A LENTIL CURRY /SIDE WITH LOADS OF GREEN-SPINACH&feNUGREEK

Taste and create....does that fire ur imagination?????

Well it certainly fired mine and ofcourse it revolved around food....


Yeah the whole show,a beautiful food show right up in all our kitchen every month is run by the lovely NICOLe of LOVE OF FOOD and hosted at TASTE & CREATE.


I am and would love to be a part of this wonderful monthly fun where all who register(by 8th folks) are paired up and u cook something delicious from ur partners blog as so does ur partner from urs....


How cool is that......


And cooler still were the yummiest veggie fare at my partner blog this month ie THE FANTASTIC SINGING CHEF AT WORK....THE VERY LOVELY RAAGA...

TASTE & CREATE-AN ITALIAN HUNTERS STEW-CHICKEN CACCIATORE, CHICKEN TERIYAKI AND A

TASTE & CREATE-whats in the namenow isnt that just so different a name??? I was 'impatiently' waiting for my partner list & the minute nicole from the love of food---send me the list i got working.

First things that we all need to give nicole her due credit for the amazing work to sort and partner us.
Thank u for ur time &patience for bringing us this lovely world.

Now my partner is WHATS FOR SUPPER17well browsing thru nATALIE'S lovely site didn make things easier to single out just one creation from her whole world of deliciousness.

I did narrow down on three & looks like am heading towards all three am i???

So on this nite dinner had to be fixed & we had thought about a portugueese stew with lemon mashed potatoes but then i thought how about this one & the name cacciatore sounded vaguely similiar,but then i tend to pronounce words that are new ,the colonial portuguese way so i left it at that,only to discover a little later that it means ,hunter & in portuguese casadoro...

I needed to look around a bit coz i didn have a few things & didn wanna wander from tradition for substitutes & learnt this too's a stew-so we are having stew after all for dinner mom-an italian classic hunters stew.

I CHOSE THIS FOR THE TASTE & CREATE EVENT FROM MY PARTNERS BLOG-WHATS FOR SUPPER?

-First and foremost i didn have mushrooms so potatoes replaced 'em(and this luscious chicken pairs up extremely well with potato in any form).Though i so love the idea of the mushrooms-as the hunters went hunting they collected mushrooms along the way for their stew-whole bird stew.
-Next was the canned tomatoes but then we dont fancy using too much of tinned ingredients & i had none but what really helped was the lovely reddest sweet fresh tomatoes.
-Oregano too wasnt in-with so many not haves u think i gave up-no way i continued with this improntu sourjoun but i had fresh thyme & ----i read here(good article)about thyme ,parsely & orengano being so in so fresh thyme & parsely stalks it was.
-The third(ok final) tweak was adding a wee bit of lime juice & paprika to the chicken directly.

This is an extremely delicious italian,often called hunters, stew with a luscious sauce that come with the simmering & the wine(ok i had to add red not white here & i read that red is so allowed)& the tomatoes and the chicken.

The aromas that filled the home at every stage ,are best left to be experienced only-yeah with the chicken or when was frying the onions with capsicum or simmering with tomatoes &
ACTUALLY MORE LIKE -AROMA THATS FLOODS UR HOME THRU EVRY STAGE IS IN ITSELF THE BEGINING OF A CELEBRATION WITH AN ITALIAN CLASSIC !!!!(have already got requests for this twice ,that too after an italian fish i created based on this-post coming soon)

 herbs with the addition of wine to a luscious sauce-everyones apetite was working up-a must try!!!
I definately wanna make this again with mushrooms-its just so absolutely delicious and makes for a hearty healthly dinner with just 3 tsp of italian olive oil.

CHICKEN CACCIATORE
2 pounds chicken
lime juice,crushed paprika,pepper & salt to taste to marinate the chicken
2 tsp olive oil

1) Marinate chicken with paprika flakes,pepper and salt.
2)Heat the oil & brown chicken on high heat & then cook till done on moderatetly high heat covered to realease all the juices.

the chicken after browning in pan befor adding to the sauce

3)Remove from pan alongwith juices & keep aside.

NOW LETS PROCEED TO THE SAUCE

2 onions finely sliced
1 red bellpepper,green pepper& yellow thinly sliced
1/2 pound mixed potatoes
a few cloves garlic crushed(i love a garlicky flav so tipped in quite a few)
1/2 cup red wine
1.5 cups chopped red tomato
a few sprigs fresh THYME& stalks of parsely
red pepper flaked to taste

pink & green peppers in brine(optional-i used 'em for the garnish alonwith black olives)

3)Heat a tsp oil in the same pan. Fry the onions & pepper till soft stirring occasionally.cover & let release juices (around 5 mins).
4)Add potatoes & stir well till brown.
5)Tip in the garlic & stir.add water(or tomato juice) here.

6)Add wine,simmer till potatoes are slightly done. Add the tomatoes & tomato with a few pinches of sugar to hieghten the sweetness of tomatoes,herbs ,peppers & flakes & simmer covered for 10 mins.
7)Return chicken to pan & cook till done,say 20 mins or so.

SERVE CHICKEN WITH DELICIOUS SAUCE ,BOILED EGGS,OLIVES,peppers & PERSELY GARNISH.

GRILLED POTATOES WOULD BE GREAT TOO BUT THEN HAD ALREADY ADDED POTATOES INSTEAD OF MUSHROOMS.

TO VIEW SOME REALLY DELICIOUS CREATIONS-HEAD HERE.YOU MUST!!!

SESAME TERIYAKI CHICKEN

The next delicious dinner i chose to try was SESAME TERIYAKE CHICKEN FROM MY PARTNERS BLOG(NATALIE-U ROCK)

 which isADAPTED FROM ANOTHE LOVELY BLOG HERE

also instead of the rice vinegar i had a tangy mix of balsamic vinegar & toddy vinegar ,in the process read a little around & got to know the balsamic a little better.

Am going to write down my changes for a pound of chicken but u can double triple it quite easily.

I am so in love---with this concept of taste and create----wonderfull here.You must be a part next time round & u wont be disappointed i promise!!!

I loved this chicken ,the min glanced at the pic & the easy to put together ,deeply hued sweet & tangy marinade made it irresitable to try-i was on this one full on.

The best parts the sesame seeds,whwich i lightly roasted for an added crunch-delicious days are ahead!!!!

So here goes-
1 pound of chicken (2 thigh ,a fillet,livers & a few pieces may be)-4 thighs
2 tbh low salt soy or lite soy
1 tbh brown sugar
1 tbh red wine(in place of dry sherry)
1 tbh balsamic vinegar(in place of rice vinegar)
3 garlic cloves ,minced
1 tsp ginger ,grated
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
2-4 tsp sesame seeds(i love loads of 'em)

1. Combine all the ingredients expect chicken,in a glass bowl or zip lock bag.(take a little of this marinade in a little bowl seperately to marinate the livers)
Oh u have a deeply hued sweet & tangy,full of asian flavoured marinade to treat the chicken to.
2.Add the chicken pricked all over and turn to coat all over well.
3. Marinate for 1-4 hours.
4. Now i dont have a broiler or pan so i made do this on the gas top in my (supposedly wonder pan-as seen on tv-u can bake on it the say & even cook healthy without a drop og oil-the demonstration on tv says this but my pan doesnt even function well without oil & its just a few months old)
so what i did was add some olive & sesame oil to the chicken in the marinade itself & 'pan -broiled' it. Yummy it was-supper moist too!!!!

DO U WANNA JOIN IN THE FUN,CLICK HERE TO READ ALL ABOUT IT!!!
ACCOMPAINED BY BOILED EGGS, LOCAL POTATOES,CHERRY TOMS, PARSELY WITH A DRESSING OF SESAME & OLIVE OIL ,LOADS OF LOCAL LEMON JUICE (I DUNNO WHAT THEY INTERNATIONALLY CALLED)WITH GARLIC POWDER.

COMING SOON-PASTA ALFREDO.....RIGHT HERE

PASTA ALFREDO ITALIANO

THIS IS THE 3RD RECIPE I COUDN RESIST FROM NATALIE OF WHATS FOR SUPPER17'S BLOG

-ANOTHER irresistable recipe from my partners blog and had to try,only difference is i quatered-halved,(double the recipe below easily) it to accompany a grilled chicken/fish dinner & excluded the creamy mashed potatoes.

So as promised here it comes ,but it all the accompaniment it really needed is crunchy fresh veggies for the garnish!!!

This one comes with the stamp of my absolutely fav philly cheese & yeah i did add a little(now that wasnt what u can call little i say)extra for a creamy delight.

Had to make my own balsamic vinegratte dressing too but absolutely enjoyed getting to know the balsamic vinegar better(updated on italian fish-coming soon,stay tuned)& glad to have confirmed that i managed to find an excellent bottle of balsamic vinegar from italy with 6% acidity.Excellent.

For the garnish i played with parsely chives & olives that go so well with this pasta.
me love -we love.

225grams/1/2 pound linguine, uncooked
5Tbsp. Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing(recipe below)
1 CUP BONELESS chicken pieces?+a chicken cocktail sausage
3 cloves garlic, minced
6 oz (3/4 of 8 oz. pkg.) Philadelphia Cream Cheese, cubed
3/4cup chicken/seafood stock(i went in for extra here to have a creamy luscious sauce)
1/4 cup cream(optional)
1/4 cup steamed mushrooms/peas/broccolli/red peppers or a mix of all(optional)
1/2 each of red/yellow& green peppers,finely chopped & a little finely sliced for garnish
1/8 cup Kraft Grated Parmesan Cheese, divided
1 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley1 tbh freshly chopped chives+red pepper tp garnisholives for garnish

1. Cook pasta as directed on pack.
2.Heat olive oil,add a few of the chopped peppers,toss the chicken well&when sizzling add the balsamic vinegrette.(the peppers here will lend a delicious flav to the chicken)
(-i differed from the original recipe here coz shrimp cooks way faster than chicken which is-Meanwhile heat dressing in a skillet on medium heat & toss in the prawns/chicken.)
Stir cook for 3-4 mins for shrimps and 7-8 mins for chicken.Add garlic.

3.Remove with a slotted spoon & keep aside ,covered with silver foil to keep warm & moist.
4.Add cream cheese alongwith broth to the same skillet ,stirring till cheese has melted completely-oh a rich sauce bubbling away.Add remaining peppers and any veg if using & a little of the chives & parsely
5.Stir in shrimp/chicken for a burst in flavourful aromas & the parmesan cheese.(at this point to can add steamed peas or mushrooms or broccoli or peppers)
6.Drain pasta & toss in the yummy sauce(u cant stop-go ahead dip in a spoon & relish....).
7. Garnish with parsely ,chives,olives & red peppers(smoky ones make a great delicious sweet garnish)

BALSAMIC VINEGRATTE DRESSING

3 TBH ITALIAN BALSAMIC VINEGAR
1 TBH RED WINE(OR RED WINE VINEGAR)
2 TSPS DIJON MUSTARD
2 CLOVES GARLIC,V FINELY MINCED
3/4 CUP EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL(i used portuguese)
1-2 tbh honey
1 tbh herbs to taste(optional-i used dried thyme)
sea salt & fresh cracked black pepper to taste

1.Whisk together vinegar,wine,mustard & garlic.
2.Pour oil into vinegar in a slow stream while whisking.tip in honey too & whisk.
3.add herbs, salt pepper to taste.

if u have a blender or magic bullet or one of those excellent(i cant remeber that name)blenders within seconds,as easy as 1-2-3, u have a great dressing with the consistency of creamy myo,that holds on its own very well too)

MAMA MIA.....OOO LA LA LA........