Category Archives: Home Cook Food

Chulet’s Hungarian Chicken Paprikash risotto

13 Friday Jan 2012

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A good friend dropped by from Singapore and since he has never been to Genting, we decided to take a trip there for lunch. (yummm… I can still remember the delicious food we had. Will blog about it when I have the motivation. Hehee). Anyway, I manage to get my hands on some really fresh and beautiful capsicum / paprika / bell peppers (mom calls it tanglung / lantern chilli) in the strawberry / mushroom  farm which was just 5 minutes away from the main shop in Gohtong (half way up Genting) 

With so much fresh paprika, I decided to cook Hungarian Chicken Paprikash and invite our friend Mr.F over for dinner with us.  

Ingredients I used

  • 4          Drumsticks
  • 4          Paprikas ( I used 2 red and 2 yellow – thinly sliced)
  • 1          Carrot (thinly sliced)
  • 1          Onions (thinly sliced)
  • 2          fresh Tomato diced
  • 1 tbsp  finely chopped garlic
  • 1 tbsp  Tomato paste
  • 1 tbsp Hungarian sweet paprika (you can grab them from any dry herbs rack)
  • 3 cups Chicken Stock Water (I just throw in one chicken stock cube in hot water)
  • 100gm Crème fraîche
  • 2 cups  Risotto rice
  • 2pcs     Bay Leaves

Melt some duck fat (which I had left over from my duck confit), and sauté my drumsticks till they are golden brown. Next, in goes my onions until soft, then, the garlic.

Throw in the tomato paste and hungarian sweet paprika. Fry till fragrant. Once this is done, I add my drumsticks, chicken stock water, carrots and paprikas. Tuck in the 2 bay leaves. Bring all these to boil and Cover the pan and allow the whole thing to simmer in low heat for about 20-25 minutes. Lid up, add salt and pepper to taste. (Being Chinese, I can resist adding a touch of Soya sauce and oyster sauce) 

Next, in another pan, I sauté some risotto rice with butter and olive oil. Once each grain is well coated with fats, I slowly transfer the paprikas stock ladle by ladle and cook till the rice soaked all these flavours. Transfer the drumsticks and all the vegetable over to the risotto.   

Sprinkle tomatoes over the top. Stir in the crème fraîche and watch the viscosity thickens. Yummm…. Absolutely delicious.

sorry – I was so hungry by then I didn’t take a picture of the finish product. aih….  ;p

Duck Confit Salad

05 Thursday Jan 2012

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Continue from the last post (Confit de canard)

I have one duck leg left. And some of my sides from previous night. It is not possible to prepare dinner for 3. So, I rummage thru my fridge and found 2 heads of romaine lettuce. Nice… very nice.

Since we had such heavy dinner last night, I decided to make something light tonight.

I tear up the lettuce,  shredded the duck (heat it in the microwave). Then, sprinkle it around the salad. Next, in goes the shredded carrot and caramelised onion. The result? FANTASTIC. it was the best salad I have ever eaten. seriously. Even my mom who was a little skeptical at first fight us for the last bite. hehehee… All the different element merge so well together, especially with the fresh cripsy lettuce.

Simple and delicious.

** No – that was not all we had. Mom had a craving for Ramli burger (typical local burger – usually found on road side). So, we had to ‘tapau’ (take-away) some back.

Confit de canard chuletz style

04 Wednesday Jan 2012

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I manage to drag back one can of duck Confit during my last trip toFrance. It’s not light I tell you. The can I bought has 4 duck legs in it. 

Oh yes – for those who are not familiar, Confit de canard is preserved duck (the French method). It is basically duck legs which were salted with some herbs and then later slow cook with its own fat for a long time. Then, the finish product can be kept for months. It is very similar to the Chinese wax meat, except the Chinese version is dry whereas the French versions are soaked in duck fat.

So for Christmas / hubby’s birthday celebration 2011, I decided to try my hand on cooking these babies. Upon opening the can, I try my best to scoop the solidified duck fat into a jar (these are liquid gold!!!). Try not to separate the legs as the legs are very tender and will fall apart easily.

 I used bain-marie (with very low fire) to slowly let the remaining fat melt away. It looks amazing already.

After that, I heat up the sauté pan and place the skin side up. Fry it on slow heat until the skin turn crispy. Once the skin is crispy, you can lift them up. There is no need to fry on the other side as the meat is actually already cooked. Commonly, confit de canard is served in like this with a bit of roast potatoes and salad on the side. But, I find it a bit too dry for my liking.

Hence, I prepare some orange sauce to go with it.

  • 2 Oranges’ zest (bring to boil frmo cold water at least 3 times to rid the bitter taste)
  • 1 Orange’s meat 
  • 1 Orange’s juice
  • 1 shot whisky
  • 2 tbsp sugar
  • Salt and pepper to taste

 Using the same pan, I pour in all the ingredients and bring to boil. Once it is boiling, I continue to let it simmer until the sauce reduces to the consistency I like.

I got a little greedy and prepared 3 side dishes. Roast Potatoes, Caramelized Onion and Carrot Salad with raisins and balsamic vinaigrette dressing.  

Et Voilà !

Dinner is served. Confit de canard à l’orange.

 

It was dinner  only serving for 3, so, there was one leg left over… I wonder what should I do with it… ?!!