Tag Archives: Chicken

Oh Chicken!

December 18, 2017 Munchkin

Hello! This is definitely my last entry on the chicken experience…I actually had a dream (bad) last night that I was in a hotel room and there were chickens running amok after me. Gnome says I have chicken in the brain (?medical term) and that it is best that I stop eating chicken for a while. (Or should I play number 22 in lotto??!!).

Okay, so I have pictures this time! Gnome dug two pits; one for bread and one for chicken.

I made the bread with 3 parts flour and 1 part oats and placed it in a greased cast-iron pot. We aimed for 45 minutes but at 22 minutes, I sniffed the air and smelt some burning. We quickly opened it up and the upper crust was burnt. Nevertheless, the bread was cooked perfectly to a hot fluffiness. We cut the top part off and juggled pieces around to get the freshly baked bread into our mouths. Oooh scrumptious hot bread…

Next time, we will bake the bread for 15 minutes and Gnome says we should put raisins in it for something different.

And, we did the potatoes in the usual way; put in paper bags soaked in water and then placed under shallow coals for about 45 to 60 minutes. The skin gets hard on the outside like a shell and the coals give it a charcoal flavour.

The chicken; this time it was a smaller 5lb chicken and our estimate of 60 minutes was a bit too much so the skin got slightly burnt. It was still very, very tasty and dripping with juice and flavour. The test stuffing was composed of mashed potato, carrots, shiitake mushrooms and water chestnuts. We also added raisins since Gnome’s mother suggested that some dried fruits would go very well; this was a very nice addition. The stuffing was a success and absorbed the flavour of the chicken very well.

We think that it should be 10 minutes cooking time per 1lb of chicken so the 5lb chicken should only need about 45 to 50 minutes next time. We also halved unpeeled onions and placed them around the chicken…these caramelized (??burnt really to be honest with you) too much but still tasted good. The onion was so so soft that it could be scooped out of the onion shell.

Verdict: we are getting quite confident at cooking with coals…it is practice, practice, practice as per usual. Here are some (coffee table magazine) pictures for you to look at so that you can live vicariously through the Munchkin and Gnome Blog (Ha-Ha!!).

Okay, this ends the chicken experience and I will endeavour to write on a different topic and then get funny dreams about that too…

Belize, Food

Mango Chicken Curry.

August 17, 2016 Munchkin

Munchkin.More.Eating A good old authentic curry is made from onions and Indian spices…slowly, slowly cooked…trust me, I should know this since I am Scottish! This recipe uses the same cooking process but instead of just onions, mangoes are also used to make the curry sauce.

This curry recipe does not take so long (compare with 48 hour Venison Curry!). This one is relatively fast and can be enjoyed after 2 hours cooking…yum!! Check out the link Mango Chicken Curry for the recipe. The mangoes add a fruitiness to the delectable taste experience…with the Indian spices tumeric (yellow ginger), cinnamon, cumin and clove you simply can’t go wrong!

Lovely, Lovely….can’t beat a good curry!!

Belize, Food, Plants

Let’s Do Some Foraging!

April 24, 2016 Munchkin

Munchkin.Bossie

Do you know that you can forage for greens in Belize? This is purslane…it’s a perfectly good vegetable to eat!

If you are really looking for “organic” one of the answers is foraging. There is plenty of this around…just get your shade hat on and start walking about…

It’s got all the usual good stuff that you would expect from a green vegetable: It is rich in vitamin A and C and has a high percentage of omega 3 which is usually only found in fish oils and flax seed. You can eat it raw in salads or you can cook it anyway which you want. Taste wise, it is mildly acidic with a crunchy texture; the flowers and stems are edible.

C’mon then…get out there and start picking your greens…I’m doing it!

For more information click on Purslane.

I also have some recipes:

Coconut Purslane Salad

Purslane Chicken Chow Mein

Belize, Food, Our Products

It’s Curry Night!!

March 15, 2016 Munchkin

Munchkin.Another.Eating.Shot Tonight we have a Bengali style curry. Thank-you Rumpa for the priceless cooking lessons back in the good old days in Glasgow. This curry has our own coconut cream (which you can purchase at Green Supaul’s in Punta Gorda).

I love cooking up curries because the wonderful aromatic herbs pervade through the house. This is when the dogs and the cat start sniffing around because it smells so delicious! Even the cat gets curry sauce on his gizzard!

Herbs and Spices used; cardamom, star anise, cumin seeds, mustard seeds and bay leaves.

Plate.of.Spices

Powdered spices used; curry powder, yellow ginger (tumeric), green chili (home-made), cinnamon and clove.

Ooooh…look at this. A “quick” curry in 2 hours (most other curries take about 12 hours!) with fresh coconut cream!

Check out the recipe for Coconut Cream Chicken Curry in Belize Wild Recipes. Mmmmm…yum!!

Belize, Farming, Food, Plants

More Malabar Spinach!

December 7, 2015 Munchkin

Red.Bean.Munchkin

A Big Thank-you to everyone for all the Birthday Greetings!! It is really nice to receive such warm wishes!

And Life Continues so here is the post of the day:

We have got tonnes of Malabar spinach (Basella alba) on the farm and so this means we are eating this mostly everyday! You quickly have to learn different ways of eating it or else it can get very boring.

Here are a couple of ways in which we have been eating this green with imagination and innovation!

It is great uncooked as a salad accompaniment to home-cooked Pan-Fried Chicken!

Munchkin Fried Chicken With Malabar Spinach.

Easy Fried Rice with Malabar Spinach. Simply fry the rice and towards the end of cooking (last 2 minutes) add shredded malabar spinach and mix well.

It is wonderful growing, harvesting and cooking our food here on the farm!! And people ask us why we never go out for dinner…well, it’s because of this.

Amusing, Belize, Fermentation, Food

Double Miso Pan-Fried Chicken Breast.

August 27, 2015 Munchkin

I originally made this meal at the beginning of the week and was all ready to post up the recipe until I discovered that Gnome had unwittingly erased my photograph.

Double Miso Pan-Fried Chicken. Second Picture.

When I told him that I would have to re-create this dish today, to get a picture, he said rather half heartedly, “Oh dear. That is a shame.”

This recipe is so-called because the chicken is marinated in miso before being pan-fried and it is served with miso ketchup. If you follow our blog, you will know that we make buckets and buckets of home-made miso. Because I have so much of it, I am fortunate enough to have the opportunity to experiment with this wonderful live food in more creative and innovative ways. In fact, I use miso in all our cooking now instead of salt and soya sauce. The miso adds a distictive umami flavour which adds a whole new dimension to a meal. In this recipe, I used our shiro miso which is made mostly of white rice which has a sweet and mild taste. No flour is used in making our miso so it is also gluten-free.

Check out the recipe Double Miso Pan-Fried Chicken in Belize Wild Recipes.

Belize, Food, Plants

Sweet and Sour Roselle Sauce.

January 21, 2015 Munchkin

The Roselle plant (known as Sorrel in Belize) can keep on producing fruit if you pick it regularly. I am on my third picking and still drying the sepals for tea.

In my research, I have not seen much culinary use for this hibiscus except for teas, drinks and jams. Because of this, I have decided to come up with a few ideas of my own.

My first invention is Sweet and Sour Roselle Sauce with Chicken Bites:

Serving Suggestion 2: Sweet and Sour Roselle Sauce with Chicken Bites.

The chicken is seasoned with cinnamon and cumin which compliments the subtle berry-tones in the sweet and sour sauce. Wow…look at the colour…it is such a gorgeous red!!

If you are interested, read my full recipe in Sweet and Sour Roselle Sauce with Chicken Bites.

Belize, Food, Plants

Foraging Wild Greens in Belize.

December 10, 2014 Munchkin

This one is about eating again! Well, we do have to do it everyday! There is a very common green which can be foraged in Toledo, Belize. Wild Purslane has a sour bite to it when eaten raw in a salad. When cooked, it maintains some slight sourness and still keeps its hard texture. It is full of vitamins and minerals and the best thing is that you can find it in the wild…so, it’s free! Yeah, hooray for foraging fresh greens!

One very interesting thing about this plant is that it concentrates its acidity over-night so that if you pick it in the morning, it tends to be more sour. By the evening time, the acidity goes down so that if you prefer it to be less sour, it can be best picked at this time.

I like Wild Purslane so much I have two recipes for it!

Coconut Purslane Salad.

Purslane Chicken Chow Mein.

Do you want to read more about this wonderful vegetable? Read my article on Wild Edibles of Belize: Purslane.

Belize, Food

Cooking Chicken in Ginger Ale.

November 27, 2014 Munchkin

Yes, this one is about eating again…I am having a good run of yummies! This time, I am cooking chicken in ginger ale (beer). In Belize, ginger ale is bottled in a ubiquitous glass Fanta bottle and is available in all supermarkets. I have not seen any other ginger ale brands in Toledo but you might be able to get an imported brand up in Belize City. The best thing is to make home-made ginger ale for this recipe but that will be a post for another day.

Ginger Ale Chicken with Rice and Greens.

This is a really simple recipe and it tastes yummy; the chicken gently caramelises in simmering ginger ale and you eventually get a lovely thick sauce which is spicy and sweet. Addition of lemon sauce and extra ginger to the marinade gives a tang and a tingle to the whole experience.

Look at my Ginger Ale Chicken Recipe!

Belize, Food, Soap

November 4, 2014.

November 4, 2014 Munchkin

Gnome:

A day for setting things up. The change-log for the site today would be:

Wrote up and set up hierarchy for pages.
Tried to get pictures sorted out…not quite yet.
Get into the habit of posting things; wrote first post.
Sorted out domain name.
Uploaded more pictures for Munchkin.
Added some of the links.

Not ready yet to include the day…did make a batch of soap, incidentally but will get to such things in the future.

Munchkin:

We made a batch of chocolate artisan soap together; gnome did all the mixing whilst I assisted with the weighing of chocolate powder and cut-up soap pieces. This type of soap is what I call a “Soap Story” which includes odds and ends of old soap, cut up into pieces, which is mixed into a back-ground of opaque (in this case, chocolate) soap. Each soap we make has a “story” or a “description” as you will see later in more detailed blogs and so the visual appearance of these soaps end up as “soaps within soaps” or metaphorically speaking: “stories within stories”.

Chocolate.Background — The final soap showing the kaleidoscope of soap “stories.”

If my shop were working…this is where I would send you.

I weeded the vegetable beds today and also took the opportunity to gather the greens for eating today. See below, a huge basin of green leaves which are weighed exclusively for this blog: 420g ie. close to a pound in uncooked greens. Earlier, I marinated chicken breast with soya sauce, yellow ginger, cumin and salt in preparation for an “indian-style” fried chicken on a bed of steamed greens. No carbohydrates tonight.

The greens which I picked today is a vegetable known as “Avuvo” in Nigeria. The seeds were given to me a couple of years ago by a lady who wanted to start a pilot project on growing Nigerian vegetables in Belize with a view to an export market in the US. I had been given a plethora of seeds, perhaps about a dozen including vegetable greens, many types of egg plants and hot chillies. Since then, only two plants have survived: one is the Avuvo and the other is a domesticated type of Purslane. I will write more about purslane another time. Avuvo tastes like a spinach and produces a spiked “teasel-like” flower; it grows prolifically like a weed and takes over everything! That’s why I love it so much because it requires very little maintenance and the leaves remain pristine as no bugs seem to eat it. Contrast this with the callaloo here in Belize which is usually riddled with holes.

Below is a picture of our Meal of The Day:

Fried.Chicken.With.Avuvo — Fried Chicken in a bed of Avuvo.

Contrary to popular opinion there is an art to cooking fried chicken even although it is seen as major junk-food in this country. The chicken is removed from the marinade and dusted with white flour. Have a heavy cast iron skillet ready with vegetable oil filled up to 3 millimeters depth; put the flame on a medium to high heat and brown each side of the chicken. Then, turn down to the lowest flame and cook chicken for 10 minutes (may take less or more time depending on thickness of breast). About 2 minutes prior to this, flip the chicken over so that it is evenly browned on both sides. Drain on paper towels before serving. Steam the greens for 1-2 minutes and arrange on plate with the fried chicken. This goes well with a glass of mead (we make this too!!!).

If you wanted the recipe…I would send you here.

Casa Mascia Apothecary

Tag Archives: Chicken

Oh Chicken!

Mango Chicken Curry.

Let’s Do Some Foraging!

It’s Curry Night!!

More Malabar Spinach!

Double Miso Pan-Fried Chicken Breast.

Sweet and Sour Roselle Sauce.

Foraging Wild Greens in Belize.

Cooking Chicken in Ginger Ale.

November 4, 2014.

Everything Handmade in Belize.