Chicken with tomato basil and red pepper sauce

I've often heard it said that the best meals are those that are unplanned and prepared from just what you have in your cupboards and freezer. That was certainly proved true yesterday when I found myself needing to prepare a meal and had nothing planned.I came up with this chicken dish which looked so good I just had to get a photo to post on the blog. Not only is it delicious but it's quick to prepare and only uses one pan which is always a good thing in my book!
Using an oven proof pan I first prepared a sauce made from onions, red pepper, tomatoes, garlic and basil, I buried some big juicy chicken breasts in the sauce making sure they were well smothered then baked them until perfectly cooked, a good handful of grated Parmesan finished the dish perfectly.

Chicken with tomato basil and red pepper sauce:

Ingredients:

• A large white onion roughly chopped
• A large red pepper chopped into dice
• Olive oil
  
• 2-3 Cloves of garlic crushed and chopped
  
• A 400g tin of chopped tomatoes
• A large bunch of fresh basil (substitute dried)
• 3-4 Large chicken breasts
• A large handful of grated parmesan
  

Method:

• In an oven proof pan soften the onion and pepper in the olive oil
• Add the garlic and cook for a minute longer
• Add the tin of tomatoes to the pan along with the basil and bring to a gentle simmer
• Bury the chicken breasts in the sauce making sure they are well covered, this will stop them drying out
• Bake the chicken for around half an hour in a medium oven, halfway through cooking scatter over the parmesan.
• Serve with pasta potatoes or rice.
  
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Parmesan crusted chicken with tomato and basil sauce

Right now is probably my favourite time of year, the weather is good (well most of the time), the days are still long(ish) and best of all there is good fresh food in abundance.

I took a trip down to my local market recently to see what looked good and was really spoilt for choice. There were plump and juicy Victoria plums, bright red tomatoes on the vine, lettuces, courgettes, aubergines, peppers, fennel, cherries.... You get the picture.

While I wobbled home from the market having bought far more than I should I came up with an idea for a dish that would use up some of my newly acquired tomatoes. I was going to encrust a chicken fillet in parmesan and serve it with a tomato and basil sauce. Not only did it seem like a great way to use some of the tomatoes I had bought (way too many really) but I knew it would be delicious too!

The first thing I did was made the sauce by gently simmered cherry tomatoes with olive oil, crushed garlic, salt and a little sugar until they were very tender but still holding their shape. To prepare the chicken I bashed the chicken fillets flat with a rolling pin, a fantastic way to releive stress! I cooked the chicken on a lightly oiled very hot griddle pan for a couple of minutes on each side. To serve I put a fillet on each plate, stirred a large handful of roughly torn basil into the sauce then spooned it over the chicken.What I really like about this dish is how quickly it all comes together, it's the perfect after work dish. I'm sure I will be making this reguarly from now on, for as long as I can get beautiful tomatoes from the market anyway...

Spatchcocked chicken with lemon, thyme and chilli

I cook up a nice roast chicken at least a couple of times a month, it's one of those dishes that never fails to please, unless you're a vegetarian of course. I normally add herbs, spices or marinades to my roast chicken to make it a bit more interesting, lemon and thyme is a good combination, Moroccan spices work well and I have had a lot of success with stuffing bacon under the skin before roasting.

Recently I've been experimenting with a completely different way of preparing the chicken - spatchcocking. Not only is it fun to say it's also a really good way to cook chicken, spatchcocking is a simple method for preparing chicken that results in it being spread out flat.One of the brilliant things about using this technique is that unlike on a conventional roast chicken where the bottom tends to stay pale and soggy, on a spatchcocked chicken all the skin is on top which means you get loads more delicious golden crispy skin when it's done. not only that but it cooks in about half the time of a conventional chicken and it's perfect for the barbecue too!

To prepare a spatchcocked chicken is actually really simple, essentially all you do is turn the bird breast side down and using some good strong scissors cut out the backbone (save the backbone for stock). Turn the bird the right way up again and press down firmly on the breast until you hear a crack and that's it! I said it was simple.

Lemon, thyme and chilli marinade

I came up with this marinade to go with my spatchcocked chicken, it's the perfect blend of sweet and spicy.

Ingredients:

• The zest and juice of 1 lemon
• A large handful of finely chopped fresh thyme
• A heaped teaspoon of flaked dried chillies or a couple of whole red chillies chopped
  
• 4-5 tablespoons of olive oil
• 4 tablespoons dark soft brown sugar
• Sea salt and pepper to taste

Mix everything together well then rub all over your chicken, leave for as long as possible, an hour will do but preferably overnight before cooking.

For detailed instructions including photos on how to spatchcock a chicken why not visit Mike at Mike's table HERE. I forgot to take photos of the preparation, sorry!

Jamaican Jerk Chicken

Every year at the height of summer Leicester is brought to life by a Caribbean carnival. It all starts with a parade, dancers wearing colourful and elaborate costumes make their way though the city on their way to Victoria Park where a day long party kicks off.

I'm sure it will come as no surprise that the highlight for me is the food, anything and everything Caribbean is there from fiery curry goat (never called goat curry) to corn on the cob fresh from the barbecue glistening with melted butter. It was here that I discovered Jamaican jerk Chicken, the mixture of herbs, spices and chillies is just delicious and has become one of my favourite foods.

There are hundreds of different recipes for jerk chicken - there is no 'authentic' recipe - the ingredients can vary widely. What every recipe has in common is that they all contain Scotch bonnet chillies, thyme and allspice.

I've been experimenting with different recipes over the years, trying to find one that was just right, most of the recipes I have tried were bland, boring and a bit disappointing. Now at long last I think I have it, a recipe with just the right amount of heat that's flavourful and delicious.

Chicken marinating

I like to cook this on the barbecue when the weathers good, cooking over charcoal not only adds a delicious flavour to the meat it also gives it it's characteristic charred blackened look. In Jamaica they would always use legs or thighs for this, they have much more flavour than breast meat and don't tend to dry out.Recipe:
You will need a pestle and mortar or a blender.

Ingredients for the marinade:

• 1 Tbsp each of salt, black peppercorns and allspice berries (sometimes called pimento berries)
• 1 Tsp ground cinnamon or half a cinnamon stick
• 3 bay leaves
  
• 1 Small white onion finely chopped
• 4 Scallions/spring onions chopped
• Chillies, what type you use is up to you it depends how hot you want it to be. I used two whole red chillies for a medium heat, in Jamaica Scotch bonnets would be used but be warned, they are very hot!
• The juice of 1 lemon or 2 limes
• 2 Tbsp of plain vegetable oil such as sunflower or rapeseed
• A large handful of fresh thyme woody stalks removed and chopped
  
• 5 Tbsp brown sugar

• You will also need 2lbs/1kg chicken legs or thighs

To make the marinade:

• Either in a pestle and mortar or in a blender grind the salt, peppercorns and allspice berries. They don't need to be ground to dust but try to get it quite fine.
• Now add the cinnamon and the bay leaves to the mix and grind these up too.
• Add the onion, the scallions and the chillies and really mash it up to a paste.
• Finally mix in the lemon or lime juice, oil, thyme and sugar. Stir everything together and that's the marinade done.

To prepare the chicken:
You can skin the chicken or leave the skin on for this recipe, it's up to you. I would suggest skinning it if you don't have much time to leave the chicken to marinate.

Put all the chicken in a large plastic box or a zip-lock plastic bag. Pour the marinade over the chicken then really work it with your hands, you need to get the chicken really well coated and the marinade reall well rubbed in. Now leave it in the fridge for at least 4 hours but anything up to two days is good.

Ideaaly cook the chicken over a charcoal barbecue on a medium heat, other you can cook it in the oven at 180c/350f/gas 4 for about 1 hour, to get the charred skin flash it under a hot grill.

Traditionally served with rice and peas but potato wedges or salad are both good with this.

Chicken Kiev

Until recently my only experience of Chicken Kiev was the frozen supermarket variety, I loved them when I was younger but the thought of eating one now makes me shudder. If that's your only experience of chicken Kiev or if (gasp!) you've never tried one at all then you really are missing out on a treat. The real thing freshly made is a joy to eat, crispy crumbed chicken with a garlic butter centre, cut into one and the butter oozes out and floods your plate. Food heaven!

Made fresh with good ingredients the Kiev is a winner and a sure fire crowd pleaser.

Recipe

Ingredients: (serves 4)

• 4 Large chicken breasts,
• 120g butter,
• 2 Cloves of garlic crushed to a paste,
• 2 tsp Parsley, finely chopped,
• 1 tsp Tarragon, finely chopped (optional),
• 1 egg lightly beaten,
• Plain flour for dusting,
• 2 Cups of breadcrumbs.

Method:

• First make the filling my mixing the butter, garlic, parsley and tarragon (if using) together in a bowl season to your liking and set aside.
• Preheat your oven to Gas 5/190c/375f
• Slice through the chicken breasts horizontally about 3/4 of the way through and open them out.
• Place a sheet of cling film over each breast and bash them out gently with a rolling pin. You don't want to make them really thin so be gentle!
• Pack 1/4 of the butter mixture into the centre of each chicken breast then roll them tightly around the filling. Make sure the butter is well secured inside, you don't want your lovely butter to leak out!
• Finally the Kievs need to be breadcrumbed, take one of your chicken breasted and dust it with flour, then dip it in the beaten egg and finally in the breadcrumbs making sure it is well coated.
• Repeat with the rest, place them on an oven proof tray and bake until golden brown and the meat feels firm to the touch (around 45mins)
• Serve!

Curry in a hurry

There are some recipes I turn to time and time again, reliable standbys that I can depend on. This recipe for chicken curry is one of them. What I like about this recipe is it's simplicity, the fact that I always have the ingredients to hand, and best of all it's sheer deliciousness. It takes very little time to prepare and, unlike a lot of curries is also quite healthy making this a perfect weekday meal.
The original recipe is from The River Cottage Family Cookbook by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Fizz Carr, an excellent book for learning cookery basics.
I served my curry with fragrant rice, simply add cardamom, a couple of cloves and turmeric to the rice before cooking.

Italian chicken

Don't you just love it when you have an idea that comes off really really well? That's what happened when I invented this chicken dish, it combines all my favourite ingredients into one so I expected it to be good, but it turned out better than good it was fantastic!
Once again I've used the all time classic combination of tomato and basil, only this time for making a tomato, basil and red wine sauce which I used to top some bacon wrapped chicken thighs. Sounds good doesn't it?
After an hour in the oven I had a seriously tasty dinner! it just needed a sprinkling of parmesan cheese to finish.

Classic French Coq au vin

Last night I cooked the classic French dish, Coq au vin. When I was making this I was reminded of the Blackadder episode where Baldrick offers Blackadder Rat au vin, when asked what exactly that entails Baldrick replies it's rat that's been run over by a van!!
Luckily I didn't have to resort to anything scraped off the road! For my Coq au vin I used chicken legs although to be truly authentic I should have used a cockerel rather than chicken. Traditionally it was the old, and therefore tough birds that were used, hence the need for long slow cooking.Coq au vin is delicious and simple to make, unfortunately it seems to have gone out of fashion, I say it's time for a comeback! Very few ingredients are required for this, it can vary a bit but it always contains onions/shallots, bacon, mushrooms, chicken, red wine and a bouquet garni. These are cooked together for a good few hours until the chicken is meltingly tender and the wine has reduced to an intense and delicious sauce.
I was really pleased with how this came out, it was packed with flavour and really tasty. I served mine with French bread but it would be great with mashed potatoes too.

While I didn't use a recipe but this recipe by James martin is almost identical.

Let Them Eat Chicken (Sticky lemon chicken)

A couple of weeks ago I was asked by Kate of A Merrier World if I would like to take part in the blogging event Let Them Eat Chicken. The aim of this event is to raise awareness of the cruel conditions a typical supermarket chicken is raised in and to promote the free range alternative.The life of a standard chicken and a free-range one couldn't be more different. A typical broiler chicken is raised in dark sheds with very little room to move, they are packed in up to 20,000 very close together, the sheds are never cleaned during their short six week life.
A free range bird on the other hand can roam freely outside with plenty of space, these chickens are free to act as they would naturally and so are much happier. I believe that if we are going to raise animals for meat then we have a responsibility to treat them humanely during their life, that is why I only eat free-range chicken.
The issue of animal welfare is something I feel strongly about so I was very happy to take part. If you're from the UK you're probably aware of the recent campaigning on this issue by the celebrity chefs Jamie Oliver and Hugh Fearnley-whittingstall. The Chicken Out! campaign founded by Hugh Fearnley-whittingstall seeks to change the way we shop for chicken, it has an excellent website which clearly explains the reasons why you should buy free range.

To take part I was asked to cook my favourite chicken dish using free range chicken, I don't know what my favourite is but this Sticky lemon chicken is pretty good, the original recipe is by Gordon Ramsay, I was inspired to cook it after seeing a picture on the She Runs, She Eats blog.This dish is simple to prepare and tastes great, it is flavoured with lemon, honey and thyme, the sauce is reduced down to give a sticky and sweet coating. recipe here.

I hope next time you choose to eat chicken you think carefully before you buy, it may be slightly more expensive to go free range but at least you will know that your chicken has been raised humanely.

This article from the independent shows the conditions some broiler chicken are raised in:

The true cost of cheap chicken

Friday Thai-day, Thai Green Chicken Curry

Last Friday I finally got around to using a jar of Thai green curry paste that I've had in my cupboard for at least a year! I trawled the Internet for a recipe but found so many variations that in the end I just went my own way. My version is really very simple and absolutely delicious (good because I have enough paste for about ten more!) I don't know how authentically Thai this is but i'll be making it again and soon.
Mine was a chicken curry although I think it would be good with prawns as well.

I served this with Jasmine rice, it was the first time I'd tried it and I'm so glad I did, it's slightly sticky and just right with this kind of food.

Roughly this is how to make it

• First fry a finely chopped onion and a couple of cloves of garlic until just softened but not brown.
• Then add a chopped sweet red pepper.
• followed by diced chicken, I prefer thighs but breast is fine, I allow 1/2pound per person.
  
• Stir in a good dollop of Thai green curry paste. (sorry I can't be more precise, it really depends how hot you want it)
• When everything is cooking nicely add a tin of coconut milk stir and simmer for about 20-30 mins.
• Towards the end of cooking time add baby corn, sugar snap peas and fresh coriander, season with Thai fish sauce to taste. (this takes the place of salt)
• Serve on Jasmine rice with fresh coriander and a wedge of lime.
  

Cheerful tray-baked chicken

I love how bright and colourful this dish is, it looks fantastic and best of all it's really easy. As it's finally warming up a bit now (at last!) I felt like cooking something summery, I had some chicken in the fridge, yet more leftover pesto which seems to keep appearing! and some really good bacon. after a quick trip to the shops i also had a good selection of Mediterranean vegetables: an aubergine, courgette's, tomatoes, mushrooms and olives.

All I did was rub pesto over the chicken and wrap it in bacon. I chopped the vegetables tossed them in olive oil, balsamic vinegar, white wine, a few herbs, salt and pepper. whacked them in a baking tray, put the chicken on top and into the oven on quite high until it was nicely cooked. I basted everything every now and then to stop it going dry and it came out great and so simple.

I served my chicken with couscous and poured the juices from the tray over the top.
This is such a good way to cook and has endless variations, it would be great with fish, or pork chops and any selection of veg that takes your fancy, (try to choose a good selection of colours). Asparagus and fish would be a good combo about now.

Catalan chicken with picada

This is an amazing chicken dish which you really should try. The recipe came from Diana Henry on Market Kitchen which is a daily program on UKTVFood.
This recipe in it's simplest form is just a chicken stew but it has a twist and that is the "Picada". A Picada is a Catalan method of thickening stews and soups by using ground bread, nuts and sometimes biscuits. Herbs and garlic can also be added, this is then mixed with olive oil and a little wine to form a not very appetising (think gruel) but fantastic tasting paste. when added to soups or stews it thickens them as well as adding wonderful flavour and texture.
This is a revelation to me and one that I will definitely be experimenting with, I'm thinking lamb tagine...

Diana Henry's Picada recipe

• 1 sweet biscuit, (such as Rich Tea)
• 25g country bread
• 25g pine nuts
• 75ml dry white wine
• 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

For the picada: grind the biscuit, bread and pine nuts in a mortar and pestle, or in a food processor, gradually adding the white wine and olive oil until well combined.

I really urge you to try this it is amazing and is very adaptable, change the ingredients to suit whatever you're cooking.

The following picture is the chicken I made based on the Market Kitchen recipe (link at the bottom of the page). It is a beautiful tomato based dish with onions garlic and thyme. But what makes it special and gives it a Catalan feel is the addition of pine nuts and raisins, not forgetting the Picada...

I served mine with roast squash and fresh Ciabatta.
The recipe can be found here: Catalan chicken with Picada