Chicken pastel is not something I would cook every day as it has many ingredients. But as I was going through the ref and my pantry, I realized I had most of the ingredients to make it. I just had to run to the grocery for three ingredients: bell pepper, carrot, and Chorizo de Bilbao.
Before leaving, I brought the chicken out to thaw. As I was driving to the grocery, in my head, I was going “Pastel or Curry” over and over, and I decided that if I could not find the Chorizo de Bilbao, that meant that I would be making curry. I had an idea of where it could be, so I went straight to that section and immediately saw it … hanging below the Chinese Chorizo and Chorizo Macau. Decision made!
What part of the chicken should I use?
When it comes to chicken, I confess that I favor the thigh part because it is meaty and extra juicy. You can, of course, use any part or even one whole chicken. I know I saw some recipes that say to use chicken breasts, but … just between you and me … that part is dry … my least favorite part of the chicken.
Chicken fillet is also an alternative, but I find that many chicken stew-type dishes are more flavorful with the bone-in. That being said, you can most certainly use fillets … just add more flavor in with the chicken stock later.
Is substitution ok with marinades?
I say, sure, why not? Experiment! I do it all the time. I work with what I have in the kitchen. For example, I used light soy when I made this because that is what I had on hand. For the citrus, I usually use kalamansi, but since I still had half a lemon in the ref, I decided to use it rather than let it spoil.
Is there a technique for marinating chicken?
Honestly, it is the simplest thing. Just put the chicken in a large bowl, pour in the soy sauce, squeeze on the lemon juice, then give the chicken a massage. After that, just leave it alone for at least thirty minutes. Easy peasy, right?
Prep to kill time.
Some people leave the kitchen while marinating as it does take time. Me? I use that time to get all the other ingredients together and set them aside so that when I need them, I just need to scoop them into the pot. After all, there is still a lot that needs to be done.
No chicken stock? No problem. Just dissolve one chicken bouillon cube in one cup of hot water, and voila! Instant chicken stock. 🙂
wash the veggies, then set aside to dry a bit
peel and chop the garlic
peel and chop the onion
unwrap and slice the chicken franks
unwrap and slice the Chorizo de Bilbao
peel and slice the potato
peel and slice the carrot
slice the bell peppers, removing the seeds
pop the can of sliced mushrooms and drain
Slow is good.
There are quite a few recipes that call for high or medium-high heat, and that is usually how I start because I want to get the pan or pot nice and hot when I have to saute first. But once I have the meat in the pan, I usually bring it down from high to medium-high. Later, when the juices come out, I bring it down to medium-low to simmer. Cooking at too high temperatures might cook the food faster, but we miss out on the flavor and tenderness of the dish.
When cooking stews, medium-low and low heat are good once you get a good simmer. Trust me, it takes a little longer, but the results are quite gratifying.
If you don’t enjoy cooking, it may seem like a lot to do. Personally, I find cooking therapeutic and seeing (and hearing) my family enjoying what I prepared makes me happy.
1cupchicken stockYou can substitute with 1 cup hot water plus 1 Knorr chicken cube.
4pieceschicken frankssliced
1largepotatocut into wedges
1piececarrotcut into wedges
1cupall-purpose creamYou can substitute it with evaporated milk.
1red bell peppercut into 1-inch cubes
1green bell peppercut into 1-inch cubes
1cupsliced mushroomsI like to use champignons.
salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
Preparation
Wash the chicken cut-ups and place them in a container. Pour over the soy sauce and lemon/kalamansi and mix. Let it sit for 30 minutes to marinate. Set aside.
Peel and chop the other solid ingredients. Set aside.
Cooking
In a pot, saute the garlic and onion in some oil.
When onions are softened, add in the Chorizo de Bilbao.
Add the marinated chicken and lay it out evenly at the bottom of the pan to cook evenly. Scoop the sauteed garlic, onion, and Chorizo de Bilbao on top of the chicken so that they do not overcook or burn. The goal here is to LIGHTLY BROWN the chicken, not fry it. Lower the heat slightly and cover. You will notice that the chicken will not appear fried but will produce a "soup" instead if you do this. Make sure to turn the chicken as you don't want only one side to brown.
If you have more chicken pieces than space, do them in batches. When the first batch is lightly browned on both sides, put in the remaining chicken and place the first batch on top of them. Don't forget to cover. This step should take around 5 to 10 minutes.
Add the sliced chicken franks and chicken stock. Lower the heat and let it simmer covered for 20 minutes.
Add the potato, carrot, and cream. Mix, then simmer covered for another 8 minutes.
Add the bell peppers and mushroom, mix, and cook for another 3 minutes.
Turn off the heat and just let it sit for a few minutes before serving.
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Cooking instructions
Thaw chicken in the lowest part of the refrigerator overnight.
Heat oil in a pan over medium heat.
When oil is hot enough, coat chicken with breading and deep-fry for 12 to 15 minutes or until cooked through. Drain excess oil on a rack or on paper towels.
I am not fond of salads because most of the time, they serve it with a dressing that uses mayonnaise (which I dislike) or something similar. That said, sometimes it is nice to try something different.
This recipe for a Vietnamese-Style Chicken Salad comes from Marions’ Kitchen. She has a video of how she made the salad, as well as the detailed recipe, which is very important for people like me who are more cookbook cooks than instinctive chefs.
This was easy to make and a hit with the family. I will definitely make this again. Thank you, Marion, for the recipe.
I did make a few changes to the recipe, mainly because I have family members who don’t like spicy food. I also prefer lettuce to cabbage in my salads so I switched that out.
Here’s the adjusted recipe, if you want to replicate what I did:
2cupsshredded cooked chicken I used air-fried chicken thighs
1small carrot
1/2head finely shredded lettuce
1/2small red onionabout 1/4 if big onions are all you have
1/4cupfinely sliced spring onionscallions
1/2cupmint leaves
1/4cuproasted peanuts
Dressing
1/4cuphoney
2tbspwhite vinegar I used white rice wine vinegar
2tbspfish sauce
Crispy lumpia noodles
6pcs lumpia wrapper cut into strips
Instructions
For the dressing, mix all the ingredients together. Set aside until ready to serve.
To make the crispy wonton noodles, heat a small saucepan of oil over high heat. When the oil is hot, add the noodles and cook for a minute or until golden and crisp. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on a paper towel. The noodles will crisp up even more as they cool.
Place the chicken, carrot, lettuce, onion, spring onion, and mint, in a large bowl.
Chop up the peanuts. I used a chopper but you can use a mortar and pestle too. Just make sure you don't chop too fine. Add these to the bowl with the chicken also.
Pour the dressing and mix until well combined. Pile onto a serving plate. Use your fingers to crush the crispy wonton noodles over the top. Serve immediately.
Changes from the original recipe:
The original recipe used cabbage. The lettuce worked better for me because I like my cabbage cooked.
She also included some chilies and shallots. These felt more optional to me but do try it the way she recommended.
I do most of the cooking at home and my most requested dish for everyday cooking is chicken and pork adobo. Here is my recipe. Warning, it is probably more work than most people want to put in but I promise you, the end result is super delish!
I actually combined 3 or 4 adobo recipes I found in our cookbooks here to come up with this version.
A simple traditional Filipino dish that can be cooked in hundreds of ways ... each region (and possibly household) have their own way of making it.
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Filipino
Keyword: adobo, chicken, comfort food, pork
Calories: 165kcal
Author: Penny Angeles-Tan
Equipment
measuring cup
chopping board
2 pots
tongs or a slotted spoon
cooking spoon
large non-stick pan
Ingredients
1kgporkcubed
1kgchickencut up
coarse sea saltwe use salt from Alaminos, Pangasinan
waterto cover
1headgarlic
black peppercoarsely ground
bay leaves (laurel)
3/4cupregular vinegar
1/4cuprice wine vinegar
1cuplight soy sauce
4 cupswater
Instructions
Preparation
Wash the pork and chicken separately, then place them in the pot. I recommend the pork below and the chicken on top.
Take a small fistful of salt (around 2 tbsps.) and sprinkle it on the meat then pour in enough water to cover.
Boil for 20 to 30 minutes. Make sure your pot is deep enough that it won't overflow. This will accomplish two things: a) it will soften the meat and b) it will remove that funky smell meat sometimes gets
Get a fat skimmer and skim off all the gunk (fat, etc.) that will float on the water. This usually looks like light brown bubbles or soap suds. DON'T MIX THE CONTENTS OF THE POT! That will just make the gunk mix back in and we are trying to remove it. Note: You don't have to wait until the 20 to 30 minutes are up to do this. I usually check every 5 minutes and remove what I can. This way, more gunk is removed.
Turn off the stove.
Cooking Phase 1
Take another pot put in the cracked garlic.
Using tongs or a slotted spoon lift out all the pieces of meat and put them in the pot containing the garlic.
Throw in the pepper and bay leaves.
Pour in the vinegar, rice wine vinegar, light soy sauce, and water. DO NOT MIX!
Turn on the stove and boil the pot for 30 minutes or until your nose tells you that the dish is cooked. This usually means it does not smell so "vinegary". You can cover the pot but make sure not to close the lid completely or place a wooden spoon across so that it won't overflow. At this point you will also notice that there is less water.
Taste and add salt or spices as you feel is needed.
Turn off the stove and let the adobo "sit". I like to just keep it in the pot covered properly to keep the household pests from getting to it first. But if you prefer, you can put it in the ref once it is cool. For the flavor to really seep in it is best to let it sit for 24 hours.
Cooking Phase 2
Take a large frying pan, preferably non-stick so you don't need oil. But if you have a regular one that is ok, too.
If using a regular frying pan, heat the pan then add oil. Once the oil is hot add the meat pieces and brown the meat. If using a non-stick pan, put the meat pieces in even if the pan is not yet hot. Turn on the stove to brown the meat.
Be careful when turning the meat to fry the other side. Since we pre-cooked the meat, it should be super soft and will likely shred ... unless your objective is adobo flakes, in which case, have at it! 🙂
Once all the meat is browned pour what sauce you have remaining over the meat to heat up.
Place in a bowl or serving platter and feed to your family.
Notes
I honestly do not know how many servings this recipe makes but it is a lot!
If you like this recipe and will replicate it, take a pic and share it on Facebook or Instagram and don’t forget to tag me and use the hashtag #slvrdlphnrecipes
They say that everything’s better with bacon and I can’t help but agree. For today’s dinner, I decided to make cream-cheese filled bacon-wrapped chicken. Sadly, I cannot display photos of the dish itself because we were too hungry that as soon as it was cooked and placed on the table, everyone took a piece off the platter and … nibble, bite, chew, savor, swallow, yum! It was gone. 😀
For this post, I will use photos from the web but as soon as I am able to do this dish again I will make sure to take photos and post it.
Some things you need to know about chicken
photo courtesy of buzzfeed.com
There are two kinds of meat on a chicken – the dark meat and white meat. In a nutshell white meat is made up of the entire torso of the chicken while dark meat is the thighs, legs, and wings.
White meat is meatier (there is more of it) and is often dry which is why it is what is usually used in making chicken salad, chicken sandwiches, etc.
Dark meat is juicier (fatter) and softer so people who are counting calories tend not to get this. However, it is for that reason that dark meat tastes yummier!
What you need to know about bacon
photo credit to Kenny Alexander taken from http://6iee.com
It’s delicious. Nuff said. 😀
There are many brands selling bacon to be found in the supermarket but my favorites are Purefoods and it’s sister brand, Vida.
Purefoods bacon comes in many variants – classic honey-cured, maple, thick slice, barbeque, and honey roast.
Vida comes in only 1 variant … just bacon 😀
Kitchen tools I used
teaspoon
2 chopping boards
large plastic container
mallet or a pestle (if you don’t have a mallet)
toothpicks
Ingredients I used for this recipe
chicken thigh fillet
Vida bacon – you will understand in a bit why I chose to use this one, besides for its price. 🙂
Hunt’s barbeque sauce – you can use any old barbeque sauce. This just happened to be the one we had available.
Arla cream cheese, any variant – my go-to brands are usually Philadelphia cream cheese and Emborg but I saw this one and got curious because it is less expensive. FYI, it’s pretty good, too!.
salt and pepper
Alternative ingredients
You can use Purefoods barbeque flavored thick cut bacon if you like to save on steps. 😀
Procedure: what I did to put this dish together
I usually like preparing early so that when it is almost time to eat all I need to do is pop the food in the oven, in the fryer, on the pan, or pot. Today was no different – I prepared 3 hours ahead. 😀
Layout the bacon on a chopping board or large plastic container without overlapping and pour some barbeque sauce on it (not too much!) and smear. Some of the sauce will end up on the board or container, that’s ok. Flip the bacon and smear the other side as well and then just let it sit.
Take your chicken thigh fillet, lay it out as flat as you can on a chopping board, and then pound it flat (using a mallet or pestle) until it is almost evenly about 1/2 inch thick. If it came out thinner than that, it’s ok, just make sure it is even. Some would recommend putting the chicken in a clear plastic bag or cling wrap first. This will help in preserving the juices and will avoid splashes.
Layout all the chicken pieces you just pounded on your chopping board. Take some salt and sprinkle in on the chicken.
Take your pepper and do the same amount of pepper to use really depends on your preference and the preference of the people who will eat it. But, if I may suggest, don’t be heavy-handed with the seasonings.
Note: There is no need to rub the salt and pepper in, just let it sit.
Flip the chicken pieces and repeat the salt and pepper.
On another chopping board take one of the bacon strips that you marinated in barbeque sauce and lay it flat.
Take one chicken thigh fillet and put it on top of the bacon starting from one end with the majority of the bacon uncovered by chicken.
Place 1 tsp. of cream cheese and plop it down on top of the chicken and smear it on as flat as you can concentrating on the center part of the chicken. Once cooked the flavor of the cream cheese will infuse with the chicken and you won’t actually see it on the final product. 🙂
Starting at the end where the chicken is starting rolling as tightly as you can without breaking the bacon and making the chicken tumble. Your goal is to have a rollup that has bacon inside and out and to make sure the cream cheese will not escape the chicken when you cook it.
Once you reach the end, take a toothpick and poke it through to secure the roll then transfer your finished product into a container, possibly the one where the bacon is marinating.
Repeat the procedure with the remaining pieces. Once done, cover the rolls and place them in the refrigerator to “set”. Actually, we are just allowing the flavors we added to everything to seep in. At a minimum, I’d say 30 minutes.
Cooking time!
How to cook it is up to you. You can pan-fry, deep-fry, air-fry, or bake. The cooking time will depend on how thick your chicken is. I opted to use the air fryer (in an attempt to be healthier, hehehe) so that I do not use up so much oil and to keep the cream cheese in the chicken.
Preheat the air fryer for 5 minutes.
Place a few pieces in the air fryer without crowding (about 4 to 5 pieces). Set the temperature to 180 degrees and cook for 20 minutes.
Ding! Place your cream cheese-filled bacon-wrapped chicken on a platter and let it rest for at least 5 minutes before serving.
Serve and enjoy!
Serve alone or with a dipping sauce of your choice! One roll-up is pretty big and is good for 1 serving per person. For the growing boys and hungry adults, you may need 2 of these. 😀
Cooked properly the bacon will be warm and crispy and the chicken will be soft and juicy and infused with the flavor of the cream cheese. FYI, I got rave reviews about this from my family last night. 😀 Try making it yourself and let me know what you think.
If you like this recipe and will replicate it, take a pic and share it on Facebook or Instagram and don’t forget to tag me and use the hashtag #slvrdlphnrecipes
Arla cream cheese, any variant – my go-to brands are usually Philadelphia cream cheese and Emborg but I saw this one and got curious because it is less expensive. FYI, it’s pretty good, too!.
Take your chicken thigh fillet, lay it out as flat as you can on a chopping board, and then pound it flat (using a mallet or pestle) until it is almost evenly about 1/2 inch thick. If it came out thinner than that, it’s ok, just make sure it is even. Some would recommend putting the chicken in a clear plastic bag or cling wrap first. This will help in preserving the juices and will avoid splashes.
Layout all the chicken pieces you just pounded on your chopping board. Take some salt and sprinkle in on the chicken.
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