Month: January 2020

Herb Chicken Traybake

Variation on Jamie Oliver from “5 Ingredients”

Difficulty: Easy

Serves: 2

Prep time: 20 min

Cooking time: 50 min

Ingredients

  • 2x 200g chicken legs
  • 400g of potatoes
  • 200g of button mushrooms
  • 2x shallots
  • 2x sprigs of fresh rosemary
  • 1/2 lemon

Special Equipment

  • Roasting tray
  • Small grill to sit on top

Preparation

  • Step 1 – Oven
  • Preheat the oven to 180oC / 350oF / gas 4
  • Step 2 – Potatoes
  • Wash and scrub the potatoes
  • Slice them into 0.5cm thick slices
  • Place them to evenly cover the bottom of a roasting tray
  • Step 3 – Shallots
  • Peel the shallots
  • Cut length-wise and then slice and dice
  • Add the shallots to the potato slices
  • Add 1/2 a tablespoon of olive oil and season to taste
  • Step 4 – Mushrooms
  • Wash the mushrooms
  • Cut in medium slices

Cooking

  • Step 1 – Chicken part 1
  • Arrange the chicken legs on the grill
  • Sit the grill on top of the roasting tray
  • Place both in the oven and bake for 40 minutes
  • Step 2 – Chicken part 2
  • Strip the rosemary leaves off the sprigs
  • Peel strips of lemon zest
  • Add both evenly into the roasting tray
  • Add the cut mushrooms to the tray
  • Sprinkle 1 teaspoon of olive oil and the juice of half a lemon into the tray
  • Return to the oven for a final 10 minutes or until the chicken is tender and golden

Provides a lovely moist, soft and tender chicken

Nice pairing with a bottle of Cotes de Bordeaux red whine

Chicken with chorizo, butter beans and new potatoes

By Stephen Jeffers from “Belfast cookery school”

Difficulty: Easy

Serves: 4

Prep time: 15 min

Cooking time: 35 min

Ingredients

  • 4 skinless chicken breasts
  • 100g chorizo sausage (sliced)
  • 200g butter beans (can)(drained, from a can in water)
  • 12 small new potatoes
  • 36 Brussels sprouts (approx 400g)
  • 2 shallots
  • 150ml chicken stock
  • 150ml double cream
  • Basil

Special Equipment

  • Large frying pan
  • 2x small cooking pan

Preparation

  • Step 1 – Potatoes
  • Leave skins on new potatoes
  • Put potatoes to boil
  • Cook until soft inside (approx 10 minutes)
  • Cut them in halves
  • Put them aside
  • Step 2 – Stock
  • Prepare the chicken stock
  • Step 3 – Sprouts & Chorizo
  • Prepare the Brussels sprouts
  • Slice the chorizo into medium slices
  • Step 4 – Shallots
  • Peel the shallots
  • Cut length wise and then slice and dice

Cooking

  • Step 1 – Chicken
  • Put oil in bottom of frying pan
  • Fry the chicken breast on both sides until golden brown on the outside, cooking sufficiently long on medium heat to make sure it is cooked through,
  • Remove from pan and put on a plate covered with aluminium foil to keep warm
  • Step 2 – Brussels sprouts
  • Put Brussels sprouts to boil in small pan
  • Cook for approx 8 minutes
  • K’s tip
  • If the breasts are too thick, slice them in two to make them easier to cook
  • Do not use the same cutting board after having cut raw chicken meat
  • Step 3 – Chorizo
  • Put oil, shallots and chorizo in a small cooking pan
  • cook until chorizo changes colour and onions are brown
  • Step 4 – Sauce
  • Remove chorizo and shallots from the pan and set aside in bowl
  • Add chicken stock and double cream
  • Reduce on slow boil
  • Step 5 – Cooking
  • Put potatoes and beans in the large frying pan
  • Add the chorizo and shallots
  • Add the stock/cream reduction
  • Cook on slow boil until sauce becomes slightly sticky (approx. 10 minutes)
  • Add the chicken to the pan to warm it up
  • Add basil and season to taste
  • Cook for a further few minutes

Presentation

  • Use heated plates
  • Serve the chicken with the beans, chorizo and Brussels spouts displayed around it

The perfect dish for people allergic to vegetables and anything green (if you dispense of the Brussels sprouts) !

Goes down well with a nice bottle of Rioja Reserva red wine

Serrano Ham Crisps

Tired of regular plain crisps, and even of the new fancy flavoured ones, full of chemicals ?

Karen found these Serrano ham crisps “made using 100% Spanish pork”. The package describes them as “oven baked sliced dry cured Serrano ham” and they are definitely like very thin crispy ham slices.

They are certainly very moreish ! and available from your local M&S!

Stuffed Tarragon Chicken

from “Mary Berry cooks”

Difficulty: Easy

Serves: 6

Prep time: 20 min

Cooking time: 35 min

Ingredients

  • 6x skinless boneless chicken breasts
  • 12x slices of Parma ham
  • 150g of firm black-pepper full-fat cream cheese (e.g. “Boursin”)
  • 200g of full-fat creme fraiche
  • 1x large egg yolk
  • 0.5x lemon
  • 3x table spoons of chopped tarragon + extra tarragon leaves
  • 1x table spoon of clear honey

Special Equipment

  • Small roasting tin

Preparation

  • Step 1 – Cream cheese
  • In a bowl, mix the cream cheese with the egg yolk and two table spoons of tarragon. Season well.
  • Step 2 – Miscellaneous
  • Preheat oven to 200oC / 180oC fan / Gas 6
  • Squeeze juice of 1/2 lemon
  • Step 2 – Chicken breasts
  • Grease the roasting tin with butter (or oil)
  • Put the chicken breasts onto a board.
  • Using a sharp knife, cut a pocket in the side of each breast, halfway up, making sure no to cut through to the other side
  • Push the cream cheese mixture into each chicken breast pocket, dividing between each breast
  • Wrap each breast in two slices of Parma ham, so that they are completely covered and the cream cheese cannot escape from the pocket
  • Arrange each breast in the roasting tin

Cooking

  • Step 1 – Chicken Breasts
  • Drizzle a little honey over each breast laying in the roasting tin
  • Put roasting tin in oven for about 30-35 minutes (chicken should no longer be pink in the centre)
  • Remove the chicken breasts from the tin and leave to rest for 5 minutes in service dish while you make the sauce (covered in foil to keep warm)
  • Step 2 – Sauce
  • Add the creme fraiche and the lemon juice to the roasting tin
  • Put the tin onto the hob and bring to boil, scraping the tin with a wooden spoon to release all of the chicken juices
  • Add the remaining table spoon of chopped tarragon and season

Presentation

  • Serve the chicken breasts in a dish with the sauce around them.
  • Sprinkled a few tarragon leaves over the chicken

Deliciously moist chicken breasts

Serve with fluffy potatoes and green beans

Elegant Italian

Using Sangiovese grapes from the rolling hills of Tuscany, this is a nice Chianti from Italy. It is a Chianti “Classico” meaning that it comes from the original region (17,800 acres out of 38,000) between Florence and Sienna where some of the fullest richest wines are made, with more complex structure.

On top of that, this is a Chianti Classico “Riserva” meaning that it requires a minimum ageing of 2 years in barrel and an additional 3 months in bottle before it can be sold. Being a 2015, the additional bottle ageing produces this elegant wine where the cherry savory notes are not overbearing.

Not only is it a pleasure to drink but it can be sourced in the UK for only £7.49 at Lidl. Enjoy it with my pesto fettuccine or chicken dish. It makes a nice change from the usual suspects we drink regularly !