Zesty Lime-leaf Chicken Stew and Cheesy Baked Eggplant

It’s Sunday again and time to whip up a family meal. Sunday is also time to clear out the fridge. I found some dried lime-leaf left over from when I made crispy chicken toast a couple of weeks ago (see earlier recipe). I was about to throw them out when I thought: let’s try something new! If we can use dried bay leaf, why not dried lime-leaf? Yes, I do get a bit adventurous in the kitchen occasionally. A dish is like a piece of artwork.

I had thawed some chicken drumsticks. I found one lonely Chinese sausage in the fridge and some chicken cocktail sausages left over from breakfast. There was some spring onion which needed to be used up soon. I found some chicken broth, chick peas and half a red pepper. A picture formed in my head: a chicken stew.

The whole cooking process was quite simple.

Steps:

1. Sprinkle salt and pepper over the drumsticks and add Italian seasoning (dried parsley, basil, rosemary, garlic powder and chili flakes)
2. Stir fry minced garlic, onions, spring onions and dried lime-leaf in cooking oil.
3. Add the pieces of Chinese sausage (this adds more flavour to the stew)
4. Add chicken drumsticks (they take a while to cook)
5. Add chicken broth, leave to simmer
6. Add chick peas and chicken cocktail sausages
7. Add a few slices of red pepper
8. Dissolve a tablespoon of cornflour in water and pour it into the stew to thicken the gravy
9. Season with Lea & Perrins worcestershire sauce
10. Taste before adding salt if needed (the broth might already have sufficient salt)

Chicken drumsticks are a bit tricky to cook, because they might not be cooked on the inside but look cooked on the outside. It’s good to use a knife to pierce the drumstick to check if it is cooked.

The end result was a zesty stew. The lime-leaf is more fragrant than bay leaf.

Cheesy eggplant

I needed a vegetable dish. There was a lot of eggplant in the fridge. I had to cook it in such a way that it would go well with the stew. I found some mozzarella cheese. and some peeled tomatoes in a can. Great, I can make baked eggplant with mozzarella cheese.

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Steps:

1. Boil some water in a wok. Add a tablespoon of salt and two tablespoons of vinegar
2. Add the slices of eggplants to blanch
3. Remove the eggplant from the wok and place it in a baking dish
4. Sprinkle Italian seasoning (see above)
5. Fry some minced garlic in olive oil
6. Add peeled tomatoes with the sauce from the can
7. Drizzle some olive oil over the eggplant
8. Pour the tomato sauce over the eggplant
9. Pour one tablespoon of fish sauce over the eggplant (this gives an anchovy taste to the eggplant)
10. Add topping of mozzarella cheese
11. Bake until the mozzarella cheese has melted

You can also leave out the cheese and just bake the eggplant with the tomato sauce.

This recipe is for my friend Emily, who has been following this blog from the time it was just an idea until now!

By Chayo, HomSkil Editor 1, 14 March 2021