Dinner Post #2: Easiest Ever Chicken Casserole

This is perfect for a Monday night dinner. So easy, everything gets shoved into a tray and cooked off for about 40 minutes. It's all cooked in the same pan, so there's no faffing about. Perfectly balanced, low in fat, and again using cheaper cuts of chicken so it keeps things low cost. Nothing fancy, but tastes amazing! 

Serves 4

8 Chicken Thighs 

Half a Chorizo Sausage Ring 

3 Red Onions 

400g of Waxy Potatoes 

Chicken Stock 

2 Glasses of White Wine 

Sundried Tomatoes 

Mixed Herbs 

2 Garlic Cloves 

Salt and Pepper 

Bay Leaf. 

Method 

1. Pre heat the oven to 180degreesC/GasMark4. Put a pan on the hob with a glug of olive oil, and season the chicken thighs. Place in the pan, skin side down to get some colour and crispiness onto the chicken. Once crispy, take the chicken out and put into a roasting tray.

2. Slice the onions, and add them to the same pan the chicken was browned in. Once softened, but them into the roasting tin along with the chicken. 

3. Now, it's just a case of throwing everything else into the roasting dish. Slice and add the Chorizo, the chicken stock, the wine, the herbs and the sundried tomatoes, the crushed garlic, and finally slice the potatoes and throw those in two. Season well, and cook for around 40 minutes, or until the potatoes are cooked. 

4. Serve with salad or veg, and crusty bread to soak up those juices!

Dinner Post #1: Asian pork tenderloin with vegetable and Shiitake noodle broth.

Such a delicious and low fat meal. I love Asian food, and the combination of flavours within this dish will blow your mind! Really easy to make, but perfect for dinner parties as your guests will think you've been slaving away for hours to achieve such perfection! I used two pork tenderloins which fed 5 people, and cost me less than £8 for the two, from Aldi. The meat was tender and delicious, I urge you to give this one a go! Most ingredients, other than the meat and vegetables were already in my store cupboard, so i'll be posting how to keep a clever store cupboard in a future post. Keep your eyes peeled! 

Ingredients: (serves 5) 

2 Pork Tenderloin (buy size dependent on own appetites!)

4 nests of medium egg noodles

1 pack of Shiitake mushrooms 

1 pack of Oyster mushrooms 

500 ml Chicken Stock 

2 red peppers 

1 pack of Mangetout 

1 Red onion 

6 Table spoons Soy Sauce 

4 Table spoons of  Hoi Sin Sauce 

2 Table spoons of Sherry 

1 Table spoon Fish Sauce 

3 Cloves of Garlic 

1 Red Chilli 

Sesame Oil 

Chilli oil or sauce. 

Sesame Seeds 

Method:

1. For the marinade mix together the sherry, 4 Table Spoons of Soy Sauce, the Hoi Sin sauce, the Fish Sauce, Garlic, Chilli and 3 Table spoons of Sesame Seeds, (the rest of the soy sauce is for the broth).

2. Put the pork into a bowl and rub with sesame oil. Then coat in the marinade for between 2 and 24 hours. Keep a little of the marinade back to put into the broth later.

3. When the pork is ready to be cooked pre heat the oven at 200C/fan 180C/Gas6, and cook the pork for around 40 mins, or until Juicy, but cooked all the way through (to check, make an incision in the thickest part of the loin)

4.While the pork is cooking, crack on with the broth. Slice all of the veg, apart from the mangetout. Heat a good glug of sesame oil in the wok. 

5. Put in the onion and Peppers and let them soften for around 5 Minutes. 

6. Meanwhile cook the noodles in a separate pan (these are added to the broth last minute to make sure they don't turn soggy). 

7. Add the chicken stock, remaining marinade, soy sauce, and chilli oil to to the veg, and add the mushrooms and mangetout. They will only take 3 mins to cook. 

8. Add the noodles, and have a taste. If you feel the broth needs more of anything (for instance chilli or soy) put it in now. 

9. Slice the pork loin into even pieces and serve in a bowl on top or your fragrant noodle broth. Sprinkle with sesame seeds for an authentic appearance and extra flavour/texture.

10. ENJOY!