The Future is Bright - Chicken with Lemon and Thyme #BrightFutures

Amidst the hustle and bustle of everyday life, it’s easy to forget about the things that really matter, in my case, spending enough quality time with my children, as I know that by teaching them and investing in them, you create bright futures for all that come into contact with them, either directly or indirectly. We talk about waste; we talk about caring for the environment; we talk about helping those less fortunate than us.

That is why I am enthusiastic about the idea of promoting a #BrightFuture, Unilever’s drive to promote sustainability, ethical practice and their dedication to improving people’s lives across the world. As this is a food blog, I want to talk about the ways in which you can create brighter futures for others by thinking seriously about how we buy, treat and consume food.

Unilever’s involvement with Rainforest Alliance certified products is one way in which you can do something pretty great by doing very little. A PG cuppa, for example, and a sit down with those who you love is an immediate hit of kindness and an example of caring for those around you, whilst supporting those in the tea plantations around the world who wish to farm sustainably. Making a simple choice of putting a Rainforest Alliance banana into your child’s lunchbox means that you are thinking about the health and wellbeing of your children as well as helping those on banana plantations have a better life. Crumbling a Knorr stock cube to make a chicken stock is supporting the idea of farming sustainability because of their desire to improving agricultural practices in the production of their goods.

So what do I do? What can we do?

Seasonality

I buy in season. Buying strawberries in winter is crazy because they take like wet cotton wool and have been flown half way around the world. The taste of the first strawberry from the garden in late spring/early summer, when it has been gently warmed by the sun is the stuff that makes us foodies swoon with delight… and most kids too.

Buy what I need.

I can’t get to the supermarket in the week as I am usually hiding behind a veritable ‘Great Wall of China’ of exercise books. So, I do it all online, but only after planning what I intend to cook for the week and buying just what I need. I used to throw out loads and feel guilty about the (wo)manpower that had been wasted to make it, the energy needed, the fact that people are starving in many parts of the world and I am filling a bin full of food that, with more forethought, could have produced a tasty meal.

Leftovers are pretty fabulous.

The joy of making that oversize cottage pie/lasagne/chilli is that you get to put what’s leftover into a plastic container and take it to work the next day. Bung it in the microwave, wait for the ping and hey presto, you’ve avoided wasting petrol and additional costs by not going to the pie shop (if you’re me, that is…)

Sustainability and Ethical Practice

The selecting of products which support growers and producers is something that can be easily accomplished. You’re probably supporting many of these great causes already by buying products that support producers worldwide and happily, many of these products are not necessarily more expensive than those that are not as ethically orientated. Win win. However, it’s worth considering those products that might be dearer, especially something like chicken, which tastes so much better when there has been ethical treatment of the chook before it reaches the bright lights of the fridge section.

Talking of chicken, and this is where there has to be a recipe, for this is a food blog, I love getting all of us sat down round the table sometime of a weekend and having a really good meal. Brighter futures start at home; those moments where I can spend quality time with Lola and Finn, chatting, laughing, teaching, caring… Cooking is one of the ways that I show my love and in my own way I am creating a safe, happy environment which I hope that will encourage my children to pass on as they grow.

Easter Chicken with Thyme and Garlic, adapted from ‘Eat Greek for a Week’ by Tonia Buxton

Ingredients:

1.5kg free range/organic/corn-fed chicken

2 lemons (unavoidable air miles, due to a lack of Mediterranean climate…)

1 bay leaf

3tbsp olive oil

3 tbsp thyme leaves

Approximately 40 cloves of garlic (unpeeled, thankfully)

2 large onions (or you could use 10 peeled shallots)

150ml white wine

250ml chicken stock (I used a Knorr stock cube – see my preamble)

100ml Greek yoghurt (many small producers make their own versions of ‘Greek’ yoghurt)

Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

Preheat oven to 180c Put a lemon and a bay leaf into the cavity of the chicken. Season the chicken all over, including the inside. Brush the oil over the chicken skin and season it with salt and pepper. Sprinkle one tbsp. of the thyme leaves over the chicken.

Place the cloves of garlic and the onions in the bottom of a large ovenproof casserole and put the chicken on top.

Cut the remaining lemon into quarters and tuck them in under the bird.

Pour over the wine and the chicken stock, then cover with a tight fitting lid. Put the casserole onto a moderate heat until it reaches a simmer, then, place in the oven for about 1 ¼ to 1 ½ hours. Ensure the chicken is cooked through by piercing the thickest part of the leg with a skewer or knife to see if the juices run clear.

Carefully remove the chicken, onions and garlic to a warmed dish, leaving the ‘sauce’ in the bottom of the casserole. Cover with foil. Skim the sauce for any fat that has risen to the surface then add the remaining thyme and the yoghurt to make a ‘creamy’ sauce. Bring to the boil for a couple of minutes, season to taste and then pour the sauce into a warmed jug.

Serve the chicken with the sauce and whatever suitable accompaniments you fancy.

 This post is an entry for BritMums #brightFuture Challenge, sponsored by Unilever and linking to http://www.brightfuture.unilever.com.

Bloody Great! Chicken with Marsala, Olives and Blood Oranges

So, here I am continuing to bore you with my new found virtuosity. I have no idea whether this recipe is truly healthy, whatever that means, but my word… it made me feel good. In fact, the fact that I was able to muster this up on a school night is testament not only to my new found energy (well…actually, I don’t know whether I would take it that far. I merely decided to swerve the marking of year 9 books in order to eat because I was that hungry I could have eaten my own arms) but also the ease in which this amazing tasting dish can be created. Yes, even on a school night.

This divine tasting dish is from Diana Henry’s ‘A Bird in the Hand’. It is likely, due to amount of chicken that is being eaten in the household lately, that I will be cooking my way through this frankly fabulous tome of chicken recipes. I haven’t read one yet that I know I wouldn’t like. This recipe uses that seemingly rare beast, the blood orange, which is a particular favourite of mine, their sanguine juice and flesh slightly acidic tang adding colour and flavour to anything and everything. I got mine from the local farm shop, Windy Arbour, in Billinge.

I used chicken breasts on the bone for this one, instead of jointed chicken pieces. Personally I’d have been happy with any part of the chicken but I seem to be surrounded by people who don’t want to deal with too much in the way of bones, so chicken breasts it is. What I will say though is the way of cooking this kept the chicken incredibly moist and seemed to infuse flavour into what I think is sometimes the blandest cut of the bird. Anyway, happy bubs, happy Phill, happy me.

I served this cooked with spelt which had initially been sautéed with onions, and then braised in chicken stock, finished with a sprinkling of parsley. All together it was seriously delish and it’s one that I will be cooking again, as soon as the blood oranges make their welcome appearance.

Chicken with Marsala, Olives and Blood Oranges from ‘A Bird in the Hand’ by Diana Henry

Serves Lola, Finn, Mum and Dad, twice (4 – 6 people)

Ingredients:

1 tbsp olive oil

1 medium British free-range chicken, jointed into 8 (I used chicken supremes)

2 small red onions, halved and cut into crescent moon-shaped slices

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

100ml dry Marsala

Juice 1 blood orange, plus 2 blood oranges

8 fresh thyme sprigs (I used 1 ½ tsp of dried thyme)

1-2 large handfuls good quality green olives

A little caster sugar

Heat the oven to 190°C/fan170°C/gas 5.

On the hob, heat the olive oil in a broad, shallow casserole or ovenproof pan in which the chicken joints can lie in a single layer (I used my oval cast iron casserole) Season the chicken with salt and pepper, then brown on both sides, skin-side first, over a medium-high heat. Be careful not to turn the chicken pieces over before they come away easily from the base of the pan, otherwise you will tear the skin. Transfer to a plate.

Drain off all but a couple of tablespoons of the oil, then add the onions to the pan. Cook over a low-medium heat for around 5 minutes or until the onions begin to soften. Add the garlic and cook for another 2 minutes.

Add the marsala to the pan and scrape up all any flavourful sticky bits on the bottom. Add the blood orange juice. Return the chicken – and any meat juices – to the pan, skin-side up. Season, then add the dried thyme. Bring to the boil, then take the pan off the heat and put it in the oven for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, cut a slice off the bottom and top of each whole blood orange so they have a flat base on which to sit. Using a very sharp knife, cut the peel and pith from each orange, working around the fruit and cutting in broad slices from top to bottom. Slice the oranges into rounds and pick out any pips.

Take the chicken out of the oven, then add the olives and lay over the sliced blood oranges (the oranges should stay on top, out of the liquid). Sprinkle the orange slices with a little sugar, then return the pan to the oven and cook for another 20 minutes. The juices should have reduced, the orange slices should be golden, even caramelised in patches, and the chicken should be cooked through.

Spoon over some of the juices, then serve immediately. I served this with pearled spelt, cooked with onions in chicken stock.

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I AM NOT ON A DIET. I AM NOT ON A DIET (repeat to fade) Chicken with Lentils and Rosemary

I am not on a diet. Diet is a dirty word. It conjures up ideas of solitary lettuce leaves and a kind of hunger which makes you want to kill someone (in my case anyway that is; I am always at my most calm and serene with a full stomach). So, what I am doing is making better choices. I am ‘doing stuff better’ a la my New Year’s Resolution (mentioned here) and it is a vague enough notion to ensure that I don’t fail. Let’s face it; ‘doing stuff better’ could mean anything. But at this time, it means selecting foods to eat that I know are good for me and that I enjoy, and staying off the pies.

It is, with this in mind, that a foray into the latest Waitrose magazine led me to discover a Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall dish for chicken with lentils and rosemary. Yum, says I, for though lentils get a bad rap, I absolutely adore them and as such, should eat a whole lot more of them. In this recipe, the lentils draw in the flavour of chicken stock, onions, garlic and rosemary and transform into something gorgeously tasty and satisfying, so much so I probably could have eaten a bowl of that alone and felt pretty damn satisfied. The accompanying chicken was more a bonus than the main event for me.

This is pretty easy to make. It’s a one pot wonder essentially and thus good for a night where I can’t really be bothered with much culinary flourish. It does require more effort than hurling some oven chips in the general direction of the cooker, but once you have sautéed your onion, garlic, rosemary and then added the lentils and stock, you are good to go really. Just plonk the chicken on top. And I don’t know whether it was luck or judgement, but the resulting dish was the cooked down tastiness of the lentils but with some on top still retaining their shape but yielding willingly as you ate. Yum. The consistency of the lentils, kind of reminded me a little of mash, and that could never be a bad thing.

I served this with steamed spring greens, their verdant, iron rich goodness complimenting the chicken and the lentils completely.

Chicken with Rosemary and Lentils, taken from Waitrose magazine

Serves 4/5 people

My alterations in red.

Ingredients:

2 tbsp rapeseed or olive oil

1 large onion, sliced (I used two biggish ones)

4 garlic cloves, chopped

Leaves from 2 sprigs of rosemary

200g red lentils, well rinsed

500ml chicken or veg stock (I used chicken stock. It was quite a strong stock)

8 skin-on, bone-in, free-range chicken thighs, or 1 medium chicken (about 1.75kg/4lb), jointed into 6-8 pieces (I used four chicken breasts on the bone, skin on)

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Flat-leaf parsley, chopped, to finish

Method:

Pre-heat the oven to 180c

In a flameproof casserole pan or pot that will be big enough to hold the chicken in one layer, add the oil, then the onion and cook, stirring regularly, for six to eight minutes until it begins to soften. Add the garlic, rosemary and some salt and pepper. Cook gently for a further five minutes, then stir in the lentils and stock.

Season the chicken and place skin-side up in the casserole. The chicken skin should remain exposed above the liquid in the dish so it can brown in the oven.

Bring to a simmer on the hob, then transfer to the oven and bake, uncovered, for about an hour. Mine took about 50 minutes. Check that the chicken is cooked right through and the lentils are soft. If not, return to the oven for 10-15 minutes and test again.

Skim off any excess fat from the surface. Taste the lentils and add more salt or pepper if needed. Mine did need a bit more seasoning.

Scatter over the parsley.

I served this with spring greens.

 

A Tale of Two Kormas - Creamy Chicken Korma

 

Whilst we all know that the quickest way to a man's heart is a six inch knife through the chest; the other, less gruesome way is through his stomach. In fact, the wooing of Phill involved, amongst other things, some carefully selected and cooked meals - lasagne, beef stroganoff, croissant bread and butter pudding, all of which I don't believe I have ever blogged about and maybe, right there, lies a series of themed posts for Valentine's Day. Anyway, one night, very early in our fledgling relationship, he told me that a) he likes cooking and b) he cooks a mean korma. The description he then gave was quite mouth watering: you have to start the day before because it is such a complex process, it involves rendering a pound on onions down to almost nothing, yadda yadda yadda...

 

Nearly 13 years on, I am yet to taste this korma.

 

He mentions it every so often, usually when I am making curry and he comes wandering into the kitchen, enticed by the heady smells of herbs and spices, gets a spoon out the drawer, tastes the sauce I am cooking and gives the 'quality control' verdict, but he has never got round to making me his korma, which has taken on mythical proportions since it was first mentioned all those years ago. He does cook on occasions - he once made steak pizzeola, which tasted absolutely lush but my enthusiasm was dampened a little when I realised he had used every plate, dish and bowl in the kitchen to create his masterpiece and I was in charge of washing up...  But he can cook, but never the dish I thought he might cook...

 

Which brings me to this korma. This is from Neven Maguire's 'Food from the Sun'. He is an Irish chef who I discovered whilst on maternity leave, watching the 'GoodFood' channel in the afternoon, drifting in and out of consciousness whilst I had a plus 9lb baby writhing inside me who kept waking me up,,,(thank you Finn). I remember that I liked his kitchen and I liked the dishes he created, so I bought his book and have cooked from it here and here.

 

He calls this an authentic korma - to be honest I wouldn't know. What I do know is that it is pretty easy, does not involve a pound of onions and I did not have to start the day before. In fact, start to finish it took about an hour. It's a very comforting dish and Lola and Finn really like it, despite the touch of latent heat it exudes, just when you think it is only going to give flavour. I might use it as a lever to try and get Phill to make a korma...

 

Creamy Chicken Korma - adapted from 'Food from the Sun' by Neven Maguire

 

Serves Lola, Finn, Mum, Dad and one other

 

Ingredients:

 

 

2 tbsp vegetable oil

2 onions, finely chopped (I used three - I like an oniony curry)

2 garlic cloves, crushed

2 tsp finely grated root ginger

1 green chilli, seeded and chopped finely 

1 tsp garam masala

1 tsp ground turmeric

1/4 tsp chilli powder

400g can chopped tomatoes

1 tsp tomato puree

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts

150ml double cream (or to taste - you might need more, depending on how far down you have reduced the sauce)

2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

 

Method:

 

 

 

Heat the oil in a pan and fry the onions and garlic until for about 10 minutes until golden brown. Stir in the ginger and green chilli, and cook for 1 minute, stirring.

 

 

 

Add the garam masala to the pan with the turmeric, chilli powder and a pinch of salt and cook for another minute, stirring. Add the tomatoes, tomato puree and bring to the boil stirring continuously.

 

 

 

Add four tablespoons of water, (actually - I added about 150ml of water and a chicken stock cube at this point) stir well to combine, then reduce the heat and simmer for 10 - 15 minutes until the sauce is well reduced.

 

 

 

Cut the chicken into 2.5cm (1in) cubes and then add to the reduced down sauce. Slowly bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer gently for about 10 - 15 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and completely tender.

 

 

 

Stir in the cream and simmer gently for another few minutes until well combined. Season to taste.

 

 

View on Instagram here

 

To serve, arrange the basmati rice and chicken korma on warmed plates and scatter over the coriander.

 

Resisting the lure of the Curry House: Chicken Lahori

 

 

Friday night is curry night. And Friday night is THE night of the week that I am utterly banjaxed and grateful that the day after is Saturday and I can choose to do absolutely zilch (yeh right, I start the washing and clear all the crap I have been unable to shift all week because I have been a) taking an interest in my children b) generally distracted and c) marking something or other) and for some reason Friday night feels like a take away night. It's like a reward for getting to the end of another week without telling someone to stick it where the sun doesn't shine. This week, I evidently wasn't knackered enough to tell Phill to find the menu for the Indian takeaway; I volunteered to cook one. I had the ingredients, I could have wine whilst I was doing it, Finn's football on the Saturday was a later kick off.... why shouldn't I?  And I am glad I did because this recipe is, frankly, glorious. Punchy spice with a languid kick of chilli right at the finish, it was made for the bottle of Riesling that I had opened and half consumed by the time I actually got round to serving this.

 

A Google search consisting of 'Atul Kochhar, curry and chicken' threw up the frankly amazing Chicken Lahori. It was very easy to make, low maintenance and after half an hour or so cooking away whilst I was rounding up washing and threatening my kids with violence if they didn't get their uniforms off THIS MINUTE, this was ready to be served. It filled the kitchen with the heady smells that I normally associate with Phill bringing in a Friday takeaway. Thank God it's Friday and for once, I cooked it all myself...

 

Chicken Lahori adapted from the recipe by Atul Kochhar in the Daily Telegraph

 

Serves 4 in the original recipe: I approximately halved the ingredients below to create a hearty meal for two.

 

Ingredients:

 

5 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 black cardamom pods

4 green cardamom pods  

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

2 bay leaves

3 onions, chopped

1 tablespoon ginger-garlic paste*

3 tomatoes, chopped

2 teaspoons red chilli powder

2 tablespoons ground coriander

1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric

4 green chillies, chopped

800g chicken thighs, skinless and

boneless cut into small pieces

2 tablespoons plain yoghurt (You can add more if you find this too spicy for your palate)

400ml chicken stock or water (I used chicken stock)

2 tablespoons finely chopped coriander

1 teaspoon garam masala

Salt

 

*Ginger-garlic paste: Blend equal quantities of peeled garlic and fresh ginger with 10 per cent of their total weight in water, using a blender or mini food processor. Store in a sealed container in the fridge. If you want to keep this for longer than a few days, add 5 per cent vegetable oil and 2 per cent lemon juice when you blend. Or you can freeze this in ice-cube trays.

 

Method:

 

 

 

Heat the oil in a wok and sauté the whole spices with the bay leaves until they crackle. Add the onions and sauté until lightly browned. Add the ginger-garlic paste and sauté for a minute, stirring well, then add the ground spices (except the garam masala) and the green chillies and tomatoes. Cook for 5–8 minutes or until the tomatoes soften.

 

 

 

Add the chicken pieces with the yogurt, stock and salt to taste, and mix in well. Simmer gently for 20-25 minutes until the chicken is cooked. If the sauce is too thick, add more stock. I found that after the recommended cooking time the sauce was still a bit loose for my taste, so I increased the temperature and reduced the sauce further.

 

 

 

Stir in the chopped coriander leaves and garam masala, then serve.