TWICE COOKED, TWICE FLAVOUR, CHINESE CHICKEN WITH CHILLI AND SPRING ONION

March 23, 2014 — Leave a comment

This bright, colourful, simple Chicken dish has been passed down through my mum’s family. The distinctly asian flavours and aromas are deep, and strong but quite fresh. The dish is simplicity itself to put together and cook. Julienning the ginger and vegetables beforehand will make things easier for you. If you have the time, the only difficult decision you have is whether to take a break from the cooking after the Chicken has braised in the first section of prep and let it marinade for a few hours… though obviously this turns a dish that is quite quick to cook into an all day affair (though you can obviously just leave the chicken marinating and go and do your own thing). Twice cooking the chicken is an important process for the flavours and textures – the first slow braising step imparts rich colour and flavour to the chicken as well as making the flesh succulent and tender. Roasting the chicken after this and basting it gives the chicken an indulgent crispy sticky covering that holds a real flavour punch. Served with fresh tangy spring onions ,spicy chillies and simple boiled rice this dish springs off the plate and into your mouth with a awesome medley of complimenting tastes and textures –

INGREDIENTS

For the chicken:

Small whole chicken
Cup of Water
Cup of chicken stock
3 small yellow onions
4 spring onions
5 garlic cloves, peeled, bruised
6cm piece fresh ginger
3 star anise
4 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp oyster sauce
1/2 cup Chinese rice wine
6 tbsp Light soya
4 tbsp Dark soya sauce
2 long red chilli, thinly sliced
heaped tbsp sesame seeds
Steamed jasmine rice to serve

For the marinade:

1 tablespoons oyster sauce
1 tablespoon honey
1/2 teaspoon Chinese five spice
1 teaspoon light soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon dried chilli flakes
1/4 teaspoon Chang’s sesame oil

For basting:

500ml of Chicken stock.

Preparation Method:

Wash chicken and pat dry skin and body cavity with kitchen paper towel. OR leave to air dry for about 30-40 mins.
Butcher the Chicken into its disassembled pieces – breast, wings and legs and thighs.
Slice the ginger and onion into thin strips around 5-6 cm long.
Heat oil in a pan and fry the ginger and yellow onion until starting to colour. Add half the sliced chilli and fry for around a minute.
Place garlic + chicken pieces in pan in a single layer. Brown on one side, then turn over all the pieces and brown the other side.
Sprinkle rice wine onto chicken and add stock and water into wok with chicken. Then add soya sauce (light and dark), oyster sauce, star anise and the sugar.
Turn heat to medium-low then cover wok and braise chicken until cooked; turning frequently to avoid burning skin. When the liquid in the wok becomes thicker then leave uncovered and continues to cook on low heat and spooning the liquid onto chicken to colour the skin. This gives the chicken a lovely brown colour on the skin and cook the meat in a way which is succulent and tender. It takes appox. 35 mins. to cook the chicken.
At this stage – if you want you can let the dish cool and place into the fridge with all the pan juices for 4hrs (or even up to 12hrs.) – Though it will add flavour to the dish, its not really necessary.
Transfer to a roasting pan, skin side up. Pat dry with paper towel.
Meanwhile, make marinade Combine hoisin sauce, honey, five spice, soy sauce, chilli and sesame oil in a bowl. Reserve 1 tablespoon mixture.
Roast for 10 minutes or until browned. Remove from oven. Rotate chicken. Brush chicken with remaining marinade. Cook for 10 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and dark brown. Baste throughout with chicken stock and any leftover marinade.
Meanwhile toast some sesame seeds in a pan.
Transfer the chicken to a plate. Cover with foil. Set aside to rest for 10 minutes.
Thinly slice remaining spring onion. Place individual portion of chicken on a plate, sprinkle a pinch of toasted sesame seeds on top. Garnish chicken with spring onion and chilli.
Serve with rice and drizzle over some of the pan juices.

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.