ROAST DUCK LEG, HERBED PLUM, MUSTARD APRICOT AND CRUSHED MINTED PEAS WITH FONDANT SWEET POTATO

March 20, 2014 — Leave a comment

This warming, slow roasting dish is bursting with flavour, and a veritable rainbow of amazing colours, coming from the rich sauce, sweet glazed fruit, earthy sweet potato and zingy vibrant peas – all of which are a great match for the meaty duck. You will definitely find yourself gnawing like a barbarian at the leg bones on this recipe. Duck legs are pretty cheap, full of deep flavours and rich fat, and perfect for cooking several at a time. Any left over fruit can be kept in the fridge and is awesome with cold meats and strong cheese. Timing is everything with this recipe and there are quite a few processes to juggle/remember to do at the right time, but if you’re organised, and careful, there is nothing thats actually too technically difficult in there. So go get stuck in with this great, hearty, colourful dish –

INGREDIENTS

For the duck breast with plums + apricots

2 good quality duck legs
5 tsp fresh rosemary sprigs
3 tsp chopped lemon thyme
3 tsp freshly ground ground black pepper
1½ tsp sea salt
4 purple plums, halved, stones removed
1 tbsp olive oil
can of apricot halves in juice, drained
5 tbsp caster sugar
500 ml red wine
300ml chicken stock
2 tsp runny honey
1 red onion
4 cloves of garlic – 2 roughly chopped
2 tsp plain flour

For the Mustard Apricot Glaze

1 & 2/3 cups lemon juice
2 cups sugar
1 tsp english mustard/50g mustard powder
4 star anise
3 sprigs lemon thyme

For the crushed minted peas:

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 handful fresh mint, leaves picked
1 pound (500 grams) frozen peas
2 large knobs butter
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Fondant Sweet Potatoes:

2 Sweet potatoes
cold water
1 tablespoon light olive oil
sea salt
black pepper, freshly ground
1 tablespoon butter
2 rosemary sprigs, fresh
1l chicken stock

Preparation Method:

Preheat oven to 190°C, fan 170°C, gas mark 5. Season the duck legs all over with salt, pepper, chopped garlic and the rosemary sprigs and brown in a hot pan on both sides. Set aside.
Peel the sweet potatoes and slice off pointed ends to create flat bases. Slice in half so you have 4 total pieces. Make as even to each other as possible in terms of height and width – around 3cm wide by 6cm tall. Place in a bowl and cover with cold water. Soak for 10 minutes and place on paper towels. Pat dry.
Heat vegetable oil in the same pan on the stove. When the oil begins to shimmer and move in the pan, add the potatoes, prettiest side down. Cook for 4 minutes and season the top with salt and pepper.
Turn the potatoes over and cook the other side for 4 minutes or until browned and slightly crisp. Season this side with salt and pepper as well.
Use tongs and a paper towel to blot out the remaining oil and add butter and rosemary sprigs to the pan. When the butter melts and begins to brown, use tongs and brush rosemary over all of the potatoes. Transfer your potatoes, butter and herbs to a shallow pyrex oven dish.
Pour in the chicken stock, so that it almost covers the potatoes and place in the oven. You will need to cook them for roughly 60-70 minutes or until the a knife can pierce the entire potato.
Add the HALF the red wine to the pan on the stove (the same one used for the potatoes and browning the duck) and simmer until reduced by half. Add the chicken stock, more rosemary, 2 garlic cloves and the red onion peeled and quartered and a 1 tbsp of sugar .
Return the duck legs to the pan, skin-side up. Drizzle the honey on top liberally. Place the oven-proof pan into the oven and cover with tin foil. This will cook in the oven for one hour or until the meat is tender.
Meanwhile, for the Mustard Apricot Glaze, make a thin syrup of the lemon juice, ½ cup of water, and the sugar, and whisk in the mustard. In the same saucepan place the fruit, star anise, lemon thyme and bring to the boil and then simmer for 4 minutes. Remove the fruit from the heat and put it in a bowl. Pour the mixture over the apricots. Cover and set aside to soak.
Place the plums on a baking sheet. Mix the chopped lemon thyme, black pepper and salt with the olive oil and sugar until well combined, then gently rub the mixture over the plums.
After an hour and when the duck is cooked remove it from the oven and set aside, still covered in the foil, and leave to stand. Turn the oven temp down to 160°C, fan 140°C, gas mark 3. Spread the apricots and plums in a shallow ovenproof dish, and bake in the oven for the 20 minutes until lightly caramelised.
Meanwhile transfer the peas to a medium saucepan and stir in the olive oil and herbs, plenty of salt and a pinch of pepper.
Cook the crushed peas on a medium heat with the lid on for 3 minutes. Stir in the lemon juice, then taste and correct the seasoning if you need to.
Crush the peas roughly in a food processor or with a masher. Do not purée them, as it is important to retain much of the texture.
Remove the duck leg from the pan and place on a plate, and cover in foil. Place the pan with the remaining sauce on the hob at a medium heat. Add 3 tbsp of the juice from the apricot can, 3 tbsp of caster sugar, and the rest of the red wine – then scatter in 2 tsp of plain flour. Stir, leave to simmer and reduce for a few minutes until you have a thick gravy like sauce.
Remove the sweet potatoes from the oven and remove from the stock. Mix half cup of the stock into the sauce reducing on the hob.
Remove the apricots and plums from the oven and set aside.
To serve, spoon the peas on to four serving plates arrange on the plate alongside the duck leg – place two roasted plum halves and one of the apricots on each plate, and then the fondant sweet potatoes by the duck. Strain the pan reduction and drizzle a very SMALL amount onto the duck (it will be quite salty and strong – so not too much).

MUSIC I COOKED TO:

BIG BOMBASTIC MEATBALLS AND RICH TOMATO SAUCE

March 18, 2014 — Leave a comment

Big, tasty, rich and full of flavour – thats pretty much all there is to say about this simple recipe. This recipe is the king of meatballs. And the recipe is so easy to make, that with practice and prep you can have the meal ready, on the table and ready to munch in 30mins flat. This makes the effort to flavour ratio a no brainer.

The (not-so) secret to these moist, light meatballs is the white bread soaked in milk. To those unused to this, at first this may sound a touch weird. But doing this allows the bread to act as a binder – adding structure to your balls, without imparting any overpowering flavours or making them to tough. Also only using one egg as binding agent makes the meatballs softer, as the bread soaked in milk will make them bind enough. The simple tomato sauce acts like a rich tomato gravy – adding some zing to the meatballs whilst moistening the whole dish and imparting its own strong and complimentary sweet, tangy flavours. And the meatballs can be frozen raw, or even cooked and saved for a few days – just make sure they are properly defrosted and then heated properly. My girlfriend likes to make up a really good mini-salad of mozzarella and sliced tomato, drizzled with olive oil and balsamic vinegar that is great with this dish too.

INGREDIENTS

200g white bread – stale if possible
Milk – enough to soak the bread
500g minced beef
2 tbsp flat-leaf parsley, chopped
2 medium onions, chopped finely
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 tbsp grated parmesan
4 anchovies, chopped finely
2 tins of tomatoes
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tbsp of caster sugar
1 tbsp of Worcestershire sauce
1 cup of beef stock
1 cup of red wine
1 tbsp of dried oregano
400g/14oz dried spaghetti
Olive oil
Salt and pepper

PREPARATION METHOD:

Start by preparing and cooking the tomato sauce. In a saucepan, heat a tbsp of olive oil, then add half the chopped onions and garlic and saute until the onions are caramelised and starting to brown – around 3 mins.
Add the red wine vinegar. Add the tinned tomatoes, a squeeze of lemon juice, some Worcestershire sauce, stock and the sugar. Reduce to a simmer and leave to reduce while making the meatballs for around 7-10 minutes, and until you have a thick sauce.
Preheat oven to 180C/gas mark 4. In a suitable container leave the bread to soak with the milk. In a larger mixing bowl, mix the minced beef, parmesan, anchovies, half the parsley and the rest of the onions and garlic, then the egg.
Add the bread, carefully squeezing most of the excess milk from it first. Then the red wine. Mix in well, really get stuck in, and then season with salt and pepper. Mould into balls – the mix should make around 12 balls.
Heat four tablespoons of olive oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat, and when hot, add the meatballs, turning as they colour; this should take about five minutes. If necessary, cook in batches so they are not all squashed together – otherwise to much moisture will infiltrate the pan and you’ll end up stewing them. Transfer the pan to the oven and flash them for 5 mins.
In a pan of salted boiling water start to cook the spaghetti.
Then, drain the oil from the meatball pan, then transfer them to the same pan as the sauce.
Place the whole mixture in the oven for 5 minutes – stick a knife in to check that they are hot in the centre.
To serve, drain the spaghetti when cooked, place a small mound of the pasta on to a plate, spoon on a good quantity of the tomato sauce, place the meatballs on top.

MUSIC I COOKED TOO:

‘WHO NEEDS NANDOS’ ULTIMATE PIRI PIRI CHICKEN AND SPICY RICE

March 17, 2014 — 3 Comments

So there is a brief bit of history behind this recipe’s origination. Basically about 2 years ago a certain well known Piri Piri chicken chain changed their loyalty cards and refused to accept the two I had diligently been collecting stamps for – despite the fact they were completed and I was eagerly anticipating two, whole, juicy, spicy and most importantly FREE chickens. Thanks to this crappy customer service, in a fit of (pathetic) rage I decided to boycott said restaurant chain and invent my own Piri Piri chicken recipe to get me over my frequent cravings.

Thus began many hours of sad, sad research into Piri Piri preparation. And not just Piri recipes – I looked at all sorts of spicy chicken recipes from american bbq to indian curried, in my quest to invent what I believe to be the ultimate in Piri Piri chicken. This isn’t a purists Piri chicken – I’ve added a few elements and steps that you wouldn’t find a your average, bog standard Piri recipe – But it is better! This is, what I hope, a Piri Piri recipe would look like if it evolved towards self awareness.

I’ll admit that this recipe does require a smidgeon more effort than popping down to your local high street food chain… BUT it is so worth it. The extra effort is minimal – all thats required is a small amount of pre-planning and effort in order to prepare the dry rub salt cure for the chicken and cook some rice about a day before hand. This dry rub may seem like a lot of needless prep, but the extra juicy, moistness and booming flavour it adds to the meat is astounding. Dry rubs essentially work by using the salt/sugar to draw out the water in the meat, allowing it to mingle with the flavours in the cure, before, through a process of osmosis, all the surrounding moisture is drawn back into the meat. And just like that – BOOM – your meat becomes juicy flavour central. Then with an extra short marinade for good measure this recipe packs a hot, spicy, sweet, sticky wallop of Piri Piri awesomeness.

INGREDIENTS

For the chicken dry cure rub

salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 chopped and crushed garlic cloves
2 tbsp. fresh rosemary leaves
2 tbsp. fresh oregano leaves
2 tbsp smoked paprika
4 tsp. rock salt
1 Tbsp. finely grated lemon zest
10 sprigs lemon thyme
2 tsp. light brown sugar

For the chicken

2kg/4½lb whole free range/organic chicken
salt and freshly ground black pepper
150ml/5fl chicken stock
250 ml/5fl red wine
250ml/5fl Cider
3 red onions

For the peri peri sauce

4 garlic cloves
5 red chillies
2 Birds Eye Chilli
2 tbsp of tomato puree
2cm/1in piece of ginger, grated
50ml/2fl oz vegetable oil
25ml/1 fl oz white or red wine vinegar
250ml/5fl Cider
3 tbsp soy sauce
1-2 tbsp hot Tabasco
2 tbsp smoked paprika
1 tbsp chilli powder
3 tsp dried oregano
1 tbsp chopped lemon thyme
1 tsp caster sugar
1 lime, zest and juice

For the spicy rice

300g of cooked rice
1 green pepper
1 red pepper
1 brown onion
3 sticks celery
½ bunch spring onions
a large handful of sugar snap peas
3 tbsp tomato puree
1 tbsp smoked paprika
1 garlic glove

Preparation method:

Rub chicken with garlic, oregano, rosemary, salt, sugar, lemon zest, and pepper. Place in a resealable plastic bag. Add thyme, seal bag, and chill at least 12 hours and up to a full day.
To make the piri-piri sauce, preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4. Place the chillies on a roasting tray and roast them for 10 minutes.
Cool and finely chop the chillies. Heat some oil in a large pan. Place the rest of the ingredients for the sauce in the saucepan, and simmer for 5 minutes.
Allow the mixture to COOL. Very important – unless you’re a fan of E.coli and salmonella bacteria
You can use a large mortar and pestle or a blender to turn the mixture into a more paste like consistency, though its not vital. I didn’t.
Spatchcock the chicken – remove the chicken’s backbone, then break the breast, whilst flattening out the chicken. Spatchcocking the chicken allows it to roast quicker in the oven, at a high temp, and crisp up the skin better. If you’re unsure how to spatchcock a chicken, just use one of the many tutorials available on the web. Add half the piri-piri sauce, spreading it evenly over the chicken. Seal with cling film and marinate in the refrigerator for 2-4 hours.
Preheat the oven to 200C/390F/Gas 6, AND preheat a large griddle or sauce pan on the hob.
Season the marinated chicken, and cook it on the pan for 2-3 minutes on each side, until the skin is golden brown.
Transfer the browned chicken to a roasting tray with a rack. Pour the cider and red wine into the bottom of the roasting tray. Peel and quarter the red onions, then scatter in the roasting tray. Cover in foil and roast in the oven for 20 minutes.
After twenty minutes remove foil, scatter a tbsp of caster sugar over the top of the chicken and increase temp to 250 for around 10 minutes to crisp up the skin, until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of thigh registers 165°F / 72C° and the juices run clear.
For the rice – heat a little oil in a large frying pan. Fry the onions until browned. Cook the peppers, celery and white parts of the spring onions for 5 mins. Finely slice and chop the garlic and ginger then add to the pan.
Tip in the purée and paprika, stir, then add the cooked rice, breaking up with a wooden spoon so all the grains are coated well. Use a high heat and scrape any that sticks off the bottom so you get some soft and some crispy parts. Heat until piping hot. At the last moment add the sugar snap peas and cook everything, stirring regularly, for around 3 minutes.
Scatter the green parts of the spring onion on top and set aside briefly.
Back to the chicken – Once cooked, carefully lift the chicken from the roasting tin onto a plate and cover it loosely with foil so it can rest and become juicier.
Now to make some more Piri Piri sauce to serve with the chicken. Carefully pour the oil out from the roasting tin, leaving the juice and sticky bits behind. Put it on a medium heat and add the onions, the rest of the prepared sauce mixture, some chopped tomatoes and the cider, stock and red wine. Allow to simmer and reduce for a some minutes, scraping up all the sticky bits from the bottom.
Returning to the chicken, pour any juices on the plate into the sauce before carving the meat. Arrange on serving plates with the roasted Piri Piri sauce and a helping of the spicy rice.