Chicken Fricassée & Rice

Chicken fricassée was a typical Sunday night supper in the Morrison household after having a roast chicken.  My father used to make chicken fricassée and serve it in jumbo vol-au-vonts, sounds old fashioned, but it was extremely comforting.

Unfortunately, my local Waitrose didn't have any sort of vol-au-vent, perhaps they're a little passé these days, but it didn't put me off making this dish, and it's still perfectly yummy with steamed rice - not to mention more healthy!

My father would make a béchamel sauce and then add all the ingredients; however, I like to use homemade chicken stock instead of milk, as I think it increases the flavour ten fold.  I also like to add a little tarragon

Here’s what I used for the two of us:

Homemade chicken stock (made using the bones and carcass of a whole chicken boiled with carrots + celery + bay leaves + parsley stalks + whole black peppercorns)

1 large chicken breast on the bone with skin (you could easily use 2 chicken legs, or 4 chicken thighs if you preferred)

1 carrot, whole

4 shallots, peeled kept whole
handful of chestnut mushrooms, sliced
bouquet garni
50g margarine/butter
50g plain flour
1 free-range egg yolk
juice of ½ lemon

8 slices of grilled streaky bacon

Parsley, finely chopped

Tarragon, finely chopped

Put the chicken breast, carrots, shallots and bay in a large pan with homemade chicken stock. Add the bouquet garni.

Bring slowly to the boil and simmer gently for 20/30 minutes until the chicken is cooked – obviously this will depend on the sizes of chicken pieces you use.

When the chicken is cooked, remove from the pot and keep warm.

Strain the stock, reserving the carrots and shallots and stock separately.

Melt the butter, stir in the flour and cook for 2 to 3 minutes.  Remove from the heat and gradually add the stock.

Bring to the boil and cook until the sauce thickens, stirring constantly.  Add the chopped mushrooms and cook for a couple of minutes. 

Remove the skin from the chicken, carve the meat and cut it into rough pieces.  I think if the cubes look too perfect – it looks a microwave meal.

Add the meat and sliced shallots and sliced carrots; remove from the heat.

Beat together the egg yolk and lemon juice, then add a little of the left over stock and blend well.  Keep adding until the mixture is hot.

Pour the mixture back into the pan and heat through without boiling.

Add the chopped parsley and chopped tarragon.  Check for seasoning now, adding salt and pepper if necessary. 

Transfer the fricassée to a warmed serving dish and garnish with the grilled bacon.

Serve with simply boiled rice…

…and of course with love…xoxo

Tarragon & Dijon Roasted Chicken

A good old fashioned roast chicken is a beautiful thing.  There are many ways to roast a chicken, and this is one of my favourites.  This is super simple and easy to prepare, and doesn’t need much attending to, as it only needs be basted every half an hour.

Here’s what I used:

1 organic free range corn fed chicken

2 tbsp olive oil

2 heaped tsp Dijon mustard

2 tbsp of dried tarragon

Pinch of sea salt

4 good twists of black pepper

Pre-heat your oven to 200 degrees celcius.

Mix all ingredients together in a small bowl, using a small whisk or fork.  The oil and mustard will thicken nicely, which is exactly what we want.

Coat the entire chicken with the mustardy mixture, inside and out, and even under the skin on the breast.

A Moroccan lady once imparted some pure wisdom onto me, and told me that it is important to start cooking the bird breast-side down in the roasting pan this way as it helps to keep the breast meat juicy.  I suppose it makes perfect sense as the juices generally run downwards.  I have cooked roast chicken in this manner ever since, and it has never failed to be succulent and juicy.  This is very important, as there is nothing worse than dry chicken.

After 30 minutes turn the bird over, and baste liberally with the pan juices.

After another 30 minutes baste the bird liberally again.

In another 30 minutes the bird should be cooked.  Check by sticking a skewer into the fattest part of the leg, and check that the juices run clear.

Cover the bird in foil to keep it warm, and leave it to rest for 10 minutes.

I like to serve this with braised pointed spring cabbage

and perfect roast potatoes…..

………..and of course with love….xoxo

Soupa Rizi Avgolemono

As I mentioned a few days ago, Alex and I were feeling rather under the weather.  Now we all know that when a man is exposed to any form of the treacherous Common Cold, they fall prey to a gravely serious illness widely known as “Man Flu”.

To date, (unfortunately for us), no complete cure has been found for the vicious and dilapidating “Man Flu”, and we must pander to our poor, injured little soldiers as they hover around death’s door. 

In times of such affliction and convalescence, a man will need his wife or mother, or preferably both, to be on 24 hour duty to mollycoddle him back into the land of the living.

Unfortunately for me Alex’s mother wasn’t to hand, but I did remember how to make the Cypriot version of the wondrous chicken soup.

I usually make my own spicy Asian inspired chicken soup, but Avgolemoni is perfect for colds, and for Alex this soup embodies TLC in a bowl.  Avgolemoni is a lovely silky soup, full of vitamin C, protein, and rice and it is very comforting indeed.  Usually for an entire family, you would use a whole chicken, however, I didn’t have one to hand so I defrosted some chicken legs that I had in the freezer for a rainy day.

I have spoken to several Cypriot women about the best way to make Avgolemoni, taken notes, and this is my version of the Cypriot classic.

Here’s what I used:

4 organic free range chicken legs

1 small carrot + 2 bay leaves + 1 small onion, peeled + pinch of whole black peppercorns

(as if you were making a normal chicken stock)

½ a mug of basmati rice, starch rinsed off

2 organic free range eggs

3 lemons

Sea salt and black pepper

Put the chicken legs, carrot, bay, onion, and peppercorns in a large pot, and cover entirely with cold water.

Bring to the boil, then turn down the heat to medium so that it doesn’t bubble and overflow whilst it simmers away.

15 minutes later the chicken will be cooked, so remove the chicken and vegetables.

Now skim the scum off of the surface of the stock.

Take the skin off the chicken and discard.  It was important to keep the skin on during cooking, as it keeps the flesh moist, but we definitely don’t want to eat it now.

Take the meat off the bones, and place the bones back into the stock.  Put the rice into the stock and cook until just under done.  This should only take around 15 minutes.

In a bowl whisk the juice of two lemons together with two eggs.  Add a little of the chicken stock into this eggy mixture, whisking continuously.  Add ladle by ladle until the eggy mixture is warm.

Remove the bones from the stock pot.  Add the eggy mixture to the soup whisking continuously.

You will see the soup turn opaque to a creamy yellow colour.  This is exactly what you want. 

Check for seasoning now, add salt and pepper as necessary.  Simmer the soup for a few minutes, but do not boil.

Serve with the cooked chicken, extra wedges of lemon, and some warm crusty bread….

…….and of course with love….xoxo……..

Greek Style Chicken Wings

 


 

Apologies for my short absence, I have been super busy doing weddingy bits and bobs, fun fun fun....

As Alex and I were making our way home this evening, he said how much he missed KFC......obviously I do NOT advocate the deep fried, battery hen, chicken bits that KFC offers, (although I am guilty of having the odd spicy chicken wing when under the influence), so we stopped by Waitrose and bought some fresh wings.

A few weeks ago I made and posted the spicy chicken drumsticks, so today I thought I'd do something a little different. 

The reason I call these Greek style is because I saw a general trend, and that is lemon, oregano, and olive oil.

Lemon is very popular with all meat; oregano is sprinkled over everything from lamb chops to fries; and of course lovingly homegrown olive oil.

This dish doesn't need many ingredients, and really takes no time at all to prepare.  Once I'd put the wings in the oven, I was able to kick back with a gin'n'tonic (slimline naturally), and gossip to a few friends on the phone.

Here's what I used:

12 whole chicken wings (separated into drumettes and flats) spread over a baking tray

Pour over the juice of one large, juicy lemon

Sprinkle with a good pinch of sea salt

Sprinkle over a generous amount of dried oregano, approximately 1tbsp

Drizzle over olive oil

 Mix well with your hands ensuring everything is coated with the lovely, lemony glaze.

Roast in a pre-heated oven at 200 degrees celsius for 45 minutes, turning once, so all the wings are gloriously golden.  Serve with a large fresh green salad, and perhaps new potatoes....

....and of course with LOVE..........

xoxo

Sticky Spicy Chicken Drumsticks

I am a real carnivore.  I love meat!  I love it roasted, chargrilled, stir fried - all ways!

I also love to marinade meat. 

I think it's easy an efficient way to prepare a main dish, and I rarely measure ingredients when preparing and cooking food like this.  Yes this sounds dangerous to us ladies who like control and order - but it's a tip I've received from many women from the previous two generations.

Whenever you have a few minutes, throw, sprinkle or pour ingredients over the meat, squish it all together in a bowl, or for the more squeamish, a sandwich/freezer bag and leave the lovely marinade to permeate and tenderise the meat in the fridge for a few hours, although preferably overnight. 

Whenever you're ready just take the meat out of the fridge and pop it into the oven, or on the BBQ or under the grill.  Couldn't be more simple right?

Today I made these sticky spicy chicken drumsticks for Alex. 

It's been a typical cold, grey, drizzly February weekend in London, and much to my shame, Alex and I didn't leave the flat - not even to do grocery shopping.

I already had chicken drumsticks in the freezer, so defrosted them overnight, and this morning just slashed the flesh and added what I fancied from what was in my fridge and store cupboard:

a long drizzle of sweet soy

a few chopped garlic cloves

a smattering of chilli flakes - to your liking

a sprinkling of paprikia

a sprinkling of ground ginger

a sprinkling of ground cumin

half a lime - left over from last night's gin'n'slimline tonics

I slashed the flesh as I wanted to roast these drumsticks in a speedy fashion - Alex was very peckish and wasn't in a particularly patient mood.

I roasted the drumsticks on a baking tray, (with no oil), for 30 minutes at 200 degrees celcius, turning the chicken drumsticks once, to ensure both sides were lovely and caramelised.

I served this with a fresh green salad, and oven cooked potatoes wedges with their skins on, and of course....

.....with LOVE.....