Roast Jerk Chicken

May 5, 2015May 6, 2015 ~ annie ~ Leave a comment

Scotch bonnet peppers: my favourite. When I saw them in the market in The Hague last Saturday I beelined straight for them. I think they’re what I miss most about London. Um. Apart from Aidan.

The marinade is very easy – at least the way I make it anyway – and it’s so good. Even though I’ve only been making it since I moved to London, jerk chicken and gravy is right up there in terms of all-time favourite comfort foods.

Ingredients

Chicken

1 free range chicken

3 scotch bonnet peppers

3 spring onions

3 tbsp sunflower oil

5-6 sprigs of thyme

juice of 1 lemon

generous pinch of salt

Gravy

1 chicken stock cube

1/2 inch minced/grated ginger

pinch allspice (or cloves, if easier to come by)

300 mls water

1 tbsp cornflour

meat juices

Method

Chicken

Step 1: Throw peppers, onions, oil, thyme, lemon juice and salt into a blender and blend.

Step 2: Smother the chicken with the paste and leave overnight in the fridge.

Step 3: Transfer to roasting tin and roast in a preheated oven at 200c for about 1hr 30m – 1hr 45m, depending on weight of chicken. This is a slightly higher temperature than most will recommend but I find it works. Trial and error, and all that.

Step 4: When done, remove from roasting tin, wrap in tinfoil, drape with tea towel and leave to rest.

Gravy

Step 1: Pour some boiling water into the roasting tin and stir/scrape the bottom of the pan with a fish slice to get all the good stuff off the bottom. You know what to do.

Step 2: Fry ginger and allspice in a little oil on a medium to low heat for 1-2 minutes.

Step 3: Add water and stock cube, turn up heat and stir until stock cube is dissolved.

Step 4: Mix cornflour with half glass of cold water until dissolved. Add to saucepan and stir well.

Step 5: Add meat juices from roasting tin to the saucepan and continue to heat. Bring through the boil, stirring continuously, until the gravy thickens.

Plate up chicken, one quarter per person, and drench with gravy. Serve with rice and peas and a side of spiced carrot and cabbage (recipes forthcoming!).

Hazelnut, fennel and orange salad

March 15, 2015May 5, 2015 ~ annie ~ Leave a comment

I moved country. It was about time – after all, I’d reached the 2.5 year limit, which is apparently the longest amount of time that I’m able to stay still for. Not that I’d want to suggest I’ve been very adventurous with my move: I find myself but a 50 minute flight from London in the rainy, grey Hague – a place near and dear to my heart.

The good news is that I’m back working in war crimes, which I’m ecstatic about. The bad news is that I had to leave my photographer behind. Bleurgh. I mean, I’ll see him in 5 days so, you know, I’ll be fine. In the meantime, though, I’m trying to figure out how to do food photography, so bear with me folks.

This is a salad I made up a little while ago and, crucially, one that I figured I could make in the sublet I’m renting just now. (Side note: I can’t find the vegetable peeler. Do you think some people just don’t have vegetable peelers?) The salad’s good on its own but I think it’s probably better as a side – with some tasty, blackened lamb or chicken.

Ingredients

big handful of fresh, washed spinach

1 carrot, grated

1 avocado

1/2 fennel bulb, sliced

10 mint leaves, torn

10 basil leaves, torn

20 blanched hazelnuts (approx)

Dressing

zest of 1/2 orange

juice 1/2 lemon

squeeze of honey

1 tbsp sesame oil

1/2 tsp black pepper

pinch salt

Method

Step 1: Get a big bowl and throw in a big handful of spinach.

Step 2: Dice fennel bulb into hazelnut-sized pieces. Add to the bowl.

Step 3: Halve avocados; scoop out flesh and add to the bowl.

Step 4: Peel carrots; grate or peel into ribbons. I grated because…see above. Add to the bowl, along with mint, basil and hazelnuts.

For the dressing

Step 1: Add all ingredients to a jar and give it a good shake. Go easy on the honey — too sweet and it will taste store bought. Tasty, but store bought. Be generous with the pepper. Spice is nice.

Step 2: Toss the dressing in on top of the salad and mix it all up so it gets a nice, zesty, sweet, nutty flavour all the way through. Done.

Tiffany Salad

January 28, 2015January 28, 2015 ~ annie ~ Leave a comment

There’s not a lot to say about this salad, except that it is surprisingly substantial and goes very well with flatbread. Oh, and it’s based on the house salad from Restaurant Tiffany in Prishtina, Kosovo – one of the finest establishments in the world.

Ingredients

1/2 head of lettuce

6-8 radishes

1 carrot

1 leek

1/2 cucumber

80-100g butter beans

80g feta

1-2 beetroots

lemon juice and salt, to dress

Method

Step 1: cut iceberg into chunks and arrange in the bottom of your salad bowl.

Step 2: use a vegetable peeler to create strips of cucumber and carrot.

Step 3: chop leeks, beetroots and radishes, well, as you see fit. Bite size bits seem to work best for salad. Right? I’m less particular about these vegetables, apparently…

Step 4: drain beans or, if using dried beans: soak, rinse and cook for about 30 mins. But be careful – butter beans turn to mush super fast if you overcook them, so some care is needed.

Step 5: arrange each vegetable into a nest of its own on top of the lettuce, and sprinkle the cheese in the middle. This way of serving it allows people to avoid the bits they don’t like. (Not that you would dislike any of these magical ingredients but some people are crazy. See for example people who don’t like Sunday roasts).

Step 6: dress with a pinch of salt and lemon juice. Et voila, you are done! Serve a stronger vinaigrette dressing on the side and consume with plenty of fresh flatbread.