May 30th, 2010 by Jan Littlehales
The next time you have roast chicken, don’t throw away the carcass – use it to make this chicken stock recipe. Chicken stock is a fantastic base for soups and with winter upon us – in Australia at least – there couldn’t be a better time to make your own chicken stock.
The preparation for this chicken stock recipe is less than ten minutes. You then just let it bubble away on the stove until it’s ready.
Chicken Stock Recipe – Ingredients
- One roast chicken carcass
- 1 Onion – cut into quarters
- 2 or 3 carrots – each cut into 2 or 3 pieces
- 2 or 3 sticks of celery – each cut into 3 or 4 pieces
- 2 or 3 garlic cloves – each cut in half
- Handful of fresh parsley – optional
- 1 or 2 dried bay leafs – optional
- 1 tomato – cut in half
- 8 or so black pepper corns – whole
- 2 – 3 litres of water – enough to cover carcass
Chicken Stock Recipe – Method
- Put all ingredients into a large pan
- Bring to the boil and simmer for around 1 hour
- Allow to cool a little then strain – throw away all but the liquid
- Store chicken stock in air-tight container/s in the fridge or freezer until required
Handy Tips
- I take any left-over skin off the carcass before making the stock – that’s where the fat is (saturated) so I prefer not to use it
- Take out any left-over stuffing from the chicken cavity – you don’t really want that in your stock
- Chicken stock will keep for 2 or 3 days in the fridge – or freeze for a month or so until required
Variations
- You can use uncooked chicken bones in place of a roast chicken carcass
- For a Veggie Stock just leave out the chicken carcass and add some extra vegetables – cabbage works really well
- For a Fish Stock use raw fish bones in place of the chicken carcass
On it’s own this Chicken Stock Recipe isn’t very exciting, but it will make scrumptious Pumpkin Soup and Veggie Soup – recipes coming your way in the coming weeks – all in Ten Minutes of course.
So there you have it, another Dinner in Ten Minutes recipe. Let me know how you go with this one.
Jan Littlehales
Posted in Cooking Tips | 7 Comments »
May 18th, 2010 by Jan Littlehales
It will take you less than ten minutes to prepare this yummy apple crumble recipe. You can cook it straight away or put it in the fridge and cook later. It’s so easy and the best thing is you can substitute apple for whatever takes your fancy – or whatever you happen to have in your pantry.
I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve cooked this apple crumble recipe. The surprise for my family is guessing what fruit lies under the crumble! This recipe will serve approx 6 people.
To keep things really simple, I use a cup measure for this recipe – the cup should hold approx 250ml.
Apple Crumble Recipe – Ingredients
- One large tin (approx 800 g) cooked apples
- Approx 150 g butter (or your usual spread)
- One cup plain flour
- Quarter cup of sugar
- Half cup of oats
Apple Crumble Recipe – Method
- Empty tin of apples into an oven proof bowl or deep dish
- In a separate bowl, rub butter and flour together with fingers (messy job – suggest you put on disposable kitchen gloves)
- Add sugar and oats and mix everything together
- Put crumble mix on top of apple
- Cook in moderate oven for approx 30 minutes – it should be nice and golden coloured on top
Serving Suggestions
- Serve with ice cream, cream or custard (or all three)
- Also delicious with pureed mixed berries (use frozen – just microwave with a little sugar until mushy)
Variations
- Tin pears work very well – drain off most of the juice
- Tin peaches also good – also drained
- Tin Rhubarb – my favourite, but alas my boys aren’t keen
- Frozen mixed berries are great – you may need to add some sugar
- Combination – pears with a few mixed berries on top is delicious
- Apple with a couple of sliced bananas works well too
- Of course you can use fresh fruit if you wish (and have more time)
- If you use fresh apple or pear, peel, core and slice, then cook slowly in a little water until soft
By the way, consider this very easy apple crumble recipe if you’ve having a dinner party. Cook it in one of your nicest looking dishes and serve with all the trimmings. Your guests will think you’ve gone to so much trouble – and yet you had it prepared in less than ten minutes. I’ve yet to meet anybody who doesn’t like apple crumble – so make more than you think you’ll need, because everyone will want seconds!
Thanks for reading another Dinner in Ten Minutes recipe.
Posted in Easy Desserts | 4 Comments »
May 5th, 2010 by Jan Littlehales
Stir frys are quick and easy to make and this Chicken Stir Fry Recipe is no exception.
So, let’s get straight to it. This recipe will serve approx 4 people. And, by the way, tossing the veggies is optional!
Chicken Stir Fry Recipe – Ingredients
- Olive Oil
- One Onion – chopped
- Two carrots – chopped or sliced
- One or two chicken breasts – chopped into small bite sized pieces
- One red or green pepper (capsicum) – chopped or sliced
- Frozen corn – or fresh is you have it
- Approx 80 ml soy sauce
- 1 or 2 Tablespoons crushed ginger (from a jar or fresh is you have it)
- 2 or 3 Tablespoons sweet chili sauce (use hot chili if you prefer more heat – 1 or 2 teaspoons recommended, either from a jar or fresh)
- Ready to eat noodles (or dried noodles)
Chicken Stir Fry Recipe – Method
- Cook onion and carrots in olive oil in a large fry pan or wok
- While onion and carrots are cooking, add noodles to large pan of boiling water to ‘separate’. (If you’re using dried noodles, it will take a minute or two longer)
- Drain noodles
- Add chicken to onion/carrots and stir fry until just cooked through
- Add capsicum and corn and cook for another minute or two
- Add soy sauce, ginger and chili sauce and mix through
- Add the drained noodles
- Mix and serve
Serving Suggestions
- I like to serve directly from the fry pan/wok at the table
- Have extra soy sauce and sweet chili (or hot chili) on the table for those who want it
- Serve from bowls and use chop sticks
Variations
The sky’s the limit when it comes to stir fry variations. Here are a few suggestions:-
- Try this chicken stir fry recipe with prawns instead of chicken
- Leave out the chicken and add more veggies
- Broccoli is delicious in stir fry – the chopped stems will need more cooking than the florets
- Add some spinach towards the end of cooking and heat through until just wilted
- Try string beans or snow peas (fresh or frozen)
- Frozen peas are quick and easy
- Serve with boiled rice instead of noodles
So there you have it, Chicken Stir Fry Recipe – another dinner in ten minutes.
Looking forward to your comments and suggestions.
ps – John, hope you enjoy this!
Jan Littlehales
Posted in Easy Dinners | 5 Comments »
Apr 15th, 2010 by Jan Littlehales
Okay, ten seconds might be pushing it – but it certainly wont take ten minutes!
Just follow this how to make salad dressing recipe and you’ll wonder why you’ve been buying salad dressings for so many years.
This is a basic salad dressing and this recipe will make enough to dress a family sized salad.
How to Make Salad Dressing – Ingredients
- 4 Table Spoons good quality Olive Oil
- 2 Table Spoons White Wine Vinegar (I like to use a sweet, fruity one like a White Wine Balsamic Vinegar)
- 1 Tea Spoon Dijon Mustard (less if you don’t like the dressing too thick)
- Optional – quarter Tea Spoon of sugar (not necessary if you’re using a sweet white wine vinegar)
- Optional – Black Pepper
How to Make Salad Dressing – Method
- Put all ingredients into a bowl or screw top jar
- Either hand whisk in bowl or shake in jar
Variations to Basic Salad Dressing
- Try different Olive Oils (you’d be surprised how different they taste)
- Try a different oil – if you must!
- Try a red wine vinegar for a completely different taste
- Red Wine Balsamic vinegar is also nice
- Try adding coarse grain mustard instead of Dijon
Serving Suggestions
- Pour over any green salad
- Use as an alternative to a creamy dressing on cold pasta salad – just mix to combine
- Add to cold rice salad – just mix to combine
- Pour over sliced tomatoes – delicious!
- Make this how to make salad dressing recipe in advance, but always add to salad at the last minute
Storage
- You can make more than you need and store in the fridge in a screw top jar
- The dressing will go a little thick in the fridge, but it will go back to normal consistency once it reaches room temperature
- Suggest you take it out of the fridge for a little while before you need to serve it
I do hope you enjoy making your own salad dressing. I’m sure you’d agree, there’s really nothing to it. Once you’ve made it a few dozen times, you wont even need to use measuring spoons anymore. You’ll become a how to make salad dressing expert!
Thanks for visiting Dinner in Ten Minutes blog. Please leave your comments and suggestions in the Comments Box below.
Jan Littlehales
Posted in Cooking Tips | 4 Comments »
Mar 31st, 2010 by Jan Littlehales
Easter is just around the corner and many of you will want to cook fish on Good Friday, so why not try this salmon fillet recipe. It’s quick, easy and so simple to make.
There are many ways to cook salmon, such as on the BBQ, in the oven and even under the grill. But shallow frying is by far my family’s favourite – it makes the salmon crispy on the outside and moist and flaky inside. Delicious!
Salmon Fillet Recipe – Ingredients
- Salmon fillets (one per person) – I prefer no skin and no bones
- Olive Oil for frying
- Lemon wedges to serve
- Pepper to serve
- Good quality Tartar Sauce to serve
Note: Cooking time will depend on how thick the salmon fillets are and also how you like your salmon cooked. Restaurants in Sydney tend to serve cooked salmon very rare, which I don’t particularly like (unless I’m having sushi). I prefer it just cooked all the way through. Remember the salmon will keep cooking for a little while after you take it out of the pan, so don’t be tempted to over-cook. Once you’ve made this salmon fillet recipe a few times, you’ll get to know what the family likes and doesn’t like.
Salmon Fillet Recipe – Method
- Just cover the base of a heavy base fry pan with oilive oil
- Heat to quite hot
- Turn fry pan heat to medium and carefully add the Salmon fillets
- Let them cook for approx 3 or 4 minutes (see note above) – you will see the salmon turning pink from the bottom up
- Turn salmon over and cook other side (the first side should be nice a crispy)
- Cook second side for similar time and serve with lemon wedges, pepper and a good quality tartar sauce
Additional Serving Suggestions
- Serve with either baked or boiled potatoes or oven baked chips
- On-the-cob fresh sweet corn (just microwave on medium high for a couple of minutes – so easy)
- Fresh sweet peas or ordinary fresh peas
- A fresh green salad
I’m sure you can think of other delicious things to serve with this salmon fillet recipe.
So there you have it. A very quick and easy salmon fillet recipe. Let me know if you give it a try. It’s a great meal for the family when you really can’t be bothered spending too much time, or making too much effort in the kitchen – and it’s a winner every time in my house!
Thanks for reading my Dinner in Ten Minutes blog.
Jan Littlehales
Posted in Easy Dinners | 5 Comments »
