Pot-roasted chicken with apples and cider

Roasted (flattened) chicken with artichokes, lemon and thyme recipe

From the Telegraph
Serves 4

Ingredients
Serves four
4 artichokes or 8 tinned artichoke halves
2 lemons, halved
2 onions, thickly sliced into rings
1 whole head of garlic, unpeeled, halved horizontally
½ bunch lemon or normal thyme
½ bunch sage leaves
2 handfuls of black olives,
destoned
1 x approx 2kg/4.4lb chicken, deboned
Olive oil
300ml/10fl oz white wine
A handful of parsley leaves, roughly chopped

Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/gas 6. If using fresh artichokes, prepare them first. Have a bowl of water ready with half a lemon squeezed into it. Remove the tough outer leaves of the artichoke, then slice away the top third and lightly peel the artichoke stem. Slice in half lengthways before scooping out the hairy core. Place them in the acidulated water until ready to use.

In a large roasting tin, spread out the onions in a single layer, then dot the garlic and lemon halves around. Scatter the thyme sprigs, sage and olives over the top. Season the chicken on both sides, then place it, skin-side up, on the onions. If using fresh artichokes, distribute them around the chicken, tucking some underneath. Season them a little. Drizzle the chicken and fresh artichokes generously with olive oil and place in the oven for 25 minutes, adding the tinned artichokes (if using them instead) and pouring over the white wine for the final 10 minutes.

When the skin is golden and crisp and the juices run clear, remove the chicken from the oven. Cover and leave to rest. Remove the chicken from the pan, slice it up roughly, then return it to the roasting tin to serve it with all the other lovely ingredients and the cooking juices. Sprinkle with parsley and serve.

Chicken cous cous one-pot

From BBC GoodFood, More one-pot recipes
Serves 4
Ingredients
8 skin on, bone-in chicken thighs
2 tsp turmeric
1 tbsp garam masala
2 tbsp sunflower oil
2 onions , finely sliced
3 garlic cloves , sliced
500ml chicken stock (from a cube is fine)
large handful whole green olives
zest and juice 1 lemon
250g couscous
small bunch flat-leaf parsley , chopped

Toss the chicken thighs in half the spices and a pinch of salt until completely coated. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a large sauté pan with a lid. Fry chicken, skin-side down, for 10 mins until golden brown, turn over, then cook for 2 mins before removing from the pan. Pour the rest of the oil into the pan, then fry the onions and garlic for 8 mins until golden. Stir in the rest of the spices, then cook for 1 min longer. Pour over the chicken stock and scatter in the olives. Bring everything to the boil, turn down the heat, then sit the chicken, skinside up, in the stock.
Cover the pan with a lid, then simmer gently for 35-40 mins until the chicken is tender. Put the kettle on, then lift the chicken onto a plate and keep warm. Take the pan off the heat. Stir the lemon juice and couscous into the saucy onions in the pan and top up with enough boiling water just to cover the couscous if you need to. Place the lid back on the pan, then leave to stand for 5 mins until the couscous is cooked through. Fluff through half the parsley and the lemon zest, then sit the chicken on top. Scatter with the rest of the parsley and zest before serving.

Spaghetti tetrazzini

From Jamie’s Italy
Serves 6
Ingredients

20 g dried porcini mushrooms
olive oil
4 higher-welfare chicken thighs, boned, skinned and cut into bite-sized pieces
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely sliced
350 g mixed fresh mushrooms, cleaned and torn
200 ml white wine
320 g dried spaghetti
300 ml single cream
150 g Parmesan cheese, grated
1 sprig of fresh basil, leaves picked

Preheat the oven to 200ºC/400ºF/gas 6. Put your porcini mushrooms in a bowl and pour over just enough boiling water to cover them (approx. 150ml/5½fl oz). Put to one side to soak for a few minutes. Heat a saucepan big enough to hold all the ingredients, and pour in a splash of olive oil. Season the chicken pieces with salt and pepper and brown them gently in the oil. Strain the porcini, reserving the soaking water, and add them to the pan with the garlic and fresh mushrooms. Add the wine, with the strained porcini soaking water, and turn the heat down. Simmer gently until the chicken pieces are cooked through and the wine has reduced a little.

Meanwhile, cook the spaghetti in plenty of boiling salted water according to the packet instructions and drain well. Add the cream to the pan of chicken, then bring to the boil and turn the heat off. Season well with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Add the drained spaghetti to the creamy chicken sauce and toss well. Add three-quarters of the Parmesan and all of the basil and stir well. Transfer to an ovenproof baking dish or non-stick pan, sprinkle with half the remaining cheese and bake in the oven until golden brown, bubbling and crisp. Divide between your plates, drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle with the rest of the cheese before serving.

After one month of spending weekends in the office, and not having much energy left to do proper cooking, things have quietened down a bit (fingers crossed) and I have managed to get myself back into my cooking routine. What better way to do that than a simple pasta bake.

Recipe uses chicken but I had turkey from Tesco and so I decided to use that instead. If I am not wrong, the tacky version of this uses turkey!

Special Cassoulet by the Hairy Bikers

From Hairy Dieters – How to Love Food and Lose Weight
Serves 6

Ingredients
½ tsp sunflower oil
6 sausages, at least 85% meat
4 celery sticks
3 carrots
2 onions, halved and sliced
6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs (about 450g/1lb)
2 garlic cloves, crushed
200g/7oz piece smoked lean gammon, trimmed and cut into 2cm/1in cubes
2 x 400g/14oz cans chopped tomatoes
150ml/5fl oz red wine (or water)
1 tsp caster sugar
1 tsp dried chilli flakes
1 bay leaf
4-5 bushy sprigs fresh thyme
400g/14oz can cannellini beans in water, drained and rinsed
400g/14oz can butter beans in water, drained and rinsed
freshly ground black pepper

For the garnish
handful fresh flatleaf parsley
½ large orange, zest only, finely grated

Brush a large non-stick frying pan with the sunflower oil, using the tip of a pastry brush. Add the sausages to the pan and cook over a medium heat for 10 minutes, turning every now and then until nicely browned on all sides.

Meanwhile, trim the celery and peel the carrots and cut them into diagonal slices about 1.5cm/½in thick.

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.

Add the onions to the frying pan and cook with the sausages for 6-8 minutes, stirring regularly until softened and lightly browned.

Trim the chicken thighs of any visible fat – we find a good pair of kitchen scissors does the job well – then cut the thighs in half.

Add the garlic and chicken pieces to the pan with the sausages and onions and cook for 3-4 minutes, turning the chicken twice until coloured all over.

Transfer everything to a large flameproof casserole dish.

Stir in the gammon, celery, carrots, tomatoes, red wine and 300ml/½ pint cold water, then sprinkle over the caster sugar and chilli flakes. Stir in the bay leaf and thyme and season with lots of ground black pepper.

Bring the cassoulet to a simmer on the hob, then cover with a lid and transfer to the oven. Cook for 45 minutes.

Take the casserole out of the oven and stir in all the beans. Cover with the lid again and put the dish back in the oven for another 30 minutes.

Just before the cassoulet is ready, prepare the garnish. Chop the parsley roughly and toss with the orange zest in a small bowl.

Serve large portions of the cassoulet in deep plates or wide bowls with a good sprinkling of the zesty parsley garnish on each one.

Cassoulet (French pronunciation: ​[ka.su.lɛ], from Occitan caçolet [kasuˈlet]) is a rich, slow-cooked casserole originating in the south of France, containing meat (typically pork sausages, goose, duck and sometimes mutton), pork skin (couennes) and white haricot beans.
The dish is named after its traditional cooking vessel, the cassole, a deep, round, earthenware pot with slanting sides.

Italian roast chicken with peppers and olives

From Nigella Lawson’s Nigellissima
Serves 4-6

Ingredients
1 x 1.5kg/3lb 5oz chicken (preferably organic)
1 unwaxed lemon, cut in half
4 sprigs rosemary
3 leeks, washed and trimmed
2 red peppers
1 orange pepper
1 yellow pepper
100g/3½oz pitted dry-packed black olives
4 tbsp olive oil
Sea salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper, to serve

Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6. Untruss the chicken, sit it in a roasting tin and put the lemon halves and two of the rosemary sprigs into the chicken’s cavity.
Wash and trim the leeks, cut each into three logs, then slice lengthways and add to the tin. Now remove the core and seeds of the peppers and slice them into strips, following their natural curves and ridges, and add these to the tin.

Tumble in the olives, and now pour the olive oil, mostly over the vegetables but a little over the chicken, too. Add the remaining rosemary sprigs to the vegetables, along with some sea salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper, to taste. Using a couple of spoons or spatulas, gently toss the vegetables about to help coat them with the oil and make sure everything’s well mixed up.

Sprinkle some sea salt flakes over the chicken and put it in the oven for about 1-1¼ hours, by which time the chicken should be cooked through, and its juices running clear when you cut into the flesh with a small sharp knife at the thickest part of the thigh joint. The vegetables should be tender by now, too, and some of the leeks will be a scorched light-brown in parts.

Remove the chicken to a carving board and, while it rests (for about 10 minutes) pop the pan of veg back in the oven, switching the oven off as you do so.

Cut the chicken up chunkily, transferring the pieces to a large warmed platter. Now take the pan back out of the oven and, with a slotted spoon or spatula, remove the vegetables to the large platter and when all is arranged to your aesthetic delight, pour over it all the bronze, highly-flavoured juices that have collected in the pan.

Grilled chicken breast with tomatoes, olives and feta cheese relish

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped cherry tomatoes (about 10 ounces)
1/2 cup pitted Kalamata olives, chopped
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
3/4 cup crumbled feta cheese (about 3 1/2 ounces)

4 large skinless boneless chicken breast halves (about 6 to 7 ounces each)
preparation

Mix cherry tomatoes, olives, 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, mint, and vinegar in medium bowl. Gently stir in feta cheese. Season relish to taste with salt and pepper. 

Prepare barbecue (medium-high heat). Brush chicken on both sides with remaining 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Grill chicken just until cooked through, about 7 minutes per side. Transfer chicken to plates and slice, if desired. Top with relish and serve.

This is such an amazingly simple yet delicious dish. The relish can be used for pasta, I made a huge batch of it and am using it for salad for the next couple of days.

I used chicken thighs instead: 220 degrees for 25 minutes followed by 3-5 minutes until the grill.

Farfalle with chicken and cherry tomatoes

Ingredients
12 oz. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
4 Tbs. Italian dry vermouth
2 tsp. chopped fresh rosemary
1 Tbs. olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
3 1/2 oz. diced salami (optional)
2 1/2 C. dried farfalle (bow tie) pasta or pasta of your choice
1 Tbs. balsamic vinegar
1 14-oz. can cherry tomatoes
pinch of dried red chilies
salt and pepper to taste

Place the chicken pieces in a large bowl, pour in the vermouth, and sprinkle with half the chopped rosemary and salt and pepper to taste. Stir well and set aside.

Heat the oil in a large pan, add the onion, garlic and salami, cooking over medium heat for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently so garlic does not burn.

Cook the pasta according to the package instructions.

Add the chicken and vermouth to the onion and salami, increase the heat to high, and cook for 3 minutes, or until the chicken is white on all sides.

Sprinkle the vinegar over the chicken. Add the cherry tomatoes and dried chilies. Stir well and simmer for a few minutes more until the chicken is cooked. Taste often and adjust seasoning.

Drain the pasta and combine it in the pan with the chicken and tomatoes. add remaining rosemary toss the pasta and sauce together.

My fridge isn’t working and so I am trying to clear my fridge of food. Had half a chorizo sausage left and so decided to make this pasta dish with chorizo as a substitute for salami (I prefer chorizo anyway).

Chicken paprika

From the Hairy Bikers
Serves 4

Ingredients

1 large chicken, jointed (or use 2 large chicken legs and 2 breasts, halved)
salt
2 tbsp olive oil
knob butter
1 onion, chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tbsp sweet paprika
1 tbsp hot paprika
1 tbsp flour
285ml/½pint chicken stock
3 tbsp chopped fresh flatleaf parsley
2 red peppers, de-seeded and cut into 1cm/0.5in strips
4 large ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped
250ml/8fl oz sour cream

Rub the chicken pieces with the salt. Heat the oil and butter in a large heavy-bottomed pan and brown the chicken all over for a few minutes. Remove the chicken from the pan and set to one side.
To the same pan, add the onions and garlic and sweat for about five minutes. Add the sweet and hot paprika, then the flour, and stir until combined – take care not to burn it.

Add the stock and stir. Return the chicken pieces to the pan, adding a bit more stock if the mixtures seems too dry.

Add half of the chopped parsley and bring to the boil. Add the red pepper strips, reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes.

Stir in the tomatoes and simmer gently for about one hour.

When the chicken is cooked, remove the pan from the heat. Stir in the sour cream and the remaining parsley. Check the seasoning and serve.

The gf thinks this is western curry. Have to admit, it does look like curry although it’s not really spicy unless you consider paprika spicy.

Chicken braised with ginger and star anise

From Bowl Food
Serves 4

Ingredients
1 teaspoon szechuan peppercorns
2 tablespoons peanut oil
2 pieces fresh ginger, finely julienned (3cm each)
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 kg chicken thigh fillet, cut into thirds
1/3 cup rice wine
1 tablespoon honey
1/4 cup light soy sauce
1 star anise

Heat a wok over medium heat, add the peppercorns and cook, shaking often for 3 minutes, or until fragrant. Remove and crush lightly with the back of a knife.

Reheat the wok, add the oil and swirl to coat. Add the ginger and garlic and cook over a low heat for 1-2 minutes, or until lightly golden.

Add the chicken, increase the heat to medium and cook for 3 minutes, or until browned all over.

Add the remaining ingredients, reduce the heat and simmer, covered, for 20 minutes, or until the chicken is tender.

Serve with rice.

This seems to be a slightly different version of the braised chicken in soya sauce recipe that my mom gave when I first started cooking. The key difference being that my mom’s recipes uses rock sugar while this uses honey.