Chicken Fried Rice + Sweet Chili Chicken

Hey foodies, Happy Sunday to you all... I feel like its been a while since I last blogged about food, so today I'll be sharing my chicken fried rice and sweet chili chicken recipe. This has become a staple dish since I've been in Amsterdam and its really quick and easy to make.

Ingredients - Chicken Fried rice

• 1 Chicken fillet 
• 1 1/2 cups of rice
• 1 Onion
• Spring Onions 
• 1/2 scotch bonnet (or other spice)
• Peas
• 1 egg
• Garlic, ginger, chicken seasoning and soy sauce 

2. Sweet chili chicken

• 2 spoons of sweet chili 
• 3 drops soy sauce 
• chicken seasoning

Cold cooked rice which has been left in the fridge is best for this recipe as less water and moisture is in the rice. However if your in a rush warm rice also works out fine ( I use this all the time) just reduce the amount of water to avoid the rice sticking

Firstly, cut the chicken fillet into pieces add some chicken seasoning and fry in a frying pan till 3/4 cooked.

Then add the finally chopped onions, spring onions,scotch bonnet, peas, garlic, ginger and then fry all together for about 5 mins

Once done push this to one side of the frying pan and add 1 whisked egg, allow to fry and then scramble.

The rice is now ready to add, add a few drops of soy sauce and some sweet chili.

2. For the sweet chili chicken, mix the above ingredients together and leave in the fridge for 1 hour (or overnight) to marinate. Add some oil to a pan and then fry until cooked

A healthier option would be to cook the chicken in an oven 

 

Geneva

Last week I had the opportunity to visit the beautiful city of Geneva as part of my uni course and also as a little city break. One word to describe Geneva is... Amazing... I loved every moment there (aside the rainy days). Lake Geneva, the mountains, the excellent transport link and the friendly and welcoming people makes Geneva one of my favourite cities in Europe thus far, and I will definitely be going back !!

The week started off with sunny spells so I used this to my advantage and explored the city. Like most new places I travel to, I'm never to sure what to expect and the same was for Geneva. However, on arrival I fell in love with the mix of both modern and historical architecture and the cultural vibe of the city. Being a small city Geneva is quite easy to get around and as I mentioned before its transport links are excellent.

Hostel

Geneva is an expensive city and as with all good things there comes a price. As this was a uni trip we were advised to stay in a Hostel based in the center of Geneva called 'City Hostel Geneva'. This was my first time staying in a hostel and I must say the experience was actually good. The hostel provided us with a travel card for our entire stay to get around Geneva, a city map with all the places we could visit and WiFi internet access. I shared a room with a friend (much preferable than sharing with strangers) and the rooms were clean and also the shared facilities. A kitchen was also provided on each floor (which I didn't use) which is an added bonus for those travelling on a cheaper budget or would just prefer to prepare their own meals. On that note I would rate city hostel a 3.5/5, the location is perfect for those who would like to be in the center and also for those looking for a cheaper alternative. 

This is a room for two with a basin and storage space

Things to do

My stay at Geneva was quite eventful. I spent the mornings and afternoons at various institutions such as the United Nations, the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), the World Trade Organisation (WTO), WTO Advisory Center and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

                       

However, in the latter part of the afternoons I took a walk by the lake and the park

I visited the 'Old Town' 

      

The 'unfinished' flower clock 

and one evening I also visited 'Jazz club Sud des Alpes' which is the place to be on a Tuesday night with a live jam session. 

The border of France is about an hour away from the center of Geneva so I decided to take the cable cars up to Saleve Mountain to enjoy the wonderful views. However, I went on a not so good day in terms of the weather but not to worry the experience was lovely. 

Food

There are a few cheap places to eat at in Geneva and one of the places I actually ate at twice was 'Chez ma cousine'. The specialty here are chicken dishes, so if you love chicken this is the place for you. The meal cost 14.90 CHF (Swiss franks), served with half a chicken, potato wedges, salad and some bread. The meal was tasty and the portions were a good size. For desert I had a tarte tatin with vanilla ice cream which cost 9 CHF. Other days I ate at the institutions of the United Nations and the food served there was also very nice and for an affordable  price.  

 Chocolate 

A nice way to end your stay in Geneva is to definitely indulge in some Swiss chocolate. We all love a little bit of chocolate right? It's not just any chocolate its Swiss chocolate.. 

Rollende Keukens

The 9-12th May marked the sixth edition of 'Het weeked van de Rollende Keukens' or 'The weekend of the Rolling Kitchens' in Amsterdam. The park was packed with a wide range of mobile kitchens and transformed into an outdoor restaurant. There was live music, performances and enough drinks to make everyone merry. As you can imagine I was pretty excited !! I mean what more could you really ask for? This is surely every food lovers dream right??

After taking a walk around the park I decided to try some 'soul food'. I had a chicken curry roti and a ketjap  roti with beans, veg and chili and both tasted soo good. On an earlier post I talked about trying out some roti at a Surinamese restaurant, but this one tasted so much better!! As the chicken was placed inside the roti this time, it was full of flavour and the roti was just right. It definitely hit the spot!

I also tried some mini pancakes served with citrus jam and cream, the jam was a little too tangy for my liking and the pancakes were just ok.

Here are a few pictures of the day.

Ice Cream

Today after a somewhat long day at the library I decided to visit the ice cream parlor near my uni and treat myself to some ice cream. The weather is finally warming up and with highs of 20 degrees I was definitely feeling summery and cheerful despite the worries of deadlines and workload.

'' Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own'' Matthew 6 v 34 

A favourite verse of mine reminded me to live for today and enjoy it while I'm at it, so that's exactly what I did !!

I hope your enjoying your day whatever the weather :)

Hazelnut Ice Cream, it sure tasted good!!

Mango Yogurt Layer

I was inspired to make this very simple but sweet recipe by +Physalis Peruviana so thank you very much for the idea I really enjoyed it!

Ingredients

• 1 Mango 
• Greek yogurt 
• Honey 

(This recipe feeds 2)

Remove the skin of the mango and slice the mango into small cubes 

and drizzle on a bit of honey

Then begin to layer the yogurt and mango after each other. I used  more yogurt than

mango but you can adapt the recipe to your own taste.

Queens Day

The 30th of April 2013 officially marked Koninginnedag 'Queens day' a national holiday in the Netherlands used to celebrate the Dutch Queen Beatrix's birthday and this year her abdication of the throne to her son Prince Willem- Alexander. 

The streets were full of people dressed in orange, which is the official colour of the Dutch royal family and hails the house of orange. The canals were packed with people as they traveled along in their boats and the pavements covered as the Dutch sold second hand items. There were several stalls selling food and there were sounds of loud music as you walked down the street, being my first Koninginnedag I definitely enjoyed the experience.

Here are a few pictures of the day ! 

My 'attempt' at wearing orange