[Weekly Meal Planner #3] Our 5 Favourite Western Dish Recipes

It's Monday again and I hope you people have a great week without any blues. For this last Monday of March we shall continue on our  "Weekly Meal Planner" column with FIVE of our family favourite western dishes such as braised wine chicken, chicken skewers, mushroom pie and homemade mushroom soup. These dishes are easy to prepare and you could even get ready the necessary ingredient the night before so that your meal would be ready on the dining table in less than an hour.

Out of the 5 featured recipes in this post; my favourite are Braised Red Wine Chicken and Chicken Mushroom Pot Pie because both are comfort food which could be easily whipped up and they taste awesome especially during cold weather or after a hectic day at work.

BRAISED RED WINE CHICKEN
(Coq au Vin)

Braised Wine Chicken or also known as Coq au Vin is a hearty French dish of chicken braised with wine, lardons (i replace it with bacon), mushrooms and garlic together with optional ingredients such as carrot, celery, potato and etc. I still remember during our days in Brisbane we always prepared this dish because of the cold winter weather as well as their red wine was much cheaper (plus good quality) when compared to what we have in Singapore. Moreover you could also replace chicken with beef to make beef stew but the cooking time will be longer in order for the beef to be soften. 

(Serves: 2 | Preparation: 10 minutes | Cooking: 20 minutes)

Ingredients:

• 1/2 Portion of Chicken, cut into chunk
• 3 Slices Bacon, cut into pieces
• 8 Brown Mushrooms
• 1 Large Onion, chopped
• 3 Medium Potato, cut into chunk
• 1 Medium Carrot, cut unto 0.5" crosswise
• 3 Fresh Thyme Sprigs
• 1 Bay Leaf
• 3 Garlic Cloves, minced
• 2 Tablespoons Tomato Paste
• Salt and Ground Pepper
• 2 Tablespoons All-purpose Plain Flour
• 1.5 Cups Dry Red Wine
• 250ml Chicken Broth

Method:
1. Tie thyme and bay leaf together using kitchen twine. Set aside.

2. Brown bacon on low heat, remove and transfer to a paper towel lined plate and drain well.

3. Using the oil from cooking bacon, brown seasoned chicken (lightly season with salt and pepper then dust it with plain flour) 4 minutes each side. Transfer to a plate; set aside.

4. Add onion, garlic, potato, carrot, mushroom to pot. Cook until onion soften (about 4 minutes) then stir in tomato paste and flour and cook for 1 minute.

5. Add wine, chicken broth, chicken, and herb bundle then bring mixture to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to simmer and continue to cook until chicken and potato are cooked through, about 20 minutes.

6. Discard herb bundle; stir in bacon and serve.

BRAISED WHITE WINE CHICKEN

Another similar dish as above which I replaced red wine with white (you can omit this with same amount of chicken broth for kid's friendly version), bacon with mini sausages and some extra green peas. For me I always love this type of one pot dish that consider all goodness within a pot plus it also makes cooking and cleaning fuss free too.

(Serves: 2-3 | Preparation: 10 minutes | Cooking: 20 minutes)

Ingredients:

• 1/2 Portion of Chicken, cut into chunk
• 6 Mini Sausage
• 8 Swiss Brown Mushrooms, halved
• 2 Medium Onion, chopped
• 3 Medium potato, cut into 0.5" rings
• 6 Baby Carrot, slice diagonally halved
• 1/4 Cup Green Peas
• 1 Bay Leaf
• Salt and ground pepper
• 15g Unsalted Butter
• 1 Tablespoon All-purpose Plain Flour
• 1 Cup White Wine
• 1 Cup Hot Water
• 250ml chicken broth

Method:
1. Brown mini sausage on low heat, remove and transfer to a paper towel lined plate and drain well.

2. Using the oil from cooking sausage, brown seasoned chicken (lightly season with salt and pepper then dust it with plain flour) 4 minutes each side. Transfer to a plate; set aside.

3. Add onion, potato, carrot and cook until onion soften (about 4 minutes) then stir in butter and flour till combined.

4. Next toss in green peas, give it a quick stir before adding in mini sausage, chicken stock, white wine and bay leave.

5. When the mixture comes to boil, cover and simmer over low heat until chicken and potato are cooked through, about 15 - 20 minutes.

6. Remove from pot and serve with warm rice or ciabatta bread.

SESAME CHICKEN SKEWERS

[Weekly Meal Planner] Sesame Chicken Skewers

For mid-week perhaps you would like to have some skewers where you could prepared the ingredients ahead; thread and leave them to marinate overnight in the fridge. As for the quinoa you could either cook it the night before or on the spot while you are grilling the skewers.

For this combination we have Sesame Chicken Skewers which I thread them together with onion and capsicum for extra flavour but it's still up to you to create your own skewers with pork, beef, seafood and etc too.

(Serves: 2 | Preparation: 10 minutes | Cooking: 10 minutes)

Ingredients:

• 1 Chicken Breast, cut into 1" cubes
• 2 Medium Red Onion, cut into wedges
• 1/4 Red and Green Capsicum, cut into 1.5cm cubes
• 1 Tablespoon Sesame Seeds
• 
  
Marinade:

• 2 Tablespoons BBQ Sauce
• 1 Tablespoon Light Soya Sauce
• 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
• 1/2 Tablespoon Cooking Wine
• 1/2 Teaspoon Grated Ginger
• 3 Garlic Cloves, minced

Method:
1. Combine chicken cubes with marinade ingredients in a ceramic bowl, covered and keep in the fridge for at least 3 hours to allow flavour to develop.

2. Thread chicken cubes with onion, red and green capsicum alternatively on a skewer. Set aside.

3. Before cooking sprinkle some sesame seeds on each skewer and cook on a preheated frying/grill pan (drizzle some extra olive oil on the skewers) for at least 3-5 minutes on each side or until meat is cooked through.

4. Beside chicken skewers I also prepared some Quinoa (小小米), scrambled egg and lettuce salad as accompanied sides.

Tip:

- More details on Quinoa and how to prepare the super grains can be found on another separate post here.

CHICKEN AND MUSHROOM POT PIE

[Weekly Meal Planner] Chicken And Mushroom Pot Pie

Chicken And Mushroom Pot Pie is one of our all-time favourite whereby I often use the same fillings to make individual pie or puff as we just love those flaky butter pastry crust. And since this pie is on mum's request list, I decided to bake it last week when she come over for dinner.

The main ingredients for this pie is chicken breast (or you can used left over roast chicken which would be prefect too), button mushroom and brown onion. I love to add in a few potato for that extra  starchy texture and taste but it is not a must and also you could choose to add in either frozen peas or mixed vegetables or none of the above to suit your family preference.

(Serves: 4 | Preparation: 30 minutes | Baking: 25 minutes)

Ingredients:

• 1 Boneless Chicken Breast, cut into 1" cubes
• 2 Sheet Frozen Pampas Butter Puff Pastry, partially thawed
• 250g Button Mushrooms, quartered
• 2 Medium Potato, cut into 1.5" cubes
• 1 Medium Brown Onion, finely chopped
• 1/2 Frozen Mixed Vegetables / Green Peas
• 1 Tablespoon Plain Flour
• 25g Unsalted Butter 1 Cup Fresh Milk
• 1/2 Cup Hot Water
• 1/2 Can Campbell's Cream Mushroom Soup
• 1 Egg, lightly beaten
• Salt and Pepper

Method:
1. Brown seasoned chicken breast cubes (lightly season with salt and pepper then coated with plain flour) in a frying pan for 2 minutes then transfer to a plate; set aside.

2. Heat oil and butter in the same frying pan, add onion and potato then cook till potato cubes are browned all over.

3. Stir in mushrooms and continue to cook until soften (you can add in extra 1 teaspoon of butter if it is too dry). Toss in frozen mixed vegetables and stir till combined.

4. Next add flour and stir for 30 seconds then follow by 1/2 can cream of mushroom soup and milk then continue to stir mixture till smooth before adding in chicken cubes.

5. Cook mixture over medium low heat for about 10 - 15 minutes till potato soften (you can add in 1/4 - 1/2 more hot water if mixture is too dry).

6. When done remove from heat and divide chicken mixture into prepared (grease dish with some oil/butter) ovenproof dishes (about 3/4 cup capacity). Place pastry over fillings, trim away the excess to fit the dish and press edge with a fork to seal.

7. Brush pastry with egg and cut two small slits on top of the pastry. Bake in preheated 200ºC (392ºF) oven for 20 - 25 minutes or until pastry is puffed and golden.

8. Remove pie from oven and serve warm with extra salad green.

HOMEMADE MUSHROOM SOUP

[Weekly Meal Planner] Cream of Mushroom Soup

Out of all the western cream soup, my favourite are Cream of Mushroom, Clam Chowder and Pumpkin Soup. Here by using assorted mushrooms it actually enhance the soup with a robust flavour which we all loves. And for my personal preference I love the soup to be slightly thicker and I would served it together with wholegrain bread (toast and spread with butter), fruit or vegetable salad as lunch or light dinner.

(Serves: 2  | Preparation: 10 minutes | Cooking: 20 minutes)

Ingredients:

• 250g Assorted Mushrooms, quartered
• 1 Medium Potato, cut into 1" cubes
• 1 Medium Onion, chopped
• 2 Cloves Garlic, minced
• 15g Unsalted Butter
• 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
• 80ml Pouring Cream
• 250ml Chicken Broth
• 1/2 Cup Hot Water
• Freshly Ground Black Pepper

Method:
1. Heat oil and butter in a medium saucepan over low heat, add onion and garlic then saute until onion became translucent.

2. Add potato cubes and mushrooms then continue to cook for another 3 minutes.

3. Next add in chicken broth and water to the mixture, bring it to boil then simmer for 15 minutes till potato soften.

4. Remove saucepan from the heat. Puree mixture using a stick blender until smooth (or cool the mixture slightly before pouring into a food blender to blend till smooth).

5. Stir in cream and season with salt and pepper, then warm through over low heat.

[Weekly Meal Planner] Cream of Mushroom Soup

6. Ladle soup into bowls, swirl with some extra cream, drizzle of extra virgin olive/truffle oil. extra oil and serve with warm/toast bread (you can set aside 2 - 3 mushroom before blending, sliced it and use for garnishing the soup).

Tips:
~ You can use either one type of mushroom such as swiss brown or button mushroom instead of the assorted ones I used above.

~ Homemade chicken stock can be used to replace pre-packed chicken broth just or dissolve 1/2 chicken stock cube into 250ml of water as replacement.

Lastly hope you would like this week western dish recipes and I shall update you peeps again in May for our next "Weekly Meal Planner" theme! Till then have a great week ahead and do stay tune for more recipe updates soon. Remember to follow us on Facebook or Dayre for daily new feeds or instant recipes.