chicken breasts | Anyone 4 Curry & Other Things

This week has been a bit crazy – in other words, there were never enough hours in the day to do even a fraction of the things either of us wanted or had to do.
Frequent power-cuts (due to the heavy onset of the refreshing monsoon) did not help either – and today, when I am writing this, it is only Thursday – so more to come.

So therefor I will not keep you busy as well by having to look at a long post, instead here is another one of my “speedy-gonzales” recipes (kitchen is not being used that much right now).

It will take you maximum 20 minutes from start to finish.

For 2 people I used:

2 x Chicken breasts, cut into nice cubes

A few pieces of fresh pineapple, cut into cubes

2 x heaped Tbsp of Peanuts, crushed
1 x Tbsp liquid honey
1 ½ Tbsp of mustard (coarse grain)
1 shot of cream (or 2 if you like it creamier)
1 good sprinkling of curry powder
1 x Tbsp of Olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

How to do:

Wok on medium heat, add oil and cubed chicken.

Stir and quickly fry for couple of minutes. Add honey, mustard, curry powder, salt and pepper and whilst stirring keep on cooking the chicken.

When ready carefully add the cream (don’t let it curdle) and the crushed peanuts. Simmer for a couple more minutes.
That’s it – serve with Rice or as in my pictures, with Penne and maybe some blanched spinach or broccoli.

Tips:
Place unsalted peanuts into your Mixy and ‘blitz’ only for a couple of seconds. Don’t make them smooth, you will want a slight bite.
This sauce is really simple but so nice, maybe you like to make a little bit more!?
If you have no fresh pineapple, then use tinned one.

Enjoy your meal and have a wonderful safe week-end wherever you are in the world, my friends.

Carina

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(Stuffed chicken rolls – my own house recipe)

Our main cities in Italy for our yearly visits are Milan, Padua, Venice, Florence and of course Rome. Here we spend time with our Italian friends and try to blend into their way of life.

I love chicken – chicken dishes prepared in any way, as long as it is not one from those multi franchised ‘chicken-in-a-bucket’ places – the mere thought makes me shudder.

I had noticed for some time that I hardly ever saw dishes containing chicken breasts in our favourite Restaurants in the above mentioned cities but never really ‘clicked’. When we were entertained in our friend’s homes they often had a few succulently cooked slices of chicken breast especially for me, while they happily nibbled away on thighs, drumsticks, lollipops, and wings but hardly ever touched the breast. When I finally asked ‘why?’ I was told that on the whole Italians are not too keen on chicken breasts which they regard as ‘a bit on the dry side’ when cooked.

Now I was used to my mother’s wonderful Roulades and so one day, when I had a peek into my freezer I found no beef for this dish but only a few chicken breasts! And this is how I came up with my own simple version of “Involtini di Pollo”, renamed it and included this in my “let’s-have-some-friends-over-and-prepare-a-buffet-spread” repertoire.

For 2

2 thin slices of chicken breast

Lay each slice between 2 sheets of Clingfilm or greaseproof kitchenpaper and carefully!, so you do not tear the meat, ‘bash’ each slice until it becomes more or less double in size. (I find an unopened tin of something is very good for this.)

For the filling:

Take the cut-offs from your meat and in a small blender blitz those just enough to end up with chicken mince meat. Put everything into a bowl together with salt, pepper, a squeeze of lemon juice (to taste) and a few drops of Tabasco (for the kick). Mix well and keep aside.

Lay your chicken breasts on a board, squeeze again some lemon juice over those slices, add a thin slice of prosciutto (I had to use good bacon, rind and fat cut off and ‘bashed’ to get really thin slices), top this with your earlier prepared mince meat. Now carefully roll this up. I prefer string to make my little parcels rather than toothpicks, which always seem to fall out of my ‘involtini’s’ – but of course it’s up to you what to use.

Heat oil and butter in a frying pan, add sage (if you can get this) and some dried rosemary and oregano, stir and add your little chicken parcels. On medium heat fry those from all sides for a few minutes until they turn golden brown; this will take app. 15-20 minutes. Add some chicken stock or white wine half way thru.

When your Involtini’s are cooked, remove from pan and let them rest for 10 minutes before cutting off the string. Serve on a pre-heated platter with plenty of lemons on the side. The juice from the pan can be served in a separate bowl for you, who like ‘gravy’.