What's cooking Wednesday

Welcome to Week 3 of my tour through my newest cookbook, Just One Pot. What I like most so far about this cookbook is the simplicity of the ingredients. Most recipes have a fairly short list of required ingredients. This week is no exception and in fact, it is the reason I chose the recipe. And, unlike last week, this recipe really does use just one pot (if you don't count the rice I made, and I don't).

Chicken with cilantro and tomatoes

750 g boneless skinless chicken breast cut into thick strips
3 tbsp olive oil
3 medium onions
large knob butter
750g tomatoes
1 bay leaf
1 tbsp tamarind paste
3 garlic cloves
1 large bunch cilantro
1 small bunch mint
salt and pepper

I made a few changes to the recipe. I'll indicate that as I go along but I'll put her original recipe first.

Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a large pan. When the oil is very hot (this is really important), cook the pieces of chicken in batches until the chicken browns and turns crusty. Remove the chicken and set aside.

Peel and half the onions and slice down the halves to make chunky wedges. After you've removed the chicken, add butter to pan and put in the onions. Cook briskly, stirring every now and again, until the onions are wilted and scorched in places. While the onions are cooking place the tomatoes in a bowl and cover with boiling water. Count to 20, then drain, peel and chop. (Okay, so I used canned diced tomatoes which meant I didn't have to do this step - time saver bonus!) Stir the tamarind, bay leaf, and tomatoes (using the canned, I just scooped most of the tomatoes out of the can with a slotted spoon and then poured in a little bit of the juice) into the onions. Cook for 10-15 minutes, or until the tomatoes have broken down a bit (since I used can tomatoes, I only cooked for about 3 minutes because they were already broken down), then return the chicken to the pan.

Cook at a steady simmer for about 20 minutes (I didn't - I would have had dry rubber chicken if I had - I cooked for about 5 minutes), or until chicken is tender. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Peel the garlic and chop very fine. Coarsely chop the leaves from the herbs. When the chicken is done, stir in the chopped herbs and finely chopped garlic and serve over rice.

John and I totally loved this. I will definitely make it again. Hope like the sauce on the rice. Emily didn't try it but she hasn't really eaten any supper the last two days for some reason.