Chicken and Thyme Pie
I love baking. Especially a nice pie. Okay, so it’s a bit of a faff, but give it a try; it’s worth it for the wow factor when you cut it at the table. And you know what Oscar Wilde said: ‘one should try everything once. With the possible exceptions of incest and morris dancing’.
4 chicken breasts
500ml good chicken stock
Couple of stems of fresh thyme
2-3 peppercorns
1 carrot, diced
1 onion, sliced
Handful frozen peas
1 tsp butter and 1 tbs plain flour to thicken
Seasoning
For the pastry:
250g plain flour
125g butter
1 egg
Pinch salt
So start with the chicken – get the stock bubbling away on the stove, snip the chicken into bite-sized cubes, and pop it into the stock along with the thyme, peppercorns, carrot and onion (I always leave onion in quite big pieces as #2 likes to irritate me by picking it out). I know you’d probably normally chuck thyme on top of roasting stuff, but trust me, it really adds a little something here. So leave the chicken to simmer away and get on with the pastry. You know my view on pastry – don’t ponce about, if you don’t like making it, just buy it, but if you’ve got a food processor, whizz the flour and butter together until breadcrumby, then just whizz in the egg and generous pinch of salt. When it starts to come together, squish it into a ball, then wrap it in clingfilm and pop it in the fridge.
When the chicken’s completely cooked through (probably 20 minutes, depending on your chunk sizes), fish it out and reserve it while you reduce the stock (make sure you fish out the thyme and peppercorns at this stage too). It would benefit from a splash of cream here (ooh, lovely with some sliced mushrooms…yum), but Hubby’s not a fan of creamy sauces so I left it out. If you like a thicker sauce, mush together a teaspoon of flour with the same amount of butter and whisk it in. Season to taste. Add back your chicken, along with the frozen peas, then turn it off while you roll out about 2/3 of your pastry and line your pie dish.
If you can be arsed, it really helps to blind bake the lined pie dish to stop your pie having a soggy bottom(altogether now ‘and nobody likes a soggy bottom’). Put some greaseproof paper loosely in the dish, then pour in some baking beans (or just any old dry beans) and bake it for about 15 minutes. Remove the beans and greaseproof paper, and brush with beaten egg to seal, returning to the oven for 5 minutes. But if you don’t want to, don’t bother; I won’t tell.
Now roll out the pastry lid, place it on top of the pie and crimp it artistically. Brush with beaten egg, then put the whole thing back in the oven until the top is golden brown. Remember you’re only cooking the lid really so 20 minutes should be fine.
It’s a standing joke in our house that #1 (aka A A Gill) will always find something not quite to his taste at the table. The roast potatoes are never quite as good as Auntie Jen’s (curse you, Jennifer, what the hell did you do to them?), the sauce will be a tad salty, the rhubarb a little too tart. All this will be commented upon whilst enormous quantities of the slightly sub-standard food are whooshed into his mouth, along with seconds, and often thirds. Still, nothing’s ever completely up to scratch. This one, though, actually shut him up. Yup, we all waited with baited breath, but no, not a single comment. Things must be looking up.
#1′s home made breaded chicken baguettes
Unlike in England, where you’re lucky to find an out-of-date Twix and maybe a curly-edged sandwich, the petrol stations in Ireland are a haven for the half starved motorist. Practically every one will have a deli selling not only the ubiquitous ‘breakfast roll’, an artery-busting ensemble of sausage, bacon, fried egg and maybe even some black pudding, all levered into an enormous half of a french stick, but that most beloved of items in my children’s eyes: the hot chicken baguette.
Every time we get petrol, there emanates from the back seat of the jeep the most pathetic begging and pleading, and no matter how much I quote Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, and give empassioned speeches about the miserable fate of intensively farmed chickens, it all falls on deaf ears. They don’t give a toss if the chicken was free range, nor even if it was miserable, or even a tad depressed - what they want is a chicken baguette – and when they want it is now.
So faced with this irritating chirruping today, I decided that what my children needed was action and not words, and set about teaching them to make a kinder, healthier alternative to the crap they crave. It just so happens that the fridge at English Towers generally contains the odd bit of cold chicken, either left over from the Sunday roast or from when I get a large pack of chicken breasts, poach them and use half for chicken noodles. So when we got home, I cattle prodded them into the kitchen and set them to work:
1 egg
Splosh of milk
Leftover cooked chicken
2 slices bread
Salt, pepper
Olive oil
Butter
So first, crack the egg into the bowl, whisk in a big splosh of milk and then slice each chicken breast into three and dunk in the eggy mixture.
Meanwhile, set a small child to work with the food processor button (safety first here people, children with stubs for fingers will never make Booker prize winners) reducing the slices of bread to fine breadcrumbs. Season the breadcrumbs well.
Next, whip the chicken out of the egg mixture and into the breadcrumbs. Toss until both chicken and child are liberally coated with breadcrumbs.
Finally, heat your oil along with a knob of butter until nice and hot, add your breadcrumbed chicken and fry until golden.
Stuff into a baguette and serve with coleslaw and baked beans. Yum scrum pig’s bum and a bloody sight kinder than anything Spar can offer. Hugh would be proud *sigh*.
Chicken with tomato, olives and mozzarella
So you’ll like this. My car’s been knackered most of the week, so shopping has been a little difficult. Hence, an uninspiring bag of chicken breasts in the bottom of the fridge was all that greeted me yesterday, on a mission to prepare something yummy for Sunday lunch. More rummaging produced a ball of mozzarella, still in date, half a butternut squash and a couple of onions. Oh. Undaunted, I set to work and the result wasn’t half bad. Good enough, in fact, to share with you. Brace yourself:
Chicken with Tomato, Olives and Mozzarella
2 tbsp olive oil
1 clove garlic, finely sliced
1 large onion, cut in half then finely sliced
6 chicken breasts cut in half, or this would be lovely with big fat pork chops
1 tin plum tomatoes
Chicken stock
2 tsp sugar
Ball of buffalo mozzarella, torn into pieces
Handful basil
Couple of handfuls black olives, roughly chopped
So heat up the oil (I like a knob of butter in there too, it smells so nice) in a large, heavy-based casserole (oh, for Le Creuset’s new teal range – I love it so). Bung in your chicken breasts (or pork), season with salt and pepper and just brown on either side. Remove them from the pan and throw in your garlic and onions, frying until translucent. Put the chicken breasts back in, adding the olives and the tin of tomatoes. I quickly whizz the tomatoes with a handheld blender first, purely because #2 doesn’t like big lumps of tomato.
Quick moan here: buy a decent tin of whole plum tomatoes like Napoli or something. Don’t buy those dreadful tins of chopped tomatoes – they’re so watery and you want a nice velvety sauce with this.
Add about 1/2 pint of chicken stock (I’m certainly no stock snob, I just bung a cube into the empty tomato tin and fill up with boiling water), season again (I know, but it needs it), sprinkle over the sugar, then give it a stir, cover it and put into a moderate oven (180 degrees) for about 20 minutes (30 if you’ve got fat pork chops).
Just before serving, stir through the torn mozzarella and sprinkle over the basil. As you serve it, try not to get too cross at the big strings of mozzarella chewing gum that tangle across the plate. Slurp.
EDIT: I tried this recipe with lamb shanks tonight – increasing the cooking time to two hours and leaving out the mozzarella. It was incredibly nice.
Coconut Chilli Chicken Noodles
So noodles then. Unfortunately with noodles, we’re a family at war. We all love them, but #2 likes stir fried chicken noodles with frozen peas (‘and NO juice’), #1 likes chilli, Hubby likes chilli and lots of soupy stock, I don’t mind chilli but prefer them with coconut milk… Oh the dilemma. This latest edition, then, is a kind of mixture of stuff that everyone likes. It went down quite well:
1 pack fine egg noodles
2 chicken breasts or some leftover chicken, shredded
2 tbsp oil
Marinade:
2 cloves garlic, grated
1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped, or 1 tsp chilli flakes
Juice of a lime
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp fish sauce (Nam Pla)
2 tbsp brown sugar or honey
1/2 tin coconut milk
1 pack Pak Choi, sliced and washed (can be gritty)
Couple of spring onions, thinly sliced
To garnish: Salted peanuts, chopped coriander
So first boil up a big saucepan of salted water and chuck in your noodles. Mix up the marinade ingredients (don’t put the coconut milk in yet). Heat the oil in a wok and snip up your chicken breasts into strips. Bung them in along with the marinade (you can marinate it first but frankly I can’t be arsed unless I’m making kebabs with it).
Stir fry until the chicken’s cooked and the marinade is starting to reduce. Now add the coconut milk and your chopped spring onions and Pak Choi. Stir until it’s just wilted then drain your noodles and tip them into the wok, mixing them all in with the chicken and the sauce. Serve sprinkled with chopped salted peanuts and some coriander.
If you’re a fan of coconut milk, you can always add more (I would if it was just me). And if you are just marinating chicken to make kebabs or just to grill or whatever, bung the coconut milk in with the marinade. It’s yum scrum pig’s bum (bless my children and their wordy ways).
Chicken, mushroom and bacon risotto
So we were all in need of a bit of comfort food last night. And this packet of bloody Carnaroli rice has been sitting in the cupboard glaring at me every time I go in there for a tin of beans. Me and risotto have a chequered history. It’s not that I don’t like it, oh no, it’s just that every time I make it, I get that kind of ‘hmmm’ response from my lot that means ‘yeah, it’s okay’, not the more favourable ‘mmmm’ which translates to ‘wow, that was fabulous’. My best effort was Jamie Oliver’s pea and prawn risotto which is rather nice.
Anyhoo, I was in the mood for a bit of messing in the kitchen (keep it clean, people) and this is the result:
2 pints chicken stock
1 large onion
2 cloves garlic
300g carnaroli or arborio rice
3 or 4 large flat mushrooms
1 pack streaky bacon
2 chicken breasts (free range, natch)
Handful of frozen peas
Parmesan cheese to taste
So first things first, get your stock bubbling on the hob and plop your chicken breasts in to poach. Get a nice heavy based pan and chuck in a big slice of butter and a glug of olive oil. Finely chop your onion and garlic and let it soften on a low heat. Snip up the streaky bacon and add to the pan along with your sliced mushrooms. Keep it cooking until the mushrooms and onions are starting to look a little golden, then add your rice and stir around.
Now you can start to add ladles of your stock, one at a time, making sure all the liquid is absorbed before adding another. It takes a while but the stirring is really therapeutic. When the stock’s nearly gone your chicken breasts should be ready, so chop them up and add them to the risotto as well. Finally, bung in a final knob of butter, stir it through and leave it to sit for 5 minutes with a lid on, just to get even creamier. Taste, season, and pile into big bowls to eat in front of the telly.
A little fresh thyme would be lovely with this, but I didn’t have any. Enjoy!
Easy Roast Chicken Bake Thingy
There are some days when I practically sprint into the kitchen first thing in the morning, then have to be wrestled out again last thing at night. I’ll often be found in the nice, sunny spot at the kitchen table reading recipe books, or pottering about watering my herbs or baking something fattening. Today though, has not been a good day and the thought of making a roast dinner made me feel more ‘ugh’ than ‘wehay’. At my base level I’m a lazy cow and although I hesitate to call this a recipe exactly, it’s an easy way to get Sunday lunch on the table with very little effort (God I’m sounding all ‘Nigella Express’ – I’ll be pouting at the camera and licking my fingers next). I did cook a lemon drizzle cake for pudding, but that’s just because I’m greedy.
4 large chicken breasts
2 red onions
2 large parsnips/carrots/turnips/whatever
4 or 5 large baking potatoes
1 lemon
Couple of fat garlic cloves
Olive oil
Basically then, just peel the potatoes, parsnips and whatever other stuff you have lying around. Quarter the potatoes (or smaller if they’re enormous) and cut the other stuff into roughly the same sized chunks. Put them all in a large pan on the hob in some salted water and bring them to the boil. Meanwhile, get out a large baking tray and drizzle in a generous glug or two of oil before bunging in your chicken breasts, red onions, garlic cloves (don’t bother to peel them) and half the lemon (I used a whole one but the kids said it was too lemony). Leave this to one side until your veg has had time to parboil (about ten minutes), then throw it all in the baking dish, mixing it up with the chicken breasts, etc with a couple of wooden spoons.
Bung in the oven at 190 degrees (what’s that, gas 5?) for 30 to 40 minutes. Transfer the chicken and vegetables to a serving dish, then put the tray on the hob, adding a pint of stock and a sprinkling of flour. Whisk and bubble until your gravy is slightly thickened then serve with the chicken and vegetables. Oh and frozen peas if you can be bothered. Bribe children to wash up and retire to sofa with crossword and stupid dog.
Tamarind Chicken Noodles
So you’ll like this one. Hubby, being a bit weird, can’t eat pasta at all – makes him gag, apparently (oh the drama). But he loves noodles, which as far as I’m concerned are exactly the same as pasta so I just substitute one for the other. When he comes home late from work I often put some noodles on as they’re quick and knock this chicken up, or sometimes I just do the chicken and mix it with a supermarket bag of leaves. I’ve messed about with it an awful lot but I reckon it’s just right now and last time I made it I managed to remember to write it down. Oh, and regarding the tamarind, give it a go. I had baked sea bass with tamarind in a Thai restaurant and really loved it so I bought a little jar and I’m quite addicted now. It’s an odd, sweet/sour sort of flavour, but really tastes nice in this:
1 pack fine egg noodles
2 chicken breasts or some leftover chicken, shredded
1 pack Pak Choi, sliced and washed (can be gritty)
Couple of spring onions, sliced
Marinade:
2 cloves garlic, grated
1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped, or 1 tsp chilli flakes
Juice of ½ lime
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp fish sauce (Nam Pla)
1 tbsp brown sugar or honey
2 tbsp oil
1 tsp tamarind paste
So slice up a couple of chicken breasts into strips, mix all the marinade ingredients together in a bowl and add the chicken, turning it over so it’s all combined. Leave to one side while you boil a saucepan of water, salt it and bung in your noodles.
Heat a wok or large saucepan and throw in the chicken together with all the marinade (it’s got oil in so you shouldn’t need any more) and the spring onions. Stir fry until the chicken’s cooked, it doesn’t take long. Add your chopped Pak Choi near the end – this really needs to just be warmed through, it’s horrible if it’s soggy – and toss together.
Drain your noodles and tip them into the wok, mixing them all in with the chicken and the sauce. Serve sprinkled with chopped salted peanuts and some coriander.
By the way, if you want to make this more like chicken noodle soup, boil the noodles in 1 litre of made-up chicken stock, cook the chicken separately, then add it all in to the noodles at the end. Spoon into bowls and eat it making shameless slurping noises in front of the telly.
