Chilli Chicken One-Pot

This recipe was chosen after a need to use up some left over chorizo and what a great choice it was 🙂

As a big fan of one-pot dishes, they come into their element when having guests over for dinner, as you can spend time with them, instead of slaving away in the kitchen, while the aroma fills the house.

Definitely make sure you have some zingy chorizo to go with this, as the flavours really seep into the chicken. A warming hearty dish to try and make the rain and floods of the British winter go away!

Ingredients:
2 large onions, halved and sliced
2 tbsp olive oil
265g chorizo ring, peeled and thickly sliced
4 red peppers, deseeded and cut into large chunks
2 x 400g/14oz can chopped tomato
2 chicken stock cubes
½-1 tsp dried chilli flakes
2 tsp dried oregano
16 boneless skinless chicken thighs
3 x 410g/14oz cans red kidney beans, drained

To serve:
15g pack coriander, chopped
2-3 avocado, skinned and sliced
good squeeze lime juice


1. Heat oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Fry the onions in the oil for 5 mins until they become soft and start to colour. Add the chorizo and fry for a few mins more. Stir in the peppers, then pour in the tomatoes, followed by a can of water, the stock cubes, chilli and oregano.

2. Arrange the chicken thighs on top of the sauce, pushing them under the liquid. Bring to a simmer, cover, then cook in the oven for 40 mins. Add the beans, stir, then cook for 20 mins more. You can make this up to 2 days ahead and keep chilled.

3. To serve, reheat on the top of the stove or in the oven at 190C/fan 170C/gas 5 for 1 hr 10 mins until piping hot. Stir in most of the coriander, toss the rest with the avocado, lime and a little salt, then pile this on top. Serve with Garlic & oregano bread (below) and a bag of green salad tossed with olives, cherry tomatoes and finely sliced red onion.

Recipe from Good Food magazine, May 2008

Enjoy!

Baked Paprika Eggs

After the arrival of my online supermarket shopping the other evening, I discovered a freebie magazine buried at the bottom of a bag. Just before throwing it into the recycling, I noticed this recipe mentioned on the front cover, so dived in for a look. I am always looking for simple suppers at weekends, especially having walked to a pub for a good old fashioned Sunday lunch 🙂 This Spanish treat was spot on!

The great thing about this recipe was the simplicity, especially as the only ingredients I needed to pick up (on the way back from the pub) were some basil leaves and chives. Everything else I had in the fridge or the store cupboards.

I reckon this could also be cooked in a large pan, adding the eggs together and then putting it in the oven to cook. Would be a great way of serving it up on the table for guests.

Ingredients:
4 medium eggs
100g chorizo, skin removed and roughly chopped
1 tsp olive oil
1 slice red pepper
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 mild red chilli, finely chopped
2 tsp smoked paprika
800g chopped tomatoes
½ tsp sugar
4 spring onions, sliced
2 tbsp basil leaves
1 tbsp chives, chopped
½ tsp chilli flakes, optional


1. Preheat the oven to 190C/Gas 5. Heat the oil in a frying pan over a medium heat. Add the chorizo and fry for 4-5 minutes.

2. Add the pepper and fry for 4-5 minutes, until golden at the edges.

2. Add the garlic, chilli and paprika and fry for 1 minute, until fragrant.

3. Add the tinned tomatoes, breaking up a little and simmer for 5 minutes. until slightly thickened and reduced.

4. Stir through the sugar and season to taste.

5. Divide the sauce between four ramekins and create a well in the centre of of each.

6. Crack an egg into each ramekin, transfer to a baking tray and bake in the oven for 8-10 until the egg white has set and the yolk is cooked to your liking.

Serve scattered with the spring onions, herbs and chilli flakes (if using) with sourdough bread to dip.

Enjoy!

Spicy Seafood Stew With Tomatoes And Lime

The majority of my blog posts are usually recording the family recipes being passed down to me, or sharing new recipes I find and like the look of, to try out at home. Rarely do I get the chance to cook for friends, trying out a recipe that is new and untested, all at the same time.

I’m glad I got the opportunity to try this out on a new audience as I had had this recipe bookmarked for a while and hadn’t managed to cook it yet. Having never been a huge fan of stews or Mexican food, I thought I could try and conquer two hurdles at the same time. 🙂

While this recipe may be Mexican in origin and while it technically should be called a stew, I would not call it one, in comparison to those I am used to, from the hazy days of school dinners with dodgy dumplings. This was seriously a world far away better!

After taking over my friend’s kitchen, I set about diligently following the recipe, until I had all the pieces of the dish ready to cook together. The smell of the sauce was incredible and tasting the sauce as I was cooking it, just seemed to get hotter (chilli wise) as time went on.

Serving it up at the table, it was like a feast had been created from a simple recipe, especially with all the accompaniments and tortillas it was served with.

It tasted amazing and within seconds of it being tried, I was rewarded with comments such as “You can make this again!”

I asked for a quote from my friends, to add to the post and this is what I was sent… 😉

“A sensational dish jam-packed with all the variety vibrancy and va va voom of a Fiesta”

Based on a recipe by John Torode

Serves 4

Ingredients:
2 dried chillies
1.0 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion , chopped
4 garlic cloves , chopped
1.0 tsp chipotle paste
1.0 tsp ground cumin
700.0ml chicken stock
250.0g chopped tomatoes , from a can
200.0g large peeled raw prawns
300.0g halibut or other firm white fish fillets, cut into 2.5cm pieces
300.0g mussels or clams
500.0g small new potatoes , halved and boiled
juice 2 limes


1. Toast the chillies in a hot dry frying pan for a few moments (they will puff up a bit), then remove. Deseed and stem chillies, and soak in boiling water for 15 mins.

2. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat. Add the onion and garlic, season and cook for about 5 mins or until softened. Add the chipotle paste, reconstituted chillies, cumin, stock and tomatoes. Sauté for 5 mins, then purée until very fine in a blender.

3. Pour back into the pan and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 10 mins. When close to eating, add the prawns, fish fillets, mussels and potatoes. Place a lid on top and cook for 5 mins over a medium-high heat. Add the lime juice and serve with avocado, coriander and red onion.

Additionally serve with soured cream, if you want it a little cooler.

Enjoy!

Stickiest-ever BBQ Ribs

Finally… the sun came out at the weekend and that only meant one thing… BBQ time! 🙂

Having a load of ribs and chops ready to be barbequed, we needed a glaze to dress them with, that would finish them off nicely. After reading an old copy of Good Food Magazine during the afternoon, there was a recipe for “Stickiest-ever BBQ Ribs” which sounded perfect!

Once we had found all the ingredients, it was the easiest thing to add them all together, whisk it all up and pour it onto the ribs ready for the BBQ. Now, when they said these were the stickiest ever, they were not joking! After only a few mouthfuls, we were licking fingers clean and trying to wipe the rest of the sauce from our mouths. Everyone devoured the ribs as if they were going out of fashion!

Definitely a keeper for the side of the fridge and one that I just had to share with everyone – really yummy.

Ingredients:
4 tbsp Tomato Ketchup
4 tbsp Soft Brown Sugar
1 tbsp Soy Sauce
1 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
1 tbsp Sweet Chilli Sauce
1 tsp Paprika


Served best with cold beer – preferably from the West Country. 😉

Enjoy!

Spiced Beef with Chestnuts and Cranberries

This is a tasty winter warmer that I adapted from a recipe that I was given, when I went on a cookery day out in Somerset. It uses seasonal ingredients such as chestnuts and cranberries, cheaper cuts of beef and would be perfect for a New Year’s party, especially after all the turkey consumed at Christmas!

What is really good about this recipe, is that it can be made upto 4 days in advance, being kept in the fridge and also it freezes well, making this handy for busy people at this time of the year.

It is fairly simple to make but looks very impressive served up.

(Printable Recipe)

Ingredients:
9ozs/250g Smoked Back Bacon Cubes
3 tbsp Gluten Free Plain Flour - seasoned with salt, pepper and a pinch of paprika (not smoked or hot)
3 ½ lbs/1.6Kg Lean Beef Cubed – skirt or chuck steak
2-3 tbsp Rapeseed Oil
3 Red Onions – peeled and finely chopped
2 Garlic Cloves – peeled and finely chopped
9ozs/250g Chestnut Button Mushrooms
½ Bottle Red Wine
6ozs/170g Fresh or Frozen Cranberries
4ozs/113g Fresh Chestnuts - peeled and chopped in half
1-2 tbsp Soft Light Brown Sugar
1 ½ pints/300ml Beef Stock
2 tbsp Sweet Chilli Sauce
Salt and Freshly Ground Black Pepper
¼-½ tsp Crushed Chillies
3 Bay Leaves
Fresh Parsley, chopped to garnish

Preheat oven to 180C/350F Gas 4 or 170C Fan Oven.

1 In a large flame-proof casserole dish, cook the bacon over a medium heat until crispy and then remove.

2 Tip the flour into a plastic bag, add the meat and shake to coat.

3 Add half the oil to the casserole dish and brown the meat in batches, adding more oil as necessary.

4 Remove the meat and set aside and add the onions and cook for 5 to 10 minutes until they start to brown.

5 Add the garlic and mushrooms to the onions and cook for a further 5 minutes.

6 Return the meat and bacon to the casserole, add the bay leaves, red wine, beef stock, sweet chilli sauce and crushed chillies, bring to the boil and cook in a pre-heated oven for one hour.

7 While the casserole is cooking, prepare the chestnuts by splitting the skin, then putting them in a covered dish and microwave each chestnut for 10 secs on high power. Once heated, peel off the outer skin and cut in half.

8 After cooking for an hour, add the cranberries, chestnuts and sugar, season with a little black pepper, stir well and return to the oven for another 45 minutes to one hour.

9 Check that the meat is tender, the cranberries are cooked and not tart, adding more sugar if necessay.

10 Re-check the seasoning, scatter with chopped parsley and serve.

Serve with green vegetables, roast or jacket potatoes, or if preferred, rice!

Enjoy!