Lazy Haianese Chicken Rice

Laziness is the mother of invention- or so it is at Casa Lola.

The other week, I bought a package of chicken wings for both Django and I. He would get one or two to chew on (and strew around the apartment) and I would use the rest to make soup. Realising I was missing a couple of key ingredients for chicken soup, I wondered what else I could make in a hurry. I opened the cupboard and the first thing I spotted was a bottle of Vietnamese chilli sauce and a light bulb went off in my head; Hainainese chicken rice- my stylie!

• Chicken pieces of your choosing
• Water
• Salt
• Rice
• Frozen baby peas (the one's from Aldi rock)
• Vietnamese Chilli Sauce in a squeezy bottle from all Asian grocers

Place chicken pieces in a saucepan and cover with water (don't fill). Add salt to season. Boil till cooked. Take out chicken and rest on a plate. Add rice to the stock you just made with the chicken pieces as well as the peas. Cook till the rice has absorbed the stock- add more water if still uncooked.

When rice is ready, add to plate with chicken. Serve with a huge squirt of chilli sauce.

Great for a simple lunch/dinner/hangover snack.

Easy Chicken & Spinach Curry

Oh Monday night.. when you work full time, it's the hardest day to get through. You get home,you want to eat but imagination is low and creativity in the kitchen isn't that high on the radar either. However, I was craving Lamb Saag like nobodies business. I went to the supermercado and all they had in the way of affordable lamb were shanks. So I bought them thinking a nice,slow roast would make them perfect with that sauce and a pile of spinach. I also bought some F.R chicken drumsticks thinking I'd get clever and make chicken & veg soup for a couple of meals this week.

Then I got home.

The hunger gland kicked in and I knew there was no way I was going to wait 2 to 3 hours for shanks to get to that tender-fall off the bone-cut it with a spoon stage. So lamb saag became chicken saag. This is how it all went down;

• Chicken
• Spinach-
• A splodge of oil (vegetable or olive)
• A wodge of butter
• Onion(s), chopped anyway you like 
• Heaped tablespoon of Baba's Spice Mix *
• Garlic (minced or smashed)
• Thumb sized piece of fresh ginger ( minced or fine julienne)
• Salt to taste
• Fresh curry leaves- about 12 should do it- I love them.**
• Chilli (you decide the heat)
• Cream- you decide on light,full cream,pouring or coconut and the amount you want

Put on a CD and start prepping your ingredients. Have a sing song whilst your slicing and dicing.

In a heavy bottomed (hee hee hee) pan, heat the oil and butter. Add the onion,garlic,ginger,chilli and spice mix and sweat it down-careful not to burn. You want it translucent,not brown. Make sure your heat isn't too high. If using a cast iron pot, it retains the heat nicely so it should be a lower heat. Add your chicken thighs and keep turning till they change colour. Add your can of tomatoes and curry leaves,stir and cover. You may need about half a can of water to make sure it doesn't burn.

Let this simmer for at least an hour. Keep tasting to check the seasoning. Add your spinach. About five or so minutes before you think it's ready, add the cream. Don't do it early or the cream will split and then it all goes horribly wrong.

When you feel it's ready, serve with Basmati rice. Remember the culinary jazz aspect and improvise for the amount of people you're cooking for.



*My dear friend,Sabrina's sweet mum whom I will refer to hereon in as Mama Elias,gives me jars of her homemade chilli paste which kicks all chilli pastes arse as far as I'm concerned. She also put me on to this stupendous ready to go spice mix. I love making my own mixes,but when you're short on time but still want quality, Babas is the bomb. You can pick it up from most Asian grocers and it will set you back about $2.50.

**Curry leaves should always be used fresh or else they are shit. These can also be purchased at Asian grocers and are usually found near the front counter.

Garlic & Chilli Chicken with Salad

We're having a hot spell here in Melbourne which is shitting me up the wall. It's Autumn and I want crisp,cool days so I can start wearing my coats and doing some good ol' slow cooking. It's a bit hard to do that when it's 31 fricken degrees everyday!

I arrived home from work tired and hungry. I needed something quick and not heavy so I decided on good old chicken and salad. Drumsticks are quicker to cook than a whole chicken-not to mention cheaper-so I grabbed 2 packs of those and then wandered around to the Lebanese mixed business around the corner at the Circle to pick up some fresh salad ingredients. Here's how it all turned out;

Firstly, pre heat your oven to about 250 to get it nice and hot

In a pestle and mortar, I placed 4 cloves of garlic, a teaspoon of rock salt and one very hot,red chilli. I pounded this into a paste then added some extra virgin olive oil-about 2 tablespoons. Using my hands, I coated the chicken pieces with this paste. Make sure you wash your hands well before AND after!

Place your chicken in the oven and turn it down to about 200.

At this stage I like to put my feet up for a moment and pour a glass of wine.

The chicken should take about 30 to 45 minutes.

Now to prepare the salad;

Take a salad onion and use only half as it can be a bit on the strong side and it over powers the other flavours.

I found these (di)vine ripened cherry tomatoes and they were really sweet and lovely. I halved them so they could absorb the dressing.

A nice mix of salad leaves,washed and spun off. Place all ingredients in a bowl, drizzle with balsamic and olive oil and toss.

I was soooo hungry I forgot to photograph the finished product. Suffice to say, it was scrumdiddlyumptious.