All in One - English Chicken Supper

This is a very straight forward healthy, nutritious and warming recipe which requires little expertise, if any at all! It can be prepared in advance and left to be cooked later. It comes halfway between a soup and a stew with its drinkable like flavourful broth alongside steamy soft root veggies and tender chicken.
A wonderfully warm aroma surrounds the home during cooking and really helps to restore and revive the self during these cold winter months.
An hour or longer is needed in the oven to cook this, but the bonus is that little fuss and attention is required. A perfectly English winter dish to be served after a long hard days work in the cold.

You will have to forgive some of my pictures as I was not able to alter them..but hopefully you will get a good idea. Please note: just a slight warning to those who attempt to tilt heads this way and that, trying to see the pictures in their right-way-up state (I don't want necks to crick and click because of my pics!)

Serves 6-8 hungry people with fresh Crusty bread or Rolls
 

You will need:
1 Medium Chicken, skinned and cut into 8 or so convenient size pieces
OR
A chicken Thigh per person (I think thigh is best for this recipe)

Veggies:
2 Carrots, 2 Parsnips, 2 Celery sticks, 1 large Leek, small bowl of Brussels Sprouts, 2 Onions- Washed, cleaned, Peeled if necessary and chopped into large chunks, about 1-2 inch pieces. 

4 large Potatoes, (Potatoes should be cut to the thickness of a £1 coin.)

2/3 cup of Pearl Barley, boiled till soft
5-6 cups Water or Vegetable/Chicken Stock (remember stock cubes will add saltiness to a dish)
1 tsp Salt & enough Pepper to your taste
1/2 tsp mixed Dried Herbs
2 Bay Leaf
Oil (Olive) to Braise


1 Large Pot
2 Large Baking Trays- 1 deep enough to hold everything, and another to cover (like a lid) during cooking.

How to Prepare & Cook:

 

1. Begin by braising the chicken in the large pot with a good glug of Olive Oil, and season with 1/2 tsp salt and pepper. Braise until the chicken has browned nicely all over on a high heat. The chicken doesn't necessarily need to be cooked through completely
Carefully remove chicken from pot, leaving behind any excess oil in the pot. Arrange chicken on baking tray.

2. Next, adding more Olive Oil if necessary, braise the prepared vegetables (not including potatoes!) in the same pot that chicken was braised in. Season with remaining 1/2 tsp salt and pepper to your taste. Continue to cook on high for about 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally till the vegetables have touches of golden here and there and the onions have become a little translucent.

3. Throw the vegetables over chicken, including any remaining oil from pot, and add the cooked barley, herbs, Bay Leaf to the tray. If using stock cubes, seasoning should be checked, as stock cubes tend to add saltiness. However you may want to season a little more with salt and pepper if using water.

4. Layer the thinly sliced potatoes over the top of everything. Gradually pour over the water or stock till the pot is almost full. Cover with the other baking tray and place in oven, on a high shelf Gas Mark 5 and leave for at least 45 minutes. After 45 minutes check to see if potatoes have softened, and then remove the lid and bake for another 15 minutes still the potatoes have become crispy and golden.

Baking by others..

Here are a few pictures I wanted to share with you. I didn't actually bake any of these myself. All Credit and Courtesy go to my mum and sis. Although!.. having said that,  I did watch and gave a few suggestions here and there.. AND I helped to decorate some of the mini cakes..*grin*

These are my sisters biscuits. Whenever someone has done us a favour, we often repay them with a tray or plate of some home-baked cakes or bikkies. Its our way of saying a big thank you and hug all in one!

Although, I have been encouraging my sister to experiment a bit more. The twisted biscuits were creation of my imagination. (..yes I'm still trying to involve myself somehow)

These little mini cakes were made using the Petit Four cases. They are ideal for little kiddie parties.

We wanted to brighten the cakes up to appeal to kids, but also I was baring in mind that artificial colourings are not the best thing to be feeding our children with. So, to minimize this, we put the tiniest blob of icing, and dipped them into 'Hundreds & Thousands'. Minimally decorated, yet still fun and pretty.

Finally these were the Pumpkin Cupcakes my sister attempted to make. They were made in batches as we were trying out this recipe for the first time, and secondly, we were using a rubber muffin mould. The cupcakes above were the first batch of 6. Upon tasting them, we found them incredibly sweet, so batch after batch the recipe was adjusted and adjusted to the point of destruction! lol But the above pic shows the first batch of well made pumpkin cupcakes - that's all you need to see.

We have a kids party to cook and bake for this coming Saturday. My sis plans to make cute mini cakes like the ones above and biscuits with the Arabic lettering on them (for fun and educational purposes). Will update with pics of those soon enough. I have still to decide what I will be making.

Pasta with Broccoli

Here is a quick pasta dish I whipped up for lunch. Most pasta dishes are fairly easy to make, usually quick to prepare and more importantly filling for hungry tums. Easy, tasty comfort food at your service!
It was a recipe of total improvisation, with a vague result in mind.

What I used:
1 tin tomatoes
5 - 6 large broccoli florets, broken into small pieces
1 Leek, thickly sliced
1 large onion sliced
1 tbls garlic butter (or 1-2 garlic cloves, crushed)
Olive Oil
salt & pepper
small drop of tabasco
1 tbls of Morrocon spices (a mixture of cinnamon, ginger, cloves, garlic, salt, sugar)
1 tbls heaped Cream cheese with chives
Brie or normal cheddar cheese to add when serving.
Pasta shells.

How to make:

1. Begin by boiling the pasta in plenty of salted water till just done, with a bit of 'chew' still in it. Drain and return to its pot for the time being.
2. Lightly saute Leeks in a little oil on a medium heat till starting to soften. Remove.

3. Add more olive oil to pan and the garlic butter (or crushed garlic) along with the onions. Saute till softened.
4. Add tin tomatoes, leeks, broccoli, spices, tabasco and cream cheese to pan and heat to a simmer, and continue cooking till broccoli is still s little crunchy.
5. Mix the sauce through the pasta and serve immediately. Top with the brie or prefered cheese and consume...hmmm!

Eid Requests?

I would love to hear about the interesting food you enjoy on special occasions like that of Eid. Every culture has unique cuisines and dishes. The excitement it brings to the family and friends who anticipate its aroma and taste on such special occasions and festivals gives the cooks and chefs a special sense of satisfaction.

Pumpkin Milkshake!

Sound Strange? Well, even more surprisingly Pumpkin Milkshake tastes delicious! Its extremely simple to make, and it has a lovely nutty, almost almond-y taste to it.
 I actually followed a traditional South African recipe from a good old favourite recipe book called Indian Delights for this drink. My mum had picked up a pumpkin for literally pennies because of Halloween (not that we celebrate Halloween).
Typically, most chefs and cooks will tell you not to bother cooking with a pumpkin that is specifically grown for Halloween, because, I guess they are grown so big that they will not taste quite as good as the culinary grown types. However, we (i.e. the family) went straight against the chefs opinions and we all experimented in some way or another by cooking with this huge pumpkin we had on our hands!
The things we did with the pumpkin:
Day 1. I made a spicey pumpkin and lamb stew (like a thin curry) which was YUM!.. (sorry no pics)
Day 2. Next day, I made the Roasted Vegetables to go with cannelloni and leftover Sausage and Bean Casserole
Day 3. I went for the usual, and made a Pumpkin soup (sadly I didn't get round to taking photos of it)..
Day 4. My sister made Pumpkin Cakes (pics to come soon) and I made Pumpkin Milkshake (recipe below)..
Day 5. My mum made a Roast Dinner (sorry! no pics yet again) and a Pumpkin Pie (recipe soon to come)...
...and we STILL have more of the pumpkin left!
(p.s. if anyone is interested I will happily provide you with a recipe for any of the above I did not have pics for..just leave a comment or send me a message)

For this yummy milkshake you will need:
1 litre Milk
2 elachi (cardamom pods) split
3/4 cup of grated pumpkin
sugar to taste
1 tbls custard powder (midway through making  this I realised I didn't have custard powder, so I just made it without)
(To turn this into an Eid drink -see below for optional extras)

How to make:
1. Begin by placing the grated pumpkin in a liquidizer and just enough milk to allow the mixture to whizz and blend together smoothly.
2. Pour the pumpkin and all the milk into a saucepan with the elachi pods and bring to the boil. Reduce to a simmer under a low heat for 20 minutes.
3. Add sugar according to how sweet you like your drinks to be. (I added 4-5 heaped teaspoons which makes it quite sweet for sweet loving taste buds)
4. Once you are happy withe sugar content, blend the custart powder with a little cold milk or water, then add this to the simmering milk. Stir continuously till misture has thickened and the milk has begun to bubble again.
Allow to cool completely before refrigerating. 

Optional: 
Eid Milk drink:
Leave out custard powder..
From step 2: Add 1-2 tsp of finely chopped nuts such as Pistachios and Almonds; 1-2 chopped dried dates; and 1 tsp grated coconut; 1 tsp raisins
At step 3: Add 3-4 tbls fine (roasted) vermicelli and cook until done.
Serve warm.

Roasted Vegetables

These roasted veggies can be made to go with Roast Lamb, Chicken, Beef or Sausages etc. Or you can have it with any other dish you fancy, for example pasta dishes. Or another good thing that can be done with these, is to make a soup out of the leftover veggies. It takes on a lovely roasted flavour.

Then, you can add whatever flavouring, herbs you like to suite the main dish you intend making.
For example, a sprinkling of spices, such as chilli powder, cumin seeds, ground coriander, etc. Or, you can stick to more Mediterranean herbs, like oregano, thyme. If you are cooking to go with chicken, you can add a Bay leaf. If for lamb, maybe rosemary. Whatever takes your mood.

What you will need:
2 Parsnips
2 Carrots
8 oz Pumpkin
1 stick Celery
2 medium Potatoes
6-7 small Onions ( OR 2 large onions.
Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper
Bay Leaf.
(See below for variations)

1. Begin by preparing all your veggies. Wash and peel the carrots, parsnips, pumpkin. Wash potatoes (you can leave skin on or peel), wash celery and peel onions.
2. If using small onions, leave whole. If using large onions, cut into quarters. Chop all the vegetables into 1 inch cubes or chunks.
3. Bring a large pot of water to the boil, and add the carrots, parsnips, celery and pumpkin. Boil for 5 to 8 minutes so that they are only partly cooked. A knife should just about go through halfway, but still feel a little hardness in the center. Drain these veggies and set aside.
4. Meanwhile, you can either cook the potatoes in the same water used for the veggies, saving on water and salt, or you can cook them in a separate pan. The difference is, the potatoes may need a bit longer, till they are very nearly done. Drain well.
5. Drizzle a roasting tin with a little olive oil. Add all the veggies, including the still uncooked onions. Drizzle more olive oil over the vegetables, and sprinkle lightly with salt, pepper and herbs.
6. Place roasting tin in an oven preheated to Gas Mark 5, and roast for 20-30 minutes, till golden and crisp. Remember to toss the vegetables once halfway through cooking.
 

Add caption

Variation:
Italian/Mediterranean.
You can simply substitute the root veggies for ones like, peppers, courgettes, aubergines, mushrooms and tomatoes. You will not need to boil them beforehand, simple chuck the lot into a roasting tray and drizzle with olive oil. Here, you can add herbs like thyme, oregano which work perfectly with these veggies.
You can even try making a lasagne with these vegetables. Just add a tin of tomatoes half way through cooking and continue cooking till tomatoes have reduced a little.

Sausage & Bean Casserole

Today I was in the mood to try something different, something I hadn't cooked before, something rich and warming. My mum had taken a few sausages that were in the freezer, but not enough for everyone..so as usual, i went about searching for a sausage recipe, not to follow to the T but rather, as inspiration to an ultimate goal. So here is the final result of my search and adaptions. A truly rich and warming meal, either to be served and scooped up with chunks of your favourite bread, or hot crispy jacket potatoes.




Ingredients:
1 Onion,diced
1 Carrot, diced
1 medium Courgette, diced
1 small Yellow Pepper, diced
5 Sausages, each cut into 4 small pieces
1 tin of peeled Plum tomatoes (you can use chopped)
1 tin of Pinto Beans in water (or any bean you have)
1 tin of Baked Beans in Tomato Sauce
1 cup water (or stock)
Salt & Pepper
1/2 tsp herbs
1 Bay Leaf
1 tsp each of tomato ketchup & brown sauce

To make:
1. Begin by cooking the sausages in a little oil in a pan on the stove till nicely browned. Remove from pan.
2.In the same pan, fry the onion for 1 minute, then add other vegetables. Fry for a further 5 minutes.
3. Add Baked Beans, Pinto Beans, Tinned Tomatoes, and 1 cup water. Season to taste, and add herbs & bay leaf.
4. Next, transfer the contents of the pot to a oven proof dish or casserole pot, which has a lid. Add sausages to casserole dish.
5. Place casserole dish in a preheated oven, at gas Mark 2 and leave for 30 minutes, or longer depending on how reduced you like the casserole to be. The casserole may thicken. If too thick, add a little boiled water and heat through before serving.