Chicken is inexpensive and readily available meat. It has a fairly neutral taste, which allows you to cook a wide variety of chicken dishes - hot snacks, main courses with a creamy sauce, soups, pies. If you have enough imagination, then even cooking chicken daily, you can make it varied.
Chicken with plums and apricots
You will need:
- 4 chicken thighs;
- 200 g of couscous;
- 50 g butter;
- 1 onion;
- 10 plums;
- 10 apricots;
- 1 tbsp. honey;
- 500 ml of chicken broth (it is better to cook the broth in advance);
- a pinch of cinnamon;
- a pinch of caraway seeds;
- 200 ml of strong black tea;
- 150 ml of water;
- vegetable oil;
- salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Apricots can be replaced with dried apricots. In this case, before cooking, dried apricots will need to be soaked in warm water for an hour.
Pitted plums and soak in tea. Peel the onion and cut into half rings. Heat vegetable oil in a deep frying pan and fry chicken thighs in it for 5-7 minutes. Then add the onion to the pan. When it is browned, season with salt and pepper, add spices, broth, water and honey. Simmer for 10 minutes, then put plums and pitted apricots in the same place. Simmer the chicken, covered, for at least half an hour.
Cook the couscous separately. Fill it with 4 tbsp. hot water, salt and wait until the water is absorbed. After that, season the porridge with butter. Serve the chicken thighs garnished with couscous and the resulting sauce. The advantage of this dish is that it will be delicious even after heating up a few hours after cooking.
Chicken Curry Pie
This delicious dish is perfect for a festive feast.
You will need:
- 400 g chicken fillet;
- packaging of ready-made puff pastry (you can cook it yourself);
- celery stalk;
- 1 onion;
- 1 tbsp. heavy cream;
- 1 tbsp. curry powder;
- 1 egg;
- 20 g butter;
- salt and freshly ground black pepper.
The filling of the pie can be varied if desired. For example, such a dish will be very tasty if fried mushrooms are added to the filling.
Wash the chicken fillet, remove excess fat, and cut the meat into cubes. Melt the butter in a skillet and fry the chicken in it for 5 minutes. Set aside the chicken. Peel and chop the onion and celery and sauté them together. Mix the cream with the curry powder, add the vegetables, and season with salt and pepper.
Roll out the puff pastry into a thin layer. Take a baking dish and cut out the bottom, top, and edges of the cake. Grease a baking dish and place the dough on the bottom and sides. Fill the pie-to-be with the chicken and cream mixture. Place the pie lid on top, holding it together with the edges.
Crack the egg, separating the white from the yolk. Brush the top of the pie with whipped yolk until it is browned. Bake the pie in the preheated oven for 30 minutes. Along with this dish, you can serve a green salad dressed with balsamic vinegar.
