Sticky Marmalade Chicken - the one that (almost) got away!

Now, this is a bit of a departure for me where blogging recipes is concerned.  Ordinarily, you see, I would get on with consigning a new recipe to paper almost as soon as I've put my knife and fork down.  However, I first cooked this dish quite literally years ago - when I was blogging on Multiply.  I cooked it again a few times over the years and in the meantime, started Rhubarb & Ginger.  However, when I came to look for the recipe in the Recipe Index, I was astounded to see that I hadn't included it here!

Thank goodness - because I can't remember where I found the original recipe - I still had a copy of all my Multiply pieces and was able to find the recipe.  I copied it over to Rhubarb & Ginger and then real life got in the way and I just didn't get around to blogging it properly.

So here I am fulfilling those good intentions of all those years ago - and getting on with it.  I think that really does take the biscuit for procrastination, but perhaps we should skip lightly over that.

Now because I've cooked the recipe several times, I have had the benefit of trying it with both salad and cooked vegetables.  I think - for all that the photographs are of the cooked vegetables version - my favourite version has to be the white rice and salad one.  The use of the marmalady sauce as a dressing through the salad (so note, not a lettucy salad as the sauce/dressing is warm and will wilt anything less robust than rocket, spinach or watercress far too quickly) is just such a satisfying thing.

This is one of those dishes that you think is going to taste one way - but then it turns out to taste completely different.  When imagining how it would taste, I forgot all about the garlic, chilli and thyme and the effect they would have.  Although, I do think that how it tastes depends entirely upon what marmalade you use.  If you go for a strongly flavoured, not so sweet one like the Oxford Vintage, then you'll wind up with a very strongly flavoured dish.  However, something like Golden Shred will give you a much sweeter end result that you may find requires a dash of lemon juice to add the required acidity and is perhaps better for a younger palate.  So in a way, you can tailor the results depending on what marmalade you use.  I reckon that Rose's Lime Marmalade would be awesome with a dash of lemon juice, lemon zest and a sprinkle of ground ginger - however, I haven't tried that thought yet!

Anyway, we thoroughly enjoyed it - and its a 100% definite do-it-again.

If you decide to go with the rice version and want to be totally cheffy, you can make mounds of rice by lightly oiling the inside of a cup and packing the rice into it. Turn it upside down and bingo - cheffy mounds of rice!

The cooked vegetable version is good (and probably better, as we're in December and it's frosty outdoors!) however I'd stick with veggies that are compatible with Chinese style food.  Things such as broccoli, green beans, carrots, peas - you can dress them up however you like, maybe add some chilli to your broccoli or (as I have done in the photographs), sesame seeds and a little butter to your green beans.  However, be sure that your family enjoy citrus flavours with their potatoes!  Not everyone enjoys this combination, although I think it's the proverbial bees knees.

Something else to bear in mind (I suppose these are the Cook's tips!) is the size of the pieces of peel in the marmalade, in relation to everyone's preference.  My friend Marion, for instance, would need a marmalade that was totally bereft of "fishes", as she calls them.  For me, the bigger the pieces, the better! 

So there you are.  Do have a go at this one - it's taken for ever to get to you and it really didn't deserve it!

STICKY MARMALADE CHICKEN    (feeds 3)

Ingredients :

3 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, each cut into 3 similar sized pieces
sea salt & black pepper
2-3 tbsp cornflour
1 tbsp olive oil
300ml chicken stock
1 garlic clove, chopped
1 chilli, chopped
4 tbsp fine-cut well flavoured orange marmalade
1 tsp fresh thyme leaves, or half a tsp dried
juice of a quarter of a lemon, if necessary, to taste.

Method :

1.  Place the chicken into a bowl and add the seasoning and cornflour.  Toss the chicken until liberally coated.

2.  Heat the oil in a frying pan and when hot, add the chicken pieces.  Fry for 8-10 mins,  until golden on all sides.

3.  Reduce the heat, add the garlic and chilli and cook for 1 minute more.

4.  Add the stock, marmalade and thyme.  Stir through until the marmalade has dissolved, then simmer for 5 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.  

5.  Remove the chicken and reserve to keep warm.

6.  Boil the mixture hard to reduce to a syrupy sauce, serve the chicken and pour the sauce over the chicken.

Printable version

Pasta Ratatouille Bake and how time flies!

I woke up this morning with two priorities in mind.  One was to bake some Muffins involving Quince in some way.  The other was to blog on the Ratatouille Bake we ate for dinner last night.

So far, it's got to 1.50pm and I've had a shower, had breakfast, been to Sainsbury's (extra-curricular trip, for flour), returned and caught up with my email whilst having a coffee, then had lunch, then had an extra-curricular trip to the Ashley Road to drop hubby off.  Only now, am I getting to one of those priorities.  Does this happen to everyone, or is it just me?

Yes, I could have got out of bed before 9 a.m. but I have been so totally dog-tired for the last two days that having a bit of a long sleep through was getting to be vital.  I'm always scared to become too tired, just in case - one day - my brain decides to melt as it did some 2 years ago when I had a mini stroke.  Don't want that to happen again, just in case next time it decides not to be mini!  Anyway.  Enough rambling about not having time - let's get on and tell you about the Pasta Ratatouille Bake.

I had tripped over this recipe on the Good Food Channel's website and it appealed to me for the following reasons :

1.  It provided three of your five-a-day vegetables in what appeared to be extremely palatable form;
2.  It used pasta, so was potentially a good alternative to using potatoes in a dish;
3.  It was oven baked with cheese melted over the top, which is very palatable for young Son.

I knew Son wouldn't enjoy the courgettes, but they were big enough for him to avoid.  I had hope that he would enjoy the broad beans, as they were a relatively new vegetable for him and, coming in frozen form, were easy to keep handy.

As it turned out, the dish was delicious and baked well with the pasta.  I used Spirali instead of the classic macaroni, largely because we already had some Spirali in the cupboard.  I also used Thyme instead of Basil, as my Basil plant had died over the last two days of sharp overnight frosts.  Even being kept in the kitchen didn't help it.  I admit that I also added a tablespoon of tomato ketchup to the sauce, just to add that little tang that the fresh tomato wasn't providing.  The last adjustment was that I grated over some sharp Cheddar cheese as well as the Parmesan, in order to up the cheese quota so as to appeal to Son.  The recipe makes a fair amount - way more than would feed 4 people - but nil desperandum as it made a lovely lunch the following day.

PASTA RATATOUILLE BAKE  (feeds 5-6)

Ingredients :

200g pasta (Spirali or Macaroni are good)
2 tbsp olive oil
2 medium onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried basil
4 medium tomatoes, chopped
2 courgettes, sliced (you may need 3, depending on how many you're feeding & the size of the courgettes.  Mine were big!)
200g broad beans (fresh, frozen or tinned)
1 tbps tomato ketchup
125ml vegetable stock (from a cube is fine, just don't add too much extra salt)
25g parmesan cheese, grated
10g sharp cheddar cheese, grated

Method :

1.  Preheat the oven to 180deg c/gas mark 4.

2.  Cook the pasta according to the instructions given on the packet and drain.

3.  Meanwhile, in a deep frying pan, heat the oil and cook the onion for 5-10 mins, until it's tender and golden.

4.  Add the garlic for the last 2-3 minutes and cook through.

5.  Stir in the herbs, tomatoes, courgettes, beans, stock, tomato ketchup and seasoning and simmer for 5 minutes.

6.  Combine the pasta with the vegetables and stir gently, then decant into a warmed casserole dish.

7.  Grate the cheese over the top, then oven-bake for 30-35 mins.

Excellent served with Sausages, Gammon, Pork Chops.