Fattet Djaj (Chicken and Chickpeas with Yoghurt)

So this is truly one of the yummiest chicken dishes I have ever made! This is from a recipe by Claudia Roden, who is a wonderful British chef whose specialty is Middle Eastern cuisine. She has written many great books, this recipe came from 'Arabesque'. I have made it twice now, and it has been really wonderful both times.

And it really is quite easy, really. And yes, I know I always say that! But, you boil a chicken, then layer it over some flatberad & chickpeas, then pop the whole thing in the oven. That is about it.

So I mentioned I've made this twice. The first time was exactly per the recipe below. Then I saved all the broth that I cooked the chicken in & froze it, as you would normally for stock. Stop laughing.

One night I made a roast chicken, and had half of it left over. So I defrosted the 'stock' and gently cooked the roast chicken meat in it for about 10 minutes. The end result was still fabulous.

This serves 6.

1kg natural (full-fat) yoghurt; look to see there is NO sugar
200g Greek style yoghurt
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1.5 tablespoons crushed dried mint, or a bunch of fresh (the recipe says dried, but I prefer fresh)
salt
1 large chicken (do, do, DO try to get a free range one)
1 large onion, cut in half
1 large carrot, cut into pieces
2 fresh bay leaves
1 cinnamon stick
6-8 whole cardamom pods
white pepper
3 very thin Lebanese or pitta breads (I found a fab Afghan bread: just use any flatbread you fancy)
3-4 tbs white wine vinegar
1 x 400g tin of chickpeas, drained
100g pine nuts (but almonds also work!)
2 tbs olive oil

1) Mix the yoghurts in a bowl, beat in the garlic & the mint w/ a little salt. Let it come to room temperature.

2) Put the chicken in a large saucepan & cover with water. Bring to the boil & remove any scum (scum is that white stuff you can see in the picture. Don't stress too much about getting every last bit). Add the onion, the carrot, the bay leaves, cinnamon stick & cardamom pods, and salt & pepper. Simmer, covered, for 1-1.5 hours, until chicken is very tender & almost falls off the bone. Set chicken aside & reserve the stock.

3) Open out the flatbreads (if you're using the pitta kind that has a pocket) & toast them in the oven until they crisp & slightly browned. Then break them up into pieces in our hands and spread them at the bottom of a wide baking dish. Mix the white wine vinegar on about 300ml of the strained chicken stock, and pour over the flatbread, adding more if necessary so that the bread is thoroughly soaked & soggy. Sprinkle the chickpeas over it.


4) Pull the meat off the chicken & cut the meat into pieces, removing the skin & bones. Spread the chicken over the soaked bread & chickpeas & cover the dish with foil. Heat through in the oven (pre-heated to 170'c) for 20 minutes before you are ready to serve: it should be very hot.

5) Just before serving, pour the yoghurt evenly all over the dish, spreading the yogurt mix all over the top of the dish. Briefly fry the pine nuts in the olive oil until golden & sprinkle over the top.

Banh Xeo (Vietnamese Pancakes)

Banh Xeo



Hello!


These are a Vietnamese pancake, and a very quick to make, if you don’t include the resting time for the batter.
You could make the batter the night before & keep it in the fridge, covered, or even at lunchtime if you’re making these on the weekend . . . . or if you’re lucky enough not to be stuck in an office all day!
This recipe is derived from one on the fabulous Gourmet Traveller website.
www.gourmettraveller.com.au
160ml Vegetable Oil
1 onino, thinly sliced
450gm pork, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
2 tbsp hoisin sauce
1 tbsp fish sauce (or to taste)
Pinch of caster sugar
6 spring onions, thinly sliced
60gm bean sprouts
To serve: lettuce, basil, mint & corainader
NB: you can also add prawns (18 cooked Tiger prawns) as well as the pork. I didn’t, just b/c I had all the other ingredients at home already.


Batter:
170gm rice flour
2 tsp ground tumeric
280ml coconut milk


Nuoc Cham:
80ml fish sauce (or to taste)
80ml lime juice (or to taste)
1 red birdseye chilli, thinly sliced
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
2 tsbp caster sugar

1) For the batter, combine the rice flour & tumeric in a bowl, then whisk in the coconut milk.

2) Meanwhile, take the dog for a walk (well, that is what I did at any rate), and then, wash your hands, and combine all the ingredients for the Nuoc Cham w/ 40ml of water, whisking to combine. It should taste sweet, salty, sour & hot.

3) Heat 40ml oil in a wok over high heat, add onion & stir-fry until tender, then add pork & garlic & stir fry until golden. Add the hoisin, fish sauce & sugar, season to taste, toss to combine, and set aside.

4) Heat 20ml of oil in a 22cm diameter fry pan over high heat, and add a ladleful of batter, swirl to cover the pan thinly, and cook until golden (3-4 mins).






5) Scatter the pork mixture (add prawns if using), spring onions & bean sprouts over half of the pancake, fold over the other half to cover the filling, then slide onto serving plate & keep warm. Repeat with remaning oil, batter & filling, wiping pan w/ paper towel in between each batch.  Serve with lettuce, herbs & Nuoc Cham.

 

                    

So after the vego phase: a super posh Sausage Roll!

So, it seems I scared a few of you, particularly with yesterday's Tofu & Brussell sprout post. Don't worry - I am still a big carnivore! And besides, the Tofu/Brussell sprout combo was awesome - make it, try it, and then mock (if you must).

So this is one of my all time favourite sausage roll recipes. They are relatively quick to make, and always go down an absolute treat. I've served them warm at home, or taken them cold on picnics. Either way they are fantastic!

This recipe is from the Australian Gourmet Traveller's website, which is unquestionably one of the free best foodie / recipe websites going, especially if you're looking for something a little bit special. Don't forget that the Ultimate Tomato Sauce is makes a fantastic accompaniment to these sossie rolls!

Here's a tip: Unbaked sausage rolls can be frozen for up to 1 month. Bake from frozen at 200C for 25 minutes or until golden and cooked through.

Lamb & Harissa Sausage Rolls
1 kg minced lamb (I've used all sorts of mince combos: 50/50 pork lamb works very well too)

1 onion, finely grated (I'm lazy, so I just chop it very small)

80 gm (½ cup) pine nuts

75 gm (¼ cup) harissa

50 gm currants

2 tbsp finely chopped flat-leaf parsley leaves

1 tbsp ground cumin

1 kg puff pastry

1 egg, lightly whisked

2 tbsp sesame seeds

Salt & Pepper to taste

Pre-heat the oven to 200'c. In a large bowl, combine the mince, onion, pine nuts, harissa, currants, parsley & cumin & season to taste.

On a lightly floured work surface, roll out puff pastry to a 3mm-thick rectangle. You can either pipe the lamb mix using a icing bag (with no nozzle), or you can use your hands, like I do! Avoid the temptation to put too much - it has to roll shut!

Carefully roll over. 

Brush eggwash (the one egg, lightly whisked) along both edges of the pastry & press to seal. Brush entire sausage rolls with eggwash & scatter with sesame seeds. Trim along length of pastry and repeat with remaining mixture and pastry.

Place on a baking paper lined tray, and put into the oven for 15-20 minutes, or until golden. You can either bake them in one long piece (as I did), or chop them up into smaller portions. The baking time will be the same. Serve with the Ultimate Tomato Sauce.

The Ultimate Tomato Sauce

Hola!

This Tomato Sauce is incredibly simple to make, and absolutely fantastic. The flavours in it are amazing!

The recipe is from what is hands down the best cooking/foodie magazine there is: 'Cuisine', which is actually a kiwi publication. It is absolutely fantastic. This was in their Christmas edition, and it was served on top of slow cooked Salmon (posting soon - soooo yummy). When I read through the ingredients however, it occurred to me that it would also work very well with the Lamb & Harissa Sausage Rolls. It Does! Lamb, Salmon: this works with anything!

Spiced Tomato Sauce

olive oil

2 cloves of garlic, finely diced

1 small red chilli, seeded & finely diced

1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
2 x 400g tin crushed tomatoes
2 tbs tomato paste
Salt & Pepper to taste

1) In a medium pan heat about 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat, then add  the garlic & the chilli, gently frying until fragrant. Add the cumin & the coriander & cook for a further minute.

2) Add the canned tomatoes & tomato paste, mix together well, then cook for 20 minutes or until the sauce is thick. Season to taste. This sauce is great warm or cold, and could be kept in a sealed container in the fridge for around 5 days.

2) Add the tin of tomatoes, and stir for minute or so, then add the tomato paste. Make sure you incorporate it well.

3) Keep stirring occasionally until the sauce has begun to thicken a little.

4) Remove from the heat. This is good warm or cold, and can be refrigerated in a sealed container for up to one week.

Meatless Monday!

Brussel Sprouts & Tofu

So, I appreciate that this combo might be many people's idea of hell. Though I've always been a sprout fan (well, post-primary school anyways)  I've long had a hatred of tofu. My flatmate cooks it all the time, and I've been sampling some along the way, and its actually not all bad. Provided whatever it is marinated in is good!

I have posted before about the fabulous Ottolenghi cookbook my gorgeous friend sent me from London. I was lucky enough to visit the actual Ottolenghi cafe in Notting Hill when I was there a few weeks ago, it is beyond fabulous. The head chef there has a column in the Guardian, one of my favourite newspapers. His stuff is wonderful, simple, but packed full of flavour. 

This dish far, far outdid my expectations -- it really was fantastic, so delicious, easy, healthy - just everything you could hope for in a meal. Bon Apetit!

PS - apologies for lack of pics, a girlfriend had stopped by & I was so busy chatting I didn't remember to take any photos until it was on the table. 

150g firm tofu
2 tbsp chilli sauce 

*I didn't have any (I don't think you're meant to use the sweet chilli stuff), so used 1 tsp of chilli in its place.
1½ tbsp soy sauce
3 tbsp sesame oil
1 tsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp maple syrup
500g brussels sprouts
180ml sunflower oil

*I used peanut oil, as I had very little sunflower oil
Salt
100g spring onion, sliced
½ small chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
120g shiitake mushrooms, halved
15g picked coriander leaves
1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds

First, marinate the tofu. In a bowl, whisk together the chilli sauce (or powder - you could probably use a few dashed of tabasco too if you fancied), soy sauce, two tablespoons of the sesame oil, vinegar and syrup. Cut the tofu block into 0.5cm thick slices and then each slice into two squarish pieces. Gently lay in the marinade and set aside.

Trim the bases off the sprouts and cut each lengthways into three thick slices. Take a large, nonstick pan, and heat up four tablespoons of whichever oil you're using. Add half the sprouts and a little salt, and cook on high heat for two minutes. Don't stir much - you want them almost to burn in a few places and cook through but remain crunchy. Transfer to a bowl and repeat with the rest of the sprouts.

Add two more tablespoons of oil to the pan, heat up and sauté the onion, chilli and mushrooms for a minute or two. Transfer to the sprout bowl.

Leave the pan on high heat and, using a pair of tongs, lift half the tofu from the marinade and gently lay in the pan (be very careful: the oil may spit, and far), space apart, in one layer. Lower the heat to medium and cook for two minutes on each side until nicely caramelised. Transfer to the sprout bowl and repeat with the rest of the tofu.

Once all the tofu is cooked, remove the pan from the heat and return all the cooked ingredients to it. Add the tofu marinade and half the coriander. Toss together and allow to cool slightly in the pan. Taste and add salt if needed. Stir in the remaining sesame oil (extra, if you like) and serve warm, not hot, garnished with sesame seeds and the rest of the coriander.

I served this on top of some streamed brown rice. Delicious!

Its getting cold . . . . must be Curry Time!

In foodie terms, winter is my favourite time of year. You get to bake pies, make stews, roast roasts, and make curries. I know you can do it at any other time of year too . . . . it just feels better in winter!

One curry I have always had an aversion to is the seafood variety. The idea of curry & seafood was on the same page as pizza & seafood to me. But then one night recently, at an Indian restaurant with friends, someone ordered the Southern Indian Prawn curry. It was so good! So, so good! I am so glad I tried it!

So, after a little google-ing, I found this recipe by Jamie Oliver, and it is exactly what you would expect from him: simple, and delicious! Tip - ensure you have everything cut up in advance, as you need to add things quickly.

And no, this isn't outrageously hot: it has a nice warmth too it, and would only taste 'too hot' to someone who had refused to try chili ever before in their lives . . . . in which case, why are you friends with them?

Jamie Oliver's Keralan Fish Curry

• peanut oil

• 1 tsp mustard seeds

• 20 curry leaves
• Chopped coriander
• 6 shallots, finely sliced
• 4 garlic cloves, finely sliced
• 1 x 2.5cm piece of ginger, finely sliced
• 1 green chilli, finely sliced
• 1 tsp chilli powder (or more to taste)
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 750g firm white fish cut into chunks
• 1 x 400ml tin coconut milk
• 1 x 400g tin of chopped tomatoes

Firstly,  heat a lug of groundnut oil in a large pan and fry the mustard seeds with the curry leaves till the seeds start to pop. Add the onion, garlic, ginger and chilli, and cook on a medium heat for 5 minutes, till softened. 

Mix together the chilli powder and turmeric with a splash of water, no more than a quarter of a cup's worth, and then stir into the pan. Fry for a minute, then add the fish, coconut milk and tomatoes. Season w/ S&P.

Bring to the boil, then simmer for 20 minutes, or until the fish is cooked and sauce reduced. Serve sprinkled with chopped coriander, with rice (I used brown b/c I prefer it - basmati is also perfect).

Hot Cross Buns!

I just LOVE Hot Cross Buns!! But it's funny how conditioned we become to only eating certain things at certain times - I never make them at any other time of year. They are, in my kind, firmly an 'Easter Only' treat.

This is from Donna Hay's Modern Classics 2, which you will recognize as a firm favourite of mine! Yes, these are a little bit of work, but trust me, it is worth it!

Ingredients
Buns
2 Tablespoons dried yeast
¼ cup (55g) caster (superfine) sugar
1½ cups (375ml) warm milk
4¼ cups (635g) plain (all-purpose) flour
2 teaspoons mixed spice
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
50g butter, melted
1 egg
¼ cup (55g) caster (superfine) sugar, extra
1½ cups (240g) sultanas
⅓ cup (55g) candied mixed peel, optional
Crosses
½ cup (75g) plain (all-purpose) flour
⅓ cup (80ml) water
Glaze
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon powdered gelatine
¼ cup (60ml) water




Combine the yeast, sugar and milk in a bowl. Set aside for 5-10 minutes or until bubbles form on the surface. Don't be tempted to speed this up! Any yeast that you have left over should be stored in the freezer.

Combine the flour, mixed spice, cinnamon, butter, egg, extra sugar, sultanas, mixed peel and yeast mixture in a large bowl. Mix with a butter knife until a sticky dough forms. . . . . or just use your hands like I do!

Knead on a lightly floured surface for 5–10 minutes or
until it feels smooth and  elastic when pressed.

Place in an oiled bowl (I use vegetable oil, any would do, though I wouldn't recommend olive oil), cover with a tea towel and stand in a warm place for 30–40 minutes or until doubled in size.

Lightly knead the dough again, divide into 12 pieces and roll into balls. Place in a 23cm-square cake tin lined with non-stick baking paper. Cover with a clean tea towel and set aside in a warm place for 25–30 minutes or until doubled in size.

Preheat oven to 200ºC (390ºF).

To make the crosses, combine the flour and water to make a smooth paste. Place in a piping bag, or if you're like me & can't find one, drape some cling film in a tall glass, and snip the corner!

Pipe crosses onto the buns. Bake for 30–35 minutes or until well browned and springy to touch.

To make the glaze, combine the sugar, gelatine and water in a saucepan over medium heat and stir for 2 minutes or until dissolved. I didn't have any gelatine, and it didn't make much of a difference. Just be sure that both the glaze & the buns are still warm when you lacquer them (using a pastry brush) Makes 12.

Serve warm, with butter! Enjoy!!