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Monday, January 28, 2013

Provencale Style Chicken Breast





Recipe of the Week…………………Provençale Style Chicken Breast

This is a little something that I made on the fly for a guest of mine and the restaurant who always phones ahead of time and asks if I can make her something different as she has a couple of dietary requirements, I am always much obliged to do so for any body that calls in ahead, I get to use my little head muscle a bit, it is always something simple and easy to make so this week I thought I would jot it down and post it before I get to do so as I normally do.

Serves: 2
Difficulty: Easy
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 15 Minutes

Ingredients
2 Chicken Breast Fillets (any size you would like them to be)
6 baby marrows
500g cherry tomatoes – cut in half
2 small red onions
4 nice sprigs fresh oregano - chopped
2 TBSP Olive Oil
2 TBSP Dry White Wine
1 Cup un-cooked Basmati Rice
Salt and pepper to taste
½ cup pitted Black Olives – optional
Rosemary to garnish

Method
Pre-heat your oven to 240˚c, get a pan nice and hot, rub the chicken breast with 1 TBSP olive oil, salt and pepper, then fry them in the pan until they are golden brown all the way round, about 2 minutes each side. Then place them in the oven for exactly 12 minutes if the oven is already hot.

Whilst they are in the oven, get a small pot on the stove with boiling salted water and add in the basmati rice, this takes exactly 12 minutes to cook as well, don’t oven cook the basmati. Whilst the chicken is roasting and the basmati is cooking, get another pan nice and hot, add in 1 TBSP olive oil and fry off the onion and baby marrow, when the baby marrow starts to colour add in the cherry tomatoes sautéed for a further 3-5 minutes then add in the olives if using, as well as the chopped oregano and the white wine, let this simmer until most of the white wine has reduced away, then it is ready.

When the rice is done drain off the water, place the rice on the plate (tip you can put the rice in a nicely shaped bowl and turn it out onto the plate) plate the chicken breast on top of the rice and then top it all off with the cherry tomato sauce, garnish with rosemary and sit down with a ice-cold glass of un-wooded Chardonnay.

Bon Appetit.


Friday, January 25, 2013

Chicken and Prawn Chow Mein






Recipe of the week……………. Chicken & Prawn Chow Mein

Everybody loves good Asian food, as it delivers such fresh flavours, and it is quite simple to make at home, I have always loved Chow Mein and Chop Suey, so this week I am going to do a nice simple Chow Mein recipe, essentially all that Chow Mein means is “fried noodles” so what you put in is totally up to your self, I have done a nice prawn and chicken Chow Mein

Serves: 4
Difficulty: Easy
Cooking time: 15-20 Minutes
Prep Time: 15-30 Minutes (depending on knife skills or buying in already julienne vegetables and cleaned prawns)

Ingredients
1kg Prawns shelled and deveined (26/30 count is a nice size prawn)
500g Chicken Breast Fillet cut into strips
3 Cups Julienne vegetables ( I used baby marrow, mixed peppers, green beans, onion, patty pans, baby gems, baby butternut and carrots, however in Spar they have a wonderful selection of already julienne'd vegetable packs, those will work fine too)
1 Pkt Chinese Egg Noodles – pre cooked in boiling salted water for 6 minutes
4 TBSP Kikkoman Soy Sauce
4 TBSP Oyster Sauce
4 TBSP Black Bean Paste
2 TBSP sesame oil
2 TBSP finely slice pickled ginger
Handful freshly chopped coriander
½ cup toasted chopped peanuts (optional for garnishing)
2 red chilli’s sliced (optional for garnishing and adding a little heat to the dish)

Method
Sautee the chicken in a Wok or frying pan in a little olive oil, when it starts to colour and cook through add in the vegetables let these cook for about 2 minutes then add in the prawns, when the prawns turn pink add in the noodles and stir fry this for another 2 minutes, add in all the sauce ingredients along with the pickled ginger and coriander, toss this around for about 1 minute. Then serve


Chef’s Note: The sauce ingredients can be as simple as you would like them to be, I love the flavour of black bean paste and oyster sauce that’s why I included them in my recipe, but it is up to you.

Monday, January 7, 2013

Position as a Sous Chef at St Francis Links

St Francis Links, the number nine ranked private golf estate in South Africa and situated in St Francis Bay, is currently recruiting for the following position:

SOUS CHEF
• A diploma in professional cookery is essential
• At least 3 years working experience as a sous or junior head chef
• Able to solely manage a busy kitchen shift in the absence of the Head Chef
• Conduct training
• Excellent cooking skills and menu planning
• Fully computer literate with experience in stock orders and control
• Staff supervision and rostering
• Would suit a motivated, team player who sets culinary trends

Start date as soon as possible.

Please note that NO TELEPHONIC ENQUIRIES will be entertained. Applicants who do not receive replies to their applications by 14 January 2013, should consider their applications unsuccessful.


please mail you CV to chef@stfrancislinks.com

Christmas Photo's by Jurgens van Wyk

Here are a couple of brilliant food photo's taken by my brother in law on christmas morning just before feeding 284 people for christmas