Sichuan Boneless Chicken: Philips Airfryer Recipe

Chinese cuisine is hands-down the favorite in my family whenever we decide to eat out. I have tried to recreate some of our favorite recipes at home and I can say that no one was really disappointed.

The cuisine of Sichuan province in Southwestern China has become quite popular  in recent years. Here is a typical Sichuanese dish with a hard hitting sauce combining hot, sweet sour and salty flavors. The sauce also goes well with Turkey, pork or small meatballs. The best part - it is quick and easy to make.Don't we all just love that!!

Instead of deep frying the chicken in oil, I have used the Philips Airfyer to cook it (trying my best to save on calories in any possible way), but you like, you can go ahead and either stir fry or deep fry the chicken to cook it.

On one of my excursions to Costco, I was thrilled to find this great Nordic Ware 14" Asian wok. For $14.99 I think it was a deal. Even though it is non-stick it gives a nice sear to the noodles. I have also tried some fried rice and vegetables and they both got cooked with great consistency. 

You can serve the Sichuan Chicken with fried rice or Hakka noodles.

This recipe has also been published inThe Urban Spice.com.

Recipe adapted from "A Wok for all seasons" by Celebrity Chef Martin Yan

Serves 4

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 

Marinade

2 Tbsp soy sauce

1/2 tsp cornstarch

4 Tbsp beaten egg

1/2 tsp all purpose flour

salt and pepper to taste  

4 chicken breast halves, skinned, boned and cut into 1/4" strip

Sichuan spicy sauce

1 Tbsp. soy sauce

1 Tbsp shao Hsing wine or dry sherry

4 tsp rice vinegar 

1 tsp sesame oil

1 tsp hot pepper sauce

1/4 tsp sugar

To make the chicken:

3 Tbsp. vegetable oil

1 tsp minced garlic

1/2 tsp minced ginger

1 green onion (including the top leaves) thinly sliced 

6 whole dried red chilli peppers

1 tsp cornstarch mixed with 2 tsp water

Method
Combine marinade ingredients in a small bowl. Add the chicken and stir to coat.
Set aside for 30 minutes. 

Preheat Philips Airfryer to 360 F. Place the chicken in the airfryer basket and cook for 6 minutes. 

Raise the temperature to 390 F and cook for 4 more minutes till the chicken is brown and crispy. Remove chicken and keep aside

Combine the sauce ingredients in a small bowl. Whisk to mix and keep aside.

Add the remaining 1 Tbsp. oil, garlic, ginger, green onion and chilli peppers and cook stirring until fragrant for about 5 seconds.

Stir in the sauce and bring to a boil.

Add in the cornstarch and boil till the sauce starts to thicken slightly. 

Add in the Stir-fried chicken and stir to coat completely in the sauce.

Serve warm with noodles or fried rice. 

Citrus Sage Chicken in the Philips Airfryer

Be ready to be bowled over by the fresh citrus flavors in this wonderful recipe!!

You will get an extremely moist tender chicken from the citrus marinade and has an earthy flavor from the sage. This is an extremely easy recipe and the best part is that it can be made on a grill, or seared in a skillet or cast iron pan which I love cooking on, or toss it in together with some cut citrus fruits to bake it off in an oven. This time around I have grilled it in my favorite kitchen appliance - that is the Philips Airfryer. It grills all kinds of meats perfectly giving a lovely charred taste from the outside and keeping it tender and moist from the inside, locking in all the flavors. I even love to grill my vegetables in the Airfryer which are done to perfection in just no time. It took me some time and after a few trial and error I think I can now confidently say that I have mastered the timing on my Airfryer to grill my meat and veggies to the perfect temperature that I would like them to be. 

If there are any leftovers, shred the chicken and use it in a wrap along with caramelized onions and grilled peppers.Its delicious. I always make an extra batch of the chicken and freeze it to use it for later to make wraps or grilled sandwiches.

You can use any cut of chicken you prefer- chicken thighs, breasts or drumsticks or all of them. I had boneless chicken lying in my freezer so that is what I have used for this recipe

The marinade is really simple to put together and is really quick and easy to make. Also you can double the citrus sage mixture and reserve half of it. Serve the reserved mixture as a sauce to spoon over the grilled chicken. If you have extra citrus peels and sage and are using a charcoal grill, toss them into the charcoal to flavor the smoke. I tossed a few inside the Airfryer and did have an distinct added citrusy flavor to the chicken.

Try it tonight and I can assure you it will soon become your favorite go-to recipe for a quick fix meal. 

Recipe adapted from the book "Good Housekeeping's Grill it!"

Prep: 25 minutes plus marinating         cooking time: 10-12 minutes 

Makes 8 servings 

2 large oranges 
2 large lemons 
1/4 cup fresh sage 
2 tbsp olive oil 
2 tsp salt 
1 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
7-8 pieces of boneless chickens breasts (you can also use a whole chicken cut into eighths)


Grate 1 tbsp peel and squeeze 4 tbsp juice from oranges. 

Do the same with the lemons In a large bowl with a wire whisk or fork combine orange and lemon juice, zest, sage, oil, salt and pepper. 

Add chicken turning to coat. 

Cover and refrigerate for 2 hrs, turning chicken pieces 3-4 times.

Preheat the Airfryer to 360F.

Place the chicken pieces into the basket of the Airfryer. 

Thinly slice an orange and place a few pieces on top of the chicken.

Heat the chicken at 360F for 8 minutes. 

Open the Airfryer basket and turn the chicken pieces over.

Bump up the temperature of the Airfryer to 390F and cook further for 4-5 minutes till no longer pink from inside.  You can also insert a meat thermometer to see that the internal temperature has reached 145 F.

Rest the chicken for 4-5 minutes before serving. 

Alternately you can also grill the chicken in an oven or a outdoor grill. 

Place the chicken on a hot grill for 20 minutes. Turn chicken over and grill for 10-12 minutes more till juices run clear when chicken is pierced with tip of knife.

Try this citrus, sage and olive oil blend as a simple seasoning for veal chops or pork as well as for chicken.

Restaurant Style Butter Chicken and a New year Message for all of you

“I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes.
Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You're doing things you've never done before, and more importantly, you're Doing Something.

So that's my wish for you, and all of us, and my wish for myself. Make New Mistakes. Make glorious, amazing mistakes. Make mistakes nobody's ever made before. Don't freeze, don't stop, don't worry that it isn't good enough, or it isn't perfect, whatever it is: art, or love, or work or family or life.
Whatever it is you're scared of doing, Do it.
Make your mistakes, next year and forever.” ― Neil Gaiman

We are just a few hours away from welcoming in the New Year 2016!! (I started writing this post yesterday but obviously as you can see I couldn't finish!!) 
So first things first: Wishing all you wonderful people a Happy new year. May the year 2016 be filled with lots of good cheer and happiness - a new year full of hopes, inspiration, dreams and new beginnings for each one of us. 

As we take our first few steps into a brand new year, let us pledge (especially the 24 hour-on-duty, no time to be sick, no-holidays-ever moms) to take out a little time to live our dreams and grab every opportunity thrown at us, to take a step forward and do things that really mean something to us and make us happy, however small and insignificant those things might be in the eyes of another person.

Let us move forward and live in the moment, knowing that time will never turn back its clock, as each moment wasted can never be found again, it is lost for ever!! 
Let us begin to live a little for ourselves, not to get bogged down by the monotonous day to day chores, always trying so hard to live up to someone else's expectations. From experience you realize that try as hard as you might, you would never be able to make anyone 100% happy. So live your life first, because in the long run if your soul is happy, you can reflect the same happiness to others around you. 

Be positive yourself and before you start looking for the faults in the other person, try hard and remember the good points they might have (Believe me!! everyone has some!) - in the end you might start looking at that same person in a completely different light. 

Well!! This is exactly what is going to be my new year resolution, my mantra for this new year!! 

Last year was quite eventful for me. Leaving a well settled life in India we made this huge decision to move half way across the world, bag and baggage to America and started life literally from scratch here. A year back when we landed in Houston with just two suitcases each, things were so uncertain, it felt as if we would never be able to build back our life together as we had back home. Everything looked so distant at that time but touch wood things have worked out well and everything seems to have fallen into place. 

It has been a good year, full of new learning and experiences. And I loved it that I got to travel and see some great places, which I absolutely love doing. (In fact when I was younger I wanted to be an Air hostess so I could travel extensively and see the world). Apart from missing friends and family back home, the other thing that I haven't been happy about is that, much as I would have liked to, I haven't been able to concentrate on my blog, with so much going on this past year. 

But not worrying about it too much right now, as I am a firm believer in the saying that "Everything happens for a reason and that there is a right time and place for everything!!"

Right now, I feel this is my time to experience this new change in my life, explore new places and create new memories.

With this thought I will leave you all to welcome the new year with this delicious recipe of Butter Chicken. This recipes is a bonanza - kind of buy one get one free type of deal. Along with the butter chicken recipe you get the recipe for tandoori chicken free. So you hit two birds with one stone. Feels good doesn't it. Didn't I say you were off to a great start this year?

You can make the tandoori chicken in an oven or over a barbecue to give the lovely charred smoky flavor. I did mine in the Philips Airfryer - my all time favorite kitchen companion for grilling everything and anything right from meats to your veggies. If you would like to grill the Tandoori Chicken in the Philips Airfryer you can read it here in my other post. It is a great gadget for people who are health conscious but can't resist good food like me. It cuts down your oil content by nearly 70% and that is huge. I personally vouch for it and am a big fan of it. If you want to know more about this wonderful appliance read my review here.

Stay blessed and healthy. Have a wonderful year ahead full of love and happiness and beautiful memories!! 

Cheers to a New year!!

Serves:6-8
Prep time: 20 minutes plus 2 hr marination
Cook time: 30 minutes
Ingredients
For the grilled Chicken

For the marinade

1 cup plain yogurt
2 tsp mustard oil

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon all spice

1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp chilli powder

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 tablespoon garlic paste

1 teaspoon salt

2 pounds/ 1 kg boneless chicken cut into cubes (you can also use chicken legs or thighs)

1 tablespoon oil for basting

For the Tomato Sauce
4 pods green cardamom
6  tomatoes finely chopped
2 green chillies
1 tbsp garlic paste
3/4 tsp deghi mirch powder
1 tsp dried fenugreek leaves (kasoori methi)
1 tsp honey
2 tbsp cashew paste
1/2 tsp salt
4 tbsp butter 
4 tbsp cooking cream
Garnishing
a few springs green coriander
2 tbsp cream

Method
In a mixing bowl mix together all the ingredients of the marinade. Keep aside for 10 minutes. Then add the chicken and mix well. Cover and marinate for 2-4 hrs.
Preheat the oven to 430 F.
Skewer the chicken pieces and grill in the oven basting at regular intervals for 8-10 minutes until done. Alternately thread the marinated chicken into skewers and barbecue over hot coals basting with oil till the chicken is tender and done.
Keep aside.
For the gravy
Wash the tomatoes. Boil till soft about 20 min
Grind the tomatoes with green chillies and cardamom to a fine paste and strain,
Heat the butter on low heat in a large frying pan,
Stirring constantly, add in the  garlic paste and cashew paste and saute till brown.
Add the tomato paste and cover and simmer for 10 minutes.
Add in the grilled chicken, salt, deghi mirch, honey, cream and cook on low heat for 20 minutes. You will know when it is done when the irresistible aroma starts enveloping your whole house.
Add the fenugreek leaves.
Remove from fire. 
Served garnished with a swirl of cream on top.

Do try out the recipe and let me know how you liked it. Sweet and sour and tangy, this dish has to be tasted to be believed.

Chicken in Creamy Mushroom Sauce

Combine chicken with mushrooms and cream in any form and you have a pot of dreamy deliciousness on your hands!! You absolutely just can't go wrong with this combination, atleast in my house its lately become a hot favorite with everyone. 

Pan seared chicken, slow cooked in the creamy mushroom sauce results in chicken that is so tender and succulent that it absolutely melts in your mouth and combined with the rich and satisfying mushroom sauce makes this dish a winner!! 

Not only is it simple enough to make for dinner on weekdays but is also great to serve when you are entertaining guests. It is delicious served warm with pasta, rice or over mashed potatoes. 

It tastes even better the next day so go ahead make a bigger batch to pack it for your lunch box and be prepared to receive many a compliments for this dish and not to forget the many requests for the recipe!!

Bon Appetit.

This entry is for The Urban Spice Sweet September Giveaway.

Ingredients      (Slightly adapted from Ina Garten's Chicken with Wild Mushroom Sauce)

3 tbsp butter

2 tsp olive oil

2 tbsp flour 

1 cup chopped onions

2 tbsp minced garlic

1 cup sliced mushrooms

6-8 chicken thighs

11/2 cup chicken stock

1/4 cup half and half 

1 tbsp dried thyme salt and pepper to taste

Method

Over medium heat, add 1 tbsp butter and 1 tsp olive oil to a large heavy bottomed pan.

Once the butter has melted, add chicken thighs and sear both sides for 2-3 minutes each till golden brown.

Remove the chicken pieces from the pan and set aside on a plate.

Add the mushrooms to the pan and cook the mushrooms till lightly browned.

Once done remove from the pan and set aside.

Add in the remaining butter and oil in the pan and add the onions and chopped garlic. 

Saute for 4-5 minutes till the onions are soft and transparent.

Add in the flour.....

 and cook stirring constantly till the flour starts to brown.

Whisking constantly, add in the chicken stock.

Now add in the half and half to the chicken stock and stir to mix.

Sprinkle in the dried thyme leaves and season with salt and pepper.

Place the sauteed chicken pieces in the sauce. 

Top it with the mushrooms.

Cover and allow to simmer for an hour or until the chicken is cooked and the juices of the chicken run clear.

Serve warm. 

*Note- Half and half is equal parts of whole milk and cream. For 1 cup half and half you can substitute 2/3 cup skim milk or low fat milk + 1/3 cup heavy cream.

Quesadillas: A Perfect meal for your lunchbox!!

Tired of carrying the same boring things in your lunchbox day after day? 

Well, here is something that is definitely going to brighten your day and obviously your lunch breaks at your office and something even your kids would love to eat in school!!

These Quesadillas are not only healthy but also really tasty. The plus point - you don't have to spend hours in preparing them. Fill them with any filling of your choice - freshly made, market bought or even leftovers from previous nights dinner are great to go in between the tortillas. Some of the fillings that taste great between the tortillas are roasted chicken tandoori chicken. minced meat, cottage cheese, mashed potatoes, stir fried veggies or any other filling that your heart desires.

What's even better? Well, they can be made the night before and packed in the lunchboxes and all you are all ready to go in the morning. Isn't that sound just great? 

I would love to cook these delicious Quesadillas in the Wonderchef Cookware Set!!

Ingredients

2 cups shredded boneless chicken 

1 medium onion, cut into thin strips

1 red pepper- cut into thin strips

1 green pepper - cut into thin strips

2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded

6 (8 inch) flour tortillas

1 tbsp. Sriracha chilli sauce

1 tbsp. barbecue sauce

2 tablespoons olive oil

Dash of cayenne pepper

Dash of chilli powder

Salt/pepper to taste

Optional - sour cream and salsa

Method

Place a large non-stick frying pan over medium heat.

When it is warm add 1 tbsp of olive oil.

Sauté the onions and peppers until they are soft about 3 minutes and set aside in a large bowl. 

                            
Place the shredded chicken in a small bowl and season with cayenne pepper, chilli powder, salt and pepper. Mix, coating the chicken completely.

 Replace the non-stick frying pan over medium high heat and wait until it's hot. 

Add 1 tbsp of olive oil and sear the chicken strips turning to make sure that all sides of the chicken are cooked. 

 Add in the sriracha sauce 

and the barbecue sauce.

 Cook for about 5 minutes.  

 Add the chicken to the bowl with peppers and onions to mix.

Carefully wipe the frying pan clean with paper towels and place over medium heat. Add a tbsp of oil to the pan and wait till it is warm. Place a tortilla in the pan  

and sprinkle with about 1/4 cup of cheese.   

 Top with some onion/pepper/chicken

Then sprinkle with some more cheese. 

Place another tortilla on top. 

 Cover the pan 

and cook for about 1-2 minutes or until bottom tortilla is lightly brown and crisp. 

Carefully flip the tortilla with a large spatula and cook on the other side for 1-2 minutes.

Remove from heat.

 Flip onto a plate...

 and cut into triangles.

 Serve warm with a dollop of sour cream and/or salsa.

 This entry is for The Urban Spice Sweet September Giveaway!!