#48 - Chicken with Mushroom Sandwich

It has been a long weekend for me. I was actually sick over this last weekend and as a result, I had to cancel/postpone all my work commitments so that I could get some rest at home and focus on recovering soon. 

But as always, whenever I have the full day to myself at home (and this time it was 2 full days), I just could not stay out of the kitchen. I know I am such a contradicting person but it seems like baking/cooking has a healing effect on me. 

This was a really well-spent weekend for me. Not only did I get some rest (away from work), I also managed to accomplish trying out many food items on my To Bake/Cook List. I am so excited to share these recipes with all of you on MMC. I promise, you will soon see the following recipes coming up on MMC. 

1. Peanut Butter Bread
2. Stir Fry Celery with Pork
3. Lemon Butter Chicken & Rice (One-Pot)
4. Pineapple-Berry Lemonade Popsicles
5. Bailey's Ice Cream
6. Tuna Salad Burritos
7. Laksa Fried Rice

Another good thing about a well-spent weekend is that you will wake up on a Monday morning, feeling great about the start of the week ahead. This was exactly how I felt this morning! 

To kick start the week ahead, I decided to put in a little more work into this morning's breakfast and this was what I came up with - Chicken with Mushroom Sandwich. Mind you, I added a little bit of wine into this recipe and the result was EXCELLENT. The splash of wine really built up the flavour and its fruity taste goes really well with my favourite, mushrooms! 

I feel so satisfied now(and ready for the rest of the day) after such a hearty and tasty sandwich! I totally see myself making more of such sandwiches very soon and in my next try, I am already decided that I shall be adding some cheese to go along with this recipe. Imagine the cheesy goodness together with the mushroom and chicken. Wow! 

***************

Recipe: Adapted & modified from Pass the Sushi

Servings

2 Sandwiches (4 slices)

Ingredients

Chicken Thighs (2 pieces)
Garlic Salt (to taste)
Black Pepper (to taste)
Butter (1tbsp)
Corn Oil (1tbsp)
Onion, chopped (50g)
Garlic, chopped (35g)
Mushroom, sliced (90g)
Cherry Tomatoes (5 nos)
Wine, of your choice (2 tbsp)
Chicken Stock (2 tbsp)

Directions

1. Season chicken thighs with garlic salt and black pepper to taste.

2. In a saucepan over medium heat, add in butter. Sear chicken (on both sides), skin-side down until golden brown. Transfer to a plate.

3. Once chicken has cooled down, shred it into pieces. Set aside. 

4. Add corn oil to the saucepan and lower heat to medium. Cook onion and garlic until they are fragrant. Stir well.

5. Add in mushroom and cherry tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes until they soften.

6. Add in wine and chicken stock before seasoning with salt and pepper. Cook for another 1 to 2 minutes. Set aside.

7. Lightly butter the bread. Using air fryer, toast the bread at 160C for 2 to 3 minutes until it is lightly browned. 

8. Remove bread from air fryer and start assembling the sandwich with the shredded chicken (Step 3) and mushroom mixture (Step 6).

9. Serve warm. 

#37 - Cheesy Chicken Baked Rice

Cheesy Chicken Baked Rice, definitely a go-to recipe for me and my family. Hubby and I love this dish so much that it is probably the most cooked dinner item for us at home. This is also something I like to cook for Hubby when I know he had a tough week at work. The perfect reward for him just because I know how much he love this baked rice! Trust me, this dish is THAT simple and THAT good!

To be honest, there is really no ways you can get this recipe wrong in the kitchen. I have cooked this dish numerous times for family gatherings, home dinners, pot-luck parties and even taught a few friends how to cook it. So far, every single person who have tried this, love it and they always come back, looking for more. I am so grateful to have this fool-proof recipe! 

I have a similar recipe on Chicken & Mushroom Baked Rice which I shared on this site couple of years back and this new version is basically an improved version with more vegetables. Even so, it still comes with the same old goodness packed in it. If you would like to, you may also replaced the protein in the recipe with salmon, grilled fish, pork, seafood or basically anything to your liking.

On that note, I will be doing a vegetarian version very soon. Stay tuned! 

***************

Recipe: Adapted & modified from here.

Servings

Serves 3 - 4

Ingredients

1 and 1/2 cup uncooked rice

1 and 1/2 cup of water (to cook the rice)

2 tbs Olive oil

90g Swiss Brown Mushroom, sliced

170g Chicken Fillet, cubed
50g Baby Carrots, cubed
50g Cherry Tomatoes, cubes
50g Mixed Vegetables

Salt & Black Pepper, to taste

1 can Campbell's Cream of Mushroom Soup

150g Shredded Cheese (Mozzarella, Cheddar, Parmesan)

Directions

1. Preheat oven at 200C.

2. Rinse and drained the uncooked rice. Set aside for later use. 

3. In a saucepan, add the olive oil. Once the saucepan is heated, add in the sliced mushroom followed by the chicken pieces. Stir-fry over medium-low heat until the chicken is semi-cooked with a white surface. Do not overcook the chicken to ensure that the meat will not end up too tough. 

4. Add the washed uncooked rice, followed by the carrots, tomatoes and mixed vegetables into the saucepan and continue frying and tossing. Season the mixture with salt and pepper. Ensure that the content is well-stirred.

5. Transfer the fried rice into a rice cooker and add in water to cook the rice.

6. After the rice is cooked, portion the content into your casserole dishes or baking pan. Pour the Cream of Mushroom Soup sauce over the top of the rice. Spread the sauce evenly across the surface.

7. Top the sauce with a layer of shredded cheese.

8. Bake in the oven for 16 - 18 minutes, or until the cheese has melted and give a golden brown crust at the top of the baked rice. Serve while it is hot. 

#23 - Claypot Chicken Rice (Rice Cooker)

When you are sick and tired of packing food from food courts or even kopitiams for dinner, you will seriously be craving for something that is warm & comforting, something simple like a home cooked meal, something just like this.

If you know me, you will know that I'm pretty much a fuss-free person. Though I adore cooking and baking, I have never really get myself done to experimenting with complicated recipes, let alone cooking meals involving 101 ingredients. I am more of a less-is-more kind of person! I love following and trying out simple yet yummy recipes and when I'm in the right mood, I give it my own twist!

This Claypot Chicken Rice is simple enough and if you have a pan and a rice-cooker, you can make this.

For the cooking of the main ingredients, original recipe actually call for the raw ingredients to be added to the rice when the rice is half-cooked. However, since hubby and I prefer the rice to be slightly dryer, I did it slightly different. I allowed the rice to be fully-cooked while I stir fry all the ingredients (chicken, mushrooms, sausages) with some garlic in a separate pan until the chicken is semi-cooked. When rice was cooked, I poured all the ingredients onto the rice in the rice cooker and cook the rice again. It turned out that the rice was nice and dry and the it tasted really yummy!

So, give it a try and enjoy some warm and nice comfort food from home :)

***************

Recipe: Adapted and modified from here

Servings

4 persons

Ingredients

3 cups Rice (to be cooked with 3 cups Water)
2 Chinese Sausages
50 - 60 grams Dried Chinese Mushrooms
100 grams Button Mushrooms
2 Deboned Chicken Thigh Meat (diced)

Seasonings

2 tbsp Oyster Sauce

2 tbsp Light Soya Sauce

1 tbsp Dark Soya Sauce

5 tbsp Chinese Cooking Wine (花雕酒)

2 tsp Sugar

White Pepper

Directions

1. Rinse and drain the uncooked rice. Cook the rice in rice cooker using 3 cups of water. 

2. Soak the chinese sausages and dried chinese mushrooms in hot water for 2-3 mins. 

3. Remove the casing of the sausages and sliced it. Once the chinese mushrooms are soft, removed the centre stalk before slicing it. 

4. In a large bowl, marinate all the ingredients (chicken, both types of mushrooms, sausages) with oyster sauce, light soya sauce sauce, dark soya sauce, chinese cooking wine, sugar and white pepper. 

5. In a saucepan (with some garlic), stir fry the marinated ingredients over medium heat until the chicken is semi-cooked. Do not over cook the chicken. 

6.  When the rice is cooked, transfer the semi-cooked ingredient to the top of the rice and let the rice cook for a second time. 

7. Before serving, stir and mix the rice and ingredient together. Make sure that the contents are well-stirred. You may add some additional dark soya sauce upon stirring to achieve your desired colour preference. 

#20 - Lemon & Garlic Roast Chicken

When we first moved into our own house, I always thought that the first recipe I was going to try out in the kitchen is going to be a perfectly oven-roasted chicken. Somehow, it seemed to me that it is only right (and simple enough) that a oven-roasted chicken is to be the first dish coming out of the newly bought oven and right onto the dinner table for our first Christmas dinner in our own home. Pity, this did not happen in our case. 

2 years had passed and it finally stuck me the other day that I have not tried roasting any poultry using the oven yet! How can I let that be the case? Finally, a couple of Sundays ago, I decided to give the 'Roast Chicken with Lemon & Herbs' recipe a try. As usual, I made some small changes to the original recipe and the chicken turned out really well! 

Personally, I feel that this dish is great for beginner cooks like myself, with minimal ingredients and attention required. This time round, I even tried to cook the roasted potatoes together with the chicken (and some bacon as well) but it turned out that the potatoes were kind of overly done. Though the potatoes tasted great but I wouldn't advise anyone eating too much of them due to the burned skin. Not that good for health, you see? In fact, the next time I try this recipe, I would probably cook the roasted potatoes and vegetables separately as there will be plenty of time to do so while waiting for the chicken to cook in the oven. Most importantly, add plenty of lemon, garlic and rosemary! They impart a light and soft scent to the meat. They are such an excellent combination! 

 

***************

Recipe: Adapted and modified from here

Servings

Serve 2 to 4 persons

Ingredients

1 whole Chicken

2 tbsp Rosemary, finely chopped

3tbsp Butter, room temperature

2 cloves Garlic, grated

1 Lemon, zested and juiced

Salt

Pepper

1 whole head Garlic, halved 

1 Lemon, halved

Roasted Potatoes

4 large Potatoes

10 cloves Garlic, unpeeled

2 tbsp Rosemary

4 slices of Bacon, fried and chopped

Salt

Pepper

2 tbsp Olive Oil

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 200C and drizzle roasting dish with some olive oil. Set the roasting dish aside for later use.

2. Rinse the chicken inside and out, and pat dry it with kitchen towels. Season the chicken with salt and pepper (including the cavity) and set aside on a large plate for later use. 

3. Wash, dried and cut the potatoes into large chunks, depending on size of potatoes (about 8 to 12 pieces per potatoes) and place them in the roasting dish together with the garlic cloves and pieces of bacon. You may also add in sliced onions or vegetables if you prefer. 

4. Add the chopped rosemary to the roasting dish as well and season them with salt, pepper and olive oil. Toss everything together in the roasting dish to ensure the seasoning is well spread out.

5. In a small bowl, add the finely chopped rosemary to the soft butter. 

6. Using a grater, grate 2 cloves of garlic and add the grated garlic to the butter mixture in Step (5). Also add in the zest of 1 lemon. Season this mixture with salt and pepper. Using a spoon, make sure that this mixture is well mixed together. 

7. Rub 3/4 of the butter mixture under the skin of the chicken, between the breast and the skin of the chicken. Massage well to ensure that the butter mixture is evenly spread out. Rub the remaining 1/4 of the butter mixture all over the chicken. Drizzle the lemon juice of 1 lemon over the chicken. 

8. Cut the remaining lemon and garlic into half and stuff them inside the cavity of the chicken. Also add in some rosemary inside the cavity of the chicken and tie the legs together either using kitchen string or aluminium foil. 

9. Place the chicken in the roasting dish, making sure that the chicken wings are tucked under the chicken itself. Sprinkle some salt and pepper evenly over the top of the chicken. 

10. Bake for 45 minutes, baste and cook for another 15 minutes, or until the juice of the chicken comes out clear after cutting a slit at the chicken thigh. 

11. Remove the chicken from the oven and cover it with aluminium foil for 15 minutes before carving. 

Take note 

(1) Take chicken out of fridge at least 1 hour before roasting it. 

(2) Use fresh chicken instead of frozen chicken. 

(3) If roasting potatoes together with the chicken, check on the potatoes after 30 to 45 minutes. Once the potatoes are done (dark-coloured), remove them from the roasting dish before continuing to roast the chicken. This is to ensure that the potatoes will not be burnt. Alternatively, cook roasted potatoes / vegetables separately. 

#07 - Chicken & Mushroom Baked Rice

If you have noticed, the weather nowadays has been pretty unpredictable. It can be bright and sunny in the late morning but towards evening time, it may just start to pour. With such uncertainty, I like to play around with my menu planning accordingly to the weather. On a hot and humid afternoon, I love to make some simple yet yummy popsicles (like my recent Mango Yogurt Popsicles) but on a cold and windy evening, I like to make warm comfort food which can warm up my stomach. 

This Chicken & Mushroom Baked Rice is a great one-dish meal anyone can make. It is simple with few ingredients and you can pretty much throw in whatever meat/ vegetable you have in your fridge to create various versions of it. It is pretty much a perfect comfort food! Recently I made a new version of Cheesy Salmon Baked Rice with some minor changes to the ingredients and it still tasted great! Hubby actually prefers the Salmon version though. Will be sharing the recipe on that very soon. 

***************

Recipe: Adapted & modified from here.

Servings

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

2 cup uncooked rice

2 cup of water (to cook the rice)

2 tbs Extra Virgin Olive oil

200 g canned (whole) mushroom, sliced

100 g picnic ham, sliced

200 g chicken thigh meat, cubed

1/8 tsp salt

1/8 tsp ground black pepper

3/4 can of Campbell's Cream of Mushroom Soup

30 g shredded Parmesan Cheese

60 g shredded Mozzarella Cheese

Directions

1. Preheat oven at 200C.

2. Rinse (at least 3 times) and drained the uncooked rice. Set aside.

3. In a saucepan, add the olive oil. Once the saucepan is heated, add in the sliced mushroom, ham and chicken pieces. Stir-fry over a medium-low heat until the chicken is semi-cooked with a white surface. Do not over cook the chicken

4. Add the washed uncooked rice into the saucepan and continue frying and tossing. Add salt and black pepper to it. Ensure that the content is well-stirred. 

5. Transfer the fried rice into a rice cooker and add in the water to cook the rice. 

6. After the rice is cooked, portion the content into a casserole dish (I use a 10" pie pan). Pour the cream of mushroom soup sauce over the top of the rice. Spread the sauce evenly across the surface. 

7. Top the sauce with a layer of shredded Parmesan and Mozzarella cheese.

8. Bake in the oven for 18-20 minutes, or until the cheese has melted and give a golden brown crust at the top of the baked rice. Serve it while it is hot.