McChiggis - The most amazing roast chicken stuffed with haggis

Roast chicken stuffed with haggis

We discovered McChiggis in Scotland, ready prepared in the chilled cabinet in a supermarket in Fort William, and have fallen in love with this. The haggis infuses the chicken with the most amazing aroma and flavour.

Ingredients

1 fresh free-range chicken
1 haggis (I use gluten-free McSween haggis)
1 onion sliced into thick rings
olive oil
freshly ground black pepper
salt

Method

Put the sliced onion in the bottom of a deep roasting tin.

Stuff the chicken with the haggis. If there is any left over, place in the pan under the chicken. Weigh the chicken when stuffed. Place on top of the onions.

Rub the olive oil over the chicken then season with salt and lots of black pepper.

Place on the middle shelf in a hot oven Gas 5/190 C and roast for 20 mins per 500g/1lb plus 20 mins. Check chicken is cooked by inserting a skewer or sharp knife where the leg joins the breast, the juices should be clear.

Serve with tatties and neeps and lashings of gravy.

Tip: If you are after gluten-free Haggis, I've found it available in some Waitrose stores.

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Super simple paella

I’ve always used my traditional paella recipe, starting with making a sofrito, but this needs fresh tomatoes. A couple of weeks ago, I didn’t have any fresh tomatoes, but we still fancied a paella so I used tomato purée instead with the chicken flavour soup mix as stock and it tastes amazing.

https://www.sainsburys.co.uk/gol-ui/product/kosher/osem-chicken-soup-400g

Ingredients (serves 3)

2 tbsp olive oil

1 onion, finely chopped

1/2 chorizo, chopped

1/2 tsp smoked paprika

Large pinch saffron

2 large breasts chicken or pack chicken thighs

3 handfuls of paella rice (1 handful per person)

1 heaped dessert spoon chicken flavour soup powder

2 tbsp tomato purée

500ml boiling water + additional

Prawns (optional)

Peas (optional)

Fresh parsley, chopped

Lemon but into wedges

Method

In a large frying pan or sauté pan, heat the oil over a medium heat, gently fry the onion until soft. Add the chorizo and fry until it starts to release the oils. Add the chicken pieces and fry until starting to brown. Sprinkle over the paprika and saffron and rice, mix well.

In a jug mix the soup powder into the boiling water and whisk in the tomato purée, pour this over the rice mix, add additional boiling water until chicken is just covered, stir well, then turn to low simmer.

Keep an eye on pan and turn chicken after 10 minutes. Cook for another 10 minutes, add peas and prawns and make sure you stir gently to stop it catching on bottom. If using thighs, check by inserting sharp knife through to bone and seeing if cooked (you shouldn’t see any pink/blood if cooked).

Leave cooking until liquid has evaporated. When chicken is cooked, check if rice is cooked by tasting, you may need to add more water if rice isn’t cooked. It normally takes about 30 mins in total.

Sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve with a wedge of lemon on each plate.

When I use the soup mix, I don’t need to add any extra salt, if you substitute normal chicken stock, you may need additional seasoning.

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Turkey and mushroom supreme - an easy way to use up cooked turkey or chicken

Left Over turkey/chicken

You've roasted the turkey for Christmas or perhaps you have the remains of the chicken from your Sunday roast, what can you do with it? Now I adore curry, but unfortunately, my hubby can't eat an Indian style curry, so instead, I make my Thai curry. If there is too much leftover turkey at Christmas though you don't want to eat curry every day, so I like to make my turkey and mushroom supreme as an option.

This is a very simple dish to make but has a couple of options, you can either serve with plain rice or pop some puff pastry into the oven and make a deconstructed turkey and mushroom pie instead.

I've discovered Osem chicken soup mix makes the best stock, plus it's vegan too. I now use it in all of my dishes where I need stock. It's a powder that you can mix with hot water and add straight to your dish, don't add additional salt until the end though when you taste as there is a high salt content. My tip is to add 1 tsp to 125ml hot water for this dish.

Ingredients

1 tbs olive oil

1 onion, chopped

25g butter

25g flour (I use gluten-free) - use plain or self-raising, no difference in the end result

125ml chicken stock (see tip above)

125ml milk

sliced mushrooms

leftover cooked turkey or chicken

salt & pepper to taste

1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

Method

In a medium pan, gently heat the olive oil and butter (the olive oil will prevent the butter from burning) and add the onion, fry over medium heat until the onion has softened. Add the flour and cook for 1 minute stirring continuously. Gradually add the stock stirring continuously to help stop any lumps forming, then add the milk gradually, keep stirring. You can remove the pan from the heat as you add the liquid, then return to heat to cook. You can add a little more milk if the sauce is too thick.

Let the sauce cook for a couple of minutes, keep stirring.

Add the sliced mushrooms and cooked turkey/chicken. Continue to cook gently for 5 minutes until the mushrooms have softened and the meat is piping hot. Season to taste.

Serve with plain rice and sprinkle over the fresh parsley to serve.

Optional extra - add a small tin of drained sweetcorn when you add the mushrooms.

If using puff pastry to make a deconstructed pie, take a roll of puff pastry, cut the sheet into the number of people you are serving (4) works well, put them on a baking sheet and brush with milk. Pop them in a hot oven (check packet instructions), bake until golden brown. These can then be served on top of the supreme when plating your meal.

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Oven Baked - Southern Fried Chicken (gluten free)

Oven Baked - Southern Fried Chicken

Trying to get southern fried chicken that isn't deep-fried and is gluten-free is impossible unless you make it yourself. I've created the following recipe and it is so easy to make and much better than a well known fast food. You cannot tell that this is gluten-free, we serve to all of the family, saving you time.

You can use normal flour if you aren't on a gluten-free diet or butter if not on a lactose-free diet. 

I have now discovered that a spray oil works really well and the taste is great.

I've been tweaking the recipe over the last year and this is my revised recipe.

Ingredients

3 legs of chicken - cut into thighs and drumsticks (we now buy a pack of free range thighs and drumsticks from Tescos), so that's why I now use 2 eggs.

spray oil

2 eggs

Coating

4 oz plain or self-raising gluten-free flour

2 oz white cornmeal (if you don't have this, increase flour above to 6 oz).

Spices as follows - (see picture for spices I use)

1 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp dried sage

1 tsp dried thyme

1 tsp dried oregano

1/4 tsp ground mace

1/4 tsp ground allspice

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp garlic pepper
1/2 tsp onion salt
1/2 tsp garlic salt or granules

Method

Preheat oven to Gas 6. 

I use an 11-inch roasting tray, it needs sides to capture the juices and oils as they are released. I use a parchment liner (these are available from Lakeland precut and save so much time).
Grease the tray with the spray oil, this is the simplest way to grease and allows you to spray the chicken easily once coated.

Mix all the coating ingredients in a zip lock large bag, zip closed and then shake to mix.

Dip and coat a piece of chicken in the beaten egg, then drop the chicken in the zip bag and coat with the seasoned flour, keep moving until all of the chicken is coated. 

Place the chicken evenly onto the roasting tray, place the thighs with the skin side down, this makes a great crispy skin and coat the remaining pieces of chicken in the same way.

Lightly spray the chicken with the oil.

Put in the oven on the middle shelf and bake for 20 minutes, turning over half-way through, give another light spray with the oil and continue baking.

At the point when I turn the chicken, I normally pop in a tray of oven chips on the top shelf, or some sweet potato wedges.

Bake for another 20 minutes, total cooking time is about 40 minutes. 

Check the chicken is cooked by piercing the chicken thigh with a sharp knife, check that the chicken isn't pink. If pink, return to the oven for another 5 minutes. Always check the chicken before serving.

The wing joints are also great especially if you joint your own chicken.

To make chicken nuggets, use breast meat cut into chunks, they will cook quicker.

We've also coated some button mushrooms in the same way and baked using this method, really yummy.

Serve with chips and some homemade coleslaw or my salsa.

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Roast chicken

Roast Free-Range Chicken

There's nothing better than a roast chicken, but there are some tricks to bringing out the flavour.
I always buy a free-range chicken, as the flavour cannot be beaten and there are no nasty antibiotics or steroids fed to them.

Ingredients

1 free-range chicken
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon mixed herbs
1/2 bulb of garlic
1 lemon
Maldon salt
freshly ground black pepper

Method

Preheat the oven Gas 5. Put the chicken in a roasting tray and pop a couple of the garlic cloves into the cavity of the chicken. Drizzle over the olive oil and sprinkle over the mixed herbs, some salt and ground black pepper, massage into the chicken. Cut the lemon in half, squeeze the juice of half of the lemon over the chicken and pop the other half into the cavity of the chicken.
Pop the remaining garlic cloves under the chicken.
Roast the chicken for 1 1/2 hours (20 mins per lb plus 20 mins) is my normal timings. Baste every 20 minutes.

Serve with roast potatoes and veg.

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Chicken with Capers (thank you Hairy Bikers)

It's too hot to use the oven, but I wanted to cook something other than salad this evening.
Hubby had been shopping, and it was a "Ready, Steady, Cook" kind of evening, only a few ingredients available, so I needed to use what was in the fridge and larder.

Starting point.... Tonight's dinner had to be based around chicken legs. Time to do some research.

Now, I'm a bit of a cookery book addict, every birthday and Christmas I get given cookery books by Hubby with a declaration written in the front. I've lost count of how many books that I've got, but it's probably into the 200's now. For my birthday this year, I was given "The Hairy Bikers' Mediterranean Adventure", it was sat on the arm of the sofa this evening, so I decided to have a look under "chicken" and see if anything jumped off the page.
I loved the look of the "Chicken with Capers" recipe, very simple and I had all the ingredients including half a jar of tiny capers, fresh parsley in the garden and basil on the windowsill, as well as a lemon, onion, garlic cloves and white wine. The recipe is Sicilian and I served it with new potatoes and sauteed courgettes.

It was so worth it, very moreish, lots of flavour and definitely one to add to our repertoire. I always annotate my cookery books when I make a dish, giving information about success, changes possible or any tips for next time (or not if it was a disaster or wasn't liked). I realised that these books tell a story, they can be used again and again, seems pointless keeping separate notes about the recipes.

I thoroughly recommend their book. If you click on the picture, it will take you to Amazon for you to investigate at your leisure.

Happy cooking, especially as I've got a lovely cold glass of wine to drink whilst writing this blog post.

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Chicken lasagne

If you are gluten free and don't eat red meat, it's difficult to find a lasagne that you can eat. We also eat lots of veg, so I decided it was time to get a decent lasagne dish, some gluten free lasagne sheets and bone and skinless chicken thighs. I made a large lasagne as the spare portions can either be frozen or taken to work for lunch.
This uses my "all-in-one" sauce method, so you will need a balloon whisk for this.
Ingredients (serves 6)
For the bolognese
1 onion, finely chopped
1 stick celery, finely chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pack chicken thighs, skinless and boneless - minced in a food processor
1 carrot, finely chopped
1/4 nutmeg, freshly grated
1/4 pint milk
2 tablespoons tomato puree
1 beef stock pot (trust me, it improves the flavour)
1 tin chopped tomatoes
1/2 tin water
Salt and pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
2 large chestnut mushrooms, halved and finely sliced.
For the white sauce
1 oz lacto free butter
1 oz plain gluten free flour
1 pint lacto free milk
Salt and pepper
Additional ingredients
12 sheets gluten free lasagne
1 tsp salt
1 large courgette, finely sliced lengthways
1/2 bag baby spinach leaves  (washed)
1 oz freshly grated parmesan

Method 
Bolognese
In a large pan, sauté the onion and celery in the olive oil over a gentle heat until the onion is translucent. Increase the heat and add the minced chicken, fry until all chicken has gone white, stir regularly. Add the carrots, nutmeg, milk and salt and pepper, cook for 1 minute,  then add the tomato puree, continue cooking until the liquid has evaporated.  Add the stockpot, oregano, tomatoes and the water, stir well, bring to a boil and then simmer for 30 minutes. Add the mushrooms and cook for a further 5 minutes.
Sauce
Take one medium pan and put all the sauce ingredients in the pan together. Put the pan over a gently heat and then keep stirring using a balloon whisk until the sauce is smooth and has thickened. Season to taste.
Pasta (only if using gluten free lasagne sheets).
Fill a large pan with water, bring to the boil and add the salt. Pop in the lasagne sheets and cook until al-dente. (I've tried using the sheets without pre-cooking and it doesn't work for the gluten free as well). If using normal quick cook lasagne sheets, you can omit this stage.
Build the lasagne
Take a lasagne dish and rub a little olive oil over the surface to prevent sticking.
Take a couple of large spoonfuls of the mince and spread them over the bottom of the dish, then drizzle over some of the white sauce, then a layer of lasagne sheets, next a layer of mince, then a handful of spinach, followed by a layer of courgette, plus another drizzle of white sauce.
Keep building the layers. You want to end with some mince and white sauce over the final layer of pasta. If you think you are running out of the white sauce, you can always add some more milk and thin it down towards the end.
Sprinkle over the parmesan cheese and then pop into a moderately hot oven Gas 5 (Electric 190C) for 40 minutes. It should be bubbly and golden on the top.
Serve with salad.

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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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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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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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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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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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Chicken with white wine and tomatoes

Sometimes the simplest recipes are the most tasty.
It was a beautiful day yesterday, really hot and my kitchen was toasty and too warm to cook for long prepping/cooking session. I wanted to make dinner as easy as possible and to only use the minimum of cooking equipment. This was one evening when I cooked from the heart. I popped baby new potatoes, broccoli stems and green beans into the electric steamer, switched on and then started the protein part of dinner.

Ingredients

6 chicken thighs (skin on)
1/2 large spanish onion, finely sliced
4 tomatoes, cut into eighths (halve, then quarter those halves)
4 sprigs fresh thyme
1/2 glass white wine
Salt and pepper

Method

(Tip - I've recently been treated to a Le Creuset non-stick casserole which I use for this, it has a lid).

I gently heated my casserole pan (you will need a lid eventually). I put the chicken thighs into the pan, skin side down, no oil needed as the pan I use is non-stick. I left the chicken to brown, then turned them over to brown on the other side. Push the chicken together as much as you can and pop the onions in. There should be enough fat released from the chicken to cook the onions until they start to brown. Add the fresh thyme sprigs to the pan and the tomatoes, add a few grinds of salt and black pepper, then splash over the white wine. Pop on the lid and turn down to a simmer.

Turn the chicken over after 15 minutes.
Continue to cook for about 30 minutes in total, check that the chicken is cooked by cutting into the biggest thigh in the pan, just through to the bone, if there is no sign of pink juices, the chicken is cooked.
Serve with the steamed veg.

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Chicken - Riverford style

Typical evening. Come home after busy day at college, it's chicken but not sure what to do with it.

Step 1

Low effort is the key, so one pot meal is a bonus.

Step 2

2 legs and 2 wings are left on the carcass, so start by jointing these into drumsticks and thighs.

Step 3

What veg are left to use up in our box from last week?

Yellow pepper, vine tomatoes, onion, sweet potato.

Step 4

Raid fridge - chopped chorizo

Step 5

Additions from supplies

Olive oil

Garlic

Passata

Chopped fresh basil

Begin recipe creation.

Lucious olive oil, frazzle onions, garlic and chicken, sauté pepper, add rest of ingredients, cook gently for 30 mins

Garnish with chopped fresh basil

Serve and wait for seconds to be demolished.

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Chicken Fajitas - when short cuts are good

A very successful dinner last night.

As our daughter has an intolerance to wheat, gluten and dairy, we had bought a Fajita Kit a couple of weeks ago. Tonight I used this to save some time and create a healthy dinner for all of us.
The kit came with the tortillas, salsa and the fajita spice mix.
I used one chicken breast, plus a red and a green pepper and one onion to make the fajitas.
I added some salad leaves and slices of avocado when building the fajitas with the salsa.
A big hit, the aromas in the kitchen were wonderful. A great store cupboard hit, full of nutrients and very low fat.

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Chicken Fricassee

I bought a whole free range chicken and then took the breast off for our meal.

Electric Steamer

We were lucky to receive an electric steamer last year from my sister-in-law, which is brilliant for cooking the vegetables to serve with the dinner, just pop them in using however many tiers as necessary, I even cook my rice in it too, saves on pots and pans and also doesn't need to be watched. The biggest benefit is you don't need salt and keep the vitamins and minerals in the veg, none is cooked away in the water.

Potato Ricer

I also have a potato ricer, this is amazing, no worry of lumps and I don't need butter or milk unless turning into "creamed potatoes". I use the potato ricer to produce small threads of potato, I carefully spoon them onto the plate when serving without compressing them. I also use the ricer directly onto fish pies and cottage style pies, low calorie, lovely crunchy top.

Chicken Fricassee

Ingredients (serves 3)

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 banana shallots, finely diced

1 red pepper (I used a long thin pepper) cut into thin strips

2 large chestnut mushrooms, halved and cut into thin slices

1 organic chicken stock cube

1/2 pint water

1 free range chicken breast, cut into small bite sized chunks

handful of french beans, cut into small pieces

Skimmed milk

2 tablespoons cornflour

Method

Heat the oil gently and add the shallots, gently fry the shallots until soft, then add the peppers, keep frying until they soften. Once the peppers and shallots are soft add the mushrooms and fry for another minute.

Add the water and stock cube and turn up the heat until the stock is bubbling, add the chicken and beans and lower to a simmer. Cook for about 10 minutes until chicken is cooked and the beans are just tender.

Mix the cornflour in a small cup with enough water to make a thin paste. Carefully add this to the pan stirring constantly, thin out the sauce with milk until it is the desired thickness, it should be thick enough to cover the vegetables and chicken with a thick layer.

Check seasoning and add pepper if needed.

I served with mashed (riced) potatoes, tender stem broccoli and carrot batons

Feedback from family was yum.

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Coq au Vin

I love reading cookery books, but sometimes I just cook from the heart. Today was one of those days, my daughter wanted coq-au-vin, I decided to just go with the flow, so here's my recipe.

Ingredients
1 onion sliced
2 whole garlic cloves
1 tbsp butter
1 pack of smoked bacon lardons
chicken portions
1 large tomato chopped
1 bouquet garni
1 bottle of red wine
1 chicken stock cube
salt and pepper
Butter
Button mushrooms
Baby onions (if you have some)

Method
Start by gently frying the onion in the butter, (I had some bacon fat left from cooking carbonara for lunch). Add to 2 whole garlic cloves, continue frying.
Add the pack of bacon lardons, continue to fry. Add the chicken and brown. Pop in the tomato then the entire bottle of wine (I know it seems a lot, but it really is worth it). Crumble over the chicken stock cube, season.
Make the bouquet garni and add, I used a couple of sprigs of fresh thyme, some parsley stalks, a bay leaf and half a stick of celery with it's leaves. I tied it together with some string and popped it in the pot.
Simmer until the chicken is tender, this is about 1 1/2 hours.
Heat some butter and then in small batches fry the mushrooms until golden adding them to the casserole, do the same with the onions if you are using. Stir thoroughly and leave with a lid on until you need to reheat for lunch/dinner.

If you have some fresh parsley, chop and garnish the finished casserole.

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Chicken Paprikash with dumplings

Ingredients

1 tablespoon Oil

Chicken thighs

1 large red onion sliced

1 green pepper sliced

1 tin tomatoes

1 tablespoon paprika

1 teaspoon dried oregano

Salt & Pepper

Dumplings

4 oz SR flour

2 oz suet

Salt & Pepper

Water

Method

Preheat oven Gas 5

Heat oil in frying pan and brown the chicken pieces. Place in casserole dish temporarily, sprinkle over half of the paprika onto the skin.

Soften onions, then add peppers and continue to fry for 1 minute. Add remaining paprika and fry for another minute. Put chicken pieces back into frying pan add tomatoes and oregano, season well. Transfer mixture back into casserole, put on lid and place in oven for 2 hours.

30 minutes before finished cooking. Mix flour and suet and seasoning. Add water to make a thick dough. Roll into small balls the size of walnuts.

Remove casserole from oven, stir well and then pop the dumplings on the surface. Cover and put back in oven for a further 30 minutes.

Serve with wilted spinach.

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Thai Green or Red Chicken Curry

Green Thai chicken curry with coriander garnish

Thai green or red curry with chicken and vegetables

There is nothing like the aroma of Thai curry to activate your taste buds and I frequently get lots of comments and visitors for tasters on holiday when the smell wafts across the campsite. 

This is a very simple recipe to make and tastes amazing, it can be ready in 10 minutes if you grab a hot roast chicken from a supermarket, it will take longer using fresh chicken. 

I normally buy the Mae Ploy brand from the Chinese supermarket and it is a hotter version.

The Thai Taste is milder and available from most supermarkets.

If you like a hot curry (madras heat), then use a red Thai paste. For a milder curry, use green. This still depends on the brand though, some are hotter than others. We normally buy our paste from the local Chinese supermarket.

One of the best purchases we ever made was our Tefal rice cooker, it has simplified the cooking of rice, stopped us needing to add salt and guarantees perfectly cooked rice that keeps warm when it's finished cooking. My trick is to use 1/3 cup of rice per person. Wash the rice well and cook according to the instructions. I normally set the rice going as I start cooking the curry, it will be perfectly ready by the time the curry has finished cooking. It will be light a fluffy.

Ingredients (serves 4 people)

1 tablespoon coconut oil

1 onion, sliced
2 tablespoons Thai green curry paste or red curry paste
2 tablespoons Thai fish sauce
1 tin coconut milk 

6 fresh lime leaves (optional for the green curry)

1 stalk lemongrass (optional)
2 large chicken breasts (raw or ready cooked) cut into 1inch pieces - alternative a normal pack of chicken thighs/drumsticks

A selection of fresh vegetables, (3 of the following) Pak Choi, baby sweetcorn, mangetout, courgette. For a red curry you could add sliced red pepper.

1 cup of Thai fragrant rice or basmati rice
cold water to cover by half an inch

Method

Add rice to a saucepan and wash under the cold tap a couple of times. The water will turn cloudy, this is the starch in the rice which would make it sticky when cooked. Cover the rice with enough cold water to reach half an inch above the level of the rice. Bring to the boil, stir once, cover with a tight-fitting saucepan lid and turn heat to the lowest simmer possible. Don't be tempted to look at the rice, leave it for 10 minutes then turn off the heat. Leave rice until you are ready to serve the curry. Fluff the rice with a fork before serving.

In a wok or large frying pan, heat the oil of a medium heat, add the curry paste and fry for about 1 minute stirring continuously, be careful it does spit.

Add the coconut milk and fish sauce, stir and simmer for about 1 minute. Add the lime leaves and bash the lemongrass with the back of a large knife, then add to the sauce.

Add the chicken to the sauce and turn heat to a simmer. Stir occasionally. If raw cook for about 15 minutes, if using chicken pieces then about 30 minutes. If using ready-cooked, for about 5 minutes. 

Add the sliced vegetables, stir and cook for a further 5 minutes.

Serve

Tip

When you buy the traditional green or red pastes which come in plastic tubs, I normally add the paste to a small bowl and mix in some water to rehydrate the paste. Be warned, use only 2 teaspoons of this paste unless you love a vindaloo level of heat.

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