When there's a steady supply of bread in the kitchen, sandwiches are always on the menu. Its easy to whip up a quick peanut butter snack for junior, a buttered toast for the missus or a complicated all-you-can-stuff sandwich for yours truly.
Apart from the normal chutney powder (yum!), peanut butter and cucumber and tomatoes, I'm always on the lookout for options. An easy protein addition here is cooked and shredded chicken. With the profusion of clean poultry outlets, chicken is easier to get and there's no messy cleaning involved anymore (apart from a quick wash before use.
I look at chicken, both as sandwich stuffing as well as broth. On a winter's day, there are few comfort foods apart from chicken soup and rasam (or a combination of the two!).
Chicken soup is probably the simplest food to make, and I like mine with few frills/spices. Pour in about half a litre of water into a saucepan and add in 2 cloves of garlic, a few peppercorns, an onion(quartered), salt to taste and a piece of star anise. The latter sweetens things up just a bit in addition to the aroma. Add your cleaned chicken in (with or without skin - your choice). Cook on a medium flame for about 20mts or until the chicken is white till the bone. Skim the froth on top with a strainer and filter once more through a sieve to get your clear chicken broth. I prefer gulping this down as its made!
What you have left in your sieve are the spices (including the onion) and cooked chicken. Lay the chicken out on a cutting board and using a fork, shred the chicken. It should come of fairly easily if it has cooked till the bone. I keep most of the spices with the chicken, apart from the star anise, which has done its job by then. This is your sandwich filler - and a great one at that.
My typical pairings are sun-dried tomato pesto or basil pesto, either of which is great. You could also squish in the onion along with some salt, chilli flakes and olive oil.
The chicken lasts refrigerated about a week. I wouldnt recommend any time longer than this (if it lasts that long!)
Apart from the normal chutney powder (yum!), peanut butter and cucumber and tomatoes, I'm always on the lookout for options. An easy protein addition here is cooked and shredded chicken. With the profusion of clean poultry outlets, chicken is easier to get and there's no messy cleaning involved anymore (apart from a quick wash before use.
I look at chicken, both as sandwich stuffing as well as broth. On a winter's day, there are few comfort foods apart from chicken soup and rasam (or a combination of the two!).
Chicken soup is probably the simplest food to make, and I like mine with few frills/spices. Pour in about half a litre of water into a saucepan and add in 2 cloves of garlic, a few peppercorns, an onion(quartered), salt to taste and a piece of star anise. The latter sweetens things up just a bit in addition to the aroma. Add your cleaned chicken in (with or without skin - your choice). Cook on a medium flame for about 20mts or until the chicken is white till the bone. Skim the froth on top with a strainer and filter once more through a sieve to get your clear chicken broth. I prefer gulping this down as its made!
What you have left in your sieve are the spices (including the onion) and cooked chicken. Lay the chicken out on a cutting board and using a fork, shred the chicken. It should come of fairly easily if it has cooked till the bone. I keep most of the spices with the chicken, apart from the star anise, which has done its job by then. This is your sandwich filler - and a great one at that.
My typical pairings are sun-dried tomato pesto or basil pesto, either of which is great. You could also squish in the onion along with some salt, chilli flakes and olive oil.
The chicken lasts refrigerated about a week. I wouldnt recommend any time longer than this (if it lasts that long!)
