Yogurt marinade for chicken

Taken from http://www.whatyouhavingforyourtea.com

Ingredients

For 8 chicken thighs

1 small onion (finely grated)
3 cloves garlic (minced)
30-40 strands of saffron infused with 4 tablespoons boiling water
100g Greek yoghurt
1 lemon (juice only)
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon powdered cumin
1 tablespoon fresh flat leaf parsley (very finely chopped)
black pepper

Combine all the ingredients and coat the meat and leave for at least 2 hours before cooking on the BBQ.

I had half a tub of natural yogurt left over from cooking cucumber soup and I wanted to get rid of it. So began an internet search for a recipe to use it up and this is what I found from whatyouhavingforyourtea.com.

Instead of bbqing or griddling it (which I thought would generate way too much smoke), I decided to bake it in the oven at 205 degrees for 30 minutes. I am pleasantly surprised by how good this recipe is, very intense flavours coming out of the marinade. I didn’t grate the onion because I was too lazy to do so, i chopped it up instead but it turned out quite well, the onions giving the chicken a nice crunch to it.

I am not too sure whether it’s spanish but since whatyouhavingforyourtea.com says it is, I will take it at face value.

Pasta with sausage and fennel seed

Taken from Bowl Food
Ingredients for 4

500g good-quality Italian sausages
2 tbsp olive oil
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tsp fennel seeds
1/2 tsp chilli flakes
2 cans of chopped tomatoes
500g pasta
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup fresh basil chopped

Heat a frying pan over high heat, add the sausages and cook, turning for 8-10 minutes, or until well browned and cooked through. Remove, cool slightly and slice on the diagonal into 1 cm pieces.

Heat the oil in a saucepan, add the garlic and cook over medium heat for 1 minute. Add the fennel seeds and chilli flakes and cook for a further minute. Stir in the tomato and bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer, covered for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, cook the pasta in a large saucepan of boiling water until al dente. Drain and return to the pan to keep warm.

Add the sausages to the sauce and cook, uncovered, for 5 minutes to heat through. Stir in the balsamic vinegar and basil. Serve.

I like the taste of fennel seeds in tomato sauces but I added too much when I cooked this dish (i.e. I didn’t follow the recipe) so let it be a warning.