Category Archives: Poultry

Miscellaneous, Poultry

The Barefoot Contessa’s Turkey Meatloaf with Caramelized Onion Gravy

When I was growing up, my mom would cook us whatever we wanted for dinner on our birthday. The only thing I remember asking for a few years in a row when I was a kid was pineapple ham. This was in the days before it became a derided pizza topping combo, and I’m sure I thought it was something fancy and special — at any rate, I loved it. Carrying on the tradition, I now cook special requests for my family on their birthdays too, and almost every year for the past 13 years that I’ve known him, my husband has requested an even more unglamorous dinner — meatloaf. Is there an uglier dish than meatloaf? Once or twice he’s gone more upmarket and asked for steak au poivre, but the humble meatloaf with mashed potatoes and gravy will always be his favorite. Kelly has already shared Mark Bittman’s basic meatloaf recipe, but I like this one because it’s made with turkey mince instead, which makes it a little lighter than meatloaf made with beef. It might not win any beauty pageants (which doesn’t stop Nigella Lawson from waxing poetic about it), but I have to admit it’s really good and the kids love it too, so everyone wins.


Turkey Meatloaf
adapted from The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook by Ina Garten

Serves 4

I’ve modified this a bit to decrease the amount of meatloaf made. I also prefer to cook it in a loaf tin instead of free forming it on a baking sheet. Meatloaf and mashed potatoes go together like bread and butter — just add your favorite veg dish to round out the supper.

olive oil
2 onions, chopped
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 cup (50 ml) Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup (125 ml) chicken stock
1 1/2 teaspoons tomato paste (or you could just use ketchup)
2 lb (1 kg) ground turkey breast
1 to 1 1/2 cups (100 to 150 g) plain dry breadcrumbs
2 large eggs, beaten
1/2 cup (125 ml) ketchup

Preheat the oven to 325° F (160°C). Line a loaf tin with parchment paper or foil so that it hangs over the sides, which will make it easy to remove the meatloaf from the tin after it’s cooked.

Heat a splash of olive oil in a medium saute pan over a medium-low heat. Cook the onions with a generous amount of salt and pepper and the thyme for about 15 minutes, until translucent but not browned. Add the Worcestershire sauce, chicken stock, and tomato paste and mix well. Allow to cool to room temperature.

Combine the ground turkey, 1 cup (100 g) bread crumbs, eggs, and onion mixture in a large bowl. Add in the extra 1/2 cup (50 g) of breadcrumbs if you think the mixture looks too wet (alternatively, if you think it looks too dry, add another splash of stock). Mix well and place into the lined loaf tin. Spread the ketchup evenly on top. Bake for 1 1/2 hours, until the internal temperature is 160°F (70°C) and the meatloaf is cooked through. (A pan of hot water in the oven under the meatloaf will keep the top from cracking.) Serve hot, at room temperature, or cold in a sandwich.

***

Caramelized Onion Gravy
adapted from How to Cook: Book One by Delia Smith

Delia’s original recipe is for a roasted onion gravy, but since I was making this at the same time as the meatloaf, which needs a low temperature, I couldn’t roast the onions and decided to caramelize them instead. You can caramelize the onions ahead of time and store them in an airtight container in the fridge for a few days.

2 teaspoons groundnut or other flavorless oil
a knob of butter (optional)
2 large onions, thinly sliced
a generous pinch of sugar (optional)
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 level teaspoon mustard powder, such as Colman’s
15 fl oz (425 ml) vegetable stock
1 rounded tablespoon plain flour
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Coat the bottom of a wide pan with olive oil, or a mixture of olive oil and butter (about 1 teaspoon per onion). Heat the pan on medium high heat until the oil is shimmering. Add the onion slices and stir to coat the onions with the oil. Spread the onions out evenly over the pan and allow them to cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes. Sprinkle some salt over the onions and add a pinch of sugar to give the carmelization process a boost (optional). Cook for around 30 minutes, stirring every few minutes. Keep an eye on the temperature — you may need to lower it if the onions look like they’re on the verge of burning, not browning — and add a little more oil if they’re sticking to the pan too much. As the onions cook down, you may find you need to scrape the pan every minute instead of every few minutes. As the sugar in the onions caramelizes, they’ll go from light tan to golden to deep brown. Don’t cook past a mahogany color, because then they might burn.

When the onions are ready, add the Worcestershire sauce and mustard powder to the stock. Add the flour to the onions, stir them together and cook for 1 minute. Gradually add the stock mixture to the pan, whisking all the time, until it’s all incorporated. Bring it up to a simmer and let it gently bubble away for 5 minutes. Taste to check the seasoning, then pour into a warmed serving jug.

Cookies, Entertaining, Holidays, Potatoes, Poultry

Piri Piri Chicken with Sweet Potatoes and Almond, Honey and Orange Shortbread

From not knowing a single other food blogger at the start of the year, I now know many and count them amongst my friends. Who would have thought that the Bord Bia food blogger event back in May would have been such a launching pad for the bloggers in Ireland to start organising their own events, meet-ups, workshops and even the Irish Food Bloggers Association? Two bloggers I’ve come to know, both in the virtual and the real world, are Aoife of The Daily Spud, who in turn introduced me to Adrienne of Gastroanthropology, a fellow expat who lives in London. When I heard that Adrienne was organizing a blogger Christmas cookie exchange, I quickly signed up and wasn’t too surprised to see that from all the participants, Adrienne had arranged things so that I sent a recipe to her and received one from Aoife. Making Aoife’s shortbread was the perfect way to pass an afternoon with the kids when we were all stuck at home last week from the snow, and they were a welcome treat to have with a cup of coffee for me and hot chocolate for the kids. Given how many new people I’ve met because of blogging in 2010, I can’t wait to see who I might meet in 2011.

Piri Piri Chicken
adapted from 30 Minute Meals by Jamie Oliver

Serves 4

You could also use boneless, skinless thighs or breasts; if using breasts, just cook them a little longer. I’ve only made the chicken and sweet potatoes from this menu, but if you want to make the rocket (arugula) salad and Portugese tarts as well, you can see the complete menu here. If you made the whole menu, it would be a fantastic spread for entertaining — but if you can actually pull it off in 30 minutes like the title promises, I tip my hat to you.

4 to 6 large chicken thighs, skin on and bone in
1 red pepper, sliced into strips
1 yellow pepper, sliced into strips
6 sprigs of fresh thyme

for the piri piri sauce:
1 red onion, roughly chopped
4 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1 or 2 red chillies, deseeded and roughly chopped
2 tablespoons sweet smoked paprika
4 tablespoons white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 lemons
salt and freshly ground black pepper
a large bunch of fresh basil

Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Put a large griddle pan on a high heat.

Put the chicken thighs on a plastic chopping board, skin side down, and slash the meat on each one a few times. Drizzle with olive oil and season, then put on the hot griddle pan, skin side down. Cook until golden underneath, then turn over.

While the chicken is cooking, make the piri piri sauce. Add the onion, garlic, chillies, paprika, vinegar and Worcestershire sauce to a blender or food processor. Add the zest of 2 lemons and the juice of 1 lemon. Add a good pinch of salt and pepper, the large bunch of basil and a splash of water. Blend until smooth.

Add the peppers to the griddle pan. Turn the heat down to medium and keep moving the peppers around. Turn the chicken over.

Pour the piri piri sauce into a snug-fitting roasting tray. Lay the peppers on top of the sauce and push to the side. Add the chicken to the roasting tray with the sauce. Scatter over the sprigs of thyme, then put the tray into the oven. Cook for 20 to 30 minutes, or until cooked through. Sprinkle over some chopped fresh cilantro to serve.

***

Sweet Potatoes with Feta, Lemon and Chili
adapted from 30 Minute Meals by Jamie Oliver

Serves 4

1 medium potato
2 sweet potatoes
1/2 lemon
1 red chilli, finely chopped
1 bunch of fresh cilantro, finely chopped
2 oz (50 g) feta cheese, crumbled

Wash the potato and sweet potatoes and halve lengthways. Put them into a large microwave-safe bowl with half a lemon. Cover with cling film and put into the microwave on full power for 15 minutes. (If you don’t have a microwave, simply boil the potatoes on their own until tender.) Once the potatoes are cooked through, use tongs to squeeze over the cooked lemon. (Or if you haven’t used a microwave, add the juice of the half lemon to the potatoes.) Add the chiles, cilantro and feta. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground pepper, mix everything together and serve.

***

Almond, Honey and Orange Shortbread
adapted from The Daily Spud

Makes 30 to 35 cookies

With two stir crazy children helping me make these cookies when we were all stuck at home last week because of the snow, I streamlined Aoife’s recipe to just use packaged ground almonds instead of toasting whole almonds and grinding them myself. I went ahead and used the zest of an entire orange instead of just half an orange, and I also didn’t have any amaretto in the house, so I used almond extract instead. Aoife also suggests two variations by replacing the orange zest with some espresso powder and/or replace the almonds and amaretto with hazelnuts and Frangelico.

3/4 cup (100 g) plain flour
1/4 cup (25 g) rice flour or cornflour (cornstarch), or substitute additional plain flour
good pinch of salt
1 cup (100 g) ground almonds
1/2 cup (100 g) unsalted butter, softened
2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon almond extract or amaretto (optional)
zest of 1 orange
1/4 cup (25 g) powdered (icing) sugar, sifted, for coating (optional)
2 oz (50 g) good-quality dark chocolate, for dipping (optional)

Preheat your oven to 300°F (150°C).

Whisk the plain flour, rice flour and salt together in a medium bowl. Add the ground almonds and whisk again.

In a separate bowl, a stand mixer or a food processor, beat the butter until light and fluffy. Add the honey, almond extract and orange zest to the butter and beat well. Gradually incorporate the flour and almond mixture into the butter. When done, you should end up with a ball of dough that will be slightly crumbly and tacky to the touch.

Scoop heaped teaspoonfuls of the dough into the palm of your hand, roll into balls, then place on the baking sheet and flatten slightly, either using the palm of your hand or the base of a glass. You should end up with little discs around 1 inch wide and 1/4 to 1/2 inch high.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the biscuits are just starting to darken at the edges. Allow to cool slightly for about 2 minutes, then toss the biscuits in the icing sugar and leave to cool fully on a wire rack. If you fancy dipping the biscuits in chocolate, then chop the chocolate finely and either melt in the microwave (zapping it until barely melted) or in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of hot (not simmering) water. Once melted, dip half of each biscuit in the chocolate and leave to set on a wire tray. When cool, dust with some more icing sugar and enjoy with your Christmas tea or coffee.

Casseroles, One-pot wonders, Poultry

Catalina Chicken

I’d never heard of Catalina chicken before coming across this recipe for it a few years ago in the Cooks Academy Cookbook. This recipe is from the author’s grandmother, but after doing a quick online search to see if I could find out more about it, I found recipes with nothing but chicken, dried onion soup mix and a bottle of Catalina salad dressing as ingredients — the kind of “recipe” you often see on the back of food packaging or in a full-page ad for said soup mix or dressing in American women’s magazines. Given that this recipe comes from a Dublin cooking school and a country where Catalina dressing isn’t even sold, this version doesn’t take any prepackaged shortcuts — and is all the better for it. Besides, anything with hard cider in it is bound to be better than something that comes from a jar. The author says her grandmother always served this with homemade chips that she cut by hand with a crinkle cutter, but I like it with plenty of crusty bread to mop up the delicious sauce.

Catalina Chicken
adapted from Cooks Academy Cookbook by Vanessa Greenwood

Serves 4

If you don’t have a casserole pot (a.k.a. Dutch oven), then start off by cooking the food in a heavy-based frying pan instead, then transferring to an ovenproof dish with a lid or an ovenproof dish that you can cover tightly with foil. I’ve modified the original recipe to start off by browning the chicken to improve its flavor and appearance, but if you’re in a bit of a rush, you can skip this step and just add the chicken to the sauce along with the mushrooms and peppers.

olive oil
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons (30 g) butter
7 oz (200 g) mushrooms, quartered
1 large onion, diced
1 tablespoon plain flour
2 cups (500 ml) dry cider (hard cider)
3/4 cup (200 ml) chicken stock
1 tablespoon tomato puree
1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
2 red peppers, deseeded and cut into bite-sized pieces
chopped fresh parsley, to garnish
crusty bread, home fries, baked potatoes or mashed potatoes, to serve

Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).

In a heavy-based casserole pot, heat the olive oil over a medium-high heat. Season the chicken breasts and brown in the oil, then set aside.

Add the butter to the pot, then saute the mushrooms over a high heat until they turn golden on the outside. Set aside.

Lower the heat, add a little more olive oil and sweat the onions for 10 minutes with a pinch of salt (to help prevent them from browning too much) before stirring in the flour and cooking for 2 minutes more. Increase the heat, add the cider and stock and simmer for 10 minutes to reduce the liquid slightly.

Meanwhile, mix together the tomato puree, vinegar, sugar, paprika and chili powder and stir through the cider sauce. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Add the chicken back to the pot in a single layer. Scatter over the peppers and mushrooms. Cover and cook in the oven for 1 hour, stirring halfway through. Garnish with the chopped parsley and serve.

Cookbook reviews, Entertaining, Poultry, Rice

Chicken with Rice and Basil, Buttered Spinach and Little Glazed Carrots

A few years ago, some friends gave me an Amazon gift certificate and I promptly bought the first cookbook on my wish list, A Year in My Kitchen by Skye Gyngell, which went on to be named Cookery Book of the Year by the Guild of Food Writers and the Best Food Book at Le Cordon Bleu World Food Media Awards in 2007. So when Quadrille Publishing offered me the opportunity to review her newest book, How I Cook, I jumped at the chance.

The focus of How I Cook is on home cooking, albeit with “a little finesse,” as Skye says, which is reflected in the book’s content. There are no 30-minute meals here, bur rather a sophisticated mix of everyday dishes and food for special occasions that is still achievable for home cooks. This book particularly appeals to me because of its format, which presents recipes as part of a complete menu (much like what we try to do on this blog). The book is divided into chapters — Breakfast, Sunday Lunch, Alfresco Eating, Afternoon Tea, Simple Weekday Dinner, Late Night Supper, Special Occasion and Time to Spare — and within those chapters are a series of ready-made menus. This makes it an ideal book for entertaining or for leisurely weekend cooking when you have more time to potter in the kitchen and want to make something a little more special for dinner than the usual hastily thrown together midweek pasta dish.

Skye is the head chef at Petersham Nurseries Café in Richmond, Surrey, and with fresh produce on her kitchen’s doorstep, it’s no surprise that her menus are strongly influenced by what’s in season. Skye brings together ingredients that are growing at the same time, since they often naturally complement each other. You can see this at work in combinations like the wintry Slow-roasted Pork menu, which is made up of slow-cooked belly of pork, a gratin of white beans, sauteed leeks and a fig tart. I’ve chosen the Peasant-style Supper menu from the Simple Weekday Dinner chapter to feature here, but other recipes I’ve already bookmarked to try this winter include slow-cooked shoulder of lamb with sweet paprika and chickpeas, oeufs en cocotte with spinach and Parma ham, spiced pears, and rice pudding with poached prunes.

In the introduction, Skye says, “The greatest pleasure I derive from food is cooking for loved ones … I cook for the same reason that you do — to bring joy to others — it pleases me to see people smile and laugh and feel content around a table, and I’m sure it is the same for you.” (I know it’s true for Kelly and me.) If that sentiment strikes a chord with you, then it’s worth picking up this book.

Chicken with Rice and Basil
adapted from How I Cook by Skye Gyngell

Serves 6

Skye points out that in a classic risotto, the warm stock is gradually added to the rice. Here, she has added only wine, cold and all in one go. This way, the rice takes on the flavor of the wine quite profoundly — which means it might not be suitable for young children; this might best be saved for a grown-up dinner. Skye suggests serving cheese or seasonal fruit as dessert to round off this menu.

1 large whole chicken (3 lb 5 oz/1.5 kg), preferably free-range and organic, jointed into 6 pieces
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 red onion, peeled and finely sliced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 dried red chili (or dried chili flakes, to taste)
4 oz (100 g) risotto rice (Arborio or Carnaroli)
3 cups (750 ml) dry white wine
1 large bunch of basil
extra virgin olive oil, to drizzle

Season the chicken joints well all over with salt and pepper. Place a large flameproof casserole over a medium heat and add the olive oil. Once the oil is sizzling, brown the chicken pieces in batches, skin side down, without turning, until they are golden brown; this will take about 5 minutes. Set aside.

Pour off any excess fat, leaving a little in the casserole. Lower the heat, add the onion and sweat gently for about 10 minutes, until soft and translucent. Now add the garlic and crumble in the dried chili. Stir once or twice, then tip in the rice and toss it through.

Increase the heat slightly, pour in the wine and return the chicken to the pot. Put the lid on, turn the heat to low and cook for 20 minutes. By this time the chicken should be cooked through and the rice will have a gentle bite.

Tear the basil with your fingers and scatter over the chicken. Stir through, then taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary; it will almost certainly need more salt.

Serve in warm soup plates, drizzled with extra virgin olive oil, and with the buttered spinach and glazed carrots on the side.

***

Buttered Spinach
adapted from How I Cook by Skye Gyngell

Serves 6

14 oz (400 g) young spinach
3 tablespoons (45 g) unsalted butter
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg, or to taste

Wash the spinach in several changes of cold water to remove all traces of dirt. Put the spinach into a medium saucepan with just the water clinging to the leaves after washing. Allow to wilt over a low heat, stirring from time to time. Once all the spinach has wilted, drain in a colander, pressing firmly with the back of a wooden spoon to remove excess water. Melt the butter in the pan, add the spinach and toss until it is really well coated. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg to taste, then serve.

***

Little Glazed Carrots
adapted from How I Cook by Skye Gyngell

Serves 6

If you can’t find small whole carrots, you could make these sauteed carrots instead, which uses much the same method.

1 lb 2 oz (500 g) small carrots, peeled and trimmed
1 tablespoon (30 g) butter
2 teaspoons honey
1 small bunch of thyme
sea salt
handful of flat-leaf parsley, leaves only, finely chopped

Scrub or peel the carrots and trim them, leaving on a little of the green leafy tops. Place in a saucepan with the butter and honey. Pour on enough cold water to just cover the carrots and add the thyme and a good pinch of salt. Bring just to the boil, then turn down the heat to a summer and cook until just tender; this will take about 10 minutes. Discard the thyme. Now turn up the heat and boil rapidly until all the water has evaporated and the carrots are coated in a lovely shiny glaze. Serve warm, with a generous sprinkling of chopped parsley.

One-pot wonders, Potatoes, Poultry

Spanish Chicken with Chorizo and Potatoes and Braised Kale

Now that the two big projects that kept me chained to my desk these past few weeks have finally gone off to the printer, I’d love nothing more than to light the turf fire (now that it’s cold enough for one) after the kids go to bed and catch up on all the cooking shows I’ve recorded. But there’s no rest for the weary, and I’m just as busy this week as Caroline from Bibliocook and I put the finishing touches to a new foodie project, to be launched at the Savour Kilkenny Food Camp on Friday. The focus is still on fast, fuss-free meals and I’m still leaning heavily on Nigella Lawson’s new book despite having acquired five other ones in the past six weeks, mainly because it never seems to leave my kitchen counter and make it back to the bookshelf. This tray bake was just what I needed for an easy midweek dinner, but once Friday’s launch is done and dusted and our mystery project goes live, I’m looking forward to some downtime and leisurely baking in the kitchen this weekend after Nigella’s book just so happened to fall open to the maple pecan bundt cake recipe…

If you like this chicken and chorizo hash, you’ll love this. Likewise, if you’re a fan of one-tray dinners that you can assemble in five minutes then pop in the oven and forget about, like oven-roasted sausage and sweet potato, cherry tomato and sausage bake, or balsamic roast chicken with roast tomatoes, then this is another recipe to add to that list.

Spanish Chicken with Chorizo and Potatoes
adapted from Kitchen by Nigella Lawson

Serves 6

Nigella’s original recipe calls for 12 chicken thighs (bone in, skin on) to be cooked at 425°F (220°C) for 1 hour. She also calls for 2 teaspoons of dried oregano and the zest of 1 orange, both of which I left out. And while her original recipe calls for about 1 3/4 lb (750 g) of chorizo, I easily got away with using only 11 oz (300 g). She suggests dicing up any leftovers to make quesadillas.

6 chicken breasts
2 lb (1 kg) baby potatoes, halved
1 1/2 lb (680 g) chorizo, cut into 1 1/2‑inch pieces
2 or 3 red onions, roughly chopped
olive oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Place the chicken, baby potatoes, chorizo and onions in a roasting tin (or divide between 2 baking trays). Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast in the oven for 30 to 40 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through. Baste the contents with the oil released by the chorizo and serve.

***

Braised Kale

Serves 4

1 lb (450 g) kale (about 2 bunches), large center ribs and stems removed
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 red chili, finely chopped, or a pinch of red pepper flakes
1/3 cup (80 ml) dry white wine
zest and juice of 1 lemon
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Rinse the kale well, then cut crosswise into 1/2‑inch slices. Drain in a colander and set aside.

Heat the oil in a large frying pan over a medium-low heat. Saute the garlic the chili or red pepper flakes for 5 minutes, taking care not to let the garlic color. When the garlic has softened, raise the heat and add the kale. Cook for a couple of minutes, until the kale starts to wilt and turn a vibrant green. Add in the wine, lemon zest and juice and salt and pepper to taste. (Try not to cook the kale too long so that it keeps its bright green color.) Serve immediately.

Cookbook reviews, Entertaining, One-pot wonders, Poultry

Balsamic Roast Chicken with Rocket, Roast Tomatoes and Parmesan

As a bit of a self-confessed cookbook addict (six new cookbooks in the last six weeks, ahem!), I know what Domini Kemp is talking about when she said in her column last Saturday, “Who needs another cookbook? I know if the amount I have on my shelves is anything to go by, then I certainly don’t. But yet, I love flicking through cookbooks any chance I get.” Her own beautifully styled new book, Itsa Cookbook, is a compilation of over 100 of the best-loved, most-cooked recipes from her weekly Irish Times column, with photographs that make you wish you could pull up a chair and tuck in. Recipes I’ve already made from Domini’s column over the years that are now included in her book are chickpea, sweet potato and chorizo stew; beans and bacon; coriander chicken with chickpea, feta and coriander salad; and salmon en croute with dill and pistachio pesto. A short list of recipes from the book I’m looking forward to trying include sweet corn fritters with tomato salsa, lemon and garlic poached chicken, baked sweet potatoes with lemon and chilli, and chocolate sorbet.

Domini is not only a food writer with a weekly column in the Saturday Irish Times Magazine, but is also a professionally trained chef and restaurateur (she and her sister, Peaches, own and run the Itsa Food Company). Yet for all that, Domini says in her introduction, “But every day I cook at home, where time, nutrition, satisfaction and taste are all key factors. I love to take a recipe, tear it apart, try to make it simpler and tastier and eliminate anything that isn’t utterly critical.” What this has resulted in is a book filled with foolproof recipes aimed at the everyday cook who still wants to eat well — and which one of us doesn’t fit that description?

You can’t get more foolproof than this recipe for balsamic roast chicken with rocket (that’s arugula to those of you in the States), cherry tomatoes and Parmesan. It literally takes 5 minutes to put together and cooks for 30 minutes in the oven — how’s that for an effortless midweek meal? It’s a fantastic recipe to have up your sleeve.

Balsamic Roast Chicken with Rocket, Roast Tomatoes and Parmesan
adapted from Itsa Cookbook by Domini Kemp

Serves 4

This takes only minutes to pull together, but is tasty and sophisticated enough to serve for guests. The flavors are very similar to Jamie Oliver’s cherry tomato and sausage bake, not to mention the same effortless cooking method, so if you like that, you’ll love this too.

4 chicken breasts or supremes, skin on or off
a few tablespoons olive oil
a few tablespoons balsamic vinegar
a few cloves garlic, peeled
fresh thyme or rosemary if you have it
salt and freshly ground black pepper
9 oz (250 g) cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
4 handfuls rocket (arugula)
a few chunky shavings of Parmesan or Pecorino
crusty  bread, to serve

Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).

Place the chicken in a roasting tray or baking sheet and pour over the olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Add in some garlic, herbs and season well, then add in the cherry tomatoes. Roast for about 30 minutes, or until the chicken is fully cooked through, basting the chicken with the cooking juices once or twice.

Arrange the arugula (rocket) on 4 plates. Top with the chicken and some tomatoes and loads of cooking juices (which is like a warm and simple vinaigrette). Top with some Parmesan shavings and serve with plenty of crusty bread to mop up the juices.

Appetizers, Mexican food, Poultry

Chipotle Lime Grilled Chicken Thighs with Pico de Gallo

As much as I hate to see it go, summer is on its way out. Our bathing suits and beach towels are washed and stored. Jackets and jeans have come out of hiding. Apples are reappearing in our CSA box. And sadly, we harvested the last of our backyard tomatoes. I love tomatoes. I love them enough to avoid eating them out of season when they are pithy, tasteless and generally useless. So to honor the last of our tomatoes, I paired them with our backyard’s real bounty — serrano chilies. The tomatoes and chilies in the pico de gallo provide a nice acidity and heat for the savory grilled chicken thighs. It even livened up the plain white rice I served with it.

Another note on peppers — we grew a bumper crop of hot (really hot) ones this year thanks to a new sunny garden bed and good weather. We obviously couldn’t eat a basket of hot peppers each week, so I made up a huge jar of homemade pickled serranos and jalapenos. If anyone else is looking for a way to preserve their own peppers, check out this fabulous recipe from David Lebovitz for pickled jalapenos. Delicious, easy, and perfect for topping nachos.

Chipotle Lime Grilled Chicken Thighs 
adapted from Gourmet, June 2006

Serves 4 to 6

1/4 cup (60 ml) fresh lime juice
1/4 cup (60 ml) olive oil
2 canned chipotles in adobo, minced
1 teaspoon salt
6 to 8 large skinless boneless chicken thighs
1 tablespoon honey

Prepare your grill for cooking over direct heat with medium-hot charcoal (moderate heat for gas).

While the coals are lighting, stir together the lime juice, oil, minced chipotle, and salt in a liquid-measuring cup. Put the chicken in a large sealable bag and add 1/3 cup (80 ml) marinade (reserve the remainder in a cup). Seal the bag, forcing out excess air, and marinate the chicken at room temperature for about 15 minutes. Stir the honey into the remaining marinade until dissolved to make a sauce.

Grill the chicken (discarding the marinade in the bag) on a lightly oiled grill rack, covered only if using a gas grill, turning the chicken over occasionally and moving it to avoid flare-ups if necessary, until just cooked through, 8 to 10 minutes total.

Brush both sides of the chicken with some of the reserved sauce, then continue to grill, turning over once, until lightly browned, about 1 minute more. Serve the chicken drizzled with remaining sauce and topped with pico de gallo, if desired.

***

Pico de Gallo

Makes about 2 cups (480 ml)

1/2 onion (white or red), minced
2 large, ripe tomatoes, diced small
1 jalapeno or serrano chili, minced (remove seeds before mincing to lessen heat)
juice of 1/2 lime
handful of chopped cilantro
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Place the onion in a colander and rinse under cold water, then drain. Gently mix together all of the ingredients, including the onion, in a medium bowl. Taste and add more lime juice, salt and/or pepper, if necessary. Serve with tortilla chips or as a topping to meat, fish, or poultry.

Desserts, French food, Fruit, Grains and pulses, Poultry

Lemon Chicken with Provençal Couscous and Peach and Blackberry Pandowdy

Heading down the hill on my way home after a walk this past weekend and thinking that I was glad I’d worn my fleece, I could see smoke coiling from the chimney of a neighbor’s farmhouse. While I’m not ready to say it’s autumn just yet, I did think to myself that this meal might well be marking the end of summer.

In Ireland, blackberries grow wild in the hedgerows and the countryside is full of them at the minute. I was lucky enough to be able to get all the blackberries I needed for this dessert just by stepping out my back door and picking them from in amongst the hedges that line the perimeter of my yard. I’m not so lucky when it comes to peaches though. They’re one of my favorite summertime treats, but the peaches that you buy in Ireland don’t have the same juice-dribbling-down-your-chin lusciousness as the ones you can get in the States. When I was back there in July, I got my fill of all the summertime staples I used to take for granted but now miss: bratwurst, frozen custard, iced coffee, sweetcorn, watermelon and, yes, peaches from the farm stand. I’m not giving up hope of having an Indian summer, but I’m taking a cue from my neighbor and will be stocking up on turf and firewood again all the same.

If your pastry-making skills aren’t the best, this is the perfect dessert for you. A pandowdy (the word actually means ‘unfashionable’ or ‘without style’) is like an upside-down pie, with the filling right in the dish and the crust on top. It’s a rustic dessert and is meant to look like one, so you don’t have to worry about perfect presentation — you can even make it in a cast iron skillet. As for me, I’m no pastry expert, and in fact used to avoid any recipes that called for it because I was so bad at it, but I’ve had great success using a tip I learned watching Rachel Allen’s Bake program this spring — roll out the pastry between two sheets of cling film. It won’t stick to your counter and you won’t have to add any extra flour for dusting, meaning the pastry will stay light and flaky. Try it!

Lemon Chicken with Provençal Couscous
lemon chicken adapted from The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook by Ina Garten and couscous from The Irish Independent, July 3, 2010

Serves 4

Please don’t be put off by the long list of ingredients for the couscous, it’s only a few spices and vegetables. This is the best couscous dish I’ve ever made — I promise it will be worth the effort of a bit of measuring and chopping.

for the lemon chicken:
1/3 cup (80 ml) freshly squeezed lemon juice (2 or 3 lemons)
1/3 cup (80 ml) olive oil
2 or 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped or grated
salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 large rosemary sprigs or a few sprigs of fresh thyme (or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme)

for the Provençal couscous:
1/2 pint (300 ml) chicken stock
1/8 teaspoon turmeric
1/8 teaspoon paprika
1/8 teaspoon ground cumin
1/8 teaspoon chili powder
juice of 1/2 orange
6 oz (175 g) couscous
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 red onion, finely diced
1 red pepper, halved, deseeded and cut into 1/2‑inch cubes
1 yellow pepper, halved, deseeded and cut into 1/2‑inch cubes
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 small zucchini, cut into 1/2‑inch cubes
salt and freshly ground black pepper

To make the chicken, whisk together the lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper. Pour it over the chicken breasts in a casserole dish, then tuck in the fresh herbs around the chicken. Cover and marinate in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours, but ideally overnight. The next day, preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Remove the chicken from the marinade, shaking off any excess, and place on a baking tray. Roast in the oven for 30 minutes, or until cooked through.

Meanwhile, to make the couscous, bring the stock, spices and orange juice to the boil and cook gently for 10 minutes. Pour the couscous into a large bowl and pour a quarter of the liquid over it. Stir, cover completely with cling film and allow to steam for 10 minutes. Break up with a fork and pour in another quarter of the stock. Cover once more and let it rest for another 10 minutes. Loosen with a fork again. Add the rest of the stock and cover once more. Once the couscous has absorbed all the liquid and fluffed up, it is cooked. If there is any excess liquid after the couscous has fluffed up, you can simply drain it off.

While the couscous is steaming, you can get on with the vegetables. Heat a large frying pan over a medium heat. Sauté the onion for 2 to 3 minutes in the olive oil, then add the peppers and garlic. Cook for 2 more minutes, then add in the zucchini. Cook for a further 3 to 5 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender but still hold their shape. Season with salt and pepper, then mix the vegetables through the couscous.

Serve the chicken on warmed plates with a portion of Provençal couscous.

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Gingered Peach and Blackberry Pandowdy
adapted from Rustic Fruit Desserts by Cory Schreiber and Julie Richardson

Serves 8 to 10

I know this recipe looks awfully long and involved, but honestly, it’s so straightforward my five-year-old daughter helped me to make it. This is the pastry recipe from Rustic Fruit Desserts, but if you have your own tried and true pie pastry recipe, just use that.

for the pastry:
1 1/4 cups (150 g) flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/2 cup (110 g) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1‑inch cubes
1/4 cup (60 ml) ice water, or more if needed
1 1/2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

for the filling:
2 lb (900 g) peaches, pitted (anywhere between 4 and 8 peaches, depending on size)
1/2 cup (100 g) sugar
juice of 1 large lemon
2 tablespoons cornstarch (cornflour)
2 tablespoons (15 g) chopped candied ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 dry pint (2 cups/about 300 g) blackberries, either fresh or frozen
vanilla ice cream or sweetened whipped cream, to serve

To make the pastry, put the flour, sugar and salt in a bowl, stir to combine, then put the bowl in the freezer for about 10 minutes, until super cold. Add the butter cubes to the flour mixture and toss evenly to coat. Cut the butter into the flour mixtures using a pastry blender, electric mixer or your hands, until the butter is about the size of peas. Stir the water and lemon juice together, then slowly drizzle over the dry ingredients, tossing with a fork to distribute the liquid. The pastry will be shaggy but should hold together when squeezed in the palm of your hand. If it doesn’t, add a few more drops of ice water. (Alternatively, just blend the flour mixture and butter in a food processor and slowly add the liquids until the dough has reached the right consistency.)

Tip the pastry onto a lightly floured surface and press down on the dough, folding it over on itself a few times until it holds together. Try not to handle it too much, or you’ll develop the gluten too much and your pastry will be tough. Shape the pastry into a 1‑inch-thick disc, wrap in cling film and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. (If wrapped well, the pastry will keep for up to 3 days in the fridge of 3 months in the freezer; defrost frozen pastry discs overnight in the fridge.)

When the pastry has rested and you’re reading to make the pandowdy, preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Butter a 9‑inch deep-dish pie pan.

Wash the peaches, pierce the skins all over with a fork, then slice each peach into 10 to 12 slices, depending on how big the peach is. Put the peaches in a bowl, add the sugar and lemon juice, and toss gently until the fruit is evenly coated. Set aside for 15 minutes to draw out some of the juices, then strain the juice into a small saucepan. Cook over a medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the juices have reduced by half. Rub the cornstarch, candied ginger, ground ginger, and salt together in a bowl.

Remove the pastry from the fridge. Tear off 2 large pieces of cling film and place the pastry between the pieces. Roll it out between the sheets of cling film until it’s a little larger than the diameter of your pie pan or skillet. If you want, you can place the pie pan or skillet upside-down on top of the pastry and use it to cut the pastry to size, otherwise just eyeball it.

Add the cornstarch mixture and reduced juices to the peaches. Add the blackberries and stir gently until evenly combined. Pour the fruit mixture into the prepared pie pan and top with the pastry circle. If the crust is a bit larger than the pan or skillet, just tuck it inside (remember, it’s rustic!). Place the pie on a baking sheet to collect any drips. Bake for 50 minutes, or until the crust is golden and the fruit is bubbling. If you find that the top is browning too much, cover it loosely with foil for the rest of the cooking time. Cool for 1 hour before serving with some ice cream or a dollop of sweetened whipped cream.