Here’s my latest instalment in my Strictly Suppers series. It was Ginge who suggested this one to me; it’s my take on a Slimming World recipe. Theirs is Fanta Chicken, where as mine, obviously is Tango Chicken 😀 with my mother’s homemade chips.
It’s Final Time!
It’s final time baby! I can’t believe it already, we’ve had 12 weeks of dancing; it’s gone so fast this year. I don’t know who I want to win, I don’t really have a favourite, I know Melanie (Melanie’s Food Adventures) likes Jay, but he’s a bit to miserable for me. I suppose I’m going to be rooting for Katie and Anton because Anton and Brendan are my favourite Male professionals.
The strictly bit for this recipe is that it’s based on the Tango… ok I know you got that bit, but there’s also an Argentine Tango. The Tango is a Ballroom dance which is an offspring from the Argentine Tango. The best Tango this series has been from Jay and his partner Aliona who scored 38 out of 40 in (week 10), We’ve got to go all the way back to Week 1 to see the lowest which was performed by Iwan and Ola and scored just 17 out of 40.
The original recipe I’ve based mine on is obviously aimed at losing weight because it’s from Slimming World, but when has that ever been something I’ve worried about. I suppose the only things that aren’t particularly healthy in my version are the full fat Tango and the Olive Oil.
The first thing to do as always is to chop your onions, chop them finely as they’ll cook quicker. You can of course blitz them in a food processor. Once you’ve chopped them set them aside for later.
The original recipe called for one pepper, I didn’t have one at hand so opened a jar of Roasted Red Peppers. These are stunning; I could honestly sit there eating these on their own… I almost did. They are such a time saving product and very tasty, I used three peppers but I suppose it depends on the size as to how many you use.
Cut them into small dice, remember if there are black bits that’s the char from the roasting process…. its flavour please don’t throw it. The silver knife in this picture was my first knife as some of you will know. I haven’t used it a lot because it was blunter than Katie Hopkins on a bad day. Thankfully Chris Vickery has sharpened it and its back to normal again, it’s not my best knife but I wanted to see how sharp it was. If you need your knives sharpening and you’re based in South Wales, get in touch.
I’m resisting the urge to make some 14 year old style Sid James esque joke about breasts here…. wait…. wait…. and breathe 😳 ok it’s gone now. I’ve got two really nice chicken breasts, they were good quality and quite chunky, you need to cut them up.
Cut them into chunks and set aside for later, please remember to adhere to all the normal rules that apply when cooking with chicken. You can find them on the NHS Website.
Put some oil in a saucepan and heat, once it’s hot enough add the onions and cook until they start to soften. Remember to stir occasionally so they don’t stick.
Then add the peppers and stir thoroughly, let the onions get to know the peppers and then leave them sit there to chill out. You’ll need to keep them moving from time to time to stop them sticking.
As you can see I’ve been playing with photos, well I’ve been blogging for a year and still not got it right 🙄 . Mix 150ml of boiling water with one chicken or vegetable stock cube.
Once the onion has softened, add the chicken to the pan and stir though. You’ll want to cook the chicken until it’s slightly brown but not cooked all the way through.
Next measure out a cup of Passata, I only had ½ cup measure so I poured the 1st ½ into the chicken stock.
Add the Passata and the chicken stock and stir thoroughly; this will reduce the heat of the pan slightly so you may want to turn it back up. Allow this to cook for about five minutes
Pour in the Tango and… yep you’ve guessed stir thoroughly. Allow this to cook for five minutes or so to let the ingredients get to know each other and all the flavours to meld and mingle.
Lastly is to season and add the vinegar, I was a bit sceptical about this but it makes the difference.
I used a French Vinegar that I’d had in the cupboard for a long time it was “Vinaigre de Cidre aux Algues, Echalote es a la Fleur De Sel”. This roughly translates as Cider Vinegar with Shallots, Seaweed and French salt. The vinegar was awesome and quite expensive, I tried some and it reminded me of the vinegar you get in pickled onions or pickled eggs. I’m not sure where you can source it from but any White Wine or Cider Vinegar should do.
Ta-Da here it is in all its glory, let it reduce and thicken up, if you don’t think it’s thicken up quick enough take a couple of teaspoons of the sauce out and mix it in a ramekin with a teaspoon of cornflower, then stir that back through the sauce.
This was stunning, my mother and I thoroughly enjoyed it, I suppose it was meant to be a take on Sweet and Sour, if you like Sweet and sour you’ll love this. I have seen other versions of this recipe that use pineapple but I’m not a fan so I left it out.
The sauce had a deep complex flavour with the sweetness of the tango and the acidity of the vinegar. I’m not a Sweet and Sour fan, I’m not going to lie but this was first class and really enjoyable, it wasn’t too sweet or too sour it was spot on. It’s easy, give it a try, you can use One Cal spray and low calorie drinks so it can be as healthy as you want.
Serve it with boiled rice, mashed potatoes, fried potatoes or good old fashioned homemade chips from mam. This is…. wait for it… winner, winner chicken dinner. As always you can download the recipe here. Good luck to those dancing tonight; I hope it’s a great final.
This is the last of this year’s Strictly Suppers and the last ever as I won’t be bringing it back next year… well I don’t think anyway; I hope you’ve enjoyed the recipes, if you’ve missed some of them you can click on the link below to take you to that particular week.
Strictly Suppers 2015 #1 – Salsa Steamed Salmon
Strictly Suppers 2015 #2 – American Smooth(ie)
Strictly Suppers 2015 # 3 – Quick Step Leftover Fish Cake
Strictly Suppers 2015 # 4 – Rumba Chicken
Strictly Suppers 2015 # 5 – Cha-Cha-Char Grilled Tuna
Strictly Suppers 2015 #6 – Viennese Waltzing Whirls
Strictly Suppers 2015 #7 – Pesto Double
If you’ve made any of my recipes in this series, got any suggestions or just want to say hi, give me a shout using the pages listed below.
Next week will bring my Time-Saving Tuesdays review of Tesco Spaghetti Carbonara, it’s a good one!
See you Tuesday
