Category: Main Course

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2+ years since I last wrote anything here, so Im letting ChatGPT bring me back

Its been a while. No real reason other that I havent been here other than life, time, lack of things to say.

Today though, I was challanged to let ChatGPT write a new post for me. I figured why not and asked ChatGPT to write a post in my style for a new chicken recipe.

I havent vetted the recipe or checked it for errors and I will be making it as is for dinner tonight. Hold thumbs I dont poisen anyone 😉

Without further ado, a chicken recipe from ChatGPT:

Looking for a delicious and easy chicken recipe to add to your dinner rotation? Look no further than this simple and flavorful spicy, lemon garlic chicken.

Ingredients:

  • 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1/4 cup lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon paprika
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

  1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.
  2. In a small bowl, whisk together the garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, oregano, cayenne pepper, paprika, salt, and pepper.
  3. Place the chicken breasts in a baking dish, and pour the marinade over the top, making sure to coat the chicken evenly.
  4. Bake the chicken for 25-30 minutes, or until it is cooked through and the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees F.
  5. Remove the chicken from the oven and let it rest for a few minutes before slicing and serving.

This spicy lemon garlic chicken is perfect for those who like a little heat in their meals. The cayenne pepper and paprika add a nice kick to the tangy lemon and garlic flavors, making for a flavorful and delicious dish.

Serve the chicken with your favorite sides, such as roasted vegetables, rice, or a cool cucumber salad to balance out the spice. Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to three days, making this recipe perfect for meal prep or busy weeknight dinners.

Give this recipe a try and let us know what you think in the comments below!

Posted on

Soup. In Summer? Yes!

I saw someone on Facebook mention making carrot soup, and despite the temperature being upward of 35C I decided it sounded really good. So I made some!

Soup in a bowl
close up of soup in a bowl
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Roasted Carrot and Ginger Soup
Prep Time
15 mins
Cook Time
1 hr
 
Course: Soup
Author: Gina
Ingredients
  • 1 kg carrots, peeled and diced into chunks
  • 1 onion, diced
  • garlic (Im not giving you an amount, you know how much garlic you want to add)
  • 2 tablespoons ginger, minced or fresh
  • olive oil
  • salt
  • black pepper
  • 2 tablespoons vegetable stock powder
  • 6 cups water
Instructions

  1. Heat your oven to 200°C

  2. In a bowl, toss the carrots with a bit of olive oil and salt & pepper to coat

  3. Spread the carrots on a lined baking tray and roast until soft, about 30 minutes

  4. Once carrots are ready, in your soup pot, fry the onion, garlic and ginger for a few minutes, until onion is soft

  5. Add the carrots to the pot

  6. Mix the stock powder with a cup of the water and add the water to the pot

  7. Add the rest of the water to the pot

  8. Bring to the boil and then simmer for approximately half an hour

  9. When you are ready to eat, blend the soup with a stick blender

Recipe Notes

You can add or decrease the amount of garlic and ginger to suit your taste.

I found that roasting the carrots made them quite sweet and that the kick of the ginger was good at balancing out the flavours.

This soup was also amazing the next day, the longer it simmers the longer the flavours have to take hold.

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Black Lentil and Chickpea Stew

We have decided its time to start eating less meat and chicken and try out more veggie dishes. Not only is it healthier but its cheaper too.

This was my first real veggie dish with lentils and it turned out so well. Aaron even went back for seconds when I thought I would have had to bribe him to even try it.

Lentil and chickpea stew with carrots over rice
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Black Lentil and Chickpea Stew
Prep Time
15 mins
Cook Time
40 mins
 
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Mediterranean
Keyword: Vegan, Vegetarian
Servings: 4
Author: Gina
Ingredients
  • olive oil
  • 1 medium onion roughly chopped
  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 2 teaspoons ras al hanut spice
  • 2 teaspoons sweet chili flakes
  • garlic crushed, as much as you like
  • 2 cups vegetable stock
  • 2 cups water
  • 1 can diced or crushed tomatoes
  • 2 medium carrots peeled and sliced into thin rounds
  • 1 cup black lentils uncooked, soaked
  • 1 tin ready to eat chickpeas
Instructions

  1. Heat oil in the pot

  2. Add onions, garlic and spices, stir until everything is mixed and the onions are soft

  3. Add stock, water, tomatoes, carrots and lentils

  4. Bring to the boil and then lower heat and simmer, uncovered for about 25 minutes

  5. Add chickpeas and simmer for a further 10 minutes

Recipe Notes

Serve over rice or with naan

I adapted this recipe from vanillaandbean.com

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Healthy homemade burgers

The last two days I have been home sick with Aaron. He’s ok, just another bout of viral-thing-itus. But, being home meant plenty of time to cook.

Over two days, we made homemade pizza, homemade chicken burgers and we made another batch of pasta sauce.

Here is the recipe for the chicken burgers. They were so good we ate all (8!) of them in one sitting!

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Breaded Chicken Burgers
Prep Time
15 mins
Cook Time
20 mins
Total Time
35 mins
 
Quick and easy to make breaded chicken burgers
Course: Main Course
Servings: 8
Author: Gina
Ingredients
  • 500 g chicken mince
  • Half onion minced or grated
  • A few cloves of garlic minced
  • Half cup breadcrumbs/panko
  • Salt, pepper, sweet chili flakes to taste
  • 1 egg
  • More breadcrumbs/panko for covering the patties
Instructions
  1. Mix all ingredients well.
  2. Take handfuls of the mixture and shape into balls then flatten to desired thickness (my kids did this part and had a blast).
  3. Set the patties aside and heat some oil in medium heat pan.
  4. Dip each side of the pattie into the crumbs before placing in the hot oil.
  5. Fry for 5-10 min each side (depends on thickness of patties).

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Gobble gobble gobble

Last night, while scavenging the freezer for something to make for dinner, I found a turkey breast tucked away in the back of a draw.

I forgot I had it and we haven’t had turkey in a while so there was all kinds of excitement.

Except… I always make turkey breast in a tomato and red wine sauce and that sounded boring. So I created a new recipe.

 

Sweet Chili Turkey
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Prep Time
10 min
Cook Time
50 min
Total Time
1 hr
Prep Time
10 min
Cook Time
50 min
Total Time
1 hr
Ingredients
  1. 1 large turkey breast. Mine was skinless and boneless but it would work with skin too.
  2. 1 medium onion, sliced into rings
  3. 3 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped
  4. 1 tablespoon sweet chili flakes
  5. Olive oil
  6. Lemon juice
Instructions
  1. Pre-heat the oven to 180C.
  2. In a pirex dish or oven proof dish with a lid, place the turkey breast skin side up if you are using one with skin.
  3. layer the onion around and on top of the turkey.
  4. Sprinkle the garlic and sweet chili over the top of the breast.
  5. Drizzle the oil and lemon juice to taste over the breast.
  6. Cover and bake for 50 minutes.
Notes
  1. If you use a breast with skin, remove the lid and cook for a further 10 minutes so the skin gets crispy.
  2. The turkey came out moist and delicious and the lemon juice and olive oil made a nice sauce to pour over rice or couscous.
A Bit of This A Bit of That https://gnatj.com/

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Just call me Jamie

A while back I got a bee in my bonnet to haul out my pasta machine and make home made pasta.

What possessed me to start the process at 6pm for dinner that night will forever be unknown.

Making pasta from scratch should never be rushed. 

Actually making the dough, is a process that can take up to half an hour. You really need to give the kneading process time. The longer you work the dough the smoother and more elastic it is. You also need to let the dough rest before rolling it.

Then, since the machine is small, you need to actually make your pasta in small batches. Rolling the pasta takes time, you need to roll the dough through each setting a few times to ensure its even. Rolling the entire ball of dough can take over an hour.

But, its worth it, Fresh pasta is delicious!

So before I give you the recipe, here are a few tips from me to you.

  1. Plan ahead. Set aside a morning or afternoon where you have at least 2-3 hours uninterrupted time. I suggest an afternoon because of tip #3 below.
  2. Don’t make pasta alone. Rope in the kids to help. Mine had a blast helping me roll out the pasta and choose which type of pasta to cut. Alternatively invite some friends around and make a day of it. Make the pasta, make the sauces from scratch, maybe even make a batch of artisan bread to go with your fresh pasta.
  3. If you go the friend route (or even the kids route), open a bottle of wine and enjoy a sip or two between rolling batches.
  4. Take a break. The kneading and then the rolling takes work. Your shoulders will get sore. This is also why you need time. Sit between batches. Maybe stop rolling the dough for a while and make one of the sauces.
  5. Take the time to let your pasta dry a bit before cooking. You can cook it right away, but I find letting it dry for at least 20 minutes helps the pasta maintain its shape when cooking.

pasta
Bonus tip! If you don’t have a pasta drying rack, you can use a folding clothes drying stand. Just make sure the rack is clean before you start hanging your pasta to dry!

Pasta Dough
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Prep Time
2 hr
Cook Time
5 min
Total Time
2 hr 5 min
Prep Time
2 hr
Cook Time
5 min
Total Time
2 hr 5 min
Ingredients
  1. 4 cups pasta flour (you can use '00' fine flour or regular flour if you want, I bought a bag of flour that said pasta flour on it and it was delish)
  2. 6 large eggs
  3. A pinch of salt
Instructions
  1. In a large bowl or on a large, clean surface, place your flour and sprinkle the salt into it.
  2. Make a well in the middle.
  3. Crack your eggs into the well.
  4. With your hands, start bringing the flour into the eggs in the centre.
  5. Keep working the flour into the eggs from the outside in.
  6. Once the flour and eggs have become a rough ball, turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and start kneading.
  7. Keep kneading the dough, adding a little bit of flour if it is too sticky until the ball starts to become smooth.
  8. You will know the dough is ready when the ball is smooth and silky and stretchy.
  9. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and leave in a cool place (or in your fridge) for about 20 minutes to rest.
  10. When you are ready to start rolling, remove a small ball of dough to work with and cover the remaining dough well before setting it aside.
  11. Follow the instructions on your machine to achieve the desired thickness and type of pasta.
  12. Once your pasta is cut, hang it immediately so it doesn't clump. You could also lay it flat on a floured tea towel.
  13. Let the pasta dry for at least 20 minutes before boiling in salted water for about 5 minutes.
Notes
  1. I had about a 3rd of the dough left and didn't feel like rolling it. I left it tightly wrapped in plastic in the fridge and rolled it out the next day and it was still easy to work with and delicious. I'm not sure leaving it for more than one day will work but if you don't have time to roll it all in one day you can definitely leave it overnight and have 2 days of fresh pasta out of one batch.
Adapted from Jamie Oliver
Adapted from Jamie Oliver
A Bit of This A Bit of That https://gnatj.com/
 

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Whisky: The water of life (and dinner)

I often use wine when I cook. I dont only drink it, I use it in the dishes too.

Many of my chicken dishes use wine, especially when baking the chicken.

A while back I purchased a bottle of Golan Heights Distillery Whisky. Its the first Israeli whisky and I think its pretty decent.

whisky

So I got to thinking, if I can cook with wine why not whisky?

A quick google search showed quite a few whisky chicken recipes so I mashed a few recipes together according to the ingredients I had on hand and O. M. G! I wish the internet allowed you to smell images. This was one of the best roast chickens I have ever made!

Whisky Roasted Chicken
A dark roast chicken, perfect with rice and roast sweet potato
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Prep Time
10 min
Cook Time
1 hr 30 min
Total Time
1 hr 35 min
Prep Time
10 min
Cook Time
1 hr 30 min
Total Time
1 hr 35 min
Ingredients
  1. 1 large whole chicken
  2. 3 tablespoons whisky
  3. 2 tablespoons lemon juice
  4. 2 tablespoons silan (date syrup), you can use honey too.
  5. 1 teaspoon salt
  6. 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
  7. 1 teaspoon basil
  8. 1 teaspoon oregano
  9. 1 teaspoon rosemary
  10. 2 cloves garlic, peeled and mashed/diced finely
Instructions
  1. Preheat your oven to 180C.
  2. In a bowl mix the whisky, lemon juice, silan, salt, pepper, herbs and garlic.
  3. You can give them a whizz with a hand blender but I just stirred them with a fork.
  4. Place chicken, breast side up, in a roasting dish.
  5. Using your hands, scoop up some of the sauce and rub all over the chicken.
  6. You can rub some of the sauce under the skin too.
  7. Keep rubbing in the sauce until the chicken is covered.
  8. If there is any sauce left, pour it over the chicken, it will mix with the chicken fat as it roasts and makes a delicious gravy.
  9. Roast, uncovered, for at least 1 hour per kg of chicken.
  10. Remove from the oven and let it sit for 5 minutes before carving.
Notes
  1. Serve with rice or couscous to mop up the gravy.
A Bit of This A Bit of That https://gnatj.com/

Posted on

#Zombieprompts Week 14

Share your best soup recipe.

We’ve just seen the end of winter here in the Northern Hemisphere (good riddance!) so no more soup for us. Although chicken soup is always welcome, even in 40°C weather.

chicken-doctor-people-soup-prescription

This winter I made a few ‘throw everything in the pot’ soups and they all actually turned out really well.

In my opinion there are a few basic steps that MUST happen in order for any soup to be good, regardless of the ingredients.

  • Onion. Diced finely and fried until golden. Every soup should start with this as a base.
  • Herbs. Dried or fresh or frozen. You can use whatever you have on hand and don’t be shy, the more the merrier.
  • Time. You cant rush a good soup. Cook your veggies on a lower heat for longer. If you can, make your soup the day before you need it. Soup always tastes better the next day.

So, here is a basic recipe. You can adapt it depending what veggies you have in your fridge.

'Throw Everything In The Pot' Soup
A thick, smooth soup, perfect with fresh bread. The recipe below includes veggies I happen to have in my fridge at the time of writing this.
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Ingredients
  1. 2 tablespoons olive oil (I use 2 'ice cubes' with chopped herbs from my freezer, very Pinterersty of me)
  2. 1 large onion, diced
  3. Herbs such as rosemary, thyme, cilantro, mixed Italian herbs, basically whatever you have on hand
  4. Garlic, either fresh, chopped or garlic powder
  5. Salt & pepper to taste
The following veggies are not set, use all or some or add what you have
  1. Potatoes, peeled and cubed
  2. Sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
  3. Carrots, peeled and chopped into chunks
  4. Turnips, peeled and cubed
  5. Leeks, leaves chopped off, cut into 1 cm thick slices
  6. Celery, leaves chopped off, cut into 1 cm thick slices
  7. Water to cover chopped veggies
Instructions
  1. Once you have washed, peeled, diced and chopped all the veggies, add your olive oil and onion to a large pot and saute until golden.
  2. Add remaining veggies to the pot and sprinkle with the herbs, salt and pepper.
  3. Stir the veggies until they are all coated in the oil and spices.
  4. Keep stirring the veggies every 5 minutes or so until they are all heated through and starting to soften.
  5. Add enough water to the pot so that all the veggies are covered. I usually add about 1 cm above the veggie line.
  6. Turn down your heat to a simmer, cover the pot, leaving a small gap to allow steam to escape and simmer for an hour or longer until veggies are soft and falling apart when poked with a fork.
  7. Remove soup from heat and allow to cool slightly.
  8. You can leave the soup at this point and have a chunky broth or you can blend the veggies with a stick blender which is what I do.
  9. Reheat the soup when you are ready to eat.
Notes
  1. You can really add any veggies you want to this soup, peppers, squash, pumpkin, you name it you can add it.
A Bit of This A Bit of That https://gnatj.com/

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The French know what they are doing.

Part of my last organic veggie order from Maggie’s Garden was about 15 small brown onions. I immediately thought of making a French onion soup.

Part of what intrigued me about this soup is that it is traditionally served with a piece of toasted crusty bread with cheese melted on top. Ummmm, sourdough bread anyone?

image

Yiddisha French Onion Soup
Serves 4
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Prep Time
10 min
Cook Time
25 min
Total Time
35 min
Prep Time
10 min
Cook Time
25 min
Total Time
35 min
Ingredients
  1. 1 tablespoon oil
  2. 2 tablespoons butter (margarine if you want it to be parve)
  3. 2 cups thinly sliced onions
  4. Salt & pepper to taste
  5. 1 teaspoon thyme (I used oregano since that's what I had)
  6. 1 bay leaf
  7. 1/2 cup dry sherry ( this is where the yiddisha comes in, I used sweet kiddish wine)
  8. 6 cups beef stock (a parve beef stock cube in boiling water if you keep kosher)
  9. Thick slices of crusty bread (hello sourdough!)
  10. Lots of sliced or grated Gruyere or Swiss cheese (here in Israel I used sliced Emek cheese)
Instructions
  1. In a heavy bottomed pot, melt the oil and butter and add the onions.
  2. Season with the salt, pepper and herbs and cook for about 15 minutes storing often.
  3. When the onions have caramalised, add the bay leaf and the sherry/kiddish wine and stir.
  4. Add the stock and bring the soup to a boil.
  5. In the mean time, heat the grill in your oven.
  6. Place the bread slices on a baking sheet and top with slices of cheese.
  7. Place under the grill until the cheese is melted an bubbling.
  8. Dish up the soup into bowls and either float a slice of cheesy bread on top or serve the bread on the side.
Adapted from Rachael Ray via foodnetwork.com
Adapted from Rachael Ray via foodnetwork.com
A Bit of This A Bit of That https://gnatj.com/

Posted on

Left over roast chicken = chicken pie heaven

On Friday I roasted a chicken along with potatoes and sweet potatoes and by the end of the meal we had one breast, a leg and a few potatoes left over. Not enough for leftovers for four people the next day but enough to make a chicken pie which can feed 4-6 people depending on portion size and side dishes.

I put everything in the fridge and last night decided it was time for the pie.

The best part about this recipe is that as long as you have the chicken, you can pretty much add any veggies you like and it will taste delicious. I used up the leftover potatoes by chopping them into cubes and I also threw in half a can of corn. You could also add carrots, peas or any other tinned or frozen veggies you have in the cupboard or freezer or just use whatever leftover veggies you have in the fridge.

pie

Whenever I use the heart cutter to decorate food Faith tells me that the food was ‘made in love’.

Chicken Pie
Great way to use left over roast chicken.
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Prep Time
15 min
Cook Time
30 min
Total Time
45 min
Prep Time
15 min
Cook Time
30 min
Total Time
45 min
Ingredients
  1. 2 cups chicken shredded (I used a breast and a leg of a roast chicken)
  2. 1 cup veggies (I used a few roast potatoes, roast sweet potatoes and half a cup of tinned corn)
  3. 1 cup water
  4. Garlic powder
  5. Herbs and spices to taste
  6. Salt and pepper to taste
  7. 2 tablespoons margarine, melted
  8. 2 tablespoons flour
  9. 1 sheet puff or shortcrust frozen pastry, thawed to roll
  10. Egg for brushing
Instructions
  1. Heat the oven to 180C.
  2. Place shredded chicken and veggies in a bowl and mix (I dumped them directly into the Pirex pie dish).
  3. In a pan add the garlic, salt, pepper and any spices or herbs you want to the water and bring to the boil.
  4. Melt the margarine and add the flour.
  5. Mix until it forms a gloopy ball.
  6. Once the water is boiling add the flour mixture and stir well to dissolve.
  7. Continue stirring until your sauce has thickened.
  8. Add your sauce to your chicken and veggies and mix to coat everything well.
  9. Roll out your pastry on a floured surface.
  10. Cut out the pastry to fit your pie dish and place gently on top of the chicken.
  11. Brush with beaten egg.
  12. You can add decorative pastry at this point and brush again with the egg.
  13. Poke a few holes or slits into the pastry to allow steam to escape.
  14. Place uncovered in the oven for 30 minutes or until the pastry has browned.
Notes
  1. You can substitute half the water for white wine.
  2. For a thinner sauce just add more liquid.
  3. Serve with rice or couscous.
A Bit of This A Bit of That https://gnatj.com/