When Cikyah Cleans The Larder

Hi peeps! It's been quite long since my last entry. Like the month of April, May has seen me dashing to school earlier and earlier. In fact, my Saturdays have been taken by some 'mind-opening' (if you can put it in such a way) sessions in school. This is the time when I would feel very guilty leaving the kiddos at home. The weekends have always been my slaving-in-the-kitchen time where I would be very obliged to cook any dishes requested. As I was not able to keep to this routine, I managed to find an alternative in order to put my mind at ease as well as making sure the kiddos(and Mr KHz, especially), are feeling happy due to their full tummies.

Inspired by Nigella's belief that 'Simplicity is the best'(as it was already 9.30pm!), I began to 'ransack' the larder (and the freezer) to look for available ingredients. You want to know what I found? Here they are:

And using all the ingredients in the photo above, I managed to come up with this:

SPAGHETTI WITH TOMATO CHICKEN SAUCE

What? The sauce looks like the usual bolognaise? Nay, I would not yes because this is my own concoction. The bolognaise of course, is of a class of its own! As I've mentioned beforehand, cooking to me is partly experiment but fully joyful. Although at times, my experiments do not produce satisfactory results, cooking has always manged to comfort me. Frankly, from the bottom of my heart and tummy as well, you should try cooking this simple sauce.

To cook this sauce, you need:

• 1 can(400g) of peeled tomatoes
• 1 can of button mushrooms (thinly sliced)
• 1 medium size onion (finely diced)
• 200g of diced chicken
• 3 tsbps of olive oil
• 2 tbsp of tomato puree
• 2 and 1/2 tbsps soft brown sugar
• 2 tsps of dried parsley
• salt to taste
• 2 cans of water ( I used the tomato can to measure)

Method:

• Heat 2 tbsp of olive oil in a pot and sautee the onion till translucent and put in the tomatoes. Stir well. Let to cool for 10 minutes.
• Put in the tomato mixture into a blender and pour in 1 can of water and blend till fine.
• In the same pot, put in another tablesoonful of olive oil and fry the diced chicken. Stir till well-cooked and pour in the tomato mixture and another can of water.
• Put in the tomato puree, sugar and add salt to taste. Do not forget the parsley!
• Over medium heat, stir occassionally till you arrrive at your desired consistency.
• Spoon over your spaghetti and sprinkle some grated parmesan and voila!