Category: Poultry and Game

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Lunch Poultry and Game Starters and Salads Uncategorized

CHICKEN THIGH MARINATED IN HARISSA AND YOGHURT with PRESERVED LEMON DRESSING

This is a good way to use those incredibly useful packs of chicken thighs. I find I often reach for the in the supermarket, particularly when I lack inspiration and just want to know that there will be something for supper. They are easier to deal with than breasts, really. So much more forgiving as they don’t really overcook and dry out despite being off the bone so you can be a little more laissez-faire with your timings and not be punished for it.

This marinade is just a suggestion and a classic one at that. Yoghurt is a wonderful tenderiser for all sorts of meat and a great vehicle for flavour. Harissa, the classic North African fiery paste works beautifully here as the yoghurt calms it all down and the chicken loves the chilli heat and spicy flavour. Add in more garlic, herbs, any citrus you like. Or leave out the harissa and use toasted coriander, fennel or cumin seed, ground up in pestle and mortar and perhaps with some tumeric in there as well. Just remember to season well – the chicken will be so much the better for that.

The preserved lemon dressing is easy to make as you just buy some good quality preserved lemons (belazu are the ones to look out for) and just use the rind. Some people save the flesh for other things but I tend not to keep it. The fennel and orange salad is on this site if you put it in search. The olives work well or just leave them out. Also if you don’t have the pomegranate molasses just add a squeeze of lemon or lime juice instead and adjust with a little honey.

For Four

4 – 8 chicken thighs, skinless or boneless (depends on hunger level)

4 tablespoons natural yoghurt

2 – 4 tablespoons harissa paste (start with less, add according to taste)

1 lime, rind and juice

Sea salt and black pepper

Fresh mint, coriander, parsley and/or fennel herb

Olive or rapeseed oil for cooking

Sumac (optional)

DRESSING

2 preserved lemons, rind only

1 tablespoon cider or white balsamic vinegar

2 teaspoons runny honey

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 teaspoons liquid from the preserved lemon jar

1 heaped teaspoon za’atar

Sea salt and black pepper

Mix the marinade ingredients together and taste. Adjust the seasoning and add more harissa if you think you need it. Trim the chicken of any fat and bash to flatten any very fat bits. Put them into the yoghurt and leave to marinade for at least an hour or overnight.

Make the dressing by finely chopping the lemon rind. Put it into a bowl and whisk in the vinegar, a pinch of salt, the honey, za’atar and then the oil. Finally whisk in the lemon liquid and taste, adjusting the seasoning. Leave to let the flavours develop and the za’atar to soften.

Have your fennel and orange salad ready on each plate or on one big serving platter.

Heat a griddle pan and add a little olive or rapeseed oil. Once the oil has heated up add each piece of chicken and leave until a crust has formed. You may need to do this in two batches. You can finish the chicken in the oven or cook them on top of the stove. If cooking in the oven have it heated to 180c (fan) and have a baking tray ready to receive the chicken. Sear it on both sides so well marked and move to the tray, then bake for a further fifteen minutes or until cooked through. or just turn the chicken over and move the pan to a lower heat so that the chicken can cook through without scorching.

Once the juices are running clear, let the chicken rest for five minutes before serving with the salad and the dressing drizzled around it. Add lots of extra fresh mint/coriander/parsley/fennel. A scattering of sumac is a nice addition.

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Dinner Lunch Poultry and Game Uncategorized

DUCK BREAST with ORANGE, GINGER & SOY JUS and QUICK RED CABBAGE

Duck is so versatile. The rich, sweet, tender meat pairs wonderfully with a myriad of flavours. Just as great with red wine and rosemary as it is with this stunningly delicious sauce of orange, soy and ginger. Citrus flavours are lovely with duck, with honey enhancing its natural sweetness and providing a natural foil to the fiery ginger and deeply savoury soy. All marry perfectly to make a fragrant sauce that brings a little of the exotic to the duck whilst pairing rather beautifully with some crispy little potatoes and red cabbage. Fusion at its best!

It is important to remember that the deep layer of fat that lies under the duck skin needs to be rendered out. This can then be used to roast your little potatoes, so no waste there and you will be rewarded with a crisp, burnished blanket of duck skin with pink, tender meat beneath. A treat for two.

Any winter brassica is great with this but I particularly love the deeply purple red cabbage that has the added advantage of being all the better for early prepping.

FOR TWO

2 duck breasts
1/2 an orange (blush or normal) (use the other half for the cabbage)
Runny honey
100ml fresh chicken stock
Half a teaspoon fennel, freshly ground
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
1/2 inch piece fresh ginger
knob of butter

Three medium sized king edward potatoes.

RED CABBAGE

1/4 small red cabbage, finely sliced
knob butter and a teaspoon of rapeseed oil
1/2 an orange
a small star anise
A little water
Sea salt and black papper

Pre-heat the oven to 200c

Take a small frying pan. Slash the skin of the duck breasts in three or four long lines taking care not to go through to the flesh underneath. Season the duck well and rub some fennel into the skin.

Put the breast skin side down in the cold pan and put onto a gentle heat. Leave to render for about fifteen minutes or until all the fat has run out into the pan and the skin is golden and crispy underneath.

Meanwhile peel and cut the potatoes into small pieces. Put into a baking tray and pour all the hot duck fat over. Season well and put into a hot oven for about half an hour, turning every ten minutes.

Remove the duck from the pan and put skin side up on a plate. Drizzle some honey over the duck skin. Leave to one side while you get on with the red cabbage and the sauce.

Slice the cabbage very finely. Heat the butter and oil in a saucepan and add in the cabbage. Stir around and season well. Add the rind of half an orange, the star anise and a splash of water. Put the lid on and simmer, stirring occasionally for about ten to fifteen minutes until the cabbage is very soft and glossy. Add in the orange juice and adjust the seasoning.

When the potatoes are half way through their cooking time sit the duck breasts on top of them and put back in the hot oven for about five minutes. Then take the breasts out and leave to rest in a warm place (not in any oven, even a cool one!!). Make sure they are on something that can catch any excess juices.

Put the duck frying pan back on the heat and add in the chicken stock. Simmer hard to reduce and then add the soy sauce, orange juice and rind, freshly grated ginger and seasoning. Add a teaspoon of honey or more to taste. Whisk in a knob of butter to give the sauce a shine. Pour any duck juices on the sauce.

Carve the duck lengthways (it looks so much better this way) and serve on the potatoes and cabbage. Drizzle the jus over and around.

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Dinner Poultry and Game Quick and Easy Suppers

CHICKEN BAKED WITH ORANGES & OLIVES

Citrus is at it’s fabulous best in January and if you add a netful to your shopping bag along with some good black olives and a pack of free-range chicken thighs you have the makings of  a delicious and quick supper.  Orange and chicken go together well, the savoury saltiness of the olives providing a delightful contrast to the acid sweetness of the orange and the mild, plump chicken.   For absolute speed, a green salad and some good bread to mop up the juices is really all you need but if you have a little more time to spare, then rice, creamy mash or some puy lentils all work well with this.   I like to add a side dressing of tahini mixed with some lemon or orange juice and a little natural yoghurt.

Serves Four

4 – 8 free range chicken thighs
Fresh thyme
2 oranges
About 20 good black olives, stoned
A little water or chicken stock
Splash of white wine if you have it (or sherry)
Rapeseed oil
Sea salt & black pepper
Fresh mint, finely chopped

Heat the oven to 180C.

Trim the thighs of excess fat and make a couple of slashes in the top of each. Put into a roasting tin. Season well and sprinkle with fresh thyme. Slice the oranges thickly into half moon shapes and tuck around the chicken. Scatter over the olives and then pour around a glass of chicken stock and/or wine. Water will be fine if that is all you have. You just want a little around the bottom of the chicken.

Drizzle the whole thing with rapeseed oil. Bake in the top of the oven for about half an hour or until the chicken is golden brown and cooked through. Squash a few of the oranges to release the citrussy juice into the resulting juices and then serve the chicken with a few of the orange pieces and olives. Scatter fresh mint over the top.

 

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Dinner Lunch Poultry and Game Quick and Easy Suppers Soups Uncategorized

CHICKEN LAKSA

Basically a spicy Asian noodle soup, this easy recipe for laksa is big on simplicity without compromising on flavour. Sometimes you just crave those spicy citrus flavours of Asia and if time is short then a bought jar of Thai red curry paste is a great shortcut. Everyone will have their favourites but I have always found Barts to be reliably good. It keeps for ages in the fridge, I always have coconut and noodles to hand leaving only the chicken and fresh herbs to buy. If you have fresh chicken stock then so much the better – like any soup it is only every really as good as the stock it is made with but in this case, there are so many other intense flavourings that you can get away with one of those knorr gel pots if you really haven’t any fresh stock available.

Make sure you are careful how you use the thai fish sauce – it is your salt here and like any seasoning not enough is disappointing and too much is a big mistake! Add a bit at a time and you won’t go too far wrong. Fresh coriander is a must here, as is the fresh lime and it is a wonderful thing that supermarkets are at last stocking fresh kaffir lime leaves. Their exotic, heady flavour is almost irreplaceable but if desperate then the grated rind of a lime could go in instead. Shred fresh lime leaves up finely and they will soften sufficiently.

Chicken is just a suggestion here. Prawns are great as well, either combined with the chicken or on their own. Pork fillet would also work well, as would some lightly seared rump/sirloin steak. Vegetarians could add chopped up tofu or just increase the vegetables. I have used a red pepper but fine french beans, mangetout or beansprouts would also work well.

Lastly, if you are having people round that you want to impress with your beautiful table manners then perhaps this not something for that occasion. Noodle soup is almost impossible to eat in any way other than greedily, messily and probably wearing a washable boiler suit.

Serves Two

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, sliced
100g rice vermicelle noodles
2 teaspoons rapeseed oil/sunflower oil
1 tablespoon thai red curry paste
2 kaffir lime leaves, shredded
1 red pepper, sliced finely
250ml fresh chicken stock
1 can full fat coconut milk
Thai fish sauce
Dark soy sauce
Juice of a lime
Fresh coriander
Fresh basil/thai basil
Fresh mint
Sesame oil to finish

Cook the noodles according to the packet instruction. Drain and refresh under cold running water. Set aside.

Heat the oil in a wide shallow pan. Add the thai red curry paste and cook for a minute or two. Add the red pepper, the chicken stock and the shredded lime leaves and simmer for a few minutes. Add the coconut milk and a tablespoon of thai fish sauce. Add a couple of handfuls of shredded coriander, including the stalks. Reserve the top part of the coriander for garnishing.

Simmer for about fifteen minutes and then add in a tablespoon of soy sauce. Taste and adjust the flavour with thai fish sauce and a bit of the lime juice. Throw in the chicken and simmer very gently for literally just a minute or two until cooked through. Add the noodles and warm the whole thing up, stirring through more coriander, basil and mint if you have it. Serve in shallow bowls with lots of herbs over the top and a drizzle of sesame oil.

chicken laksa

Categories
Dinner Poultry and Game Uncategorized

GUINEA FOWL SUPREME with CABBAGE PARCELS & RED WINE JUS

It’s probably not something that most people immediately think of when planning a special supper, or just an everyday one for that matter. But guinea fowl makes a delicious, healthy and versatile ingredient that is easy to cook and just a little bit unusual. It has a lovely flavour, sort of a cross between chicken and pheasant. I prefer it to the latter – pheasant has a tendency to by dry if not very carefully cooked. Perfect for autumn cooking, it is here beautifully enhanced with a herb butter and made a little bit luxurious with a rich red wine sauce. A simple but effective main course that can largely be prepared in advance and won’t cause any kitchen stress. The cabbage parcels are deceptively easy. Prepare in advance and simply steam for a couple of minutes or so before serving. Celeric & potato puree is great with this.

For four

4 supreme of guinea fowl, wing bone cleaned
2 tablespoons extra virgin oil
Fresh parsley
Fresh thyme
Rind of a lemon
40g unsalted butter
Sea salt & black pepper
300ml Chicken stock (fresh)
200 ml red wine
15g cold butter, chopped

1 savoy cabbage
1 leek
1 tablespoon rapeseed/light olive oil
1 tablespoon creme fraiche
Sea salt & black pepper

Whisk the oil together with lots of fresh thyme and the rind of half a lemon. Season well and add the guinea fowl. Toss well in the marinade, cover and leave for a couple of hours.

Mash the butter with lots of finely chopped parsley and fresh thyme. Season and add the rind of the other half a lemon. Loosen the skin of the guinea fowl and push a knob of butter under each one massaging it all over and then any remaining can also go over the top of the guinea fowl skin.

Bring a pan of salted water to the boil. Remove four large leaves from the cabbage, drop into the water and simmer for two to three minutes until tender. Drain and refresh under cold water. Pat dry with kitchen paper.

Slice the leek finely and about 1/4 of the rest of the cabbage. Heat the oil in a pan and saute the leek and cabbage with salt & pepper. Add a dash of boiling water to create steam to help with the cooking. Make sure you boil it all off before stirring in the creme fraiche. Remove from the heat and set aside. Check the seasoning.

Lay the four leaves of cabbage out and cut out any spine. Trim to a circle shape, the size of a large saucer. Lay on a piece of cling film and top with a spoonful of the cabbage leek mix. Bring the sides up to form a ball and use the clingfilm to shape it and then twist the top to hold it in place. Cut off any excess and put twist side up into a steamer. Set aside until ready to cook.

Heat a frying pan and have the oven heated to 180c. Brown the guinea fowl on the skin side and then place onto a baking sheet. Bake in the oven for about eight minutes until just cooked through. Add the chicken stock to the pan that you fried the guinea fowl in and boil hard to reduce. Add the wine and seasoning. Simmer for a few minutes until well reduced. Remove the guinea fowl from the oven and keep warm to rest while you steam the cabbage for about three minutes.

Whisk the cold chopped butter into the red wine sauce. Serve the guinea fowl with some potato or celeriac puree, some roast/steamed carrots and the cabbage parcel (removed from it’s cling film!!).

guinea fowl