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Hi, Mary,
You don't have a section for 'not' casserole but here is a simple recipe that will turn out a fantastic chicken meal for as many people as you want it to - you just add more ingredients.
For two people:-
Ingredients:-
two or three chicken breasts
five or six tomatoes
one or two red peppers
some ground pepper
a little salt
some tomato ketchup
some apple or pear vinegar
a few mushrooms of medium size
anything else you fancy to flavour
a little cornflour
a cup or two of long grain or brown rice
Method:-
This dish is best cooked in a large (12")heavy copper based frying pan with a heavy glass lid.
Place the pan on the lowest setting of a medium gas ring or electric hot plate.
With a sharp knife, cut the tomatoes into pieces about half an inch square on the largest side - don't worry about peeling them though you can wash them if you wish.
Place all the pieces and any juice in the pan, which should now be at least warm, and cover with the lid.
With the same knife, cut the red peppers into strips about a quarter inch wide and then cut the strips into half inch pieces. If you want a spicy and 'woody' flavour to the meal, you can add the seeds but this is not recommended.
If the frying pan lid is now covered in condensation on the inside or (if you have been slow or had a couple of glasses of wine while cutting the peppers) the tomatoes show signs of bubbling, add the peppers to the tomatoes. Stir gently until the two are mixed. Replace the lid.
You can now get the chicken breasts and cut them into one inch cubes and sprinkle them with vinegar - but not too much - and let them stand for a while.
Take a large saucepan and fill with water sufficient to boil the rice - and then some.
Add the chicken pieces (together with the vinegar)to the tomatoes and peppers and stir until the chicken pieces are all coated. If there does not seem to be enough liquid in the pan, add a little water or a fair dollop of tomato ketchup and stir gently again. By this time, the mixture should be simmering well, if not actually boiling.
Bring the water for the rice to the boil.
When the water is boiling vigorously, pour in the rice. This will cause the boiling to slow down but that doesn't matter - stir the rice to ensure it does not start to stick to the pan until the water is boiling again - then turn the heat down as low as it will go and cover the pan.
Look at the chicken pepper and tomato mix to ensure it is simmering nicely - stir it a little if you want to.
Have a kettle of water ready to boil and start boiling it so that it will be ready when the rice is cooked to your satisfaction. Remember brown rice can take longer to cook than white.
Taste the liquid that the chicken, tomatoes and peppers are cooking in - this is the time to decide what you want it to taste like. Initially it should taste like a mild sweet and sour and you can strengthen this by adding more tomato ketchup and vinegar.
A little ground fresh ginger will spice it up a bit and if you have any favourite herbs and spices, you can add those also. The big secret of this dish is to stop adding things when you like the flavour.
Add the cornflour to thicken what is now the sauce.
The mixture needs to be stirred every minute or so from now until it is served.
When the rice is cooked, wash with the boiled water and serve as a bed for the casserole mix.
This is a great D.I.Y. meal because you can make it any flavour you like simply by adding different ingredients. Try it with pineapple instead of peppers, for example.
The mushrooms? I usually eat these as I am cooking but you can add them at the last minute or two of cooking. Mine have never got that far!
VERY IMPORTANT
Except for boiling the water, always use minimum heat settings unless you only have a thin frying pan.
Always use fresh ingredients - never canned, because they don't taste the same.
Total time from ingredients to table - about 45 minutes.
Enjoy.
A special tip - a good pinch of proprietory cuury powder will enhance the flavour of any cooked meal.
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