Author Archives: lemongrassandthyme

Chicken for supper, with a Japanese twist

24 Monday Dec 2012

Posted by in Chicken

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Having friends round for a party means lots of buffet food and I’m always looking out for ideas for something different or new.  I noticed in the shops lots of places doing yakitori chicken skewers, sounded interesting but I wasn’t impressed by what you got for the price, so I made my own and very nice they were too.

However I took the sauce and turned it into a very nice supper.

Yakitori Chicken with Coriander Rice

For the sauce

Yakitori Chicken and coriander rice

  • 1/2 sup soy sauce
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup mirin
  • 1/4 cup sake
  • 1 garlic clove, crushed
  • Fresh ginger, chopped (about 1 inch worth)
  • 1 tbsp cornflour (plus a little water)

For the rest

  • Boneless, skinless chicken thighs (2-3/person)
  • 50-60g rice/person
  • handful of chopped coriander
  • 1 tsp tumeric

Directions(for the sauce)

  1. In a small saucepan, combine soy sauce, sugar, mirin, sake (I didn’t have any so I used 50/50 sherry/white wine), garlic and ginger.
  2. Heat gently to dissolve the sugar and then cook over a medium heat for 5-6 minutes.
  3. Mix the cornflour with a little water.
  4. Stir the cornflour mixture into the soy sauce mix and cook until thickened, stirring constantly.
  5. Strain the sauce and refrigerate until required.

I used the sauce for buffet food initially, adding some of it to diced chicken thigh in a seal-able bag and leaving this in the fridge to marinate overnight.  I then threaded onto mini-skewers and baked for about 18 minutes and served as part of the buffet.

For supper I took the whole chicken thigh and covered in a couple of tablespoons of the sauce and left for about 20 minutes (you could leave overnight).

I then griddled the chicken until cooked, brushing a little more sauce on towards the end.

For the rice I just cooked as per the packet, but added the tumeric to the water.  This gives the rice a lovely golden colour, and once drained forked through a bit of chopped coriander leaf.

I served the chicken up on a bed of the rice and drizzled a bit more of the sauce around the plate.  It was really delicious.  The sauce has a sweet, yet savoury tang to it that is really nice.  It would make a fabulous stir-fry sauce (I added a few teaspoons to fresh noodles as a side dish and was lovely too).

It would make a great sauce for barbecues as well.  I can see me making this a lot.

Note:  I know it’s sad I looked this up, but yakitori describes the method of cooking chicken on a skewer, and not the sauce itself (its really a tare sauce) but it will always be yakitori sauce to me 🙂

More Christmas goodies….

13 Thursday Dec 2012

Posted by in Christmas, Preserves

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Making Christmas present to give to people always seems such a good idea at the time, but I always underestimate how long it take to do these things.  Oh well my own fault really.

I’ve already posted the Chilli Jam and Beetroot Chutney, but there are a couple more I made as well to add to the mix.

Hot Plum Chutney

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  • 700g plums (halved & pitted)
  • 500g red Onions (chopped)
  • 250g cooking apples (peeled, cored & chopped)
  • 350ml white wine or cider vinegar
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 100g sultanas
  • 175g light muscovado sugar
  • 1 red chilli  (see notes)
  • 1/2tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/2tsp all spice
  • 4 cloves

Directions:

  1. Prepare all the ingredients and add to a large pan.
  2. Heat slowly until the sugar has dissolved then bring to a fast simmer
  3. Turn the heat down and gently simmer for about 40 minutes until the chutney has become thick
  4. While the chutney is cooking, prepare your jars by running through a short hot wash in your dishwasher. Or wash thoroughly by hand, then put in a hot oven to sterilise for 10-15 mins. Once the chutney is ready, let it settle for 10 mins, then carefully spoon into the jars and seal while still hot. You can eat it straight away but it will be even better after a month. Will keep for up to 6 months in a cool dark place. Once opened, refrigerate and eat within 2 months.

This chutney seems to have turned out alright.  I used a mixture of white wine and cider vinegar (rather than the malt vinegar suggested) because I think there is a better flavour.  However I’m not sure about the “Hot” in the “Hot Plum Chutney”, I think it could have used a second, or a third chilli.  But I’ll wait until I open a jar as chilli tends to increase in a chutney when left to mature a bit.  Its supposed to make 4 x 500g jars worth.

Okay so that one was one I’m planning to do again as the ingredients are easy to get.  Next time I might add more chilli, or some grated ginger its a recipe that I think I’ll end up playing around with.

However I can’t resist a food bargain and recently a kilo of diced red peppers were being given away at the local supermarket and I couldn’t resist.  I did think about turning it into a red pepper and tomato soup, but a relish/chutney sounded ideal so  after a bit of searching the Red Pepper Relish caught my eye (and I have borrowed the image as I’m writing this after making it and forgot to take photos doh!).

Red Pepper Relish

redpeppering

  • 100ml olive oil
  • 600g white onions
  • 2kg red peppers
  • 1kg tomatoes
  • 2 clove garlic
  • 50g fresh ginger
  • 200g currants
  • 2 teaspoons (7g) ground pimento (allspice)
  • 500ml white wine vinegar
  • 400g caster sugar
  • 2 birds-eye chillies

Directions:

  1. Heat the oil in a large pan. Cut the peppers in half, take out the seeds, cut in quarters and then eights, and then slice across the pepper.
  2. Add the finely sliced onions and sliced peppers and simmer with the lid on for 15 minutes.
  3. Then add the tomatoes, (which have been peeled, deseeded, and diced), garlic (sliced), chilli (seeded and sliced), ground pimento, grated ginger and currants.
  4. When hot, add the sugar and vinegar. Bring to the boil, then simmer gently and reduce for approximately 1 ¼ hours, or until the desired consistency. Check seasoning, and then bottle while hot in clean jars.
  5. This recipe makes approximately six 300 ml. jars.

I didn’t use all the oil suggested and I didn’t use birds-eye chillies, but chilli flakes (which are very hot) – and that might also have been a mistake, my own fault for playing around with a recipe.  I have apologise to the original writers of the recipe as it does sound really delicious, I just think my version didn’t quite get there this time round, which is my own fault.

As this cooked I wasn’t happy with the over-all flavour and consistency I was achieving and so late on I added a bit of turmeric to enhance the colour and a teaspoon of sweet smoked paprika which added a lovely smokey background note that I hope comes through.

I’m definitely going to have another go as I think this recipe deserves it.

This isn’t just any cheesecake, this is….

26 Monday Nov 2012

Posted by in Desserts

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….absolutely amazing! Sometimes you come across a recipe that just looks and sounds fantastic, and sometimes the reality is even better, and this cheesecake has become something of a signature dish for me and probably the one thing I get asked to make more than anything else.  Although making 3 at one time for various Christmas dinners was a bit much even for me.

Its a no-cook (well no-bake) chilled cheesecake, and a little goes a long way as its rich, indulgent, decadent and very very hard to resist.  It will easily feed a large group and you can get 10 or more slices, although don’t blame me if its all scoffed by greedy people wanting more.

White Chocolate and Raspberry Cheesecake

For the biscuit base

  • 150 g digestive biscuits, crushed
  • 150 g gingernut biscuits, crushed
  • 150 g butter, melted

For the filling

  • 400-600g white chocolate, broken into pieces
  • 65g butter
  • 1/2 vanilla pod (split)
  • 500g cream cheese
  • 50g caster sugar
  • 180ml whipping cream
  • 1 punnet raspberries, plus a few more to decorate

Okay I don’t follow the recipe exactly. I tend to use 500g of white chocolate, 5 bars of Tesco Finest is just right.  Also I just use double cream and whip it to soft peaks and add a good half a tub of mascapone into the mix for a bit of extra richness.  I also scrape the vanilla seeds into the mix for extra flavour.

Also I’ve doubled the amount of base from the original recipe as I didn’t think it was enough and I like the base to be a little more substantial.  Plus in a 23cm tin it gets a little lost for my liking.  Also (believe it or not) I tend to use “lite” cream cheese from a major brand.  Okay overall there is no difference, but it works and tastes fab.  Besides it makes me feel that its slightly better for me.

Directions

  1. For the biscuit base: combine the biscuits and butter and press onto the base of a 23cm springform tin. (I also put a greaseproof paper on the bottom, Lakeland does a range of disks that fit the tin perfectly)
  2. For the filling: place the chocolate, butter and vanilla pod in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering (not boiling) water until melted. Allow to cool slightly. (I split the vanilla pod)
  3. In another bowl mix together the cream cheese, sugar and whipping cream to a smooth consistency. (Add in the mascapone as well)
  4. Remove the vanilla pod from the melted chocolate mixture (scrape out the seeds and add to the chocolate mix) and stir into the cream mixture. Gently stir in the raspberries, being careful not to release the juice.
  5. Spoon the mixture on top of the biscuit base and place in the fridge to set for 8-24 hours.
  6. To serve: remove from the tin and place on a serving plate. Decorate with a few whole raspberries.

I guarantee this will never fail to impress and I’ll be making one shortly for everyone to enjoy.

Nothing wrong with leftovers

26 Monday Nov 2012

Posted by in Chicken, Lunch, Supper

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I love cooking at the weekend, and especially a Sunday.  It gives you time to indulge a little more, and make things you just don’t have time for after work.  Sunday lunch this week was Roast Chicken, baked potatoes and veg followed by apple pie.  And very nice it was too.

For those of you who find the thought of doing a roast chicken a little daunting, M&S do a rotisserie-style chicken that is really wonderful.  Just follow the instructions and timings on the packaging, it never fails.

Even with two of us there is always lots of chicken left over (and remember you can freeze the carcass to make homemade stock) for the next day.  So what to do with it?  Well a couple of large dollops of mayonnaise, half a can of sweetcorn, a splash cider vinegar and fresh cracked pepper gave me a luscious amount of chicken mayonnaise.  Add it into a couple of toasted onion bagels and lunch is sorted for the next couple of days.

However I had a baked potato left over (always cook too much), so for tonight’s supper I halved the potato and scooped out some of the flesh and mixed this with some of the chicken mayo and packed back into the potato skins.  Top with some grated cheese and into the oven for 20 mins, add a crisp salad and voila supper is served.  Who says left-overs are dull?

Sweet Temptation, Italian Style

25 Sunday Nov 2012

Posted by in Desserts

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A few weeks back very good friends of mine invited me over to join them for lunch and I offered to make dessert.  As the main course was a fantastic lasagne (made using fresh sausage meatballs) I suggested an Italian dessert to go with it and panna cotta topped the list.

Okay I agreed, but having never made it before I wasn’t even sure where to begin, and after a bit of searching and suggesting we decide upon lemongrass and coconut panna cotta courtesy of James Martin

Lemongrass and coconut panna cotta with coconut meringue and mango

For the panna cotta

  • 600ml/20fl oz double cream
  • 2 lemongrass stems, chopped
  • 75g/3oz caster sugar
  • 3 leaves gelatine, soaked in water
  • 50ml/2fl oz coconut milk
  • 75ml/3fl oz coconut liqueur
  • 1 mango, peeled and roughly chopped

For the coconut meringue

  • 3 eggs, whites only
  • 150g/5oz caster sugar
  • 25g/1oz desiccated coconut, toasted

Directions

  1. For the panna cotta, heat 400ml/14fl oz of the cream with the lemongrass and sugar in a saucepan.
  2. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally until all the sugar has dissolved, then reduce the heat and simmer until the volume of the liquid has reduced by half.
  3. Remove from the heat and allow to cool. Once cooled, pour the lemongrass cream through a fine sieve into a bowl.
  4. Heat the coconut milk in a separate saucepan until just simmering, then remove from the heat.
  5. Drain the gelatine leaves and add to the warm coconut milk. Stir until dissolved then pour through a sieve into the lemongrass cream. Allow to cool.
  6. Whisk the remaining cream and coconut liqueur in a bowl until soft peaks are formed when the whisk is removed. Fold into the cooled cream until totally incorporated and pour into four ramekins or moulds. Set asid in the fridge for at least two hours until set.
  7. Meanwhile, blend the mango pieces to a fine purée in a small blender. Pass the mango purée through a sieve into a bowl. Set aside until serving.
  8. For the coconut meringue, preheat the oven to 100C/200F/Gas ¼.
  9. Place the egg whites into a clean glass bowl and whisk until soft peaks form when the whisk is removed.
  10. Whisk in the caster sugar a spoonful at a time until the mixture is glossy and stiff peaks form when the whisk is removed.
  11. Line a baking tray with parchment paper, or use a silicone mat, and place eight spoonfuls of meringue mixture onto it. Scatter the toasted coconut over the top.
  12. Bake in the oven and for 1 ½ hours.
  13. Remove the meringues from the oven and set aside to completely cool.
  14. To serve, dip the panna cotta into a bowl of hot water briefly or slide a knife around the outside edge carefully. Spoon the mango purée onto the plate. Turn the panna cotta out onto the purée and set the meringue alongside.

Well I can honestly say my first attempt won’t be my last.  It turned out far better than I ever thought it would and thanks to my friends for all the nice things they said about it as well.  My only tweak next time would be to add in an extra stem of lemongrass or let it infuse for a bit longer.

Its okay to cheat…

16 Friday Nov 2012

Posted by in Beef, Chicken, Dinner

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Okay all cooks cheat, from a jar of sauce to ready made pastry sometimes life is too short.  I include myself in the list of those who cheat. For instance while I enjoy making pastry, I’ll happily buy the pre-rolled stuff for a quick quiche or something similar just to save time.

I also like to try different products that come out just to see if they are any good. So the other day I noticed that Schwartz do some slow cooker mixes and I thought they would be worth a bash. So I bought two, Beef and Tomato Casserole and Chicken Provencal.

I started with the Beef & Tomato.  Its fairly simple, couple of chopped red peppers, chopped onion, beef, a tin of tomatoes and some tomato puree.  Add in the mix and throw it all in the slow cooker.  I have to say I wasn’t impressed at all.  Firstly the mixture was too dry and there wasn’t enough sauce forming, I ended up adding water (initially about a third of the tin the tomatoes were in).  Secondly the flavour was just naff, it just tasted of the dry spices and I’d have been as well just eating the stuff straight out of the packet.  So I improvised, bit of worcester sauce, 4-5 tablespoons of a hot plum chutney (recipe to follow) that I’d made but wasn’t enough for a whole jar went in, as well as a dollop of red onion marmalade (another recipe to follow).    Now I had something that had flavour and depth to it and tasted edible. (there was enough – just – for 4 portions)

Next was the Chicken, its almost the same ingredients as above (but chicken thighs instead of beef obviously) and straight off I added in extra water.  I suppose it would depend how much liquid was in the tinned tomatoes, but I could see it wasn’t enough again.  This time the flavours were much better, nothing startling but I didn’t feel I needed to play about with the mix and I just let it cook.  (Again it just made 4 portions)

Would I buy them again? Definitely not.  Would I recommend them? Nah, just do it yourself.  I can, and do, make better casseroles from scratch without the packet mix but you never know until you try.  In the end I did create a few meals for the freezer that I can have over the next few weeks when I’m short of time so wasn’t a total loss.

It’s a bit chilli in here…

13 Tuesday Nov 2012

Posted by in Preserves

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Not feeling the best today, but those Christmas presents won’t make themselves.  Doing a search around for different things to make I came across a recipe for chilli jam and this one caught my attention….

Chilli Jam with Ginger and Lemongrass

  • 1kg ripe tomatoes, washed
  • 8 long red chillies, 4 left whole, 4 deseeded, plus extra whole chillies to decorate jars
  • 6 garlic cloves
  • 2 lemon grass sticks
  • 2 thumb-sized pieces fresh ginger, peeled
  • 200ml red wine vinegar
  • 600g golden caster sugar
  • 6 star anise

Directions:

  1. Roughly chop half the tomatoes and put into a blender. Roughly chop the chillies, garlic, lemon grass and ginger, then add to the blender. Pour over 60ml vinegar and whizz until blended and smooth. Tip into a large wide pan. Add the remaining vinegar, sugar and star anise. Cook over a medium heat, stirring, to dissolve the sugar.
  2. Increase the heat and bring to the boil. Dice the remaining tomatoes, add to the pan (the pectin in the seeds helps the jam set), then reduce the heat. Simmer for about 1 hour, until it has reduced and thickened.
  3. To test if it’s set, pop a saucer into the freezer for a couple of minutes. Spoon a little chilli jam onto it, cool, then run your finger through it – the surface will wrinkle if the jam is at setting point. Continue simmering the jam if it doesn’t set, and repeat the saucer test. Divide the hot jam among sterilised jars, seal, and set aside to cool.
  4. Stick red chillies onto brown labels, and attach to each gift with thin rope. Explain on the back that the jam can be stored in a cool place for up to 1 year. Keep covered in the fridge for up to 6 months after opening.

I got 4 1lb jars out of it, and will probably make another batch, but it does look delicious and should make a great gift.

As simple as soup

12 Monday Nov 2012

Posted by in Soup, Uncategorized

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Not everything I cook needs to have an occasion or be all singing and dancing, sometimes its about just simple cooking for myself.  Having some time off this week I wanted something to have in the fridge that I could have for lunch, or as part of dinner, and nothing is as simple to make and have ready as soup.

I love to make soup, its easy to do, its actually quite relaxing and I always make enough to keep in the fridge or freezer.  Today was just a simple lentil soup, but it tastes great, is really filling and has that warming feeling of the kind of food your gran used to make.

Simple Lentil Soup

  • 1kg carrots, either diced or grated
  • 2 large onions, chopped
  • 1 leek, chopped
  • 250g of red lentils, rinsed in cold water
  • 1 tbsp marjoram
  • 1 tbsp garlic infused olive oil
  • fresh black pepper
  • chicken stock (about 1.5 ltrs) (I used 2 chicken stock pots and bit of boullion)
  • 300g of turnip/swede in chunks (optional)

Directions:

  1. In a large pot put in a little oil (I used garlic infused  to add an extra flavour) to heat and add the onions and leeks to sweat a little.
  2. Add in the carrots, lentils, marjoram and stock.  Grind in a good amount of balack pepper.
  3. Bring to a simmer for about 20 mins and your done.

See not the most complex recipe in the world.  Depending on how I feel I grate the carrots (using the food processor) or dice if I want a chunky soup.  I’ll also add in large chunks of swede if I have any in the house which adds a sweetness that goes with the carrots.  If I leave the carrots as chunks I’ll also sometimes take half out, use a stick blender to blitz the the rest and then put it all back together.  This gives you a lovely thick soup with a bit more substance behind it

This is just a base soup, you can vary the veg, add more, add less make it vegetarian by replacing the chicken stock.  Change the herbs if you want with a bit of thyme or whatever you enjoy.  I love to use marjoram, I add it to stews and soups all the time.  There is lovely savoury /sweet flavour from it that I really enjoy.

I just split into containers and freeze, or keep in the fridge and its ready to have at any time.

Mistletoe and Wine….

11 Sunday Nov 2012

Posted by in Christmas, Preserves

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….okay I don’t mean the cheesy Cliff Richard song, but some things just conjure up an image in your head.  Mistletoe and Wine just conjures up images of snow and holly and robins and winter, a proper Christmas really (and not Cliff in case your wondering) but no matter how good the images are, its the smells of Christmas I love even more, and right now the house is filled with them.

Continuing with my Christmas gifts I am making an absolute favourite of mine Spiced Beetroot and Orange Chutney.  A few years back I had too much beetroot in the garden and a quick search found me this recipe from the BBC GoodFood web site.  With some creamy brie its divine, actually with any cheese its superb, hey just on the biscuit itself will do.  Mind you its a perfect partner to a slow cooked gammon, and who need cranberry sauce with turkey?  It even stands up well with some pan fried venison.  Trust me its a winner.

Spiced Beetroot & Orange Chutney

  • 1½kg raw beetroot, trimmed, peeled and diced (wear gloves!)
  • 3 onions, chopped
  • 3 eating apples, peeled and grated
  • zest and juice 3 oranges
  • 2 tbsp white or yellow mustard seeds
  • 1 tbsp coriander seeds
  • 1 tbsp ground cloves
  • 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
  • 700ml red wine vinegar
  • 700g golden granulated sugar

Directions:

  1. In a preserving pan or your largest saucepan, mix together all the ingredients well. Bring to a gentle simmer, then cook for 1 hr, stirring occasionally, until the chutney is thick and the beetroot tender.
  2. While the chutney is cooking, prepare your jars by running through a short hot wash in your dishwasher. Or wash thoroughly by hand, then put in a hot oven to sterilise for 10-15 mins. Once the chutney is ready, let it settle for 10 mins, then carefully spoon into the jars and seal while still hot. You can eat it straight away but it will be even better after a month. Will keep for up to 6 months in a cool dark place. Once opened, refrigerate and eat within 2 months.

This year I’ve doubled the amounts, its still cooking but will let you know how it goes :-).  Right now the house smells amazing, its the earthy sweetness of beetroot mixed with those mulled wine flavours.  I really love cooking this, although an hour of peeling and chopping beetroot wasn’t the best part.  Now all I have to do is sit and enjoy the aromas, and in a month some ripe brie, a glass of port and a spoonful of chutney.  Its well worth the effort, and well worth the wait.

Christmas is coming……

08 Thursday Nov 2012

Posted by in Christmas, Spirits

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….and it can go away too. Okay I’ll be the first to admit it I hate Christmas…with a passion. Its a commercial holiday that has lost all meaning except for giving kids an excuse to demand ever more expensive presents. But for me its the time of year I always feel at my lowest, and its when I really feel lonely and this year will be especially so. However it does have a plus side, its a time of food and drink, and I time I can share my cooking with friends and family and bring a little bit of joy to them.

This year I have decided to make a bunch of things to give as presents. I never know what to buy people, and I don’t want to give them something tacky or that will end up at a car-boot sale. And besides I think about what I cook, and what I give. I know not everyone will like everything, but then I don’t always like my own creations. Plus it actually takes time and effort, much more than shopping on Amazon.

First on the “I made that” shelf is home made creme de cassis. With a glut of blackcurrants from the garden I didn’t know what to do with them and someone suggested cassis so I decided to give it a bash.

Homemade Creme De Cassis Liqueur

  • 1 lb black currants, mashed
  • 2 1/2 cups red wine (I used something like a Merlot with a good rich flavour)
  • 4 -5 cups sugar
  • 2 -2 1/2 cups vodka or 2 -2 1/2 cups brandy (I used vodka)

Directions:

  1. Combine the currants and red wine in a ceramic or glass bowl, and leave for at least 24 and up to 48 hours.
  2. Purée the mixture in a food processor or blender, and then strain it through a cheesecloth-lined sieve into a large saucepan.
  3. For every cup of liquid, add 1 cup of sugar.
  4. Heat gently, stirring frequently, until the sugar has dissolved.
  5. Do not let the liquid come to a simmer, as you don’t want to boil off the alcohol. Then leave at the lowest heat for an hour or more, stirring occasionally, until the liquid has reduced a little and become slightly syrupy.
  6. Allow to cool.
  7. Mix together 1 part vodka or brandy with 3 parts of the cooled blackcurrant-wine syrup, and funnel into clean, dry bottles. Store in a cool place for at least 2 weeks before drinking.
  8. Use whenever a recipe/cocktail calls for creme de cassis.

I have to admit its fabulous, in fact so good I had to make a second batch. Its got much more depth of flavour than anything bought off a shelf and in a Kir Royale was just lush. This is on my make again and again and again pile, and I quite fancy trying the same recipe with brambles as well.