Latin American Chicken - frisky, fruity and delicious

Well, colour me surprised and extremely impressed by this recipe.  Some recipes you can look at and immediately imagine the flavours, know how it is likely to look, what consistency the sauce will be etc. This one, I had a good idea of the flavours but I couldn't, for the life of me, think what sort of consistency it would turn out to be and whether the flavours would be intense or somewhat wishy-washy.  You see, I have something of a past history with wishy-washy tomato based chicken dishes.  *coughs behind hand*  Moving on ....

I don't remember finding this recipe, but it was there in my "new recipes" folder on my computer so I obviously spotted it at some point and saved it for future reference.  As you do.  I have so many recipes saved that I have had to categorise them to within an inch of their lives in order to keep control.  Without the blessed categories, there'd be recipes romping unchecked everywhere as soon as I got past the opening window, I'm sure of it.  Anyway, there it was (here, if you're curious) and originally intended to be a recipe for the slow cooker.

Now although - as you know - I do have a slow cooker, in this instance it wouldn't have been a lot of use as I was cooking for just the two of us and the ingredients would have got lost in my big old crockpot.  Whatever you can cook in a slow cooker can be cooked in an oven, so that's where it ended up and (ssssshhh, don't tell anyone) but I think it may have been all the better for it, too.

As a matter of necessity, I tweaked the recipe remorselessly.  Things such as leaf coriander went out of the window, in favour of ground coriander, as my chaps really don't like leaf coriander.  I didn't have any allspice, so in went a combination of cinnamon, mace and a bit more ground coriander for luck.  For all that I did have a can of black beans, it would have made way too much so I swapped them out for a small can of red kidney beans and crossed my fingers.

The bit I was having trouble with, was knowing quite how the sauce would turn out - and indeed, if I would wind up with any sauce at all.  You see, apart from a small amount of chicken stock and a much larger amount of spicy salsa (for which, I used Asda's salsa in a jar) plus any juice that might leach out from the red pepper and sweet potatoes, there wasn't any identifiable "sauce" as such.  Now, cooked in a slow cooker, this wouldn't be such an issue as they do tend to water their contents down through returning the steam back into the pot as condensation.  I decided the best thing was to prevent the loss of steam created during the cooking process and covered the casserole dish with a tight sheet of silver foil under the lid.  Oh and crossed my fingers.  Essential bit of cooking technology, that.  Well hurrah for crossed fingers, because it worked!

The end result had just enough sauce to keep the contents nicely moistened, the chicken soft and tender and with the final addition of a squeeze of lime juice, was sooooo blinking delicious!  Plus, of course, the added benefit that other than a bit of chicken frying the cooking was a simple matter of heating everything up in the chicken pan, pouring it into the casserole dish and waving goodbye to it for an hour and a half.  Take fifteen minutes of that time to cook some rice and ~back of hand to forehead~ oh the stress!  SLAVING over a hot stove (a.k.a. reading my book in the living room) whilst the dinner cooked.  Perfect.

Do, by all means, feel free to cook the original incarnation of this recipe if it appeals, but I have noted down my version of it below, which is of course a whole lot better.  *wink*  If you prefer chicken thighs, you'll possibly need to increase the cooking time by a half hour or so, depending on how big and muscly your chicken is.

LATIN AMERICAN CHICKEN   (serves 2)

Ingredients :

2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1 tbsp rapeseed oil
sea salt
ground black pepper
1 tsp plus 1 tsp ground coriander
2-3 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into bite sized chunks
1 red pepper, de-seeded and cut into strips
1 large clove of garlic, sliced finely
1 200g tin of red kidney beans, drained
200ml chicken stock (made with 1 stock cube or 1 tsp stock powder)
200g spicy salsa from a jar
half a tsp of ground cumin
half a tsp of ground cinnamon
half a tsp of ground mace
a pinch of dried red chilli flakes (to taste)
a small bunch of fresh parsley, chopped, for garnish
lime wedges, for garnish.

Method :

To begin with, pre-heat your oven to 180degC/350degF/gas 4.

Then, take each chicken breast and cut it in half horizontally so that you end up with two much thinner pieces of chicken for each breast.  This will ensure the chicken cooks evenly.

Heat the rapeseed oil in a large frying pan over a moderate/high heat and lay each piece of chicken inside.  Quickly sprinkle with half of one of the tsp of ground coriander and a pinch of sea salt & black pepper, turn the chicken and repeat for the other side.  Fry the chicken until golden on the one side, then turn it over and complete the frying on the other side.  If the chicken isn't quite cooked through it doesn't matter as it will complete cooking in the oven.  Once golden on both sides, remove the chicken to a lidded casserole dish and reserve.

Tip the sweet potatoes, red pepper and garlic into the frying pan - add a little more rapeseed oil if necessary - and fry until the garlic is golden, the potatoes have coloured in places and the red pepper has begun to soften - around 5-10 minutes.

Add the red kidney beans, stock, salsa, remaining ground coriander, cumin, cinnamon, mace and chilli flakes and stir through.  Bring to a boil and add a little more water if necessary, as it can evaporate quite quickly.  Pour the contents into the casserole dish and stir through.

Cover the casserole dish with a tight fitting layer of silver foil and the casserole lid and place into the middle of your oven for 1.5 hours.  I would advise checking the liquid level after an hour, just in case your sealing hasn't quite worked!  If necessary, top up with a little water or chicken stock.

I served mine with basmati rice that had been cooked in vegetable stock, with a few added peas and a very naughty knob of butter melted through.  Sprinkle the chopped parsley over the top and add a couple of lime wedges for squeezing.  Scrummy!

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Chicken Casserole with olives & raisins

There now - I bet that got your attention.  Chicken casserole with olives and raisins?  Curious!

Well, that's the reaction it engendered in me when I saw it.  Maybe I'm the only one.  ~shrug~

I'm always in the market for another chicken casserole recipe - after all, it's one of the mainstays of our week's menus - or used to be!  Since chicken is apparently particularly bad where being inflammatory is concerned, I'm thinking that perhaps it's going to appear rather less in the future.

However, I'm still getting my head around the anti-inflammatory thing - and I have got two growing lads to feed.

I found the recipe on Good Food Channel's website and immediately was struck by the novelty value of raisins and olives being included in a casserole that, apparently, didn't contain the middle eastern spices that are more usually found in conjunction with this type of fruit.  Not only that, but the recipe also includes 100ml of dry sherry which is another unusual bedmate.


However, I could see how they would all potentially sit agreeably together, particularly with the tomatoes and green peppers that the recipe also demanded.


The end result was very nice indeed.  I was careful to ensure that the sauce stayed good and substantial and no one flavour stood out from any other.  We ate the casserole with some sweet potato wedges which were a great foil for the savouriness of the chicken mixture.  However, I can't help but think that some plain rice and maybe some green beans would be just as good.


CHICKEN CASSEROLE WITH OLIVES & RAISINS  (serves 3)


Ingredients :


2 tbsp olive oil
3 skinless chicken breasts
1 red onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
2 tbsp plain flour
1 tbsp tomato puree
100ml dry sherry
3 cloves
2 green peppers, sliced
2 carrots, sliced finely
100ml chicken stock (I used Knorr Chicken Stock Pots)
1-2 tbsp raisins
1 handful pitted green olives.

Method :


1.  Pre-heat your oven to 200deg C/400deg F/Gas 6.

2.  Heat the oil in a frying pan and fry the chicken breasts on each side for 3-5 minutes until golden.  Transfer to a casserole dish, leaving behind as much of the fat as possible.

3.  Add the onions to the frying pan and cook on a medium heat until softened.  Add the garlic and flour and cook for a minute more.

4.  Stir in the tomato puree, sherry and stock, stirring or whisking to ensure all lumps are mixed in.  Add the cloves, carrots and green peppers and bring to a gentle simmer, then pour over the chicken.

5.  Cover the dish and place in the oven for 30 minutes.

6.  Remove from the oven and stir in the raisins and olives, then replace and cook for another 15 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and tender.

Serve.

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Meal Planning around your son's social life

It seems as though, having hit 13yrs, suddenly our son is taking off with a social life that involves the evenings instead of just weekends and school holidays.

For years, we've been trying to get him to go to after-school clubs (and have been a wee bit successful, in parts) and to take part in after-school events.  However, he seems to be taking after me and was happy to remain a homebody.

However, now he's 13, son & heir is finding his wings!

This week, therefore, is a case of meal planning around his appointments and a visit to my parents.

Monday (Turkey Curry night) involved making dinner very much earlier than usual, in order to get son & heir back to school to take part in "Rock School" (as in "Rock and Roll", rather than the close inspection of geological formations).  Fortunately, as the curry included pre-cooked Turkey, it was simple and quick to make.  Son & heir had a great time practicing to be a rock star, whilst hubby and I sat in Macdonald's car park and enjoyed a large cup of their delicious coffee each.  We'll get our reward once he's famous, I'm sure.

By the way - how is it that Macdonalds manages to sell such lovely coffee?  We reckon they have to be putting something addictive in it that makes you come back for more.  There's no "gentle sipping" involved with a Macdonalds coffee - it's a consistent "down the hatch!" until it's gone, swiftly followed by much sorrowful peering into the bottom of the cup, wishing it would fill up again.

Here's how the rest of the week is shaping up :

Tues : Son & heir - Pizza, Adults - Pizza Tart & Zesty Beetroot Salad

Weds : Chicken Casserole & Sweet Potato Wedges

Thurs : Chilli con Carne with rice

Fri : Turkey & Bacon Pie with carrots, parsnips & tenderstem broccoli

Sat : Dinner at lunchtime, so sandwiches for tea

Sun : yet to be decided

Mon : Devilled sausages, sweet potato mash & peas.

We had the Pizza Tart last night and although the concept requires some fine tuning, the flavours were there.  The tart utilises chorizo, mushrooms and mozzarella cheese - so it's easy to tell how nice it was.  The mistake I made was not frying off the mushrooms before using them on the tart and as a consequence, a lot of water escaped from them.  I salvaged the situation and, when I blog about it, will take that into account in the recipe.

Wednesday's Chicken Casserole is one I found on the Good Food Channel's website.  It doesn't appear to be attributed to anyone - but if you recognise it as yours, let me know and I'll give you the proper mention.  In the meantime, consider yourself mentioned by proxy!

It's an interesting recipe, using sherry, cloves, green peppers, raisins and green olives.  I'm really not at all sure how son & heir is going to receive it, but it sounds good to me!

Thursday is son & heir's Jazz Club night when he plays bass guitar with the Jazz Band and which takes place immediately following school.  However, we have to be picking him up at the time I would normally be cooking the dinner - which requires a bit of forethought and planning.  This week, we've opted for a chilli con carne which hubby will cook in the day.  That'll leave us to heat up the chilli and cook some rice, which shouldn't make dinner late.

Friday is the next "Turkey leftover" night, in which I'll be making a Turkey & Bacon pie.  The cooked Turkey meat has been in stashed in the freezer and I've kept back a few rashers of that wonderful Emmett's streaky bacon.  I've also retained half the pack of chestnuts, which I'm going to include (chopped finely) in the pastry for the pie.  If it turns out how my imagination is seeing it, it should be really lovely.

Saturday is a "back to front" day, as (assuming my Mum is okay - she's experiencing arthritis problems with her knees, too, now!) we should be visiting my parents.  They live very locally to us, so we'll be able to leave the three dogs at home - which saves having to worry about muddy paw prints across their carpets!  So we'll, effectively, be having lunch at dinner time, that day.

Sunday is another weird one, as we're going to see Mike Dawes & Amy Turk perform at the Bournemouth Folk Club.  We'll be eating while we're out, so it's going to be a light snack before we go, if anything.  Both Mike (guitar) & Amy (harp) have such amazing touch and ability with their instruments, they are just mesmerising to watch - and extremely agreeable to listen to.  Mike has been such an inspiration to Son & heir regarding his guitar playing, too.

 Following all that excitement, I felt the need for something homely and yummy - so will be trotting out the good old Devilled Sausages, along with sweet potato mash and peas for Monday evening.  I reckon we'll all be flagging a bit by then and they'll warm the cockles of our hearts, without having to slave for hours over a hot stove.  Couldn't be better!

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