Chicken Adobo with Camargue Red Rice

A reprint of one of my older recipe's with a shinny new photo from the amazing Etienne! And this time I got the spelling right. 
Adobo is a Spanish word for marinade however this is a Filipino dish traditionally cooked with chicken thighs and drums. But some recipes include pork served with plain rice and a hard boiled egg. I love the combination of salty and sweet, and was surprised at how simple it is to make. I developed my own version for Kaffeine where its incorporated into a salad with camargue red rice (wild rice found in the south of France) and coriander. Out of the several hundred salads I've created at work this has to be the one that out sells all the others.

500g boneless skinless chicken thigh
60ml dark soy sauce
60ml malt vinegar
60ml water
60g demerara sugar
8 peeled cloves garlic
16 peppercorns
2 bay leaves
200g camargue red rice
70g rocket
20g coriander leaves roughly chopped
1 tablespoon sesame oil

METHOD:
Bring a medium pot of water to the boil add the rice and cook for 30 minutes
Cut each chicken thigh into 6 pieces and place in a bowl with roughly chopped garlic and add the soy, vinegar, sugar, water, peppercorns and bay leaves. Place the chicken on a medium heat and cook for 20 minutes stirring occasionally. Once the rice is cooked drain and cool under cold running water then put the rice in a large mixing bowl add the coriander and mix together. When the chicken has cooked strain the marinade from the chicken, don't throw away the marinade. Place the same pot back on a high heat and add the sesame oil followed by the chicken and cook till the meat falls apart around 4-5 minutes, pour the marinade back in the pot and cook for a further 5 minutes till the sauce thickens then remove from heat.
Add the chicken to the rice and combine, now its time to construct the salad. On a serving platter or 4 individual  lay down half the rocket leaves followed by half the Adobo and repeat the layer one more time and serve.

Chicken, Melon and Dumpling Salad

One of the more complex recipe's I've ever written basically 4 recipes in one. I recommend you pickle the melon and make the dressing the day before, the rest is all down hill. A great Sunday substitute during warmer months of the year and full of protein, fiber and very low in fat.
I made this salad all week at Kaffeine and quite literally couldn't keep up, I'd make one platter and 2 minute's later it was gone!
Etienne has once again taken a wonderful picture of the salad in the making.
Please email me with a photo if you get adventurous and make this recipe, I'd really like to know how you got on. Happy cooking.

400g chicken breast
70g baby spinach
100g feta
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt and cracked pepper

DUMPLINGS:
250g stale white bread (crust removed)
70g grated mature cheddar
50g walnuts
50g black olives
1 banana shallot
25g butter
100ml milk
1 egg
4 large basil leaves
Sea salt and cracked pepper

PICKLED MELON RIND:
1 watermelon
150ml white wine vinegar
450ml water
100g sugar
2 tablespoon sea salt
1 orange
4 cloves garlic
8 peppercorns
2 bay leaves
1 red chilli

DRESSING:
The flesh of the watermelon left over from pickle rind
100ml red wine vinegar
1 red onion
4 cloves garlic
12 pepper corns
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon salt
200g sugar

METHOD:
The first step is to pickle the melon rind, after you've peeled away the outer skin cut melon in quarters and slice away the outer rind and place in a large bowl with 1 tablespoon of salt and roughly mix together. In a large pot add the white wine vinegar, water, sugar, the other tablespoon of salt, whole orange sliced into 5 circles, garlic, peppercorns, bay leaves and place over a high heat and bring to the boil. Once the pickling juice is just bubbling away add the melon rind and cook for 15 minutes till the rind starts to go floppy. Remove from heat and transfer the rinds into sterilized jars and pour over the remaining liquid till covering the rinds then screw on the lids and leave to cool.
Next is the dressing cut the flesh of the melon into cubes and place in large pot, roughly crush the melon by  either punching it or crush up in your hands (whatever works for you). Peel and quarter the onion, crush the garlic and add to pot with red wine vinegar, peppercorns, bay, whole chilli and salt and place over a high heat and bring to a simmer and reduce for 2 hours. The volume should have reduce by 3/4 then strain the liquid and throw away the sediment. Place the liquid back on a high heat bring to a simmer then add the sugar and cook for another 15-20 minutes till you have a syrupy consistency, the dressing is now ready.
Place the chicken in a baking tray and drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and pepper, fill the tray with water till the chicken is 3/4 covered then thightly wrap the baking tray with foil and place in oven set at 180oC for 20 minutes to cook. Once the chicken is cooked remove from oven and don't take off the foil as the chicken will keep on cooking.
To make the dumplings peel and dice the shallot, place a small fry pan over medium heat, melt the butter then add shallot and cook till the shallots softens and turns translucent, remove from heat. Break the bread up into smaller piece's and place in a large mixing bowl, roughly dice the walnuts, olives, basil and add to bread with cheese, onion, milk, egg, salt and pepper and mush the mixture together using your hands. Line a baking tray with parchment paper then fill a small bowl with water and dip your hands in then start rolling small dumplings with wet hands and lay out dumplings on baking tray. Once you've rolled all the mixture into dumpling place in oven set at 180oC for 12-15 minutes till they turn golden.
Now its time to construct the salad, lay out half the spinach leaves on a serving platter then break up half the feta over the leaves. Evenly place half the dumplings over the salad, slice some pickled melon rind and distribute over everything. Tear the chicken and lay over the salad and drizzle with a good amount of dressing then repeat the layer again and serve as soon as possible.

Chicken Adobu Salad

Here it is FINALLY, this is the recipe I get asked for the most but usually quite reluctant to hand out as I'm sure someone other than myself will make a million pounds off of it.
Adobu is a Spanish word for marinade however this is a Filipino dish traditionally cooked with chicken thigh and drum still on the bone and some recipes include pork served with plain rice and a hard boiled egg. I was first introduced to Adobu by my boyfriend who happens to be Filipino. I loved the salty and sweet combination and was surprised at how simple it is to make. I developed my own version for Kaffeine where its incorporated into a salad with camargue red rice (wild rice found in the south of France). Out of the several hundred salads I've created at work this has to be the one that out sells all the others. P.S. send my royalties to Jared Bryant, Sort code: haha kidding...

500g boneless skinless chicken thigh
60ml dark soy sauce
60ml malt vinegar
60ml water
60g demerara sugar
8 peeled cloves garlic
16 peppercorns
2 bay leaves
200g camargue red rice
70g rocket
20g coriander leaves roughly chopped
1 tablespoon sesame oil

METHOD:
Bring a medium pot of water to the boil add the rice and cook for 30 minutes
Cut each chicken thigh into 6 pieces and place in a bowl with roughly chopped garlic and add the soy, vinegar, sugar, water, peppercorns and bay leaves. Place the chicken on a medium heat and cook for 20 minutes stirring occasionally. Once the rice is cooked drain and cool under cold running water then put the rice in a large mixing bowl add the coriander and mix together. When the chicken has cooked strain the marinade from the chicken, don't throw away the marinade. Place the same pot back on a high heat and add the sesame oil followed by the chicken and cook till the meat falls apart around 4-5 minutes, pour the marinade back in the pot and cook for a further 5 minutes till the sauce thickens then remove from heat.
Add the chicken to the rice and combine, now its time to construct the salad. On a serving platter lay down half the rocket leaves followed by half the Adobu and repeat the layer one more time and serve.