Roasted chicken with Jerusalem Artichoke and Lemon

I can’t believe that I am reaching the stage where I have all the ingredients to cook Ottolenghi dishes – my cupboards are bursting since I started buying tons of tahini paste, pomegranate molasses, date syrup, kecap manis, sumac, pink peppercorns, barberries…

I have a complete mental block when it comes to following recipes – or following instructions of any kind. My mind wanders and inevitably I miss out a vital step sometimes I find it easier to read a recipe and then close the book and just do my own thing. I need to really focus my mind and concentrate to follow a recipe fully, but even then it rarely works, my big head gets in the way and I decide to do my own thing anyway.

With Ottolenghi cookbooks, I think that the recipes are written unnecessarily complicated-ly. For me, this makes cooking from them an exciting challenge and a bit of an experiment. They are always really delicious though.

I have adjusted the quantities in this recipe a bit, based on trial and error during the cooking process. Some of this is just because the specified volume was just plain ridiculous, and another was to calm down some of the very strong, and slightly conflicting flavours.

Do the prep before you start cooking – so so much prep for this recipe. I know it does seem like a lot of work, but essentially once everything is chopped you just bung it in the oven, making it a surprisingly simple Ottolenghi recipe. The finished dish does taste like something that someone spent a lot of time on, so I think its worth it.

 Whoever thought that raw chicken could look that pretty?

Ingredients

8 chicken thighs or mixed pieces, on the bone with skin

Roughly 450g Jerusalem artichokes – AKA fartichokes, AKA duvet-lifters. If you buy these from a grocers or good supermarket, the slightly pink skin may be really clean and they won’t need peeling. When I buy them from the Farmers’ Market no amount of scrubbing with a nailbrush removes all the dirt, and they need to be peeled. To prepare them for this recipe, peel or not, and cut in half lengthways – or more wedges depending on how big they are – you want the wedges to be a similar size to the shallot halves

10 banana or echalion shallots, peeled and cut in half lengthways

8 cloves of garlic – this seriously is less than the recipe – peeled and sliced

1 lemon, cut in half lengthways and sliced thinly

1 tsp saffron – if you have it

50ml olive oil

150ml water

1tbsp pink peppercorns, bashed a bit (in a mortar and pestle if you have one). This is less than the original recipe

10g fresh thyme

10g fresh tarragon, plus a few more leaves for garnish (this is also less than the original recipe)

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

Put the Jerusalem artichokes in a saucepan, cover with plenty of water (add a squirt of lemon juice to the water) and simmer them until tender but not completely soft –roughly 10-15 minutes. Drain and leave to cool.

Mix the cooled Jerusalem artichokes with all of the remaining ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Cover and leave to marinate for at least two hours – overnight is better.

When ready to cook, pre-heat the oven to 220 degrees, or 200 with fan. Arrange the chicken pieces (skin-side up) in a large roasting tin, and tip the veggies and saucy marinade liquid around the edges and gaps. Season with salt and pepper, and roast for 40 minutes. Cover with foil and cook for a further 15 or so minutes, until the chicken and the veggies are cooked through. Serve garnished with a few flourishes of reserved tarragon leaves.

Not Duck – Slow cooked turkey legs for Chinese pancake joy

Here is another guest post, this time from my Mum. She contributed the wonderful Panzanella recipe a while back, and also taught me how to cook, so I think she is pretty brilliant. She also doesn’t get too miffed when I claim credit for her recipes…

She has made Not Duck a few times, and it works fantastically every time. It makes a really excellent Shabbat meal, especially if you have a lot of people to feed. Turkey legs are much cheaper (and bigger) than duck, so it is also an economical way to have a full-on feast.

Here are her words:

One of the things I love to eat the most is Crispy Aromatic Duck – this is not it; but it comes close! I was introduced to this recipe by my niece Michelle, who I believe got it from her sister in law and on it goes.

I am convinced that one of the reasons that this is so successful is due to the theatre of the dish. All of your senses are involved.  It couldn’t be easier to make but you do need to use a slow cooker.

Ingredients

2 turkey drumsticks (or more if you have a big enough pot)

Vegetable oil

Duck sauce or Hoisin sauce, whatever kind you like

To serve:

Duck pancakes

Spring onions, cucumber

More Hoisin/Plum sauce

Method

Massage a thin coating of oil onto the turkey drumsticks and put them in the slow cooker cook on low for at least 7 hours. I tend to put it on before I go to bed and turn it off when I get up the following morning. It feels very scary not to put in any liquid, but I promise you it does work.

Leave the drumsticks to cool in the liquor they have generated for a short time. Then remove them and shred the meat finely, throwing away any bone, skin and yucky bits. I have tried to do this elegantly with forks, but really you will get the best results by using your hands to do it also make sure that the turkey is still hot when you do it. The meat should fall apart into long luscious strands.

Having shredded all of it, put in a suitable baking dish and moisten with a little of the turkey juice. Then come the magic, add about 3 tablespoons (or so, sorry I don’t use precision for this bit) of your duck/hoisin sauce. Mix well and bake in a hot oven (200⁰) for about 20 mins until turkey is warmed through and has gone a bit crispy on top. If you aren’t going to use it all, freeze it at this stage.

Serve with warm duck pancakes and the usual accompaniments of plum or hoisin sauce, shredded spring onion and cucumber. Assemble, roll up and enjoy! 

Beer-can Chicken

The juiciest chicken you will ever have. Fact. This one was a family effort, my main contribution was in the initial inspiration, and the eating. My Mum did the prep, my Dad did the barbequing.

As some of you may know, one of my guilty pleasures is American cookery shows, the trashier the better. Diners, Drive-ins and Dives is a current favourite – its basically just watching a loud, fat, bloke eating meat sandwiches, but its riveting. Another one, Hook, line and Dinner has recently blown my mind by showing that Sitka is in fact a real place, and not just a magical Yiddish enclave invented by Michael Chabon. I saw the recipe for Beer-can chicken on one of these similar shows, and it seemed so totally mad that I knew it had to be attempted.

In order to do this you will need a barbeque large enough to fit a chicken standing upright with the lid down.

Method goes like this:

Get a can of beer, give the outside a bit of a clean, and drink about a third of it. Add some flavourings to the beer if you fancy it, like a bit of garlic, some dried herbs and lemon.

Get a chicken, give it a coating of olive oil and salt, and shove it on the can of beer (arse first). If you have the kind of barbeque with a griddle-like non-slotted section, you can place it directly on that, if not, you will need a tray of some kind. Leave it in the barbeque with the lid down for at least an hour before checking to see done-ness.

In order to un-pop the chicken from the beer can, you will need 2 pairs of hands, and probably 2 sets of tongs. Carve, and enjoy.

Beware of widgets 

Please don't be confused by the tray in this picture - the bird wasn't cooked on it, but it seemed like a perfectly sensible recepticle for transferring the chicken from the barbeque to the kitchen for its dismemberment

Aw, you are such a schnitzel!

So this is exciting, its very rare that I cook meat voluntarily, and not on a Shabbat, but this was pretty much an exception, and it was totally worth it. Schnitzels are one of those things that I have always known in theory how to cook, but only actually attempted this one time. 

When I was a teenager and involved in youth movements and other optimistic, wholesome activities, the people who I admired pretty much more than anyone else were my madrichim (counselors). They were like my older siblings, sort of, they were cool and loving and seemingly so secure in their Judaism and future plans. Of course I have since reached and passed their ages myself and I know that this wasn’t true, they just knew how to hide it better. Anyway, one of my madrachot used schnitzel as a term of endearment. If something was cute, she would say something like ‘oh schnitzel’. Since then, I have always associated the two, and schnitzels are cute and comforting.

Apparently in real life they are supposed to be veal, but in my world it is always chicken or turkey. I asked the butcher for turkey escalopes and he carved them for me specially, so they were thin enough.  If yours aren’t, give them a bash to flatten them a bit, or cut them in half lengthways almost the whole way through, and then flatten in a butterfly way.

For 4 decent sized turkey schnitzels you will need:

1 cup flour (or something equivalent during passover)

1-2 eggs, beaten

2 cups breadcrumbs (or matza meal – I used the pre-flavoured garlic breadcrumbs that you can buy in crouton-shakers from kosher shops, and they worked really well)

flavourless cooking oil (not olive!)

salt and pepper

other spices of your choosing

1 very big heavy frying pan

3 dinner plates / wide shallow bowls

1 lemon

Put the flour in one plate, the beaten eggs on another, and the breadcrumbs on the third.  Season the flour with salt and pepper, and add a few other spices depending on what you fancy – I used a bit of sweet paprika and a small amount of chili powder.

Pour oil into the pan about 1cm or so deep and put on to heat – don’t put the schnitzels in until you are sure its really really hot.  You can test this safely by adding in a few crumbs and seeing how quickly they start to sizzle.

Coat each escalope first in the flour, then egg and then crumbs, making sure there is an even coating.  I strongly recommend making these at least half an hour or so in advance so that you can put them in the fridge at this point.  This allows them to firm up, so that the coating is less likely to fall off when you put them in the hot oil. Add them to the pan carefully making sure that they don’t splash oil.  Fry on each side until its golden brown, about 5 minutes or so.  I like a few crunchy parts, but I leave that to your judgement. When they are done to your liking, remove them from the pan and leave on some kitchen paper or equivalent so that the excess oil can soak away.  If you are not serving them immediately, they will stay relatively crisp if you put them on tray in a medium hot oven for a little bit.  Serve with lemon wedges. And chips. 

Yum.

Thai green chicken salad

This is a really lovely salad, perfect for summer lunches.  Its light and refreshing and really delicious.  Serve it on a large plate with the chicken all in one layer, making the whole thing look beautiful and easy for people to help themselves.

Time: 45 mins difficulty: 3/5 Taste 4/5

Approx 5 chicken breasts

2 limes, zested

2cm square piece of ginger (and some galangal if you can get it) peeled and finely chopped/grated

1-2 sticks lemongrass, bashed very hard with a heavy knife and sliced up a little bit if soft enough

2 cloves garlic, crushed

Half an onion, or 3-4 shallots, finely diced

Large handful fresh coriander, roughly chopped

Small handful mint, roughly chopped

3 cardamom pods, split

2 small green chilies, with the seeds removed from one of them (or both, or neither, depending on how hot you like it) and finely sliced

1 can of coconut milk (if you vigorously shake the can before you open it, the solids at the top will integrate with the  liquid below, saving you much work mixing it up with a spoon later)

for the salad:

1 packet of rocket

2 spring onions, finely sliced

small handful fresh coriander, chopped

1 handful cashew nuts, split in half

To make the marinade for the chicken, mix together the lime zest, coriander, shallots, ginger, garlic, mint, cardamom and chilies in a large, shallow non-metallic dish.  Add the sticks of lemon grass and (shaken) coconut milk, stir together and add the chicken, making sure each piece is completely coated in the mixture.  Leave to marinade for a few hours.

About 15 minutes before you are ready to cook the chicken, preheat the oven to 180c (or turn the grill on to medium/high).  Squeeze the juice from 1 of the zested limes into the marinating chicken.  When the oven is hot, arrange the chicken in a roasting dish in a single layer with a little bit of the marinade spooned on top.  Cook for about 25 minutes and check to see if its cooked, and give it another 5 minutes if needed.  Chicken breasts really shouldn’t need more than 30 minutes to cook, unless they are really thick.

You can make the salad with the chicken more or less straight after the oven, or keep the cooked chicken in the fridge until ready to make the salad.  When ready to serve, scatter the serving dish with the rocket.  Slice the chicken and arrange on the plate in a single layer (with the big lumps or marinade goo scraped off), and top with the spring onions, coriander, cashew nuts, and a squeeze of lime juice.  Serve, maybe with some cold noodles or sticky rice and enjoy!

Lentil and Sausage Salad

This is a fantastic salad for those cooking on a budget, or those like me who tend to live mainly on pasta.  It is protein filled and not at all heavy.  Here is a tip: next time you barbeque, cook a few too many sausages and freeze them.  I really do think that most things taste better on the barbeque.  The smoky flavour and lovely charred edges stay on the sausages even after being defrosted, and then you can have pretty much instant lentil and sausage salad throughout the year.

Sorry I don’t have proper quantities, use your judgement about the amounts of lentils and sausages, depending on how much you want to make.  With the following amounts of veggies and things, this made enough for about 12 or so small portions.

Green Lentils

6 or so cooked Sausages, cut into bite-sized pieces (I used spicy beef, worked really well)

1 ½ onions, diced

1 red pepper, diced (fried mushrooms would also work)

olive oil

2 large red tomatoes, chopped up (alternatively you could use sun-dried tomatoes)

Large handful of parsley, chopped

Salt and pepper

For the vinaigrette

Olive oil

Cider vinegar (or wine vinegar, nothing too heavy)

1 tsp grain mustard

1.   In a small jar with a lid make the vinaigrette with 2 parts oil to 1 part vinegar, the mustard and a few drops of cold water.  Shake well to combine.

2.   Cook the lentils in boiling water for 20 minutes or so until they are cooked but not falling apart.  Once they are cooked put them in a bowl and add a couple of spoonfuls of vinaigrette.

3.   While the lentils are cooking, sauté the onions and pepper (or mushrooms) in olive oil over a low heat until sweet and soft.  If you are cooking the sausages fresh, then the veggies will have a great flavour if you fry them in the pan after the sausages.

4.   When the vegetables are cooked, add them to the lentils with the sausages, fresh veggies and parsley.  Mix together and taste for seasoning, and add more dressing if needed to.

A hotpot of sausage and apples

Difficulty 3/5 time 1 hr Taste 5/5 feeds about 4

This goes back to the old themes of comfort food.  The only advice I can really give is to make sure you have a big pot, it is very difficult to get the sausages browned properly and the flour amalgamated without one.  This was where I slipped up a little bit.  It was still really really tasty, but it would have been even better if I had a bigger pot.  This recipe is taken from Tender vol. 2 – a cook’s guide to the fruit garden, which is one of my absolutely favourite books to read.  This is actually the first recipe that I have made from it.

·     250g dried flageolet or haricot beans (I used about 1 ¼ cans of cannellini beans)

·     Chicken thighs (skin off, bone in) I added these in for bulk and variation, and I’m sure that the bones further enriched the sauce. I’m sure that it would be delicious without them, I just didn’t have enough sausages for all the people I needed to feed!

·     3 onions

·     2 tbsp olive oil

·     3 large garlic cloves

·     2 small pinches fennel seeds

·     2 bay leaves

·     8 sausages (Nigel Slater specified nicely seasoned pork sausages, I used lamb ones.  It is up to you what kind you use, but obviously makes sure that it is not a conflicting flavour.  I think that the lamb added a lovely depth of flavour, working exceptionally well with the beans and apple (I wouldn’t recommend using chicken sausages, but that’s just because I don’t like them).Veggie sausages would also work well.

·     2 large dessert apples.  As I had increased the quantities slightly, I used 2 ½ red apples, and 1 bramley.  This was a nice combination as the dessert apples keep their shape and are lovely and sweet, while the cooker disintegrated completely, adding thickness to the sauce and a tart background note).

·     2 tbsp plain flour

·     1 glass Madeira or medium dry sherry (I used pear cider, as it was what I had.  Looking back, it totally did not need the extra sweetness).

·     1 litre stock (I used a mixture of onion and chicken soup mix, about 2 parts onion, 1 part chicken).

·     2 tbsp grain mustard (I only used 1, as I forgot to put in the second, it was still delicious and may have been a little too mustardy with the second).

(I will leave out the section about cooking the beans).  Peel the onions, cut in half, and then cut each half into 6 or so thick segments.  Warm the oil in a large casserole over a low/ medium heat.  Put onions in pan and leave to colour slightly but make sure they don’t stick or burn.

Whilst the onions are cooking, peel and slice the garlic, then add to the onions with the fennel and bay.  Push the mixture to one side of the pan (or if the pan is small, remove them).  Cut the sausages into short lengths, add them to the pan and brown on all sides.  If using chicken, brown the chicken as well.

Meanwhile, peel core and quarter the apples.  You can cut them smaller, but obviously the bigger the pieces, the more likely they are to stay together.  When the sausages are reasonably crispy (this was my main problem – see above), add into the pan the onions, apples and flour.  Cook for 5 mins or so, and then gradually pour in the Madeira/ sherry and stock, stirring continuously.  Add half the mustard, season and leave to simmer for 25 mins. 

Add the beans, check the seasoning and simmer gently for another 20-25 mins.  It is ready when the meat is cooked and most of the liquid has evaporated.  Add the rest of the mustard and cook for a minute or 2 longer.

Simultaneously, I made a vegan version using cauldron brand marinated tofu, which also worked very well, but tasted a little sweeter as it did not have the richness of the meat off-setting the apples.

A chicken pie to unify and lead the Jewish people

My first foray into the world of Evelyn Rose

I was going to write something quite negative about Evelyn’s style of writing, but apparently I could get sued for that kind of thing.  Needless to say, it was not an enjoyable experience for me.  Her books seem to be a bible for a whole generation, so maybe I shouldn’t s**t all over them.  I think ill stick to Claudia Roden...or Nigella.

ANYWAY, this is an excellent way of using up leftover cooked chicken.  One of my least favourite things is reheated cooked chicken, served the same way.  Of course you cant really beat an overstuffed chicken sandwich or chicken salad, but there is something so nostalgic and comforting about a pie.  During the aforementioned trip to Morocco, I phoned home to check in and my mum asked me what I wanted for dinner when I returned home, and this chicken pie is what I requested.  I am 25 and as this blog hopefully shows, pretty self-sufficient, but there is still this omnipresent sense of ‘eat bubala’ whenever I come home.  And I definitely make the most of it. 

When I was little and in the tiny tots service at our synagogue every Saturday, we used to sing ‘david melech yisroel chai chai chicken pie.’ I have no idea why we sung chicken pie instead of vekayam, it doesn’t even rhyme.  The song means ‘David king of Israel lives and exists’ somehow in our 2-4 year old minds, chicken pie was an inherent part of remembering this famous king of Israel, known not so much as a philosopher or scholar, but as a musician, lover and fighter; one can only assume that must have enjoyed his food too.  And according to legend he was a ginger.  If the famous King of Israel could unite the Jewish people, maybe there is more to this chicken pie??

This recipe is adapted from Evelyn Rose’s Complete International Jewish Cookbook.  This is not a book I own, but the kind I will need to buy for myself one day.  According to my mum she is like the Jewish Delia (boring but essential and foolproof).  Well I must be a fool.  Reading through the recipe I found it incredibly confusing.  It may just be my own snobbery regarding cookbooks from the 70s and 80s, but it is very hard to follow.  And of course, back in the day it might have been ok to fry with however many ounces of chicken fat, but its really not now.  Also newer cookbooks tend not to refer to the oil/butter/margarine as fat, maybe its just a nation in denial.  Sorry folks.

I have to admit that I didn’t actually cook this.  It was my intention to, but I have had such a bad cold I thought it probably wasn’t the best idea, I’m sure that our dinner guests were very grateful.  I did however observe very closely and was allowed to stir occasionally.

Time: prep 20 mins, cooking 20 mins, ease: 3/5 taste: 5/5 you will need a shallow pie dish, like the size of a large dinner plate.

Ingredients:

For the filling -

1 onion, finely diced

Mushrooms, chopped up – about a heaped handful

Handful chopped parsley (I cook a lot with fresh herbs, and try to avoid using dried ones at all costs. The best places to buy them are asda, or from your local greengrocer, you can buy big bunches very cheaply.  Parsley freezes very well, just make sure you wash it first).

Heaped tbsp plain flour

200ml stock or chicken gravy equivalent – you can always add more liquid later is it looks a bit too dry.  We used the solidified goo left over from roasting the chicken.  What’s good is that the fat rises to the top and hardens, and can be scraped off and thrown away.  Essentially its like fat-free essence of chicken, and can be frozen! As the chicken in question was cooked in a red, herby sauce, the finished sauce had a lovely reddish colour.

Cooked chicken, cut into bite sized pieces – approx. ½ a chicken.

For the pastry - (The recipe called for ready-made puff pastry, but the version my mum makes uses the ‘quick flaky pastry’ recipe instead.

82g firm margarine

160g plain flour

50mls boiling water

First make the pastry.  Cut the butter into small pieces and put into bowl.  Pour over boiling water and stir until the butter is melted and amalgamated – you may need to give it a blast in the microwave.  Add the flour, mix into a dough and chill, covered in clingfilm, for at least half an hour.  Yes it really is that simple.  When the dough is made and covered in the clingfilm, it will feel warm and soft, kind of like a hamster.  After it has been in the fridge it will harden up considerably.

Preheat the oven to 230 c.

Fry the onions in cooking oil/olive oil in a large frying pan, and when mostly done (10 mins or so) add the mushrooms.  When done add the flour, and stir until all the veggies are coated – don’t worry it will look quite dry.

Add the stock/gravy, bring to the boil, and then simmer for a few minutes until it thickens, stirring all the time.  Add the chicken and season with salt and pepper – Evelyn also adds in a bit of nutmeg, but this would depend on what kind of flavouring you had already added – some dried sage might be nice too.  Turn the heat off and allow to go cold, and empty into the pie dish.

Here is a fantastic tip for rolling pastry – instead of flouring the board and rolling pin (or empty wine 

bottle) put the dough between 2 pieces of clingfilm.  Incredibly easy, and stops the dough getting too floury. Roll out to cover the dish with a small amount of overhang.  Don’t worry about it looking perfect, it should be crinkly and rustic, allowing for little bits of the sauce to bubble up the sides and crisp up.  Score some lines into the pasty to allow for the steam to escape, and bake for 20 minutes.

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