Tasty Advice

I am in the process of trying to use up food in the freezer so I can defrost it for the summer.  I also had some baby peppers left in a huge bag I bought recently so I decided to try to make a dish that combines the two.  The result was really tasty and healthy too, not bad for using up leftovers etc.  Here is a bit of chicken trivia.

• According to the National Chicken Council, more than 1.25 Billion Chicken wing portions (more than 100 million pounds) were consumed on Super Bowl weekend in 2012.
• In Great Britain over three-quarters of all waste from chicken production is used to generate electricity.
• Our modern domesticated chickens are all descendants of the red jungle fowl of India and Southeast Asia. They have been domesticated for at least 4,000 years.
• 4,000 years ago the Egyptians built brick incubators which could hold 10,000 chicks at a time.
• In 1980 about 10% of a chicken’s weight was breast meat. In 2007 chickens were about 21% breast meat.
• In 2007, 95 percent of commercial restaurants had chicken on the menu.
• The average domestic laying hen lays 255 eggs per year.
• It takes about 4 1/2 pounds of feed for a chicken to produce a dozen eggs.
• In 1950 approximately 80% of chickens were ‘free range’, by 1980 only 1% were ‘free range.’ Today it is back up to 12%.
• Broiler-fryers, roasters, stewing/baking hens, capons and Rock Cornish hens are all chickens.
• Chicken skin colour varies from cream-colored to yellow. Skin color is a result of the type of feed eaten by the chicken, not a measure of nutritional value, flavor, tenderness or fat content. Colour preferences vary in different sections of the country, so growers use the type of feed which produces the desired colour. (Food reference.com)

Here is the recipe                                 Serves 2 but easily doubled and sauce is ok for 4

• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 chicken breasts, skinned and boned
• 1 red and 1 yellow bell pepper, sliced
• 1 onion, sliced
• 1 x 400g can chopped tomatoes
• 100 ml dry white wine
• 250 ml chicken stock
• 10 olives
• salt & freshly ground black pepper

1. Dry the chicken breasts and season on both sides with salt and black pepper.
2. Heat a large frying pan or wok and add the oil.
3. Fry the chicken in the oil until brown on both sides. Remove and set aside.
4. in the same pan add the peppers and onion and stir fry for 4 minutes until starting to soften but not changing colour.
5. Add the wine to the pan and cook for 2 minutes to burn off the alcohol, then add the tomatoes with a pinch of sugar and finally the chicken stock.  Mix and season well.
6. Return the chicken and olives to the pan and simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.
7. Serve with vegetables and potatoes or pasta or rice.

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Tags: bell pepper and olives in tomato sauce, Chicken, chicken trivia