Showing posts with label chicken. Show all posts
Showing posts with label chicken. Show all posts
Tuesday, 4 June 2013
Simple Pleasures. - Three Cornered Leek and Wild Fennel
There is something very pleasing about picking food from the wild (or foraging as it now seems to have become trendy to call it) and making it into something delicious. Recently I was visiting my parents and on a walk came across not one, but two wild treats. the first was some beautiful three cornered leek and the second some wild fennel. I've spoken before about this before after picking blackberries and wild apples. Sometimes the simple pleasures really are the best...
Wild fennel tends to have less of a bulb than cultivated fennel but the stalks and the lovely fronds were delicious paired with lemon, Parmesan and chicken in this simple recipe.
Three cornered leek really is a beautiful vegetable, from the triangular stem it gets its name from to the pretty little white flowers. It has a very delicate flavour, similar to wild garlic but milder, so be careful not to over cook it and destroy the flavour. Here is the recipe.
Now to find some wild garlic before the season is over...
Tuesday, 15 January 2013
Chicken Broth
This is a great tasty and healthy lunch or light dinner.
If you don't have these veg add what you do. I like broad beans and a handful of kale.
Start by making a sofritto by gently sautéing finely chopped onion, carrot and celery. Add crushed garlic, chicken stock, black pepper and beans and cook for 30-45 mins. Once everything is soft add leftover roast chicken, parsley and a splash of white wine vinegar. Check for seasoning and serve.
Here is my guide.
If you don't have these veg add what you do. I like broad beans and a handful of kale.
Start by making a sofritto by gently sautéing finely chopped onion, carrot and celery. Add crushed garlic, chicken stock, black pepper and beans and cook for 30-45 mins. Once everything is soft add leftover roast chicken, parsley and a splash of white wine vinegar. Check for seasoning and serve.
Here is my guide.
Monday, 24 September 2012
Chicken cataccioa and minted courgettes
This is another recipe I picked up whilst on a cookery holiday with my mum.
The recipe is slightly different to what I have always thought of as traditional. I'm not sure if that is my ignorance or if this is a regional variation but I don't really care as this version is fab!
I paired it with minted courgettes using baby courgettes grown by my our fair hand.
Recipe to follow
The recipe is slightly different to what I have always thought of as traditional. I'm not sure if that is my ignorance or if this is a regional variation but I don't really care as this version is fab!
I paired it with minted courgettes using baby courgettes grown by my our fair hand.
Recipe to follow
Lemon and Oregano Roast Chicken
This has become a real favourite for an easy dinner and you can always roast two chickens so that you have leftovers for lunches and dinners later in the week.
Again it is a Tessa Kiros recipe originally which I have prob my adapted a little over time. I know I cook it slightly differently as she finishes her chicken under the grill whereas I prefer to roast it.
It is great served with a variety of salads for a light dinner.
One observation I would make is, that in my humble opinion, oregano is about the only herb which is worth buying dried.
Recipe to follow
Again it is a Tessa Kiros recipe originally which I have prob my adapted a little over time. I know I cook it slightly differently as she finishes her chicken under the grill whereas I prefer to roast it.
It is great served with a variety of salads for a light dinner.
One observation I would make is, that in my humble opinion, oregano is about the only herb which is worth buying dried.
Recipe to follow
Sunday, 16 September 2012
Diana Henry's Roast Chicken with Quinoa and Feta Stuffing and Lebanese Beans
I love a Sunday roast but when the weather is warmer (or not cold at least) I don't feel like a full Sunday lunch with gravy and so on.
As I've mentioned before I think that Diana Henry is one of the most underrated cookery writers I have come across and this is one of her recipes which I love.
She roasted the chicken with the stuffing inside but I don't like to do this as I don't think you an fit enough in!
So I just simply roasted the chicken with a little herb butter under the skin and no stuffing. I like to use roasting bags (which you can buy in the supermarket near the cling film) as I think they result in really moist chicken. I forgot to take a photo of the chicken but it just looked like a roast chicken so nothing unusual!
I made the stuffing separately. I mainly followed her recipe but removed the bread that she uses and replaced it with quinoa so that it was gluten free.
While the chicken is roasting sauté one finely chopped onion in a little olive oil until soft. Add 2 crushed garlic cloves and cook for a couple of minutes. Add a packet of chopped cherry tomatoes. Stir into quinoa cooked according to the instructions on the packet add 100g chopped feta, a handful of chopped mint and parsley, 1 tbsp tomato purée, an egg and seasoning and stir. Put into an oven proof bowl and bake in the oven with the chicken for around the last 45 mins. You may need to cover it with foil to prevent it from getting too brown and dried out.
I served it with her Lebanese beans and some green salad.
Heat some olive oil in a pan and add a roughly chopped onion and sauté until soft. Add 2 crushed garlic cloves and cook for a couple if minutes. Add 4tsp ground cumin, 800g tomatoes (I used tinned) and season. Stir well and add 75ml of water and 1/2 tablespoon of tomato purée and a squeeze of lemon juice. Cover the pan and sweat the tomatoes for about 15 mins until they are soft and mushy. Add 500g chopped runner beans and cook for 15+ mins until they become really soft. Add additional water if the moisture starts to dry out and additional seasoning if you need it. You can finish with a few torn mint leave if you like.
As I've mentioned before I think that Diana Henry is one of the most underrated cookery writers I have come across and this is one of her recipes which I love.
She roasted the chicken with the stuffing inside but I don't like to do this as I don't think you an fit enough in!
So I just simply roasted the chicken with a little herb butter under the skin and no stuffing. I like to use roasting bags (which you can buy in the supermarket near the cling film) as I think they result in really moist chicken. I forgot to take a photo of the chicken but it just looked like a roast chicken so nothing unusual!
I made the stuffing separately. I mainly followed her recipe but removed the bread that she uses and replaced it with quinoa so that it was gluten free.
While the chicken is roasting sauté one finely chopped onion in a little olive oil until soft. Add 2 crushed garlic cloves and cook for a couple of minutes. Add a packet of chopped cherry tomatoes. Stir into quinoa cooked according to the instructions on the packet add 100g chopped feta, a handful of chopped mint and parsley, 1 tbsp tomato purée, an egg and seasoning and stir. Put into an oven proof bowl and bake in the oven with the chicken for around the last 45 mins. You may need to cover it with foil to prevent it from getting too brown and dried out.
I served it with her Lebanese beans and some green salad.
Heat some olive oil in a pan and add a roughly chopped onion and sauté until soft. Add 2 crushed garlic cloves and cook for a couple if minutes. Add 4tsp ground cumin, 800g tomatoes (I used tinned) and season. Stir well and add 75ml of water and 1/2 tablespoon of tomato purée and a squeeze of lemon juice. Cover the pan and sweat the tomatoes for about 15 mins until they are soft and mushy. Add 500g chopped runner beans and cook for 15+ mins until they become really soft. Add additional water if the moisture starts to dry out and additional seasoning if you need it. You can finish with a few torn mint leave if you like.
Wednesday, 27 June 2012
Guest Post: Easy Spanish Chicken
One of my team mentioned to me that although had an interest in food he couldn't cook. After asking a few questions it did seem that he knew how to cook almost nothing. It doesn't surprise me as if you don't have a parent or similar who has an interest in cooking then it is quite hard to learn. Most recipe books are quite inaccessible and assume a basic level of knowledge.
So I set him the challenge of cooking a meal. I will post his results once he's made the meal next week.
I chose one of my favourite simple, one pot meals and tried to write the recipe as clearly as possible. This recipe is not necessarily authentically Spanish but originally it was given to me by a friend's Spanish mum, hence the name.
If anyone else knows someone who claims not to be able to cook ask them to have a go at this recipe and send me a photo and/or comments to let me know how they get on.
Easy Spanish Chicken
Serves 4 but can be easily halved or doubled
Ingredients:
4 chicken portions like the ones in the photo below or you could use 8 chicken thighs instead.
Salt and pepper
Two large peppers maybe a different colours
Two large onions
Two large potatoes (I leave these out to make it 'cleaner')
Two cloves of garlic (these are the small ‘segments’ from a whole bulb)
1 tin of chopped tomatoes
1 tbsp tomato puree
1 head of broccoli
Water
Equipment:
An oven
A large pan or dish which is oven proof
A knife
A chopping board
A tin opener
A wine glass
A saucepan
A strainer (if you have one)
Turn your oven on to pre-heat. You want the temperature to be 180C. If the oven is a fan oven you always have to put the temperature 20C less so it would need to be set to 160C. This is about 350F or Gas Mark 4
Take a large pan or dish, which is able to go in the oven. Something like a lasagne dish would be good. If you don’t have one large dish two smaller ones will do, but don’t be tempted to squash everything into one small one.
Get 4 chicken portions and place them in a single layer in the dish. Remember when handling chicken that you need to make sure that the raw chicken doesn’t touch anything that won’t be cooked so once you have put the chicken in the pan, wash your hands and anything the chicken has touched well.
Sprinkle salt and pepper over the chicken you want a pinch of each.
Cut the peppers in half and cut out the stalk out of the pepper and all of the seeds and throw these away. Take the pepper halves and cut each one into four roughly equal pieces. Scatter these on top of the chicken.
Peel the onions. This is easiest if you cut the top and bottom off the onion and then cut the onion in half first. Cut each half into 3 wedges. Scatter these on top of the chicken.
Cut the potatoes into half and cut each half into quarters scatter these on top of the chicken. There is no need to peel them.
Peel the garlic and chop it into small pieces. The smaller the better. You can also crush it a little with the flat side of a knife.
Take the lid off the tin of tomatoes and put them in a bowl, stir in the tomato puree and the garlic.
Spoon the tomato into 4-6 small piles around the chicken and vegetables and then carefully pour a small wine glass worth of water around the edge.
If the pan or dish you are using has a lid put it on. If not take a piece of tin foil and place it over the top and scrunch the sides to make sure it stays on.
Put the dish into the oven and set a timer for 1 hour. Check it about half way through by lifting up a corner of the foil. Be careful of the steam. If it looks dry add another wine glass full of water.
After 45 minutes take some broccoli and cut it into smaller pieces or ‘florets’ place it in a pan of boiling water and cook it for 3-5 minutes. I tend to boil the water in a kettle first for speed but you can boil the water in the pan just pop the lid on else it will take ages to boil. Drain the water off the broccoli using a strainer. If you don’t have one if you are careful you always fish them out with a spoon or fork.
After an hour take the chicken out of the oven and serve with the broccoli.
So I set him the challenge of cooking a meal. I will post his results once he's made the meal next week.
I chose one of my favourite simple, one pot meals and tried to write the recipe as clearly as possible. This recipe is not necessarily authentically Spanish but originally it was given to me by a friend's Spanish mum, hence the name.
If anyone else knows someone who claims not to be able to cook ask them to have a go at this recipe and send me a photo and/or comments to let me know how they get on.
Easy Spanish Chicken
Serves 4 but can be easily halved or doubled
Ingredients:
4 chicken portions like the ones in the photo below or you could use 8 chicken thighs instead.
Salt and pepper
Two large peppers maybe a different colours
Two large onions
Two large potatoes (I leave these out to make it 'cleaner')
Two cloves of garlic (these are the small ‘segments’ from a whole bulb)
1 tin of chopped tomatoes
1 tbsp tomato puree
1 head of broccoli
Water
Equipment:
An oven
A large pan or dish which is oven proof
A knife
A chopping board
A tin opener
A wine glass
A saucepan
A strainer (if you have one)
Turn your oven on to pre-heat. You want the temperature to be 180C. If the oven is a fan oven you always have to put the temperature 20C less so it would need to be set to 160C. This is about 350F or Gas Mark 4
Take a large pan or dish, which is able to go in the oven. Something like a lasagne dish would be good. If you don’t have one large dish two smaller ones will do, but don’t be tempted to squash everything into one small one.
Get 4 chicken portions and place them in a single layer in the dish. Remember when handling chicken that you need to make sure that the raw chicken doesn’t touch anything that won’t be cooked so once you have put the chicken in the pan, wash your hands and anything the chicken has touched well.
Sprinkle salt and pepper over the chicken you want a pinch of each.
Cut the peppers in half and cut out the stalk out of the pepper and all of the seeds and throw these away. Take the pepper halves and cut each one into four roughly equal pieces. Scatter these on top of the chicken.
Peel the onions. This is easiest if you cut the top and bottom off the onion and then cut the onion in half first. Cut each half into 3 wedges. Scatter these on top of the chicken.
Cut the potatoes into half and cut each half into quarters scatter these on top of the chicken. There is no need to peel them.
Peel the garlic and chop it into small pieces. The smaller the better. You can also crush it a little with the flat side of a knife.
Take the lid off the tin of tomatoes and put them in a bowl, stir in the tomato puree and the garlic.
Spoon the tomato into 4-6 small piles around the chicken and vegetables and then carefully pour a small wine glass worth of water around the edge.
If the pan or dish you are using has a lid put it on. If not take a piece of tin foil and place it over the top and scrunch the sides to make sure it stays on.
Put the dish into the oven and set a timer for 1 hour. Check it about half way through by lifting up a corner of the foil. Be careful of the steam. If it looks dry add another wine glass full of water.
After 45 minutes take some broccoli and cut it into smaller pieces or ‘florets’ place it in a pan of boiling water and cook it for 3-5 minutes. I tend to boil the water in a kettle first for speed but you can boil the water in the pan just pop the lid on else it will take ages to boil. Drain the water off the broccoli using a strainer. If you don’t have one if you are careful you always fish them out with a spoon or fork.
After an hour take the chicken out of the oven and serve with the broccoli.
Saturday, 23 June 2012
Chicken, tomato and flageolet beans
As I've mentioned before I try to replace simple carbs with beans or complex carbs for dinner. This is a fab meal when you need a filling but healthy dinner.
It's also all made in one pot and doesn't take that long to make. Butter beans also work well.
Ingredients
Serves two
2 chicken breasts
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
2 tins of tomatoes
1 tbsp tomato purée
1 tin flageolet beans
A handful of green olives
A beef stock cube
Seasoning
A large bunch of basil, torn
A glug of balsamic vinegar
Parmesan, grated
In a heavy based frying pan start by browning the chicken on each side in a little oil. Add the onions and once softened add the garlic. After a few minutes add the remaining ingredients apart from the balsamic and basil. Add a wine glass full of water. If the pan has a lid put it on. Turn the heat down and cook for about 20 mins. Check the chick is done. Stir in the balsamic vinegar and most of the basil. Finish with the remaining basil and grated Parmesan. Serve with a green salad.
Here is the finished dish.
I am going to submit this recipe as part of the New June Herbs on Saturday blog challenge.
I love herbs and a you can see from previous posts I cook with then a lot. Since I've moved I have a small garden and am now the proud owner of a little herb garden. It's not much and I've focused on pretty standard herbs, but it's mine and I've been caring for it and watching it flourish and I'm proud of it (I have tried growing some Thai basil but as I type the little seedlings are curling up and giving up).
It's also all made in one pot and doesn't take that long to make. Butter beans also work well.
Ingredients
Serves two
2 chicken breasts
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
2 tins of tomatoes
1 tbsp tomato purée
1 tin flageolet beans
A handful of green olives
A beef stock cube
Seasoning
A large bunch of basil, torn
A glug of balsamic vinegar
Parmesan, grated
In a heavy based frying pan start by browning the chicken on each side in a little oil. Add the onions and once softened add the garlic. After a few minutes add the remaining ingredients apart from the balsamic and basil. Add a wine glass full of water. If the pan has a lid put it on. Turn the heat down and cook for about 20 mins. Check the chick is done. Stir in the balsamic vinegar and most of the basil. Finish with the remaining basil and grated Parmesan. Serve with a green salad.
Here is the finished dish.
I am going to submit this recipe as part of the New June Herbs on Saturday blog challenge.
I love herbs and a you can see from previous posts I cook with then a lot. Since I've moved I have a small garden and am now the proud owner of a little herb garden. It's not much and I've focused on pretty standard herbs, but it's mine and I've been caring for it and watching it flourish and I'm proud of it (I have tried growing some Thai basil but as I type the little seedlings are curling up and giving up).
Tuesday, 5 June 2012
Jubilee Afternoon Tea
After being out of the country for the royal wedding last year I decided to throw myself into the Jubilee celebrations with abandon. So liberal amounts of red, white and blue later a Jubilee afternoon tea was ready for my friends.
For the savoury elements I decided to keep it relatively simple. My take on coronation chicken, revamped into a fresh salad, which would have jewelled with pomegranate seeds (had I not left them in the kitchen) plus salmon, cream cheese and pickled cucumber sandwiches, cheese and chutney sandwiches, chicken and lemon mayonnaise sandwiches and ham sandwiches This was all washed down with some bubbly with a non alcoholic version for my pregnant friend and the drivers.
For the sweet elements I had such a long list to chose from, but I manage to narrow it down by prioritising the ones which were most in keeping with the red, white and blue theme (plus the lime cupcakes as you can see from previous posts I love lemon drizzle cake and I'd been meaning to try experimenting with a lime version for ages)
- raspberry cupcakes
- lime drizzle cupcakes
- blueberry and lemon cupcakes
- mini Victoria sponge
- individual eton mess
Recipes
Jewelled Coronation Chicken Salad
Serves 4-6 (easily doubled or trebled)
1 roast chicken, cold
Mixed leaves
1/2 a cucumber
Pomegranate
300ml natural yoghurt
2 tablespoons of korma curry paste
1 teaspoon of honey
2-3 springs of mint, chopped
Seasoning
A squeeze of lemon juice
Start by making the dressing. Mix the curry paste, honey, mint, lemon juice and seasoning into a thick dressing.
Scatter the lettuce leaves all over a platter and then add cubes of cucumber and chunks of roast chicken.
When you are ready to serve drizzle liberally with the dressing and scatter with pomegranate seed. Serve the rest of the dressing alongside.
Smokes salmon, cream cheese and pickled cucumber sandwiches
Smoked salmon (I used Waitrose essentials trimmings as it doesn't need to be in large pieces for this)
Cream cheese
Cucumber
White wine vinegar
Sugar
Seasoning
Sliced bread
At least and hour before use a potato peeling the slice the cucumber into ribbons. Put them into a bowl and toss in a generous glug of white wine vinegar, a large pinch of sugar and seasoning.
Spread the bread with a thin layer of cream cheese. Add the smoked salad and a few ribbons of cucumber. Top with another slice of bread and cut into triangles of fingers, with or without crusts as desired.
Cheese and chutney sandwiches
Grated mature cheddar cheese
Your favourite chutney
Sliced bread
Butter
Thinly butter the bread and add a generous helping of grated cheese. Spread the other side of the bread with the chutney and add to the top of the sandwich.
Cut into triangles of fingers, with or without crusts as desired.
Chicken and lemon mayo sandwiches
Roast chicken, chopped
Mayonnaise
Lemon juice
Dijon mustard
Seasoning
Lettuce
Sliced bread
Out the chicken into a bowl and add the mayonnaise. I would normally make this using Jamie Oliver's recipe but my friend is pregnant and therefore can't eat raw eggs so I tarted up bought mayonnaise with a teaspoon of Dijon mustard, a squeeze of lemon juice and seasoning.
Sandwich the chicken mixture, with a few lettuce leaves, between two slices of bread.
Cut into triangles of fingers, with or without crusts as desired.
Red, White and Blue Cupcakes
Makes 12
For the cakes:
4oz self raising flour
4oz margarine
4oz sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp baking powder
For the flavourings and icings:
Zest and juice of 1/2 lime
2 tablespoons of granulated sugar
Zest of 1/4 lemon and about a tablespoon of juice
About 10 raspberries
Freeze dried raspberry powder
12 Blueberries
8oz butter
8-10oz icing sugar
A tablespoon of milk
Preheat the oven to 180C (160C in a fan oven). I started by making all of the cake plain for ease. Beat together all of the ingredients for the cake and share the mixture between 12 muffin cases.
In 4 sprinkle the lemon zest and another 4 with lime zest and give them a gentle stir with the end of a teaspoon so the zest doesn't sit on the top. Leave the other 4 plain.
Bake in the preheated oven for 15-20 mins.
While they are cooking mix a tablespoon of granulated sugar with the lime juice. As soon as the cakes come out take the 4 lime ones and make very small holes in them with a skewer and drizzle over the lime juice mixture.
Whilst the cakes are cooling make the icing. I always beat the butter for 5 mins or more until it is very pale and then gradually add the icing sugar and finish with the milk. This makes the icing very light and fluffy and also makes it much paler which is good when you're aiming for white!
In a small saucepan take the raspberries and the other tablespoon of sugar and heat up until it has thickened slightly. To get smooth icing sieve the raspberry mixture to remove the pips. Put to one side to cool.
Split the icing into two bowls. In the one add the lemon juice. In the other add the raspberry juice.
Pipe the icing onto the cakes. I used a round nozzle for the lemon icing and a Wilton 2D for the raspberry. I topped the lemon ones with blueberries and the raspberry ones with a sprinkle of raspberry powder.
I also had a few little union jack flags which I popped in the top.
Mini Victoria sponges
Makes 2
Using the same recipe as for the cakes above split the mixture between two 4 inch cake pans.
Once cool split each cake and sandwich with whipped cream and strawberries.
Eton Mess
Greek yoghurt
Whipped cream
Vanilla extract
Icing sugar
Strawberries
Raspberries
Meringues
Mix roughly equal amounts of cream and yoghurt with a little vanilla extract and icing sugar. Layer up in glasses with the fruit and meringues.
For the savoury elements I decided to keep it relatively simple. My take on coronation chicken, revamped into a fresh salad, which would have jewelled with pomegranate seeds (had I not left them in the kitchen) plus salmon, cream cheese and pickled cucumber sandwiches, cheese and chutney sandwiches, chicken and lemon mayonnaise sandwiches and ham sandwiches This was all washed down with some bubbly with a non alcoholic version for my pregnant friend and the drivers.
For the sweet elements I had such a long list to chose from, but I manage to narrow it down by prioritising the ones which were most in keeping with the red, white and blue theme (plus the lime cupcakes as you can see from previous posts I love lemon drizzle cake and I'd been meaning to try experimenting with a lime version for ages)
- raspberry cupcakes
- lime drizzle cupcakes
- blueberry and lemon cupcakes
- mini Victoria sponge
- individual eton mess
Recipes
Jewelled Coronation Chicken Salad
Serves 4-6 (easily doubled or trebled)
1 roast chicken, cold
Mixed leaves
1/2 a cucumber
Pomegranate
300ml natural yoghurt
2 tablespoons of korma curry paste
1 teaspoon of honey
2-3 springs of mint, chopped
Seasoning
A squeeze of lemon juice
Start by making the dressing. Mix the curry paste, honey, mint, lemon juice and seasoning into a thick dressing.
Scatter the lettuce leaves all over a platter and then add cubes of cucumber and chunks of roast chicken.
When you are ready to serve drizzle liberally with the dressing and scatter with pomegranate seed. Serve the rest of the dressing alongside.
Smokes salmon, cream cheese and pickled cucumber sandwiches
Smoked salmon (I used Waitrose essentials trimmings as it doesn't need to be in large pieces for this)
Cream cheese
Cucumber
White wine vinegar
Sugar
Seasoning
Sliced bread
At least and hour before use a potato peeling the slice the cucumber into ribbons. Put them into a bowl and toss in a generous glug of white wine vinegar, a large pinch of sugar and seasoning.
Spread the bread with a thin layer of cream cheese. Add the smoked salad and a few ribbons of cucumber. Top with another slice of bread and cut into triangles of fingers, with or without crusts as desired.
Cheese and chutney sandwiches
Grated mature cheddar cheese
Your favourite chutney
Sliced bread
Butter
Thinly butter the bread and add a generous helping of grated cheese. Spread the other side of the bread with the chutney and add to the top of the sandwich.
Cut into triangles of fingers, with or without crusts as desired.
Chicken and lemon mayo sandwiches
Roast chicken, chopped
Mayonnaise
Lemon juice
Dijon mustard
Seasoning
Lettuce
Sliced bread
Out the chicken into a bowl and add the mayonnaise. I would normally make this using Jamie Oliver's recipe but my friend is pregnant and therefore can't eat raw eggs so I tarted up bought mayonnaise with a teaspoon of Dijon mustard, a squeeze of lemon juice and seasoning.
Sandwich the chicken mixture, with a few lettuce leaves, between two slices of bread.
Cut into triangles of fingers, with or without crusts as desired.
Red, White and Blue Cupcakes
Makes 12
For the cakes:
4oz self raising flour
4oz margarine
4oz sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp baking powder
For the flavourings and icings:
Zest and juice of 1/2 lime
2 tablespoons of granulated sugar
Zest of 1/4 lemon and about a tablespoon of juice
About 10 raspberries
Freeze dried raspberry powder
12 Blueberries
8oz butter
8-10oz icing sugar
A tablespoon of milk
Preheat the oven to 180C (160C in a fan oven). I started by making all of the cake plain for ease. Beat together all of the ingredients for the cake and share the mixture between 12 muffin cases.
In 4 sprinkle the lemon zest and another 4 with lime zest and give them a gentle stir with the end of a teaspoon so the zest doesn't sit on the top. Leave the other 4 plain.
Bake in the preheated oven for 15-20 mins.
While they are cooking mix a tablespoon of granulated sugar with the lime juice. As soon as the cakes come out take the 4 lime ones and make very small holes in them with a skewer and drizzle over the lime juice mixture.
Whilst the cakes are cooling make the icing. I always beat the butter for 5 mins or more until it is very pale and then gradually add the icing sugar and finish with the milk. This makes the icing very light and fluffy and also makes it much paler which is good when you're aiming for white!
In a small saucepan take the raspberries and the other tablespoon of sugar and heat up until it has thickened slightly. To get smooth icing sieve the raspberry mixture to remove the pips. Put to one side to cool.
Split the icing into two bowls. In the one add the lemon juice. In the other add the raspberry juice.
Pipe the icing onto the cakes. I used a round nozzle for the lemon icing and a Wilton 2D for the raspberry. I topped the lemon ones with blueberries and the raspberry ones with a sprinkle of raspberry powder.
I also had a few little union jack flags which I popped in the top.
Mini Victoria sponges
Makes 2
Using the same recipe as for the cakes above split the mixture between two 4 inch cake pans.
Once cool split each cake and sandwich with whipped cream and strawberries.
Eton Mess
Greek yoghurt
Whipped cream
Vanilla extract
Icing sugar
Strawberries
Raspberries
Meringues
Mix roughly equal amounts of cream and yoghurt with a little vanilla extract and icing sugar. Layer up in glasses with the fruit and meringues.
Sunday, 3 June 2012
Jubilee BBQ
What could be more British than planning a BBQ on a slightly rainy bank holiday? BBQs remind me of my childhood. Come rain or shine we would BBQ at every opportunity. I particularly remember the rainy ones. My Grandad getting out the hair dryer to encourage slightly damp coals to burn hotter and my dad holding a golf umbrella over the BBQ whilst I cooked wearing a waterproof particularly stick in my mind.
Fortunately this Saturday the sun broke through the clouds shortly before the fire was lit. I wanted to keep things simple so I made some burgers and chicken and chorizo kebabs. People often think of BBQs are unhealthy but with a little thought they can be healthy and clean.
For the kebabs I took cubes of chicken breast, slices of chorizo and a mixture of vegetables. I threaded them onto skewers and marinated in a simple marinade for about 3 hours. For the marinade I chopped a mixture of parsley, basil and mint, added a teaspoon of wholegrain mustard, a tablespoon of red wine vinegar, a crushed garlic clove, seasoning and a good glug of olive oil.
The burgers were made by mixing beef mince with an egg, seasoning, a teaspoon of Dijon mustard, chopped rosemary and a crushed garlic clove. I then formed them into patties. I added a bit too much egg which made the mixture sticky so I dusted each with flour before cooking.
The trick to a good BBQ, for me, is to constantly turn the meat. Far more often than people normally do and also make sure the grill is not too low. This ensures that the meat doesn't burn before it is cooled.
Here are the cooked kebabs and burgers.
Serve with a green salad and a jug of Pimms to wash it all down! Obviously the Pimms isn't healthy so keep this as a treat!
Fortunately this Saturday the sun broke through the clouds shortly before the fire was lit. I wanted to keep things simple so I made some burgers and chicken and chorizo kebabs. People often think of BBQs are unhealthy but with a little thought they can be healthy and clean.
For the kebabs I took cubes of chicken breast, slices of chorizo and a mixture of vegetables. I threaded them onto skewers and marinated in a simple marinade for about 3 hours. For the marinade I chopped a mixture of parsley, basil and mint, added a teaspoon of wholegrain mustard, a tablespoon of red wine vinegar, a crushed garlic clove, seasoning and a good glug of olive oil.
The burgers were made by mixing beef mince with an egg, seasoning, a teaspoon of Dijon mustard, chopped rosemary and a crushed garlic clove. I then formed them into patties. I added a bit too much egg which made the mixture sticky so I dusted each with flour before cooking.
The trick to a good BBQ, for me, is to constantly turn the meat. Far more often than people normally do and also make sure the grill is not too low. This ensures that the meat doesn't burn before it is cooled.
Here are the cooked kebabs and burgers.
Serve with a green salad and a jug of Pimms to wash it all down! Obviously the Pimms isn't healthy so keep this as a treat!
Tuesday, 29 May 2012
Clean living
As I've mentioned before as much as I love cake I do try and balance it with clean eating. Last week, more as an experiment than anything else, I tried to have a wheat free, diary free, sugar free week (Mon to Fri).
Here is one of the days food...
I started the day with an egg white 'omelette'. The only reason it was egg white was because I had so many left over from making pasteis de nata. It wasn't a true omelette as I much prefer egg poached to fried so I tried poaching the egg white. I had it with tomatoes and mushrooms which I fried in a little rapeseed oil, added a bit of thyme, a splash of red wine vinegar and some seasoning.
For a morning snack I had some roasted mixed nuts and seeds.
For lunch I had a fab veggie salad. I started by 'roasting' some peppers. I did this by charring them directly onto the gas. Remove the metal pan stand, turn the gas on and rest the pepper against the flame. Keep a careful eye on it and turn it every so often until it the skin is blistered and black in places. Put them into a bowl and cover tightly with cling film. This will help the skin come off. Leave them for about 10mins and then peel them. This is easiest under running water. Chop into chunks.
I also had chunks of cucumber, sliced of tomato with basil, sautéed onions and mushrooms and mixed lettuce with some sprouting seeds. You can sprout seeds yourself but I bought these from @wfm_kensington
My afternoon snack was coconut yoghurt also from @wfm_kensington which is dairy free and would make a fantastic ice cream.
For dinner I had chicken which I marinated in oil, mint, chilli, ginger, lime zest and line juice. I pan fried it and then whilst it was resting I quickly fried off some rice noodles that I had pre-soaked in water. This is a trick I learnt in Thailand which means there is no news to boil them. In a separate pan I fried some broccoli and finished it with soy sauce and a little sesame oil.
For dessert I made a chia pudding. Chia seeds originate from Mexico and are great as they can soak up ~10 times their weight in liquid. This means they are fab for thickening and can be used in smoothies as well.
I put about 2 dessertspoons of chia seeds in a blender with 1 dessertspoons of cacoa nibs. I added a teaspoon of vanilla extract, a handful of raw porridge oats, a handful of mixed roaste nuts and about a cup of almond milk. I blended it until it was quite smooth and poured it into a bowl and chilled it until it thickened slightly. Now I wouldn't serve it at a dinner party but considering it is a pudding with no sugar in it was really quite tasty!
Here is one of the days food...
I started the day with an egg white 'omelette'. The only reason it was egg white was because I had so many left over from making pasteis de nata. It wasn't a true omelette as I much prefer egg poached to fried so I tried poaching the egg white. I had it with tomatoes and mushrooms which I fried in a little rapeseed oil, added a bit of thyme, a splash of red wine vinegar and some seasoning.
For a morning snack I had some roasted mixed nuts and seeds.
For lunch I had a fab veggie salad. I started by 'roasting' some peppers. I did this by charring them directly onto the gas. Remove the metal pan stand, turn the gas on and rest the pepper against the flame. Keep a careful eye on it and turn it every so often until it the skin is blistered and black in places. Put them into a bowl and cover tightly with cling film. This will help the skin come off. Leave them for about 10mins and then peel them. This is easiest under running water. Chop into chunks.
I also had chunks of cucumber, sliced of tomato with basil, sautéed onions and mushrooms and mixed lettuce with some sprouting seeds. You can sprout seeds yourself but I bought these from @wfm_kensington
My afternoon snack was coconut yoghurt also from @wfm_kensington which is dairy free and would make a fantastic ice cream.
For dinner I had chicken which I marinated in oil, mint, chilli, ginger, lime zest and line juice. I pan fried it and then whilst it was resting I quickly fried off some rice noodles that I had pre-soaked in water. This is a trick I learnt in Thailand which means there is no news to boil them. In a separate pan I fried some broccoli and finished it with soy sauce and a little sesame oil.
For dessert I made a chia pudding. Chia seeds originate from Mexico and are great as they can soak up ~10 times their weight in liquid. This means they are fab for thickening and can be used in smoothies as well.
I put about 2 dessertspoons of chia seeds in a blender with 1 dessertspoons of cacoa nibs. I added a teaspoon of vanilla extract, a handful of raw porridge oats, a handful of mixed roaste nuts and about a cup of almond milk. I blended it until it was quite smooth and poured it into a bowl and chilled it until it thickened slightly. Now I wouldn't serve it at a dinner party but considering it is a pudding with no sugar in it was really quite tasty!
Monday, 2 January 2012
Diana Henry's Vietnamese Chicken with Nuoc Cham
I have admired Diana Henry's simple but very tasty recipes in the Waitrose magazine, Waitrose Kitchen, for some time. When I saw the fantastic reviews her recipe books had on Amazon I had to put one on my Christmas list. I was lucky enough to find a copy of her book Food from Plenty under the Christmas tree.
Here is the first recipe I have tried from it. It is in the section which is a collection of recipes to use up left overs. This one is for left over roast chicken, which I had in the freezer from the last roast I made. I've made a few adaptations, some for choice and some through need, as I haven't been shopping in a while!
I started by making the nuoc cham which is a Vietnamese sauce which is hot, sour, salty and sweet in equal measure.
I then cooked the rice. She uses white rice but I prefer the taste of brown rice, plus it's healthier so I substituted this for brown rice (and slightly smaller quantities). It's cooked using the absorption method. Brown rice needs about 40 mins cooking time.
I also didn't have any spring onions so used some lightly stir fried cabbage and also added a few thinly sliced carrots. I also didn't have shallots so used onion instead and cooked them for a little longer than she suggested.
Finally it was a case of assembling the dish by mixing the chicken, rice and veg and topping with the onions and a sprinkling of nuoc cham and shredded mint leaves.
This really was a delicious way to use up leftover chicken and this dish is definitely a sum of more than its parts. The only thing I would do differently next time is to either reduce the amount of garlic or cook it a little first as for me the raw garlic flavour was slightly strong.
Recipe
Serves 4
For the nuoc cham:
4 garlic cloves, crushed
1 red chilli, finely chopped
Pinch of salt
Juice of one lime
2 tbsp fish sauce
4tsp caster sugar
For the chicken and rice:
300g brown rice
600ml chicken stock
4 slices of fresh ginger root plus a little for grating
1 tbsp oil
1 onion thinly sliced
400g leftover roast chicken shredded
6 large cabbage leaves
2 carrots finely sliced
A handful of mint leaves, torn
Salt and pepper to taste
1. Start by making the nuoc cham by mixing all of the ingredients together in a small bowl. Set to one side
2. Put the rice, sliced ginger, seasoning and stock in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Put the lid on and reduce the heat and leave to simmer gently for about 40 mins. Do not stir but if the rice starts to stick add a little boiling water. Remove the ginger slices, add a little finely grated ginger and set aside with the lid on.
3. When the rice is almost cooked fry the onions in a little oil until golden and slightly caramelised. Set to one side.
4. Stir fry the carrots for a couple of minutes. Add the cabbage and the chicken and cook until heated through.
5. Stir the chicken and veg into the rice and share between 4 plates. Top each one with the onions and mint leaves. Serve with the nuoc cham.
Here is the first recipe I have tried from it. It is in the section which is a collection of recipes to use up left overs. This one is for left over roast chicken, which I had in the freezer from the last roast I made. I've made a few adaptations, some for choice and some through need, as I haven't been shopping in a while!
I started by making the nuoc cham which is a Vietnamese sauce which is hot, sour, salty and sweet in equal measure.
I then cooked the rice. She uses white rice but I prefer the taste of brown rice, plus it's healthier so I substituted this for brown rice (and slightly smaller quantities). It's cooked using the absorption method. Brown rice needs about 40 mins cooking time.
I also didn't have any spring onions so used some lightly stir fried cabbage and also added a few thinly sliced carrots. I also didn't have shallots so used onion instead and cooked them for a little longer than she suggested.
Finally it was a case of assembling the dish by mixing the chicken, rice and veg and topping with the onions and a sprinkling of nuoc cham and shredded mint leaves.
This really was a delicious way to use up leftover chicken and this dish is definitely a sum of more than its parts. The only thing I would do differently next time is to either reduce the amount of garlic or cook it a little first as for me the raw garlic flavour was slightly strong.
Recipe
Serves 4
For the nuoc cham:
4 garlic cloves, crushed
1 red chilli, finely chopped
Pinch of salt
Juice of one lime
2 tbsp fish sauce
4tsp caster sugar
For the chicken and rice:
300g brown rice
600ml chicken stock
4 slices of fresh ginger root plus a little for grating
1 tbsp oil
1 onion thinly sliced
400g leftover roast chicken shredded
6 large cabbage leaves
2 carrots finely sliced
A handful of mint leaves, torn
Salt and pepper to taste
1. Start by making the nuoc cham by mixing all of the ingredients together in a small bowl. Set to one side
2. Put the rice, sliced ginger, seasoning and stock in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Put the lid on and reduce the heat and leave to simmer gently for about 40 mins. Do not stir but if the rice starts to stick add a little boiling water. Remove the ginger slices, add a little finely grated ginger and set aside with the lid on.
3. When the rice is almost cooked fry the onions in a little oil until golden and slightly caramelised. Set to one side.
4. Stir fry the carrots for a couple of minutes. Add the cabbage and the chicken and cook until heated through.
5. Stir the chicken and veg into the rice and share between 4 plates. Top each one with the onions and mint leaves. Serve with the nuoc cham.
Thursday, 22 September 2011
Autumnal Soups
I intended on posting this last night in order to keep up with my aim of writing a post everyday for a week but unfortunately ran out of time.
I always love soups, especially for lunch, but as the weather starts to turn autumnal soups come into their own. Warming and filling they are decidedly satisfying.
I made three batches of soup which I have optioned up and put in the freezer to take out for lunches either at work or home.
As most of my previous posts I'm afraid I haven't got a 'proper' recipe'. I have a tendency when cooking to cook by tasting as I go and experimenting with flavours I know complement each other, borrowing from memories of recipes I may have followed at some point in the past.
The first soup I made was a Spiced Pumpkin Soup with Mint Yoghurt. I started by peeling and roasting a pumpkin with 2 onions and 3 cloves of garlic (I know this sounds a lot but once roasted it takes on a lovely sweet and mellow flavour). I then added this to a large pan with some homemade chicken stock I had in the freezer, some ground chilli, cumin, corrinader, turmeric and garam masala (which I had dry fried for a few seconds first) and seasoned it well. I left it simmering for about 30 mins and the. cooled slightly before blending it until smooth. Taste to check the seasoning and add more if needed.
It's great served with a generous blob of mint yoghurt (I use Greek yoghurt mixed with chopped mint and seasoning).
A couple if years ago I went on a wonderful cooking course in a farmhouse in the hills just north of Rome, Italy http://www.cookitaly.it/recipes.htm
Twice daily the cook came down from the village to teach us to cook and this soup is one of the recipes I've made many times since. The original had a small potato in it added at the beginning and some risotto rice added about 15 mins before the end so feel free to revert to the original. The result is a very thick, filling soup so could even be eaten as a light dinner.
You start by frying a diced carrot, onion, celery tops and a clove of garlic in a pan. Once slightly browned and softened add a cup of dried green lentils, about 5 diced cherry tomatoes, seasoning and about a litre of stock. Simmer for about 45 mins, checking if more liquid is needed every so often. It should be thick by the end but you don't want it to dry out or burn on the bottom of the pan. About 5 mins before the end add another 5 diced cherry tomatoes and a handful of chopped parsley. Check the seasoning and serve.
The final soup I made was a Chicken, Vegetable and Barley soup. I love barley anyway and think it's a wonderful grain but in something like this simple soup it comes into it's own.
I started by sautéing finely diced carrot, onion and celery as a base (the same idea as an Italian sofritto) I then added a crushed garlic clove, a cup of barley, seasoning a handful of shredded roast chicken (don't worry you really don't need a lot) and about a litre of brown chicken stock (this is made by taking the carcass from a roast chicken and putting it back in the own until the bones and any remaining chicken are quite brown. The carcass is then boiled in plenty of water for an hour or so to make a very tasty stock. You can also add veg to the stock pot but on this occasion I didn't). Cook this for about 45 mins until the barley is soft. Check every so often that there is enough liquid and add more water if necessary. About 5 mins before the end add a handful of chopped parsley.
Sorry for the less than pretty serving bowl but this was ready to go into the freezer when I thought to take a photo!
I always love soups, especially for lunch, but as the weather starts to turn autumnal soups come into their own. Warming and filling they are decidedly satisfying.
I made three batches of soup which I have optioned up and put in the freezer to take out for lunches either at work or home.
As most of my previous posts I'm afraid I haven't got a 'proper' recipe'. I have a tendency when cooking to cook by tasting as I go and experimenting with flavours I know complement each other, borrowing from memories of recipes I may have followed at some point in the past.
The first soup I made was a Spiced Pumpkin Soup with Mint Yoghurt. I started by peeling and roasting a pumpkin with 2 onions and 3 cloves of garlic (I know this sounds a lot but once roasted it takes on a lovely sweet and mellow flavour). I then added this to a large pan with some homemade chicken stock I had in the freezer, some ground chilli, cumin, corrinader, turmeric and garam masala (which I had dry fried for a few seconds first) and seasoned it well. I left it simmering for about 30 mins and the. cooled slightly before blending it until smooth. Taste to check the seasoning and add more if needed.
It's great served with a generous blob of mint yoghurt (I use Greek yoghurt mixed with chopped mint and seasoning).
A couple if years ago I went on a wonderful cooking course in a farmhouse in the hills just north of Rome, Italy http://www.cookitaly.it/recipes.htm
Twice daily the cook came down from the village to teach us to cook and this soup is one of the recipes I've made many times since. The original had a small potato in it added at the beginning and some risotto rice added about 15 mins before the end so feel free to revert to the original. The result is a very thick, filling soup so could even be eaten as a light dinner.
You start by frying a diced carrot, onion, celery tops and a clove of garlic in a pan. Once slightly browned and softened add a cup of dried green lentils, about 5 diced cherry tomatoes, seasoning and about a litre of stock. Simmer for about 45 mins, checking if more liquid is needed every so often. It should be thick by the end but you don't want it to dry out or burn on the bottom of the pan. About 5 mins before the end add another 5 diced cherry tomatoes and a handful of chopped parsley. Check the seasoning and serve.
The final soup I made was a Chicken, Vegetable and Barley soup. I love barley anyway and think it's a wonderful grain but in something like this simple soup it comes into it's own.
I started by sautéing finely diced carrot, onion and celery as a base (the same idea as an Italian sofritto) I then added a crushed garlic clove, a cup of barley, seasoning a handful of shredded roast chicken (don't worry you really don't need a lot) and about a litre of brown chicken stock (this is made by taking the carcass from a roast chicken and putting it back in the own until the bones and any remaining chicken are quite brown. The carcass is then boiled in plenty of water for an hour or so to make a very tasty stock. You can also add veg to the stock pot but on this occasion I didn't). Cook this for about 45 mins until the barley is soft. Check every so often that there is enough liquid and add more water if necessary. About 5 mins before the end add a handful of chopped parsley.
Sorry for the less than pretty serving bowl but this was ready to go into the freezer when I thought to take a photo!
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