Nigella Express: Chicken Mushroom & Bacon Pot Pie

From episode "Instant Calmer" and Food Network

Even the word pie is comforting. But then, it would be hard to deny the very real lure of pastry, especially when - as here - you know you're going to dunk it in gravied juices till its gorgeous lightness is deliciously, soggily heavy. I concede, however, that making and rolling out your own pastry is not necessarily the speediest option, so I use bought, all-butter-, ready-rolled puff pastry and feel fine about it. I make the pie even easier, by browning the chicken and making the sauce all in one go. And a gold-crusted, welcoming pie for 2 in half an hour is not bad going.
3 rashers streaky bacon, cut or scissored into 1-inch strips
1 teaspoon garlic infused oil
2 cups chestnut mushrooms, sliced into 1/4-inch pieces
8 ounces chicken thigh fillets cut into 1-inch pieces
2 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 tablespoon butter
1 1/4 cups hot chicken stock
1 tablespoon Marsala
1 (13-ounce) 9 by 16-inch sheet all-butter ready-rolled puff pastry
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Fry the bacon strips in the oil until beginning to crisp, then add the sliced mushrooms and soften them in the pan with the bacon.
Turn the chicken strips in the flour and thyme (you could toss them about in a freezer bag), and then melt the butter in the pan before adding the floury chicken and all the flour left in the bag. Stir around with the bacon and mushrooms until the chicken begins to color.
Pour in the hot stock and Marsala, stirring to form a sauce and let this bubble away for about 5 minutes.
Make a pastry rim for each of your pots for the pies, by this I mean an approximately 1/2-inch strip curled around the top of the pots. Dampen the edges to make them stick.
Cut a circle bigger than the top of each pie-pot for the lid, and then divide the chicken filling between the two.
Dampen the edges again and then pop on the top of each pie sealing the edges with your fingers or the underneath of the prongs of a fork.
Cook the pies for about 20 minutes turning them around half way through cooking. Once cooked, they should puff up magnificently

Double pleasures pasta

Inspired by a dish from the *the* HK Cafe (or was it Kim Gary?), I had the original but found it waaaaaaay too salty. Here is my rendition, made quite simply and quickly from leftovers and canned food! Not too salty! Talk about innovativeness eh? :P

Ingredients (feeds 2)
1 cup of cooked fusilli
1/2 cup standard white sauce
1/2 cup chicken curry (I use Amoy brand canned curry and 1 tiny tin makes about 1/2 a cup)
1/4 cup cheese, shaved

Method
1) Cook the cup of fusilli according to instructions. Drain and set aside.
2) In a casserole dish, pour the pasta into the bottom and pat down.
3) Pour the curry on one half, and the white sauce on the other half.
4) Sprinkle the shredded cheese on top and ensure that the top is covered with cheese.
5) Bake at 200 deg C for 12 minutes. Serve immediately.

Nigella Feasts: Chocolate Cheesecake

Recorded from watching the episode

Ingredients

Base
1 1/3 cup (125g digestive biscuits) graham cracker crumbs
1 tbsp cocoa
1/2 stick butter (50-60 g)

Filling
2 packets of Philly (500g) which must be at room temperature in order to get the satiny smoothness
3/4 cup (150g) superfine or caster sugar
1 tbsp custard powder (this can be substituted with 1 tbsp cornstarch, 1 tsp sugar, 1 tsp vanilla)
3 eggs
3 yolks
2/3 cup (150ml) sour cream
1 tsp cocoa dissolved in 1 tbsp hot water from a kettle
175g (6 oz) melted bittersweet chocolate, let it stand so that it isn't too hot

Topping
3/4 bar bittersweet chocolate, melted

Method
1) Put the digestive biscuits into a freezer bag. Use a roller pin to bash up the biscuits into find crumbs.
2) Add the crumbs to a mixer and give it a quick whirl to ensure no larger crumbs remain.
3) Add the cocoa and whirl again to ensure its evenly distributed. Do the same with the butter. Whirl until the crumbs look like damp clumpy sand.
4) Pour it into the cake tin and use your knuckles to form the base. Press down with your hands because the heat from your hands helps the butter to melt and adhere. Stash in the freezer for a few minutes just to chill it.
5) In a fresh clean mixing bowl, add the cheese and whirl slightly.
6) Add the sugar and custard powder. Crack in the eggs and add the egg yolks. Pour in the sour cream. Add in the cocoa solution. Give everything a whirl. It should be quite runny which makes it smooth.
7) Fold the melted chocolate into the cheesecake mixture, slowly and patiently until evenly blended.
8) Retrieve the base from the freezer. Wrap the exterior of the cake tin with cling film, covered on top by aluminum foil. Pour the cheesecake filling on top of the base.
9) Place tin into a roasting tin. Pour a kettle of recently boiled water into the roasting tin so that the water level comes halfway up the cheesecake tin. The cake tin may wobble a bit due to the buoyancy of the flim.
10) Bake in a 350 deg F (180 deg C) oven for 45 mins to 1 hour. It is ready when it has just set. It should set properly at the sides and just wobble in the centre.
11) Once ready, remove carefully from cake tin. Drizzle the topping on top of the cheesecake.

Original Hainanese Chicken Rice

This is a recipe from Straits Times Sunday Plus, and its supposed to be more authentically Hainanese.

Ingredients
1 whole chicken, about 1kg, cleaned with skin removed from neck and rear end
2 tbs chinese cooking wine
3/4 tsp salt
4 cups rice, 750g, rinsed and drained well
1 tbs sesame seed oil
8 slices ginger
3 cloves garlic, peeled and whole
12 fresh red chillis
1/2 tsp sugar
1 cucumber, washed and sliced

Method
1) Steam the chicken in a steamer for about 20 minutes till cooked. Retain the chicken stock which is formed when the meat juices seep into the water used for steaming.
2) When the chicken has cooled slightly, rub chinese cooking wine and 1/4 tsp of salt on both the outside and inside.
3) Allow the chicken to cool completely before cutting it up into serving slices. Set aside.
4) Add the sesame seed oil, four slices of ginger to a heated wok.
5) Stir fry the rice for around 12 minutes, until it turns translucent and the moisture has evaporated from it.
6) Transfer the rice to a rice cooker. Add 5 cups of the reserved chicken stock, 1/4 tsp of salt and 2 cloves of garlic, and cook the rice.
7) Blend the chillies with 4 slices of ginger and a clove of garlic.
8) To the chilli paste, stir in sugar and 1/4 tsp of salt.
9) To serve the chicken slices with the cucumber and chilli sauce on the side.