That Iberian Feel

I've been very lazy lately, just simply not being creative. Eating easy stuff: crackers and cheese., pate on toast you get the idea.

In the shop the other day I came across lots of interesting ingredients to inspire me. Just normal stuff, but things I'd run out off. I decided to make my store cupboard full again.

Then use it all up :-)

My parents make paella quite often; living in the home of paella (Valencia, Spain) it'd be rude not too. I think traditionally you're supposed to use rabbit or goat, if you're near the sea you get served sea food.

I bought organic chicken (on the same day I read the UK had Bird Flu!) and since I bought smoked paprika and saffron also, I though this would be a good combination.

So, quickly put...

Fry onions. Fry chicken pieces. Stir in carrots, garlic, paella rice and smoked paprika. After a couple of mins add chicken stock (or water I guess). Here I added a little saffron. I then left it for 20 minutes. You could stir it, but I wouldn't too much. If you have a paella (the name of the actual dish/pan) then that's great. i just used a saucepan, a deep frying pan would be good too. The best bit of a paella is the crispy bottom, mine was more risotto like though...


This a kind of piri piri pork dish. With steamed veg, asparagus, baby corn and baby carrots.

The organic pork loin was marinaded in a mixture of smoked paprika, garlic, olive oil and dried chilli. After an hour is was shoved under the grill for about 15 minutes. I took the left over juices from the port and added a little white wine and cooked it off. Then added a little butter... now it's a jus :-)

Chicken Wrap

So as I was wandering through Manchester yesterday I came across the deli counters in the Arndale... purely accidental of course...

Then seconds later I was in the possession of Peccorino Romana and Prosciutto di Parma. Weird!

Luckily I had some organic chicken breasts at home. I was toying with the idea of stuffing the breasts into a foil bag with some herbs and white wine, but when I looked at the breasts they were practically crying out to be stuffed; they had arrived almost butterfly'd, all i had to do was lay the stuffing down and just fold over the rest of the breast. It was a sign.

So after a few slices of the Peccorino, some cracked black pepper (the cheese was salty enough) and some parsley-butter they were ready to wrap. I laid the breast on the end of a diagonally laid slice of ham, picked it all up and rolled away from me, tightly. I rubbed a little olive oil onto the top and banged it in the oven.

I prepared two breasts. I was ravenous/gluttonous. To go with it I boiled some purple sprouting broccoli. Once cooked I poured a little of the purple water into a saucepan with the juices from the chicken, freshly chopped parsley and some white wine. Simple sauce followed.

Chicken Milanese.... kinda

Things were a bit sparse in terms of food when I got back from holiday. I'd emptied out the fridge, and didn't have anything in the freezer but peas (I don't generally have much frozen food in anyway).

Therefore when I shopped online I was getting a little click happy. Did I really need all the fresh food I was buying? Specially since one of my Xmas pressies was a deep fat fryer :-D

I've been busy frying everything from chips to broccoli (in an ale batter) yesterday and at lunch before the game (come on Utd!). I would have taken pics of the onions etc... but all you'd see is blurring of hands, food and dip ;-)


Now I had lots of basil swiftly on it's way to wilting beyond control, along with crispy rolls that were not so crispy...

This was when the idea of a basil crumb crust for my organic chicken breasts surfaced. So i whizzed them together (this was when I decided chunky bread crumbs would be best), beat an egg, butterflyed the breast.

With the supporting cast of purple sprouting broccoli and new potatoes ready, it was just a matter of dunk, cover and pan fry.

It was very crunchy, with a lovely moist centre.


PS I wasn't deep frying the purple broccoli, I had the regular sort too. Told you: click happy!

And a good Xmas was had...

...by all but the bullock, turkey and pheasant!

Well that was fun, now all I have to do is run it all off :-) What follows is a small sampled of what I sampled. Needless to say there was some aged brandy and whisk(e)y mixed in, and a bit of chocolate...

First up was a fabulous rib-eye roast. With tahters :-)

It was tre delish, to be sure...

Here's the Christmas cake, that's fruit cake with marzipan and icing on top. It usually has some plastic santa/reindeers on the top. This year it was a plastic holly arrangement :-)


Then we're onto the turkey, a huge beast - cooked for hours! It's stuffed to the gills with sage and onion stuffing. Turkey rules! (This was butcher bought)



Now we're onto the pheasant. A friend of the family, or a cousin?, has his own farm and rears all this kinda stuff. I think we got duck eggs from him last year. It's good to have friends.

Now my Nan has plucked her fair share of these birdies, she was on hand to make sure I didn't make a right hash of it. As you can see, I did :-) Oops, I'm sure no-one wanted the skin anyway ;-)

Note to self, don't try and rip them all off at once!

I'd show you the finished article, after roasting, but my camera ran out of space and the battery died. It tasted great, with a bit of bacon (added to prevent the bird from drying out [some Muppet tore off the skin!])

Xmas

Been a while since my last post, lost of office parties and general merriment has been going on :-)

Anyway... last year I roasted a duck, this year I'm sitting back and watching (and maybe snapping pics!).

I'm off to Ireland to be with the family (90% Irish decent ;-)). I haven't asked but we're probably having Turkey, we've had goose and similar in the past. Our family lives in a tiny village in Co. Laois, right next to the farms of their friends, we've got some nice treats straight from the farms in the past :-D

So, baring a miracle this'll be my last post this side of the New Year, so have a happy Christmas to all who celebrate it, and a Happy New Year to everyone who's looked at a Gregorian calender this year!

PS this is what I want for Xmas

Chicken Sweetcorn Soup

What else to do with corn on the cob and organic chicken thighs...?

I browned 4 chicken thighs (with skins still on) in a little butter and olive oil, then added a couple of cloves of garlic and half an onion (halved with the skin still on). Lots of salt and pepper, then a litre of chicken stock is pored in... I also added a couple of dried birds-eye chillies for fun.


Once the stock was in I added the two ears of corn, halved, and let them boil in the soup. Once tender (about 8 mins) I withdrew them, ran them under cold water and "de-kerneled" them by slicing lengthways in about 4-5 strokes. I then took the chicken out and de-skinned and de-boned it, and shredded it. Whilst corn and chicken-less I cooked the rice noodles in the soup.

I strained the soup to extract the noodles and onion chunks (and removed the skins at this point [they add colour to the soup]). I put the noodles in a bowl and replaced the soup, chicken and corn into the pan to warm through again. Then served. Then said "yummy!".

All Day English Breakfast Lasagne

Catchy title hey?

I promised Ivonne, of the Cream Puff variety, that I would make this dish one day. She might have dared me... who can remember?

I used chipolatas, Danish bacon, black pudding, boiled egg, mushrooms and tomatoes (well the sauce had them :-)) No beans though, I hope I don't loose any points. I precooked all the good stuff first, and most of it made it into the lasagne... I gave in to temptation... sue me :-P



Now I've never used this dish before for a lasagne, and since I don't measure anything it was all going to be fun getting it all in there.

As it turned out, the crispy bits were the best!


Mozzarella (left over from lunch) and parmegianno to top it off. It tasted goooooooooood, how else does lasagne taste?