Grilled Creamy Pesto Chicken

I find that I come up with recipes when food in my fridge or pantry is about to go off or when I have a lot of left overs, just like the Oven Baked Plantain recipe. This fear of throwing away food has its advantages, doesn't it?

Anyway I had baked a cake earlier in the week and had an opened tub of double cream in the fridge and about a quarter of a jar of pesto left. This is what I came up with:

Grilled Creamy Pesto Chicken

Ingredients:

2 chicken thighs (with skins on) and 3 drumsticks (you can use any chicken parts)

5 table spoons of double cream

3 table spoons of green pesto

1 scotch bonnet (fresh chili), finely chopped

1 medium onions, thinly sliced

2 teaspoons of mixed herbs

1 table spoon of Sunflower oil

1 Knorr cube

Salt to taste

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Wash the chicken portions with cold water and pat dry. Place in an oven dish and add all the ingredients. Mix properly, cover with foil paper and bake in the oven for about 20 minutes or until its cooked through. After its cooked through remove the foil paper and place the chicken under the grill for about 5 minutes on each side. What you are trying to achieve here is a crispy outer layer and a succulent creamy chicken.

Note: If you place the chicken in the oven for long enough, you will get a crispy texture and you may not need to grill the chicken.

 

Chicken Soup for the Soul

I need a hug! One that comes  with a hot soup and huge fluffy arms to keep me  warm inside and out. I imagine the soup  would warm my joints and the fluffy arms would keep the wind away. Bachelor's (or perhaps it should be Spinster's!) "Cup a Soup" ad comes to mind, where they promise a hug with every cup of soup. That's exactly what I need!

It is really cold and wet outside and I have finally been struck down by the flu. All year round we have been playing cat  and mouse with each other. I have taken all sorts of precautions to prevent this happening to me. Even when  Miss Ola, my flatmate had it, I was still able to escape  it. Not today, not this very moment. My throat feels like sand paper and I am afraid if I sneeze one more time my eyeballs will shoot out of their sockets. My head is pounding and spinning at the same time. For a split second I look round my room for a gun to blow my brains out.  That would definitely stop the headache. 

What I really need right now is something to knock me out. And a hug, one that comes with hot spicy soup and huge fluffy arms. For some reason everyone I have called to get me some medicine seems to be unavailable. Maybe they  have all been struck down by this unforgiving virus. I wonder if they have guns lying under their beds. If only I could get my hands on one. I am going to try and sleep it off.

I am awake now and I realize I need three things; some medication,  a hug (that comes with soup and huge fluffy arms - I wonder how many times I can get away  with writing this) and a gun! I know where I can get medicine from and thinking about what I have in my pantry, I am sure I can come up with some soup. The gun and hug is another matter. First, I must drag myself out of bed.

 I am glad  I came out as I feel a bit better with every breath I take of the clean, cold air. I must remember not to overdo it.  I am standing by the drugs counter searching for something drowsy, something heavy to knock me out. I don't see any. What are they afraid of? Argh!!!! I guess Lempsip Max will have to do for now.

An hour later  I feel much better but I am still in need of that  soup. Even though I am dressed warm I still feel quite cold inside. Some hot spicy chicken soup will do just fine, to warm my soul. I have all the ingredients to make this soup, which is quite easy. The problem now is if I have energy to get up and make it.

What I will need for this soup:

Chicken and Sweetcorn Soup

 Courtesy of Oriental Cookbook

2 chicken thighs, remove the flesh and dice to small pieces
1 tablespoon of Sunflower Oil
600ml of Chicken Soup
1 Egg
3 Tablespoons of Cornflour
1 Teaspoon of Chili Powder
1 sprig of Spring Onions, shredded
1/2 Cup of Sweetcorn
Toasted Sesame Seed Oil

If I had energy this is how I would make it. In a medium size sauce pan I would heat the oil for a minute or so and fry the diced chicken until golden brown. I would then remove the chicken and set aside. Next step is to add the chicken stock and bring to boil and then simmer while stirring. As I need the soup to be very spicy I will add  the chili powder, lots of it, sweetcorn and  season to taste with salt. After turning the cornflour into a thick paste by adding cold water to it, I will then add this paste to the chicken stock to thicken it. You might need to add more cornflour paste to get the right soup thickness. I must remember to add the fried chicken I set aside earlier to the sauce pan. Simmer for another 5 minutes. I will whisk the egg is a bowl then add it to soup gradually while stirring with a fork. Before serving I will add the shredded spring onions and drizzle of toasted sesame seed oil.

Now to find a recipe for that hug...

Fidelia is Coming…

And she is bringing my darling Seni, her son with her. Seni, who is five thinks I am the coolest grown up ever. He actually asked his mum if I could come for a sleep over at theirs once. I was so chuffed! A five year old thinks I am cool. It’s a wonderful feeling I tell you! Whenever he comes over he has the Nintendo DS and Wii to entertain him and his favourite, the iPad! He got a DS as a present earlier in the year and now he has asked for the iPad for Christmas… hahahaha. If this continues I fear that Fid will put me in charge of purchasing Seni’s major assets!

I met Fidelia through Miss Ola, a friend I share a flat with. Most Sundays after church, Fid and Seni come to ours to chill before heading home. I love it when Seni opens my door to say hi and my lazy ass is still in bed. I know deep down he comes looking for the iPad but I will pretend it’s me he is looking for.  

“Sara, I am coming over in about ten minutes. Do you have that pasta with all the green things inside? Please I am craving it” she says to me on the phone. I literally laugh out loud.  The green leaves she is referring to is spinach and spring onions. I actually keep an emergency supply of cream cheese, spinach and chicken for this pasta just in case she decides to pop round. I have to admit I thoroughly enjoy preparing this dish for her. The joy I feel is unquantifiable when she asks for it. 

I have always imagined me in a big kitchen where people just drop by to eat, talk and laugh. A place that’s warm and welcoming. This is why I love it when the regulars drop by and drag me out of bed to prepare something warm for them to eat.  

If I owned a restaurant right now this dish will definitely be a signature dish. The number of people that have asked for the recipe after sampling it has been overwhelming. Imitation is the best form of flattery. M my dearest friend, who hardly cooks, probably last cooked in 1987 (she is going to kill me!), came to Aberdeen for the weekend and I prepared this dish for her. Guess who called me last Saturday armed with pen and paper to take down notes? Madam was constantly calling to ask about ingredients and methods. At a point when I didn’t pick my phone on time she said “Sara, you cannot be unavailable right now”. It’s not like I never picked up, the phone just rang longer than she would have liked.

She sent pictures of every stage of her cooking. I was completely bowled over when she told me she had really enjoyed her cooking experience so much that she was considering making a weekend of it. WOW! I was really pleased to hear this especially since M thinks I have a problem with food. I feel now she is beginning to understand it is love I have for food. When I asked her how her version of my recipe tasted, she replied “Just like yours!” I smile, my work here is done! Rumour has it M is experimenting in the kitchen again this weekend!!! 

Cooking pasta recipes, especially spaghetti is something I am very comfortable with. I have even gone as far as learning how to make the actual spaghetti from scratch just in case I wake up one night craving spaghetti and there isn’t one stick left in the packet. Crisis I tell you! It is my favourite food in the whole world. I remember how excited I was in school when spaghetti had just been introduced to the dinner menu. I used to get dressed up (well we had to wear uniforms and the only way to improve on the hideous outfit was to wear loads of make up) for “spags” day. I would pretend I was in a posh restaurant having the most delicious meal. When ever I am sad or happy, I think of preparing pasta to “mark” the occasion. It is the comfort food that makes me feel everything will be alright. Nothing beats a huge bowl of spaghetti in a thick spicy sauce for me. I even love the mess I make on my clothes and face when I am slurping it down. Mind you, I am always well behaved when I go out to eat. 

‘Wifey’ and I share this love for pasta so we decided to go to Italy to experience authentic Italian food. We got a really good deal to go to Milan (Sicily would have been perfect but like my people would say “na money kill am”). When the pilot told us we couldn’t land at the airport because of the weather we were like but this is Italy, it can’t be that cold. The amount of snow we met when we got off the plane was unbelievable. I have never seen such in my life before and I live in Scotland! Cars were completely covered up with snow; people were carrying shovels on their shoulders. We were still confused. But this is Italy! Mediterranean climate, which equalled mild winters! Where did the snow come from? Chido didn’t want to leave the hotel room. I had to drag her out after the second day.  There was no way we were going to spend all our time under the duvet. We wore all the clothes we packed for the trip that day. It was that cold! When we got to the town centre we saw signs directing us to the “Winter Olympics”. Winter Olympic? In Italy? In Milan? We were so excited about the dead cheap deal we got that no one even bothered to check what the weather was like or what was happening that weekend in Milan. If we had seen that the winter Olympics was being held there, there was no way we would have gone. We didn’t even know that there was such a thing as “Winter Olympics”. Ignorance is indeed a disease. We did try to sample some recipes but the weather was so terrible that we didn’t really enjoy our time there.

Anyway Fidelia is coming; I need to head to the kitchen:

Pasta a la Fid

250g of Spaghetti

3 Chicken Thighs, diced

8 Spring Onions, chopped

2 Cloves of Garlic, chopped

Fresh Chilli (scotch bonnets), chopped

2 Cups of Spinach, chopped

2 Tablespoons of White Wine Vinegar

1 Tablespoon of Soy Sauce

2 Table Spoon of Corn Flower

1 Teaspoon Lemon Zest

2 Tablespoons of Cream Cheese

2 Tablespoons of Sunflower Oil

Black Pepper

In a freezer bag add the diced chicken, soy sauce, corn flower, vinegar, lemon zest and black pepper and mix so that the chicken is covered in the marinade.  Place it in the fridge. In the meantime boil some water (enough to boil the pasta) in a large pan and when it has boiled add the spaghetti. When it’s cooked, drain it and keep it aside. 

In a large wok or sauce pan, heat the oil for a minute and fry the chicken until it’s cooked. Add the chopped garlic, spring onions and chilli and fry for 3 minutes then stir in the cream cheese. Add the spinach and stir until all the spinach has wilted. Season to taste. Add the pasta one serving spoon at a time stirring each time.

This serves approximately four people depending on size and how hungry they are. 

Enjoy!

P.S. - All photographs taken by me unless otherwise stated

Guinea Fowl With Sherry and Tarragon Cream

Its been a while right? I have had so much to do its been unreal. I do apologize for not posting anything. So many people have been sending me text messages asking about new recipes. Thank you all for encouraging me.

I think I am quite organized but there is a always room for improvement, right? Take yesterday for instance, I had the chance to buy all the ingredients for my class the day before but I thought I would have enough time to go shopping on the day of the class, go back home and pick my other utensils. I must have underestimated the time it took to do all this because at the end I didn't have time to go back home. I had to buy everything I needed for the class. I now have two sets of everything. I guess there is no harm in that...

This recipe is French and the french name is "Fricassee De Pintade Au Vinaigre De Xeres Et A L'Estragon". Those with blackberries, send me a voice note of your pronunciation of this. hehehehe. You can bet I didn't even try!

Ingredients

1 tbsp flour

1 plump guinea fowl or free-range chicken

1/2 tbsp groundnut or sunflower oil

30g chilled unsalted butter, diced

2 tsp finely grated zest and 4 tbsp juice from an orange

2 tsp brandy

Bunch tarragon sprigs

200ml chicken stock

1 tbsp sherry vinegar

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Joint the guinea fowl into 6-8 pieces and remove skin. Season the flour with salt and pepper. Using a small sieve, dust the guinea fowl or chicken pieces with this seasoned flour.

2. Heat the oil in saute pan large enough to take the pieces in a single layer. Add one third of the butter, then stir in the grated orange zest. Tip in the guinea fowl pieces and sate over a moderate heat until lightly and evenly coloured, turning them over a few times.

3. Sprinkle with the brandy and stir in well. Snip in leaves from 5-6 tarragon sprigs, then shake the pan and stir the contents.

4. Add the stock, turn over the pieces and stir well. Bring back to a modest simmer, then lower the heat a little. Cover tightly, and cook for 30-40 minutes, shaking the pan several times an turning the pieces halfway through cooking.

5. Lift the meat from the pan and keep warm on warmed serving dish.

6. Turn up the heat, bring the liquid to a low boil and leave to bubble for a few minutes until a little reduced and thickened, stirring from time to time.

7. Reduce the heat stir in the vinegar and the orange juice. The dish can be cooked ahead to this stage if more convenient.

8. Using a slotted spoon, put the guinea fowl or chicken pieces back of the warmed serving dish. Whisk the remaining butter into the pan and dribble the sauce over the chicken. Snip over a few fresh tarragon leave and serve immediately.

Serve with plain rice or potatoes or sauteed courgettes.

Enjoy!