Chinese Style Chicken Thighs With Egg Fried Rice....

In these tough economic times many of us our counting our pennies and looking for bargains when we do our food shop. Using leftovers creatively is a great way to save money, as is using less expensive cuts of meat. I have become very fond of using chicken thighs which are much cheaper and more flavoursome then chicken breasts.

Tonight I tried a completely new recipe with some chicken thighs and served it alongside some egg fried rice. It was a hit and I will be making this again for sure!

Luna Raye’s Chinese Style Chicken Thighs.

Ingredients

4 chicken thighs with skin and on the bone (I use organic free range chicken).

For the Marinade:

5 Tablespoons of Superior Dark Soy Sauce.
Juice of half a lemon.
2 Tablespoons of runny honey.
2 cloves of minced garlic.
1 Tablespoon of freshly grated ginger.
Drizzle of olive oil.

Directions

Mix all marinade ingredients together in a large bowl.

Add chicken thighs to the bowl and mix thoroughly into the marinade so the thighs are completely covered.

Cover the bowl and allow the thighs to marinate for 30 minutes to an hour.

Add to an ovenproof dish and cook at 200C turning the thighs at least twice during cooking. I like the skin on top to crisp up.

Cooking times may vary but I kept mine in the oven for an hour. Do make sure the chicken is cooked through before serving.

Egg Fried Rice

For the egg fried rice recipe I used Ken Hom’s recipe as a base but made a few changes. This is a great recipe top play around with. Follow the basic directions and try adding different things like bean sprouts, bamboo shoots and prawns. For my version I used:

• 1 cup of cold cooked white basmati rice.
• 2 salad onions (spring onions) chopped finely.
• ½ cup frozen peas (thawed).
• ½ cup frozen sweet corn (thawed).
• 2 eggs beaten with 1 Tablespoon of light soy sauce (I had run out of sesame oil).

Chinese Style Chicken Thighs With Egg Fried Rice

Can Leftovers Be Exciting? The Beauty of a Hodge P...

When my sister and I were teenagers we used to dread hearing our mom say, ‘tonight, we’re having a hodge podge meal.’ I still don’t know what it was about those words that struck fear into our hearts, because the meals were always wonderful. Thinking back I guess the idea of using leftovers to prepare a main meal seemed unexciting and bland.

Of course I now love preparing my own hodge podge meals and tonight that’s exactly what I did. What’s so wonderful about using leftovers is that you can get really creative finding ways to make them extra special. It’s even better if you’re able to combine them with some fresh ingredients.

We had some roast turkey left over from Sunday and 2 rashers of smoked back bacon that didn’t get used for our weekend fry up. I combined those with some cabbage and a chopped shallot and served it over mashed potatoes. Not only did it help clear out the fridge it was also filling, tasty and comforting – a true hodge podge meal!

Here is my recipe for Hodge Podge Turkey, Bacon, Cabbage and Shallots on Mashed Potatoes.

Ingredients;

2 rashers of smoked back bacon cut into squares.

Approximately 1 cup of chopped roast chicken or turkey.

1 medium shallot finely chopped.

½ small savoy cabbage chopped into strips.

¼ cup of chicken or vegetable stock.

1 Tablespoon of olive oil.

Method;

Fry the bacon rashers and shallot in the olive oil until bacon is cooked through and shallot is soft.

Add the turkey or chicken chunks and mix well to heat through. About 5-6 minutes.

Add the cabbage and give all the ingredients a good stir in the pan.

Add the chicken or vegetable stock (this helps soften the cabbage) and let everything simmer for 10 – 15 minutes until the stock has been absorbed.

Serve at once on mashed potatoes and enjoy!