Hiiii, just got back from my Dutch lesson…Yes, I have been taking Dutch lessons for a year on and off. Trying to learn a language that is more difficult than the Greek language!! If your a native English speaker it’s very confusing. For example let’s say you go to the supermarket and your at the register to pay, instead of 51.00 euros which is the total amount you see, they tell you the amount is 15.00 euros, they switch the numbers around….I still can’t understand why this is done. 🙂 But I have to admit I have a super great teacher who talks slowly and I can understand her and she has helped me so I am able to understand what I’m reading 🙂 at least most of the time and I can also write a bit, but talking Uxxxxxx!!!…That’s a whole different story. 🙂 I also have my Dutch friends who have been super supportive and try to talk to me in Dutch but then for some reason the conversation quickly turns into English..hehehe (back to the recipe) 🙂
One of the first things my mom gave me before I got married was a Greek Cookbook from a Greek Chef from back in the 60’s. When I started going through the Cookbook I noticed that it had some wonderful recipes and colorful pictures, at the time I thought to myself how so far ahead of his time he was for a Greek Chef. (When we first moved to the Netherlands the first thing I packed was this cookbook just love it) The first recipe I tried from his cookbook, and mind you I was barely speaking, writing or reading Greek at the time was Pastichio. I followed his recipe step by step with a dictionary next to me, and of course calling my mom whenever I needed some extra help. The second recipe I tried and I absolutely feel in love with is this recipe I am posting today, with a few tweaks of my own, this recipe is my absolute favorite because it combines both chicken and aubergines 🙂 and with the addition of cinnamon uhhhh!!! the taste and smell is just to die for.
Just a few quick tips it is best to have sautéd the chicken before adding all the other ingredients into the baking pan. I find that if you sauté the chicken it doesn’t need as much time in the oven. Sprinkle salt on the chicken before you sauté in a frying pan…(this is my little trick) 🙂
TEMPTING OVEN BAKED CHICKEN & AUBERGINES (KOTOPOULO ME MELITZANES STO FOURNO)
Ingredients
- 4 pieces of Chicken Breasts
- 4 large fresh Tomatoes grated
- 2 teaspoons of Tomato Paste
- 2 large Aubergines chopped
- 1 Cinnamon Stick
- 2 Onions diced
- 2 Bay Leaves
- 2 tablespoons fresh Parsley
- 1 1/2 cup Chicken Broth
- 1 tablespoon Sugar
- 1 Red Bell Pepper Chopped
- 1 cup Olive Oil of which 1/3 is for frying
- Salt
- Pepper
- Paprika (Optionaif you want to give a delicious spicy taste
Instructions
- Cut the Aubergines into cubes or large pieces…put them in a bowl with salted water and let them sit for 1/2 hour. Drain until all excess water has gone.
- Grated Tomatoes
- In a sauce pan add some olive oil and sauté the chicken. Once that is done place chicken aside. Add into the sauce pan all the ingredients except for the olive oil that is left over and bell pepper. Cook for 15 minutes.
- Place chicken into the baking pan.
- Top with the veggie mix, bell pepper, olive oil…mix gradually. Cover with a piece of aluminum foil and place in oven. Pre-heat oven at 180 degrees and bake for 1 hr 30 min.
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