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I was lucky enough to participate in a live cooking experience today headed by Billy Law of A Table for Two. Cooking along with me were master bloggers Simon of The Heart of Food and Sara of Belly Rumbles.

You can watch the video here. It was a heap of fun hanging out with other food bloggers, and Grumpy was busy grumbling under my feet so she made a brief cameo (that might have been edited out).

Despite being a huge fan of Coke, I must admit I was skeptical about cooking chicken in cola. I’ve had my second serve now, and it’s only lunchtime, so I am a believer now. It reminds me of one my favourite ATFT recipes, Dark Soy Pork Spare Ribs. I’d be happy to eat that and a fried egg on rice most days of the week.

And rocky road. How have I never discovered it before? Bitter dark chocolate, juicy raspberries, crunchy rice krispies that make you feel like a kid again. Amazing! And so easy to make that I’m worried for my waistline.

For those of you who missed out (I know there are a few of you) here are the recipes.

Billy’s Rocky Road 

100g butter
250g 70% dark chocolate
60g Rice Bubbles, about 2 cups
180g marshmallows (Pascall’s berry ones are good)
1 × 150g punnet raspberries
80g pistachio nuts, toasted

  1. Line a roasting tray with baking paper.
  2. Roughly chop the chocolate, or do the Jamie Oliver thing and whack the wrapper on the bench so that the chocolate inside breaks up.
  3. Melt chocolate and butter in a double boiler. Allow to cool to about room temperature – this ensures your rice bubbles will stay crunchy.
  4. Mix the rice bubbles, marshmallows, pistachios and raspberries in a large bowl.
  5. Pour the room temperature chocolate mixture over the mix and stir until all the ingredients are coated.
  6. Place mixture into a lined baking tray and roughly even it out – doesn’t have to be perfect.
  7. Top with another layer of baking paper and weigh the mixture down with a smaller baking tray. Place in the fridge to set for at least an hour.

Cola Chilli Chicken 
serves 3-4, with rice
recipe by Billy Law

500gms of chicken thigh fillets
2 tbsp cornstarch/cornflour
4 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 red chilli, thinly sliced
5 cm (2 inch) piece ginger, peeled and cut into 1 mm julienne
3 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
150ml Coke, about half a can
2 tbsp dark soy sauce
1 spring onion, cut into 5 cm (2 inch) lengths
handful of cashew nuts, toasted

rice, to serve

  1. Remove fatty parts from chicken thigh fillets and cut into 2cm dice.
  2. Place chicken in a bowl and add corn starch and soy sauce. Toss to marinate and if possible, leave to marinate for an hour.
  3. Heat oil in a wok or saute pan on medium heat, and add chicken all at once. Fry for a few minutes until meat is lightly browned.
  4. Add garlic, ginger and chilli to the pan and fry for a further two minutes.
  5. Add enough Coke to cover the chicken, about half a can.
  6. Allow to reduce by a third, about 10-15 minutes. You will notice the bubbles start to change from lots of small bubbles, to big lazy bubbles that break on the surface.
  7. Add the spring onion and toasted cashews and stir to combine. Simmer for a further one minute and serve hot on rice.
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