Mashup of recipes from Vanessa Bolosier on “Sainsbury web site” and from Jean Francois Mallet’s book “Simplissime”

Ingredients

• 2x large chicken breasts
• 2x large onions
• 1x lemon
• 1x bunch of fresh coriander leaves
• 1 tbsp coriander seeds
• 1 tbsp ground turmeric
• 0.5 tbsp mustard seeds
• 0.5 tbsp cumin seeds
• 400ml coconut milk

Special Equipment

• Metal oven baking tray
• Mortar and pestle

Preparation

• Step 1 – Columbo powder
• Put the coriander and mustard seeds in the mortar, crush and grind them with the pestle
• Add the turmeric and cumin powder and grind some more
• Crush and mix them all together

• Step 2 – Marinade
• Put 1 tbsp of olive oil and the juice of 1 lemon in the baking tray
• Add salt and pepper and 2 tbsp of Columbo powder
• Add the chicken breasts and cover them heartily
• Leave to marinate for at least 2 hours and overnight if possible

• Step 3 – Oven
• Preheat the oven to 170^oC

• Step 4 – Onions and coriander
• Peel the onions and cut in small pieces
• Chop-up the coriander leaves

• Step 5 – Chicken breasts
• Add the chopped onions
• Add the remainder of the Columbo powder
• Add the chopped coriander
• Cover the chicken breasts with the coconut milk

Cooking

• Place the baking tray in the oven
• Cook for an hour,
• Stirring a few times, if can be bothered

This is not a hot curry in any way shape or form !

Just a very lovely tasting chicken

From Jamie Oliver “5 Ingredients”

Ingredients

• 4x chicken breasts ( approx. 600g)
• 3x onions
• 350g of mixed mushrooms
• 500g block of puff pastry
• 2x bunch of fresh thyme

Special Equipment

• 30cm diameter ovenproof frying pan
• Smaller non-stick frying pan
• Rolling pin
• Oil brush

Preparation

• Step 1 – Onions
• Peel and roughly chop the onions

• Step 2 – Oven
• Preheat the oven to 220^oC / 425^oF / gas 7

• Step 3 – Mushrooms
• Wash the mushrooms
• Cut in medium slices

• Step 4 – Chicken breasts
• Roughly chop 2/3 of the chicken
• Finely chop 1/3 of the chicken

Cooking

• Step 1 – Mushrooms
• Put both pans on medium heat
• Place the mushrooms in the non-stick frying pan
• Let them toast and get nutty for 4 minutes

• Step 2 – Chicken part 1
• Pour one table spoon of olive oil into the oven-proof pan
• Fry the onions for a few minutes and then add the chicken
• Cook for 4 minutes and add the mushrooms and strip-in half the thyme leaves
• Cook for a further 2 minutes or until golden, stirring occasionally
• Remove the oven-proof pan from the heat
• Add sea salt and black pepper
• Stir-in one table spoon of red wine vinegar and 150ml of water

• Step 2 – Pastry
• Working quickly, lay the pastry block on a flat surface coated with flour
• Roll out the pastry in both directions and on both sides (making it evenly thinner), keeping it in flour so it does not stick to the flat surface. Continue until the thin pastry square obtained can cover the pan diameter with 2 cm to spare
• Remove the pastry square by half-rolling it over the roller
• Place the pastry over the whole content of the pan, tucking in the corner and pressing on the sides to make a seal
• Very lightly criss-cross the pastry with a knife, then brush with 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil, making sure no puddles are formed
• Create a hole in the middle and poke in the remaining thyme sprigs

• Step 2 – Chicken part 2
• Put to bake on the bottom shelf of the oven
• Bake until pastry is puffed up and golden brown
• You may need to pierce a few more holes to let air escape if the pastry is puffing up too much in certain locations

First attempt at puff pastry but gives a lovely crisp and light crust to this pie

Might try to add more ingredients next time to give it a more exciting taste

By Stephen Jeffers from “Belfast cookery school”

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

from “Mary Berry cooks”

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 200^oC / 180^oC 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