The other night I was on the couch -as per usual- and my flatmate put a chicken on the kitchen counter. I wondered what she was doing but carried on watching TV anywhere. She sidled over to me and nonchalantly said, “Look Kayl, we have chicken”.
I glanced over at the chicken and noticed that she had also left the pantry cupboard open. I tried to ignore it, but couldn’t. It began slowly. I looked into the cupboard and noticed some garlic. Some olives. Just outside on our balcony I saw that our basil was looking particularly green and lovely. Before I knew it I was moving towards the kitchen, taking things out of the cupboards, preheating the oven and inviting people over for dinner. My flatmate’s plan had clearly been successful.
I don’t bake. Firstly, I haven’t got much of a sweet tooth, although if someone put a bowl of Malva pudding and vanilla ice cream in front of me, it’s fair game. Secondly, I hate following rules and baking requires strict instructions. That’s why opening the cupboard, rifling through what’s in there and creating something from nothing, is totally my thang.
That’s exactly what I did with the chicken. Cooking isn’t difficult, you just have to think about it and use your imagination. Put ingredients together to see what works and most importantly, what works for you.
I have chicken. I have canned tomato. Ew. I have tomato paste, hmmm, that saves it. I have an onion and garlic. Makes it even better. This seems like a casserole. What goes with tomato and garlic? Olives. Basil. Sounds Mediterranian. Mmmm… chilli. I look at the rice. Nah, rice is boring. I have chips. I freaking love chips. OOOOH! Brussel sprouts. Sold. Let’s make this happen.
And that is how I cook. Who cares that we were having casserole with chips? I am cooking what I feel like, when I feel like it. Granted, if I was having a big dinner party it wouldn’t be my first choice, but for two friends, why not?. You can do whatever you want in the kitchen, it’s a place to have fun.
Ingredients for three people:
- 6 pieces of chicken
- 1 can tomato mix
- 2tsp tomato paste {The little can from Woolies is great}
- 1 large onion, roughly chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1 chilli, thinly sliced
- 1 tsp dried basil
- 1tsp dried parsley
- Black pepper and salt, to taste
- Olive oil
- Roughly chop your onions, crush your garlic and brown in a pan with a big glug of olive oil. Place in baking dish.
- Rub your chicken with dried herbs and salt. Add more olive oil to pan and brown. The chicken will soak up some of the garlic and onion flavour. Once browned, into baking dish it goes.
- Turn down the temperature of the pan. Add canned tomatoes and tomato paste. I love whole tomatoes, which can be broken up to a size that works for me – I find that tomato and onion mix tastes synthetic and lacks texture ie. awful, bland mush.
- Add a cup of water, chilli, black pepper, salt and let the tomato mix simmer gently. Stir it gently while scraping the bottom of the pan to incorporate the flavour of the chicken, garlic and onion.
- Pour the tomato mixture over the chicken in the casserole dish. If it is a little thick, add some water so it doesn’t dry out.
- Pop in oven for about 45 minutes at 180°. Chuck some oven chips on a baking tray, with a little olive oil and coarse salt and put them in at the same time.
- Five minutes before you serve, steam brussel sprouts and drench them in rich, salty butter.
- EAT.
