Backed Chicken in beer casserole

[ginaphan]

This is my own recipe - cooked it up last weekend and family enjoyed it. Hope you can try and tell me how yours came up. (Sorry, this recipe has beer so not halal). Sorry - no portions and measurements. I just go by agak-agak most times.

Chicken thigh (dark meat) - chicken chop size (remove the leg part)
Carrots
Large onions
Celery
Potatoes
1 can of beer
sweet chilli sauce (or tomato ketchup)
salt, black pepper, flour for thickening


Marinade chicken with salt, and black pepper to taste. Apply flour so that the chicken meat will be smooth and tender. It also acts as a thickening agent.

Cut up carrots, celery, onopns and potatoes into small chunks (up to you how you like your vegetables - chunks or diced).

Put the vegetables first into a casserole dish. Then the chicken pieces. For each 'layer' of chicken, pour some sweet chilli sauce or tomato sauce. (up to you how spicy/sweet you want the dish to be).

Then pour the beer into the casserole dish until the liquid reaches about half full. (Give the remaining beer to husband or consume it yourself).

Pre-heat oven at 180C. Cover the casserole dish (can use aluminium foil if the dish does not come with a cover).

The time needed depends on how much chicken you have. About 45 minutes for 1 kg of chicken is a general rule (any professional cooks out there to confirm this). I'll check on it once in awhile to make sure it is not overcooked. Depending on how many chicken you use, you may need to take it out midway to turn the chicken around.

About 10 minutes before it is done, mix flour and water and pour into the dish and put it back into the oven. This will thicken the sauce.

Serve chicken and drained vegetables separately. Spoon a little sauce over the chicken. Garnish with parsley or salsa for variety. The remaining sauce makes a good dipping sauce for breads or tomorrow's stew or stir fry.


*** This recipe is best when using dark meat. White meat tends to be dry.
*** Can replace baking with slow-cooking (tried this before).
*** I guess you can spice it up by adding fennel, and other spices. Have not tried it though.
*** I used Carlsberg beer. next time, I will try other types to see what the difference is.

[in]

Sounds delicious! will definately try...but with slow cooker instead. Is celery a must.....like.....without celery it doesn't taste nice or something? I HATE celery. Most to most.....i'll just remove when serving.

[in]

Hi Gina. I tried the recipe yesterday. It was a success! I used the slow cooker and filled it to the brim with the ingredients. Used 2 cans of beer! For added zing, I included hp sauce, serbuk lada hitam and a little salt. Mmmmm....sedap!

[ginaphan]

Been away so I did not see your first question. Sorry. Anyway, I am glad that you liked the recipe and it came out good. The nice thing about it tis that you dump everything into the pot/dish and let it cook on its own.

Did you use celery? I have not tried it without celery since I like it (celery) but as far as I can see, it can be done without it.

[in]

Yes, I used the celery....it adds to the taste of the soup. Anyways, after 8 hours in the slow cooker, the celery taste which i dislike is gone...so its OK! The dish turned out stew-like (probably because too much beer...hic!), but we love stew ...so its OK!
I invited friends over for dinner that day..... and everyone loved it! Thanks again for the recipe.

[Firefly]

Is there a non alcholic equivlent for beer? like Malta for Stout?

[sly]

tried the recipe....i'm so proud of myself....first timer....he he...thanks ginaphan... :D btw, is it normal that the beer taste is not so obvious after it has been cooked?

[LMei]

in... since u dump everything in the slow cooker... did u use flour as well?

[sly]

lmei, sorry to be kpc....for myself i waited till it's almost cooked only i put in the flour...to thicken the soup...

[in]

Yah...me too. I added butterfly corn-flour, hp sauce, salt and serbuk lada hitam towards the end.

[ginaphan]

Sorry, have not been around much so did not know there were a few questions here. (BTW, I just noticed that there was a typo in the name of the dish - it should read as 'Baked chicken'; not 'Backed chicken')

It is normal that the beer taste to disappear after cooking - esp after so many hours.

I would put flour towards the end to thicken. I personally think flour would be better for this recipe than cornflour. But we can follow our own tastebuds. Mengikut citarasa. I have not tried substituting the beer with malta though. I know there's such a thing as non-alcoholic beer but I've only seen it in the US so far.

The strange thing about this recipe is that when you first see the ingredients, you kinda think that it would taste funny - vegetables, chicken and beer!. So the end result is quite surprising.

Glad you all like it.

When I have the time, I'll post another easy one - also using the slow cooker - perfect for lazy cooks like me who has to feed a big family!

[LMei]

Since beer is used here... is it safe for preggy women? Else I'll have to delay this recipe...wonder if it works with coca cola

[ginaphan]

I guess it's safe because all the alcohol's gone after cooking for so many hours. But if in doubt, don't try it. Even if it's totally safe, your worries will be helpful to you and the baby.

BTW, congratulations! Is this your first baby?

[LMei]

Thanks. I guess maybe I'll try after baby comes out. Yup it's my first!

[evelynlim]

Since beer is used here... is it safe for preggy women? Else I'll have to delay this recipe...wonder if it works with coca cola


I have not try it out but maybe can substitute the beer with Brands Pati Ayam.