Month: March 2009

Categories
bacon chicken food red cabbage

chicken wrapped in bacon with red cabbage and champ

chicken wrapped in bacon

Last week I watched a great series from the wonderful Hardeep Singh Kohli, Chefs and the City, where norms bring their signature dish to battle against a pro chef. One guy lost in a brazen fashion, daring to take on a French chef at something right up their street. He was destroyed, but there was something promising in his quail wrapped in bacon. I decided to adapt it to my own means.

I started with chicken breasts, skin-on, seasoned well. I then lifted the fillet and filled with a generous splurge of garlic Philadelphia before folding back over. Then the whole breast was wrapped in two pieces of bacon, seasoned again and brushed with olive oil. On a baking tray it went, into a 180 oven for about half an hour til golden brown. I made sure it rested for at least five mins before serving.

The red cabbage was proper rich: butter, brown sugar and red wine vinegar melted together then poured over the shredded cabbage and bunged in the oven.

Meanwhile, some excessive mash: potatoes boiled to tenderness of course, but on the side I was allowing some leftover double cream to infuse on a gentle heat with half an onion, some nutmeg and some peppercorns. When the potatoes were ready and drained I added butter and some of the cream, then whipped the potatoes with a fork (smoother paste through the tines you see) until they were slick and floury. I chucked in some spring onions for good measure, to give some acidity through the richness. I couldn’t resist adding a few fried crispy bacon bits on top for fun.

I sliced the chicken on the diagonal and plated it up – admittedly I wish I’d served it with a little more thought so it wasn’t three dollops of things, but it was one of the best things I’ve ever made. Really top-grade stuff.

Categories
cabbage food pork swede

hungarian pork chops with cabbage and swede

 

Yet another Jamie winner, and yet another triumph from my friendly neighbourhood butcher. There’s three distinct parts here: pork chop, spicy cabbage, and roast swede.

Swede first: peeled and diced, tossed with salt, pepper, oil and thyme, left to roast for 45 mins.

Then the pork. I made a rub first by grinding fennel seeds, paprika, salt and pepper together in my two-ton pestle and mortar (must pic that some day), and then pressing all over my beautiful pink pork chops. Then on to a nice hot griddle, ten minutes all told, turning every couple of minutes.

When the pork was done and resting (crucial for those flavours and juices to return throughout the meat), it was time for the cabbage. I heated some oil in a hot pan, then added mustard seeds, cayenne pepper and sliced garlic until the seeds were popping out of the pan. Then shredded cabbage was quickly added and tossed in the pan until it caught slightly, blackening the edges.

It was lovely – juicy flesh, with aniseedy flavours hitting you immediately then giving way to the smoky-sweet paprika. The cabbage and swede were great counters to both of these. Enjoyed this a lot.

Categories
chicken food

roast chicken

The humble roast chicken is anything but. It’s a real crowd-pleaser. Vegetarians, I feel genuinely sorry that you’ll never know the succulent, meaty joy of a crisp, moist roast chicken.

How I cook it depends on what’s to hand. Here it’s stuffed with a chopped onion, which evaporates sweet perfume throughout the bird, and liberally rubbed with olive oil, salt, pepper and fresh thyme. It’s sat on a bed of root veg, ready to make gravy with afterwards. I also have a favoured version which starts with fried bacon deglazed with brandy to kick the cooking off.
I generally start it off on a high heat (225C), then take it down to about 180C once it’s in. A good basting from the run-off juices every 20 mins or so keeps it moist and returns flavour to the bird. Once a skewer allows clear juice running from the thigh it’s done. You must let it rest to retain moistness and flavour, in this case it sat for about half an hour.
The gravy was simply the roasting pan, veg and all, over the hob and chicken stock allowed to bubble over for a few minutes until thick and dark, then strained off. Glorious.
Categories
chicken food mushroom potatoes thyme

chicken and mushroom hotpot



Wow, this was a Jamie great. Very pleased with the results.

Started with chicken legs: skinned, then trimmed the meat off and diced. The skin was then put into a hot pan and allowed to render the fat out. Then browned the leg meat, and added onion, garlic and celery. Once this had all sweated a little I chucked in some sliced chestnut mushrooms and seasoned well. Then, a spoon of flour mixed through to help thicken it up. I added some chicken stock until soupy, then lovely wood thyme.
I poured this into a casserole pot and topped with lightly-boiled sliced potatoes and baked in the oven for half an hour. Thick, savoury and a lovely blend of textures. Nice!
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