Tag Archives: Chicken

May 16, 2013

Ching He-Huang’s Yellow Bean and Honey Roast Chicken

Yellow bean and honey roast chicken

One of my favourite Chinese cooks is Ching He-Huang. I got her ‘Chinese Food In Minutes’ cookbook sent to me a few years ago when I worked on a cookery magazine and I’ve used it at least a couple of times a month. It’s a fantastic source of inspiration.

This particular recipe for Yellow Bean & Honey Roast Chicken is one of my favourites. I’m always on the look out for a new twist on the traditional roast chicken for Sunday lunch, and this one didn’t let me down.

Ching writes in her introdcutory note: ‘I love traditional roast chicken, so inspired by that and my love of Chinese ingredients, I decided to try yellow bean and honey marinade for my roast chicken, with a sprinkle of roasted ground Sichuan peppercorns for a fragrant sweet citrus numbing heat. After cooking, the leftover marinade and pan juices make a rich, savoury east-meets-west gravy.’

It sounded delicious, but I must offer a word of caution on those Sichuan peppercorns: don’t go over-the-top with them. Mine were given to me by a friend, Helena, and they are hotter than the Sun. Used sparingly, they impart a lovely background heat, but go to far, and your mouth will be as numb as if you’ve visited the dentist!

Serves 4

1 chicken, weighing approx. 1.8kg
1 tbsp ground, dry-toasted Sichuan peppercorns
1 onion, sliced
Groundnut or sunflower oil
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp cornflour, blended with 2 tbsp cold water
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the marinade

6 tbsp yellow bean sauce
6 tbsp runny honey
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
5cm piece ginger, grated

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1. Wash the chicken well and pat dry with absorbent kitchen paper. Put the chicken into a large ziplock bag or freezer bag. Add the marinade ingredients and shake to coat the chicken, then leave to marinate overnight in the fridge.

2. When ready to cook, preheat the oven to 190C/Gas 5. Place the chicken breast-side up in a roasting tin. Retain the marinade. Season the chicken well with salt and half the ground Sichuan peppercorns, then stuff with the onion and brush with oil. Roast in the oven for 1 hour 20 mins, or until the juices run clear when you cut into the chicken thigh. As you can see from the photo, the skin is blackened, which is a result of the honey catching, but don’t loet that put you off: it’s delicious.

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3. To make the gravy, heat the juices in the roasting tin with the reserved marinade and 100ml water until boiling. Season with salt, pepper and the soy sauce. If you like a thicker gravy, add the cornflour mixture.

4. Serve with roasted veggies (potatoes, squash, sweet potato) and steamed asparagus or broccoli.

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May 14, 2013

Slow-Cooked Chicken Do-Piaza

Slow-cooked chicken do-piaza

Do- Piaza translates as ‘two onions’ because that’s the number of times they appear in the cooking process. The first stage involves making a puree from onions, garlic and ginger. The final stage is to add lots of sliced onions to the dish. Cook this long and slow, either in a slow cooker or casserole dish, and you will be rewarded with an incredible depth of flavour. The onions become so, slightly caramelised, and wonderfully sweet. 

I used bone-in chicken thighs for this dish, but it works just as well with tougher cuts of meat, such as lamb shoulder or beef stewing steak.

Serves 2-4

4 chicken thighs, bone-in, skin removed

For the first stage

2 tbsp ghee or sunflower oil
2 onions, finely chopped
Golf ball-sized piece of ginger, peeled and chopped
3 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
6 cloves
1 brown cardamom pod
1 tsp cinnamon powder
Half tsp ground ginger
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp garam masala
150ml natural Greek yoghurt

For the second stage

3 onions, peeled and sliced
4-6 small tomatoes, quartered
1 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
1 tbsp fresh coriander, chopped
Salt, to taste

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1. Heat the ghee or oil in a large frying pan and add stage one onions, garlic and ginger. Cook for 10-15 mins until very soft. Add a little water if they start to catch.

2. Add the spices and stir through, followed by the yoghurt. Now add the chicken thighs and stir until thoroughly coated with the sauce.

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3. Transfer to a slow cooker or casserole dish. If using the slow cooker, cook on LOW for 3 hours, until the chicken is very tender. If using a casserole, cook in a 160C/Gas 2 oven for 2 hours.

4. After the cooking time, add the stage two onions and tomatoes and cook for a further 30-40 mins, until the second batch of onions are very soft. Towards the end of cooking, add the herbs and season with salt.

5. Serve with chapatis or wraps and chick pea mash, made by mashing together a drained can of chick peas, juice of 1 lime, 1 tsp garam masala, 50g butter and a handful of fresh, chopped coriander.

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May 12, 2013

Posh Chicken, Chips, Mushy Peas and Chip Shop-Style Curry Sauce

Posh Chicken, Chips, Mushy Peas and Chip Shop Curry Sauce

Whenever I go to visit my dad in Manchester, I always make a point of going to the local chip shop. It has fantastic memories for me because when me and my three younger brothers were little boys, the Big Meal Of The Week was Friday – when our mum didn’t do the cooking and we could feast on Holland’s Meat Pies, chips, mushy peas and curry sauce from the chippy.

Partly this was because our mum was such an appalling cook. She’s boiled cabbage until it was a watery soup and even heated up beans until they became bullets.

So Friday was a blessed relief from the nightly ordeal of negotiating the Old Lady’s culinary abominations.

To be fair, she did have four boys and three jobs to keep her occupied, so rustling up a Delia or a Fanny wasn’t her top priority.

Anyway, when I go back home, the chippy is where I head. Sometimes this is because my dad has forgotten that I’m visiting so also forgets to buy any food (well, he is 75). But mainly it’s because of the memories it brings back.

But here’s the rub: it invariably disappoints, even after a skinful of beer. The chips are so heavy with fat they are almost impossible to swallow; the pies are nothing like I remember them to be; the peas are as sloppy as a swamp; and the curry sauce tastes like it’s had a kilo of raw flour added to it.

So what’s a housedad to do? Why, make my own, of course.

This recipe for chicken, chips, mushy peas and curry sauce is really a compilation of my greatest hits: Japanese panko-breaded chicken goujons, thrive-cooked chips and divine katsu curry sauce. Click on the highlighted links for the recipes. The mushy peas are just petit pois, bashed up with a masher and a little butter.

I served this to my wife in midweek with a little trepidation. She’s become rather fond of something more adventurous when she gets home from work. Spoilt, see. But she declared this sensational: one of the best things I’ve ever cooked.

Presumably because, even though we live in the south, she is, like me, a northerner.

Here are the steps, in pictures. For the detailed recipes, click on the links above.

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May 10, 2013

Monica Galetti’s Organic Roast Chicken Thighs with Fennel and Lemon

Sticky Roast Chicken Thighs with Fennel and Lemon

 

All home cooks know that it’s sometimes hard to find inspiration for mealtimes, so when I was sent a selection of recipes by superchef and Masterchef: The Professionals judge Monica Galetti (she’s the scary one) to promote Organic. Naturally Different it was manna from heaven – especially as I had most of the ingredients in my store cupboards.

The La Gavroche chef and mum-of-one has teamed up with O.N. to sing the praises of organic produce – not just in terms of taste and benefits to the environment, but also price-wise to challenge the perception that organic = expensive.

Well, I sourced most of the ingredients for this roast chicken thighs with fennel and lemon dish from Tesco and although the organic ingredients were a little bit more expensive, they weren’t significantly so: 4 organic chicken thighs were £5.35, compared to £5.17 fort non-organic; 1kg of new potatoes cost £1.54 compared to £1.40; and lemons were 33p each, compared to 27p.

In my book, you get what you pay for, and I’m very happy to fork out an extra quid on a meal that is organic, with all the benefits that comes with that.

So what are the benefits?

 

According to the Organic. Naturally Different campaign…

• Organic is better for nature

• Organic animals have high animal welfare standards

• Organic contains less pesticide residues

• Organic is natural and great tasting food.

Sold, to That Man in the Recipe Shed.

Anyway, without further ado, here is Monica’s slightly modified (I didn’t have any preserved lemons) recipe for Organic Roast Chicken Thights with Fennel and Lemon.

Serves 2-3

4 x chicken thighs
4tbsp lemon and lime marmalade
2  lemons (Monica used preserved lemons, but I didn’t have any)
3 pinches of thyme leaves
10 small organic New Potatoes
1 fennel bulb
Quarter white cabbage
Salt and pepper

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1. Preheat oven to 180C/Gas 4. Season the chicken with the salt and pepper then rub liberally with the marmalade and set aside for 10 minutes.

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2. Cut the fennel in half then slice roughly. Ditto for the cabbage. Sprinkle into the base of a deep roasting tray.

3. Remove seeds from  lemons and roughly chop then sprinkle over the fennel and cabbage.

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4. Scatter the thyme leaves and the baby potatoes on top. Season with the salt and pepper and then place the chicken pieces on top skin side up.

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5. Place in oven and cook for about 1hr-1hr 30 mins, until the chicken and potatoes are tender.

6. Let rest 5 minutes before serving.

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Monica says: “This is such an easy meal and you can substitute the veg for whatever you have, i.e. shredded cabbage in place of fennel. Leftovers can be made into a chicken bake too. No fuss, just let the oven do its thing.”

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• For more information about the Organic.Naturally Different campaign visit the website www.organicukfood.com or visit us on Facebook – www.facebook.com/organicuk and Twitter -@organicukfood.

• This is not a sponsored post.

 

 

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