Panda Cheese Cream Stew

Curry and stew makes a great canvas for food art. I use curry more often in the past, but recently, I like using cream stew too. I've been getting requests for a cream stew recipe, so today I'm sharing a version with cheese, my boys love this over the usual cream stew.


The cheese I added in the stew is the sliced cheddar from The Laughing Cow. If you prefer a mild cheese taste, just add one slice to the stew, add more if you prefer the cheese taste to be stronger.


This cream stew makes a great one dish meal. I made a panda out of rice and nori to decorate the stew. The bamboo was cut out from french beans.


I'm sure most of you are familiar with the cheese products from The Laughing Cow. My boys' favourites cheese products from them are Belcube and Cheez Dippers. They have been snacking on them since they were toddlers and they still love to eat them now.

The Laughing Cow cheese products are available at all leading supermarkets such as NTUC Fairprice, Giant, Cold Storage and Sheng Siong. They are now running a special offer - You can get 3 boxes of The Laughing Cow 8 Portion Cheese or 3 packets of cheese slices at SG$8.95 only! In addition, you can also participate in their "Dream Big with The Laughing Cow" contest to win SG$500. Simply purchase SG$10 worth of any The Laughing Cow products in a single receipt for a chance to win. You can also increase your chances of winning by making multiple purchases and submit multiple entries too. Campaign will end on 31st May 2015.


I used chicken for this cheese stew recipe that I'm sharing below, but you can substitute salmon for chicken in this recipe, if you prefer.

CHICKEN CHEESE CREAM STEW

Ingredients:
1 chicken thigh/breast, cut into bite sized pieces
1 1/2 tbsp butter
1 medium sized potato, cut into small pieces
1/2 carrot, cut into small pieces
1/4 onion, minced
1/2 bag of shimeji mushrooms
200ml milk
2 tbsp flour
1/2 chicken or vegetable stock cube (optional)
1-2 slices of Laughing Cow cheddar cheese
Salt, to taste
Black pepper, to taste

Method:

1. Season chicken with a pinch of salt and black pepper.
2. In a Dutch oven, heat butter on medium heat and sauté onions.
3. When onions turn soft and translucent, add in chicken and sauté till no longer pink.
4. Slowly stir in 2 tbsp of flour and mix well.
5. Pour the milk in, use a wooden spoon to keep scraping off the bottom of the pot as the flour will burn at the bottom of the pot.
6. Add in potato, carrot, shimeji mushrooms and stock cube and bring to boil. Once it boils, lower the heat and cover with lid. Continue to simmer for around 20 minutes.
7. Turn off the heat, add in a slice of Laughing Cow cheddar cheese if you want a mild cheese taste. Add in two slices if you want the cheese taste to be more distinct. Stir till the cheese melts.
8. Season with salt and black pepper.