Tag: chicken

Recipe: Creamy Chicken and Mushroom Pasta with Spring Onions

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There are so many aspects of a roast chicken supper that I like. That the golden roasted bird with herbs, lemon and butter pairs fantastically well with dauphinoise potatoes and is a real joy to eat is of course number one. But it’s also extremely satisfying that I can make stock from the bones to use for soup or stews. And that I can use leftovers for both sandwiches and (at least) another supper! You really can stretch a chicken quite far, especially if you’re frugal with the leftovers and use with pasta, as I explained in this post.

Like that recipe, this one came about in the usual manner; while creating a dish using leftover chicken and what else I had to hand at that time. In this case mushrooms and spring onions. The result, so good I wanted to share it with the world!

Creamy chicken and mushrooms pasta with spring onions, serves 2

250 g spaghetti 

100 g chestnut mushrooms, sliced

1 tbsp butter

1 garlic clove, grated or finely chopped

150 ml cream

1 tbsp lemon juice

1-2 tbsp tomato paste

150 g leftover roast chicken, torn into bite size pieces

3 spring onions, sliced  

approx 100 ml pasta water 

salt and pepper

grated parmesan

Cook the spaghetti al dente according to the instructions on the packet. Melt the butter in a large frying pan and fry the mushrooms until golden brown on medium-high heat. Season. Lower the heat to medium and add the garlic. After a minute or so add the cream and stir while it thickens. Add lemon juice and tomato paste and stir to combine. Add the chicken and half of the spring onions. Add the cooked pasta and some pasta water and using tongs or a wooden fork, move the pasta so the sauce thickens. Once each strand of spaghetti has a nice coating of sauce remove from the heat. Season to taste with salt and peppar. Add grated parmesan and the remaining spring onion and serve.

Updated: Cider Chicken

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The last time we had people over for dinner before lockdown this is what I made; an updated version of my ten year old recipe for cider chicken. It’s really fun to cook my old recipes and get reacquainted. with the familiar flavours. And this is a recipe I’m particular proud of. But, as with everything, there was a little room for improvement. The recipe below feels fresher and easier and is still as delicious as the original!

Cider chicken, serves 4

8-10 chicken thighs with the skin on

1 tbsp olive oil

salt and pepper

2-3 tsp herb de Provence

500 ml dry apple cider

1/2 stock cube

2 tsp dijon mustard

500 ml cream

bunch fresh parsley, chopped

Add the olive oil to a frying pan frying pan that you can use in the oven later (no plastic handles that could melt) and heat to medium-high. Brown the chicken all around until nice and golden. Season with salt, pepper and herbs. Pour cider into the pan until approx 2 cm place in the oven. Cook in 200C for 15-20 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. Remove the chicken and keep warm.

Add the remaining cider to the pan and place on high heat to reduce a little. Add the cream, mustard and stock cube. Let it thicken and adjust the seasoning and herbs. Place the chicken in a varm serving dish, pour over the sauce and scatter with chopped parsley.

Recipe: Chicken Naan Wraps with Raita

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I have lost count how many times I’ve eaten these naan wraps by now, so it is about time I write about them too!

They are really simple to make, and because of that I think they’re perfect for a Friday night supper. That’s when I usually want something really moreish, not too fancy (only on occasion) but something really satisfying and even a little messy. And this dish ticks all those boxes.

The inspiration comes from The Kitchn but rather than using lamb, I used chicken thighs even the first time I made it. It’s just what I prefer, but I’m sure it’s lovely with lamb mince too. This was also the first time I made raita, which was a revelation. I had no idea it was THAT easy. Easier than tzatziki, even. And so very yummy!

Chicken naan wraps with raita, serves 4

Adapted from The Kitchn’s recipe.

1 tbsp vegetable oil

1 shallot, chopped

1 tsp ground cumin

500 g boneless chicken thighs, diced

4 naan breads

2 little gems, washed andthinly sliced

Raita:

120 ml Greek yoghurt

approx 10 cm cucumber, diced small

1 tbsp mint (or coriander), coarsely chopped

1/4 tsp ground cumin

1/4 tsp ground coriander

salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 150C. Heat up the oil in a frying pan on medium high heat. Add the shallots, a little salt and a sprinkling of cumin. Fry until lightly browned and remove from pan. Add a bit more oil to the pan and add the chicken. Add more salt, some black pepper and the cumin. Stir occasionally and cook until the meat is cooked through, approximately 8 minutes.

Meanwhile make the raita and heat the naan breads. Stack the naans and wrap in tin foil and place on a rack in the oven for a few minutes.

Mix yoghurt with the spices, cucumber and mint. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Once the chicken is cooked, add the shallots back into the pan and stir to combine. Layer lettuce, raita and chicken on the warm naans. Serve warm.

Recipe: Lockdown Chicken and Courgette Pasta

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Cooking every single day is in a way easier than cooking a few days a week like I usually do. Cooking every day gives you a different continuity and it makes it a lot easier using up leftovers. In my regular life I sometimes have to throw away leftovers I had planned to use up because plans changed and they got too old. I really don’t like that. But London life is (usually) fast pace with drinks here and dinners there and impromptu plans. Which I love. It’s less conducive to meal planning though. But I do utilise my freezer as much as I can even in normal life.

But using up leftovers has become a sport of mine in lockdown. I don’t want to throw a single little thing away. I keep parmesan rinds in the fridge until I can throw them into a béchamel sauce, and add the leftover grated carrot from a carrot cake baking session to a salad. If some vegetables need using up they get used in a soup, quesadillas, salad or frittata.

And this chicken and courgette pasta is one example of using up every single little bit of chicken meat. One night we had a roast chicken with potatoes, gravy and vegetables. Two days later I reheated some of the leftover chicken pieces for lunch and made a potato salad with some already cooked new potatoes. After that there weren’t that much meat left, even though I picked every last little bit off the carcass before it went into the stock pot. So the obvious answer to how to use up the rest was of course pasta. Mixing proteins with carbs and some veg and lots of grated Parmesan is one of the best magic tricks of the kitchen craft.

This one, with lemon, soft courgette, plenty of olive oil and said parmesan felt very appropriate of spring but I could myself eating it on a sunny patio with a glass of ice cold pale rosé too.

Lockdown chicken and courgette pasta, serves 3

300 g tagliatelle

1 medium courgette, cut in half lengthways and sliced

approx 100 g leftover roast chicken

50 g parmesan, finely grated

lemon zest from 1/2 large lemon

50 ml olive oil

25-50 ml pasta cooking water

salt and pepper

Add a little olive oil to a roasting tray and add the courgettes. Toss in the oil, add salt and pepper and cook in 200C for 10- 15 minutes, until soft and a little browned.

Cook the pasta according to the instructions in saucepan.

Add the chicken pieces to the courgette to heat up and add more olive oil. Add the lemon zest and some of the parmesan and mix. Add the cooked pasta. Reserve a mug of pasta water and pour some into the roasting tray with the pasta. Add more parmesan and put the roasting tray on medium-low heat. Stir the pasta with tongs until it has the sauce consistency you like (a little gloopy). Add more pasta water if needed. Adjust the seasoning and divide between bowls. Add more grated parmesan to finish.

Updated: The Best Chicken Satay

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I already have a chicken satay recipe up on the blog, but the last time I made it I thought it was a little bit lacking, so with inspiration from Rosie’s version I sort of amalgamated the two into what I think is the perfect chicken satay.

The marinade, the cooking method and of course THE SAUCE all really matter here, and this is how I think it’s best enjoyed. I added the chillies after cooking so everyone can adjust the hotness they want, but don’t worry, the meat is still full of flavour! I highly recommend the tangy cucumber and radish salad and the sesame broccoli too – they both add another dimension (and some lightness) to the dish.

The Best Chicken Satay, serves 4

600 g chicken thigh fillets – diced into smaller pieces (2 cm x 2 cm or so)

8 garlic cloves, chopped

6 tsp ground coriander

4 tsp honey

1 tbsp black pepper (no, it is not a typo)

2 tsp salt

240 ml soy sauce

180 ml olive oil

wooden skewers soaked in water for an hour

To serve:

bunch fresh coriander, chopped

1 lime, cut into wedges

1-2 red chillies, chopped

Dice the chicken. Mix the ingredients for the marinade and pour into a bowl or a shallow dish. Add the chicken and make sure every piece is coated with the marinade. Leave it for at least 3-4 hours but preferably overnight in the fridge, covered by cling. Thread the chicken onto the skewers and place on an oven rack with a tin foil covered baking tray underneath (to catch the juices). Place the tray under the grill turned on medium-high. Grill the chicken for 10 minutes until nice and browned. Take it out, turn the skewers over and cook for another 10 minutes.

Meanwhile cook the rice (I prefer basmati), make the sauce and prepare the vegetables.

Satay sauce, serves 4

400 g coconut milk

8 tbsp smooth or chunky peanut butter

2 tbsp sweet chilli sauce

1 lime, the juice

salt and pepper

Bring the coconut milk to the boil. Add the peanut butter and let it cook for a few minutes. Add sweet chilli and lime juice until it is perfectly balanced. Season with salt and pepper.

Sesame broccoli, serves 4

2 packets tenderstem broccoli (approx 300 g)   

2 tbsp toasted sesame oil

4 tsp sesame seeds 

1/2-1 lemon or lime, the juice 

salt and pepper 

Trim the dry ends of the broccoli. Place in a large frying pan and almost cover with boiling water. Add salt and cook for about a minute on high heat. Drain and return to the hot pan. Add sesame oil and squeeze with lemon. Toss and add sesame seeds and season.

Cucumber and radish salad, serves 4

1 cucumber

1 small bag/bunch of radishes

1/2 lime, the juice

1 tsp toasted sesame oil

1 tbsp mild olive oil

salt and pepper

Slice both vegetables thinly and place in a bowl. Add lime juice and oil, salt and pepper and stir to combine.

Recipe: barbecue chicken

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At times I get the most peculiar cravings. I guess it ties in with my way of eating; regardless of what it is I eat for pleasure, not just fuel. And most of the time my cravings are a combination of things my body needs and my favourite foods. Typical cravings are usually something with avocado, anything with burrata and sometimes proper comfort food. Often cheese of some kind, and sometimes fish.

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One beautiful summer’s day in Norfolk my body screamed for barbecued chicken. The sticky, charred kind. Maybe I needed protein but whenever I crave something fairly healthy I always try to give my body what it wants.

As we were in Norfolk and had access to a barbecue it was also much easier to make this happen, than if we’d been in London, so I went all in. I threw together a homemade barbecue sauce and marinated the whole spatchcocked chicken in it for a few hours and then got my darling boyfriend to light the barbecue. The coal one, thank you very much, not the gas barbecue!

And apart from the sugars in the marinade burning too quickly it was a great success. We both thoroughly enjoyed the charred and tender chicken, both that night and the leftovers two days later.

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But, this almost too charred chicken was not photogenic, and I was also slightly worried about the carcinogenic properties of all that burnt sugar. And decided to perfect the recipe (and reduce the charring) the next time.

And that next time arose a few weeks later in Sweden when my boyfriend was over and we were having dinner with my parents. My foodie family was just as excited about the chicken as I was and my boyfriend loved it last time, so it worked out really well! The trick is to add the barbecue sauce towards the end so it doesn’t burn too much; just that right amount that makes it taste to good!

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Barbecue chicken, serves 4 + leftovers

2 smaller (just over a kilo each) whole fresh chickens

salt and pepper

1 tbsp neutral oil 

Barbecue sauce:

150 ml ketchup

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped 

1 tbsp brown sugar (or any sugar if you prefer but brown works best) 

1 tsp smoked paprika powder 

1 tbsp tomato paste

2 tsp soy sauce 

2 tbsp water

2 tbsp neutral oil 

salt, pepper

Rinse and trim the chickens. (I usually cut away any loose skin and fat, the ends of the wings that is just bone etc.) Then spatchcock the chickens (instructions here) so they cook quicker and more evenly. Season with plenty of salt and pepper all around and brush with oil. 

Build up the coal barbecue so that you have the coal and briquettes all on one side of the barbecue, where you have a higher temperature, as opposed to the empty side which still emanates heat but isn’t as hot. 

Start off by browning the chickens all around on the direct heat (on top of the coals), for approx 5-10 minutes. Then move them to the indirect heat (empty side) and place them bony side down. Put the lid on and grill for another 15-20 minutes, turning as you go. Brush on a thick layer of barbecue sauce all around the chicken and char the meaty side first (as this is most important to get right) until just enough charring, then turn over and char the other side. The chickens should be ready after another 10 minutes on the grill, but cut through the meat (both the thickest part of the breast and in a joint) to make sure the juices are all clear. Remove from the grill and cover with foil and let rest for 5 minutes. Cut into smaller pieces (our almost fell apart so this was easy) and tuck in!

 

 

Recipe: creamy chicken thighs with white wine, tomato and herb d’Provence

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I came up with this easy chicken dish last week when I was making baked aubergine with tomato and mozzarella for supper; something I could have eaten on it’s own with just a side salad, but as my boyfriend prefers aubergine in moderation I also roasted some potatoes, courgette and peppers in the oven and made this chicken dish. My thought were to echo the cheese and tomato elements in the baked aubergine but using cream instead of cheese. It worked really well and I will definitely serve these together in the future too!

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Creamy chicken thighs with white wine, tomato and herb d’Provence, serves 2 

4 chicken thighs (with skin on), washed and trimmed (I like to trim off excess skin and fat) 

butter and oil for frying

50-100 ml dry white wine

400 ml double cream

2 tbsp tomato paste

1 tsp soy sauce

1/4 stock cube chicken

1 tsp herb d’Provence  

salt and pepper

Fry the chicken thighs skin side down on medium-high heat in butter and oil until golden (approx 5 minutes), then fry the other side for the same amount of time. Add salt and pepper. Add the wine and lower the heat to medium-low. Add cream, tomato paste, soy sauce and the stock cube. Let the sauce thicken while stirring with a wooden spoon. Turn the chicken a few times so it cooks evenly. When the chicken is cooked through (test it with a knife), after aprox 5-10 minutes, add the herbs and season to taste. If the sauce gets too thick, add more cream or a splash of wine and adjust the seasoning. 

Recipe: nachos with chicken and chorizo

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Sometimes I can really crave nachos. And most of the time I long for the ones I had at Yankee Stadium a few years ago. Although probably really processed the tasted divine!

But the next best thing are definitely homemade ones, and these with chicken and chorizo are absolutely delicious! Also, the secret is in the cheese sauce so although it takes a bit of labour it’s SO worth it!

Nachos with chicken and chorizo, serves 2

ca 150 g salted tortilla chips

75 g chorizo, cut small

1-2 fried chicken thigh fillets, cut small

oil for frying

2-3 handfuls grated cheese

Toppings:

1 batch cheese sauce

1 batch proper guacamole

1 jar creme fraiche

Garnish:

Chopped tomato

Sliced spring onions

Pre-heat the oven to 200C. Fry the chorizo in oil on medium heat until they’re crispy. Add the chicken and let it absorb the chorizo flavoured oil.

Cover the base of an oven-proof dish with a thin layer of tortilla chips, top with cheese, chorizo and chicken. Repeat with another layer. Place in the oven for the cheese to melt, approx 5-10 minutes. 

Pour the cheese sauce on top (make this while the nachos are in the oven), guacamole, creme fraîche and the chopped vegetables.

Recipe: caramelised garlic sauce

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Once again I have Nigella to thank for the inspiration. In her book Simply Nigella she uses caramelised onions in a yoghurt sauce, and since then I’ve started using caramelised garlic in just anything I can think of.

The taste is sweet and humble and far from the fierce raw garlic you but into the oven, which means you can actually use a lot of it, so put a few extra garlic bulbs in the oven, just in case! They’re highly addictive, so you can thank me later!

PS. It goes really well with the chicken dish I posted the last week and potato wedges.

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Caramelised garlic sauce with creme fraiche, serves 10

2 large garlic bulbs

1 litre creme fraiche

100 ml Hellman’s mayonnaise

bunch of chives, chopped 

salt, white pepper

oregano and thyme flowers to decorate

Caramelise the garlics when you’re using the oven anyway – they take up little space and won’t make anything taste of garlic as they’re wrapped in tin foil.

Cut off approx 1/2 cm of the garlic bulb on the top so you can see the cloves. Wrap separately in tin foil and place in the oven until soft (just squeeze them to check if they’re ready). It doesn’t really matter what temperature the oven is at, everything between 150 – 220C works, just be aware the cooking time will differ. 

Leave to cool slightly. Mix creme fraiche and mayonnaise in a mixing bowl. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Unwrap the garlic bulbs and squeeze out the soft garlic paste and add to the sauce. Make sure you get every morsel. Mix well and adjust the seasoning. Leave for a little while before serving. Add the chives and herb flowers when ready to serve.  

Recipe: Nigella’s slow roasted lemon and garlic chicken

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I’m a planner. Not all the time, but I like to plan ahead in several areas of my life. Especially when entertaining. So I had decided on a menu for the lunch I was hosting for a few friends in Sweden long before I even got to Sweden.

But the draught threw a spanner in the works. Three days before I was leaving for Sweden the government issued a BBQ ban in most areas and it was forbidden to barbecue even on your own property. All to prevent any more wild fires. Totally logical and something we all had to accept. But since my original lunch plan involved lighting the barbecue I had to think of something else to cook. I thought this would magically come to me as ideas so often do, but no.

So, in this moment of crisis (well not really, but I was starting to panic a little as my days were packed full of activities) I turned to my trusted cook book collection in the beach house and as usual they helped me out. This time it was a recipe in Nigella’s book Summer that saved me! This slow-roasted lemon and garlic chicken is summery (and delicious) enough to make you forget all about your beloved barbecue and appreciate a dish that basically cooks itself in the oven.

And if you don’t find butchering chickens as therapeutic as I do, I would suggest you either ask your butcher for help or buy a mixture of skin-on chicken breasts and chicken thighs.

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Nigella’s slow roasted garlic and lemon chicken, serves 4

Adapted from Nigella’s recipe.
1 chicken cut into 10 pieces

1 bulb of garlic, separated into unpeeled cloves

1 lemon, cut into chunky eighths

1 bunch fresh thyme

3 tbsp olive oil

75-100 ml white wine

salt and black pepper

Pre-heat the oven to 160°C.

Put the chicken pieces in a roasting tin, season and add the oil. Toss the chicken pieces in the oil so they’re coated all over. Place skin side up. Add garlic cloves, lemon chunks and  thyme. Sprinkle over the white wine and put in the oven to cook for 2 hours. 

Turn up the oven to 200°C and cook the chicken for another 30-45 minutes, by which time the skin on the meat will have turned golden brown and the lemons will have begun to scorch and caramelise at the edges.