Soba noodles with chicken

Oooh, nice Monday surprise. This easy peasy lemon squeezy dish was a sheer delight to make and was enjoyed by everyone. Soba (buckwheat) noodles in a chicken and dried mushroom stock with roast chicken left-overs, black beans, broccoli and spring onions. Not much to add really, just another addition to the favourite family dishes and I wave the flag for victory against predictable and unappealing family dinners. 

Good thing dinner was an easy task on Monday as I had an appointment at the physio for my lower back. Has been slightly achy for a while but thought going to the physio was all about getting rid of the pain...nooo, I am wearing the biggest plasters along my spine to keep me from overstretching or arching. Can't actually reach the top shelf of my spice collection so this week there will be no ready made fajitas, guacamole, lemon or rosemary salt (expiry date some time in July, 2010 though!!!). Instead we are cooking fish cakes, pasta with salsiccia and veal escalope with tabbouleh. 

Ingredients (original recipe here Soba med kyckling)
8 dried mushrooms (any kind will do but Chinese are preferred)
200 g soba noodles
1/2 roast chicken
2 tbsp concentrated liquid chicken stock + 1l of water
1/2 tbsp dark soy sauce
1 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp sugar
1 bunch of spring onion
1 tin of black beans
1 head of broccoli
a little bit of grated horseradish for those with grown-up taste

Preparation

Place the dried mushrooms in a pan and cover with hot water. Leave to soak according to instructions (can be left over night too). 

Cook the noodles according to the instructions. When cooked, drain and rinse with cold water. Return to pan and cover with a lid. 

Remove the meat from the chicken and tear it into smaller pieces. Chop the mushrooms and save the water it soaked in. Slice the spring onion finely and cut the broccoli into florets. 

To do the stock, add the water to a pan, add the concentrated chicken stock, soy sauce, rice vinegar, sugar, chicken and mushrooms. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer. Season to taste with the left over mushroom water, salt and pepper. 

Add the spring onion, black beans (rinsed), broccoli and noodles. Cover with a lid and leave to simmer for one minute. Serve in bowls and top with some grated horseradish. 

Chicken on lemon grass skewers

Mummy, I like the chicken lollipop! These chicken mince skewers with ginger wrapped around lemongrass have just become a favourite at our dinner table. The kids can bite tender pieces of chicken holding the lemongrass in their hands. The only thing that takes a little bit of time is making the chicken mince and you need something heavy to pound on the thick end of the lemongrass so it breaks up into splinters and leave that perfume of lemon and lime on the chicken. Served with rice, sesame seeds and cashews and salad of melon and cucumber its an instant hit among the small people in our house. 

I have a casserole of knuckle of pork (yep, had no idea what it was before trying to explain this particular cut at the butchers this morning but it is basically the pig's leg) cooking for tomorrow's dinner. Mixed with cinnamon, fennel (supposed to be star anis but had run out), chopped tomatoes, soy sauce, honey, ginger and black beans (might have to be replaced with lentils as I couldn't get any today) and cognac (supposed to be calvados but didn't have any in that cupboard of alcohol that I haven't opened for about 5 years or since our firstborn). It will probably be completely disgusting so might have to keep a back up of my italian meatballs so the kids won't starve. This should teach me not to mess with proven recipes. 

I am spending the weekend husband less, but I think I already told you, so need to head off to bed to cope with the two monsters when they wake up tomorrow morning. Happy Saturday!

Ingredients (original recipe here kycklingspett pa citrongras)
500 g chicken fillets (I think thighs should work ever better so will try that next time)
1 thumbsize fresh ginger
1 egg
1/2 tsp salt
breadcrumbs (preferably Panko but there is one from Waitrose's cook's ingredients which has the same texture)
about 16 lemon grass (less if they are very thick)
1 dl toasted, chopped cashews
2 tbsp sesame seeds
soy sauce and lime to serve

Preparation
Preheat the oven to 175°C.
Whizz the chicken into mince with a food processor or a hand mixer. Grate the ginger and squeeze out the juice and discard the fibrous left-overs. Mix the chicken, ginger juice, egg, salt and enough breadcrumbs to keep the mixture together.

Pound on each of the lemon grass until it breaks up into splinters. Put some oil on your hands and roll the mixture into oval balls and place the lemon grass in the middle of the ball, fold the mixture around the lemon grass. Roll the skewers in more breadcrumbs. Add some neutral oil (like rape seed oil) into a pan and fry the skewers until they are golden all around. Place them in a baking tray and leave them in the oven for about 20 mins. Remove and place on a serving dish, sprinkle with the chopped cashews and the sesame seeds and serve with rice, soy sauce and wedges of lime. We also did a simple salad of cucumber and melon with a dressing of  limejuice, sugar and green tabasco (no tabasco for the kids though).

Chicken with Pimenton de la Vera

Things are really busy around here. I am still cooking every day but for some reason when I intend to sit down and share the recipes I have kind of forgotten the quantities of all the ingredients I use. Well, I will just have to make them again then! Here's a really easy chicken casserole with a favourite spice, Pimenton de la Vera, smoked paprika powder. It's what makes Chorizo taste chorizo. My kids love chorizo so now I can make them eat chorizo without actually serving it. 

This casserole has chicken, parsnips and carrots. I served it with rice and green vegetables. Quick and easy. Original recipe here which I have changed. Chorizogryta utan chorizo

Ingredients

400 g chicken thigh fillets, cut in chunks

100 g pancetta, in cubes

1 clove of garlic, peeled and sliced

6 small onions, peeled

2 small carrots, peeled and cut in small pieces

1 parsnip, peeled and cut in small pieces

1 tin of chopped tomatoes

1 tsp pimenton de la vera, dulce

1 dl of white wine

1 tbsp of liquid chicken stock

olive oil

salt and pepper

Preparation

Heat a little bit of olive oil in a pan (one with a lid) and add the pancetta. Cook until crips, remove from pan. Add the garlic, onions, carrots and parsnip. Cook until the they have a nice golden colour, then remove. Add the chicken and cook until golden, then add a little bit of olive oil in a corner of the pan and add the pimenton in the oil. Stir a bit and then add back the pancetta, vegetables, chopped tomatoes, wine and stock. Stir and add salt and pepper. Put the lid on and cook for about 20 mins on a low heat. Then serve with rice or other grains and green vegetables of your choice. 

Simplest noodles with chicken and vegetables

If you prepare the vegetable chopping this takes about 10 mins to make. Ah, I can hear a sigh of relief. It is not a particularly sophisticated dish and might not beat the competition to a Saturday dinner but it works a treat on a Thursday when the weariness starts kicking in. Everybody eats and for the adventurous there is a jar of sambal oelek to cleanse the taste buds.

Ingredients
Medium sized egg noodles
4 chicken fillets
2 carrots
2 handfuls of mange tout
1 red onion
2 cloves of garlic
2 mini courgettes
a neutral oil like rapeseed oil
1 lime (another to serve if you like)
1 thumb size fresh ginger
1 tsp coriander seeds
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp sugar
2 handfuls of cashews to serve
fresh coriander (for those who like it)
Sambal oelek to serve

Preparation
Peel and slice the carrots, onion and garlic finely. Slice the mange tout on the diagonal, slice the courgettes finely. Peel the ginger and grate it, then squeeze the juice out and discard the fibrous left-overs. Grind the coriander seeds in a pestle and mortar. Chop the chicken fillets in smallish bits.

Fill the kettle with water once it is boiling pour it into a pan and add the noodles. Cook according to instructions, then drain and cover with a lid.

Heat a frying pan and roast the cashews for a few minutes. Remove the cashews and pour in some rapeseed oil, add the chicken and season with salt. Cook for a few minutes, then remove, pour in some more oil and add the vegetables. Cook for a few minutes and then add back the chicken, ginger juice, coriander seeds, soy sauce, fish sauce and sugar. Cook for a few minutes then mix in the cooked noodles. Serve with cashews and fresh coriander.

Really grown-up food

Roast chicken...grown-up food and I don't mean that it is grown up just because adults like to eat it. It is food that only really proper adults cook. People who spend a lot of time at home cooks this because it takes a long time in the oven. So, that is it, I am admitting to myself that I have grown up, there is no turning back because I now know how to cook roast chicken and potatoes with gravy...on a Monday. So, adults cook it but really teenagers could, it is simple. It is so simple that I am not sure I am even allowed to post it on a food blog. It has no fancy ingredients, no cool tricks up its sleeve and really doesn't look much either. But the kids (including husband) love it. The recipe is my mother's, it was a good dish for a family with five kids and even better now that there are also 8 grand children. So here's to you Mum!

Roast chicken

1 whole chicken, 1-1,5kg

1 tbsp butter

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp soy sauce

salt and pepper

Roast potatoes

4 large potatoes

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp melted butter

salt and pepper

Gravy

2 dl hot water

1 dl cream (I use double cream, only the real deal is good enough for this)

1 tbsp white flour

1/2 tbsp chicken stock

1 tbsp lingonberry jam or cranberry sauce

salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

Preheat oven to 200º C. 

Melt the butter and mix with olive oil, soy sauce, salt and pepper. Put the chicken in a roasting tray and brush the chicken with the mixture. Place in the oven and bake for 1-1,5 hours (1 hour per kilogram usually). If the chicken looks dark then remove, cover with tin foil, return to oven and continue to cook. To check whether the chicken is cooked, push a skewer into the thigh at the thickest point. If the juices run clear the chicken is done. 

Wash and cut the potatoes into wedges. Place in a roasting tray, add olive oil, melted butter, salt and pepper. Make sure all potatoes are covered with the mixture. Place in oven when the chicken has about 35 mins left to bake. 

When the chicken is done, remove from roasting tray, cover with tin foil and leave for 10 mins. Pour 2 dl hot water into the roasting tray and whisk so that you get all the burnt bits out, then pour the water into a pan through a sieve. Reduce for 5 mins. Mix the cream with the flour then pour it into the pan, add the stock. Bring to a boil and boil until it thickens, add the lingonberry or cranberry sauce, thin with more water if necessary. Season to taste. Serve the chicken with roast potatoes, gravy and steamed broccoli and mange tout. 

Coq au vin

 Today felt like the first real autumn day in London with grey skies and a cold drizzle. I had a bit of an appetite after a solid 75 min yoga workout at my favourite yoga place http://www.thepoweryogaco.com/ this morning. Good weather for the first casserole of the season; a Coq au vin. I use chicken thigh fillets, fresh lemon thyme and add some soya beans for the colour of the dish and to get extra vegetables in there. My 16-month old ate like she had never seen food before. Unfortunately no photo as the kitchen was too dark once I had finished. Can easily be prepared and cooked in advance and then just reheated before serving. Here is the recipe for a family of four (with two small children so add extra if you have bigger or hungrier kids):

Ingredients
4 chicken thigh fillets
100 g cubed pancetta
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp olive oil
2 portabella mushrooms
6-8 small brown or red onions
2 handfuls of babyplum or cherry tomatoes
1 dl red wine
3 tbsp stock (I use bong's liquid chicken stock)
2 bay leafs
2 cloves of garlic
a couple of sprigs of lemon thyme
1 dl frozen soya beans
3 dl water (or as much as it takes to cover all the ingredients)
2 tbsp corn flower (and some water to mix to a roux)
salt and pepper
some pomegranate seeds to finish off

Preparation
Preheat the oven to 200 º C. 

Chop the mushrooms into size of 1 cm cubes. Peel the onions and garlic cloves. Heat half the butter and olive oil in a casserole and brown the mushrooms, onions and garlic. Remove from the casserole.

Cut the chicken thighs into 2 cm pieces. Heat the remaining butter and olive in the casserole and cook the chicken, then add back the mushrooms, onions and garlic.

Add wine, stock, tomatoes, bay leafs, lemon thyme and water to cover. Leave to simmer for 30 mins.

Put the pancetta in an oven proof dish and leave in the oven until cooked.

When the casserole is almost finished add the frozen soya beans and the roux, stir and leave to thicken for a few minutes. Top with the pancetta and serve with a sprinkle of pomegranate seeds and rice, barley or regular couscous. Enjoy!