Lebanese Food: Grilled Chicken

21/04/2013 Rafsan Jani Mazed MARAD1201

Lebanese Food: Grilled Chicken 

Lebanese grilled chicken is a garlicky gourmet dish that tends to be our “Sunday special” at home.  The recipe is quite easy to make and the secret is in the marinade, and is rather simple.

Lebanese Grilled Chicken Ingredients (6 servings)

·       6 pieces of chicken (breast or leg quarters with skin)

·       1/2 cup of lemon juice

·       1 cup of red vinegar (apple cider vinegar or red wine vinegar)

·       1 garlic head

·       3/4 cup of olive oil

·       1.5 to 2 teaspoons of salt

·       1 teaspoon of Arabic 7-Spices (or black pepper)

·       1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon

Marinade and Preparation Method (20 minutes)

1.      In a bowl, sprinkle then rub ground cinnamon on raw chicken, rub with half a cup of vinegar for a couple of minutes and then rinse well with cold water. This will help rid the chicken of any smell. Make cuts in chicken pieces (for marinade to seep through).

2.      In a blender or food processor, grind/crush for 3-4 minutes the garlic along with the lemon juice, 1/2 cup of red vinegar, salt, and 7-spices. Once done, add the olive oil then run the blender for 1 more minute. Your marinade is now ready.

3.      Place chicken in a bowl, add a few lemon slices (with peel), pour marinade on and let sit in the fridge overnight. The longer you marinate the chicken the more flavor it will have. Once ready for cooking don’t throw away the leftover marinade, you’ll need it later.

Grilling the Chicken (~20 minutes)

Grill the marinated chicken on a BBQ as you would other chicken, on low to medium heat for about 20-25 minutes. In the first 10 minutes of grilling, brush the leftover marinade on the chicken occasionally so they stay moist and absorb more marinade flavour.

This is the picture of a chicken I made for my self following the recipe and method given.

But as I don’t have a charcoal grill I used my conventional oven to make. Where it took me 45minutes in 180 degrees.

Indonesian Food: Nasi Goreng

20 April 2013
Arafat Hossain Shuvo
SHARD1201

Indonesian Food: Nasi Goreng

Nasi Goreng has been called the national dish of Indonesia. Nasi Goreng literally means 'fried rice' in Indonesian. It is very popular all over the world, especially in asian countries like Malaysia and Singapore. It is also very popular in The Netherlands through it's colonial ties with Indonesia. It takes around 40-50 minutes to cook this dish. There is no single recipe of nasi goreng, every fried rice dish with certain mixtures, additions, ingredients and toppings could lead to another recipe of nasi goreng. But I will provide the most basic ingredients and methods of nasi goreng in today's blog.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons long-grain rice, rinsed

2 1/2 tablespoons kecap manis

1 tablespoon dark soy sauce

1 tablespoon sweet chilli sauce

1/4 cup peanut oil

4 eggs, lightly beaten

1 brown onion, thinly sliced

1 teaspoon sambal olek

3 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 teaspoon shrimp paste

1 carrot, peeled, finely chopped

1 small chicken breast fillet, chopped

300g green prawns, peeled, deveined, roughly chopped

3 green onions, thinly sliced

1/4 small chinese cabbage, finely shredded

1/4 cup fried shallots

thinly sliced red chillies, to serve

Methods:

Step 1: Cook rice following absorption method until just tender. Drain. Transfer to a baking tray. Fluff rice with a fork. Cool to room temperature. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours or until cold.

Step 2: Combine kecap manis, soy sauce and sweet chilli sauce in  jug. Set aside.

Step 3: Heat a wok over high heat until hot. Add 1 teaspoon oil and swirl to coat. Add one-quarter of beaten egg and swirl to form a thin omelette. Cook for 30 seconds or until egg sets. Slide onto a board. Repeat with oil and egg, in 3 batches, to make 4 omelettes. Roll up omelettes and thinly slice crossways.

Step 4: Heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil in wok over high heat. Add brown onion, sambal olek, garlic, shrimp paste and carrot. Stir-fry for 1 mintue or until aromatic. Add chicken. Stir-fry for 1-2 minutes or until sealed. Add prawns. Stir-fry for 2 minutes or until prawns turn pink. Add rice, soy mixture, green onions and cabbage. Stir-fry for 3-4 minutes or until rice is heated through. Toss through half the sliced omelette.

Step 5: Spoon nasi goreng into serving plates. Top with remaining sliced omelette. Sprinkle with fried shallots. Serve with sliced chillies.

21/4/13 - Alanah Knight [KNALD1201]

Fast Food!

About Fast Food

Fast food,
That quick tasty indulgence that has the ability to keep us returning time and time again. When people think of fast food, their mind is plagued with images and symbols such as the ones above, Mcdonalds, Kfc, Oporto, Subway, Hungry Jacks, to name a few, and the list goes on and on. People opt for fast food for taste, and conventiece. Since Henry Ford introduced the assembly line in July 1908, one thing became apparent. If there were a cheaper, easier way to do things, businesses were first to sign up to increase production and save money. Consumers enjoyed the fast pace they got their items and convenience. The fast food industry is a modern day ancestor of these earlier ideals, with 'quick, cheap, and easy' being among their slogans.

Nutritional Information

Not everybody is pleased with fast food, and it's main skeptics often remind the public of the dangers to health associated with easy conventient food. Typically fast food contains alot of calories, and often is fried, processed and artificial. This means there is a lack of nutritional benefit, and contributes to obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure and a general lack of health amongst those who regularly eat the food. It isn't all bad though, Subway for example and Sumo Salad are both healthy alternatives, but are still fast food. They offer fresh salads, sandwiches and wraps as an alternative, that contain fresh fruit and vegetables. Not all fast food is bad for your health.

The following link goes to Mcdonalds Nutritional information chart.
http://mcdonalds.com.au/our-food/nutrition

The following link goes to Subway Nutritional information chart.
http://world.subway.com/Countries/NutritionFiles/AUS%209.2005.pdf

For example this Picture is of a Mcdonalds Big Mac.

Nutritional value per serving
Serving size 1 sandwich
Energy 540 kcal (2,300 kJ)
Carbohydrates 47 g (16%)
- Sugars 8 g
- Dietary fiber 3 g (14%)
Fat 30 g (47%)
- saturated 10 g (52%)
Protein 25 g (45%)
Vitamin A 120 IU
Vitamin C 2 mg (2%)
Calcium 250 mg (25%)
Iron 2 mg (15%)
Sodium 1010 mg (67%)
Energy from fat 270 kcal (1,100 kJ)
Cholesterol 80 mg (26%)
Ingredients Beef, "special sauce", lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions, and a bun topped with sesame seeds

Here is a video i enjoyed that states many facts about fast food, with the ending moral to enjoy things in moderation.

Indian Food: Butter Chicken

20/4/2013 Arafat Hossain Shuvo [SHARD1201]

Indian Food: Butter Chicken

Butter Chicken is an Indian dish originated from the Punjab region of India. It is very popular all over the world that have a tradition of Indian restaurants. It was probably developed during the Mughal Empire. There are Indian, Pakistani, Nepali and Tibetan versions of the dish.

It takes around 30-40 minutes to cook this dish. There are many methods and ingredients to cook this dish. It depends on how delicious you want the dish to be prepared. In today's blog, I will provide one of the most simplest way of cooking this classic dish.

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 tablespoons butter

1 kg chicken thigh fillets, trimmed and halved (quartered if extra large)

1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger

2 teaspoons ground coriander

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon garam masala

1/4 teaspoon chilli powder

1 cup tomato puree

1/3 cup thick natural yoghurt

1/2 cup thickened cream

warm roti or rice to serve

1/4 cup toasted flaked almonds, to serve

coriander leaves to serve

Methods:

Step 1: Heat oil and half the butter in a large, heavy-based saucepan over high heat. Cook chicken, in batches, until browned. Remove to a plate.

Step 2: Reduce heat to medium and add remaining butter. Add ginger and cook for 1 minute. Add coriander, cumin, garam masala and chilli powder and cook for 30 seconds. Add tomato puree and a pinch of salt and simmer for 10 minutes.

Step 3: Return chicken to saucepan with yoghurt and cream. Simmer a further 10 mintues or until chicken is cooked. Ladle into bowls, sprinkle with almonds and coriander. Serve with roti or rice.