Tag: Recipe

Columbo Chicken

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

Difficulty: Very Easy

Serves: 2

Prep time: 30min + 2-8h

Cooking time: 60 min

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 170oC
  • 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

Chicken Pot Pie

From Jamie Oliver “5 Ingredients”

Difficulty: Easy

Serves: 4

Prep time: 25 min

Cooking time: 35 min

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 220oC / 425oF / 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

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

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

Pesto fettuccine with shrimps

from “Mary Berry cooks”

Difficulty: Easy

Serves: 2

Prep time: 0 minute

Cooking time: 15 min

Ingredients

  • 8x fettuccine balls (approx. 160g)
  • 180g of uncooked peeled king prawns
  • 140g fresh Green Pesto mixture
  • 100ml of pouring double cream
  • Parmesan cheese for grating
  • Some fresh basil leaves

Special Equipment

  • Medium frying pan
  • Large pan

Preparation

  • None required

Cooking

  • Step 1 – Shrimps
  • Put a bit of oil in a frying pan on medium heat
  • Gently fry the shrimps until they turn from grey to pink, starting on one side and then flipping them over on the other side
  • Step 2 – Fettuccine
  • Cook the pasta in a pan with boiling salted water for the time indicated on the packet (approx. 4-5 minutes)
  • When draining the pasta, keep 100ml of the cooking water
  • Step 3 – Combine
  • Put the pesto mixture and the cream together into the pasta pan and bring to the boil
  • Add the pasta, most of the chopped basil leaves and the saved pasta water
  • Toss together and season

Presentation

  • Use heated plates
  • Serve the fettuccine with grated Parmesan cheese
  • Garnish with the remaining basil leaves

Very easy and a welcomed change from the traditional bolognese

Savour it with a nice bottle of Chianti from Italy

Hake wrapped in Parma ham with Mediterranean vegetables

from “Cook with M&S Food”

Difficulty: Easy

Serves: 2

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cooking time: 35 minutes

Ingredients

  • 2x hake fillets
  • 4x slices Parma ham
  • 1x bag of chunky Mediterranean style mixed vegetables
  • 1x bag of puy lentils (pre-cooked)
  • 1x jar of M&S Mediterranean paste
  • Some basil leaves

Special Equipment

  • Medium frying pan
  • Large oven-proof pan

Preparation

  • Hake
  • Wrap 1 or 2 sheets of Parma ham around the hake fillets, front and back, and then put to one side

Cooking

  • Step 1 – Vegetables
  • Add 2 tbsp of oil to an ovenproof pan, saute the vegetables for 8-10 minutes on a medium heat, season to taste
  • Add 1/2 the jar of the Mediterranean paste and 100 ml of water to the pan. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook for a further 10-12 minutes
  • Step 2 – Hake
  • Preheat the oven for later at 190 degC /Fan 170 degC /Gas
  • In a separate frying pan over a medium/brisk heat, cook the wrapped hake fillets for 2-3 minutes on each side, until the ham is crisp and caramelised
  • Step 3 – Combine
  • Place the hake fillets on top of the vegetables in the ovenproof pan
  • Transfer the pan to the oven to finish cooking for 5-7 minutes
  • Reheat the Puy lentils for 1 minute in a 900 degC microwave

Presentation

  • Use heated plates
  • Serve the lentils in the plate, with the hake fillet on top and the vegetables around
  • Garnish with basil leaves

Nice, easy and quick recipe!

Goes well with a crisp Semillon Sauvignon Blanc from Australia