Roast Guinea Fowl

To be honest, there's not that much between a chicken and a guinea fowl in terms of flavour but there's enough to make them worth trying and they're definitely juicier on the breast though perhaps a bit drier on the legs. This is most likely because they're naturally leaner than chickens but because they're smaller and only cook for about an hour, the breast doesn't dry out. I wrapped mine in streaky bacon just to make sure and popped some some rosemary inside before roasting in the usual way and serving half a bird per person.
Sorry about the lone chipolata in the picture, it jumped out of the tray of potatoes that were roasting on the shelf above.

Winter Collection: Chicken Pie

Scrap's pal came for tea yesterday and I made a nice pie. Sadly his little friend couldn't face it and then got violently sick at the table. Turns out she had the winter vomit bug and is feeling much better today, so don't let that put you off.
Serves 4
1 large onion, thinly sliced
400g baby carrots, scrubbed and trimmed
1 chicken
600ml hot chicken stock
200g frozen peas
100g crème fraiche
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp cornflour
500g pack puff pastry
milk, for brushing

1 Preheat the oven to 200°C, gas mark 6. Arrange the onion slices and carrots in a large casserole dish or small roasting tin. Sit the chicken on top then pour over the hot stock.

2 Cover and roast for an hour then add the peas and cook for a further 15 minutes until the chicken is cooked. Lift the chicken out onto a board.

3 Sit the pan on the hob and stir in the crème fraiche and mustard. If you want to thicken the sauce, dissolve the cornflour in a little water and stir in.

4 Shred the meat off the chicken and stir back into the pan. Leave to cool.

5 Preheat the oven to 200C / Gas 6. Spoon the mixture into a pie dish, then roll out the pastry and use to cover the filling. Brush with milk, decorate with any pastry trimmings and make a couple of holes to let out any steam. Bake for 30 - 40 minutes until piping hot and serve with mash.

Coq Au Vin

It's cold, wet and windy. My sister and her boys have come to visit for the weekend and bravely set off in the drizzle for a trip to Covent Garden. We have a vote on tonight's tea before they leave and as soon as the door shuts, we bolt it. The heating clicks back on, Scooby Doo comes on telly waving a pair of maracas and dancing to Mexican music and the house fills with the waft of a gently bubbling stew.
I love a wet weekend.

Serves 4 grown-ups and 3 children
large chorizo sausage or piece of good smoked pancetta, cubed (I used bit of both)
2 tbsp plain flour
1 bottle of light red wine
18 chicken thighs and drums (3 each for grown ups, 2 each for kids), skinned
12 or so shallots, peeled
6 garlic cloves, chopped
1 celery stick, thinly sliced
2 tsp smoked paprika
bunch fresh thyme and/or sage, chopped
500g chestnut mushrooms
1 tbsp chopped fresh tarragon or 3 of parsley
mash and steam vegetables, to serve

Put the chorizo and/or pancetta in a very large pan and turn on the heat. As it starts to sizzle, it should release enough oil for you to add the flour to the pan. Cook the flour in the fat for 5 minutes then pour in the wine.

Add the chicken, whole shallots, garlic, celery, paprika and thyme. And salt and pepper. Bring to the boil, almost cover with the pan lid, just leaving a centimeter or so uncovered then simmer on the lowest heat for 3 or more hours. Add the mushrooms for the last 30 minutes. Stir in the tarragon or parsley.

Chicken Biriyani

When I think of making a quick curry, a biriyani is one of the first things that comes to mind. I love all one-pot dishes and a biriyani can always be made from ingredients I've already got in and it's on the table in under half an hour. It owes it success to a decent curry paste of which there are now loads, my current favouite is Veeraswamy's Hot Madras.

Serves 4
2 tbsp sunflower oil
2 carrots, peeled and diced or frozen peas
2 red onions, peeled and sliced
600g cubed chicken or lamb
600 g basmati rice
1.2 litres hot chicken stock
2 tbsp good curry paste.
juice of 1 lime
handful fresh coriander, roughly chopped

1 Heat the oil in a large pan. Add the carrots, onions and chicken (or lamb) and cook for 10 minutes until the onions are softened and golden.

2 Stir in the rice then pour over the stock. Mix in the curry paste then bring to the boil, reduce the heat then cover and simmer gently for 15 minutes until the rice is tender and liquid has been absorbed. Check the seasoning and add lime juice to taste.

3 Stir in the chopped coriander then divide between serving bowls. Serve with poppadoms and chutney.

Garlic Roast Chicken

I always used to shove my aromatics into the chicken’s cavity, but I’ve decided over the years that although it makes the chicken smell amazing during roasting, it doesn’t do much for the flavour. If you want to add flavour to a chicken, you’ve really got to get under its skin. I apololgise for putting garlic, rosemary and chilli/smoked paprika in everything I ever cook but I just can’t live without them. And the smokey-garlicky oil you get from this makes the best ever roast potatoes.

1 garlic bulb, separated into cloves and peeled
leaves from 2 rosemary stalks
1 lemon
½ tsp Maldon salt
good knob of butter
1 tsp smoked paprika

Place the garlic and rosemary in a mini food processor. Pare off the lemon zest and add along with the salt. Whiz until it forms a paste. Add the butter and paprika and a good grinding of black pepper and whizz again until well blended.

Loosen the skin with your fingers then with your hands, spread the garlic paste between the flesh and the skin – smooth it down and round the bird as far as you can but make sure you get plenty on the breast which is the driest part.



If you have no other use for the pared lemon, quarter it and tuck it into the cavity it’ll smell lovely and make the juices for the gravy taste good. If you want to, pin any torn bits of chicken skin in place with a cocktail stick to stop it shrinking back and then tie the legs together with a bit of string. Roast as usual.

Thai Red Curry Dinner

I thought this would be quite difficult. In fact, it was very simple. The original recipe recommended courgettes, but I swapped them for the Spanish aubergines I picked up on Chapel Market. I gave the beans about three minutes and maybe five would have been better, but better crunchy than mushy, I always say...

INGREDIENTS: Serves 4
1 tbsp oil
4 small, skinless chicken breasts, thinly sliced
1-2 tbsp red curry paste, depending on how hot you like it
400ml coconut milk
100g green beans, trimmed
2 small Spanish aubergines, halved lengthways and roughly chopped
1 lime, juiced
2 spring onions, sliced
a handful of coriander leaves


METHOD:
Heat a large saucepan and add the oil.
Cook the chicken for 3 minutes until it starts to brown.
Add the curry paste and cook, stirring, for 1 minute until fragrant.
Then add the coconut milk, stir and reduce the heat to a gentle simmer.
Cook for 10 minutes, then add the beans and courgette.
Cook for 3 minutes until the vegetables are just tender.
Remove from heat and season to taste with lime juice and stir through the spring onions and coriander.
Serve with boiled rice.

Anyway, enjoy!

Italian Chicken and Vegetable Soup

Chicken balls do sound a bit horrible but these lovely little Parmesan and garlic dumplings are slowly simmered in a flavoursome broth and taste delicious. Packed with vitamins and fibre, this dinner also rates well on the GL index (got to get into that holiday swim suit next week!).

Serves 4
1 tsp olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 large tomato, finely chopped
1 litre water
1 Kallo organic chicken stock cube
1 celery stalk finely diced
1 carrot, finely diced
handful of runner beans, thinly sliced
200g bag young spinach leaves
for the balls
1 garlic clove, quartered
few sprigs parsely
2 tbsp grated Parmesan
250g cubed chicken

1 Heat the oil in a large pan and cook the onion for 5 minutes. Add the tomato and cook for a couple of minutes until softened. Add the water, stock cube, celery and carrot and bring to the boil. Simmer for 15 minutes.

2 Place the garlic parsley and Parmesan in a small food processor and whizz until finely chopped. Tip into a bowl. Add the chicken to the food processor and whizz until finely minced. Add to the bowl along with a little salt and plenty of black pepper.

3 Shape the chicken into cherry-sized balls dropping each one into the pan as they’re made. Add theb sliced beans to the pan. Cover and cook gently for 20 minutes.

4 Stir in the spinach and cook for a few moments until wilted. Ladle into bowls and serve without any crusty, buttered bread.

Greek Lemon & Egg Soup

I love that Greek shop on Lordship Lane. Whether it’s after 6 on a Sunday or early on a bank holiday when everyone’s hungry, everywhere’s closed and all you have is a block of chicken stock in the freezer, you can rely on Andreas Delicatessen for giant bunches of fresh herbs, plump lemons and a pack of pasta (and flat bread and great feta and good olives and samosas). All you need for a quick lunch.

This easy soup is based on the Greek classic Avgolemono.

Serves 2 - 4
1.2 litres chicken stock with shreds of chicken
100g orzo or long grain rice
2 large eggs, at room temperature
juice of 1- 2 lemons, depending on how sharp you like it
4 tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley

Heat the stock and once boiling cook the orzo or rice until tender. Remove from the heat and cover with a lid.

Whisk the eggs and lemon juice in a bowl until frothy. Remove a big ladleful of hot broth from the soup and slowly add it to the eggs, whisking continually.

Whisk the warmed eggs into the soup - the broth should be hot enough to cook the eggs so they thicken the soup a little. If it does taste raw, put the heat back on very gently just for a minute or two but don't let it get so hot as to set the eggs in clumps.

Stir in the parsley, check the seasoning (it needs quite a bit of salt to balance the lemon). Ladle into bowls and serve swiftly.

Basic Chicken Stock

Home-made chicken stock is the basis for many a good meal. Here’s a basic recipe:



½ chicken or 2 whole legs, skinned
1 onion, roughly chopped
1 celery stalk, roughly chopped
1 carrot, sliced
1 ripe tomato, roughly chopped by a Scrap
1 garlic clove, halved
1 rosemary stalk
pinch of salt and few peppercorns

Place all the ingredients in a large pan and cover with cold water. Bring to the boil and simmer gently for 40 – 60 minutes.

Strain the stock. Lift out the chicken and shred the meat off the bone then add back to the stock. Use straight away or cool and chill or freeze.

Hot & Sour Chicken Vermicelli Broth

The only draw back with Oriental grocers is that everything comes in such large bags that you end up with loads of leftover greens and beansprouts and have to eat the same style of food three days in a row. Oh, well.

You should try this broth, it makes you feel good.

Serves 4
1/2 small chicken or 2 whole legs, skinned
1 onion, roughly chopped
2 garlic cloves, quartered
piece root ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
4 kaffir lime leaves, crumpled and/or a lemongrass stalk, flattened
100g vermicelli rice or egg noodles
1 tbsp good Thai red curry paste (please don’t use Barts)
bundle of choi sum or a few heads of bok choi
200g beansprouts
75g sliced bamboo shoots, rinsed, soaked and drained
2 tsp light muscovado sugar
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 - 2 lemons
2 spring onion, thinly sliced
2 red chillies, thinly sliced
handful fresh coriander leaves

Place the chicken, 1.5 – 2 litres of water, the onion, garlic, ginger, lime leaves or lemongrass in a large pan and add a little salt. Bring to the boil then simmer very gently for 30 minutes until the chicken is cooked through
Strain the stock into a clean pan. Place the chicken on a board until cool enough to handle then shred the meat off the bones.

Cook the noodles according to packet instructions then drain and divide between bowls – don’t worry about them going cold as the hot broth will soon warm them back up.

Stir the curry paste into the stock and bring back to the boil. Add the greens and cook for a moment then stir in the shredded chicken, beansprouts, bamboo shoots, sugar and fish sauce and simmer for 1 minute.

Squeeze in the lemon juice to taste. Ladle the hot broth over the noodles then scatter over the spring onion, chillies and coriander leaves. Eat.

Chinese steeped chicken

My cold is getting the better of me so I’ve bunked off work a bit early to come home and boil that chicken. I’ve decided that what I need are some good aromatics such as ginger, lemon grass and chilli to clear my sinuses.

I popped into Tai Loc, the Vietnamese grocer a few doors down from our studio on Choumert Road and found an ingredient I’ve only ever seen pickled or in jars before – fresh lotus root. ‘Peel it, slice it and boil it with a chicken for a few hours to make good soup’, the woman said. I love an experiment!

This soup is based on a classic Chinese technique shown to me by my friend Ben and makes the chicken silky and tender. Of course it can be made without the lotus root - I don't think it's going to add much flavour. Serve with plain boiled rice or noodles.

Serves 4
1 chicken, cut into 8 pieces
1 lotus root (optional) about 150g, peeled and thinly sliced
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
5cm piece root ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
2 lemon grass stalks, flattened a little with a rolling pin
2 red chillies, thinly sliced if fresh, crumbled if dried
1 star anise
sea salt
bundle of choi sum or pak choi
300g can straw mushrooms, drained and halved or 250g sliced fresh shiitake
soy sauce and vinegar, to taste
4 spring onions, thinly sliced
handful of holy basil or coriander leaves

1 Skin the chicken and place the pieces in a large pan. Add the lotus root, garlic, ginger, lemon grass, chillies, star anise and a little salt. Just cover with cold water, bring to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Cover with a lid, turn off the heat and leave to cool completely – the chicken will finishing cooking as it gently cools down, not sure yet that the lotus root will be tender though. Skim the surface to make sure the broth stays clear.

2 To serve, bring back to a gentle simmer and add the greens and mushrooms and cook for 3 – 4 minutes. Divide the chicken pieces and greens between four bowls. Season the broth with soy sauce and vinegar then ladle, along with all the bits into the bowls. Scatter with spring onions and basil and serve.

Sunday lunch

I’ve got Rob’s family over for Sunday lunch today and I’ve decided to keep it traditional and do roast beef with Yorkshires, roasties, green beans and cauliflower cheese. A little spaghetti starter and a pate to nibble on with a glass of dry sherry while we wait for everyone to arrive.

Chicken liver pate

Easy! Heat a knob of butter in a large sauté pan and cook 500g trimmed chicken livers, a chopped garlic clove and a rosemary sprig for 5 - 8 minutes, stirring occasionally until the livers are cooked but slightly pink in the centre. Leave to cool for 5 minutes then remove and discard the rosemary sprig. Place the warm livers in a food processor and whizz until smooth. With the motor running, pour in 120ml double cream, followed by three tablespoons of Madiera or Marsala or Port until well blended and completely smooth. Season with salt and pepper to taste then spoon into a serving dish or individual ramekins. Top with some melted butter and a few rosemary leaves and leave to set. Serve with thin slices of ciabatta toast and a fruity chutney and / or some cornichons.

Yorkshire puddings

I’m no expert when it comes to Yorkshire puddings – they’re not something I really grew up with but I have messed around with the recipe every time I've made them and am finally happy - my Yorkshires are now light and crisp. My method is not authentic, I use self raising flour where purists use plain and I use only water and no milk. In a large bowl, beat together 2 large eggs, 1 tbsp sunflower oil, 100g self raising flour, a pinch of table salt and 300ml of water. Chill for 30 - 60 mins. Put a splash of sunflower oil in a 12-hole muffin or deep tart tin and put it in the oven set to 220C until the oil begins to smoke. Ladle the batter between the hot moulds and bake for 20 minutes until risen and golden brown.

Raspberry and white chocolate trifle

I love trifle but I hate it when the sponge dissolves into the jelly so following my mum’s method, I set the jelly separately the night before. Make up a 135g block of Hartley’s Raspberry Jelly to 570ml and leave to set. Cut a small block of Madeira cake, about 200g, into slices and place in the bottom of trifle bowl. Drizzle with Marsala or Madiera or medium sherry. Mash up the jelly with a fork and spoon over the sponge with some fresh raspberries. Whisk together half a 250g tub mascarpone and 500g carton yellow Ambrosia custard. Spoon over the jelly. Top with softly whipped double cream. Scatter over a handful of raspberries, maybe a few mini chocolate buttons and drizzle with melted, cooled white chocolate. Chill for a couple of hours.

Curry up!

We’ve got Bert and Heidi coming over for dinner tonight. They've gone to the expense of a babysitter so I can't palm them off with my usual mid-week pasta bake or shepherds pie. I have instead, decided on a classic Indian menu. Nothing clever but everyone loves a good curry and I get to just about hang on to my new healthy eating regime if I don't eat any pudding.

Poppodoms (only 40 kcals each!) with lime pickle
Tandoori chicken with mint raita
Lamb rogan josh and spinach dhal with brown basmati rice.

I’ve bought the pudding. But of course I won't be eating any.

Tandoori chicken
150g carton low fat natural yogurt
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp chilli powder
pinch of ground turmeric
4 small chicken breasts, cubed
salt and freshly ground black pepper
Raita
bunch of fresh mint
1 small garlic clove
5cm piece cucumber, peeled and cubed
150g carton low fat natural yogurt
squeeze of fresh lemon juice

In a large shallow dish stir together the yogurt, garlic, cumin, chilli, turmeric and some salt and pepper. Add the chicken pieces and marinade for 30 – 60 minutes.

Grill as indvidual pieces or on small bamboo skewers for 8 – 12 minutes until cooked through and nicely browned.

Whiz together the mint, garlic and cucumber in mini chopper or food processor and until finely blended. Add the yogurt and whiz again then season with lemon juice, salt and pepper. Serve chilled.

Chicken and barley stew

Lovely, yummy, warm your tummy, one-pot, cold-weather dinner
Serves 4
2 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp plain flour
8 chicken thigh fillets, about 650 – 700g, quartered
3 rashers streaky bacon, cut into 1cm strips
1 butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into chunks
2 tbsp roughly chopped fresh sage
2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
500ml hot chicken stock
300ml red wine
2 leeks, thickly sliced
100g pearl barley
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
large pinch crushed chilli flakes

1 Heat the oil in a large pan. Dust the chicken in the flour and cook in the hot oil along with the bacon for 3 – 4 minutes – you’ll probably need to cook the chicken in two batches, depending on the size of your pan. Add the squash, sage and garlic and cook for a further couple of minutes.

2 Pour in the hot stock and wine and add the leeks, barley, vinegar and chilli flakes. Bring to boil, cover and cook for a good hour or so until the barley is tender. Cook if for longer of you like adding more stock to make it soupy if you like it that way. Taste for salt and pepper.

Chicken in a Brick

I don't know why but I am definitely the only person I know who uses a chicken brick. I love mine. It’s use is usually initiated by Robert who regularly snuggles up to me early on a weekend morning and whispers in my ear ‘chicken in a brick?'. As a feeder, how could I refuse? Anyway, after being kept awake all night by the rain and howling winds (my neighbour just came round with a huge sheet of plastic-glass off our lean-to roof which ended up in her front garden!), it was the first thing I reached for this morning.

Our chicken brick was a wedding present years ago from Habitat and they still sell them. So do lots of places on the internet, so there must be some other fans out there. If you haven't got one and like a roast chicken, you need to get one - they cost less than twenty quid. They’re brilliant because as the chicken cooks, the terracotta draws out the moisture and the skin gets really crispy. All of the juices collect in the bottom so you have an almost ready-made gravy and the chicken stays very moist. As it is porous, never wash it with detergent, only rinse it in water and the more you use it, the better it gets. The only down sides are that although it pretty well fills the oven, it can only manage a smallish chicken and it does take a lot longer – about 3 hours.

Today, I filled my bird’s cavity with lemon, shallot and garlic and sprinkled it liberally with Tridosha sea salt, popped it into the cold oven and then turned it on. An hour before then end of cooking time, I squeezed in a narrow tray alongside the brick with some par-boiled potatoes and a couple of spoons of hot oil from the chicken. After 30 minutes, I turned them over and tucked in some fat pork sausages and rosemary sprigs. Cheddar mash, peas and buttered spinach completed our lovely lunch. And the sun has come out now too.

Chicken and mushroom congee

Congee is rice porridge, it doesn't sound great, looks even worse than it sounds but tastes delicious. It is proper comfort food and just what you need on a cold dark night. I called in at Wing Tai this evening and picked up a bag of glutinous rice, a can of straw mushrooms and some choi sum.

This is how to make it:

Tip a mug of rice into a pan with six mugs of water and some salt. Add a piece of chicken, preferably on the bone and some chopped fresh ginger and a little garlic. Bring to a simmer then cook very gently for an hour to make a soft, thick mixture. Lift out the chicken, shred off the meat and add it back to the pan. In a small dish, stir together a blend of soy sauce, chilli oil (use a good one with shrimp paste in it), a few sesame seeds and a splash of vinegar. Drain and halve the straw mushrooms and add to the congee, warm through for a minute then stir in a handful of thinly sliced spring onions. Ladle into bowls and drizzle over the soy mixture. Serve steamed choi sum on the side.

It's chicken and rice again

It's Monday and I haven't been to the supermarket and I'm not in the mood to go. I've been scouring the house for something to make for tea tonight. I wish I had some left over roast chicken to start with, but I haven't. I've pulled a pack of two nice organic chicken breasts out of the freezer and into a bowl of cold water to hurry up the thawing and then I'm going to poach them. I've boiled half a bag of long grain rice, about 200g. All I need to do now is put it all together.

Chicken fried rice
Heat a splash of vegetable oil in a large wok and scramble two eggs, tip out onto a plate. Add another splash of oil to the pan and stir fry some chopped fresh shallot or onion, garlic, ginger and chilli. Add some cold cooked rice, frozen peas and shredded chicken and stir fry until piping hot. Stir through a handful of thinly sliced spring onions, the egg and some soy sauce. Very good for freezing.

Chicken and chorizo rice

I know we’re not meant to prick sausages anymore but I nearly always do, especially fresh chorizo. I want all the lovely smokey juices to come out and mingle with the rest of the ingredients. For lunch today, I pricked the sausages Robert came home with yesterday and sat them in a big tin with six skin-on and bone-in chicken thighs and a few chunks of fresh tomato and roasted them for 25 minutes. While that was going on, I boiled the kettle and made up some chicken stock with a Kallo organic cube and a couple of teaspoons of smoked paprika. I tipped a couple of mugs full of basmati rice into the pan and then poured in enough stock to come about 1 – 2 cm above the rice then put it back in for about half an hour until the rice was fluffed. A quick squeeze of lemon juice and it was ready to eat.