Honey mustard chicken - a review

I found a recipe for  Honey mustard chicken on Paleononpaleo and thought I should try it and then review it.

We have tried a couple of different recipes for honey mustard chicken as it is a simple and tasty meal.

This recipe uses oil to coat the chicken and so makes a less 'gloopy' mixture - it isn't 'Chicken Tonight'!

This recipe says to marinade it for 4 hours plus, but that wasn't going to happen!  I think I managed 30 minutes.

I always chop my chicken into cubes, about an inch square, as it makes it easier to serve them.  This does mean that the meat is well covered with the sauce.

The recipe didn't say how long to cook it for, but I would normally cook a chopped chicken casserole for about 45 minutes.

I removed the chicken from the marinade and there wasn't a lot of sauce left - maybe 3 spoonfuls.

It didn't seem worth boiling this down, as there wasn't a lot left, although it was quite runny, so we just spooned it over our vegetables.

Coconut Curry Chicken

Well yesterday didn't go to plan!

My husband is a trustee at a local heritage railway, and they have just had a change of caterers.  It then appeared that the previous ones had booked a party - at the time the new people were on holiday.  So to prevent the treasurer from having a complete panic attack, we said we would help.

So yesterday, we spent the whole day, preparing, serving and clearing up from 75 ploughman's lunches to a party of British/Dutch vintage motorcyclists!  By the time we got home, I really didn't want to start preparing anything complicated, so stuffed peppers turned into fresh pork burgers with left over french bread.

so today's
Coconut Chicken Curry
4 chicken breasts
1 onion, chopped
5 garlic cloves
1 chilli pepper, chopped
1 can coconut milk
250 ml chicken stock/broth
2 tbsp curry powder
1tbsp olive oil

Chop chicken and brown in olive oil, remove from pan.
Combine onion, garlic and chilli in pan and simmer until onion is soft.
Add coconut milk, stock, curry powder and chicken.
Mix well and simmer on low for 20 minutes.
Serve over cauli rice or pilaff to soak up the liquid.

Honey mustard chicken

I am always looking out for new recipes, as even with a monthly rolling menu, some are less successful than others.  I was looking on Google for paleo chicken recipes, and the fact one came from a regular recipe board seemed good.

The recipe came from all recipes and was called honey mustard chicken.  The reviews had said that the honey needed to be reduced as equal measures of honey and dijon mustard was too sweet, so I halved the amount of honey.  It also said that it was better if marinaded for 30 minutes or so.  I cooked it covered, as I though it would dry up otherwise.

A quick and easy recipe using things you would have in your cupboard.  It would probably benefit from mash with it, to soak up the sauce as it was a little spicy.

Chicken drumsticks

It is quite easy to find packets of chicken drumsticks, thighs and quarters, as most people prefer the chicken breasts.  They are an easy dish to take to a 'bring and share' buffet meal or just for dinner.

Chicken can be quite dry as you have to cook it sufficiently to ensure that it is cooked all the way through, so if you can cook it in a way that prevents this, that is good.  I have found that lemon juice and herbs is a tasty variety that is quick and easy. 

I remove the skins as although they may be pleasant when hot, chicken skin on a cold joint is not so good!  Then 'slash' each drumstick or thigh to get the juice into the meat.  Sprinkle generously with lemon juice and a good pinch of dried herbs on each piece.  They need about 35 minutes for chicken thighs and 30 minutes for drumsticks.

Serve hot or cold.

Chicken and not-noodles

Today we were meant to be going to a 'bring and share' birthday lunch, where each family brings a savoury plate and a dessert.  However, due to the snowy weather we abandoned this, as most of us would have had a long journey on snowy or icy roads.

Instead, I tried a new recipe I had found on Pinterest, Chicken and noodles from The Pioneer Woman.  The suggestion was that to paleo it, use grated courgettes instead of the noodles, and use arrowroot to thicken it instead of flour. 

The recipe is not hard, although it takes some time to boil the chicken and the bones.  However, we found there was far too much liquid, although it tasted fine.  The next time, after making the bone broth, I would think it would be best to take half of the stock out of the pan for another meal, and then follow the recipe as followed.  This would make a thicker stew-like dish instead of a soup.

As you can see, it madea large amount - that's a 5 litre pan!

 

Teriyaki chicken with cauli-rice pilaff

This is a simple way of serving chicken, although some people would consider that it isn't strict paleo - it certainly isn't suitable for whole30

Teriyaki chicken is made with a marinade.  A marinade needs to have vinegar and oil in it, and ideally to 'soak' into the meat for several hours.  If you are organised, you can mix up the marinade, bag the meat up with it and freeze it in advance.  It can then be marinading, while it defrosted.

Teriyaki Chicken

600-800g boneless skinless chicken pieces, cut into bite size chunks
1 clove of garlic, chopped or crushed
4 tbsp honey
150ml soy sauce
4 tbsp water
1.5 tsp ground ginger
3 tbsp olive oil
3-4 tbsp vinegar or white wine

Combine the marinade ingredients.  If you are going to freeze/chill this, place in a ziplock bag with the chicken.  If you are going to cook the chicken within the next few hours, you could put it into the cooking dish, if you have space to chill it while it soaks.

To cook:  Thaw if frozen.  Cook in oven at 180 C for 40-45 minutes; 30 minutes covered and then 10-15 uncovered.  Ensure the chicken chunks are cooked.  Use the marinade as a sauce over the cauli-rice.

Cauli-rice pilaf

I don't know where I got my recipe for cauli-rice pilaf, as I don't seem to find it again.  When I find it, I am happy to credit that source.

1 head of cauliflower, pulsed in food processor until rice-like
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp lard
2 carrots, grated
3 salad onions, sliced
1 clove of garlic, crushed or chopped
1 small onion, diced
1 tsp vegetable boullion
100g mushrooms, diced

Melt oils and add carrots, onions and garlic.  Saute until fragrant, about 3 minutes. 
Add mushrooms and cook 2-3 minutes.
Add cauli-rice, then boullion.  Stir to combine.  Add 2 tbsp of water to prevent it burning onto the pan.
Cook gently for about 5 minutes.  Add salt and pepper to taste.
Very filling

Emergency plans!

Sunday 6th January 2013

We were meant to have paleo chilli tonight, but when I went to make it, I discovered that the beef mince had been put into the freezer rather than the fridge.  As we don't eat processed food, we don't have things that we can just cook from frozen, so it was a case of using what we had.

We went for Chicken Pot Pie, without the 'pie' from MrsPaleo.  We buy bags of frozen pre-cooked chicken pieces from Aldi, as this is what my son has in his lunch box.  It has minimal additives, unlike the chilled chicken.  I found that 300g was about the right amount for the pie, and this is much cheaper than buying a whole chicken (and much less messy).  We have not had great success with the 'pastry' topping, so have decided that it is better to do without.

Slow cooker chicken in a quick cooker!

As we didn't know whether my sister-in-law would be staying over after the family celebrations, we had a planned a chicken casserole for 6 that could be cooked in the slowcooker.  A few weeks ago, Lidl had a promotion on large packets of meat, and I had got a pork joint, a beef joint and 1 kilo packet of chicken breasts.  However, as the slowcooker had been used for sweet potatoes and not washed, this didn't happen.  It got to 5.30pm and we still hadn't started dinner.

As we had all the ingredients for the chicken casserole ready, it was best to make it, but obviously it needed some changes for the oven rather than the slowcooker.

It was honey, apricot and raisin chicken, which has allspice in which made the chicken black and slightly spicy on the outside.  I added about three times the suggested water and chopped the chicken into chunks, so it cooked in about 45 minutes.  We also didn't use the cornflour as that seemed unnecessary.

Very tasty and we will try it again, next time in the slowcooker.

Honey Apricot and Raisin Chicken
Serves 6

6 (6-oz.) boneless skinless chicken breast halves
2 teaspoons ground allspice
3 cloves garlic, pressed
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped dried apricots
1/4 cup golden raisins
1/2 cup honey
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1/3 cup low sodium chicken broth
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon water

In a large zipper-topped plastic bag, combine chicken with allspice, garlic, salt and pepper; seal bag and shake well to coat chicken. Place chicken in a crock cooker; add onion, apricots and raisins. In a small bowl, whisk together honey, vinegar and broth; add to the crock cooker. Cover and cook on LOW for 6 to 8 hours or until chicken is tender and cooked through. In a cup, combine cornstarch and water; stir into crock cooker. Cover and cook for 5 minutes or until sauce thickens.