Turkey. Not just for Christmas. Quick Provencale Turkey

 

I’ll be honest, usually I buy diced turkey thigh to hurl into a curry or something because it’s the kind of meat that can carry such a range of flavours quite successfully. And it’s lean. And it’s relatively cheap. But with my just arranging this year’s holiday to France I thought it might be interesting to evoke the smells and tastes of southern France rather than my usual culinary journey to somewhere far flung and far eastern. So, a mixture of peppers, tomatoes, garlic and herbes de Provence (and if I was without Lola and Finn, a handful of olives) were the inspiration behind this slightly ad hoc but very satisfying dish which smelt great whilst cooking and delivered a rich, tomatoey, ‘Provencey’ flavour, approved of especially by Lola and Finn.

In terms of weekday cooking, when I crash into the house with two hyperactive children, a bag for life full of marking and a generally negative outlook on working for a living, I just want something I can hurl together with what I have in the cupboard and the fridge/freezer before crashing on the sofa. This just might be it. And not only does it create a healthy meal for me and my bubs, it’s evocative of the holiday I am so looking forward to.

 

This post is an entry for BritMums’ Summer Turkey Recipe Challenge. You can find plenty of information at here about the versatility of cooking with turkey. You can also visit www.leanonturkey.co.uk for other recipe ideas!

 

Quick Provencale Turkey

Serves Lola, Finn, Mum, Dad and one other

 

Ingredients:

 

400g diced turkey thigh
2 peppers, or a third of a pack of frozen peppers
1 onion diced
3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 heaped tsp of herbes de Provence, or you could use thyme, or oregano
200ml chicken stock made with a bouillon type cube
tin of chopped tomatoes

a squirt of tomato puree
Salt and pepper

 

Method:

 

 

In a suitable heavy bottomed pot or casserole pan, add the olive oil and saute the turkey pieces until they become slightly coloured.

 

 

 

Add the onions and cook until they become translucent and then add the garlic. Cook briefly until the garlic becomes fragrant but take care not to burn it. Add the herbs de Provence and stir, then add the peppers.

 

 

 

Saute until the peppers begin to soften, scraping up the bottom of the pan to get up any tasty turkey bits, then add the chicken stock. Finally, add the tomato puree and stir before finally adding the tinned tomatoes and some seasoning.

 

 

 

Bring the mixture up to the boil and then reduce to a simmer. Cook for about 20/30 minutes, stirring occasionally so that it does not catch on the bottom of the pan. By this time the mixture should have perceptibly thickened and tomatoey. If you want to thicken the sauce further then increase the heat to a boil for a couple of minutes or so until the sauce is the consistency you desire. Taste and season once again.

 

 

 

I served this with rice, but some other lovely carb like pasta or some potatoes might be good too. Or you could dunk some crusty bread into it and all will be right with the world for a little while.

Mermaids for the birthday girl: Orange drizzle cake without the drizzle but with other fun stuff!!

 

 

Lola is seven. I really don't know how or when this happened. I think I must have blinked. Anyway, the fact of the matter is that the girl with the shock of rock and roll hair and a knowing look which belied the fact that though a babe in arms, she had definitely been here before is now a very old seven, and if you ask me she is a '7 going on 17' kinda girl, judging by her requests for nail polish, jewellery and lip glosses and some false nails off her auntie, who has since been declared the best auntie ever. I don't think I knew this stuff existed until I was at least in double figures but it's true what they say when it's declared that they grow up quick these days, because they do. And it is a shame.

 

Lola, aged seventeen hours

Lola, aged seven

 

However, I was slightly placated by the conversation I had with her several weeks ago about the birthday cake challenge she was going to set me this year. I was expecting her to tell me she wanted 'One Direction' on her cake but she told me that mermaids were where it was at. Thank goodness. a sense of childlike wonder was still evident, as it should be when you are seven.

 

Anyway, I recalled a picture I had seen somewhere of white chocolate shells and toasted coconut creating a beach scene and I decided that after my Angry Birds cake I would try to make something resembling a mermaid out of sugar paste. If you squint it sort of looks like one. I decided also to fore go the orange drizzle and icing that goes with the original cake recipe (from Fiona Cairns' 'Bake and Decorate') but split the cake and spread a thick layer of raspberry jam. Orange, raspberry, coconut, vanilla frosting. If you insist.

 

Orange drizzle cake, adapted from Fiona Cairns' 'Bake and Decorate'.

 

Serves 8 (though in reality I doubled the ingredients for I was making two cakes).

 

Ingredients.

 

For the cake:

 

250g unsalted butter, softened, plus more for the tin

250g golden caster sugar

Grated zest of 2 large oranges, plus 75ml orange juice

4 eggs, lightly beaten

250g self-raising flour, sifted

a pinch of salt

1/2 jar of seedless raspberry jam.

 

For the frosting:

 

(I'll be honest - I eyeball this; there is no definitive recipe I just mix softened butter with icing sugar, a teaspoon of vanilla and some milk until I get a consistency that is spreadable but then holds its shape. Then I added baby blue colouring to get to the shade I wanted. If it helps, I often use the Hummingbird Bakery recipe that you can find here. Scroll down for the recipe).

 

For the decoration:

 

Pink sugar paste

flesh coloured sugar paste

teddy bear brown sugar paste

Edible ink pens

50g dessicated coconut

white and yellow Wilton Candy Melts

a mould for creating the shells

Some cardboard

 

Method:

 

 

 

Preheat the oven to 170ºC/fan 160ºC/340ºF/gas mark 3 ½. Butter a 20cm diameter, 7.5cm deep, round tin, then line the base with baking parchment.

 

 

 

Cream the butter, sugar and zest until very pale, light and fluffy (it will take at least 5 mins in an electric mixer). Add the eggs gradually, beating between each addition, along with 1tbsp of the flour to prevent curdling. Fold in the remaining flour and, lastly, slowly mix in the orange juice.

 

 

 

Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 40 - 45 mins until the cake springs back to the touch, or a skewer inserted into centre comes out clean. Remove from the oven, leave for 1 min, then turn out to cool on a wire rack.

 

 

 

Once cool, split the cake carefully and spread the inside with raspberry jam before sandwiching the two layers together.

 

 

 

Melt the candy melts according to the pack instructions and when melted and pliable, spoon the molten chocolate into moulds. Place in the fridge to set.

 

Toast the coconut in a dry frying pan, stirring occasionally until the coconut begins to colour. Once it starts to brown it happens quickly so be vigilant. Allow to cool completely or else it will melt the frosting.

 

 

 

Make your frosting by beating the butter and then gradually adding the icing sugar and a little milk and a teaspoon of vanilla followed by a knife tip of colour paste. Mix until the frosting becomes fluffy but stiff enough to spread on the cake. This could take quite a few minutes.

 

 

 

Spread the frosting on the cake by starting on top and spreading the frosting on the top and then down and around the sides. Use a knife dipped in hot water to move and spread the frosting around the cake.

 

 

 

Once the cake is covered, tidy the frosting up by spreading the frosting upwards on the sides of the cake and then smooth the top as much as possible.

 

Roll out your sugar pastes and cut out a fish tail, a body, a face and hair. Put the parts together carefully on the cake. Using the edible pens, draw the features on the face.

 

 

 

I used a piece of cardboard with an 'undulating' pattern cut out to act as a template for sprinkling the coconut over the cake. take the template away once you have sprinkled the coconut over the cake.

 

Unmould the shells and place them onto the cake.

 

Unfortunate Warburtons Bread shot...

 

Serve to a seven year old who is going on seventeen...

A tart with no top on - Onion tart

 

 

Firstly, I am interested to see who arrives on this blog entry because of googling and then becoming disappointed when the pictures here are not the ones they are after. Secondly, a tart with its top on in this instance is a pie and having already blogged here and here about the gloriousness of cheese and onion encased in pastry, I decided to go with something which is a little lacking on the pastry front but is nonetheless amazingly tasty.

 

In these straightened times I think a quiche/flan/tart is a good use of reasonably staple ingredients to whip up a meal. It's hearty enough so you don't miss the meat and once you've got the ratio of eggs to cream to filling correct then you can put all manner of sad looking vegetables into it. Not that the onions on this occasion were sad; though they did make me cry for totally different reasons.

 

Those who have read some of my more tarty posts will know I have a penchant for a tin of baked beans with a tart and it is a peculiarity that I have happily passed onto my children. Despite the excellent credentials of this tart, taken from Richard Corrigan's 'The Clatter of Forks and Spoons', I have not let the presence of a Michelin star dissuade me from getting out the tin opener. However, what I will say is I am also captivated by the serving suggestion from the recipe, that is "some nice piquant Spanish olives, or even a spoonful of tapenade and some crusty bread it makes a great summer supper". Sounds amazing. Just need the sun now and maybe a cheeky glass of chilled Pinot Grigio or something. Yum.

 

Onion Tart taken from 'The Clatter of forks and Spoons' by Richard Corrigan

 

Makes a 21cm tart, serving Lola, Finn, Mum and Dad twice

 

For the pastry:

 

175g plain flour

5g cornflour

1/2 tsp salt

120g butter

2 egg yolks

 

For the filling:

 

4 large onions

75g butter

2 tbsp olive oil

a handful of marjoram (I used two teaspoons of dried thyme)

6 eggs plus an extra for eggwashing the pastry

250g aged mature cheddar

 

Method:

 

 

 

Peel, halve and slice the onion thinly. Put the butter and the olive oil into a heavy bottomed casserole or suitable pot and add the onions, season and allow them to cook on a low heat for about an hour. Ultimately the onions should be very soft and translucent, but not coloured.

 

Add the majoram (thyme) about five minutes before the end of cooking. Once cooked, allow the onions to cool and the herbs to infuse.

 

Whilst the onions are cooking and cooling, make the pastry. Rub the fat and the flours together with the salt, or blitz in the food processor. until the mixture resembles bread crumbs. Mix in the egg yolks and a tablespoon or two of ice cold water (you may need a tablespoon more) and allow the mixture to come together. Form the mixture into a ball, wrap in cling film and put in the fridge to rest for at least 20 minutes but more like 30.

 

Heat the oven to 160c/Gas 3.

 

Roll the pastry out onto a floured board big enough to line a prepared a 21cm diameter loose bottomed flan tin with 3cm sides if possible.

 

Press the pastry gently into the tin, taking care not to stretch the pastry. If it cracks, just press it together again. Leave the edges over hanging if you like to compensate for shrinkage.

 

Bake the pastry case blind for about 45 minutes, then remove the foil/paper/beans and bake for another five minutes, until the pastry is dry. Brush the whole of the inside of the pastry with eggwash.

 

Turn the oven upto 180c.

 

 

Bit full maybe...

 

By this time, your onions should be cool. Beat the eggs and cream together, stir in the cheese and season. Mix with the cooled onions then pour the mixture into the flan case. Return it carefully to the oven and bake for 20 minutes or so then lower the temperature to 160c for another 40 minutes, until the top is pale golden but with the faintest quiver in the centre.

 

Remove form the oven and leave to cool for an hour or so until the filling sets further.

 

When cooled, trim the edges if you left the pastry overhanging and push the tart out of the flan tin and slide it onto a board or serving dish.

 

 

 

Cut into slices and serve with baked beans

 

 

 

Bit posh for a Thursday, but that shows how easy it is: Roast Chicken with Chorizo and Potato Stew

 

 

This is lovely. I know I wouldn't be blogging it if it was awful but I have to say for something that really is kinda quite rustic and homely, it could look really quite pretty, piled up here at my unsubtle attempt at fine dining. I think what I was trying to illustrate was the fact that this tastes as good as it can look. I don't generally pile it high; I tend to plonk it on plates and hurl it in the general direction of the dining table, but this is my Michelin moment. I am smug that something this good looking could come from my kitchen.

 

I took inspiration from various sources (not least a Stephen Terry recipe I found which involved the roasting of cod with chorizo; something I would adore, but other members of this household would be horrified by - delusional people) but I liked the fact that instead of just the lovely, but oft put together pairing of chicken and chorizo, the addition of a few spuds turned this into something a bit more robust and wonderfully 'carby'. Life would be grim without potatoes.

 

I sent Lola and Finn off to pick some ramps (otherwise known as wild garlic) rich grows in abundance near their school. I always look forward to Spring when the verdant leaves appear and the aromatic, heady perfume of garlic fills the air as the gales breeze rustles amongst the leaves and the pretty white flowers. It isn't a necessary ingredient - and you could replace it with some wilted spinach which behaves in a very similar way. I think it's an iron rich addition to a dish which already satisfies body and soul.

 

Lola and Finn gave a thumbs up to this. I should probably say at this point that I made sure they didn't get very much wild garlic in their stew. Finn especially would have dismissed it totally out of hand because of the presence of something 'green'. It appears I am still some years away from getting him to eat broccoli willingly...

 

Roast chicken breast with chorizo and potato stew.

 

Ingredients:

 

Four chicken breasts (I used fillets so Lola and Finn got smaller portions)

olive oil

salt and pepper

 

For the stew:

 

20/30 jersey royal or waxy small potatoes, quartered

250 g chorizo, diced into ½ cm pieces

aAlittle olive oil

1 small onion, finely chopped

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

150 ml chicken stock

1 tin of chopped tomatoes

1 small bunch wild garlic, leaves

Salt and pepper to taste

 

Method:

 

Preheat the oven to 180c. and put on a frying pan or pot onto a high heat.

 

 

 

Coat the chicken in some olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Place into the hot pan and cook until the underside is nicely browned. Once browned, transfer to an ovenproof dish, brown side up and place in the oven for about 25 - 30 minutes or until fully cooked. Test with the tip of a knife if you are unsure.

 

 

 

Meanwhile. Make the potato stew. Fry off the chorizo in a little olive oil (I used the frying pan I had just browned the chicken in) until it renders its paprika coloured oil and the pieces are starting to crispen a little. Remove to a plate.

 

 

 

Put the halved potatoes into the same pan and saute until they begin to colour and are partly cooked. Once cooked, remove to a plate with the chorizo.

 

If you have a lot of oil at this point, pour some away but ensure you have a tablespoon left in the frying pan.

 

 

 

Add the diced onion to the pan and saute until becoming translucent. Add the garlic and cook briefly, taking care not to burn it.

 

 

Add the chicken stock and deglaze the pan. Allow the stock to reduce by half and add the tinned tomatoes. Stir well, and add a little salt and pepper.

 

 

 

Return the chorizo and potato to the pan. Allow the mixture to simmer for about 10/15 minutes or so or until it starts to reduce and thicken a little. At this point add the wild garlic and stir it through the mixture, allowing it to wilt. Taste for seasoning. Cook for a further 5 minutes or so and then keep warm if your chicken is not quite ready.

 

When your chicken is cooked, allow it to rest for a few minutes.

 

 

 

To serve, place the stew on a plate or into a bowl, and if you're feeling faffy, place the chicken breast on top.

 

Yum!