chicken added, then after a while a cup of water. When the water boiled, the baby potatoes are added then allowed to cook. When the potatoes are still firm, I added the all purpose cream and green peas. I let the mixture boil some more until the sauce becomes thick. Another option is to add some cornstarch diluted in water if you want a thicker sauce. I adjusted the seasonings – added more salt and pepper and served this as our lunch today…yummy! Thanks again Dennis!

KITCHEN MISADVENTURE SERIES - Bonchon chicken

There had been many outlets of this famous chicken house here in the country (that originated from Korea pala!) but sad to say, I have not been able to try it yet…but what I was able to taste was the version made once by my cousin-chef when we visited another aunt’s house in Pasig…it tasted great and at the time, I saw how he cooked it and saw the ingredients he used, but did not remember the proportions and so I searched the net and saw a couple of recipes …they basically had similar ingredients and the processes involved were the same. First, the chicken part – though I was not really a fan of chicken wings, I decided to use them for this recipe since most sites I visited used the wing part of the chicken (but I think it’s OK if you use any part). Marinate the chicken pieces in salt, pepper, minced onion, minced garlic and 2T soy sauce, overnight is best - the longer the better. Prepare the breading by mixing ½ c flour, ½ c cornstarch, salt and pepper, and a dash of your fave seasoning (vetsin or magic sarap). Toss the chicken pieces in the breading, making sure that each piece is coated well. Deep fry the chicken pieces until golden and drain on paper towels. Let rest for a few minutes. Re-fry the chicken wings until crisp, about 6-8 minutes. Then toss the chicken wings in the sauce. For the sauce, mix together ¼ cup soy sauce, 2 tbsp. honey, 2 tbsp brown sugar, and ¼ c water in a bowl. Then set aside. Saute garlic and ginger for two minutes. Pour in the soy sauce mixture and simmer for ten minutes until the sauce thickens. Remove from heat and toss the chicken wings with the sauce. Coat each piece well and serve with hot rice…It tastes really good - the kids and the hubby liked it!

KITCHEN MISADVENTURE SERIES – CHIX N CHIPS

You may have noticed my penchant for cooking fried chicken …many times in the food blog portion of this blog, I have featured different methods of cooking fried chicken – some of them were OK but sad to say I have not found the perfect method…where the chicken is crispy on the outside and still juicy and tasty on the inside…and so my quest continues. This time around, I am using another recipe from mgalutonidennis.blogspot.com. (check out his site for the complete recipe). By way of a background, the term chicken and chips is popular fare in England and it could mean chicken that is either fried, roasted or barbecued paired with fried potatoes – may be sliced thinly like mojo chips or julienned like fries. The main difference in this recipe is that unlike in the others where the chicken is marinated overnight then fried the next day, this time around it is boiled in water and allowed to cool first before deep-frying in hot oil. While the chicken cools, you may fry first the potatoes. Then, the chicken is fried twice to make it crispy…and was it indeed? Yes! It was quite tasty too…just too bad that I cooked this in the morning and we had this chicken for our lunch so it was not as crisp anymore unlike the one that my kids had for breakfast…maybe next time I will try to cook this for lunch or dinner during weekends at home.

KITCHEN MISADVENTURE SERIES 29: SAUCY HONEY BBQ CHICKEN

This next recipe was derived again from Dennis’ Lutong Bahay blog, check out his blog if you want to get the exact ingredients and procedures. All I could remember was that I marinated the chicken overnight in a mixture of salt, pepper, calamansi and BBQ marinade mix. Then the next day, I boiled the chicken in a non-stick pan in the marinade mixture to which some water has been added. Then, when the liquid has been reduced, I put in the honey; let the chicken fry a bit more in its own oil (turning regularly so as not to burn it) before taking them out and draining in a wire basket.

P.S. The kids said the chicken was a bit salty, but I figured I placed way too little honey so the flavors must not have balanced out, so next time I would add more honey and maybe lessen the salt.

KITCHEN MISADVENTURE SERIES 8 – CHICKEN AND POTATOES IN CREAMY CHEESE

And so after the somewhat disaster that I experienced with cooking Bachoy…I decided to cook something that is quite close to my heart…one that I know my kids and hubby would love – after all it had all their fave ingredients – milk and cheese! This is another recipe I got from CASA Veneracion and it is truly another super easy dish to prepare. For the exact recipe, just browse her site. All that needs to be done is to lightly brown the chicken then the potatoes in a little butter. Season with salt and pepper then add some water and let it simmer for about 20-25 minutes to let the liquid evaporate. After that, you add the milk and cheese and when the cheese melts, you simmer for a few minutes more, turn off the fire and serve while hot! I tell you the creamy goodness of this dish is something the kids will surely love!