CREAMY WHITE WINE WILD MUSHROOM AND TARRAGON SAUCE

This gorgeous sumptuous forest mushroom sauce is a rich and decadent finish to your dinner that elevates a simple roast chicken or steak to that next level, also great as a sauce on it’s own with rigatoni pasta, I choose rigatoni because of all the grooves in this pasta catch and hold more sauce so every mouthful is divine.  Add cheese to this sauce and you have another whole level of options, layer through a lasagne or moussaka or top a crispy jacket potato or layer through buttery mashed potatoes and bake.  

This sauce is ready in minutes and gives such depth of flavour that is not worthy of the minimal effort!

Prep time 5 minutes / Cooking time 10 minutes 

Ingredients 

(serves 4 as a sauce)

1 small onion finely finely chopped

1 clove garlic finely chopped

1 glug olive oil

1 knob butter

2 large chestnut mushrooms finely chopped

500g wild mushrooms torn by hand

(such as chanterelle, oyster, pink oyster, cep & girolles)

150ml dry white wine

200ml double cream

1 pinch saffron

Another knob of butter

Sea salt and black pepper

Optional

Fresh tarragon 

Fresh parsley

Grated nutmeg

Heat your pan medium hot add the olive oil, butter, onions, garlic and chestnut mushrooms, soften for 5 minutes, but do not allow to colour, turn up the heat to high, add the torn wild mushrooms and add the white wine, reduce the liquid down by 75%, add the cream and saffron, once bubbling and thickening turn off the heat and leave to finish cooking in the residual heat.

Season with salt and pepper to taste and your choice of herbs and nutmeg.  That’s it, enjoy!

RIBOLLITA THE GARDEN SOUP

Autumnal hearty dish, this is a real celebration of the autumn harvest with all the vegetable from the garden makes this a satisfying pleasure to harvest, cook and eat..

Prep time 10 minutes / Cooking time 1 hr 10 minutes

Ingredients 

(serves 4)

1 large glug olive oil

1 tbsp butter

2 sprigs thyme

1 sprig rosemary

1 white onion finely diced

2 cloves garlic finely chopped

1 leek finely chopped

1 rib of celery finely chopped

2 carrots peeled finely chopped

1 kg fresh borlotti beans

OR

2 tins of cannellini or borlotti beans

OR

1 kg dried beans soaked overnight 

6 tomatoes, skinned, deseeded and chopped

1 - 1.5 litres veg stock

(recipe below)

400g mix of nero kale and Savoy cabbage shredded

Sea salt and fresh ground black pepper

If your using dried borlotti bens that have been soaked overnight, rinse and cover with water, pop in a bay leaf, few peppercorns, one sprig rosemary, one crushed garlic clove and a onion quartered, simmer until the beans are tender, 1-1.5 hours.  Drain.

In a large pan heat the olive oil and butter, soften the onions keeping them translucent for 10 minutes, add the garlic and soften for a further 5 minutess, add the carrots, leek and celery sauté for a further 5 minutes, add the beans and tomatoes, rosemary, thyme, simmer gently for 1 hour, remove the rosemary and thyme sprigs.

Stir in the shredded kale and cabbage mix and cook for a further 10 minutes, season with salt and pepper and serve with garlic rubbed olive oil drizzled sour dough bread.

Vegetable Stock

1 glug olive oil

1 onion diced

6 parsley steams

3 carrots diced

2 cloves garlic diced

1 leek chopped

2 ribs celery diced

6 whole black peppercorns 

1 sprig fresh thyme

Himalayan sea salt 

To make the awesome vegetable stock place all the diced vegetables and peppercorns in the olive oil and gently soften for ten minutes, add the thyme, parsley and approx 1 litre of water, bring to a gentle simmer for 30 minutes, take off the heat and leave to rest for 30 minutes.  Strain and season to taste with salt and pepper as needed, for a thicker more robust stock add back some of the vegetables and blitz.

CREAMY RICH CHEESY HADDOCK MORNAY

Creamy rich and spoon eating sumptuous.

A decedent breakfast for that special weekend morning, Sunday’s are always something special in our home, a go slow day, time spent with the family cooking a sumptuous breakfast brunch then to hunker down for a lazy day with more good go slow let the oven do all the work cooking.

Cooking and prep time 30 minutes

Ingredients 

(serves 4)

6 new potatoes 

3 tbsp butter

1 glug olive oil

400g natural smoked haddock

200ml double cream

50ml milk 

200g spinach

1 clove garlic finely chopped 

100g + cheddar grated

25g emmental grated

25g gyuere grated

25g parmesan grated

1 glug white wine vinegar

4 eggs cracked into individual ramekins 
Himalayan sea salt 

Fresh ground black pepper 

Pre heat your oven 200 C / 410 F.  Boil the new potatoes for around 15 minutes until tender, drain and slice chunky, toss in olive oil and roast the potatoes in the oven for 20 minutes until crispy 

Meanwhile warm the cream and milk to a almost simmer, add the smoked haddock and poach for 5 minutes until the fish is just holding together and ready to flake in big chunks.  Remove the haddock from the poaching liquid and reserve to one side.

Add all the cheese to the warm poaching liquid (mornay sauce) and stir on a low heat until combined, taste and season with pepper and salt if needed.

Bring a saucepan of water to a gently just simmer, no bubbles, add the white wine vinegar, stir the water so it has a gently swirl and gently slip in the eggs from their ramekins, leave to poach for around 3 minutes, remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towel.

In a saucepan heat another tablespoon of butter add the garlic and the spinach and wilt for 30 seconds then take off the heat.

Now assemble the dish, first rub the remaining butter in your large ramekins and season with salt and pepper, share the garlic spinach equally between each ramekin, next divide and layer the potato between the ramekins, top with a couple of spoonfuls of the mornay sauce, next layer the fish equally over the potato and again add a couple of spoonfuls of sauce.  Place under the grill/broiler for 3-5 minutes until gently bubbling and lightly browning, remove, top with your poached egg and enjoy immediately.

The Perfect Poached Egg

The Secret is in the Method

I have tried so many times to make the prefect poached egg, I whisked the vinegar water, cracked in the egg and more than often ended up with an egg white octopus and sometimes separate yolk all swirling around the pan!  After watching a cooking program I saw that I was not using a bowl to slip the egg in the simmering water, I was cracking the egg in directly, it also turns out that a the secret is not to create a vortex this is what causes the octopus strands, by gently slipping the egg in to the only just simmering water from a bowl your guaranteed a successful beautiful presentable encased poached egg...so simple when you know how.  

Now I do know a commercial trick for producing perfect poached eggs by the hundreds during service and that is to crack the eggs into oiled cling film, place the cling film in a small glass lining the inside of the glass, this creates a holding vessel for the egg, bring the sides of the clingfilm together and twist to seal the egg in, then poach in the cling film, guaranteed success every time.

Prep Time 5 minutes / Cooking Time 3-5 minutes

Ingredients

(one egg)

1 fresh egg cracked into a small bowl

1 deep pan of just simmering water

50 ml white wine vinegar

Bring the pan of water to a gentle simmer, add the vinegar and gently whisk to create a vortex in the centre and then pour in the egg from the bowl, the egg will swirl around gently with the vortex allowing the egg white to swirl around the yolk to create a perfect poached egg.  Cook gently for around 3-5 minutes depending on how runny you like your yolk,  

You can check the egg by removing with a slotted spoon and gently prodding to see how wobbly the egg is, the firmer the bounce back the more cooked the egg is.  Remember the poached egg will continue to cook for a minute once it is taken from the water and served.  

Get Ahead Eggs

You can poach your eggs ahead of time, once cooked, plunge the poached eggs in to a bowl of iced water to stop the cooking process, when your ready to serve gently place the eggs back into a pan of just simmering water for one minute to warm back through.

That's it Perfect...

14 MEALS FROM ONE CHICKEN

14 sumptuous meals (7 meals for 2) from 1 chicken...

(also 2 meals for your dog or 4 meals for your cat !)

This isn’t the old age question of how did the chicken cross the road but a frugal passion of mine, how many meals can I make my family from that one chicken, turns out quite a lot!  Not only is this respect for the chicken but a great way to save money on your food bill and also sets up your families busy week night dinners or the packed lunches for the week ahead done!  Don’t panic but I brought a 2.6kg chicken for this amount of meals, £18.00 / $23.00.

Cook once (ish!) eat multiple meals this one chicken plus larder stock made 14 delicious and sumptuous meals

When it comes to choosing a chicken not all chickens are raised outdoors scratching and foraging as they would and with love and care and not all chickens are equal in good quality protein and healthy fats.  Buy the very best you can, your investing in a free outdoor happy life for that chicken.  If you can buy organic or genuine free range do, it is worth the chickens happy welfare and there is a remarkable difference in the quality of life the chicken has had, this also translates into the health of the meat your going to feed your family.

Buying the largest chicken can seem very expensive but it works out far more frugal in the long run, from a large chicken you will have your family Sunday roast dinner, then there will be left over meat that can be made in to 100’s of other meals, a decent amount of stock for soups, stews, risotto and a weeks amount of schmaltz (chicken fat) for daily use.

From 1 x 2.6kg organic chicken I made 14 meals !  

This chicken along with some larder staples made this selection of meals for two people.

Roast chicken with white wine garlic stock gravy

2 wings chefs perk

2 litres bone broth

Red Thai coconut noodle soup

White wine mushroom pea and Parmesan risotto

Chinese chicken curry

Asian chicken sesame salad

Chipotle chicken tacos (3 each)

Shredded chicken chow mien noodles

100g schmaltz chicken fat

2 meals for the dog or 4 for a cat

Some of the Secrets in the Pantry...

A well stock pantry of your families favourite staples will give you the freedom to make 100’s of different meals, you don’t have to stock all the ingredients at once as fresh is best.

Dry stock pantry items:  Basmati rice, risotto rice, various pasta, tortilla wraps, tacos, noodles, coconut milk, red Thai curry paste, harissa paste, black beans, tomatoes, flour, baking powder, pesto, puff pastry, peanut butter, olives, BBQ sauce, cider, white wine, honey, soy sauce, rice wine vinegars, sweet chilli sauce, wasabi, sesame oil, chillies, curry powder.  Various dried ground spices and herbs.

Fresh pantry items:  Eggs, cream, sour cream, milk, butter, cheese, Parmesan, schmaltz fat, ginger, garlic, lemon grass, five spice, onion, spring onions, coriander, parsley, red and white cabbage, broccoli, spinach, kale, mushrooms, carrots, potatoes, sweet potato, salad, lemons, apples, mangetout, peppers, leek, avocado, peas, and mustard.

So you’ve had the roast chicken, taken off all the meat and stored in the fridge, this will last in air tight containers for up to 5 days.  I take the wings off and roast separately as a chefs perk, while dinner is cooking and almost ready I get two hot crispy chicken wings that I toss in butter, hot sauce and some St Agur blue cheese !  Alternatively sometimes I vac pac the two raw wings and freeze, when I’ve got 12 or so I will cook Buffalo hot wings as a dinner, or I will roast the wings off with a mirepoix of vegetables and water and make a awesome roast chicken stock (approx 2 ltrs) which is a great base for so many more dinners.

The Roast Chicken Dinner with White Wine Stock Garlic Thyme Gravy

(2 roast dinner meals)

 

Ingredients

(serves 2 - half a breast and 1 leg and thigh)

1 2.6 kg high welfare chicken

(1/2 large breast, 1 leg and 1 thigh served)

(2 wings roasted separately as buffalo wings)

2 glugs of olive oil

1 large onion quartered

1 carrot rough chopped

1 bulb garlic halved

1 leek roughly chopped

3 sprigs of thyme

1 bay leaf

1 sprig tarragon (optional)

2 tbsp parsley stalks chopped

1 tbsp butter

10 whole peppercorns

1 lrg pinch Himalayan sea salt

1 tsp ground black pepper

200ml dry white wine

200ml water

I find cooking this in a Dutch oven or chicken brick guarantees the most succulent juicy roast chicken every time.  Pre-heat your oven to 180 F / 356 F.  

Place the onion, garlic, carrot, leek, thyme, bay, peppercorns, tarragon, parsley stalks and butter in the pan, rub the chicken all over with the olive oil, salt and ground black pepper, place on top of the vegetables, pour in the wine and water, pop on the lid to your dutch oven (for 30 minutes ONLY) and place in the oven to roast for 50 minutes to 1hr 10 minutes (make sure to remove the lid half way through the roasting time to brown off and crisp the skin) until pierced juices run clear from the thigh or if using a probe the thickest part of the breast reaches 74C / 165 F.  This is how I cook my juiciest succulent chickens then rest for 15 minutes relaxing the chicken which allows all the juices to evenly distribute back in to the meat, also the resting juices are infusing into the glorious stock gravy.

The Roast Dinner White Wine Stock Garlic Gravy

Simply remove some of the tarragon, thyme and bay leaves, then blitz the cooking stock until smooth, pass through a sieve and return the gravy to the pan on a medium heat to keep warm, stir in a knob of butter and season to taste.  Serve over your roast chicken.

Removing the Left Over Meat of the Bones

1.5 breast meat 360g

1 leg

1 thigh

2 wings (eaten as buffalo wings)

All the little shreds of quality white meat off the carcass 

Bones of the carcass, skin and wings bones

Place all the removed meats in to a glass sealed container ready for the next meal.

The Stock for Soups, Risotto, Curry and Gravy

A truly blessed thing is a saucepan of roasted chicken bone broth, not only full of depth of flavour it has great health properties for your gut and immune health.  This stock from the left over bones and a few stock vegetables creates 2 litres of food that most people just discard, 2 minutes preparing and 1 hour in the oven unattended and Ta-Da glorious stock.  Let’s start at the beginning...

Roast Chicken Stock 

The King of Stocks...

Ingredients 

 (makes 2 ltrs)

1 left over roast chicken

1 onion quartered 

1 carrot roughly chopped

1 bulb garlic halved

1leek roughly chopped

2 ribs celery roughly chopped

10 whole black peppercorns 

I large pinch Himalayan sea salt 

1 bay leaf

3 sprigs of thyme

2.5 ltrs water

Place all the chopped vegetables in the bottom of a deep roasting tin then place the left over chicken bones, skin and any resting juices, jelly and fat on top, season with salt and roast in the oven 180 C / 356 F for 30 minutes until the bones are browned off.  Pour in the water, add the peppercorns, bay and thyme and place back in the oven for a further 30 minutes.  Remove the roasting tin from the oven and using a potato masher crush all the ingredients several times releasing their maximum flavour in to the stock.  Strain off through a sieve and place in the fridge to set.

Dog or Cat Dinners

Pick off all the meat and braised vegetables from the stock braised bones, this makes 2 dinners for a medium Cocker Spaniel or 1 meal for a Labrador or in our case a snack for our Great Dane!  If your a cat owner this will give your cat 4 lovely chicken and jelly meals.  

Schmaltz Chicken Fat

Once the stock is cold skim off the schmaltz (fat) from the top of the set jelly stock and reserve in a ball mason jar in the fridge for use when needed, this makes the best roast chicken fat potatoes!

Concentrated Chicken Stock Jelly

If you reduce your chicken stock down on rolling simmer until halved, once cooled you will end up with a strong intense chicken flavoured concentrated jelly stock.  This can be used to infuse flavour to gravies, soups, broths and rice dishes.  I make this jelly to use when I’m not having lots of soups whereas I would normally keep the volume of my stock broth.

White Wine Mushroom Pea Parmesan Risotto 

Sumptuous gorgeous creamy comforting food, a delight and for me to be eaten with a spoon, this maximises the ratio of how much I can eat in each mouthful !  This is a hug in a bowl, rich creamy white wine parmesan, mascarpone and pea risotto, made with a deep chicken stock maximising full flavour and one of my favourite recipes.  Ready in 20 minutes and easy to make a great dinner to impress your family.  I cook my risotto the traditional way constantly stirring for 15-20 minutes because I love cooking and being more in control of the silky soupy finish, however you can also cook risotto unattended you just need to stir continuously for the first 3 minutes only then add all the stock in one go and leave to cook!

I brought my risotto rice from Valencia in Spain from a deli shop on line, this risotto rice is the creamiest most decedent rice I have ever eaten.

Ingredients 

(serves 2)

100g left over chicken breast shredded

400g risotto rice 

1 tbsp butter

1 tbsp olive oil

1 shallot finely diced

1 cloves garlic finely diced

4 chestnut mushrooms finely diced

100 ml  good quality dry white wine

5oo ml + hot chicken stock

100g mascarpone cheese

1 cup petite pois peas

1 cup fresh grated Parmesan 

1 tbsp butter

Himalayan sea salt 

Fresh ground black pepper 

Heat a deep pan medium hot, add the olive oil and butter, gently soften the shallots and garlic for 10 minutes, add the mushrooms and soften for a further 3 minutes, next add the risotto rice, stir well coating in the onion and garlic mix, cook for a couple of minutes stirring all the time.  Add the white wine and reduce by half.  Next start adding a ladle  of your hot stock and stirring until absorbed, then repeat adding another ladle of stock, keep repeating for around 15 minutes until the risotto rice is cooked, add the shredded chicken, now I like my rice just cooked but not too al dente (slight bite to the rice), add the peas, Parmesan, mascarpone and stir well to combine, taste and season with the salt and pepper, add the tbsp butter and stir in.  Lower the heat and let the risotto rest for a couple of minutes before serving, this is best served immediately.

A beautiful risotto should be silky soft and have a slightly fluid movement to its consistency, not thick or stodgy.

Red Thai Coconut Noodle Soup

I cannot shout out enough how fragrant and gorgeous this home made paste is, however sometimes I just need to be speedy and I always keep some organic Tom yum, harissa and red Thai curry paste jars in my pantry.

Your Own Paste or Not...

Ingredients

(makes 4 tablespoons worth)

3 tbsp whole white peppercorns

1 flat tsp cumin seeds ground

1 flat tsp coriander seeds ground

8 dried medium hot chillies optional

(soaked in warm water)

1/2 tsp sea salt

6 cloves garlic

1 shallot finely diced

1 tbsp finely chopped bashed lemongrass stalk

2 tbsp coriander stems finely chopped

1 tbsp minced galangal

1 kaffir lime zested

   

This is the fun part, you can skip this and blitz all the ingredients up in a blender, but I urge you not to, it changes the flavour of the paste and is not as fragrant.  Place all the dry ingredients in your pestle and mortar and grind to a powder then add the rest of the ingredients and pound away until you have a lovely smooth ish paste, this took my husband (I borrowed his muscles!) around 10 minutes.

Place in a air tight jar and keep in the fridge for up to 2 weeks or until needed.  Most recipes for four servings require 2-4 tablespoons of the paste according to your taste.

Red Thai Coconut Soup

Ingredients 

1 ltr chicken stock, bone broth

1 can coconut milk

1 tbsp tom yum or more to taste

1 tsp harissa paste

1 lime juiced

1 tsp palm sugar (optional)

1 sweet potato diced and boiled

1 tsp turmeric

2 spring onions

1 red chilli finely diced

3 tbsp chopped coriander

2 big handfuls spinach

1 bunch watercress

6 spears asparagus

1 bunch broccoli florets

100g cooked noodles

Bring the stock to a gentle simmer and add all the ingredients, simmer for a couple of minutes so that the broccoli and asparagus are cooked, taste and adjust the seasoning with sea salt, lime juice and palm sugar if needed.  Enjoy.

Chipotle Chicken Tacos and Hot Sauce

These are so cheeky and mouthstuffingly gorgeous, a lovely soft but toasted corn taco stuffed with moist leftover chicken, crisp lettuce, pickled jalapenos, shredded cheese, a drizzle of chipotle sour cream, lime and hot sauce, finish off with a sprinkle of coriander leaves.

These were a really quick assemble from the leftovers in the fridge, great for a quick meal that eats like you slaved over a stove.  This is the sort of Ta da meals you want to pull out of the fridge when unexpected visitors drop by, keeping your culinary genius status.

Prep time 5-20 minutes (fridge or freshly made) / Cooking time if freshly made 10 minutes

Ingredients 

(3 tacos each for 2 people)

6 soft corn tacos

100g left over shredded chicken breast

1/4 iceberg lettuce finely shredded

1/2 red onion finely diced

1/2 jar pickled jalapeños

1 cup shredded cheese (mexi mix)

6 tbsp sour cream

1 tsp chipotle adobo sauce

1 lime halved

1+ glug hot sauce (optional)

Fresh coriander rough chopped

Lay your tacos (3) on each plate and then assemble your layers of ingredients, I do have a specific order, this is so that each bite gets all of the flavours and also keeps the ingredients crisp, I like to layer the lettuce first, then the shredded chicken and drench this in hot hot sauce, top this with the shredded cheese, sometimes I pop this under the grill for a minute to melt, not always, just depends on time and if I’m in the mood for gooey melted cheese!  Next might be a little more hot sauce, then the jalapeños, red onion and finish off with the chipotle sour cream lime drizzle and fresh coriander sprinkled over to finish.

That's it enjoy these gorgeous tacos...

Chinese Chicken Curry 

Ingredients 

160g left over chicken breast shredded

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp soy sauce

2 tsp corn flour

1 small onion finely chopped

1 tbsp fresh grated ginger

3 cloves garlic finely chopped

1 green pepper chopped

1 tbsp Jamaica curry powder

1 tsp turmeric

1/2 tsp Chinese five spice powder

500ml chicken stock 

Himalayan sea salt to taste

2 tbsp fresh copped coriander 

Mix the left over chicken with the soy sauce and corn flour and set aside.  Heat the olive oil and soften the onion, ginger and garlic for five minutes, add the curry powder, turmeric and five spice and cook for one minutes releasing all the flavours, add the marinated chicken and chicken stock, bring to a gentle simmer for two minutes, the sauce will thicken, add the green peppers and cook for a further two minutes, sprinkle over the coriander and season with salt to taste.

Asian Chicken Salad

Ingredients 

1 chicken thigh shredded

I clove garlic grated

1 tsp grated ginger

2 spring onions finely chopped

1 tbsp soy sauce or tamari (gluten free)

1 tsp sesame oil

1 tsp mirin

1 tsp brown rice vinegar

1 tsp toasted sesame seeds

1/4 tsp five spice

1 large carrot julienned

1/4 cucumber julienned 

1/2 iceberg finely shredded

1 small red onion finely sliced

100g fresh bean sprouts

1 cup red cabbage finely sliced

2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander

1 lime juiced (optional)

Himalayan sea salt

Fresh ground black pepper 

1 tbsp crushed peanuts

In a pestle and mortar bash the garlic, ginger and spring onions together then add the soy, sesame oil, rice wine vinegar and mirin, stir to combine and reserve to one side.  In a large mixing bowl toss all the other ingredients together mixing well, don’t season with salt and pepper until you have poured over the reserved marinade and tasted, season if required.

Chow Mein Stir Fry

Ingredients 

(serves 2)

Stir Fry

300g cooked chow mein noodles 

Remaining chicken leg meat shredded & shreds of chicken from the carcass

1 tbsp coconut oil

1/2 tsp sesame oil

2 tbsp fresh ginger sliced

1 fresh jalapeño sliced

1 carrot julienned

1/4 red cabbage finely sliced

1/4 white cabbage finely sliced

100g fresh bean sprouts

1/2 red pepper sliced

1/2 green pepper sliced

1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds

2 spring onions finely sliced

1 small bunch fresh chopped coriander

Marinade

75ml soy sauce or tamari gluten free soy

50ml shaoxing wine

1tbsp mirin

1 tsp brown rice wine vinegar

2 tsp honey (optional) or sweet chilli sauce

1/2 tsp wasabi paste

1/2 tsp sesame oil 

1 tbsp grated ginger

1/2 tsp fresh grated turmeric

1 clove garlic grated

3 spring onions bashed to a paste

In a pestle and mortar bash the spring onions, garlic, ginger, turmeric and wasabi to a paste, add the rest of the marinade ingredients except the honey, mix together and pour over the chicken and leave to marinade while you prep the rest of the ingredients.

Noodles

Cook these before you start the stir fry.

Bring a pan of water to a simmer drop the noodles in and cook for around 2 minutes, drain, run under cold water then drizzle over a little sesame oil and reserve to one side.

Stir fry

Heat your wok on a high heat, add the coconut oil and the marinated chicken with all the marinade, stir fry for a couple of minutes until the chicken is heated through, remove to a bowl and keep to one side, now add in all the stir fry vegetables except the bean sprouts and stir fry for a couple of minutes, add the bean sprouts, noodles and the reserved chicken and resting juices, toss through, stir through the sesame oil and honey, sprinkle over the toasted sesame seeds, fresh coriander, spring onions and serve.

STUFFED CABBAGE LASAGNA

WoW what a treasure of a dish, this is up there with a traditional lasagna but with lower fat and carbohydrates and no comprise on flavour so that makes this a winner dinner all round

I could kick myself!  I have often been inspired with the thought of making a stuffed cabbage dish but then that thought flutters away in a busy family life and like many I have a set of family favourite recipes as my go to which put trying this recipe further on the back bench!

This is now a firm family favourite that is on the weekly recipe selection, in fact it will be the third time this week!

Prep time 30 + minutes / Cooking time 40 minutes in the oven

Ingredients 

(serves 4-6)

1 pointed sweetheart or greyhound cabbage

1 good glug olive oil

1 Spanish onion finely chopped

4 cloves garlic finely chopped

1 kg chuck steak minced

2 tins chopped tomatoes 

2 tbsp tomato puree

1 fresh chilli finely chopped

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon 

1 tsp dried oregano

2-3 tbsp fresh chopped dill

1 lemon zest and juice

1 cup basmati rice

600 ml crème fraiche 

400g grated mozzarella 

100g grated Gruyère 

50g Parmesan grated

1 knob butter

Sea salt

Fresh ground black pepper

Parsley to finish

Multitasking to the Max Time and Motion…

Cook the rice, ragu sauce and blanch the cabbage all at the same time will speed the preparation time.  Pre heat your oven to 180 C / 355 F.

The Rice

Wash the rice, place in a pan with 2 cups of water and the lemon zest, bring to a simmer, turn to a low simmer with a lid on and leave to cook for 8 minutes, take of the heat and leave to one side, DO NOT TAKE THE LID OFF for 10 minutes, then add the lemon juice and 2 tbsp of the chopped dill and fork through.

The Ragu Sauce

Meanwhile place the olive oil, onion and garlic in a deep pan and soften for 10 minutes keeping the onions translucent, add the tomato paste and cook out for 3 minutes.  Turn up the heat, add the steak mince, stir through the onions and garlic mix and let the bottom of the mince brown off crispy to add more flavour, add cinnamon and the tomatoes, bring to a gentle simmer, add the chilli, oregano and season with salt and pepper to taste.

The Cabbage

Bring a large pot of water to a boil, add a pinch of salt.  Peel the cabbage leaves off trying to keep them whole, cut the base rib of the thick stem out of the leaves in a V cut.  Place the leaves in batches in the boiling water for 30 seconds then drain

Crème Fraiche 

Mix the crème fraiche with the mozzarella and Gruyère, season with salt and pepper.

To Assemble 

Butter a deep roasting tray, place a layer of cabbage, then a layer of ragu, then another layer of cabbage, then half the rice,another layer of cabbage then half the crème fraiche, if you love dill sprinkle a little on the ragu layers, repeat, finish of with the Parmesan.  Cover the tray with parchment and foil and bake for 20 minutes, remove the foil and bake for a further 15-20 minutes until golden brown and bubbling.  Sprinkle over parsley.  Enjoy.

HOW TO MAKE BUTTER FOR A FRACTION OF THE COST

Homemade Butter for a Fraction of the Cost !!!

How fabulous is this, I cannot believe how quick and easy butter is to make, in just 5 minutes you will have your own homemade butter which is much more flavoursome creamy and decadently rich, well that is it for me I will never buy butter again...

The instructions that came with the churn said 10-12 minutes of churning, I thought I had butter after 2 minutes but this being my first time churning I carried on for another minute and then relied on my inexperience at making butter and my experience as a cook to judge the situation, as I thought I was right I had separated the buttermilk from the cream leaving butter in the jar, I am guessing I might be a quicker churner than the instructions expected !

You do not need a butter churner to make butter, is that a oxymoron?  A stand mixer with a whisk attachment or a electric hand whisker will do the job just as well and quicker!  Basically just over whisking will separated the cream creating  butter from the buttermilk.

Equipment: Kilner Butter Churn, Stand Mixer or Electric Hand Whisk / Butter Paddles or Spatulas

Churning Time 3 - 10 minutes / Patting Time 2 minutes

Ingredients

(makes 250g)

500ml double cream (organic)

1 tsp Himalayan Sea salt (optional)

Place the cream in your churner or in a small bowl if you are using a electric hand whisker or a kitchen aid and start to churn if you are using a electric whisk set the speed to the slowest.  First you will achieve thick whipped cream and the churning will be stiffer, keep going until the churning becomes easy again and this is where you will have separated the buttermilk from the cream leaving you with butter.

This is how your separated butter and buttermilk should look when you are ready to start the butter patting stage this is to squeeze out the remainder of buttermilk 

Drain off the buttermilk and keep in the fridge, this is what the best pancakes and waffles are made from, the buttermilk will keep for a couple of days.  Now the fun part of squeezing the remainder of buttermilk from the butter and at this stage you can salt and or flavour your butter with anything you fancy.  I will update on this, right now I fancy a Mexican zing as the corn in my garden is almost ready and I think I will flavour the butter with zesty lime, coriander and Smokey chipotle chilli for a Mexican butter coating for my corn on the cob.

If you do not have butter pats to hand then a pair of spatulas will suffice, place your squeezed butter on the worktop and roughly shape in to a rectangle then using the pats firm up the butter, wrap in grease proof paper and store in the fridge, this will keep for a few weeks in the fridge.

MEXICAN STREET CORN

Our home grown organic sweet corn stuffed with homemade lime, coriander and chipotle spiced butter and grilled in their husks on the BBQ until tender.  Then slavered with a zesty lime and chipotle Mexican crema sauce, fresh coriander and generously smattering of cotija cheese.  This is a glorious messy eat and perfectly acceptable in front of friends, family and strangers!

If you can’t get Mexican cotija cheese and Mexican crema (I can’t in the UK) you can use feta or goats cheese instead, it is a little sharper so maybe a dusting of Parmesan too and as for the Mexican crema just use sour cream with a pinch of salt.

Grilling the corn in their husks adds a whole other depth of flavour.

Ingredients

(serves 4 -8)

4 whole corn on the cobs in husks

300g salted butter room temperature 

2 chipotle in adobo sauce chopped

1 clove garlic grated

1 cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup crema or sour cream

1/2 lime zest and juice

1/2 lime in 4 wedges

Salt and fresh ground black pepper

100g crumbled cojita cheese or feta and Parmesan

2 tbsp fresh chopped coriander

Mix half the chipotle pepper in to the butter and divide by 6 in the mixing bowl gently peel the husks back to the stem on the cobs careful not to pull the husks off, season the corn with a little salt and pepper then cover generously with 4 portions of the chipotle butter reserving the last 2 portions (divide in half again so you have 4) for serving.  Wrap the cobs back up in their husks and place on the BBQ grill and cook turning periodically for 10-15 minutes until the corn is tender, peel back the husks and pop the corn back on the grill to char up slightly adding even more smokey BBQ flavour to the corn.

Mix the mayo, crema, chipotle pepper, garlic, lime zest and juice together.

Remove the corn from the grill, season with salt and pepper, toss in the remaining chipotle butter, then generously slaver the crema all over the cobs, sprinkle with the cojita cheese, fresh coriander and just dig in.

CORONATION CHICKEN 2022

Coronation Chicken

Known as Reine Elizabeth in Buckingham Palace this dish was created for the Queens Coronation QE 11 in 1953 by Cordon Bleu chef and teacher Rosemary Hume and florist Constance Spry.  A Regal treat, in 1953 chicken was the most expensive meat and suitably short on supply as rationing was still in place.  The inclusion of sultanas was a decedent treat in 1953.

My recipe has a little more Va Va Voom with more spice but still keeping this light and fresh but packed full of aromatic flavour, you can spice this up to your own level.

Ingredients

(serves 8)

4 chicken breasts diced

100ml mango juice

1 mango diced finely

1 small onion finely chopped

1 garlic finely chopped

1 glug olive oil

1 tsp butter

100g mayonnaise

100g mango jelly

1 tsp Dijon mustard

1 tsp garam masala

1 tbsp madras curry powder

1/2 cup chopped fresh coriander

1/2 lime juiced

30g toasted sliced almonds

1/2 cup sultanas 

Sea salt and black pepper

1 spring onion finely chopped

1 red chilli optional

Place the butter and olive oil in a pan and soften the onion and garlic for five minutes, add the mango and cook for a further five minutes, add the chicken and cook half way then add the mango juice and finish cooking the chicken, remove the chicken from the saucepan and reserve to one side, turn up the heat a little and reduce to a thick sauce, take off the heat and add the chicken back to the saucepan.

Add the rest of the ingredients and combine, taste and adjust the seasoning to taste.