Cravings for Chipotle

I made a huge mistake when I went to the States for work last year - I went to a Chipotle Mexican Grill branch for lunch. I remember suffering from a particularly awful bout of jetlag, was close to being sick at one point but I just needed some food inside my belly before I went back to my hotel room and passed out. There was a Chipotle just around the corner from where I was staying in SF, and I walked over... and boy oh boy, despite how I felt, I finished everything!

Now here's why it was a mistake: I live in Malaysia - all the way on the other side of the world from a Chipotle... the only thing close to this here is Chili's, and well... come on, it just doesn't compare. So what's a girl to do but try to recreate some of their recipes?

Lucky for me, there's no shortage of helpful recipe hackers on Pinterest and I pulled together various recipes to form what is fast becoming one of my favourite meals of all time. Also, this is definitely one of my top 3 recipes for chicken!

Pollo en Adobo with Cilantro Lime Quinoa and Cilantro Lime vinaigrette
I don't know which one of these 3 components I love most! I lie, it's the chook. 

The Chicken:

• 4 - 6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• Juice of half a lime
• a handful of fresh cilantro leaves, chopped
• 2 chipotle peppers in adobo, minced (use a fork!)
• Fajita seasoning*
• 1/4 cup olive oil

1. Slice the chicken breasts in half across so you get thinner strips and they cook faster
2. Mix the lime juice, cilantro, chipotle peppers, fajita seasoning and olive oil and marinade the chicken for about an hour
3. Preheat the oven at 180°C, then cook your chicken breasts on a foil covered baking tray for about 15 minutes
4. Remove from heat, allow to rest before slicing into chunks to serve

The Quinoa (you can easily substitute this for rice):

• 1 cup quinoa/rice
• 2 cups water (adjust according to rice - see notes below)
• Juice of 1 lime
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp fresh cilantro

1. Cook the quinoa or rice in the water, with salt and the juices from the lime and lemon
2. Once cooked, fluff up and stir in your chopped cilantro

The Cilantro Lime Vinaigrette (pictured above)

• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 2 tbsp water
• 2 handfuls cilantro
• Juice of 2 limes (or 1/2 a lemon if you prefer)
• 2 cloves garlic, diced
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp honey
• 2 tbsp red wine vinegar

Blend it all together with an immersion blender and pour over the rice and chicken

For my meal prepped lunches, I also sauteed some red onions and green and red peppers, throw in some toasted tinned corn kernels and rinsed black beans (also from a tin). I can't for the life of me remember what I put in the peppers and onions, but both were quite basic and I tend to use an olive oil and butter base with some chili powder, salt and pepper. Sorry! Will update if I find my notes!

*Fajita seasoning: you can use the pre-packed stuff, which I do in a pinch, or save some money and make your own batch as below:
1 tbsp each of:

• Chili powder
• Ground cumin
• Ground oregano
• Smoked paprika
• Onion powder
• Garlic powder
• Cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tbsp each of salt and pepper

Notes for rice:
There are 3 main types of rice (that are most common in home cooking) - long grain (like Basmathi and Jasmine rice), short grain (usually like sushi rice, arborio, Thai sticky rice, etc) and brown rice (it's ... brown). When cooking your rice, your ratio of water to rice and cooking times will vary depending on which type you're going with.
First tip - read the package for instructions. Usually can't go wrong there.
If there are no instructions, I tend to go with the following ratios and cooking times:

• Long-grain rice: 1 cup rice:2 cups water; I usually cook it for 15 minutes covered on low after the initial boil
• Short-grain rice: 1 cup rice:1 cup+2 tbsp water; cook covered and bring to a boil, then lower the heat and cook for another 5 minutes. THEN leave it covered off the heat for 10 minutes - DON'T PEEK
• Brown rice (long-grain): 1 cup rice:2 cups water; bring to boil, then reduce heat to a very low simmer and cover and cook for 45 minutes. Take the rice off the heat and let it continue to cook in its own steam for another 10 minutes

I shall, of course, caveat this by saying... I'm no expert rice maker and it's touch and go for me most times! 

If you have a rice cooker, well bully for you! I have yet to get one despite living in this house for 2 years and being Asian. This really is due to the fact that my kitchen is tiny and I only have 2 power points - don't ask me, my theory is the people who designed this apartment building don't cook. 

Looking forward to moving into our new place and having a kitchen to be my very own playground!

Jeera Rice (Cumin Rice)

I come from a multiethnic family - with a strong influence by my Indian paternal grandmother, as she is the matriarch of our large and boisterous family. This influence shows itself a LOT through our food preferences - dad to this day can't go 3 days without having dhal (the special dhal recipe Nini passed down to all of us, not just any old random dhal you can get at a Mamak store in Malaysia), and my absolute favourite food in the whole wide world is tandoori chicken. With all the trimmings.

So when it comes to cooking, as much as I love cooking western food, the most common type of Asian food I would cook is Indian food - not only is it familiar and therefore easy, it's also damned delicious! I'm about to share a series of different Indian food recipes (as Nini makes them) in the next few posts, but I'll start with the easiest and most basic of all - rice. There are many types of rice that you can cook, but this is my favourite as it also uses the best spice in the world - Cumin.

Jeera Rice
Serves... 2 if you're hungry, 4 if you're on diet

• 1 bay leaf
• 3 cloves
• 2 cardamom pods
• 1/2 cinnamon stick 
• 1 1/2 tbsp cumin seeds
• Pinch of salt 
• 1 cup basmati rice
• 2 cups water, room temp

1. Heat a tbsp of coconut oil (or vegetable oil, doesn't have to be fancy) in a saucepan and add all the spices once hot. Toast the spices for about 3 - 4 minutes. 
2. Add the rice and stir to mix with all the spices, and continue to toast for about 2 - 3 minutes - I don't know why, it may have something to do with how the flavours mix together. Add the water and pinch of salt, cover and keep on a low heat for 15 minutes. 
3. At the 15 minute mark, remove the lid, turn off the heat and fluff up the rice with a fork. You can keep the lid on to retain heat or serve immediately with a garnish of chopped cilantro and your favourite curries. 

Easy no? I also do this with quinoa when I'm feeling extra guilty. The trick to using quinoa is to ensure you wash it thoroughly before cooking and also to toast it (step 2) for slightly longer (4 - 5 mins) until you hear a soft popping sound and a nutty smell arises. Then add the water and cook for 15 minutes too.

Kedgeree with Smoked Salmon and Golf

If you've been listening to the Ryder Cup going on in the background for the past few days as I have, you would have sometimes found yourself mimicking the Scottish accent of the commentator. Despite your wild protestations that you don't engage in such behaviour, I know you did... even if you did it under your breath. 

Last night, while watching yet another bout of Team Europe wiping the green with Team USA (I really couldn't care less about golf), and going on about Scottish weather and Scottish food (this was my version of golf commentary in a Scottish accent), I had the sudden urge to make kedgeree! 

I know there are disputes in the origin of kedgeree; is it Indian brought to Scotland, or is it Scottish brought to India? It doesn't matter to me, as I am part Indian and Scottish! Woohoo! It makes me wonder then, why I've never made kedgeree before... maybe because the ingredients list is slightly longer than what I usually like (I'm fine with 5 ingredients, tqvm), but then I had a good look at it again, it really is quite simple! 

So here we go, quick weeknight kedgeree that can be made ahead for your breakfast (oh baby, trust me, this stuff only gets better after refrigeration) or lunch, or brunch the next day: 

Kedgeree with smoked salmon flakes

• 1 tray of quail eggs (about 10 eggs if you don't pop two in your mouth first), boiled
• 4 cups cooked long grain white rice
• 250g smoked fish (you can use salmon if you can't find smoked haddock) 
• 4 tbsp unsalted butter
• 1 tbsp fresh grated ginger (be careful, I grated half my knuckle off before I got to the ginger)
• 1 yellow onion, diced finely
• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp curry powder
• 1 tbsp mustard seeds
• 1 fresh chili, sliced finely
• 2 tomatoes, chopped
• 2 sprigs spring onion, chopped
• Juice of 1 lemon
• A handful of chopped parsley
• Salt and pepper to season
• Natural yoghurt, to serve

1. Heat your pan, pop the butter in and let it just melt and heat before adding the ginger, onion, and garlic
2. Allow this to soften until just yellow, don't burn, and then add the curry powder, mustard seeds and chili. Let this cook until the curry smell rises and you see the oil rise to the top of the curry mix (this is when you know the curry powder has cooked, otherwise the flavour will be flat)
3. Then toss in the tomatoes, spring onion, and pour in the lemon juice. Heat the mixture through, make sure the flavours get all mixed up
4. Add the cooked rice and smoked fish, gently folding it all in so the fish flakes as you go, then once it's all mixed, stir in the parsley (or cilantro is better if you can find some)
5. Season to taste, you can choose to add more lemon juice to your liking
6. Garnish with chopped parsley and boiled eggs, and serve with a dollop of natural yoghurt on the side