Lola's Filipino Chicken Arroz Caldo (Chicken Porridge)

It's my ninth day of ear infection and bless that I haven't got a fever. The two little one's do. Left for the market early this morning to pick up ingredients for arroz caldo. This is my grandma's recipe. I will say that after it had finished cooking the kiddies and I had 3 bowls each. It was so good.

Serves 5 (I've doubled up on the recipe made it for 10)

~We like it with loads of broth so I keep a few cans in the pantry. When the porridge starts to get too thick for me I add in more broth.

Ingredients

2 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion diced
3 cloves garlic
1 3 inch ginger thinly sliced
1 tablespoon fish sauce (optional) I used soy sauce
6 cups chicken broth
1 cup rice
salt and pepper to taste
a package of chicken wings or 2 chicken breasts cut into pieces
green onions (optional) to garnish

Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Chuck in and stir the onion, garlic and ginger. Chuck in the chicken wings. Cook and stir together for a minute and half. Put the lid on and cook for about 2 minutes.

Pour the chicken broth into the pot and rice, stir. Bring to a boil. Put the lid back on and cook for 10 minutes. Stir now and then to make sure the rice isn't sticking to the bottom of the pan. Season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with green onion and serve with lemon wedges.

Chicken Tarragon

Last night's Fun Friday Supper was Chicken Tarragon with brown rice and green beans. For dessert Flourless Chocolate Cake. Another favourite of the family.

 This dish is amazingly easy to make and incredibly savoury. The family have agreed this is going into our Family Recipe Book that I'm creating for our lovely kiddies. It will be filled with all of their favourite dishes and desserts. Another project of mine with the help of my kiddies. This is just a recipe book that will belong to the kids for fun. Something they would always keep as they get older.

(will post recipes in a moment) I get so busy with the little one's I have to stop in between blog and tend to their every need. I know all of you Mums and Dads would agree.

Right, here's the recipe

Tarragon Chicken

2 teaspoons olive oil (unless you have garlic flavored oil)
dash of garlic powder
cut onion into quarters and chop up 1/4 of it
1/2 teaspoon dried tarragon
2 chicken breast fillets, skinless and boneless
1/3 cup white wine
1/4 teaspoon table salt
1/2 cup heavy cream
fresh white pepper to grind over
2 teaspoons chopped fresh tarragon and a pinch for sprinkling

Heat oil in Dutch oven. Add onions stir, add dried tarragon, stir again and cook for a minute.

Put the chicken fillet in the pan curved side down and cook for 5 minutes. If the onions look like their starting to burn scrape them from the pan and let them rest on the chicken.

Turn over the chicken and add the white wine. Let the wine bubble up then add salt. Put the lid on and cook on low for 10 minutes. Check the chicken if its cooked by slicing through the center. Making sure there isn't any pink. Cook longer if there is.

Remove chicken breasts to plates. Bring the liquid to a boil, add the cream and stir well, then sprinkle in the fresh tarragon, stir again and give a good grind of pepper.

Pour the sauce over the chicken and give the final sprinkle of tarragon.

Serves 2

I've doubled up the recipe to serve the 4 of us.

Double Double, Toil and Trouble

My Witches Stew......heee heeee heeee (meant to be a witches cackle)

Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn and cauldron bubble.

Kiddies loved it!


Sauce

1 Eye of newt (onion, peeled)
1 Toe of frog (celery stalk)
2 tablespoons Slug cream (olive oil)
1 teaspoon Spooky sauce (dried thyme)
2 14ounce cans of Heebie Jeebies (diced tomatoes)
plus 2 cans of water
1 teaspoon Witch's wart (sugar)
1 teaspoon Potion (salt)


Brainballs

1 pound ground brain (chicken)
1 Tarantula (egg)
3 tablespoon Spider eggs (breadcrumbs)
2 tablespoon finely chopped eye of newt (onion) and toe of frog (celery) from the sauce ingredients
1/2 a teaspoon of spooky sauce (dried thyme)


Blitz onion and celery in a food processor. Save 2 tablespoons after its been mushed for the meatballs.

Warm the olive oil in a saucepan. Add the onion celery mixture with dried thyme at low heat stirring now and again for 10 minutes. Add the cans of tomatoes and water along with the sugar, salt and pepper. Let it come to a bubble then simmer down.

Meatballs

Put all the ingredients together in a large bowl and mix together. Start rolling bite size meatballs and drop gently into the simmering sauce. Let simmer for 30 minutes. Salt and pepper to your taste. You can add 1 teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce if you like.

Welsh Rabbit or Rarebit

I couldn't help but make this for breakfast. To me this is proper breakfast as well as snack. You can eat it any time of the day. I did without the cider and the Worcestershire sauce with two of the family members being allergic to seafood. It's a good thing that my 11 year old is learning to read food labels. I didn't know that Worcestershire sauce had anchovies in it.

Anyway the family enjoyed eating them for breakfast. The English mustard really wakes up the pallet. Little did the kiddies know that mustard was in it as they both don't care for it. Welsh Rabbit is basically cheese on toast. I twisted the recipe to be kiddie friendly.

This is my kiddie friendly version of the recipe.

2 English muffins
1 cup sharp cheddar cheese
2 teaspoon butter
1 tablespoon flour (I used whole wheat)
3 tablespoon milk
2 teaspoon of English mustard

Slice the English muffins in half which makes 4 pieces and toast.

Melt the butter and blend the flour in until you've made a roux. Add the mustard and the milk once blended toss in the cheese and take the saucepan out of the heat until cheese has melted. Drape the cheese over the muffins and put in the hot oven to broil the top. Once the cheese starts to get brown toasted spots remove from the oven.

Petits Pois a la Francaise

This is the best tasting frozen peas recipe I've ever had. (will post recipe in a moment)