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Parsi Chicken with Apricots

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One as yet to be tried – seems a bit like a sweet and sour chicken tagine.

This delicately sweet-and-sour dish of chicken cooked with dried apricots is apparently from the Parsi community, of Persian descent within India. It is supposedly generally served with a mountain of very fine, crisp potato straws, for which I must go looking, but rice is an acceptable simpler alternative.

Planning

serves: 4
preparation time: 20 mins
cooking time: 40 mins

Ingredients

  • 1 whole chicken, cut into 8 serving pieces
  • 12 dried apricots
  • 3 tablespoons olive or rapeseed oil
  • 2 cinnamon sticks
  • ½ teaspoon whole cumin seeds
  • 2 medium onions, cut into fine half-rings
  • 3 teaspoons peeled and finely grated fresh ginger
  • 1 tablespoon tomato purée
  • 1½ tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon garam masala
  • ½-¾ teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • Salt & pepper

Method

Pat the chicken pieces on all sides with ½ teaspoon salt and generous amounts of black pepper. Set the chicken aside.

Put the apricots in a small pan with 250 ml/8 fl oz water and bring to the boil. Lower the heat and gently simmer for 15 minutes or until the apricots have softened but remain firm enough to be cooked again later. Leave them in their liquid.

Put the oil in a large pan and set over a medium-high heat. When hot, put in the cinnamon sticks and cumin and let it sizzle for 10 seconds. In the spicey oil, brown the chicken pieces on all sides ( do it in two batches if necessary to avoid over-crowding the pan). Reserve the chicken in a bowl.

Add the onions to the sauté pan. Stir and fry until the onions are brown at the edges. Add the ginger and stir for a few seconds. Add the tomato purée and stir again. Now return the chicken and all its accumulated juices to the pan, along with 350 ml/12 fl oz water and 1 teaspoon salt. Cover and bring to the simmer. Lower the heat and cook gently for 15 minutes, turning the chicken once during this time.

Remove the cover and add the sugar, vinegar, apricots with their cooking liquid, garam masala and cayenne pepper. Stir and cook over a higher heat until the sauce is slightly syrupy.


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Posted in Poultry

Murghi aur Masoor Dal

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In English this was called Bombay-style Chicken with Red Split Lentils when Madhur Jaffrey published it. I suppose it would now be called Mumbai-style. Such is fashion, or is it political correctness?

Anyway, fed up with plain chicken on a Sunday? This delightful recipe is simplicity itself and could be a taste-bud-tickling alternative. As written, this is not over spicey but I’m sure you could adjust the quantity of the spice ingredients to your liking. The original recipe used more water (2½ pints) which I found too much so I’ve reduced it. You may want to stand by with a little more boiling water as you cook it, just in case.

Being cooked with lentils, of which I am big fan, the healthy vegetable content is already present so this really just needs some Basmati rice to complete the dish.

Planning

serves: 4
preparation time: 20 mins
cooking time: 90 mins

Ingredients

  • 250g red split lentils [masoor dal]
  • 1 medium onion, finely chopped
  • 1 fresh green chilli, finely sliced
  • 2 tsp ground cumin
  • ½ tsp ground tumeric
  • 1 in/2½ cm piece fresh ginger, peeled & finely chopped
  • 35 fl oz/1 ltr water
  • 1 whole chicken
  • 2 tbs vegetable oil
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
  • 2 tbs lemon juice
  • ½ tsp sugar
  • ½ tsp garam masala
  • 3 tbs chopped fresh green coriander
  • Salt

Method

I try never to buy chicken pieces because a whole chicken is always better value. Cut the chicken into the tradtional eight serving pieces: legs divided into thighs and drumsticks, breasts halved. I also throw in the wings, divided into their two useable joints. Skin the leg and breast pieces and as much of the wings as you can. (If you prefer,an equivalent amount of chicken pieces is obviously perfectly fine. Skin those instead.)

Combine the lentils, onion, green chilli, ground cumin, turmeric and half of the chopped ginger in a big, heavy pan. Add the water and stir. Bring this lot to a simmer and cook gently for 45 minutes covered with a lid left slightly ajar. Add the chicken pieces and salt, then mix and return to the simmer. Now cover completely and simmer for 30 minutes or until the chicken is tender.

Put the vegetable oil in a small frying pan and set over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the cumin seeds. When the seeds sizzle (just a few seconds), add the remaining chopped ginger and the chopped garlic. Fry until the garlic takes on a light brown colour and tip the pan contents into the chicken and lentils. Now also add the lemon juice, sugar and garam masala. Stir to mix and cook on low heat for a further 5 minutes.

Serve sprinkled with the fresh coriander together, of course, with Basmati rice.


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Posted in Poultry Tagged with:

Chicken Biryani

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Proper Biryanis do not have hot spice in them. Why, then, do most of the recipes out there in Internet-land toss in chillis of one colour or another?

Madhur Jaffrey is usually a reliable source of recipes which approach genuine. This is one from her that I tried and enjoyed. A relatively involved process using a daunting list of ingredients but worth the effort.

(Timings do not include the marinading.)

Planning

serves: 6
preparation time: 30 mins
cooking time: 2 hrs

Ingredients

  • 6 medium onions, peeled
  • 4 garlic cloves, peeled & coarsely chopped
  • 2 inch piece ginger, peeled & chopped
  • 6 whole cloves
  • 20 whole black peppercorns
  • seeds from 8 whole green cardamom pods
  • ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1 tsp ground coriander
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp poppy seeds
  • ¼ tsp mace, ground
  • 3 tbs lemon juice
  • 8 oz plain yogurt
  • 2 fresh bay leaves
  • 4 large black cardamoms
  • 2 x 1¼-ish kg chickens, breasts and legs of
  • 1 tbs saffron strands,
  • 2 tbs milk
  • 500g Basmati rice
  • 2 tbs golden raisins (optional)
  • 3 tbs flaked almonds (optional)
  • 2 eggs (optional)
  • Salt & pepper

Method

First make the marinade for the chicken. Peel and coarsely chop 3 of the onions. Place chopped onion, garlic, and ginger in an electric blender, along with the cloves, peppercorns, the seeds only from the 8 cardamoms, cinnamon, coriander, cumin, poppy seeds, mace, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and the lemon juice. Blend all of these at high speed until you have a smooth paste. Place this paste in a large bowl. Add the yoghurt and mix well.

Now for the remaining onions. Peel the remaining onions three and halve them. Slice each half onion finely. In a heavy-bottomed skillet, heat the oil over a medium flame. Once hot, add the bay leaves and 4 black cardamoms, frying these for about 10 to 15 seconds. Now put in the half onion rings and fry them, stirring, until they get brown and crisp (but not burned). Remove them carefully with a slotted spoon, squeezing out as much of the oil as possible. Reserve all the onion-flavoured oil, the black cardamoms, and the bay leaves; you will need them later. Mix two-thirds of the fried onions into the marinade paste. Place the rest of the onions on a paper towel to drain and set aside for garnishing the final dish.

The chicken. Remove the skin from the chicken legs and breasts. Madhur leaves the bone in the legs and divides them into thighs and drumsticks; I cut the meat off so my guests weren’t messing with bones. You go whichever way you prefer. Quarter the breasts. Pierce the chicken pieces with a fork and place in the bowl with the marinade paste. Mix well. Cover the bowl with cling film and refrigerate for at least 2 hours turning occasionally. (I left mine for four hours.)

Begin cooking. Remove the bowl from the refrigerator and place all its contents into a large heavy-bottomed pot. Bring slowly to a simmer, cover, lower heat, and cook gently for 15 minutes. Remove only the chicken pieces, place them in a large casserole dish (you need room for all the chicken topped with all the rice), and cover. Set aside. On a medium flame, reduce the marinade paste, stirring frequently, until you have a reasonably thick, stiff paste left. Spoon the paste over the chicken. Cover again.

Preheat oven to 150°C/gas 2.

The rice. Soak the saffron in 2 tablespoons hot (not boiling) milk. Bring to the boil a good sized pan almost filled with water. Add three teaspoons of salt then add the rice. Bring it back to the boil again and cook for 5 minutes, timing very carefully (the rice must not cook through).

Drain the rice in a colander, then place it on top of the chicken in the casserole. Streak the rice with the saffron milk. Sprinkle the reserved onion-flavoured oil over the rice, together with the reserved black cardamoms, and bay leaves. Cover the casserole dish with aluminium foil cut 2 inches wider than the rim of the dish. Now put the lid on and use the protruding foil edges to seal the dish as best you can by crinkling it and pushing it against the sides. Bake 1 hour.

Preparing the garnishes. (Use as many of these as you wish in addition to the fried onions which are essential.) If you wish to use raisins, fry them in a tablespoon of the onion-flavoured oil just after you have fried the onions. Hard boil two eggs, peel and quarter them. Lightly toast three tablespoons flaked, blanched almonds in a dry frying pan over moderate heat.

Serving. Lift the cover off your casserole dish and spoon the rice and chicken out onto a large platter. Sprinkle over the fried onions together with the raisins and almonds, if you are using them. Nestle the quartered eggs around the side of the mound and serve hot.

I served this accompanied by blanched cauliflour, browned together with some more fried, finely sliced onions – sort of a cauliflour bhaji.


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Posted in Poultry Tagged with:

Tea-Smoked Chicken

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One that I’ve had on this site for a while to try out. It was from James Martin. I’ve finally tried it out and wanted to post it again with a public health warning, in the hope that, if anyone searches for such a recipe, they may stumble into my experience and think again.

OK, the biggest problem in my view with this recipe is that it just isn’t suitable for a domestic environment. I cooked this in a wok, with the lid on, following the instructions and, although my house did not appear to be filling up with smoke, the smoky aroma was intense. When I awoke the following morning and walked out of the bedroom, my hall, stairs and landing, as well as the more obvious kitchen, all reeked of smoke. I’d never smelt anything like it. I tried an old trick burning candles to get rid of the aroma – I had four candles burning all day – but the following morning I continued to smell nothing like it.

I was annoyed. I was annoyed largely with myself because, in hindsight, I probably should have realized I was heading for trouble. Admittedly, my cooker does not have an extractor hood but I seriously doubt that one would have made sufficient difference.

To add insult to injury, the second problem is that I didn’t even like the finished dish. I disliked it so much that I threw it away and this is despite my being a long time fan of smoked food. I frequently smoke food in my Weber kettle BBQ out in the garden which, I would venture to suggest, is where smoking really should be done.

I have just finished washing down the kitchen cupboard doors, walls and ceiling in an attempt to eradicate the unpleasant odour. I have also washed down the walls in the adjoining hall, stairs and landing. I hope the house will now return to its former, fresher scent.

Naturally, since this has now become a non-recipe in my book, I am deleting the details just for safety. It is, of course, possible that I screwed up (though I can’t think how) but I wouldn’t want anyone else to suffer a similar fate.

Posted in Poultry

Caramelized Duck Breasts

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I recently learned the best way of cooking duck breasts with the fat on is from cold. My suspicion is that it lets the fat run better. This recipe uses that method and adds a little extra flavour with an oriental twist, along with an oriental style vegetable accompaniment. This is clearly Chinese in spirit, if not in actuality.

Planning

serves: 2
preparation time: 15 mins
cooking time: 25 mins

Ingredients

  • 2 duck breasts
  • juice & zest of 1 large orange
  • 1 tbs caster sugar
  • 2 tbs soy sauce
  • 250g broccoli spears (purple sprouting works)
  • 2 cms fresh root ginger, peeled & finely chopped
  • 1 medium red chilli, seeded & finely sliced
  • 2 cloves garlic, skinned & finely sliced
  • 200g Puy lentils
  • olive oil

Method

Preheat the oven to 220°C/gas 7. Mix together 1 tablespoon orange juice, 1 tablespoon soy sauce and tablespoon of caster sugar, then set aside.

Cover the lentils with cold water in a small pan, bring to the boils and simmer unsalted for 20-25 minutes until just tender. Strain and reserve the lentils.

Score a diamond pattern in the duck skin and fat (not the flesh) with a sharp knife. Place the scored duck breasts skin side down in a cold heavy roasting pan. Put the cold roastng pan over medium heat. Let the pan come up to temperature and cook the skin side of the breasts for 6-8 minutes until the skin is nicely golden brown. Flip the duck breasts over and brush the skin with the orange, soy and sugar mixture. Bang them in the top of the oven until the skin is crisp and golden, basting occasionally with the pan juices. About 15 minutes should have them done medium – still pink in the middle. Remove the breasts from the oven and rest them for 5-10 minutes in a warm place.

While the duck is roasting, steam the broccoli for 3-4 minutes until just tender, then cut into 3-4cm lengths. Heat a glug of olive oil in a small frying pan and add the ginger, chilli and garlic. Stir for a minute before adding the lentils and cooked broccoli. Stir through the remiaining orange juice, soy sauce and the grated orange zest. Heat gently until hot.

Slice the rested duck breasts on the diagonal and serve alongside the vegetable mixture. Drizzle over any accumulated pan juices.


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Posted in Poultry Tagged with:

Salmoriglio

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Salmoriglio is a bit like a variation of Salsa Verde from Sicily. Like Salsa Verde , it goes very well with plain grilled fish. The eminent Mr. Stein does it with swordfish, which I am sure is very good. I’ve tried it with grey mullet which was also very good.

The original recipe says that the addition of celery herb/celery leaves is optional but I rather think it would miss something without it. I’ve increased the lemon juice a tad in place of a splash or two more of water.

Planning

serves: 4
preparation time: 10 mins
cooking time: n/a

Ingredients

  • 6 tbs olive oil
  • 2 tbs water
  • 2 tbs lemon juice
  • 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
  • 1 tbs chopped oregano
  • 1 tbs chopped celery herb/leaves
  • 1 tbs chopped flat-leaf parsley
  • Salt

Method

Whisk together the oil and water until emulsified. Stir in the lemnon juice and a pinch of salt to taste. Add the garlic and chopped herbs and stir well.

Reserve until you’ve grilled your fish and serve with it.


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Posted in Accompaniments, Sauces Tagged with:

Pork Chops, Sage and Mushrooms

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I’ve always found pork chops to be rather dull and uninteresting. This is a very old standard (for us), however, which I have finally got round firstly, to figuring out how to cook properly and secondly, to documenting. It makes a very good midweek meal.

If you are desperate for a healthier version, you can leave out the sour cream – it still tastes good but misses out on that little special touch. Please resist using a dehydrated chicken stock cube but those little jelly jobs in pots are just about acceptable, if you don’t have home made chicken stock available.

Planning

serves: 2
preparation time: 15 mins
cooking time: 45 mins

Ingredients

  • 2 large, free range pork chops
  • half a bunch (10-15g) fresh sage leaves, coarsely chopped
  • 25g butter
  • 1 large onion, peeled and chopped
  • 250g chestnut mushrooms, brushed clean & quartered
  • 250ml chicken stock
  • 75ml soured cream
  • Salt & pepper

Method

Pat the pork dry of any surface moisture and sprinkle both sides of each with the chopped sage leaves. Season both sides of the chops further with freshly ground black pepper and salt. (Be careful how much salt you add if you are using stock jelly jobs.) Melt the butter over moderate heat in a sauté pan and add the pork chops to the pan. Brown the chops lightly on both sides. Remove the chops from the pan and set aside on a plate.

Add the chopped onion to the same sauté pan and stir round to deglaze. Cook until the onion is soft and translucent. Add the quartered mushrooms and cook for 3 mins or so, stirring occasionally.

Move the veggie mixture to the sides of the pan and snuggle the chops back in to the middle of the pan. Meat juices will have accumulated on the plate used to reserve the chops – add it to the pan along with the 250ml chicken stock. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook uncovered for about 40 minutes by which time the liquid will have reduced a little. Stir in the soured cream – a tad awkward with a pan full of pork chop 🙂 – and simmer for another couple of minutes.

Serve this with a green vegetable, such as steamed savoy cabbage or tenderstem broccoli.


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Posted in Starters Tagged with:

Lamb Shoulder with Ras el Hanout

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I’m not at all sure this is a genuine Moroccan approach but the intention is clearly Moroccan. Very slow cooking is definitely my preferred method with lamb shoulder ‘cos it makes for a meltingly tender result. The Moroccan flavourings used here give an interesting little twist to a popular cut of meat compared to the usual garlic and rosemary approach.

Planning

serves: 6
preparation time: 20 mins
cooking time: 5 hrs

Ingredients

  • For the lamb shoulder:
  • 1 whole large shoulder of lamb, on the bone
  • 2 tbs ras el hanout
  • 50ml olive oil
  • 2 large onions, roughly chopped
  • small bunch fresh thyme sprigs
  • 6 cloves garlic, unpeeled
  • 3 tbs clear honey
  • For the couscous:
  • 350g couscous
  • 1 chicken stock cube
  • 1 small red onion, finely chopped
  • 10 cherry tomatoes, quartered
  • 2 tbs raisins
  • 2 tbs flaked almonds
  • 2 tbs freshly chopped flat leaf parsley
  • 2 tbs freshly chopped coriander leaves
  • juice of ½ lemon
  • 2 tbs olive oil
  • Salt & pepper

Method

Preferably the day before cooking, prick the lamb shoulder all over with a skewer or sharp knife. Mix the ras el hanout with the olive oil and some salt & pepper. Rub this mixture all over the shoulder and set in the fridge overnight, loosely covered, to absorb some flavour. If you can’t do it the day before, give it at least 2 hours.

The lamb. On the day of cooking, preheat your oven to 150°C/300°F/gas 2 [originally 140°C/275°F/gas 1]. Place the onions, garlic and thyme on the bottom of a lightly oiled roasting pan and sit the lamb on top. Cover tightly with foil and bake in the oven for 3 hours [originally 4-5 hrs]. (Check every hour or so to ensure the onions and garlic are not burning – lower the heat if they are.) Drain the fat a couple of times during cooking. Remove the foil for the final 45 minutes of cooking.

The couscous. Here is my only use of dehydrated stock powder/cubes. Dissolve a chicken stock cube in 400mls boiling water. Put the coscous into a large glass bowl, tip in the liquid and give it a good stir. Cover with cling film and let it soak for 5 minutes. Fluff up the grains with a fork, then sir in the remaining ingredients. Adjust the seasoning.

Lift the lamb onto a chopping board and shred the meat off the bone using a couple of forks. Pile the couscous on a large serving dish and top it with the shredded lamb. Drizzle over the honey and serve.


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Posted in Meat Tagged with:

Crab Linguine

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I’ve been after a decent crab pasta recipe for a while after failing to make notes on a more complicated spider crab recipe by Gary Rhodes. This is certainly much simpler and looks worth a try, not that there appears to be much to go wrong with it. I suspect the fresh white crab meat would normally be from a freshly opened can.

It’s always struck me that there should be a good way of incorporating the delicious brown meat from a fresh crab into a dish such as this. I must engineer the chance to experiment.

Planning

serves: 4
preparation time: 10 mins
cooking time: 15 mins

Ingredients

  • 300g fresh white crab meat
  • 300g linguine
  • 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
  • zest & juice of ½ lemon
  • olive oil
  • ½ fresh red medium chilli, finely chopped (seeds or not, as you prefer)
  • 4 spring onions, chopped
  • handful fresh parsley, coarsley chopped
  • ~50ml white wine/Noilly Prat
  • Salt & pepper

Method

Cook your linguine appropriately depending upon whether you are using dried or fresh pasta. If you’re using fresh pasta, you may want to start the crab mixture first. Either way, remember to reserve some of the pasta cooking water.

While the linguine is cooking, heat a coupe of tablespoons of olive oil in a deep frying pan/skillet. Toss in the garlic, chilli, onions and lemon zest and coook for a minute or two before stirring in the crab meat. Heat through for a minute then glug in about 50ml white wine (I might try Noilly Prat). Bubble until most of the wine is evaporated.

When the pasta is done, slacken the crab mixture with a little of the pasta water, then stir in the drained pasta and parsley. Season to taste with salt and pepper.


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Posted in Seafood, Untested Tagged with:

Seafood Laksa

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One stemming from the New Forest, where we found a kit for a Singaporean Laksa and enjoyed it. At home, I wanted a more genuine recipe without short cuts and this is the one that appealed to me. It must be reasonably genuine because it uses galangal and shrimp paste, so I have a high degree of confidence in it. Besides, it has the Delia stamp of approval.

Planning

serves: 4
preparation time: 30 mins
cooking time: 25 mins

Ingredients

  • 24 raw tiger prawns
  • 500g fresh mussels
  • 110g medium white rice noodles
  • 400ml tinned coconut milk
  • 50g shelled, unsalted peanuts
  • 1 tbs groundnut oil
  • 50g cucumber, peeled
  • 110g beansprouts
  • juice of 1 lime
  • a small bunch fresh basil, leaves roughly shredded
  • a small bunch fresh mint, leaves roughly shredded
  • For the paste:
  • 3 medium red chillies, deseeded & chopped
  • 1 dessertspoon dried shrimp paste
  • 4 shallots, peeled
  • 2 stems lemon grass, roughly chopped
  • 2-3cms piece fresh galangal or root ginger, peeled & roughly chopped
  • 1 dsp ground turmeric
  • Salt & pepper

Method

Prepare the seafood. If necessary, peel the prawns, then run the point of a small, sharp knife along the back of each one and remove any black threads that may be present (Personally, I tend to buy bags of frozen prepared king prawns from my favourite supermarket.) Now scrub the mussels under cold running water and remove any barnacles and pull off the little hairy ‘beards’. Discard any mussels that are broken or don’t close when given a sharp tap with a knife.

The Noodles. Put the rice noodles in a bowl and cover with boiling water, then leave to soak for 10 minutes. They won’t need any further cooking, just re-heating. Drain the noodles in a colander when they are ready, then rinse in cold water and set aside.

Make the laksa paste. Place all the paste ingredients, plus a tablespoon of water, into a liquidizer and blend until smooth. (It is said that you could use a food processor instead but I have doubts.)

Making the dish. Place the peanuts in a medium saucepan and dry-roast over a medium heat until golden brown, then remove to a plate to cool a little. Add the oil to the same pan and, when warm, add the prepared paste and cook over a medium heat for 2 minutes. Add the coconut milk and stir, then leave to simmer gently for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, cut the cucumber into four slices lengthways, then cut each into four long strips. Now roughly chop the cooled toasted nuts. When the coconut-milk mixture is ready, add the noodles, cucumber, ¾ of the beansprouts and the lime juice. Now season with salt to taste before bringing back to a simmer. Add the mussels and cook for 2 minutes, then add the prawns and cook for another 3 minutes. The mussels should have opened – discard any that do not – and the prawns be pink. Now add half the shredded herbs.

To serve, first mix the remaining herbs with the chopped nuts. Now ladle the laksa into bowls before sprinkling over the remaining ¼ beansprouts and the herb & nut mixture.


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Posted in Seafood Tagged with: