Chicken Stew with dumplings

It was a little cold this morning, waking to 2 degrees C, with a slight touch of frost. After a busy staff development day today, we all needed something comforting to eat. The temperature was already dropping when we left college, I wanted to cook something really simple for dinner that was full of nutrients, but would give us a foodie hug.
I still had carrots and leeks left from the organic box, so wanted to use those up, there were 6 chicken thigh fillets in the fridge, so decided to make a very easy chicken stew.

Chicken Stew

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, sliced
1 1/2 leeks, sliced
4 carrots, sliced
2 cloves garlic, smashed
1 sweet potato, cut into chunks
2 1/2 pints water
1 chicken stock pot
6 chicken thighs
1 handful of paella rice
couple sprigs of fresh thyme
freshly ground black pepper
salt
1 cup frozen peas
cornflour and water

Method

Add the oil, onion, leeks and carrots to the pan, gently sweat the vegetables until the onion and leeks begin to soften, add the garlic and sweet potato and continue to sweat for another minute.
Add the water and stock pot to the pan, pop in the chicken and rice, throw in the thyme with some pepper and a touch of salt (add more later after cooking if needed).
Cover and cook gently for 1 hour.
Add the frozen peas bring the stew back up to the boil and add the dumplings, cover and gently simmer for 10 minutes.
Season to taste.

Depending on how you like your stew, if you like it thin, then serve as it is.

If you prefer a thicker stew, serve the dumplings, then thicken the remaining stew. Mix a couple of teaspoonfuls of cornflour with a little water, add gradually to stew and cook until thick. Add as much cornflour as necessary to get the thickness you prefer. Serve.

I wanted to find a gluten free recipe for dumplings, didn't have any suet, so went for a hunt online and discovered the following recipe. I added some mixed herbs to the flour and they were scrummy. I wet my hands before taking spoonfuls and use the damp hands to make the dumplings into soft balls.

Dumplings

150g Rice flour or any gf flour
2 tea spoons of baking powder
2 large eggs
a little water
optional a few dried herbs.

Mix to a dough and put spoonfulls into boiling stew and simmer for around 10 mins.

These are suitable for vegetarians and are lactose free and easy peasy

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Mushroom risotto

Served with the pancetta wrapped chicken

A mushroom risotto is really easy and makes a great accompaniment to a main meal.

I love to use a few porcini mushrooms in mine, it brings out the flavour of the chestnut mushrooms. If you want to make this vegetarian, then use a vegetarian stock.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil

25 g of butter

1 onion, chopped

250g chestnut mushrooms

1 handful of dried porcini mushrooms

250g  Arborio risotto rice

1 pint chicken stock (I use a chicken stock pot)

Method

Dried porcini mushrooms

Pour 1/4 pint hot water over the porcini mushrooms in a jug, leave whilst you start cooking the risotto.

Stock simmering in pan

In a small pan, add the water and stock pot and bring to the boil. Turn heat down until barely simmering. It's important to keep the stock very hot when adding to the pan. This is the secret of a good risotto.

Gently heat the olive oil and half of the butter in a saucepan, (the olive oil stops the butter from burning). Add the onion and gently fry until softened.

The onions and chopped mushrooms gently cooking

Chop 1/3rd of the mushrooms into 1cm cubes, add to the onion and continue to cook until soft. Turn the heat to low.

Add the risotto rice to the pan and keep stirring for about 1 minute until the rice is well mixed in, it should start to squeak a little. The Italians say it "screams like Aida".

Add a couple of ladleful's of the stock and keep stirring, always add stock 2 ladleful's at a time and wait until the pan screams.

Remove the porcini from the soaking water (don't throw it away). Chop the porcini and add to the risotto.

Use the stock when you next need to add more, don't use the bottom of the water as their may be grit in the soaking water.

Chop the rest of the mushrooms in half and then finely slice them. After half the stock has been used, add the mushrooms to the pan.

Keep adding the stock and stirring regularly. Check the rice is cooked, it should be creamy and just al dente. You may need to add a splash more boiling water.

When it's cooked, remove from heat and stir in the rest of the butter.

Serve.

I served this with the chicken stuffed with chorizo and wrapped in pancetta.

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Chicken stuffed with chorizo and wrapped in pancetta

 We've made this with chicken breasts too, but actually find the chicken thighs very easy and we think they actually taste much better.
If you want a really easy dinner that involves very little preparation but tastes amazing, then this is a really easy meal.
We've discovered that Waitrose sell amazing skinless and boned chicken thighs in large packs at very reasonable prices. They also sell packs of ready chopped chorizo crumb these come in pairs. So this dish is extremely simple to create.

Ingredients

1 pack of pancetta
6 chicken thighs
1 section of chopped chorizo

Method

Preheat oven to Gas 5.

Take a small roasting tray (I use a non-stick liner), but you may need to grease it if you don't.
Lay out the pancetta in 2's or 3's so the slices just overlap - (you need to count the slices and divide by 6). I don't leave any left and split the pancetta evenly.
Take one piece of chicken and lay along the first set of pancetta, starting at one end. Split the chorizo into six parts and pile one part onto the middle of a chicken thigh. Fold the chicken over to cover the chorizo, take the pancetta and start to roll it around the chicken, keep rolling as tightly as you can until the chicken is completely covered. Pop onto roasting tray. Repeat for each chicken breast. Roast in the oven for 45 minutes.
Leave to stand for 5 minutes.
Serve by slicing into 1cm slices.
I served with a mushroom risotto.

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Pancetta stuffed mushrooms

Ingredients

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 pack of pancetta
2 large chestnut mushrooms (flat cap)
1 red onion chopped
1/4 green pepper finely sliced
1 tomato, chopped
1oz cheddar cheese grated

Method

Fry the onion and pancetta until onion is soft, add the chopped stalks from the mushroom, chopped tomato and the green pepper.

Pop the mushrooms cup up in a shallow oven proof dish, divide the onion and pancetta mix between the mushrooms, top with the grated cheese. Bake in a hot oven Gas 6 for 20-30 minutes, until the cheese is golden brown.

Serve with a salad and crusty bread.

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Yoghurt Chicken

Ingredients

2 chicken breasts, cut into strips

1 (4 oz.) container plain yoghurt

1/2 lime juice

1 clove garlic crushed

1 tsp. oregano

Dash of salt & pepper

Parmesan cheese

Marinate chicken in mixture of yogurt, lemon juice and seasonings. Marinating even a few minutes is fine. Place chicken in shallow greased 13 x 9 inch pan so chicken is touching, but not overlapping. Sprinkle the chicken with Parmesan cheese. Bake at Gas 6 for 25-30 minutes. After about 20 minutes of baking, drain any excess drippings and check the thickest piece, cut through the middle and see if any pink juices run, return to oven for addition 5 minutes.

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Half-term Soup

It must be half-term.... 

The weather is awful, I'm feeling shattered after a very busy first half of the Autumn term, no energy and I've got that horrid feeling that a bug has decided to join me.
For some reason, I normally crave home made soup when I'm feeling like this, loaded with nutrients, easy to eat and makes you feel all warm and snug.
I must have had an inkling as I ordered a Riverford bumper veg box this week, it arrived Thursday, so I've got masses of amazing fresh organic vegetables to work with.
The box contents this week are:-

Leeks
Potatoes
Onions
Carrots
Parsnips
Butternut squash
Cauliflower
Savoy cabbage
Cime di rapa
Butterhead lettuce
Portobello mushrooms
Cherry tomatoes

I wanted to make a soup with minimal fuss and little washing up (no blender or food processor needed). I don't mind preparing and chopping ingredients so it was time to pick the veg and see what resulted.

Ingredients

1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 carrot, finely diced
1/2 leek, the green end, carefully washed and shredded
1 handful of cherry tomatoes, chopped (life's too short to skin them)
1 handful of risotto rice
1 beef stock pot
1 pt cold water
couple of small bunches of cime di rapa, shred including the stalks, keep the stalk section separated from the rest.
Sprig fresh thyme
Freshly ground black pepper
handful of fresh basil, shredded

Method

In a large pan, heat the oil then gently fry the onions and carrots until the onion is soft. Add the leeks and fry for another minute, stirring regularly. Add the stock pot and water to the pan, bring to the boil. Add the rice, tomatoes, 1/2 the fresh basil and the fresh thyme, turn down to a simmer.
Cook for approximately 20 minutes and add the bottom of the cime di rapa (the part with the stalks) to the pan and simmer for another 5 minutes. Add more water if necessary, you want some liquid to make this a soup not a pile of veg.
Check the rice is cooked.
Add the final cime di rapa and cook for another couple of minutes until wilted.
Add pepper to taste, remove the sprig of thyme.
Turn off heat and add the freshly shredded basil and stir.
Serve and enjoy.

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Turkey mince with squash & porcini

What's for dinner?

As we only eat chicken, turkey and fish plus lots of vegetables, it's easy to keep cooking the same dishes. Tonight was time for me to create a new recipe, something different that would satisfy our hungry tums. Hubby had bought turkey mince earlier, we'd eaten chilli Thursday night, had turkey meatballs and bolognese sauce earlier in the week, so time to see what I could find that would go with the mince. Jacket potatoes are perfect for an October evening, there was a butternut squash on the side, I've always got tinned tomatoes, dried porcini and fresh herbs, so invention time, here we come.

Ingredients

1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
500g turkey mince
1/2 butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1cm dice
1 tin chopped tomatoes
1 tbsp fresh thyme, chopped
1 beef stock pot
1 handful dried porcini, soaked in 1/2 cup hot water for 20 minutes
pepper

Method

In a large saucepan, heat the oil and gently fry the onion until soft, increase heat to medium, add the garlic and mince and fry until the mince is browned. Add the squash and continue to fry for another minute. Add the tinned tomatoes and fresh thyme. Pop in the stock pot and cook gently, stirring occasionally.
Remove the porcini from the soaking water, chop into small pieces and add to the mince. Carefully add the soaking water (don't add the final bit as there may be grit in the bottom).
Simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, season with a couple of twists of freshly ground black pepper.
You shouldn't need to add any further salt.

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Marrow and Date Chutney

Hot vinegar - wow it clears the sinuses

Oh 'tis the season of mellow fruitfulness and I always get the preserving bug at this time of year. Every time I've walked into the kitchen this week, half a marrow stares at me, egging me to cook it. I know that there are another 4 growing in the garden, so I'd better do something useful with it.
Options, stuff it, but that's just one meal, or turn it into a chutney, that can be enjoyed for the rest of the year.
After researching on the web, I've taken the best bits, plus the ingredients I have in the cupboard and created my own recipe. Providing you have the correct proportions of vinegar to sugar, and cook it enough, the chutney will work.

Ingredients

1.25kg marrow, cut into 1cm dice
2 red tomatoes, chopped
2 onions, chopped
1 cooking apple, chopped
250g chopped dates
500ml organic cider vinegar
2 tsp ground allspice
2 tsp ground ginger
200g brown sugar
2 tbsp Maldon salt
ground black pepper

Method

Put all of the vegetables, dates and vinegar into a preserving pan, bring to the boil and then turn to a simmer and let it bubble gently for 30 minutes until the marrow has softened. Add the sugar, spices, salt and pepper and then stir until sugar dissolves, bubble gently until thick. It is it the right consistency when you can see the base of the pan for a few seconds when drawing a spoon through.
Transfer into sterilized jars, seal, label. Leave for a month to mature (if you can resist). The chutney should keep for 9 months.

There is nothing like the smell of chutney cooking, it is very pungent, clears the sinuses, but is well worth it.

My family can smell the chutney cooking before they get near the front door, but it's the indicator that it must be autumn.

This makes great Christmas presents.

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Marmalade

Where to buy Sevilles!

It's the time of year to make Seville Orange Marmalade. They are only available for a short period and I was able to buy an Organic Seville Marmalade Kit from Riverford, the kit includes the oranges and a couple of lemons too. They aren't available for much longer, so if you are planning on making some marmalade, now's the time to buy them. If you aren't able to make the marmalade straight away, you can freeze the whole fruit and use them at a later date. They are also available in some farm shops and also supermarkets (I've seen them in Waitrose)

Recipe

I followed Guy's recipe, the only difference was how I prepared the fruit. I cut the fruit into 4 quarters from top to bottom and then simply pulled the flesh off the skins, much easier than peeling them with a knife. The middles were also easier to squeeze.
I bought my jars from Hobbycraft and decided on the small jars as they make great gifts, but I also find that larger jars don't get used up as quickly and could spoil. The jars are really reasonable and come with their lids. The labels are really effective too.
To sterilise, I use my grans method, wash the jars in hot soapy water, rinse and then pop them straight into the oven on the lowest heat. This dries them out and also gets them lovely and hot so that the marmalade can be poured straight into them when it's ready.
As I love preserving, I do have a large Maslin pan, jam thermometer and jam funnel, which does make preserving much easier. Don't try and lift the full pan when potting up the marmalade, dip in a pyrex jug and scoop up as much as you can, then use this to fill the jars.

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Paella

If you want a special dinner, then this makes a great dish. There are quite a few ingredients, but I've discovered some quick cheats when shopping to make this easier.

Ingredients

Sofritto:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
3 medium tomatoes, chopped

1/2 chorizo chopped (can buy ready chopped pack)
1 large pinch of saffron
1 teaspoon paprika
1 pack of chicken pieces
1/2 packet of paella rice
1 chicken stock pot made up to 1 pint with boiling water
1 pack of frozen mixed shellfish (M&S contains, prawns, squid and scallops defrosted)
Frozen peas
1 tablespoon flat leaved parsley, finely chopped
1 lemon cut into wedges.

Method

In a non-stick frying pan, gently fry the sofritto together until the olive oil starts to separate from the mix, this can take 10 minutes.
Move the sofritto to the side of the pan and add the chorizo to the other side of the pan, let this fry off and release it's wonderful oils, add the paprika and chicken pieces, cook for 5 minutes stirring the chorizo side of the pan separately from the sofritto, cook until you have browned all the chicken. Mix everything in the pan together. Now sprinkle over the rice and stir in well to the mixture. Pour over the stock and add enough water to cover the chicken with liquid. Stir well and reduce to a simmer.
Stir gently occasionally, cook for 20 minutes. If the pan is drying out, you may need to add more boiling water.
Check the rice, you want it to be just soft and the chicken is cooked. Add the seafood and the frozen peas, stir well and continue to cook for another 5 minutes (add liquid if necessary), the prawns should be pink when fully cooked.
Sprinkle over the parsley and serve with lemon wedges.

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Research is needed

Research

It really is worth investigating the types of recipes your readers are interested in.  I'm interested in finding out a little bit more about the kinds of recipes and food you are most interested in.
Would you mind answering the poll on the right, I can then look at creating those recipes as a priority.
It may be that you've recently tried to remove gluten/wheat from your diet, are suspicious that you have an allergy to dairy, or simply that you are looking for easy recipes that are quick to cook, don't need masses of ingredients and that your family will love to eat.
I simply cook from the heart and use the ingredients I have to hand, very much a "Ready Steady Cook" kind of method.

Why gluten/dairy free?

I've embraced gluten free cookery for all of us as our daughter is intolerant to gluten, also we use lactose free products as that also causes reactions. In the beginning this seemed daunting, but on investigation, it is really simple to cook one meal that all of us enjoy. It's so much easier now that the freefrom ranges in supermarkets are growing rapidly, hopefully with more companies thinking about making their products freefrom, the costs will start to drop.
I still find it confusing when looking at ingredients on packets, that wheat flour is used in so many different products that you don't expect. If you look at a packet of frozen chips, you wouldn't expect them to be coated in wheat flour, if the manufacturers swapped to potato flour, then everyone would be happy.

Cooking for others

I am still surprised that so many people have no idea about what ingredients are used to make a product. Conversations about taking wheat out of the diet and I'm asked is pizza ok, or pasta, can't you eat couscous. This is especially worrying when talking to people that work in restaurants or cafes. Perhaps it was the lack of cookery lessons in schools teaching children to cook the basics from scratch. They may have studied food technology, but that was more about packaging the product and the labelling rather than the creation of good healthy food.

Cookery lessons

I was lucky to be taught cookery at school and studied an O level in Food and Nutrition and still have my folder with the theory of nutrition and basic recipes. We were all taught how to use mince in many different ways (lasagne, shepherd's pie, meat loaf) and also to extend it using soya to save money. All the different types of pastry, from shortcrust (french apple tart), rough puff (sausage plait) and choux pastry (eclairs). Made cheesecakes, fatless sponges (peach flans with juice thickened with arrowroot), rubbed in cakes (banana and nut bread), whisked and creamed cakes (butterfly cakes were a favourite). Fresh fruit salads with homemade shortbread was also a favourite that always found it's way onto our practical exams. Also salads, preparing and cooking vegetables, white sauces (roux and all-in-one methods). There were many dishes made, taken home for parents to enjoy, both savoury and sweet, plus we were taught to washup properly. We all remember being called back after our lunches as the teacher wasn't happy with the state of the saucepans and we were introduced to wire scourers to get them shining bright again.
I made marmalade, pickles, lemon curd, plus yoghurt. We learnt about yeast and made fresh bread and rolls, then rich yeast dough was made into chelsea buns.
We learnt how to read cookery books, plan meals, organise cooking planners so that everything was ready in time, also we had to cost out the meal we cooked.
I've been lucky to pass this all onto our daughter who is now an accomplised cook, many of the recipes I created for her to use at school are on this blog, they are also on my "Cooking with Kids" blog.

Our mission

We owe our children and grandchildren, good healthy food that they can prepare themselves without buying packets, I cannot believe that packets of sauce mixes are used when simply putting the butter, flour and milk in a pan and using a balloon whisk over a gentle heat gives the same result at a fraction of the price. My all-in-one sauce method, is really simple and you can add parsley or cheese if you want a flavoured sauce.
Yes, new cooks can get a bit messy, but it's fun and so rewarding. My husband says "even your mistakes are edible" which is a great complement.
If you don't try, you never know what's possible, be brave, find a new recipe and try it.

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Baked mustard & lemon chicken

This is a quick dish to cook, if you have chicken pieces available. I used 4 chicken legs, but it will work with any chicken pieces. If you use pieces with their skin on, this will hold the marinade and crisp up when baked in the oven.

Ingredients

4 x Chicken legs
Marinade:
1 lemon, zest and juice
1 heaped teaspoon of dijon mustard
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley

Method

Put all the ingredients for the marinade into a sealable food bag that is large enough to take the chicken pieces too. Seal the bag and mix the marinade together. Add the chicken pieces, reseal and massage the marinade into the chicken. Leave for a minimum of 10 minutes, but can also be made ahead and left to marinade in the fridge.
When you are ready to cook, preheat the oven Gas 6. Take a small roasting tray, grease the tray with olive oil, then place the chicken into the tray, skin side up, pour any remaining marinade over the chicken pieces.
Roast in the oven for 40 minutes (check after 30 minutes if small pieces).

How to check if chicken is cooked: Insert a knife at the thickest part of the chicken, next to a bone. Check if there are any pink juices, or pink meat (this means chicken is still not cooked). Juices should run clear when cooked. Return to oven for another 5 minutes and check again. Always check more than one piece of chicken as some ovens don't cook evenly.

Serve the chicken, drizzle over the juices from the pan. I served with parmentier potatoes, steamed kale and carrots. You could also serve with rice and a salad.

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