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roast chicken

The humble roast chicken is anything but. It's a real crowd-pleaser. Vegetarians, I feel genuinely sorry that you'll never know the succulent, meaty joy of a crisp, moist roast chicken.

How I cook it depends on what's to hand. Here it's stuffed with a chopped onion, which evaporates sweet perfume throughout the bird, and liberally rubbed with olive oil, salt, pepper and fresh thyme. It's sat on a bed of root veg, ready to make gravy with afterwards. I also have a favoured version which starts with fried bacon deglazed with brandy to kick the cooking off.

I generally start it off on a high heat (225C), then take it down to about 180C once it's in. A good basting from the run-off juices every 20 mins or so keeps it moist and returns flavour to the bird. Once a skewer allows clear juice running from the thigh it's done. You must let it rest to retain moistness and flavour, in this case it sat for about half an hour.

The gravy was simply the roasting pan, veg and all, over the hob and chicken stock allowed to bubble over for a few minutes until thick and dark, then strained off. Glorious.

chicken and mushroom hotpot

Wow, this was a Jamie great. Very pleased with the results.

Started with chicken legs: skinned, then trimmed the meat off and diced. The skin was then put into a hot pan and allowed to render the fat out. Then browned the leg meat, and added onion, garlic and celery. Once this had all sweated a little I chucked in some sliced chestnut mushrooms and seasoned well. Then, a spoon of flour mixed through to help thicken it up. I added some chicken stock until soupy, then lovely wood thyme.

I poured this into a casserole pot and topped with lightly-boiled sliced potatoes and baked in the oven for half an hour. Thick, savoury and a lovely blend of textures. Nice!

pancetta & pea risotto

Risotto is a deeply calming dish, both to cook and especially to eat. What amazes me about risotto is that it starts the same but can end so many ways depending on what you add.

It starts with: onions fried gently, then the heat turned up as your arborio or carnaroli rice is added. A handy tip for measuring rice: two handfuls per person. The rice needs to get hot and toasted all over to prepare it for absorbing stock. Stock should be boiling the background (thank you, last week's chicken stock). Booze is needed here, a glass of white wine is best. Allow this to bubble to nearly nothing. Then stock is added a ladelful at a time, allowing it to reduce away until sticky. You need a bit of armwork, stirring away to move the rice off the bottom of the pan. Once the rice is tender and tasty, you can eat as is (a little dull) or add what works for you.

For me, it's grated parmesan and butter, vigorously stirred through. In this case I added fried pancetta just beforehan, kept to one side then put back into the rice at the end. Some frozen peas and it's ready. Eat with a spoon and a lazy grin.

chicken stock

I love making chicken stock. It means there's a really excellent meal coming in the next day or so, and whilst it bubbles away the whole house smells of divine chickeniness.

Using our friend from earlier in the week, all the leftovers were tossed into a roasting tray with some assorted veg: celery, carrots, onions and any other oddity that was clogging up the fridge. That's the beauty of stock; it doesn't really matter what goes in there, they each add their own interesting note to it. If I've got a marmesan rind knocking about that'll go in, in this case some spare pancetta and a couple of tomatoes were the guest stars.

After about half an hour's roasting it all goes in a pot, covered with water and boiled for maybe an hour and a half, the timing's not terribly important. When it's cooled it's strained off then left covered in the fridge. The best stocks wobble like a loose jelly when chilled. This one had a pleasing little jiggle to it.

Now, what to do with it?

chicken with spinach

Inspired by a true muse, I've heartily ripped this wholesale from Giorgio Locatelli.

It really couldn't be easier: a chicken breast is butterflied and sliced laterally before being battered thin to get the most surface area possible. This means that it can be cooked quickly and keep as much moisture in as possible. It's placed on a griddle for about five mins, until it develops those lovely char marks and the white is creeping up the sides. Then I flip it over for a minute or so until it's done all the way through. I made sure it was seasoned on both faces, and left a smashed garlic clove on top while it cooked.

I served it with some lightly wilted spinach and some cheap-ass chickeny noodles (10p from Tesco!), finished with lemon wedges and drizzled with extra-virgin olive oil. Very nice, and super-quick.

roast chicken legs

Roasted for an hour with salt and pepper. Golden brown, pulled away from the bone dead easy, and really tasty meat.

chicken week

No pics - hands were too yukky and covered in chickeny stuff!

I've wanted to support local butchers and producers for along time, but there's never been a convenient way for me to do this. I want to help them, but they won't meet me halfway with their 9am - 4pm opening times, and Saturday isn't easy for me. Ideally they'd be open late one night a week. Then, out for a walk the other day I found a butcher near me that opens at 8am, just enough time to scrape my shopping in before work. So I popped in there.

It was so nice to chat to a knowledgeable guy who clearly cared about the meat he was handling, and wanted to tell me so much about his produce and what offers he had on. I was only in there for a whole bird, but I knew I would be coming back next week.

So, I decided to have a chicken week this week; buy a whole bird (£6) and get various meals out of it. Before that I have to part it, so I set to.

First the breast: I peel back the skin, then make an incision down the breastbone, then go down and around following the body either side and remove the breast/supreme. A little trim here and there and I've got two lovely plump pieces of meat.

Then the legs: an icision in a circle around the hip joint, then twist and pull for the rest.

Finally the wings: another simple twist and pull.

Then I'm left with a lovely carcass with some dark meat on that I'll roast and stock later on. The whole process took less than ten minutes, and just felt right. It felt like the way things should be done, rather than prepacked sweaty grey flesh with a tampon underneath.

I'll be back with the chicken recipes in the week. Tomorrow is Yaki Soba, which I've blogged before, but made with the legs from here. I'll pic how they roast up.

french baguette

Another week, another adventure in breadery. This week, the humble french stick.

Made with the usual bread ingredients, but there was a careful folding process: after rising it was rolled flat then folded back in itself and left to rise a little longer. I repeated this three times and it seems the net result is a softer bread, a lighter texture and a gentler crust. Perfect with pâté!

roast pork

Delicious, savoury roast pork. The porky prince of Sundays. Except I had this on Saturday. Er.....

I watched Jamie's programme on British pork, and immediately raced out for some Freedom Food British shoulder of pork from Sainsbury's. Can't recall ever having roast with shoulder before, usually loin or leg. So it was an experiment.

Following Jamie's recipe, I scored the fat for crackling and smeared it with coarse salt. It went in the oven on a very high heat, then after half an hour turned it down to a normal-ish 180C. At this point the skin was all puffed up. After another hour I piled the baking tray with celery, carrots, red onions, sage and bay and plonked the pork back on top. After about another hour and a half the pork was as above, golden-dark and dripping with flavour. Crucially it was also possible to pull the meat apart with fingers - therefore done. I put the meat to one side and covered with foil to rest. (I didn't actually eat it for perhaps another hour and a half).

Meanwhile the tray went on the hob and I put a splash of Marsala in with the veg, scraping away to get all the yummy black bits off the bottom. Once reduced I added veg stock and stirred until I was left with a thick, rich dark gravy. After pushing through a sieve I had a gloriously savoury meat juice.

Served with cabbage, carrots and - what else? - roast potatoes, it was great. Nice one Jamie - support British pigs!

chorizo hot pot

One of those "Feed Your Family For A Fiver" things from Sainsbury's. I can't help but embellish though.

Two onions (two onions? Insanity!) and my old friend, sliced chorizo are fried together til crispy. Then tinned tomatoes, veg stock and some conchiglie are added. This is where I chuck in oregano and paprika, cos it just sounds too bland. Twenty minutes later there's frozen peas in there, and once they're done, we're done.

To my surprise it didn't need any seasoning at all. Nice one J Sains.

chicken and chickpea casserole

I saw this recipe on a low GI recipe website, but it was a little under-developed and felt sure it wasn't going to quite come together. So I embedded a few ideas: a sofritto base of onion and carrots, but that wasn't quite enough. I remember doing an Italian pasta sauce starting with basil stalks, infusing the whole thing with a deep flavour. For this I felt coriander would be  good fit. Whaddya know, tastier than expected: red onion, carrots, and coriander stalks sweated off, then diced chicken, chickpeas, button mushrooms, tin tomatoes, tabasco and chicken stock are added. After 45 mins simmering some lemon juice, soy sauce, salt and pepper and coriander leaves are added for seasoning.

Served with greek yoghurt mixed with lemon juice and more coriander, this was quite satisfying and pretty simple.

chicken curry

Can the world take another generic 'curry' recipe? At least one more it seems.

We kick off with ginger, onions, lentils, turmeric and cumin with 2 pints of water. This is left for 40 mins, then diced chicken is added for a further 25 mins. As seasoning right at the end, cumin seeds, ginger, garlic, cayenne pepper, nutmeg, cinnamon and salt is fried until aromatic, then pounded to nothing and added to the curry with some lemon juice. Turned out pretty good.

The little beige puddle in the corner is one of my fave accompaniments: cashew butter. It's just toasted cashews and cumin seeds blitzed with oil and salt. Yum!

hot cross buns

There was no breakfast for Sunday :( So I refused to go to the shop and make something instead.

I had no idea where to start - I remember Paul Hollywood making some on the superb Good Food Live years ago, and that's as far as I went. I decided to start at a malt loaf recipe and work outwards from there.

I'm writing the ingredients here for my own benefit really: 350g bread flour, packet of yeast, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp sugar, 2 tsps cinnamon into which I rubbed in 15g butter. Then I added a couple of handfuls of mixed dried fruit, 200 ml water, 2 tbsps golden syrup and blended until bound. Then turned out, kneaded and stretched until smooth and elastic. After proving and shaping into buns, I gave 'em a milk wash and ovened.

Hot cross buns are traditionally basted with thinned down apricot jam. I possess no such odd preserve so improvised a caramel glaze: water and sugar and a tablespoon of golden syrup boiled until sticky, then the freshly-baked buns were doused in sugary gloop whilst cooling. I have to admit, they were great! Nice toasted the next day too.

garlic bread

Another in the continuing saga of a-bread-a-week: this week, king of doughy accompaniments, much undersold as sweaty baguettes, garlic bread.

Polite Notice: please leave Peter Kay-related gags in 2003, many thanks.

My typical BBQ standby is to slice up a french stick, dip it in parsley and garlicky-infused oil and stick it on the bars of a searing-hot grill until blackened. Chomp and watch oil dribble down your chin.

However I wanted to start right at the beginning today, dough first. A little different to regular batter, a fair gloop of olive oil in the mix, and some dried oregano. As Saturday was a very sunny day the conservatory gave the yeast a real party; the dough had risen enormously! Whilst the second proving went on I gently fried some minced garlic in a freakish amount of olive oil. Not so it coloured, just so it was allowed to sweat aand develop a bit of flavour. I slashed the bread a little to allow the garlic juices to seep in between the bread, then drizzled the oil all over, plus a sprinkle of sea salt. 20 mins in the oven later, I had some pretty bloody good garlic bread. It ended up as a kind of fougasse. It was a real success, it's coming out again.

chorizo and lentil soup

Hot diggity, I love chorizo. So meaty, spicy and god-darned irresistible. I hate those pre-packed sweaty little plastic things, so I always buy mine from the deli counter. Except there I have to plead with the assistant not to slice it into bits, it's always finger-thick slices or rough dice for me.

This wintry soup is a real cracker: fried leeks and chorizo, cooked until softened, joined by red lentils, paprika and stock, then allowed to simmer until everything's tender. Followed by the obligatory blitz. Just to finish it off I seared some reserved chorizo slices until blackened, then rested on top to allow its savoury blood-red juices to drip into the chunky soup.

cornbread

Told you I was only making bread. Though Liam did most of this. We were having a jambalaya and inspired by Simon this was the natural compliment.

I ordered corn meal from Tesco, not realising it's actually polenta, which I have tons of anyway. Ho-hum. Otherwise, it's bread-baking as usual except for the addition of, well, polenta.

Doing it again I'd add more sugar to balance the flavours. It went dry pretty quick, good excuse to squeeze some golden syrup over then.

bagels

I bought a bread book the other day. I've made little else ever since.

I had to try making bagels, such a satisfying and fun food, and so versatile. The bread recipe is fairly standard, flour, yeast, water, yadda yadda, leave to prove etc. But the difference is just before baking to poach the batter in boiling water.

It made for fascinating cooking though the end result wasn't quite like the bagel I expected. Next time, I'd boil them a little longer, allowing the moisture to seep right in before baking out via steam. Whatever happened, they were gorgeous with full-fat Philly.

tomato dahl with lamb

This poor, poor recipe: it got bumped for weeks and weeks off the menu as other things came up, we got home late, someone invited us out... and finally we made it. It was very nice, luckily.

The lamb was supposed to be koftas but mega-juicy onions didn't allow the meat to bind into kebabs. So instead the lamb mince was mixed with onion, garlic, ginger and turmeric to make a batch of fried mince. The dhal was onion, garlic, turmeric and lentils simmered in stock, with a tin of tomatoes, to form the carb part of the dish. Not fussy, not clever, but satisfying.

(the white strips above are slivers of halloumi cheese that were sitting looking bored in the fridge lightly grilled and left on top)

balti beef

A dreadfully-named dish this one; but it inverts a standard cooking cornerstone in a way that really baffled me. It came from a Weight Watchers book of all places, though it has dubious dietary heritage.

Rather than the time-honoured tradition of: sweat onions in oil, then add meat, the method for this is to dry-fry mince until it starts to leak oil and then chuck the onions in. I suppose this is marginally healthier. I add grated garlic to this, then some patented Gary Masala and turmeric, with seasoning. Allowing these flavours to develop for a few minutes I then add a good puddle of beef stock, frozen peas and a tablespoon of mango chutney. It sounds utterly perverse, but after just a couple of minutes simmering you get a spicy, fruity, meaty bowl of food that is immensely satisfying.

roast potato

Here it is, the eponymous food of the blog. These were exceptional specimens too.

Everyone has their own method for roast potato, though that stems from how you like your spuds. Me? Fluffy inside, dark and crisp outside. The science to this is that it's surface area that collects fat - and therefore crispiness - so you want to maximise surface area. How do you do that? Think small. The potatoes need to be parboiled to the point just before they forget how to hold their shape. And the water must be salted. Once they are quite soft, drain thoroughly, and treat 'em mean. Jamie Oliver uses the phrase "chuff 'em up a bit", and he's quite right. Shake them in the colander or pan, get the edges bashed up, because it's these ridges and crumbled edges that make areas for the hot fat to attack. If I have inclination and equipment to hand, I'll boil the skin in a cloth bag in with the pots before discarding, I feel it lends an earthy tone.

Speaking of hot fat, whatever comes to hand will do, although if we're talking perfection it's goose fat for me. Your fat of choice has to be in the oven already at a hot temperature, about 225C, before the boiled potatoes hit it. Give them a good turning to ensure they're covered with fat, then let 'em roast for 45mins+. Makes sure they get turned often and always sprinkle liberally with salt before serving.

Aren't they just bliss? I've never met anyone who doesn't love a roast potato, and I don't think I'd want to know them anyway.

vegetable curry

Another one from Nigella: a filling, warming bowl of food that assuages post-Christmas guilt.

Relatively simple, tin tomatoes, whatever veg was to hand (courgette, cauliflower, onions, carrots, peas), stock and some Gary Masala, boiled up for a while and dotted with coriander.

Served with a chewy, fluffy naan, it's seriously comforting.

rocky road crunch bars

What a terrible picture. Doesn't do it the slightest bit of a justice. It's a typical Nigella orgy of sugar: melted chocolate, golden syrup and cream, mixed with broken biscuits and mini marshmallows. Set it in the fridge and cut to size. Unfortunately one piece, no matter the size, is never enough.

roasted pepper and garlic gnocchi with feta

Gnocchi is great but as you may recall from a previous entry I like to find other things to put with them besides creamy cheesy sauce, despite it's gorgeousness.

I love roasting vegetables in the oven, particularly the fleshy ones. Some peppers left in the oven here, a few cloves of garlic, both coaxed along with with olive oil, thyme and s&p. When they are ready to burst, I mash them up with a fork and toss it with some boiled gnocchi. Add some peppery rocket, some salty sharp feta and it's there.

A good one this, but six months too early. In Summer it would be divine.

sicilian meatballs

Another one from someone who's becoming a quiet hero of mine, Angela Boggiano, as usual crafting taste, thrift and technique in a clever way.

Meatballs: turkey mince, lemon zest, breadcrumbs, paprika, a little cayenne, parsley. I fry them all ove, then add some chicken stock to the pan. This gets them all moist and part-poaches them. Toss in some cooked spaghetti and a little more parsley, and you're there. Easy and tasty.

pea & leek tart with asparagus

Some friends were coming over, and I wanted something a little elegant and classy as a starter. I was cooking for a vegetarian friend, so there are considerations there. This was a recipe from Jason Gillies, actually from a magazine she had bought me, so it had a serendipity to it.

It was a bloody long process - definitely worth it, but a long process. It started with fried leeks and peas simmered with cream until tender, egg yolks added for richness, then blitzed. This was then piled into a pastry case and topped with wilted asparagus, and a little parmesan. A short burst in the oven browns it off and just sets it. Creamy, rich, yet very elegant.

I don't have a picture but I made Pizzoccheri for main, a thoroughly filling dish apparently for skiers. It's named after the pasta that it's supposed to be made with, but as it's so impossible to find I used trimmed lasagne sheets instead. Made with fried onions, blanched cabbage, par-boiled potatoes, Emmental  and a bechamel sauce, it's then baked together in an enormous dish and fills you up like nobody's business.