Fun with leftovers: Orange Chinese cashew chicken

Game plan:

Put some basmati rice on the stove to cook (follow package directions.)

Shred leftover chicken and toss with Hoisin sauce and a mounded Tbsp of orange zest.

Mince a couple of cloves of garlic and a knob of fresh ginger and slice up a few green onions (reserve one green onion for garnish.)

Segment the orange that you used for the zest, letting any juice fall into the chicken. (You'll need about half an orange for each serving of chicken.)

Get some cashews at the ready (I keep them in the freezer so they’re always there for me when I need them -- without going rancid.) Say, a scant handful for each serving of chicken.

Dribble a bit of vegetable oil in a pan or wok, and then cook the garlic, ginger and green onion for a minute or until fragrant.

Toss in the shredded chicken mixture and warm through. Add the orange segments, some chili flakes, and then the cashews. Toss around for a couple of minutes more. Serve on warm basmati rice and top with green onion.

How fun was that?

Chicken stuffed peppers

If you're like me you hate stuffed peppers, and moreover think that cooked green peppers are one of the single worst tastes in the world. Honestly, using a fat green pepper as the vessel and main flavouring for a stuffing of grainy meat and rice is Looney Tunes. 

But say this time around you decided to stuff colourful, sweet bell peppers with a delicious chicken mixture? Now we're talking. 

I got this idea from Giada De Laurentiis, after watching her stuff peppers and zucchini boats on TV. Like hers, my version isn't too saucy, overcooked or goopy, but instead, fresh, pert and filling. 

And perhaps best of all, they don't taste a thing like green peppers. 

STUFFED TRI-COLOUR PEPPERS

(serves 4)

Ingredients:

1 small onion, grated or finely chopped

1 large egg, beaten

1 Tbsp herbs de Provence

1 Tbsp olive oil

about 6 black olives, chopped

2 Tbsp ketchup

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cracked black pepper

1/4 cup grated Parmesan

1/4 cup breadcrumbs or matzo meal

1 lb ground chicken

3 large bell peppers, 1 orange, 1 red, 1 yellow, halved and seeded with white veins removed

about 1 cup tomato sauce

Method:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Drizzle some oil into a baking dish that will fit 6 pepper halves.

In a bowl, mix together all other ingredients, except for peppers and tomato sauce. 

Lay prepped peppers in the baking dish and stuff with chicken mixture -- really pack it in there and mound it up -- then top each pepper with some tomato sauce. 

Bake in the preheated oven, uncovered, for about 45 minutes or until peppers are soft and the dish is starting to brown.

An Ode to Jamie

Still away in Vancouver, yet somehow she still finds the time to keep Recipe Mondays going. What a dynamo that Amy is!

If you don't like beets, turn away. This recipe is a continuation of this recipe. 

Rather, let's call it a prequel. 

It's also kind of a tip of the hat to Jamie Oliver in that it's fast, earthy, honest and delicious. Here's what to do, mate.

Wash a bunch of fresh beets (a bunch is usually 3-4 medium sized) and their greens (aka the beet tops). Cut off the greens, slice and reserve. 

Slice the root end off of the beets and then wrap beets in foil. Put in a preheated 400 F oven for an hour to 1.5 hours or until done. 

Meanwhile, heat a drizzle of olive oil in a cast iron skillet (or other oven-proof pan, meaning no plastic handles to melt, etc.) 

Sear a few bone-in chicken legs and thighs with salt and pepper and Herbs de Provence. Remove seared chicken from skillet and set aside on a plate but keep heat on skillet. Add a knob of butter or more olive oil to skillet, stir in a big chunky chopped carrot and onion, and the sliced beet greens. Add a few glugs of dry white wine, more salt and pepper, and then lay the chicken over top and drizzle about 1/4 cup of good honey over all. 

Pop it in the oven with the still-roasting beets, uncovered, until juices run clear from the chicken -- about 35-40 minutes. 

And what of those beets? Click back up top to use them as the perfect starter.

While we're on the topic of Jamie, let's talk Britain. When I'm not tooting my own horn, I let other people do it for me. 

P.S. Whoever is the nicest to me has a shot of coming on my free trip to Merry Olde.