chicken with sherry and cream

Two thirds of the post title are wrong. This is my take on a Heston Blumenthal recipe so read on to find out what I’ve changed…

I’ve read Heston at Home a bunch of times but I’ve always glossed over this recipe. The picture isn’t very appealing – in fact you can barely see the dish. It took good old In Search of Heston blogging it to make me give it a go. Handily, they’d pointed out a few quirks in the method worth noticing so I’m totally surfing their experience here. Such as using an expensive sherry – no way am I buying booze for a one-off but I always keep a bottle of Marsala on hand for cooking. And using double cream is just too indulgent, so I went for creme fraiche. Seem like reasonable substitutions to me. There’s a brining stage too which I went for but you can skip if you’re short on time.

There’s also a heart wrenching moment after you’ve simmered diced veg in the broth that you’re supposed to throw the vegetables away. No chance am I binning that goodness and frankly, money. I chose to blitz this up my trusty Kitchen Wizz Pro which thickens the sauce and makes it more wholesome.

This recipe also gave me the opportunity to try a product I think Heston would approve of. Joel Robuchon chicken boullion comes in these giant tea bags that you poach gently. I admit to being skeptical – it had the whiff of duff endorsement about it. But it creates a surprisingly interesting flavour, wholesome but clean-tasting. A step above a stock cube for sure.

The finished dinner is rib-sticking and gorgeous. In fact, to be thrifty I’d get to the point where the chicken is cooked and stop there. You’d have a delicious cream of chicken style soup, plus some poached chicken portions for other recipes. The broth really is delicious, I had to shoo Mrs Spud away from the wooden spoon. In fact, I think the finishing touches of mustard, cheese and truffle oil are completely superfluous and the parmesan in particular only serves to muddy the taste. Next time I’d skip the garnish (apart from the parsley – needs that fresh edge to it).

I served mine with sweet potato mash and petits pois a la francais, but you definitely need some greens on there to offset your carb intake!

Creamy chicken with Marsala (serves 4):

6 chicken thighs

A brine of 8% salt, 50g brown sugar and 1 star anise

1 red onion, sliced

1 leek, sliced

3 cloves of garlic, bashed

300g Marsala wine

500g chicken stock

250g creme fraiche

200g chestnut mushrooms

6 rashers streaky bacon

20g parmesan, grated

5g Dijon mustard

Dash of truffle oil

Parsley, chopped

1. Place the chicken in the brine, chilled, for 6 hours, not too much longer as it’ll be too strong. Drain and pat dry when ready.
2. Season the chicken with flour, salt and pepper and fry in a large casserole dish with a little butter until golden. Remove from the pan to one side, and gently fry the onions, leek and garlic for 15 minutes.
3. Preheat the oven to 100°C. Add the Marsala to the casserole pan, crank up the heat and set alight. When the flames have died down turn the heat back down and add the stock and creme fraiche. Simmer for 20 minutes.
4. Return the chicken to the pan, cover and roast for 40 minutes or until the chicken is cooked to 70°C throughout. Allow the chicken to rest and cool to room temperature in the liquid.
5. Remove the chicken, pour the liquid & veg into a food processor and blitz until fine. Pour this back into the casserole pan and boil until reduced by half. Resist all urges to drink from the dish. Meanwhile, fry the bacon and mushrooms until tender, then add to the casserole pan. Stir through the cheese and mustard and pop the chicken back in to warm through. Serve garnished with chopped parsley.

beef rendang

When Jamie started banging on about using brisket to save money, I didn’t need any convincing. I’ve been a fan of this largely ignored beef cut for years; I’ve got 5 or 6 recipes around here somewhere including the mighty cholent, a very popular dinner in this house.

I bought a lovely 2.5kg piece for £19, divided it up and froze half. I roasted the other half to serve 4 people generously and still had four portions left. Two of them ended up in this beef rendang. I don’t often get out to a Thai restaurant but this is my go-to order. It’s a thick, rich and deeply coconutty curry with a low, slow-burning heat.

And this recipe is a blinding version of it. As with every single Jamie recipe in existence I’ve dialled the heat right down but it still packs a spicy punch that really delivers. This one is going on regular rotation in my house.

Based on a recipe from Save with Jamie.

Beef rendang (serves 2):

250g shredded brisket (any cooked beef will do, or you could fry some strips of steak instead)

½ teaspoon turmeric

¼ teaspoon cinnamon

300ml coconut milk

200ml beef stock

1 lime

Flatbreads or tortillas, coriander leaves and more lime wedges on the side

Coconut rice to serve

For the paste:

1 red onion

1 thumb-sized piece of ginger

2 cloves of garlic

1 bunch of fresh coriander

1. Blitz the paste ingredients together with the coriander stalks in a food processor with some salt. Add some oil to a pan and fry this paste off for about 15 minutes.
2. Add the beef, stock and coconut and bring to the boil. Simmer for another 15 minutes, grate in the lime zest and add lime juice to taste. Season and serve with rice, flatbreads, coriander leaves and rice.

turkey masala burgers

A turkey isn’t just for Christmas. It’s for all year round.

That was the message put out by the British Turkey board. Headed up by Paul Kelly – a good Essex boy – me and a bunch of others were entertained as a guest of Cyrus Todiwala to help promote the use of turkey throughout the year. Cyrus was an affable host, preparing dinner and chatting away. We were blown away by dishes like turkey heart pie and turkey cafreal tikka. All of us were stuffed with the amount of turkey dishes served, it really did showcase the bird!

It inspired me to cook an Indian-flavoured dinner. I have to be honest and say I’d not used turkey outside of December for a few years; it’s appearance in supermarkets seems to have declined. I would quite often but the breast strips for marinating, stir frying or for pies. Using mince here I made a burger with rich masala flavours, inspired by Cyrus Todiwala’s tikka recipe. I marinated mine in clotted cream, because I had some knocking about, but traditionally you’d use yoghurt.

My turkey here was succulent and meaty, and supported by spiced flavours it was a real hit. I will definitely be putting turkey in my basket more regularly.

Based on a recipe by Cyrus Todiwala

Turkey masala burgers (serves 4):

800g British turkey mince

¼ teaspoon turmeric

2 heaped tablespoons clotted cream

40g ginger

4 cloves garlic

½ teaspoon ground cumin

½ teaspoon ground coriander

½ teaspoon red chilli powder

Juice of 1 lime

½ teaspoon garam masala

For the sweet potatoes:

5 sweet potatoes, scrubbed

1 teaspoon ground cumin

For the cauliflower pickle:

400g frozen cauliflower

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

1 teaspoon nigella seeds

1 tablespoon white wine vinegar

½ red onion, peeled and sliced

Burger buns and mango chutney, to serve

1. Season the mince with the turmeric and plenty of salt and pepper. Combine well then form into 4 patties, and leave covered in the fridge while you make the marinade.
2. Bash up the garlic and ginger with the cumin, coriander and chilli powder in a pestle and mortar until you have a paste. Add the lime juice and cream and mix well to combine. Smother the turkey patties in the marinade, cover (twice!) and leave in the fridge overnight.
3. When you’re ready to cook, preheat the oven to 200°C, get a saucepan over a high heat and the grill on medium high. Slice the potatoes into wedges, dust with the cumin and drizzle with oil. Roast for 30 – 40 mins, turning frequently until starten to blacken at the edges. Sprinkle salt over as they come out of the oven.
4. When the potatoes are in the oven, put the onion in a bowl with the vinegar and a pinch each of salt and sugar. Stir occasionally.
5. Add the cumin and nigella seeds to the saucepan and allow to heat for a minute. Add the cauliflower and jam the lid on. Toss frequently and cook for about 15 minutes or until tender. Add the onion for the last minute of cooking and check for seasoning.
6. Grill the burgers for about 6 – 9 minutes each side, until browned and cooked through. Serve in a toasted burger with plenty of mango chutney.

bbt tortilla

What a great year it’s been for tomatoes. The plants in my garden have been raving with fruit, and they’ve been bursting with sweetness. A really bumper crop. Most of them have ended up in pasta sauce and pizza topping but these ones were deserving of a little more.

And so I happened across a recipe for a “BLT tortilla” in the SORTED cookbook but didn’t fancy rocket in mine, so some frozen broccoli jumped in instead. Coupled with refreshing, sweet tomatoes what you get is a portable and tasty lunch that’d be great in a picnic or easily upgraded to main meal status with a decent salad.

BBT tortilla (serves 4 – 6):

6 rashers smoked bacon, diced

About 12 frozen broccoli florets

8 eggs

A couple of handful of cherry tomatoes, halved

A handful of grated parmesan

1. Get a frying pan over a high heat and preheat the oven to 180°C. Add a dash of oil to the pan and fry the bacon briskly until coloured, and then add the broccoli. Stir fry until the broccoli has started to soften.
2. Mix the eggs in a bowl with the parmesan, a pinch of salt and a few grinds of black pepper. Pour this and the tomatoes into the pan, and take this opportunity to space the veg around the pan evenly. When that’s done transfer to the oven and bake for 15 – 20 minutes until the wobble has just gone. Leave to cool in the pan for 10 minutes before turning out and serving.

roasted new potatoes

For all the different things I make on this blog, I do still love a roasted potato as often as I can. Usually fluffy varieties are the ones, but a new potato can be a great alternative if treated right. Although to be honest slathering anything in rosemary, garlic and thyme is often a good idea.

Really though, I made these as a vehicle for ranch dressing. When relatives come back from the States they bring food gifts like sweets, and the occasional sachet of Hidden Valley Ranch dressing. It’s MSG-tastic but when made up with mayo and milk makes a creamy, thick and delicious dip that goes well with crudites, salad potatoes, crisps, salad, chicken, green veg… it’s really good stuff.

Roasted new potatoes (serves 4 as a side dish):

250g new potatoes, scrubbed and halved

3 cloves garlic, squashed

3 sprigs rosemary

2 sprigs thyme

1. Preheat the oven to 220°C. Heat a large lidded casserole on a hob and add a little oil and a knob of butter. Add the herbs and garlic, fry for 30 seconds and then add the potatoes. Turn several times in the flavoured oil to get them started, then cover and transfer to the oven.
2. Roast for 35 – 45 minutes, turning occasionally until browned and fudgy in the middle. Serve with ranch dressing.