Tag: chicken

Chicken burgers

~ Sophie ~ Leave a comment

Crunchy and tasty. Stick it in a toasted brioche bun with lashings of sriracha, mayo, sliced gherkins and a couple of baby gem lettuce leaves. With the obligatory coleslaw and sweet potato wedges on the side. Makes 4.

  • 500g minced chicken
  • 2 slices of white bread
  • 150ml milk
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • Salt and pepper
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 2 tbsp parsley, finely chopped
  • Zest of ½ a lemon
  • 150g or so of dried breadcrumbs
  • Veg oil
  1. Soak the bread in the milk for 10 mins
  2. Put the mince in a bowl, add the egg, milk and bread mixture, and season with salt
  3. Mix thoroughly, cover and pop in the fridge for 10 mins
  4. Make into 4 burger shapes (or more, if you want little burgers!)
  5. Mix the breadcrumbs, garlic, lemon zest and parsley. Season and mix again
  6. Tip onto a plate and coat the burgers with the zesty breadcrumbs
  7. Heat veg oil in a large non-stick frying pan and fry for 5 mins on each side until golden brown, crunchy and cooked through

Chicken with saffron and yoghurt

~ Sophie ~ 2 Comments

Sunshine in a chicken dish. Perfect for a summer lunch with friends.

  • 8 chicken thigh fillets
  • 1 onion
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 1 green chilli (with or without seeds, your call)
  • 2 tbsp ras el hanout
  • 2 tsp salt
  • ½ tsp turmeric
  • Zest of 1 lemon
  • 1 pinch saffron strands
  • 200g plain yoghurt
  • 1 whole orange, skin left on and cut into slices
  • Salt and pepper
  1. Whizz up the onion, garlic and chilli. Mix with all the other ingredients except the chicken and orange to make the marinade
  2. Dunk the chicken into the marinade, massage in, then cover and put in the fridge for at least an hour (up to 24)
  3. When ready to cook, pre-heat oven to 200C fan (220C)
  4. Slice the orange and place it on the bottom of a roasting tin as a bed for the chicken thighs
  5. Roast for 20 mins, turning halfway through. Serve with the orange slices and jewelled rice

Alternatively, cook this chicken under the grill or on the barbecue. Chargrill orange wedges to squeeze over when you serve

Chicken paprikash

~ Sophie ~ Leave a comment

A favourite of my mum’s, a nod to (some) of my heritage and a great option for a family meal. Creamy, nourishing, lightly spiced, it’s so much more than the sum of its parts. Feeds 2. DELICIOUS.

  • 4 skinless, boneless chicken thighs
  • 1 heaped tbsp plain flour
  • Salt and black pepper
  • 1 tbsp veg oil
  • 1 tbsp butter
  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1½ tbsp paprika
  • Pinch of hot paprika
  • 2 tomatoes, chopped
  • 300ml chicken stock
  • 3 tbsp sour cream
  1. Mix flour, salt and pepper in a shallow bowl and dredge the chicken through this mixture
  2. Heat veg oil in a deep frying pan over medium heat
  3. When the oil is hot, fry the thigh fillets on both sides until browned (but not necessarily cooked through) and then remove and put on one side
  4. Turn the heat down and melt the butter
  5. Add the onion and fry gently until softened.
  6. Throw in the garlic and give it another couple of mins
  7. Then add the paprika and chopped tomatoes, stir in and continue frying until the tomatoes start to soften
  8. Pour over the chicken stock and stir thoroughly to combine
  9. Bring to the boil and place the chicken thighs back into the pan
  10. Reduce the heat and simmer for about 10 mins
  11. Stir through the sour cream, turn off the heat and season

Serve on some nutty brown rice with long stem broccoli or cucumber salad. You will thank me.

Chicken and chorizo stew

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A happy marriage of Spanish flavours. Hearty, rich and contented. All you need to serve with it is a chunk of crusty bread to dip into the sauce and a large glass of red wine. Feeds 4

  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 8 chicken thighs (with bones or without, up to you)
  • 100g chorizo, chopped into pieces
  • 2 onions, finely chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 250ml dry sherry
  • 400ml chicken stock
  • 1 tin chopped tomatoes
  • 1 tin cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • 2 tsp paprika
  • ½ tsp dried thyme
  • ½ tsp sugar
  • Salt and pepper
  1. Heat the oil in a casserole dish over high heat and brown the chicken on both sides
  2. Remove from pan, turn heat down to medium and add the chorizo
  3. Once browned, add onions and cook for 5-10 mins over low heat until cooked through
  4. Pour in the sherry and bubble, stirring to loosen the brown bits from the bottom of the pan
  5. Add the stock, tomatoes, sugar, herbs and spices.
  6. Bring to the boil and then simmer with the lid on for 20 mins. Uncover, stir in the cannellini beans and cook for further 20-30 mins until the sauce is thickened and lovely
  7. Serve with stir fried garlic spinach on the side if you want something green with it

Tom kha kai soup

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Thai chicken and coconut soup. Surely as good for fixing coughs and sneezes as traditional Jewish chicken soup. Pale and soothing in appearance, extremely comforting, but also aromatic and exciting to eat – the perfect balance of salt, sweet, sour and spicy.

  • 125g chicken breast, sliced into strips around 5mm thick
  • 100g cherry tomatoes, halved (optional)
  • 50g little button mushrooms, halved (optional)
  • 1 stalk of lemongrass, bashed with the back of a knife then cut into 3
  • 3 cm piece of fresh ginger, cut into 6 pieces
  • 4 lime leaves, torn in half (can substitute 1 tbsp lime juice
  • 1 red birdseye chilli, cut in half
  • 1 tin coconut milk
  • 250ml water
  • 2 tbsp lemon juice
  • 1 tbsp fish sauce
  • ¼ tsp sugar
  • Fresh coriander
  1. Put the coconut milk and water in a large saucepan on a medium heat for a couple of minutes but don’t let it boil. If it shows signs of boiling, just turn it down
  2. Add the lemongrass, ginger, lime leaves, chilli, mushrooms and tomatoes, stir in and cook for another 2 mins
  3. Add the chicken strips and cook on medium heat for 5 mins until they’re cooked through. Again, turn it down if it looks as though it might boil.
  4. Add the lemon juice, fish sauce and sugar and cook for another minute. Taste for seasoning.
  5. Totally optionally, this is the stage when you would pick out the lemongrass, lime leaves, ginger and chilli
  6. Serve straight away with fresh coriander leaves sprinkled over the top

Chicken stock in the slow cooker

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I always try to make stock after we have a roast chicken, and the slow cooker is the simplest way to do it. It’s so satisfying to make something delicious and useful (and easy!) from a thing that would otherwise be thrown away.

  • Chicken carcass, broken into a few pieces
  • 1 onion, cut into quarters (could be the onion from inside the chicken if you did that with your roast)
  • 1 carrot, cut into 4 pieces (don’t worry about peeling it)
  • 1 stick celery, cut into 4
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 6 or so black peppercorns
  • Other bits if you have them in the fridge – parsley stalks, leek tops, spring onion trimmings
  1. Stick everything into the slow cooker, cover with boiling water and set on low for 6 hours (although longer is fine if you’re out all day). Go and do something else.
  2. Sieve the now pale golden stock, ideally through muslin to catch the tiny bits

That’s it. 2 steps and you’re done. Use it in soup, risotto, orzotto, casserole, freeze it for later, whatever.

You can adjust the flavourings of the stock however you like. Instead of parsley and bay leaves, add any combination that goes with what you plan to cook – fresh herbs, garlic, fresh ginger, a cinnamon stick, star anise, chilli flakes.

Chicken and sweetcorn soup

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A takeaway favourite, surprisingly simple to make at home and doubly delicious. Feeds 4

  • 1.2 litres decent chicken stock
  • 300g sweetcorn (fresh, frozen or tinned) – or a combination of creamed corn and whole kernals
  • 1 tbsp of shaoxing rice wine
  • 2 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • ¼ tsp white pepper
  • 2 tsp cornflour blended with 2 tsp water
  • 250g cooked, shredded chicken
  • 1 egg whisked with 1 tsp sesame oil
  • Spring onions, finely sliced
  1. Bring the stock to the boil in a large pan
  2. Add the sweetcorn, lower the heat and simmer gently for 10 mins
  3. Add the shaoxing, soy sauce, sugar and pepper and stir through. Taste and add salt if needed
  4. Pour in the cornflour slurry and whisk in
  5. Bring the soup back to the boil and then turn down to a simmer
  6. Add the chicken and then, in a steady stream, pour in the egg mixture. It will set as it hits the broth and give you those lovely trailing tails of egg through the soup
  7. Serve immediately, sprinkled with spring onion

Moroccan chicken and cous cous

~ Sophie ~ Leave a comment

A fragrant, gently spiced, one-pot dish. Makes a straighforward, comforting, warming weeknight dinner when you’re feeling a bit tired and emotional. Feeds 4

  • 6-8 boned chicken thighs (with or without skin, up to you)
  • 2 tsp turmeric
  • 1 tbsp garam masala
  • 1 tbsp veg oil
  • Salt
  • 2 onions, finely sliced
  • 4 garlic cloves, sliced
  • 2 large carrots, cut into chunky slices
  • 1 red pepper, cut into pieces
  • Handful of dried apricots, chopped into quarters
  • 500ml chicken stock
  • 1 preserved lemon, flesh discarded, skin finely chopped (don’t worry if you haven’t got this, just leave it out)
  • Handful of green olives, left whole
  • ½ lemon, juiced and zested
  • 250g cous cous
  • Handful of pine nuts, toasted
  • Bunch of flat leaf parsley, chopped
  1. Mix the spices and a couple of big pinches of salt in a small bowl
  2. Coat the chicken in half of this spice mix
  3. Heat oil in a big saucepan with a lid and fry the chicken (skin side down first) until brown on both sides. You’ll need to do this in batches.
  4. Remove from the pan and set to one side
  5. Add the onions and garlic to the pan and cook for a couple of mins, stirring them together until coated with the spiced oil
  6. Add the red pepper and carrots and cook for another couple of mins
  7. Tip in the other half of the spice mix and the dried apricots. Stir together and cook for 1 min
  8. Pour over the chicken stock, add the preserved lemon and olives. Stir to combine everything, scraping any brown bits off the bottom of the pan
  9. Bring to the boil, then nestle the chicken on top, (skin-side up if your chicken has skin)
  10. Turn the heat down to a low simmer, stick the lid on and cook for 30 mins
  11. Turn the heat off, take the chicken out and stir in the lemon juice, zest and cous cous
  12. Cover the pan and leave to stand for 5 mins
  13. Fluff the lovely, yellow cous cous and stir through the parsley and pine nuts
  14. Serve with the chicken on top, crowned with a dollop of harissa yogurt (3 tbsp plain yogurt + 1 tsp harissa paste)

This recipe is very forgiving. Which is what you need when you’re feeling a bit tired. Go ahead and add more of what you like, less of what you don’t. Don’t use olives. Change the meat. Don’t use meat at all. Add other root veg – celeriac or baby turnips work well – or runner beans. Exchange the apricots for prunes. Whatever suits.

Ham jambalaya

~ Sophie ~ Leave a comment

Quite a long list of ingredients, but quick and simple to make. Warming, highly-flavoured, tasty.

  • 2 tbsp veg oil
  • 125g chicken mini fillets
  • 125g smoked sausage/kabanos, sliced
  • 125g smoked ham, cubed
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 1 red pepper, chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 pieces celery, chopped
  • 1 large green chilli
  • 2 tbsp tomato puree
  • 1 tin tomatoes
  • 300ml chicken stock
  • ½ tsp hot smoked paprika
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • ½ tsp black pepper
  • 1 tsp oregano
  • ½ tsp thyme
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 200g long-grain white rice
  • Fresh parsley, chopped
  1. Heat veg oil in deep lidded frying pan
  2. Add onion, garlic, peppers, chilli and celery and cook until translucent and soft
  3. Add tomato puree, stir in and cook for a minute
  4. Pour in the stock and stir until all combined thoroughly, scraping all the brown bits off the bottom of the pan
  5. Add the seasoning, tinned tomatoes, sugar and salt. Put lid on and cook over low-medium heat for 10 mins.
  6. Add the rice, ham and sausage, combining thoroughly
  7. Place chicken fillets on top and push them just under the surface of the liquid
  8. Put the lid on and cook for 20 mins
  9. Once it’s all cooked, slice up chicken, spinkle in chopped parsley and stir together

Serve with garlic sauteed spinach

Bang bang chicken

~ Sophie ~ Leave a comment

A joyful salad! Will make your mouth giggle with happily contrasting flavours and textures. Spicy, peanutty, crunchy, fresh and lovely.

  • 2 chicken breasts, poached and then allowed to go cold. (To poach the chicken, use 2 tbsp soy sauce and water to cover. Add ginger slices, a garlic clove and lemongrass to flavour the liquid. Put chicken into the pan, bring to the boil and then simmer for 10 mins)
  • Large handful of cashew nuts, toasted
  • Cooked, fine rice noodles
  • Finely sliced salad veg including cucumber, carrot, radishes, spring onion, cabbage, mange tout and bean sprouts
  • Red chilli, finely sliced
  • 4 tbsp rice vinegar
  • 2 tbsp soy sauce
  • Fresh coriander leaves
  • 1 tbsp veg oil
  • 1 clove garlic, grated
  • 1 tsp grated ginger
  • ½ tsp dried chilli flakes
  • 1 heaped tbsp brown sugar
  • 3 heaped tbsp crunchy peanut butter
  • 1 tbsp tahini/sesame paste
  • 1 tbsp light soy sauce
  • Juice of ½ lime
  • 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
  • 100-150ml water
  1. Make the salad by shredding the chicken and prepping the veg. Cook and cool the noodles
  2. For the sauce, heat the oil gently in a small pan. Add garlic, ginger and chilli flakes and cook until just starting to colour
  3. Add brown sugar, tahini, peanut butter, soy sauce and lime juice and warm through until sugar is dissolved
  4. Loosen with the water and, once it’s got to pourable consistency, take off the heat and stir through the sesame oil
  5. Place salad and noodles on a plate, drizzle with the rice vinegar and soy sauce and toss through. Then top with the chicken shreds and cashew nuts. Dress with the peanut sauce and garnish with fresh coriander and red chilli