Salmon Tray Bake

Having tried the recipe off the front cover of a previous edition of delicious magazine for my last blog post (The One-Pan Roast), I thought I would also do the same thing again from this month’s edition, titled “One-Pan Winner”. Writing my blog is not only about learning and sharing old family favourites and secrets but also about sharing recipes that I want to try and would try for an evening’s supper, regardless of writing my blog or not!

The idea of these simple ‘one pan recipes’, that use fresh ingredients and that are easy to put together after a long day in the office, is great. Another bonus, is that it is something new to try, rather than reconstituting the same quick meals (with minor variations) that we normally throw together after working long days! If I see anymore of these style dishes on the cover in coming months, then I shall have to review and cook them as well, making a feature about them on the blog!

Being big fish fans and always being able to find Salmon in the fridge, we thought this would be perfect, based partly on the fact that the last one (One-tray roast chicken with white wine, zesty potatoes and asparagus) worked so well. The whole recipe was very aptly named as we thoroughly enjoyed it, not just from the taste but that it was very healthy too, which is never a bad thing.

What I like about these ‘one pan recipes’, is that ‘in theory’ you can try just about anything you want, that your imagination lets you come up with. If anyone has any other ‘one pan recipe’ favourites they love cooking, then please Comment on this post and let me know (including a quick recipe guide) – for the ones that grab my attention the most, I will do a cookup and review in a future post.

Ingredients:
2 Red Onions, cut into wedges
2 Red Peppers, sliced into strips
1 Yellow Pepper, sliced into strips
1 Courgette, halved lengthways and thinly sliced
1 Garlic Bulb, halved across the middle
2 Medium Tomatoes, halved
3 tbsp Olive Oil, plus extra to drizzle
270g Cherry Tomatoes on the vine
2-4 Salmon fillets (depending on how many you are cooking for)
Squeeze of Lemon Juice
Handful of fresh Basil leaves


1. Preheat the oven to 200C/Fan 180C/Gas 6. Tumble the onions, peppers, courgette, garlic and medium tomatoes into a roasting tray. Pour over 3tbsp olive oil, season with sea salt and ground black pepper, then gently toss to coat. Roast for 20 minutes.

2. Add the vine tomatoes to the tray and lay the salmon fillets on top. Season, then drizzle with a little more oil and a squeeze of lemon juice. Return to the oven for 10-12 minutes until the salmon is cooked through and the vegetables are tender.

Scatter with fresh basil leaves to serve.

Enjoy!

The One-Pan Roast

After coming home with a chicken the other weekend (as you do), neither of us were in the mood to cook a full blown roast dinner, after a long week. Trying to work out what to do with it, we saw a copy of delicious magazine on the coffee table with a huge roasted chicken plastered on the front cover with the tag line “The one-pan roast”. Now that sounded ideal and looked ideal, once we opened it up to the recipe page – not much prep to do but looked great and only took 75 minutes to cook. Result!

After spending about 10 to 15 minutes getting it ready and letting the oven heat up, in it went and that was that. I have to say, the smells of the various ingredients cooking away, were lovely and actually made us want to eat it sooner rather than later.

According to the recipe creator Donal Skehan:

Home cooking starts and ends with a good roast chicken recipe. It’s the food I was brought up on. Every Sunday we had a roast chicken, without fail. The bones were turned into stock and the leftovers would be made into sandwiches for school.

And guess what… the leftovers were made for sandwiches, instead for work the following day!

If you want a quick win roast dinner without all the fuss, then this is a perfect recipe for you to try.

One-tray roast chicken with white wine, zesty potatoes and asparagus.

Serves 4.

Ingredients:
800g baby new potatoes, halved
1 garlic bulb, cloves separated
1 lemon, sliced
Handful fresh thyme sprigs
3 tbsp rapeseed oil
1.5kg free-range chicken
Large knob of butter
1 large bunch of asparagus, woody ends snapped off
1 125ml glass white wine
Handful of flatleaf parsley, finely chopped


1. Preheat the oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6. Put the new potatoes . garlic cloves and lemon slices into a large roasting tin. Scatter with the thyme sprigs and drizzle with the oil. Season well and toss to combine.

2. Remove the string trussing the chicken. Gently loosen the skin on the chicken’s breasts to form a pocket, being careful not to tear it. Push a little butter under the skin, then spread more over the outside. Season with salt and pepper. Put the chicken on top of the potatoes, then roast for 45 minutes.

3. Remove the chicken to a plate, add the asparagus and pour the win into the roasting tin. Mix everything together so the asparagus is coated in the wine and chicken juices.

4. Sit the chicken back on the veg. Return to the oven and roast for 30 minutes more, until the chicken is cooked and the potatoes are tender. Rest the chicken and veg somewhere warm for 10 minutes, covered with foil, then stir through the parsley and serve.

The juices are amazing!

Enjoy!

Elderflower Cordial

As a child, elderflower cordial always seemed like a very grown-up drink – though we drank it with soda water or tap water. My family always loved foraging in the hedgerows to make a variety of home-made wines, which until I was much older I was not allowed to drink! It was always great fun to collect the elderflowers and always picked more than was needed just to get the best ones for the cordial. It is really refreshing on a hot sunny day and tastes great!

Ingredients:
20/25 Sprays of elderflower heads – picked on a fine day when the fragrance is intense and not near a road
Zest of 1 orange and 1 lemon – both unwaxed
Lemon juice
Sugar – unrefined will give a darker cordial.

1. Snip the flower heads from the main stems and place in a large bowl.

2. Pour boiling water over them – just enough to cover and press them well down.

3. Cover and steep until cold or overnight.

4. Strain the liquid through muslin and squeeze all the liquid out.

5. Measure the liquid and put in a pan and for every 500ml (18fl oz) add 350g (12oz) of sugar and up to 50ml (2flozs) lemon juice.

6. Taste to make sure your cordial is neither too sharp nor too sweet by adjusting the lemon juice.

7. Heat gently to dissolve the sugar stirring occasionally and then bring to the boil, just to thicken the syrup – about 2 minutes at the most but every batch seems to be different.

8. Strain again through muslin to remove any scum and pour into clean sterilised bottles.

9. Seal with screw caps, or corks, and keep in the fridge. I like to use the mini wine bottles that are dark green.

10. Serve diluted with chilled fizzy or soda water.

The cordial can be used to flavour home-made ice-cream, mousses etc.

NB this recipe can be doubled, trebled, however much you want to make.

Enjoy!

“Giles Chicken”

This is one recipe that I will let my mum explain…

“Giles Chicken” is a family favourite that we have been enjoying for many years. I dont know where Giles came up with the recipe but it is a quick and delicious dish that everyone seems to really like. It was cooked for us all on a canal holiday in France in 1991 when I decided to go on ‘strike’ and asked the children to cook one meal each. Fortunately we were able to stop at little villages along the route both to explore and to buy food and drink. Giles bought the ingredients listed below and cooked this lovely dish. This is why we call it Giles Chicken! We ate this sat on the deck of a boat on a deserted canal in the middle of France with the sun going down. Every time I make this dish it reminds of that very happy holiday.

(Printable Recipe)

Ingredients:
4 Free-range or organic chicken breasts – cut into bite-size pieces
4/6 Rashers of streaky bacon - chopped
Juice of a lemon
1 Lettuce shredded
Dressing of choice – usually walnut oil and balsamic vinegar
1tblsp Olive or Rapeseed oil

1 In a large pan heat 1 tablespoon of oil add the bacon and fry until it just colours.

2 Add the chicken and cook for 5 minutes.

3 Add the juice of the lemon and continue cooking until the chicken is coloured, the bacon crisp and the lemon juice absorbed.

4 While that is happening shred the lettuce and put into a large bowl and toss in the dressing.

5 Once the chicken is ready tip it onto the top of the lettuce and serve with crusty bread and a tomato salad.

Summer on a plate at any time of the year!

This can be made for two people or more. Just allow a chicken breast and a bacon rasher per person and adjust the rest of the ingredients.

I try to use organic or free-range ingredients in every recipe.

Enjoy!