This going to sound a bit strong, but I believe I have cracked the code on serving the best chicken fillet. If you can get past the sketchy photo, courtesy of my web cam, you might just stand a chance of learning how to prepare a chicken fillet that will rival that of many a top restaurant. Best of all, you don’t require any fancy or obscure ingredients, in fact you probably have everything you need already, with the exception of just one thing…

… a Thermapen. You really need a decent thermometer to make this happen to perfection, but I’ll do my best to make it possible without such a device.

Ingredients:

• Chicken Fillets
• Onion
• 2 Eggs
• Light olive oil
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Thyme
• Lemon or lemon juice
• Veggies

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 150C
2. Carefully wrap the chicken fillets in foil (as you would fish) and bake for 40 minutes (until chicken’s internal temperature reaches 60C)
3. Finely slice and onion and slowly caramelise in extra virgin olive oil until evenly brown
4. Season the caramelised onion with sugar, salt and thyme
5. Prepare a mayonnaise:
   1. Separate two egg yolks into a bowl
   2. Add a couple of teaspoons of lemon juice
   3. Whisk the yolk and slowly add 125ml of light olive oil
   4. Season with small amounts of salt and lemon juice
6. Allow the onions to cool almost completely then stir them into the mayonnaise
7. Brown the baked chicken fillets in a hot pan with extra virgin olive oil and some butter (don’t allow the internal chicken temperature to exceed 65C)
8. Serve the chicken on top of the veggies (drizzled with the frying juices) and garnish the chicken with the mayonnaise and thyme
9. Season with salt and pepper

It’s cold, you’re hungry; it’s soup time! Field mushrooms are widely available throughout Ukraine, fresh, dried or frozen. So here’s one for your next wintery soup craving.

Ingredients

• Chicken (thighs, wings, drumsticks whatever)
• Onions
• A lot of field mushrooms (not the regular white kind)
• 1 Star anise
• Tumeric powder
• Cheese
• Olive oil
• Parsley

Method

1. Chop and dice a couple of onions
2. Fry in a large pot, with some olive oil, till golden brown with the star anise
3. Add the chicken and mushrooms
4. Cover with water and season with salt and pepper
5. Cook slowly on a moderate heat for an hour or two
6. Add a small teaspoon of tumeric powder
7. Serve and garnish with grated cheese and parsley

Of course some garlic butter toast on the side wouldn’t hurt.

He’s calm, he’s collected and he’s focused; the tranquil cousin of the Kung Fu. This one is for those who are seeking a meal without kick. The preparation is similar to my last chicken dish but the outcome is quite different. After a crazy day in the office enjoy this with a hot cup of green tea and you’ll be transported to a better place.

And now, the destructions…

• Get the Jasmine rice going
• Slice very finely equal amounts of ginger and garlic (about two cloves per breast)
• Slice chicken breast or thigh fillet into strips no wider than 1cm (1 breast or 2 thighs per person)
• Coarsely chop some fresh dill (keep the rest for garnish)
• Now add to a hot pan: oil, ginger, garlic, chopped dill, a few pepper corns and some star anise
• Add a couple of tablespoons of soy sauce and reduce briefly
• Next add the chicken, browning all ingredients lightly and evenly
• Add some sliced Bok Choi or other asian green if you want vege (I didn’t have any surprise surprise)
• Remove from heat source and cover with lid for about 10 min (until cooked)
• Finish with liberal doses of sesame oil
• Now plate up garnishing with more fresh dill and server with Chinese green tea

For dessert I’d recommend a fruit yoghurt or sorbet. Enjoy, and return to a happy place!

Doughy chicken-heads watch out! This is Kung Fu chicken. So pork and potato reign supreme; chicken is everywhere.

Here is an authentic and tasty take on a Chinese spicy chicken dish. It does require one magic ingredient; chinese chilli sauce. An authentic chilli sauce (NOT sweet chilli or any other condiment) can be bought at every asian foods store and many supermarkets packaged in a jar. If you can’t find the sauce you can engineer one by making a paste of re-hydrated dried chillies, some vinegar and sugar.

This is dish is quite quick to prepare …

• Get some Jasmine rice going
• Slice chicken breast or thigh fillet into strips no thicker than 1cm
• Slice, very finely, equal quantities of garlic and ginger (1 clove per breast)
• Dice spring onion or shallots
• Dice some dried red chillies to taste
• Add the shallots, dried chilli, garlic and ginger to a hot pan with a few tablespoons of oil
• Add a table spoon of chilli sauce (per breast) to the pan
• Add the chicken, browning it lightly and evenly
• Add soy sauce to taste (for saltiness)
• Cover with lid, remove from heat and allow to stand for 10 minutes (until cooked)
• A liberal sprinkling of sesame oil
• Serve on rice and garnish with coriander and chillies

The end result is an authentic tasty meal with very succulent chicken, and will of course increase your Kung Fu!