Cookbook review - John Torode's Chicken and other birds

Chicken used to be one of my favorite meats and I used to cook it at least once a week. Right now though I can't remember the last time I cooked it. Its not that I've gone off chicken but more that I'm a less fussy eater and cook a wider range of dishes. However this book could hold the next chicken recipe I cook. 256 pages on chicken and other birds, cooked in a variety of different styles and cuisines, with this book you'll never be short of inspiration for chicken again! But this book is more than a book of chicken, there are also lots of recipes and information on cooking game birds too.

The first thing I liked about this book was the removable jacket sleeve with a flow diagram of what to do with your chicken. From poaching or roasting it whole, to jointing and grilling it or using the meat in curries, pies or kebabs. This diagram inspires you to turn to the book for recipes, ideas and tips for getting the most out of your chicken. As well as the recipes which I will cover in a minute, there is lots of other useful information such as a calendar of the game seasons so you know what to eat when its at its best, a brief guide to all the types of bird you might wish to cook, what to look for when shopping for chicken (no not the 2 for £5 stickers), jointing a bird and a list of poultry and game dealers.

So on to the recipes. The book is split in to chapters on the following topics soups and stocks, snacks and starters, legs and breasts, salads, curries, barbecues, roasts, one pot wonders, tarts, pies and pasties, pasta, noodles and grains and finally confit, terrines, pates and pastrami. Each chapter has a brief introduction by John which will inspire you to try the recipes. Some of the recipes that I want to try include chicken Cesar salad, some of the 8 different chicken kebab ideas (oregano and garlic, chicken and prawns with pancetta, Chinese chicken with sesame seeds), the roast chicken with olives and lemons, and the chicken paella. There are nearly as many game bird recipes as their are chicken ones such as penne with ragout of game sausage and red wine, guinea fowl tagine, five-spiced Chinese duck with bok choy and oyster sauce and pheasant wrapped in proscuitto with polenta. I've never eaten game, let alone cooked it but should I ever decide to this will be the book I reach for. Scattered throughout the recipes John also offers lots of useful advice and tips.

Whilst I would not normal buy cookbooks that focus on one type of meat I do think this is a good book. Its stuffed full of mouth watering pictures and John's useful hints and tips. Although you may glance over this book on the shelf if your not a fan of chicken or think you know all there is to know as chicken I think this book is a great introduction to cooking other types of birds.

Thanks to Quadrille publishing for sending me a copy of this book to review.

Further information:
John Torode's chicken and other birds.
Published by Quadrille publishing, September 2009
Hardback, full colour photography, pages 256
ISBN 978 1 84400 715 8
£20

Fresh from the oven - Stuffed buns

This months Fresh from the oven challenge was hosted by Ria from Ria's Collections. She picked a family favorite Stuffed Bun recipe for this month's challenge. It is basically a bun stuffed with a Spicy Indian Chicken filling (or a vegetarian filling if you prefer).

I'd seen a recipe for stuffed buns before that I liked the look of but this is the first time I've baked anything like this myself. I liked the idea though of the buns being a complete snack, bread buns filled with a delicious, spicy chicken mixture.

So how did I get on -
The dough was wetter than I am used to and I had to add some extra flour. I'm afraid I cheated a bit and didn't knead by hand for 10 minutes but used my KitchenAid. I also found that my dough didn't rise very much, after an hour and a half and very little rising I decided to carry on regardless with the rest of the recipe. Consequently I only managed to make 5 buns (should have made 12!), never the less the bread still tasted soft when finished. They are very quick to bake so keep an eye on them in the oven. The filling in these buns was delicious and as for the bread it's self I found it too sweet but my boyfriend loved it!

♥Stuffed Bun♥

Yields 12 buns

For the dough:

Ingredients

Dry yeast-1 tbsp

Warm water-2tbsp

Milk-1/2 cup

Salt to taste

Oil-1/2 cup

All purpose flour-2 cups

Sugar-1/4 cup

Egg-1, beaten

Egg white-1,for egg wash

White sesame seeds for sprinkling

Method

• Dissolve the yeast in warm water with 1/2tbsp sugar and 1/2 tbsp of all purpose flour. Leave aside for 10 minutes.
• Boil the milk and allow to cool down till it is warm to touch. Add sugar, oil and salt.
• Mix well with a wooden spoon till the sugar dissolves and add 1 cup flour and mix to a smooth paste.
• Add the beaten egg, yeast and mix.Add the remaining flour and mix well till it forms a smooth dough.
• Knead well for 10 mins.[We knead it using our hands]
• Let it rest till it doubles in volume.
• Punch down the dough lightly using your palm and divide them equally.
• Flatten them into small discs and fill them with 1 tbsp of the filling. Re-shape them into a ball.Sprinkle the top with sesame seeds.
• Let it prove for another 20 mins.
• Bake them in a pre-heated oven at 200 degrees for 10 mins. When it starts to brown, give them an egg wash using 1 slightly beaten egg white.

♥Spicy Indian chicken filling♥

Ingredients

Boneless chicken-200g, boiled and shredded

Onions-4 big, finely chopped

Ginger garlic paste-1 tbsp

Chilli powder-1/2 -1tbsp [depending on your spice level]

Coriander powder-1/2 tbsp

Salt to taste

Oil-3 tbsp

Method

• Heat oil, add the ginger garlic paste and saute till it gives out a nice aroma.
• Add the onions. Saute them till soft and transparent.
• Reduce the heat and add the powders and mix well for 2 mins.
• Add the shredded chicken and mix well.
• Keep it off the fire and let it cool.
• Use it for filling the dough.

Cookbook review - The Eagle cookbook - David Eyre & The Eagle chefs

I'm going to start this review being totally honest with you:

• I've never eaten at The Eagle,
• Up until hearing about this book on Twitter I wasn't even aware of this gastropub,
• I haven't seen the original recipe book (which this new book is an update and redesign of) - Big flavours and rough edges,
• I received this book free in order to review it from Absolute Press.

So for those of you like me that aren't aware of The Eagle, it is a gastropub in Farringdon London which was taken over by chefs David Eyre and Michael Belben in 1991. This was the first gastropub, revolutionising the way we British eat out. Since then gastropubs have sprung up all over the country, offering great quality food in a relaxed environment.

Anyway on to the cookbook. There are chapters on:

• soups (including Andalucian garlic soup with soft boiled egg and spicy mussel soup),
• salads (roasted pumpkin and red onion salad and Spanish roast vegetable salad),
• meals on toast (bruschetta),
• eggs for dinner,
• pasta (penne with sausage, tomato and sage and egg fettuccine with ricotta, peas and smoked pancetta),
• rice (risottos and paellas),
• fish (Baked sea bass with tomatoes),
• meat (grilled leg of venison and braised garlic chicken)
• and side dishes (Sicillian aubergine relish and celeriac mash)

Each chapter includes an introduction to the chapter including such topics as what to pair fish with, grilling and roasting meat and a particularly good page on risotto law and rules. I especially like the way each recipe has a short introductory paragraph or two including a description of the flavours or the look of the dish, its origin and helpful hints and tips. Beautiful photographs are used throughout the book, not only to illustrate the mouthwatering, delicious looking food but also of The Eagle pub. I loved the writing style and the layout of the book as well. I may have only cooked one recipe from the book so far but I have read much more of the book and learnt alot.

On my first flick through of the book I thought the recipes were going to be complex, the types of recipes that are great to cook when you want to impress but not much good for everyday cooking. Although these recipes look and sound like they would certainly impress, on closer inspection many of them are not as complicated as I imagined. There is a good mixture of relatively simple dishes (some quick, some not so quick) and some that are a bit more complicated but the emphasis of the book is very much on using good quality ingredients, maximising the flavours and cooking great food in a relatively simple manner. I tried out one recipe from the book which with the permission of the publishers I have included below. It was simple, quick and tasty. I will definitely cooking this recipe again and I am already looking forward to trying out more recipes from the book. In particular I can see myself trying out some of the pasta dishes, the soups and stews in the autumn/winter and the next time I do want to cook something a bit special this will be the first book off the shelf.Grilled chicken breasts with oregano, lemon and black pepper
David Eyre

Serves 4
4 large free range chicken breasts
2 tbsp finely chopped fresh oregano (or marjoram) - you could use dried for a different result, but use less than half the quantity
3 tbsp olive oil
1 small dried chilli, crushed
More freshly ground black pepper than you would expect - about 1 level tablespoon
2 lemons
Sea salt

Wash and dry the chicken breasts. Mix with the oreagano, oil, chilli, black pepper and grated zest of one of the lemons and leave to marinate whilst the grill heats up or the charcoal dies down to an even medium heat.
when ready to cook, salt the chicken and squeeze one of the lemons all over them.
Cook the breasts, turning them 90 degrees once on each side, then remove from the heat.
Squeeze the juice of the other lemon over them, sprinkle with a little more olive oil and leave to rest for a moment. If you happen to have some truffle oil, now is the time to make good use of it.
Serve with a mixed leaf salad containing chives, parsley and spring onions.

My version:
I used dried oregano and didn't use any truffle oil. I cooked mine on a griddle pan after leaving the chicken to marinade for about one hour (there was no length of time specified in the recipe so I don't know if this was too long or too short). I served mine with new potatoes, griddled courgettes and oyster mushrooms.

Thank you to Absolute Press for sending me a review copy of this fantastic book.

Further information:
The Eagle cookbook - David Eyre & The Eagle chefs.
Published by Absolute Press in 2009.
Hardback, full colour illustrations, 192 pages.
ISBN 9781906650056
Price £20
Available to buy now.

Daring Cooks - Rice with mushrooms, cuttlefish and artichokes

This months Daring Cooks challenge was hosted by Olga from Las Cosas de Olga and Olga’s Recipes. She chosen a delicious Spanish recipe, Rice with mushrooms, cuttlefish and artichokes by José Andrés, one of the most important Spanish Chefs at the moment. The recipe is from his US TV show Made in Spain. To watch how Jose Andres cooks this dish click here for a utube video.

After missing last months Daring Cooks challenge I was looking forward to finding out this months challenge. Initially I was not looking forward to the recipe but I decided to substitute the cuttlefish for chicken and give it a go anyway. During July I didn't spend all that much time in my kitchen so this was the first time in a while I got back in the kitchen and cooked something that wasn't familiar, quick or simple. Once I started to cook I started to realise just how much I had missed the relaxation and enjoyment I get from cooking. Since this is supposed to be a challenge I decided to try the Allioli using the traditional method. It was a complete disaster to say the least! But not one to give up I started again and made it following the modern method which worked well. However neither me or my boyfriend like the taste of raw garlic so we didn't really enjoy the alloli however I'm glad we gave it a try.

I really enjoyed cooking this recipe and the resulting dish was absolutly deliscious and very flavourful. I'm really glad I joined the Daring Cooks as otherwise I would have never cooked this dish. I froze the left over sofregit so in a few weeks I can cook this dish again and it will only take half the time! However I can definately see myself cooking the whole recipe from scratch again (without the allioli) and even looking up further recipes from Made in Spain. Thanks again Olga for chosing this recipe and hosting this months challenge.

Rice with mushrooms, cuttlefish (or chicken in my case!) and artichokes
Cooking time: 45 minutes

serves 4

• 4 Artichokes (you can use jarred or freezed if fresh are not available)
• 12 Mushrooms (button or Portobello)
• 1 or 2 Bay leaves (optional but highly recommended)
• 1 glass of white wine
• 2 Cuttlefish (you can use freezed cuttlefish or squid if you don’t find it fresh). I substituted this with chicken breasts.
  
• “Sofregit” (see recipe below)
• 300 gr (2 cups) Short grain rice (Spanish types Calasparra or Montsant are preferred, but you can choose any other short grain. This kind of rice absorbs flavor very well) – about 75 gr per person ( ½ cup per person) Please read this for more info on suitable rices.
• Water or Fish Stock (use 1 ½ cup of liquid per ½ cup of rice)
• saffron threads (if you can’t find it or afford to buy it, you can substitute it for turmeric or yellow coloring powder)
• Allioli (olive oil and garlic sauce, similar to mayonnaise sauce) - optional

Directions:

1. Cut the cuttlefish in little strips (or dice the chicken).
2. Add 1 or 2 tablespoon of olive oil in a frying pan and put the cuttlefish (or chicken) in the pan.
3. If you use fresh artichokes, clean them and cut in eights.
4. Clean the mushrooms and cut them in fourths.
5. Add a bay leaf to the chicken and add also the artichokes and the mushrooms.
6. Sauté until you get a golden color in the artichokes.
7. Put a touch of white wine so all the solids in the bottom of the get mixed, getting a more flavorful dish.
8. Add a couple or three tablespoons of sofregit and mix to make sure everything gets impregnated with the sofregit.
9. Add all the liquid and bring it to boil.
10. Add all the rice. Let boil for about 5 minutes in heavy heat.
11. Add some saffron thread to enrich the dish with its flavor and color. Stir a little bit so the rice and the other ingredients get the entire flavor. If you’re using turmeric or yellow coloring, use only 1/4 teaspoon.
12. Turn to low heat and boil for another 8 minutes (or until rice is a little softer than “al dente”)
13. Put the pan away from heat and let the rice stand a couple of minutes.

Sofregit (a well cooked and fragrant sauce made of olive oil, tomatoes, garlic and onions, and may at times different vegetables such as peppers or mushrooms)

Cooking time: aprox. 1 hour

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 5 big red ripe tomatoes, chopped
• 2 small onions, chopped
• 1 green pepper, chopped (optional)
• 4 or 5 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 cup of button or Portobello mushrooms, chopped (optional)
• 1 Bay leaf
• Salt
• Touch of ground cumin
• Touch of dried oregano

Directions:

1. Put all the ingredients together in a frying pan and sauté slowly until all vegetables are soft.
2. Taste and salt if necessary (maybe it’s not!)

Allioli is the optional part of the recipe. You must choose one of the two recipes given, even though I highly recommend you to try traditional one. Allioli is served together with the rice and it gives a very nice taste

Allioli (Traditional recipe)
Cooking time: 20 min aprox.
Ingredients:

• 4 garlic cloves, peeled
• Pinch of salt
• Fresh lemon juice (some drops)
• Extra-virgin olive oil (Spanish preferred but not essential)

Directions:

1. Place the garlic in a mortar along with the salt.
2. Using a pestle, smash the garlic cloves to a smooth paste. (The salt stops the garlic from slipping at the bottom of the mortar as you pound it down.)
3. Add the lemon juice to the garlic.
4. Drop by drop; pour the olive oil into the mortar slowly as you continue to crush the paste with your pestle.
5. Keep turning your pestle in a slow, continuous circular motion in the mortar. The drip needs to be slow and steady. Make sure the paste soaks up the olive oil as you go.
6. Keep adding the oil, drop by drop, until you have the consistency of a very thick mayonnaise. If your allioli gets too dense, add water to thin it out. This takes time—around 20 minutes of slow motion around the mortar—to create a dense, rich sauce.

José's tips for traditional recipe: It's hard to think that, when you start crushing the garlic, it will ever turn into something as dense and smooth as allioli. But don't give up. It's worth the extra time and effort to see the oil and garlic come together before your eyes. Just make sure you're adding the olive oil slowly, drop by drop. Keep moving the pestle around the mortar in a circular motion and keep dreaming of the thick, creamy sauce at the end of it all.

Allioli a la moderna (Modern recipe)
Cooking time: 3-4 minutes
Ingredients:

• 1 small egg
• 1 cup extra-virgin olive oil (as above, Spanish oil is highly recommended)
• 1 garlic clove, peeled
• 1 Tbs. Spanish Sherry vinegar or lemon juice (if Sherry vinegar is not available, use can use cider or white vinegar)
• Salt to taste

Directions:

1. Break the egg into a mixing bowl.
2. Add 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and the garlic cloves, along with the vinegar or lemon juice.
3. Using a hand blender, start mixing at high speed until the garlic is fully pureed into a loose paste.
4. Little by little, add what's left of the olive oil as you continue blending.
5. If the mixture appears too thick as you begin pouring the oil, add 1 teaspoon of water to loosen the sauce.
6. Continue adding the oil and blending until you have a rich, creamy allioli.
7. The sauce will be a lovely yellow color.
8. Add salt to taste.

José's tips for modern recipe:
(1) If you do not have access to a hand blender, you can use a hand mixer (the kind with the two beaters) or a food processor. If you use a food processor, you must double the recipe or the amount will be too little for the blades to catch and emulsify.
(2) What happens if the oil and egg separate? Don't throw it out. You can do two things. One is to whisk it and use it as a side sauce for a fish or vegetable. But if you want to rescue the allioli, take 1 tablespoon of lukewarm water in another beaker and start adding to the mix little by little. Blend it again until you create the creamy sauce you wanted.

Olga’s Tips:
(1) In Spain, rice is not stired as often as it is when cooking Italian risotto. You must stir it once or twice maximum. This tip is valid for all Spanish rice dishes like paella, arròs negre, arròs a banda…
(2) When cooking the alternative style you can change the cuttlefish or squid for diced potato.
(3) If you can’t find cuttlefish or squid, or you’re not able to eat them because of allergies, you can try to substitute them for chicken or vegetables at your choice.
(4) Sofregit can be done in advance. You can keep it in the fridge or even freeze it.
(5) For more information on how to clean and remove the heart of artichokes, please watch this video
(6) For more information on how to clean and remove the heart of artichokes, please watch this video
(7) To tone down the taste when you do it by hand in a mortar, then add an egg yolk. If you want to tone it down in the alternative way use milk or soy milk. Anyway, the best alternative way is the original oil and garlic alone.
(8) Allioli must be consumed during the preparation day and preserved in the fridge before using it.
(9) For help on conversion on metric to imperial, visit this page.

Enjoy!

Roast chicken

A few weeks back Able and Cole sent me one of their free range, organic chickens to try for free in exchange for a review on my blog. For anyone that doesn't know Able and Cole are an organic food deli every company. They are best known for their veg boxes that are delivered to your door each week. They also offer a wide range of other organic food that can also be delivered to you. I was initially concerned about having fresh food delivered (that needs refrigeration) in case no one was in when it was delivered. Veg boxes may be fine left outside for several hours but this is not appropriate for fresh chickens. I needn't of worried though, not only was the delivery before 8am (meaning the chicken was in the fridge before work) but it was delivered in a polystyrene box with plenty of ice packs on top of it to keep it cool. The chicken also comes with the giblets which doesn't often happen in the supermarket. Mine are sat in the freezer waiting for me to find time to make stock.


I thought about cooking it in a different way to the normal simple roast I usually do but then decided it would be best to keep it simple and see if I could taste the difference. I usually buy a supermarket free range chicken (not usually organic though) which costs around £4 per kg. Able and Cole's comes in at £6.76 per kg. I served the chicken with some baby new potatoes and asparagus.


So the big question could we notice the difference? Yes, we both thought the chicken had a stronger taste.

Will I be switching to organic chickens? not at the moment. The cost is the big issue for me. I strongly believe in only buying free range chickens but at the moment my budget won't stretch to organic as well.

Next month I will be reviewing a selection of items from their new summer range. Suggestions on ideas for using taleggio cheese appreciated! (Its not a cheese I know anything about)

Chicken and pesto pizza

I've been meaning to make a roast chicken (leftovers from Sunday lunch) and pesto pizza for some time and tonight I finally got round to it. It was definitely worth the wait! Sorry about the poor picture of one lonely slice but in our eagerness to try it I forgot to take any pictures until it was nearly too late! Pesto makes a delicious pizza sauce and a nice change from the classic tomato sauce.

Chicken and pesto pizza

For the dough
makes 3 pizza's or 1 pizza and a focaccia to go with it

325ml warm water
5g dried yeast
1 tbsp olive oil (I usually use extra virgin for breads/pizzas)
500g strong white bread flour
1-2 tsp salt

For the topping
Pesto
shredded leftover roast chicken
ball of mozzarella cheese

1. Place all the dry ingredients in a food mixer (if using) and fit the dough hook to the mixer head.
2. Put the mixer on low speed (2 for KitchenAids - consult the manual for other mixers) and slowly add the liquid ingredients to the bowl.
3. Once all the ingredients are combined leave to knead for 3-5 minutes or until the dough is smooth and springs back when prodded.
4. If you don't have a mixer place all the dry ingredients in a large bowl and make a well in the centre. Add the liquid to the well and use a wood spoon to mix until it is too difficult and then use your hands. Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface until smooth and springy.
   
5. Leave to rise until doubled in size (around 1 to 1.5hrs).
6. Preheat the oven to 250C or as hot as the oven gets.
7. Gently knock the air out of the dough.
8. Remove a third of the dough and on a lightly floured surface roll out the dough into the desired shape size.
9. Spread a layer of pesto over the dough, leaving a 2cm boarder around the edge.
10. Scatter over the shredded chicken pieces.
11. Top with mozzarella cheese.
12. Bake in a hot oven for around 1o minutes or until the crust is golden.

Enjoy!

Baked chicken with lemon, potato & green olives

I love Bill Granger's relaxed, laid back style of cooking (catch him this week on UKTV foods Market kitchen). His books and TV shows always remind be of summer and he always inspires me to cook simple tasty food. The only down side is that they never seem quiet right during the cold British winter. It's always around this time of year I like to revisit his recipes again for the summer.

I bought his latest book (Feed me now!) a few weeks back looking forward to new inspiration for the upcoming spring/summer. However his latest book is a bit different from his previous offerings. All the photos are shot in this country and it gives the book a completely different feel. I can quiet easily see myself cooking from this book all year round. The recipes are divided in to easy to navigate sections. All the usual sections are there - Breakfast (for which he is famous for), lunch, afternoon treats, family dinners, after work dinners, budget cooking, freeze ahead dishes, entertaining and desserts.

The first recipe I tried was his baked chicken with lemon, potato & green olives. It also meant I got to try out my new poultry shears. As I was only cooking for 2 people I halved all the ingredients and only used the chicken thighs, legs and wings. This is an incredibly simple dish to prepare after work and since it is a one pot dish there is very little washing up (I cooked some green beans separately as I wanted some extra veg so this did increased the washing up by 1 pan!). The only downside is that it takes just over 1 hour from starting preparing to hitting the table. However most of this hour is oven baking time leaving you free to do other things. The result was well worth the wait and I can see this becoming a regular feature on my meal planner. The chicken was moist and the flavours worked really well together (the lemon and the balsamic flavour worked well with the salty flavours of the bacon and olives). I'm really looking forward to trying more recipes from this book.

Baked chicken with lemon, potato & green olives


Serves 4
1kg roasting potatoes, such as Desiree (I used baby new potatoes and the roasted a treat)
1 red onion, peeled and cut into wedges
75g green olives
1 lemon
50g pancetta, cut into strips (I substituted this with smokey bacon)
2 bay leaves
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
120ml chicken stock
1 x 1.7kg chicken, jointed
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper

• Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas 4.
• Cut the potatoes in to small chunks and put them in a roasting tin or ovenproof dish.
• Scatter over the onion wedges, olives, lemon slices, pancetta and bay leaves.
• Add the tomato paste and balsamic vinegar to the chicken stock and stir to dissolve/mix.
• Pour the stock over the potato mixture.
• Put the chicken pieces on top.
• Drizzle over the olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
• Roast in the oven for 50 minutes or until the chicken is cooked/golden.
• Remove the chicken pieces, cover and allow to rest.
• Turn the oven up to 220C/Gas 7 and return the dish to the oven for 10 minutes or until everything is well coloured and the potatoes are cooked.
• Place the chicken back in the dish (remove the bay leaves) and serve.

Enjoy!

Chicken leftover - Chicken Noodle Soup

I've wanted to cook a chicken noodle soup for some time. As I've mentioned before though I don't cook a lot of oriental dishes. A few things have put me off cooking a noodle soup before, such as believing the recipe would involve a lot of oriental ingredients that I would have to buy for one dish (fish sauce, pickled bamboo etc), that it would take me ages to cook and then I wouldn't like the end result (I didn't like the noodle soup I chose in wagamam) and I don't like coriander! However I am glad I tried this recipe that I found in Leith's Simple Cookery. I think it is a little over simplified so any suggestions to make it more authentic without over complicating it (or involving pickled bamboo or coriander) would be welcomed. I'm thinking along the lines of replacing the sweetcorn with some other veg but not sure which. The soup element of this dish does have a really nice taste with a bit of a kick to it (from the chilli and the ginger) so I don't think I'll play around with that too much. All in all a simple week night dish (which in my house at least is a bit different to the usual pasta I serve!).

Chicken Noodle Soup
Adapted from Leith's Simple Cookery

Serves 2
800ml Chicken stock
1 tbsp root ginger, finely grated
1 red chilli, finely chopped (I used a dried chilli as that was all I had).
1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
2 portions of vermicelli noodles, cooked according to the packet
cup of frozen sweetcorn
100g cooked chicken, shredded
1 tbsp soy sauce.
1/2 tbsp thai fish sauce if you have it (or if not available use extra soy sauce - as I did & as recommended by the original recipe).

1. In a saucepan bring to the boil the stock, ginger, garlic and chilli. Simmer for 5 minutes.
2. add the cooked noodles (drained), sweetcorn and chicken to the pan. Add the soy sauce, thai fish sauce (if using) and season with salt and pepper to taste. (I only added pepper as soy sauce and the chicken stock have enough salt in for me). Return to a simmer for a few minutes.
3. Ladle in to bowls to serve.

Enjoy!

Chicken leftovers - Chicken, Lemon and Pea Risotto

As promised below is the first of the two dishes I cooked to using up leftover chicken. I only started roasting whole chickens sometime last year, so I have fairly limited experience and so far the leftovers have been turned into nacho's or mixed with pesto and pasta (both great weeknight meals). Nacho's are a rare treat so pasta and pesto usually won out, so I felt it was time I expanded my range of recipes.

I often thought of adding the chicken to a risotto but never quite got round to it. After reading Donna Hay's Simple essentials Chicken, I decided to try a risotto inspired by one of her recipes (Baked chicken, lemon and pea risotto). Her's used uncooked chicken breasts and was baked in the oven, however I have tried a baked risotto before (a Bill Granger recipe - one of my favorite chef's no less) but it failed to win me over. A baked risotto takes roughly the same amount of time as the usual method but has the convenience of not requiring you to stand over it stirring. However for me the end result is not as good and I've grown to quiet enjoy the stirring! and it's quiet therapeutic too. I've been known to ring my mum and catch up whilst cooking a risotto before! After a particularly hectic day at work on Monday - 30-40 minutes in the kitchen (and all that stirring) was exactly what I needed to unwind. The finished dish was delicious and very spring like.

Chicken, Lemon and Pea Risotto
Inspired by Donna Hay

Serves 2
Olive oil
small onion, peeled and thinly diced
stick of celery, thinly diced (optional)
1 garlic glove, peeled and thinly chopped
zest of half a lemon
150g Arborio rice
Good splash of dry white wine
Approximately 600ml Chicken stock
Good handful of frozen peas
100g shredded cooked chicken, white, brown meat or a mixture
Juice of half a lemon
Salt and pepper
handful of parmesan cheese

1. Heat the stock in a small saucepan.
2. Heat a good splash of olive oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat. Once hot add the onion and celery and sweat (with the lid on), stirring occasionally until soft but not brown (5-10 mins).
3. Add the garlic and lemon zest and cook for a few minutes, again stirring frequently.
4. Add the rice and turn up the heat. Stir to coat the rice (from here on you need to stir much more frequently to stop the rice sticking or burning and also to release the starch to make it deliciously creamy).
5. You should notice the rice become translucent and at this point you need to add the wine and continue to stir.
6. Once the wine has been absorbed by the rice, add the first ladle of stock and turn the heat back down to medium. Keep stirring.
7. Once this ladle of stock has been fully absorbed by the rice, add another ladle, stir and repeat until the rice is cooked (try it - is it soft with a little bit of bite left? Yes - then move on to the next step, No - add more stock).
8. Add the frozen pea before the last couple of ladles so they have time to cook.
9. Once the rice and peas are cooked, remove from the heat, add the lemon juice and chicken. Stir to mix well, season to taste.
10. Scatter the parmeson (and a few small knobs of butter if you like) over the top, replace the lid and leave to become oozy/creamy ( few minutes).
11. Once the cheese and butter(if using) have melted, stir well and serve.

Enjoy!

Roast chicken - 3 ways

Over the next couple of days I plan to post the 3 meals I have made from one 2kg free-range chicken.

I love chicken for many reasons -

• Its incredibly versatile and there are no end of different type of dishes you can produce.
• It is a healthy lean meat - so long as you don't eat the skin!
• It's easy to cook in a variety of ways and doesn't take hours to prepare.
• Cooking a whole bird is really economical - I got 3 main meals and 2 lots of sandwiches for 2 adults from a 2kg bird that cost £8.
  
• I simply enjoy the taste!

This weekend I roasted the chicken quiet simply - I squeezed the juice of half a lemon over the bird and put the 2 halves of the lemon in the cavity and roasted the chicken. We were out walking the day I roasted the chicken and got back later than planned, so I kept the accompaniments simple - frozen veg and mashed sweet potato - but when time permits I love roasted potatoes, carrots and parsnips.

I have used the left overs to cook 2 main meals - Sunday - chicken, pea and lemon risotto (inspired by a Donna Hay recipe) and tonight I made a simple chicken noodle soup (from Leiths Simple Cookery). We also had chicken sandwiches yesterday (flat breads with pesto chicken) and today (simply on wholemeal bread).