CRISPY CRACKLING CHICKEN THIGHS

What's better than Crackling, Chicken Crackling thats what!

What a great family show stopper dinner that will have everyone running to the table!  A simple dinner that is elevated to the highest flavour levels just simply by the the cooking method!  I cook crispy crackling chicken thighs all the time, in fact several times a week as my hubby uses them as (fridglet nibblits) but their never as fully crisped up as this, just a little tweak in the preparation and cooking method has made this our all new family favourite.  Serve with mayo slaw, flat breads and siracha, stuff, wrap and enjoy.

Cooking time 15 minutes

Ingredients

(Serves 4)

8 chicken thighs boned out

Himalayan sea salt 

1 tbsp vegetable oil

Place your cast iron skillet on a medium high heat.

Season the thighs with the salt, place the vegetable oil in the skillet, place the thighs skin side down in the skillet.

Leave the chicken skin side down for around six minutes, don't be tempted to turn it over or check it, this is how the crispy crackling skin is made.  

At six minutes lift up the thighs to check for crispy crackling, if golden brown and crispy then turn over, if not cook for a further 2 minutes, then turn over and cook for a further 2 minutes.

Remove the skillet from the heat and leave the chicken to rest, uncovered, for a few minutes before serving.

Serving suggestions, glorious buttery mashed potatoes or flatbreads, slaw and salad.

PAELLA VALENCIANA CRISPY CRACKLING CHICKEN AND PRAWN

Big Green Egg Cooking

Indirect cooking 200 C - 220 C.

Equipment: 

Paella pan for two or shallow casserole dish, lid or foil.

10 minutes preparation / 20 minutes cooking

Ingredients 

(serves 2)

100ml olive oil

1 knob of butter for the prawns

1 tsp sea salt

10 grinds pepper mill fresh black pepper

6 cloves garlic sliced (reserve one for the prawns

1 Spanish onion finely diced

3 chicken thighs skin on, boneless

3 large fresh prawns head and shell on

1 cooking chorizo diced

250g Spanish Calasparra rice

1.3 litres chicken stock

1 good pinch saffron (Spanish La Mancha)

1 tsp smoked paprika 

2 sprigs thyme leaves chopped

1 tbsp fresh chopped parsley

Place your paella pan or a shallow casserole dish on the Big Green Egg, add the olive oil, season the chicken thighs skin side only with the salt, place the chicken thighs skin side down in the pan, Do Not Turn for 8 minutes, this will ensure you create crispy chicken crackling skin, turn over and cook for a further 2-3 minutes, remove from the pan, keeping all the chicken fat in the pan and reserve to one side, uncovered.

 To the pan add the onions, garlic and chorizo to the pan, soften for 10 minutes.

Add the saffron, smoked paprika, thyme and black pepper, stir once to combine.

Add the rice, stir once to combine.

Add the chicken stock and again stir only once to combine, this is so you do not release the starch and end up making the paella stodgy and more like a risotto.

Cook for 12 minutes until almost all the chicken stock has been absorbed, this will result in (socarrat) a crispy caught bottom of the paella, the best bit ! 

Place the prawns in a pan with a glug of olive oil, a knob of butter and sliced garlic, cook for 1.5 minutes each side, then nestle in the paella and push into the rice, take the paella off the heat and leave to rest for five minutes with a lid on or a foil tent.

Remove the lid, add the reserved chicken thighs and nestle into the paella, rest for a further 2 minutes then serve immediately.

Enjoy with family, warm fresh sour dough bread and a beautiful bottle of red wine. 

CURRY TARKA DHAL

TARKA DHAL

One of my favourite dhals, I love the depth of flavour you get from adding the tarka, a crispy nutty ghee fried garlic, fresh coriander and garam masala mix at the end of the cooking, it really does make all the difference from a plain dhal to a sumptuous dish.  I like to scoop this dhal up with ghee loaded parathas, they are basically a chapati that has been folded and painted with ghee several times which renders them flaky and buttery when cooked, just perfect with this rich dhal

TARKA DHAL

Ingredients

(serves 2-4)

The Dhal

1 cup of red lentils soaked

6 cups of water

1 tsp turmeric powder

1 tsp mild curry powder

1/4 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

1 tbsp coriander stalks finely chopped

The Tarka

8 fat cloves garlic sliced

1 small onion finely diced

1 tbsp ghee

1 small bunch coriander roughly chopped

1/2 tsp garam masala 

1 red chilli finely diced optional

Sea salt to taste if needed

1.  Drain the lentils and place in a deep saucepan with the water and sea salt, bring to a simmer, pop on a lid and turn down to a low simmer and leave to cook for around 30 minutes, the lentils may need as much as 40 minutes, you are looking for a thick soft texture where all the lentils have cooked down and created a lovely dhal.

2.  In a frying pan heat the ghee and gently fry the garlic until nutty brown, remove from the ghee and leave to one side while you next add the onion and fry until softened, add the garam masala, cumin turmeric mix well add back the garlic along with the chilli if using.

3.  Add the tarka to the dal and stir in along with the fresh coriander and serve with some parathas for dipping scooping and stuffing.

PIE GLORIOUS PIE SLOW BRAISED STEAK AND KIDNEY

BRITISH PIE WEEK 

I could not let British Pie week pass without re-posting this recipe as it is very dear to me, firstly it is my most top favorite dinner that my Nan used to make for me, the memories start with the original recipe from my Nan and Nan got it from her mum, it is one of those wonderful recipes of history, my Nan was a great cook who moved with the times hence the addition of curry powder, I won't tell you about Nan's experimental Malibu roast chicken gravy though!

PIE GLORIOUS PIE

Nan did not make this as a pie, we had this a braised dish with the most creamy buttery mashed potatoes that Nan always put a hint of vinegar in, turns out that the vinegar lowers the absorption of carbohydrates.  The very special part of this dinner was my Nan's brown 1960’s tea mug that she filled with extra braised gravy for me to drink with my meal, I always eat this meal with a spoon, this is so I can get the maximum amount in my mouth each time!  Wonderful memories every mouthful :-)

Nan’s gravy mug, pride of place in my kitchen

I made this dish for my now husband as this pie, this was a deal sealer and resulted in a proposal of marriage, 33 yrs later this is still my husbands favourite dinner as a pie or braised.

INGREDIENTS

I always make extra if your are putting the time in to slow cook, this is not only time efficient but also cost effective and you’ll have another dinner to go in the week or from the freezer.

(makes 8 braised portions or 2 large family pies)

1.5 kg chuck/braising steak 2" square chunks

2 tbsp flour (optional). I leave this out.

700g trimmed weight lambs kidney rough chopped (optional)

2 onions finely chopped

2 sticks celery fine chopped

2 carrots finely chopped

1 large glug of ooil

50g butter

1 ltr rich beef stock

4 cans of Guinness 

1 tsp salt and black pepper

2 tbsp mustard powder

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp curry powder

4 bay leaves

2 tbsp ground black pepper

FOR THE BEST EVER SUET CRUST PASTRY

(This makes 2 pie top crusts)

For double crust pies double the recipe.

330g supreme self raising flour

100g cold butter grated

130g atora suet

Water as needed (150ml+)

1 tsp salt and white pepper 

Make the pastry first so that it can rest in the fridge.  Place all the ingredients except the water in a large bowl and very gently mix, you do not want to over work the mix as this will make it rubbery and this pastry is the best ever because it is light and crispy with a flakey texture finished off with a hint of almost dumpling texture underneath, that soaks up the gorgeous braise steak gravy.  Add the water a glug at a time probably overall 150ml and just bring the pastry mix together, wrap in paper and place in the fridge until needed.  

FOR THE PIE / BRAISED STEAK FILLING

Heat a deep casserole dish on the stove and melt the butter and ooil, gently fry the onion, celery and carrot until soft and onions are translucent, toss the diced beef in the flour then sear in a casserole dish until brown all over, add all the mustard powder, cayenne, curry powder, salt and black pepper then the beef stock and Guinness.

Bring to a gently just simmer, pop a lid on, keep the heat ticking over for around 3-4 hrs or pop in the oven 160 C / 320 F or slow cooker until the beef falls apart when you touch it.  Lesson learned you can not rush this recipe in a pressure cooker!!!  The steak has a tougher texture even though it is falling apart.

Once the steak is cooked you may or may not need to thicken the stock, I generally I take equal quantities, approx 50g of butter and supreme sponge flour melted together.  I spoon half in to the braised steak and gently cook this out, this is generally enough to slightly thicken the stock gravy enough.

Roll out your pastry for the lid, fill your pie baking dish with the gorgeous braised steak Guinness pie filling, egg wash the top of the pie dish, pop on the suet pie crust lid, crimp the sides and egg wash the top, decorate the top of your pie with a hint of personality, egg wash and bake in a pre-heated oven for 35-40 minutes until golden brown and hopefully some of the juices have oozed out over the parts of the pastry and created a rich chewy beef braised crust.  Serve with roasted potatoes and vegetables or buttery mashed potatoes, enjoy.

COQ AU VIN

Traditional French Cooking

I just love old fashioned cooking, slow and simple, with the most honest and best ingredients, especially if you can source artisan products, no complicated cooking methods that deliver great depths of flavour, rich, decadent and sumptuous elevating all the flavours to their maximum and even more so when shared with family and friends who add that final magical ingredient.

I was recently able to source my first free range woodland raised cockerel from COPAS, who I have been buying my annual organic woodland raised Christmas turkey from since I saw their farm on Rick Stein’s cooking programme.  A huge impressive 5kg bird, that tasted of times gone by, a deeper chicken flavour, not too strong or gamey.

1/2 hour preparation / 45 - 60 minutes cooking time

Ingredients

(serves 8)

1 free range cockerel or 2.5kg chicken

(butchered into 8 cuts)

(thighs, drums, breast & supremes)

50 ml olive oil

50g butter twice

100g dry cured pancetta 

300g button mushrooms

150g wild mushrooms optional

300g silver skin onions (frozen)

(substitute with small peeled shallots)

2 sprigs of fresh thyme

1 small bunch parsley / extra to serve

1 bay leaf

Sea salt

Fresh ground black pepper 

1 bottle burgundy red wine 

1 litre chicken stock

150ml brandy

ROUX TO THICKEN STOCK GRAVY

(optional)

50g butter

25g flour or gluten free gram flour

Marinate the chicken in the red wine, thyme, bay leaf, parsley, salt and black pepper for a few hours or overnight even better.

Remove the chicken, pat dry with paper towel and reserve the marinade.

Heat a sauté pan, add one portion of the butter and olive oil, sear the chicken until golden brown and crispy skin, remove and reserve to a casserole dish along with the reserved red wine marinade and chicken stock.

In the same pan melt the remaining butter and pan fry the pancetta and onions until nicely browned, remove and place with the chicken, add the mushrooms to the pan and sauté for 3 minutes, remove and add to the chicken casserole dish.  Add the tomato puree to the pan and cook for 2 minutes, deglaze the pan with the brandy simmering for a minutes then pour over the chicken.

Cook in the oven at 180 C / 356 F for 45 minutes or until the chicken is 85 C / 185 F.

If you want to thicken the stock sauce, optional, melt the butter, add the flour/gram flour and stir in until smooth.

Remove the chicken from the pan and set to one side, stir in the butter flour roux, simmer for a couple of minutes stirring all the time until the sauce is thickened.  Add back the chicken, sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve.

SHAWARMA KEBAB BIG GREEN EGG

 KAMADO BARBECUE COOKING

Winner winner family dinner, this spicy succulent juicy smokey chicken shawarma was woofed down by my family, stuffed into flatbreads and loaded with aioli, slaw, salad and pickled kebab peppers, hot sauce not needed as there is a good chilli kick in the chicken marinade.

Kebab is such a dirty word in the UK, we have so many mass produced cheap doner kebab suppliers that cheapen the food for people who just crave food and fat after midnight, these cheap doner kebabs have their place and I have had a fair few in my days!  But kebabs are a wonderful food when done well, a joy to eat.

Ingredients 

(serves 4)

The Chicken Brine Up To 24 hrs

3 ltrs cold water

150g sea salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

1 kg chicken breasts

Combine all the brine ingredients, stir well to dissolve the salt, place the chicken breasts in to the brine and cover, pop in the fridge for up to 24 hours

The Shawarma Spice Marinade 

1/2 cup olive oil

1 leg lemon zest and juice

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp onion powder

1 tsp smoked paprika

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder

1/2 tsp turmeric

1 tsp ground cumin

1/4 tsp cardamom powder

1 tsp sea salt

1 tsp ground black pepper

Mix all the marinade ingredients together and coat the brined drained chicken throughly.  Leave to marinate for a couple of hours or even better over night.

To Serve

6 flatbreads

(want to make your own, recipe below)

1 iceberg lettuce finely shredded

2 lemons halved

1 red onion finely sliced

1 400g jar kebab pickled peppers

Aioli 

3 cloves garlic finely grated

300g mayonnaise 

1/2 lemon juiced

Mix the ingredients together and chill until needed.

Slaw

1/2 white cabbage finely shredded

1 lrg carrot julienne

1 red onion finely sliced

1 tsp Dijon mustard

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

1/2 tsp turmeric (optional)

1/4 tsp ground black pepper

200g mayonnaise

Mix the Dijon, apple cider vinegar, turmeric and black pepper in the mayonnaise, then mix through the rest of the ingredients and chill until needed.

KAMADO BARBECUE

Oak and hickory charcoal and one hickory wood chunk 250 C / 482 F

No barbecue then 200 C / 392 F in your oven.

If you want the charr for that extra flavour then on a flat top or cast iron griddle on the stove.

Cut the marinated chicken into large chunks, place on your skewer, simply cook over your coals for approx 7 minutes, turn and repeat, if your using a temperature probe I cook chicken to 78-83 C / 172-181 F, then rest for 10 minutes.

Serve family style where everyone can dive in and stuff their breads or lettuce leaves to their likin.

Flat Breads

Ingredients 

(makes 6-8)

500g 00 caputo Italian flour

10g Himalayan sea salt 

50g extra virgin olive oil 

15g yeast

320g water

Place all the ingredients in a mixing bowl and either by hand or by machine with a dough hook mix for seven minutes, then dust a little flour over the dough mix and gently form into a ball, cover the bowl with a tea towel and leave in a warm area to prove for 1-2 hours until doubled in size if you want to use after the prove, other options are to prove the dough slowly in the fridge for 24hrs for a even better depth of flavour and texture, this is what I do as it gives me much more control over time and usage, this will keep for 48hrs in the fridge ready to go when you are, you can also freeze any left over dough at this stage, then when ready to use remove from the freezer defrost and once up to room temperature use as you would fresh.

 Take a oversized golf ball piece of dough, dust your work top with a little 00 flour, roll out a large disk no bigger than your skillet if your not cooking in a wood fired oven, heat to a hot heat, place the flat bread in the pan and cook for one and a half minutes on each side, best served warm, so wrap the cooked flatbreads in a tea towel to keep warm.  

Theseare almost as good used later the same day, to use the following day dip the flat breads in water and pop in a pre heated oven for 3-5 minutes and Ta-Da almost as good as fresh.

CHAO FAN RICE WITH STICKY GINGER PORK

 Where has this dish been all my life!  How could I have not had this, especially as my husband lived in Hong Kong and used to go The Mariners Club where this was one of his favourite dishes!

This recipe is easier to throw together after a Chinese feast using particular leftovers, but I did make this from scratch for my husband and it was totally worth the little extra effort braising the belly pork.

Ingredients 

(serves 4)

Chao Fan

200g honey, ginger belly pork (recipe below)

1 thick slice of ham small diced

1 cup of petit pois peas cooked

1 thumb size piece ginger finely diced

1 large green pepper small diced

6 spring onions finely sliced

1 cup of basmati rice

2 cups of light chicken stock

Sticky Honey Ginger Pork Belly

This gorgeous melt in the mouth belly pork is just divine, worth the hour and half wait.

Ingredients 

( 1 1/2 hrs oven cook)

500g belly pork

1 tsp five spice

1 tbsp soy

1 tbsp sliced ginger

1 ltr chicken stock

1 tbsp red wine vinegar

2 tbsp caster sugar

Glaze

4 tbsp honey

1 tbsp brown sugar

2 tbsp soy sauce

1 tsp grated ginger

1 red chilli finely diced

For the glaze, mix all the glaze ingredients together, heat in a pan until the sugar has dissolved and you have a sticky glaze.

Rub the belly pork with the soy sauce and five spice, reserve to one side to marinated for half an hour, overnight is even better.

Pre heat your oven to 160 C / 320 F.  Place the belly pork in a casserole dish with a lid, add the rest of the braising ingredients, pop on the lid and place in the oven for around one and a half hours, check after 1 hour, the pork is done when it is gelatinous and you can pull it apart with no effort.

Chop into small bite size pieces and toss in the glaze.

Perfect Rice

1 cup of basmati rice

2 cups of light chicken stock

The key to successful rice is simply do not stir or take the lid off the pan!

Rinse the rice in a sieve and place in your pan along with the stock, pop on a lid and bring to a simmer, turn down the heat to a low simmer, under no circumstances take the lid off or stir the rice!  Simmer for 6 minutes then take the rice off the heat and leave to one side for a further 5 minutes, perfect cooked rice.

Fluff up the rice with a fork and stir in all the chao fan ingredients, that is it, enjoy.

GUY FIERI BURGER WITH SMC, MAC N CHEESE AND DONKEY SAUCE

Best Burger EVER ! 

Kamado Cooking

This is out of bounds as the man himself would say…chuck steak, short rib and ribeye minced together with sweetcure bacon, pickled jalapeños and shallot, seasoned with salt and black pepper, formed into 5 oz  balls, then a single smash (no lace) so make it count, cooked on cast iron over oak and hickory coals in the Big Green Egg Kamado at 230 C / 446 F.

Best eaten in private or with people who love you!

Burger Ingredients

(makes 6 burgers)

500g cold chuck steak diced

200g cold short rib diced

200g cold ribeye diced

3 rashers sweetcure bacon diced

1 shallot roughly chopped

1/3 cup pickled jalapeños

1 tsp sea salt

1 tsp black pepper

Mix all the burger ingredients together, run through the mincer on a medium fine blade, divide the mix roughly by six and form into balls ready to smash.

Donkey Sauce

1 large bulb of garlic

Olive oil

Sea salt

Tin foil

1 cup mayonnaise 

1 tbsp yellow mustard

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

Sea salt and black pepper

Pre heat oven to 180 C / 256 F.  Place the whole garlic bulb on the tin foil sheet, drizzle with the olive oil and season with salt, wrap up the foil around the garlic creating a wigwam structure, bake in the oven for around 30 minutes until you can squeeze the no garlic purée from the bulb.

In a food processor blitz all the ingredients together.

Fixings

6 buns

150g garlic butter

1 red onion finely sliced in rings

3 dill whole pickles thinly sliced longways

1/2 cup pickled jalapeños 

2 tomatoes finely sliced

SMC

(SUPER MELTY CHEESE)

I’ve taken guy’s super melty cheese burger sauce and combined the sauce recipe with a gram flour (gluten free) roux bechamel to make cheese burger slices, this allows for more super melty cheese on the burger!

 INGREDIENTS 

30g butter

30g gram flour (chickpea flour)

3 cups half and half

280g velveeta cheese diced

140g smoked gouda freshly grated

140g white cheddar freshly grated

140g provolone diced

1 tbsp Tabasco or Franks hot sauce

1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

Melt the butter and whisk in the gram flour, cook on a medium heat for five minutes, add 2/3 cup of half and half and whisk in until you have a smooth thick paste, add another cup of half and half and repeat until all the milk is used.  Cook the sauce on a medium heat for 10 minutes,  add the velveeta and stir until melted, add the rest of the ingredients and stir until melted, at this point take two ladles of sauce and reserve keeping warm for the mac n cheese.   Line a low sided baking tray with baking paper, pour the cheese sauce on the tray, with a spatula level off the sauce, pop in the fridge to chill and set.  Cut into squares to fit your burgers.

Mac n Cheese

Cook your macaroni elbows and stir in to your warm reserved cheese sauce.

COOK AND ASSEMBLE THE BURGER

Heat your kamado to 230 C / 446 F.  Place your plancher or cast iron skillet in on the grill to pre heat.

Take your Pattie balls and place on the plancher, using two crisscrossed burger spatulas or a cast iron burger press, press down firmly and evenly only once to flatten out the burger, cook for around 2-3 minutes until a nice crust has formed, flip over, cook for 1 minute then add your cheese slice, squirt some water on the plancher and cover the burger with a dome, I use a stainless steel mixing bowl.  This will create steam that will melt the cheese without over cooking the burger.

Butter your buns with the garlic butter and toast on the plancher.

To load the burgers up…

Bun base

Donkey sauce

Cheese burger

Donkey sauce

Cheese burger

Cheeseburger

Red onion slices

Tomatoes

Dill pickles

Jalapeños 

Mac and cheese

Donkey sauce

Bun lid

Remember to tuck and roll when eating this!