Roast Chicken And Vegetables

Sorry I haven't posted for a while. I thought I would post recipes I regularly cook at home which are usually cheap, and don't require a lot of pre preparation. I love cooking a roast chicken for dinner. You can usually pick one up for $6-$9 in the supermarket, sometimes they have specials. You just eat veggies with it which are healthy, cheap and fresh (especially if you go to the veggie markets!) You marinate, stuff and serve it from anything you have in your fridge.

Here is the roast chicken I cooked tonight: 

Ingredients:

1 whole uncooked chicken, any size (cooking times will vary)

Marinade: Anything you have lying around. I used: 

Parsley (chopped finely) 

Sweet paprika

Minced Garlic

Pepper and Salt

Lemon salt mix from supermarket

Dried rosemary

Marinating meat is most effective when it is left for several hours or overnight, but if you don't have time you can still rub the chicken in marinade and stick it straight in the oven. I rubbed salt and pepper into the chicken's skin (be prepared to get your hands a little dirty)then added some minced garlic and sprinkled heaps of sweet paprika over it. I bought a big sachet from and indian grocer cheap. Finally sprinkled some chopped parsley, lemon salt and a tiny bit of dried rosemary over the top. It looked like this:

Other things in my fridge I could have possibly marinated with:

A bottle of portugese chicken marinade 

Dark soy sauce or oyster sauce for an asian twist on your roast chicken (you can serve with steamed bok choy)

Lemon juice

olive oil

While you're leaving your chicken to marinate, get started on some stuffing. If you don't have time, no need for stuffing. I made one from the way my fiance suggested, similar to how they do it in egypt. If you can't be bothered making a big stuffing, try mixing breadcrumbs, olive oil, garlic and parsley (and any other seasoning you choose).

For the stuffing:

1 cup of rice

1/2 cup of pearl barley (You can leave this out if you don't have it)

quarter of an onion

2 table spoons of butter or margarine

drizzle of olive oil

salt, pepper garlic to taste

1 cup of chicken stock

chopped parsley

Chop the onion and fry it gently with some garlic, butter and olive oil.

Then I stirred in about 1 cup of rice and about half a cup of pearl barley, and coated it in the buttery onion mixture. This is pretty  much how you start making a risotto.

Add a cup of chicken stock and stir in some salt, pepper and parsley.

Add another cup of water and let it cook through (You may need to add more water)

Here was the end result:

Stuff it in the chicken and preheat the oven to about 250c. Pop the chicken on a tray with some vegetables. Carrots don't take as long to cook as potatoes or slices of pumpkin, so add them after about half an hour of cooking.

You may wish to brunsh your vegetables with olive oil, salt or pepper. Its up to personal taste and how long you have. Sometimes I like to put half a cup of water on the roasting dish to keep the veggies moist. Again up to you.

Bake for between 1 hour and 90 minutes. This depends on the size of the chicken. You don't want to dry it out but raw chicken is dangerous and gross. Poke the chicken with a knife, if the juices run clear (not pinky red) then the chicken should be cooked.

I drizzled some lemon juice on it and served it with some cauliflower cheese and roast carrots. The fiance made a salad to put with it. I did a similar thing a few weeks back but I had mostly Mediterranean vegies in the fridge so I sauted some capsicum and zuchinni to go with.

The best bit is I can use left over chicken for chicken, tomato and cheese toasties tomorrow and possibly the rest of it to make a good chicken stock. Yummo!

Creamy Pasta with Chicken, Mushroom, Avocado and Bacon

So I decided to make this after I bought a bunch of avocados for 20c each at my local fruit and vegetable market (but needed to use them asap) and salvaged a whole chicken my partner had boiled in a poor attempt at soup. I also had a few handfuls of diced bacon I didn't use on a pizza and decieded to add a little mushroom, cream and pasta and make a carbonara. The beauty of this recipe is that you can add or remove any ingredients, so avocado/bacon/mushroom/chicken can be removed or tweaked.So, you will need:

1 1/2 Avocados, diced
Couple of handfuls of diced bacon
6 button mushrooms, chopped
300g of chicken thighs, cut into slices and trimmed of fat (or any kind of chicken)
5 Spring onions, diced
300g any pasta
300ml Cream
2 cloves garlic
2 eggs
Olive Oil
handfull of chopped parsley
shaved parmesan, salt and pepper to taste

1. Fry the spring onions, garlic and brown the chicken in a non-stick frypan.
2. Add the mushrooms and bacon. You may like to add some butter to help soften the mushrooms, or drizzle in a little olive oil. Turn down low.

3. Meanwhile boil the pasta until soft and drain.
4. Whisk the eggs, cream and some grated parmesan, salt and pepper.
5. Add the pasta into the chicken mushroom mixture, then the diced avocado.
6. Mix thoroughly and add the chopped parsley and any extra parmesan, salt or pepper.

My photo of this meal turned out a little blurry so i used a stock photo, here is my picture below

Crepes with Strawberries and Cream

I tried making crepes for the first time and I must say they turned out quite well! Apparently bananas are great as well however they  are about $12 a kilo at the moment and very under-ripe!
Anyway, you will need:
1 cup plain flour
3 tsp caster sugar
1 1/2 cups milk
1 tbsp butter, melted
2 eggs
Strawberries
thickened cream for whipping


1. Sift the flour and 1tsp of caster sugar into a bowl
2. Whisk egg and milk together in separate bowl
3. Gradually add milk/egg mixture into flour and mix with a wooden spoon.
4. Add melted butter and whisk briefly (avoid over whisking).
5. Combine remaining caster sugar and cream and beat on high until cream becomes fluffy.
6. Pour some of the crepe mixture into a well oiled pan (enough to cover the bottom)
7. Hold pan above flame and slowly rotate so mixture is even across pan.
8. Fry  until bottom becomes firm enough to flip.
8. Fry second side only for 10-15 seconds (bubbles will appear)
9. Serve onto a plate with strawberry and cream on one half of crepe and fold over. Dress with extra creme and strawberries and enjoy!

Chicken Noodle Soup With Winter Vegetable

2 carrots, peeled
2 celery stalks, trimmed
1 brown onion, peeled
1 parsnip, peeled
400g chicken thighs, trimmed off the bone and fat removed
2 handfuls parsley any variety, washed and chopped
2 pinches of fresh corriander, chopped
1-1.5 litres good chicken stock
1 full packet of singapore noodles
2 cloves garlic
Salt and pepper (white pepper is great)
3 tbsp olive oil




For this soup I like to use any vegetables I have lying around, but celery and carrot are great, as is parsnip. A brown onion  and/or spring onion give a necessary flavour kick as does parsley (flat or curly leaf will do).
For the noodles in this classic I enjoy eating the shelf-wrapped singapore noodles which can be used in stir-fries.
For the chicken it is best to use thigh or bone chicken. I have used breast chicken in the past but I find it is too dry and flavourless. I like to use thigh fillets trimmed of fat, and if you cut them from the bones keep the bones for making stock (recipe for that coming later).You will need about a litre of Rich Chicken Stock. I like to make my own with left over vegetables, but I thinlk the liquid supermarket variety of "Real Stock" will do. Sometimes I desire a vegetable stock cube two gives a flavour boost, I like Massel brand.. And of course we are to season with salt and pepper, a little garlic.


1.Dice the onion and soften in a frying pan with a little olive oil.
2. Add the chopped garlic clove then the whole chicken thigh fillets and brown on each side for 4 minutes or so (just to release their flavour).
3. Take the thigh fillets off and put aside, then add the vegetables and soften them in the onion/garlic and olive oil. Coat the diced vegetables and just fry them for 3 or 4 minutes - just to soften them a little and encourage them to release the flavour.
4. Shred the chicken and add to a big thick bottomed pot and add the vegetables and chicken stock. Bring to the boil.
4. Add a handful of parsley and a bunch of salt and pepper (to taste. I like a lot of salt but its not incredibly healthy)
5. Turn down to a simmer and put the lid on, and simmer for an hour and a half.

5. If it doesn't seem like there's enough liquid then add a few cups of water. It is at this stage the flavour might become diluted so you might want to crumble a few stock cubes into the mix. This just ultimately depends on your taste buds.
6. Run the noodles under hot water in a colander and separate with a fork. Ad them to the soup.
7. Turn down very low and simmer for another 15-20 minutes. Careful not to boil or the noodles will break down too much.



8. Serve up with crusty bread and some extra salt and pepper!