Ostrich stir fry and noodles

Cut ostrich fillet into strips. Prepare the marinade. Use Woolworths sticky BBQ marinade as a base. Add Chinese five spice. Sugar, Soya, red chillies, chopped lemongrass, chopped spring onions, tamarind paste.

Marinade ostrich for an hour. 

Head a griddle pan. Barbecue ostrich for about 3 min on each side and add extra sauce just before removing from heat. Rest for a few minutes and serve with noodles which have been stir fried in same marinade. 

Vietnamese Chicken Pho

One of our favorites and something you can't get in South Africa so I have no option but to make it at home. All the effort is worth it! 

First you have to make the broth. There are many recipes out there but I have used a few short cuts to get there. 

Making the broth is not an exact science, adjust ingredients to your taste. My measurements are a guide

In a soup pot. Add about two table spoons of oil.  Add two star anise when the oil is hot. Chop an onion and add to hot oil. Stir until onion is browned. This is when you can add a few kafir lime leaves,  chopped lemon grass, chopped ginger, crushed red chillies. 

Then add chicken pieces. Leg and thigh pieces are recommended. This is the chicken you will use to assemble the pho. So I would say about 5 pieces maximum. This time I used chicken breasts because I didn't have the correct portions.

Brown the chicken. When browned, add a box of woolworths chicken stock and about a liter of water. Add two table spoons of fish sauce, good amount of soya sauce, lemon juice, teaspoon of sugar and salt to taste. Continue to boil for about 45 minutes. 

Once boiled, strain broth into another pot. Keeping chicken aside and allowed to cool. 

Taste and add flavoring ingredients to taste like lemon, sugar, soya to the broth.Boil for another 15 minutes. 

Boil rice noodles or vermicelli. 

To assemble the pho. In a bowl add noodles, shredded cooled chicken  and then Broth.

Garnish with chopped spring onions, chilli, moongh bean sprouts, basil. Sauces to add : chilli and hoisin and lemon juice. 

Homemade hot wings- American style

Need to find a healthier way to make these, but for the first attempt, the flavour and texture was all there! 

Chicken with marinade
12 cleaned and dried chicken wings
1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 teaspoon crushed garlic
1/4 teaspoon chilli powder
1/4 teaspoon Robertsons Barbeque seasoning
1/3 teaspoon of salt

In a bowl, marinade chicken wings with seasoning above. Cover and refrigerate for an hour

Basting sauce
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup tomato sauce
2 tab Worcester Sauce
2-3 tablespoons hot sauce (according to taste, I use Tabasco Sauce)
1-2 tablespoons vinegar
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp garlic
Pinch of salt
Heat the above ingredients until all incorporated.

Adjust above quantities according to your taste

Cooking the wings
Dust each wing in cake flour. Deep fry the wings for 10 minutes.
Drain and cool until its cool enough to touch
Coat each wing in the basting sauce and place in a non stick oven tray
Bake at 200 degrees for 15 minutes until crispy

Serving
Serve with Blue Cheese dipping sauce and celery sticks.