Chicken, Squash and Chickpea Traybake

I fancied making something quick and simple for tea tonight, and something that would provide a simple lunch for tomorrow into the bargain. This certainly fitted the bill.

Serves two for supper and two for lunch the following day.

Ingredients

300g of diced Chicken Breasts

1 Large Butternut Squash peeled, de-seeded and chopped into 1cm dice

1 Green Pepper chopped into 2cm chunks

1 400g can of Chickpeas, drained

Handful of Cherry Tomatoes or 3 larger tomatoes, diced

1 medium sized onion (red would be best) sliced into half-rounds

2 cloves of garlic, crushed

2 sprigs of rosemary

2 tablespoons of vegetable oil

1 tsp cumin seeds

Salt and Pepper

Method

Put everything into a roasting tray, as large as possible you want to have everything in a single layer if possible.

Put roasting tray into an over 180C for 40 minutes, give everything a toss and turn after 20 minutes.

Serve with a minty yoghurt dressing, or just lemon juice. A green salad would be a nice addition as well.

Chicken & Kale Curry

Our vegetable and meat boxes from bel & Cole are great but at the moment due to the pressure they are under there is no opportunity to swap any of the contents. This has meant that I have a glut of potatoes and kale at the moment and quite a bit of chicken in the freezer. How to combine the two in a tasty way led to this quick but rich curry.

Serves 2

Ingredients
1 onion finely sliced
2 fat cloves of garlic
1 thumb-sized lump of ginger - peeled
1 tsp ground turmeric
2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground fenugreek
1/4 tsp chilli powder
250ml coconut milk
1 chicken thigh diced
1 medium potato peeled and diced
1 good handful of kale stripped from the stem and sliced up
6 ripe cherry tomatoes
Small bunch of coriander

Method
Fry the onion in a little oil until softened and starting to colour. Mince the garlic and ginger together and add to the onion. Fry for a few minutes. Add the chicken and potato and fry for a few minutes. Add the spices and a splash of water to stop them burning. Add the tomatoes and kale and again fry for a couple of minutes. Add the coconut milk and simmer until the chicken and vegetables are cooked.

Serve with rice and chopped coriander. 

Not Quite a Cock-a-Leekie Soup

Gosh it's been ages since I last wrote a post. I haven't stopped cooking (and I certainly haven't stopped eating) but just haven't got around to writing up my creations. New Year - new resolution to try and post at least once a month.

Sleety, grey skies and a biting north wind and the need to have something warm and satisfying to eat before movie night turned thoughts towards a sturdy soup. A loaf of freshly made bread cooling in the kitchen with some nice cheeses went very well along side it. It started off as being a cock-a-leekie soup but as there is more leek than chicken I was going to call it Leekie-Cockie but that didn't sound very appetising...

Serves 3 with bread and cheese on the side.

Ingredients
3 Medium Leeks, trimmed and sliced
1 Medium Carrot, finely diced
1 Chicken thigh, skinned and diced
1/2 Small Green Cabbage, finely shredded
5g Dried Porcini Mushrooms
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
1 Bay Leaf
1 Handful of Pearl Barley
1 Litre Chicken or Vegetable stock

Method
Sweat off the leaks and carrots with the bay leaf until softened but not coloured.
Add the chicken, stock, pearl barley and dried mushrooms.
Bring to the boil and simmer for 30-45 minutes or until the barley is cooked.
Check seasoning - depending on your stock you may not need any.
Add the shredded cabbage and simmer for another 5 minutes.

A Quick And Easy Spring Chicken Pasta Dish

At last the sun has come out and we can start getting the garden together. So far leeks and beetroot have gone in the small bed and Jerusalem Artichokes are thriving in the main bed. No luck with beans so far so have started a third set in the planters by the house. After a heavy day of weeding, pruning. mowing and planting we needed something quick yet hearty and tasty for tea.

Ingredients
2 Chicken Breasts - skin removed and cubed 
1 onion finely chopped or a leek
8 chestnut mushrooms, sliced
1 bunch of asparagus trimmed
Knob of butter and a little olive oil
1 bay leaf
A few sage leaves chopped
1 small handful of frozen (or fresh) peas
1 clove garlic crushed
150ml milk
Splash of white wine (optional)
1 tablespoon of plain flour


Fry the onion in the butter and oil with the bay leaf until the onion has softened. Add the chicken, garlic, sage and mushrooms and fry for a few minutes until the chicken takes on a bit of colour.Add the flour and stir it into the mix (add the wine if using) then add the milk and stir to form a sauce (add a little more milk if the sauce looks a bit thick). Add the asparagus and the peas, cover and simmer for 5 minutes or until the chicken and asparagus are cooked through). Season to taste.

Serve with a bowl of drained pasta.

Chicken and Broccoli Pesto Pasta

The twins are visiting again so something quick, tasty and easy to eat with one arm while cradling a twin was called for this cold winter evening. The addition of pesto gave a hint of summer to come to a heart one pot dish.

Ingredients
2 Chicken Breasts cut into bite sized pieces
1 head of broccoli cut into florets
3-4 flat mushrooms cut to the same size as the chicken
2 leeks finely sliced
1 small glass of wine
100g of pesto
4 hands of pasta shapes such as penne
Knob of butter

Fry the leaks until softened with the butter in a large casserole. Add the chicken and mushrooms and fry until coloured and put some water on to boil for the pasta. Add a glass of wine to the leek and chicken mixture and simmer for a few minutes. Lay the broccoli on top and cover. Cook the pasta and then add to the pan with the broccoli and chicken. Stir in the pesto and serve with grated cheese on the side.

A Midweek Chicken Roast

Our garden is starting to produce plenty of goodies, in particular courgettes and this week I've had a couple of nice meals based around them (serves 2).

Ingredients
2 skinless chicken breasts (or 1 monkfish tail)
4 rashers of streaky bacon
2 red onions quartered
2 red or yellow pepper cut into large chunks
2 medium courgettes cut into large chunks (I used a yellow spherical one)
2-4 sage leaves
Olive oil

Cut a pocket in each chicken breast and insert the sage leaves. Wrap the streaky bacon around the breast and secure with a skewer or cocktail sticks. Heat the over to about 180 degrees and mix the vegetables with the olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast vegetable in the oven for 15 minutes then add the chicken breasts and turn the oven down to 160. Roast for 20-30 minutes until the chicken and vegetables are cooked through.

Serve with a simple green salad and/or crusty bread to mop up the juices.

Chicken Stretching

Been a while since I blogged, work has been very busy, but it hasn't stopped me from cooking and thinking about food. Over recent years we have cut back on the meat we've eaten, instead buying less, better quality meat. Also I hate waste so when we have a roast chicken I like to make the most of it!
This weekend I roasted at free range corn fed chicken with some onion wedges, bay leaves, sage, thyme, onion, and new potatoes, adding a punnet of cherry tomatoes for the last half-hour.
Plenty of leftovers after this which went on to make the following meals:

• Monday work lunch of couscous, herbs, red onion, pepper, chicken and tomatoes
• Monday supper of a soup (made with chicken stock from the picked over carcass) of chicken, carrots, onion, canned tomatoes and sliced spring greens (with a portion for my lunch the next day).
• Tuesday supper of chicken curry (chicken, grated onion, carrot, spring greens, apple, dried fruit, cumin, coriander, fennugreek, turmeric, cardamom and creamed coconut), with a portion left over for my lunch the next day.

So from one chicken we got nine meal portions (and could probably have made 10-12 as they were generous portions) not including the little treats the cats persuaded me to dispense! 

Chicken, Potato and Spinach Curry

Too many potatoes and too much spinach in my veg box so I came up with this recipe. Ingredient proportions are flexible depending on what you have! For a vegetarian option you could replace the chicken with chickpeas or lentils. You could easily do a fish version using a firm fish like monk-fish or cod but add the fish much later, after adding the spinach and cook the dish until the fish is done.

Serves 4

Ingredients:
1 bag of baby spinach
2 Chicken Breasts or 4 chicken thighs, diced
2 medium onions finely sliced
2 carrots, grated.
2 ripe tomatoes, coarsely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, crushed.
2 medium or the equivalent amount in small potatoes, diced. Peal them or not - it's up to you. Waxy ones are best.
Spices: 1 tsp of each of Cumin, Coriander, Turmeric, Fenugreek, 4 Cardamom pods, 2 cloves (ground), 1/4 teaspoon pepper, 1 dried chilli (optional).
 Small bunch fresh coriander

Fry the onions in a tablespoon of oil in a large pan or a casserole - you need a big pan to fit the spinach in later - then add the chicken and fry until coloured. Add the potatoes, tomatoes, carrots and spices. Fry for a few minutes then add a cup or so of hot water or stock. Stir then cover and cook over a low heat until the chicken and potatoes are cooked through. Add more water or stock if the curry dries out too much, it should be fairly dry but should have some sauce.Wash and add the spinach and gently stir in. Cover and cook for a few minutes until the spinach has wilted. Add the chopped coriander and a teaspoon of garum massala, stir and serve with plain boiled rice and a yoghurt raita.

Aromatic Green Thai Curry

My better half (and no I don't mean Fitz) doesn't like spicy food so this version of a classic is aromatic rather than fiery.

Ingredients
For the curry paste:
Blend together:
Half a bunch of coriander (the stems have most of the flavour)
2 shallots
2 cloves of garlic
2 stems of lemon grass
Thumb sized chunk of ginger (peeled)
Juice of half a lime
1/2 a teaspoon of ground coriander
1/2 a teaspoon of ground cumin
6 dried lime leaves
1/4 teaspoon of ground black pepper
1 tablespoon vegetable oil

For the curry:
4 chicken thighs (or equivalent in firm white fish)
1 large green pepper (diced)
1 large onion (diced)
1 can coconut milk
250g of mange tout or sugar snap peas
Rest of the coriander coarsely chopped
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 teaspoon sugar

Blend all the paste ingredients together and then fry in a hot pan.
Add the chicken and fry quickly for a few minutes then add the pepper and onion. Fry for a few more minutes then add the coconut milk, sugar and fish sauce. Bring to the boil then simmer for 15 minutes or until the chicken is cooked.
Add the beans (and the fish if using). Cook for a further 10 minutes (or until the fish is cooked). Sprinkle on the rest of the coriander and serve with rice.

If you like it spicy add 2-3 green chillies, finely chopped to the paste.

Chicken and Mushroom Risotto

My favourite way of using up leftover roast chicken. I like my risottos quite moist, adding the knob of butter at the end helps amalgamate the stock and the rice and makes a creamy texture. This is not a meal you can leave for very long, frequent stirring is a must to get the right texture, as is cooking it over a medium hat; not to hot otherwise the stock boils off too quickly, too slow and you end up with a savoury rice pudding.

Ingredients:
225g Risotto Rice
Knob of butter and glug of olive oil
Glass of white wine
Two sticks of celery, trimmed and diced
1 clove of garlic finely chopped
1 medium onion, finely diced
Handful of roast chicken leftovers chopped or shredded
Few chestnut mushrooms diced
1 litre or so of chicken stock
Parsley and tarragon finely chopped
Handful of freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper

Fry the onion, celery and garlic in the butter and oil until softened. Add the mushrooms and rice and stir. Add wine and stir frequently until absorbed over a medium heat. Add the stock a couple of ladles at a time, stirring frequently until the stock is absorbed. Repeat until the rice is cooked. At this point add the herbs, Parmesan and another knob of butter. Stir and test the seasoning and serve.

Chicken and Leek Soup

Roast chicken yesterday so today, after making stock with the carcass it is a thick and warming soup on a cold, wet windy day. Serves 3 with a chunk of crusty bread.

Ingredients:
Cold roast chicken - a good handful - chopped or shredded
1 fist sized potato peeled and diced
2 leeks trimmed and finely sliced
2 medium carrots diced
1 litre of chicken stock
250ml milk
Parsley and Tarragon - small bunch of each, chopped
Salt and pepper
Knob of butter and glug of oil

Fry the leeks in the oil until softened but not coloured, add the chicken, carrots and potato and cook gently for another 5 minutes. Add the stock and bring to the boil then simmer until the potato and carrots are soft. Mash a bit with a masher to thicken the soup. Add the milk and herbs and season to taste. Don't boil the soup again but heat it through and serve.

Some garlic croûtons sprinkled on top would add a nice texture