Tater tots

How long do you cook a Coles Chicken Kiev?

Posted by Gary

How long do you cook a Coles Chicken Kiev?

You’ve had a long week right? You want something simple and tasty on a Friday night after work. Chicken Kiev fits the deal, but what else to have with it?

More importantly, how long do you cook one of those Coles “ready to cook” Chicken Kievs? These things aren’t sold in a package or packet and there aren’t any cooking instructions in the display. I’ll tell you one way how to cook this so you have a delicious meal for one.

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TGIF with a simple and easy Swiss cheese Chicken Kiev with potato gems and beetroot coleslaw Gary Lum
TGIF with a simple and easy Swiss cheese Chicken Kiev with potato gems and beetroot coleslaw

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Recipe

TGIF with a simple and easy Swiss cheese Chicken Kiev with potato gems and beetroot coleslaw Gary Lum
Print
Swiss cheese Chicken Kiev with potato gems and beetroot coleslaw
Prep Time
5 mins
Cook Time
40 mins
Total Time
45 mins
 

This is simply putting together items purchased from Coles and cooking them in the oven for an easy and filling dinner. 

Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Australian
Servings: 1
Calories: 3000 kcal
Author: Gary Lum
Ingredients
  • 1 Piece Chicken Kiev
  • 1 Slice Swiss cheese Place this on the chicken
  • 12 Pieces Potato gems (Tater tots)
  • 1 Cup Beetroot coleslaw
  • 2 Tablespoons Garlic aioli
Instructions

  1. Put the chicken topped with Swiss cheese along with the potato gems into a large non-stick frying pan and put into a hot (200 °C/400 °F) oven for 40 minutes.

Recipe Notes

There's nothing to really prepare for this meal. All the ingredients were purchased from Coles and then put together. The chicken and potato gems need cooking and then after letting the chicken rest for 10 minutes, I added the coleslaw and aioli. 

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Frequently asked questions

What’s the Coles Chicken Kiev like?

Not too bad. I’ve had better, but this was quite edible and the garlic and cheese was nice. The crumb could have been better. To be far, the person who served me was a little rough and knocked some of the bread crumb coating off.

Would you call it value for money?

The delicatessen at Coles sells the Chicken Kiev at a fairly cheap price, so yes, I’d regard it as value for money.

Are you sponsored by Coles?

No, I get no support or sponsorship for anything on this blog.

At the delicatessen

When you’re at the delicatessen in a supermarket like Coles and you see something like ready prepared Chicken Kiev, there’s never a sign with cooking instructions on it. I assume, the people on staff just assume you know how long to cook them otherwise you’d be buying them in a packet (with directions on the back) from the freezer section right?

Food safety

Well with the amount of salmonella in Canberra lately, there is a clear message to cook your chicken thoroughly. That’s why I chose 200 °C (400 °F) for 40 minutes. Given the breast has been stuffed with garlic and butter and I’ve added a layer of cheese, it’s important to get the inside to a good high killing temperature.

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Thank you

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Taco Saturday

Posted by Gary

Have you ever had a Taco Saturday and eaten tacos for breakfast, lunch and dinner? Today I had tortillas filled with goodness three times. This extravaganza was inspired by a blogger friend Julie who is currently on a camping holiday. We started a discussion in the comments of a recent post and the notion of breakfast tacos was raised. It cascaded from there.

 

This morning started well with a panorama of the sunrise.

Lake Ginninderra Panorama
Lake Ginninderra Panorama

I went for a walk to build an appetite.

Lake Ginninderra
Lake Ginninderra

My breakfast taco was made with a line of cheesy potato gems (tater tots for my US friends), streaky Pialligo Estate Artisanal bacon and creamy buttery scrambled eggs.

Breakfast tortillas with scrambled eggs, bacon, potato gems, salsa, cheese and spring onions
Breakfast tortillas with scrambled eggs, bacon, potato gems, salsa, cheese and spring onions
Breakfast tortillas with scrambled eggs, bacon, potato gems, salsa, cheese and spring onions
Breakfast tortillas with scrambled eggs, bacon, potato gems, salsa, cheese and spring onions

After some grocery shopping I needed my lunch taco which contained smoked salmon with a guacamole laden with chilli.

Smoked salmon and avocado salsa tortilla with chilli, dill, cream cheese, lemon zest and black pepper
Smoked salmon and avocado salsa tortilla with chilli, dill, cream cheese, lemon zest and black pepper

After lunch I needed to make some purchases and walked by the lake. I had noticed an abandoned car on my morning walk.

Abandoned car on Lake Ginninderra
Abandoned car on Lake Ginninderra

I also spent some time sitting on a bench day dreaming.

Lake Ginninderra
Lake Ginninderra

For dinner I had some Coles pulled pork and made some macaroni cheese from scratch.

Coles pulled pork cooking instructions
Coles pulled pork cooking instructions
Pulled pork and macaroni cheese tortillas
Pulled pork and macaroni cheese tortillas
Pulled pork and macaroni cheese tortillas
Pulled pork and macaroni cheese tortillas

Have you ever had a Taco Saturday?

If you want to know more about tacos I suggest another Texan, viz., Hilah Johnson. Hilah has a fantastic YouTube channel.

NRLGF footy food for #NRLGF Brisbane Broncos versus North Queensland Cowboys

Posted by Gary

My two favourite teams in the National Rugby League are playing in the 2015 NRL grand final. I’ve been a Brisbane Broncos supporter since their establishment. The North Queensland Cowboys have been my number two team since their entry into the NRL. Two strong Queensland teams. Tonight’s NRLGF footy food had to match the intensity of the game.

What a year it’s been in Rugby League. Queensland wins the State of Origin and my top three teams make the top four at the end of the year. My third team, the Melbourne Storm got knocked out by the Cowboys late in the finals series. I think this has been the best year in Rugby League ever. For the Broncos they’re playing for their captain Justin Hodges in his last game and for Mr Bennett who returned this year to coach the Broncos again. For the Cowboys they’re playing for their captain, Johnathan Thurston. For whoever wins it’s a fairy tale finish and there are no real losers. I can’t remember a happier week leading up to a grand final game.

So I started with a light breakfast of vegemite and marmalade on an English muffin with a coffee in my Brisbane Broncos mug.

Vegemite and marmalade on an English muffin
Vegemite and marmalade on an English muffin

I went for a walk around Lake Ginninderra.

Lake Ginninderra HDR
Lake Ginninderra High Dynamic Range with a little Adobe Lightroom and Adobe Photoshop processing.

When I got home I needed to do my ironing. Followers on twitter and facebook know this as a #SundayRitual

Brisbane Broncos Ironing and Star Trek for my Sunday Ritual
Brisbane Broncos Ironing and Star Trek for my Sunday Ritual [Yes I have a Corey Parker figurine]
Yes, I'm a member
Yes, I’m a member

For dinner, I wanted to relive previous footy food joy and I also wanted to enjoy a variation of the Canadian treat, viz., poutine.

The basic elements were going to be some pulled chicken thigh, potato gems, brown onion gravy and shredded cheddar cheese. What more could you want for NRLGF footy food.

#NRLGF footy food
Ingredients
  • Chicken thigh meat
  • Balsamic vinegar
  • Olive oil
  • Lemon zest
  • Lemon slices
  • Potato gems (Tater tots)
  • Shredded cheddar cheese
  • Gravox brown onion gravy
  • Spring onions
Instructions
  1. In foil add the chicken with a good glug of olive oil plus the lemon zest, lemon slices, balsamic vinegar and the wrap.
  2. Put into the oven at 100 °C for 150 minutes.
  3. As the chicken comes out turn up the oven to 220 °C and add the potato gems (tater tots) and cook for 25 minutes.
  4. Pull the chicken apart and reheat in a frying pan with some oil to keep it moist.
  5. Make the gravy as per instructions on the tin
  6. Lay the chicken on the bottom of a small bowl
  7. Add a layer of potato gems
  8. Pour over some gravy
  9. Add another layer of potato gems
  10. Add some shredded cheddar cheese
  11. Blast in the microwave oven for 30 seconds to melt the cheese
  12. Garnish with spring onions
  13. Serve with wasabi aioli and sweet chilli sauce along with the rest of the gravy
  14. Shoot a photograph
  15. Eat the meal while watching the footy
  16. Wash the dishes
  17. Write the recipe
  18. Blog (verb)
NRL Grand final dinner. Potato gems and cheese with pulled chicken and brown onion gravy.
NRL Grand final dinner. Potato gems and cheese with pulled chicken and brown onion gravy.
NRL Grand final dinner. Potato gems and cheese with pulled chicken and brown onion gravy.
NRL Grand final dinner. Potato gems and cheese with pulled chicken and brown onion gravy.
NRL Grand final dinner. Potato gems and cheese with pulled chicken and brown onion gravy.
NRL Grand final dinner. Potato gems and cheese with pulled chicken and brown onion gravy.

If you want to see the photographs as a gallery click here. Click on one image to see it full size. To see the EXIF data (including a map if the photograph was geotagged) click on the information (i) icon in the top right corner. You can navigate through the gallery using the arrow keys or by swiping if you’re using a tablet or smartphone.

It was an amazing game. It was tight and the lead changed regularly through the match. It was tough with no quarter lost nor given. It was also a clean game with very little niggle. The refereeing was even good. Each captain played well and the superstars in each team did their thing. Towards the end tempers frayed but each team was exhausted. The Cowboys kept attacking and the Broncos kept defending. It was the most exciting ending of a grand final I’ve seen in a few decades. It went to extra time golden point and the North Queensland Cowboys got the victory off the boot of Johnathan Thurston. The night’s best attacking team won which is the way I think it should be. A fairy tale finish for JT and the Cowboys. The final score was 17 to 16. It’s simply been the best year in rugby league full stop. You could not want for a better finish to a great season. I feel for Justin Hodges and Wayne Bennett but they’ve enjoyed success before and tonight it was JT’s time.

Hot and spicy spam wrapped in streaky bacon

Posted by Gary

This hot and spicy spam wrapped in streaky bacon really wasn’t worth a post of its own however I really liked the photograph.

Hot and spicy spam wrapped with streaky bacon and served with a fennel and pomegranate salad and a side of potato gems
Hot and spicy spam wrapped with streaky bacon and served with a fennel and pomegranate salad and a side of potato gems NIKON D7100 with 40.0 mm f/2.8 at 40mm and f/7.1, 1/200sec, ISO 400

I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the flavour of the hot and spicy spam. I mean it’s spam so I’d like it anyway but this had a nice ‘kick’ to it.

I had a brick of spam that was about 2 cm (just under an inch) thick and I wrapped it in two rashers of streaky (read fatty) bacon. I baked that in my bench top oven at 220 °C (428 °F) for 20 minutes.

I also added some potato gems (tater tots) to the oven and cooked them with the bacon and spam.

While the oven was cooking my meat and potatoes nicely, I started on the salad. It was a simple case of slicing some fennel, red onion, and parsley. To that I added some capers from a jar and some pomegranate arils that I had beat (thrashed with the back of a meat cleaver) out of a pomegranate. I also added a little lime juice to keep it all fresh and tangy.

I took some care with the plating of this dish. I placed my bacon and spam in the middle as the centrepiece also as a friend pointed out the potato gems are really the star of this dish.

On one side I placed the salad around the bacon and spam with small kitchen tongs. On the other side I placed the gems, one gem at a time.

On top of the bacon I used a pair of forceps and added some fried flowers which I had received as a gift from Canberra’s Essential Ingredient.

 

Have you tried hot and spicy spam? What do you think of this photograph?

 

 

Smoque Woden Restaurant @Smoque_Canberra

Posted by Gary

Today is the second time I’ve been to Smoque Woden in as many weeks for work Christmas lunches. This relatively new restaurant is an offshoot of Smoque in Civic and has opened in the new Abode Restaurant on Bowes Street in Phillip. 

Both times I’ve eaten the same thing, viz., a pulled pork protein plate and a side of potato gems with sour cream and bacon bits.

Today as I ate the pulled pork I did think of Lara Bingle albeit briefly and then I changed my thoughts to pancakes at 63 Racecourse Road. 

The pulled pork protein plate at Smoque Woden is pretty good. The meat is tender and juicy. The flavours are strong but not too salty. I also like a pickle although I’m not a huge fan of corn bread. I noticed some of my friends from today’s lunch had never tried corn bread and weren’t impressed. 

Pulled pork Apple iPhone 6 Plus with iPhone 6 Plus back camera 4.15mm f/2.2 at 4mm and f/2.2, 1/15sec, ISO 50
Pulled pork Apple iPhone 6 Plus with iPhone 6 Plus back camera 4.15mm f/2.2 at 4mm and f/2.2, 1/15sec, ISO 50

The potato gems were pretty good. They were well cooked and not under or over cooked. 

Potato gems with sour cream and bacon bits Apple iPhone 6 Plus with iPhone 6 Plus back camera 4.15mm f/2.2 at 4mm and f/2.2, 1/30sec, ISO 50
Potato gems with sour cream and bacon bits Apple iPhone 6 Plus with iPhone 6 Plus back camera 4.15mm f/2.2 at 4mm and f/2.2, 1/30sec, ISO 50

It wouldn’t be a work Christmas lunch without bon bons and Christmas jokes and toys

Christmas toy Apple iPhone 6 Plus with iPhone 6 Plus back camera 4.15mm f/2.2 at 4mm and f/2.2, 1/15sec, ISO 32
Christmas toy Apple iPhone 6 Plus with iPhone 6 Plus back camera 4.15mm f/2.2 at 4mm and f/2.2, 1/15sec, ISO 32

 
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