I recently took a trip to Gordon Ramsay’s Street Pizza in St Paul’s. They offer a bottomless pizza option where the pizza is cooked constantly and is then brought round. Grab a slice of what you like!
The pizzas were all great. Even the ham and pineapple was a step above – shredded gammon, strips of pineapple but the fresh pecorino was the finishing touch.
However the one I loved was chicken and chorizo, with a sweetcorn puree base. It was a perfect combo! So much so, I had to make it myself:
To make the pizza dough, combine all the ingredients in a bowl and then turn out on to a worktop. Knead thoroughly for 10 minutes until stretchy and elastic. Form into 2-3 balls and put into an oiled bowl. Cover with a teatowel and leave to rise in a warm place for 90 minutes.
Meanwhile make the puree. Blitz all the ingredients together and season with salt and pepper. Push through a sieve to remove the skins and keep refrigerated until needed.
After 90 minutes, preheat the oven as high as it will go with a pizza stone in. Roll out the dough on a floured surface. Add the sweetcorn puree and add the other toppings to taste. Cook for 4-5 minutes until golden and risen. Serve immediately.
Not content with dominating the Christmas music charts, YouTube channel LadBaby have come out with a pie:
Pukka Pies have been around for ages so it sort of makes sense that these would be the guys to come out with such a pie. This is a fairly straightforward idea so I thought I would give it a go at making at home.
One downside of making the pie yourself is the charity missing out. Sales of the pie give a 10p donation to the Trussell Trust, an organisation that works with food banks in the UK. If you’re able, why not consider a donation by following the link or scanning the QR code?
My version of the pie has chicken, carrots, stuffing, sausages and bacon, covered in gravy and wrapped in a flaky pastry. You could easily swap out ingredients as you prefer. Serve with mash and veg with extra gravy for a satisfying treat.
80gsage and onion stuffingmade as per packet instructions, formed into small balls
pinchdried sage
400mlchicken stock
1teaspooncornflour
Instructions
For the pastry:
Grate the butter and mix with the flour. Add a pinch of salt and add small amounts of ice cold water until it comes together and clean away from the bowl (this will not be much, maybe 20-50ml). Wrap in clingfilm and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before using.
For the filling:
Bake the stuffing balls according to the packet instructions. You can cook the rest of the filling while they bake.
Cook the carrots until tender - I put them in the microwave with a splash of water in a covered dish for 4 minutes.
Get a pan over a medium heat and add a splash of oil. Add the bacon and fry for a couple of minutes. Squeeze the sausages into 4 pieces each and add to the pan along with the chicken. Stir fry for a couple of minutes, colouring on all sides.
Add the sage and stock to the pan, followed by the cooked carrots. Bring to the boil. Mix the cornflour with a teaspoon of water and then stir thoroughly into the pie filling. Once blended remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly.
Preheat the oven to 200°C. Roll out the pastry on a floured surface to 3mm thick. Cut out circles and line into a greased muffin tin. Add the pie filling and top with another pastry circle. Brush with beaten egg and bake for 30-35 minutes until puffed up and golden.
Video
Notes
Can easily be frozen at any stage. Even the pie filling itself can be frozen separately for making another day.
It’s BBQ season in the UK, so it’s time for burned or dry meat all round as we scurry to avoid undercooking everything. But it doesn’t have to be this way! A marinade can help. But which method: vinegar, yoghurt, salt… I remembered a clip from Heston Blumenthal’s In Search of Perfection where he conducted such an experiment by putting a chicken breast under an MRI scanner (of course!). Have a look:
So this proved that yoghurt helped ginger and garlic permeate the meat.
Why use yoghurt in a marinade?
Yoghurt can have a positive effect on marinating chicken in several ways:
Tenderizing: The natural enzymes and acids present in yogurt, such as lactic acid, can help break down proteins in the chicken, resulting in a more tender texture. The calcium content in yoghurt also aids in tenderizing the meat.
Moisture retention: Yoghurt can help retain moisture in the chicken during the marinating process. The thick consistency of yoghurt coats the chicken, creating a barrier that prevents moisture loss and helps keep the meat juicy.
Flavour enhancement: Yoghurt can add a subtle tangy flavour to the chicken, enhancing its taste. The acidity in yoghurt can also help balance the flavours and complement the other ingredients in the marinade.
Flavour infusion: Yoghurt acts as a carrier for other spices and seasonings in the marinade, allowing the flavours to penetrate the chicken and impart a more pronounced taste. The acidic nature of yogurt helps in the absorption of flavours into the meat.
It’s worth noting that marinating chicken in yogurt for an extended period (typically several hours or overnight) can have a more significant impact on tenderizing and flavour infusion. However, excessive marinating time with yoghurt can potentially make the chicken mushy or overly tangy, so it’s important to not overdo it.
That said I’m a big fan of brining meat, so how does that measure up?
Why brine meats?
Brining chicken involves soaking it in a solution of salt and water (sometimes with other flavourings) before cooking. Brining can have several effects on marinating chicken:
Moisture retention: Brining helps the chicken retain moisture during the cooking process. When you brine chicken, the salt in the solution causes the meat to absorb water, resulting in juicier and more succulent chicken. This is particularly beneficial for lean cuts of chicken that tend to dry out easily.
Flavour enhancement: While salt is the primary ingredient in the brine, you can also add other flavourings like herbs, spices, sugar, or aromatics to the brine solution. These additional ingredients infuse the chicken with subtle flavours, enhancing its taste.
Tenderising: Brining can contribute to the tenderisation of chicken. The salt in the brine helps to break down proteins in the meat, resulting in a more tender texture. This can be particularly beneficial for tougher cuts of chicken.
But how does that come out in the final chicken? I decided to find out. Taking 3 chicken breasts and pounding them to about 2cm thick, I then steeped them in 3 marinades for about 6 hours.
Sample 1: just ginger and garlic (a sort of control)
Sample 2: ginger and garlic in 5% salt brine
Sample 3: ginger and garlic in yoghurt
I then used my trusty Grill and Press to sear them for about 2 minutes. Pounding them thin and using a marinade gets cooking going much quicker. Plus the grill heats from both sides. I checked that the chicken was done to at least 70°C.
What were the results?
The three were similar, but it was possible to see, taste and feel differences between the methods.
Ginger and garlic only allowed the natural chicken flavour to shine through. The marinade effects were less pronounced, and it had a slightly more chalky, overcooked texture.
Brined chicken had a noticeable well seasoned flavour, though the ginger and garlic itself wasn’t as strong. It was the moistest of the three.
Yoghurt chicken developed a well-browned surface, and allowed the ginger and garlic paste to come through. It wasn’t as moist as the brine sample.
I made a short video recapping the results:
So what does this mean? Personally I recommend brining. The chicken is tasty and moist and the risk of undercooking is so negligible. Some people don’t like the ‘deli’ salted flavour that brining gives though, in which case yoghurt marinades are the way to go. Add seasonings afterwards to develop the flavour of your recipe.
I recently bought an recipe book from 1969: the Family Circle Thrifty Cook’s Book. It’s full of some frankly quite odd recipes but equally some really interesting ideas. SPICY EGG FLUFF… CHEESE CURRY… RICE AND RAISIN WINE… and an entire chapter on how to throw a ‘teenager’s record session’. Oh, and fried chicken with cucumber sauce.
I put a selection of these recipes out to my socials and the cucumber recipe was the most popular. So I streamed the recipe on YouTube – check it out for yourself:
It’s a fried chicken leg, with a roux made from the pan and then diced cucumber stirred through the sauce. It’s… kind of OK? It’s fresh and crunchy, against the thick and savoury roux. Probably worth further experimenting.
Melt margarine in a large frying pan. Fry chicken joints slowly for 20 to 25 minutes, turning occasionally until golden brown and tender.
Remove joints and place on a warm serving dish.
Add remaining flour to fat in pan and cook for 2 minutes. Dissolve stock cube in boiling water and add to pan. Bring to boil, stirring, and cook for 2 minutes. Add milk and salt and pepper to taste.
Peel cucumber, cut into small dice and add to sauce; reheat and pour over chicken. If liked, serve with grilled, halved tomatoes.
Notes
I've presented the recipe as it was originally written, including Imperial measurements.
