CLIVE'S JUICY SPICY CHICKEN

SPATCHCOCK SPICY CHICKEN WITH SOFT AND CRISPY CHICKEN ROASTED GARLIC POTATOES, SIDE OF PIRI PIRI GARLIC MAYO



1 free range chicken
piri piri seasoning
salt and pepper
King Edward potatoes
2 cloves garlic chopped
ooil
1 portion home made mayo

Cut the chicken in half and squash each half flat, rub with piri piri seasoning, salt and pepper.  Toss the peeled chopped potatoes in ooil, add garlic and seasoning place in a roasting pan, place the chicken on top and roast in moderate oven 190 degrees for 45-60 minutes.

PIRI PIRI MAYO
Home made mayo mixed with raw chopped garlic and piri piri spices.

THE BEST EVER LIVER & BACON

PAN FRIED LAMBS LIVER, SWEET CURE BACON, ONION GRAVY AND MASHED POTATO WITH BUTTERED GREENS



6 oz slice fresh local lamb liver
6 King Edward potatoes
1/2 pack butter
small bunch greens
ooil
onions
400ml chicken stock or veal
1 tsp sugar
tsp flour & butter mixed to a paste

Boil the potatoes ready to mash, in a sauce pan saute the greens in butter, once sauteed add a large knob of butter and the potatoes to the pan through a ricer, keep on a no 1 heat and mix well, season to taste and add a dash of warm milk if you feel the mash is too thick.

Onion gravy, sweat off the onions till caramelized, add the sugar and cook on for another 20 minutes slowly, add the stock and reduce by 1/3, if you do need to thicken slightly add the flour and butter paste and whisk in.  A knob of butter on its own will thicken very slightly and adds a gloss to the sauce.

To cook the perfect moist liver, heat a pan to hot hot hot, add a dash of ooil swill around and tip out, add the liver and turn the heat down to medium, cook for approx 2 minutes each side and leave to rest on the side while you pan fry the strips of bacon.

TOM YUM SOUP VA VA VOOM...

SUNDAY BREAKFAST

This is one of my most favourite ways to start the day, hot sweet and sour, full of goodness for the soul and wakes up the whole body





400ml fresh chicken stock
1 spring onion chopped
1 chilli chopped
1/2 lemongrass chopped
sprinkle of red pepper diced
sprinkle of chopped ginger
hand full fresh rice noodles
wallop of coconut milk
1 tsp tom yum paste
handful torn coriander
10 fresh prawns

Bring the stock to a rapid simmer add all of the ingredients except the prawns and coriander, simmer for 2 minutes, then add the prawns for 2 minutes, serve and sprinkle on top the coriander, season if needed.

MY FAVOURITE RICH MOIST STEAK AND KIDNEY PUDDING

SLOW BRAISED OXTAIL IN RED WINE



BRAISING
500g oxtail on the bone
4 lambs kidneys
2 carrots finely diced
1 onion finely diced
2 sticks celery finely diced
1/2 leek finely diced
ooil and knob butter
2 fresh bay leaves
6 black pepper
pinch salt
1 bottle red wine

Gently fry the onion, carrot, leek and celery in ooil and butter till soft add the oxtail and brown off, add the diced kidneys, the bottle of wine, bay leaves and pepper, simmer for 1 hour in a pressure cooking or 2 hours in a casserole dish, strain the stock and ingredients, keep back a little stock for gravy.  Remove all the meat from the bones and return the ingredients back to the stock, season to taste.

SUET PUDDING
300g self raising flour
150g suet
200ml water
lrg pinch salt

To make the suet pastry mix all the ingredients together gently, wrap in clingfilm and rest for 20 minutes on the side.  Roll out 3/4 to 1cm thick and line a buttered pudding basin, allowing the pastry to hang over the edge of the bowl.  Roll out the remainder pastry into a circle for a lid.  Fill the basin with the braised oxtail and then gently tuck the overhanging pastry on top of the mix, place the lid on top.  Cover in tin foil or a muslin and steam for 2 hours.  Rest for 15 minutes before turning out.

APPLES APPLES APPLES

TARTE TATIN

Great British Apples such simple cooking that makes the apple sing and dance on your tastebuds

CARAMEL APPLES

4 large apples peels and cut into wedges

75g unsalted butter

75g caster sugar

 

 

Melt the butter in a frying pan slowly, add the sugar and bring up to a gently simmer, when you have a colour change place the apples in the caramel and tightly pack, cook on until the apples have just started to soften, then take off the heat and top with the pastry below.

 

 

RICH SHORT CRUST PASTRY

220g plain flour

150g butter unsalted cold

1 egg yolk

pinch salt

 

 

To make the pastry rub the butter in to the flour till breadcrumbs, mix in the salt, make a well in the centre add the egg yolk and a little cold water, very gently bring the dough together and shape in to a flat ball, rest in the fridge 30 minutes.  When ready roll out to the size of the pan you have caramlized the apples in, put the pastry on top of the apples and tuck the sides down, dont make the mistake I made which was to decorate the pastry with pretty pastry apples, egg wash just to remember once cooked you are going to turn this upside down...  Bake in the oven 180 degrees for approx 20 minutes, leave to cool for only approx 5 minutes, place a plate on top of the frying pan and turn upside down.

GREAT BRITISH APPLE CRUMBLE WITH CREME FRAICHE

 

FILLING
6 apples peeled and roughly chopped
2 tbsp caster sugar
1 small pot creme fraiche
2-3 tbsp caster sugar

To make the filling put the apples in a saucepan with the 2 tbsp sugar and gently heat through till the apples give up their juices and become just soft. Mix the creme fraiche with the remaining sugar, when the apples have cooled and are in the pie dish pour over the creme fraiche, don't mix in.

CRUMBLE
125g plain flour
125g oatmeal and almonds
125g cold butter
125g caster sugar

Mix the plain flour and butter till breadcrumbs stir in the rest of the ingredients and top the apples, bake in 180 degree oven for approx 25-30 minutes.  Serve with more cream.

MISSISSIPPI MUD PIE CHOCOLATE CAKE

Sweet rich chocolate pastry filled with a chocolate ganache and topped with thick fresh cream and flakes of milk chocolate

Pastry
225g plain flour
2 tbsp cocoa powder
140g butter
2 tbsp caster sugar
2 tbsp water cold

Filling
175g butter
350g soft brown sugar
4 eggs beaten
4 tbsp cocoa powder
150g plain choc
300ml single cream

Topping
600ml dbl cream
4 flakes

To make the pastry, rub the butter into the flour, cocoa powder and sugar to form a soft dough, you may need to add the water just to bring it all together.  Rest in the fridge for half hour, roll out and blind bake for 15 minutes at 190 degrees, then remove the baking beans and cook for another 10 minutes.  Reduce the oven to 160 degrees.

To make the filling beat the butter with the sugar until soft and creamy, add the eggs slowly.  Melt the chocolate and mix in the cream, add this and the cocoa powder to the mixture slowly, pour into the pastry case and bake for approx 35 minutes until still wobbly but almost set, leave till completely cooled.

To top whip the double cream to a really thick consistency, carefully not to turn it into butter...  Top the cake with the cream and sprinkle with crushed flakes to decorate.

CHEERFULL SOUP FOR THE SOUL

Yellow Thai prawn aromatic soup that cleans and nourishes the soul, one of my most cheerful soups that lifts my mood and makes me feel even more loved.

This is one of those base recipes that you can make into so many different meals in seconds from loading the dish with left over chicken or garden vegetables to adding different Thai pastes or soy sauce, omitting the coconut milk or maybe throwing in udon noodles or some jasmine rice.  I always have buckets of chicken stock in my fridge and freezer and can have dinner on the table within 5 minutes.

500ml Home made chicken stock
200ml coconut milk
handfull cooked rice noodles
1/2 stick lemongrass finely sliced
1 inch ginger chopped
1/4 red pepper diced
1 spring onion sliced
handfull coriander torn
2 red chillies de-seeded and chopped
3 sprouting broccoli chopped into 3
1 green cabbage leaf shredded
1/2 tsp turmeric
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp Thai yellow curry paste
10 raw prawns de-veined

Heat the chicken stock in a saucepan, add all the ingredients, except the prawns and bring to a rolling simmer for 2 minutes, add the raw prawns and once cooked, approx 2 minutes check for seasoning and serve.

SALT & PEPPER SQUID SALAD

Salt and pepper squid salad with crispy chorizo, just boiled eggs with mixed leaf and tomato onion salad, served with a side of lemon tarragon mayo.

PERFECT BOILED EGGS
Put the eggs in a pan of cold water and bring to the boil rapidly, time for 4 minutes and take off the heat, drain and stand in cold water, if you want the yolk a little more set but still soft, when you take the pan off the heat leave the eggs standing in the hot water for 2 minutes before draining.

1 Fresh squid (cleaned) & scored
Potato flour
Sea Salt
Fresh ground pepper
Mixed salad leaves
Tomatoes
Spring onions
Eggs just boiled
Lemon
oil for fryer

Mix the salt and pepper into the potato flour, toss the squid in the seasoned flour and lightly fry.  Toss the salad leaves in a squeeze of lemon juice and season, dress the salad with chopped tomatoes and spring onions, eggs and squid, finish off with crispy pieces of chorizo (lightly chopped and fried).

LEMON TARRAGON MAYO
2 egg yolks
1/4 tsp white wine vinegar
1 tsp lemon juice
250ml ground nut oil
chopped tarragon

In a bowl put the egg yolks vinegar and half the lemon juice and whisk until light and creamy, add the oil a drop at a time whisking all the time, once the mixture begins to thicken you can then add the rest of the oil as a thin stream, season well and add the rest of the lemon juice and tarragon to taste.

PYJAMAS, SOFA, TV AND COMFORT FOOD

SUCH A SOFA DINNER

Left over roast lamb and stock gravy, carrots, onions and potatoes from the garden, splash of red wine, cooked long and slow, my true comfort dish eaten in front of the TV on the sofa in my pyjamas...

1 onion finely chopped

2 carrots finely diced

6 potatoes King Edward or wilja

milk and butter

Left over roast leg lamb

Left over roast stock gravy

glass red wine

dash Worcestershire sauce

Parmesan grated

salt and pepper

LEFT OVER STOCK

Take all the left over trimmings from the roast, add to a stock pan with the lamb leg bone with a onion, carrot, leek, bay leaf, celery and black peppercorns.  Add approx 1 litre water and simmer gently for 30 minutes in a pressure cooker, strain and season to taste.

Finely dice the left over lamb and gently pan fry in ooil with the onions and carrots for approx 20 minutes until the carrots are soft, add any left over gravy and/or stock juices from the roast lamb bones, red wine and Worcestershire's sauce, only add enough liquid to simmer to reduce the consistency to a medium thick gravy, season to taste.  Put into a baking dish.

FABULOUS MASH

Boil the potatoes in their skins till soft, drain and leave in a sieve to cool down.  The skins will rub off, push the potatoes through a ricer into a pan of warm milk and melted butter (lots of butter) and season well.  Pile on top of the lamb, grate some parmesan on top of the mash and dot some cold butter on top and bake in a moderate oven 180 degrees for approx 45 minutes until golden and crispy with some of the meat juices oozing up out and over the edge of the bake.  Enjoy.



MY KITCHEN BOOKCASE

MY KITCHEN THE HEART OF MY HOME

I love sitting on the sofa in the kitchen with a glass of wine just wonderfully gazing at my bookcase, thinking about what book to re-read next and what to cook that week, I love looking at all my treasure that I have found from rummaging around old shops and sheds, every piece is a memory from the old chipped piggy egg cup my grandad used as a boy, then my mum used as a child, then so did I and now so does my fabulous son, to the homemade biscuit stamp that my son uses to stamp out biscuits for friends and family...

MY SWEET TOMATO SCENTED KITCHEN

Home made sweet tomato ketchup with toms from the garden, first batch of the season.

large pan full to brim with tomatoes
1 large onion roughly chopped
1 red pepper roughly chopped
1 chilli whole (pierced)
8 whole cloves
3 garlic cloves peeled whole
1 tsp mustard powder
1 tsp Cayenne pepper
1 tsp celery salt
1/2 tsp mace
10 black peppercorns
1/2 cinnamon stick
1 fresh bay leaf

Put all the above ingredients in a large heavy based pan and simmer until soft and saucy, pierce the tomatoes so that they don't burst when hot.  Push the tomatoes through a sieve and return to the pan.

Add the following and reduce to a thick pulpy consistency, season with salt and pepper and adjust the sweet/sour to taste if needed.

100ml cider vinegar
200g soft brown sugar

Sterilize old jam jars and lids in the oven 180 degrees for 5 minutes and jar up the hot sauce immediately, the tomato ketchup should keep for up to a year, once opened keep in the fridge.

CLASSIC COOKING

Simple classic cooking, taste the food.  Poached the skate wing in court boullion stock till just cooked and made nutty butter sauce with capers and samphire, had a naughty side of green peppercorn & mushroom sauce, leftover from saturdays ribeye dinner, such a lovely clean lunch, too much so have leftovers to play with later... 

COURT BOUILLON

200ml white wine (dry)

1 shallot sliced

1 carrot sliced

1 bay leaf

6 peppercorns

1 litre water

Bring all the above ingredients to a rapid simmer for 25mins, strain and return to the pan, add the skate wing and simmer gently till cooked (approx 10mins).  Keep warm.

NUTTY BUTTER

half pack of butter unsalted

1 tbsp capers rinsed, chopped

1 tbsp chopped parsley

Melt the butter in a medium hot pan till it turns brown (beurre noisette), don't go to dark as it will taste bitter, take the pan off the heat and add the capers and parsley, season with salt and pepper to taste, pour over the skate wing.

ULTIMATE CHICKEN BURGER

Wonderfully messy eat, fresh chicken breast griddled and layered with crisp shards of iceberg lettuce, cheddar cheese, homemade mayo, crispy local bacon, more cheese, more mayo and jalapenos, enjoyed with rustic hand cut twice fried chips and homemade tomato ketchup.

Fresh chicken breast bashed

Sweetcure bacon

Toasted bun

Iceberg lettuce

Cheddar cheese thinly sliced

Jalapeno

HOME MADE MAYO

4 egg yolks

1/2 tsp white wine vinegar

1 tsp lemon juice

500ml groundnut oil

Put egg yolks, vinegar and lemon juice in a bowl and whisk until light and creamy and pale in colour, add the oil drop by drop whisking constantly until the mixture thickens, now you can add the rest of the oil in a slow drizzle, season well.

HAND CUT CHIPS

Twice cooked hand cut chips, cut King Edward potatoes into chunky chips, fry at 140 degrees for 5 minutes, drain on paper, at this stage you can keep them stored till you need them later.  When ready to serve cook for 2 minutes at 180 degrees.

HOME MADE TOMMY K

recipie on blog under my sweet tomato scented kitchen

FABULOUS DINNER GREAT FRIENDS TOTALLY FORGOT ALL ABOUT PHOTOGRAPHING THE FOOD, MOST PERFECT...

Most fabulous dinner with my great friends tonight, forgot to photo the 32oz ribeye steaks on the bone before serving, was having such a great time so here is the left overs !!!  had lobster thermidor for starter which is so yummy and always want so much more... for pudding we had mississippi mud pie chocolate cake with chocolate ganache and thick fresh cream topping and chocolate flakes in all a most excellent night.

TODAY'S BRUNCH & AFTERNOON CAKES

Lovely fresh eggs from our corn feed bobblinas, king edward potatoes, onions and wet garlic from the garden, only thing to do a Spanish omelet for brunch, so satisfying for the soul as well as my belly.

Cakes for my sweetheart, tart au citron with sweet pastry and lavender, then almond marzipan and black cherry danish slices.

1 King Edward potato finely diced

3 cloves garlic sliced

12 free range eggs (from our girls in the garden)

salt and fresh ground white pepper

In ooil and butter pan fry the potato till soft, add the sliced garlic for a couple of minutes, beat the eggs gently and season.  Turn the pan up to a medium heat and add the eggs, don't touch the pan for one minute then with a metal spoon drag one side of the tortilla away from the edge of the pan to the centre whilst tipping the pan to allow the unset egg to run down into the space you have created.  Do this to each side and the leave to settle.  When 3/4 cooked pop the frying pan under a hot grill for a few minutes to finish of cooking the top.

LEFT OVER LEFT OVERS...

Last nights dinner single crust chicken pot pie, this was from the same chicken two days ago, made a wonderful roux gravy with the chicken stock from the bones with a dash of white wine and cream, broke off some of the chicken meat, added softened onions, garlic, pancetta, peas, carrots and tarragon.  Topped off with a rough puff pastry top, handsome.

LEFT OVER ROAST CHICKEN TARRAGON PASTA

Left over roast chicken tarragon and creamy white wine pasta

1 portion pasta

1 tbsp butter

1 tbsp plain flour

home made chicken stock with a dash of dry white wine

dash ooil

panchetta

onion

garlic

left over roast chicken leg meat

cherry toms (roasted in pan)

tarragon

double cream

fresh parmesan

Melt the butter over a moderate heat, stir in the flour to make a roux, cook for approx two minutes, don't let it brown.  Slowly add the chicken stock to create your sauce, not to thin, add the tarragon and as little or as much double cream to your taste, the more you add the heavier and richer the the sauce will be.

In a separate pan gently soften the onions and panchetta in the ooil, add the garlic and when cooked add to the sauce, toss in your cooked pasta and season well.  Finish off with few more shards of tarragon and the roasted cherry tomatoes.

I love to over do the freshly ground black pepper on this one with extra finely fresh grated parmesan...

I LOVE LEFT OVERS...

9.45am, wondering what to do for dinner tonight, obvious suggestion would be left over chicken stew with plump light dumplings and lots of stock, but feeling I fancy linguine pasta tossed in the chicken juices from last nights roast with a cream and white wine sauce, tarragon from the garden and roasted leg meat tossed with pine nuts.
Now what to do for breakfast...
I know crush the left over garlic potatoes add cabbage and make bubble and squeek top with local ham, poached eggs from the girls in the garden and a quick butter hollandiase, oh yes... that's todays cooking and shopping sorted.

FOR THE LOVE OF FOOD, EATING AND COMPANY

Just ordered the tables and chairs to start my underground supper club...eek no going back now, cutlery all choosen and such a beautiful old fashioned design, plates and chargers ordered from churchill crockery, now the hunt is on for table clothes and napkins and those fine accessories that make all the finishing touches that make you feel special.
Really missed cooking for a living, cant beleive it has been 6yrs since we sold our resturant, miss you sooooo much.  working on our first menu, we are going to go for a fun authentic Mexican theme and celebrate the 'day of the dead' at the end of October, so lots of tequila, sombreros and moustaches required!!!

Dinner tonight is going to be slow seasoned spatchcock roasted chicken with caramalized garlic and lemons, with garlic roast potato's and chicken juices. So simple one pan cooking and one of the best dinners, all the chicken juices baste the potato's, crunchy and soft with all the chicken juices, cant wait, writing this is making my taste buds work overtime lol...