Chickeny Salad

This is a great filling for a sandwich, and it's so easy to make! You can do this two ways, either by having boiled a chicken for some Chicken Soup using  Homemade Mayonnaise, or by cheating a bit and using a couple of poached or pan fried chicken breasts with store bought mayonnaise. But why not do it the "real" way?

Cooking time: 10 minutes active.

For the Chickeny Salad you'll need:

(8-10 well stuffed sandwiches)

1 small Boiled Chicken or 2 big Chicken Breasts

A good dollop of Mayonnaise

2 not to sweet Apples

10 Mushrooms

½ l of Beef Stock (Homemade or store bought)

Salt

Pepper

Start of by cutting the mushrooms into quarters and blanch them in beef stock for 3-4 minutes, then remove and leave to cool. Pick the boiled chicken (it must be cold), or cut the chicken breast into cubes if you're using that. Cut a apple into small cubes. Now add it all to a bowl and season with salt and pepper. Add mayonnaise until you have the consistency you want and you're done!

Serve in a sandwich or on top of some rye-bread with slices of onion.

Suggested drinks: Schnapps, beer or a fruity white wine for my friend Martin ;)

Homemade Mayonnaise

If you've only ever eaten store bought mayonnaise, you should definitely try to make it yourself! It's not as hard as some say, and there will be no artificial additives which are quite regular in a prefabricated Mayonnaise. It's actually like making a hollandaise, just cold and with oil instead of butter.

This can be combined with a boiled chicken from Chicken Soup into a wonderful Chicken Salad.

Cooking time: 10 minutes active.

For the Homemade Mayonnaise you'll need:

1 Pasteurised Egg Yolk

3 dl cold pressed Rapeseed Oil or Grape seed Oil

1 tsp Dijon Mustard

1 tsp White Wine Vinegar

The juice of 1/4 lemon

A good amount of Salt

Coarsely ground Black Pepper

Start of by mixing the egg yolk with the Dijon mustard, white wine vinegar and lemon juice. Start whisking furiously adding a very small stream of oil. When it thickens slightly you can add more and more oil at a time. Whisk until it's very thick and almost clings to the whisk when removing from the bowl. Season generously with salt, pepper and lemon juice to taste. You can add ground garlic if you want a delicious garlic mayonnaise.

Steamin' Chicken Soup

A steaming hot bowl of chicken soup can lighten everyone up in these dark, cold and somewhat depressing winter months.
It is cheap, tasty, healthy and easily kept in the fridge or freezer. Just add some meatballs, leeks or potatoes and it is as good as any main course.
The boiled chicken can be used to make a wonderful Chicken Salad.

Cooking time: 3 hours. 30 min  active, 2½ hours inactive.

For the Steamin' Chicken Soup you'll need:

(10-12 persons)
1 small Chicken
2 Stock Bones (Veal)
2 Leeks
3 Onions
1 small Celeriac
2 leaves of Bay Leaf
8 Peppercorns

Put the stock bones and the chicken in a big pot and add water until they're covered. Boil gently for 1½ hour. Skim the soup for foam and fat every half an hour. Add the roughly chopped vegetables and herbs. Boil for 1 hour. Strain the soup (set the chicken aside for stuff like chicken salad etc.) and skim some fat off again. Serve generous portions with meatball, sliced leeks or chunks of potatoes.
This can be kept for 5 days in a fridge and 3 months in a freezer.

Suggested drinks: Pilsner

Hangover Special: Chicken Parmesan - Leftover Edition

I thought I wanted to make a proper dinner instead of the usual 1. of January junk food burger. So I decided to raid the fridge. It contained a pair of leeks, some tomato sauce, parmesan, chicken stock and a chicken breast.
It became a glorious spin-of the classic Chicken Parmesan.

Cooking time: 45 minutes. 15 active, 30 inactive.

For the Chicken Parmesan you'll need:

1 Chicken Breast
2 Leeks
5 dl Tomato Sauce
2 dl Chicken Stock
A small lump of Parmesan
Breadcrumbs
Butter
Salt
Pepper

Start of by chopping and sauteing the leeks in butter. Add some chicken stock and cook it halfway down. Season with salt and pepper. Put in a ovenproof dish. Fry the seasoned chicken breast at high heat until it has a nice fried surface. Put on top of the leeks. Add tomato sauce and top of with breadcrumbs, parmesan cheese and a sprinkling of olive oil.
Put in a oven at 180 C for half an hour and let it rest for 5 minutes. Serve with pasta of rice.

Suggested drinks: Coke if it's Jan. 1. White wine if not!

Steak Da Sandwich

Last night I had a steak in surplus, so I decided to make a juicy steak sandwich. It's a great lunch, and if you bring it to work people will definitely make your colleagues jealous. My sandwich was pretty rare, but that's the way I like it. You can of course cook it until well-done, but don't...

For the steak sandwich you'll need:

1 small Steak (200g or less, i prefer rib eye or entrecoté)
2 slices of Bread (White or dark if you're a health freak, or if you've run out of white :D )
3 leaves of Baby Lettuce
1 tsp of Dijon Mustard
A few shreds of Parmesan or a Goats Cheese
Salt
Pepper

Start by patting your steak dry with a paper towel. Rub in oil, salt and pepper. Fry on high heat at a grittle pan for 2 minutes on each side for medium rare (Make sure to test it by poking the meat. If it feels like your cheeks it is medium-rare). Rest the meat for 3-4 minutes. While the meat is resting, put your 2 slices of bread on the grittle off the heat. Wash 3 pieces of baby lettuce. Put some Dijon mustard on the bread and slice the steak. Layer with lettuce and cheese and you're good to go!

Suggested drinks: Dry white wine, Pilsner