Tag Archives: Main courses

Food Monday ~ Lazy Baked Chicken

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Lazy Baked Chicken
Preheat the oven to 190ºC

1 lb Chicken breasts diced
½ Green Pepper diced
½ Yellow Pepper diced
1 lb Broccoli cut in florets
1 Carrot diced
I Onion chopped
1 leek sliced
2 sticks of celery
vegetable oil
balsamic vinegar
white wine (optional)
salt & freshly ground black pepper
Grated cheese for topping

Brown the chicken pieces on either side. Dice the vegetables & onion and place in the bottom of an ovenproof dish.  Season with salt & pepper, add a dash of vegetable oil and balsamic vinegar and a dash of white wine if you have it.  Lay the browned chicken breasts on top and sprinkle with the grated cheese.  Bake in the oven for 20 – 25 minutes.
Serve with baked potatoes or pasta.

Food Monday ~ Sweet & Sour Pork

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Sweet & Sour Pork
Serves 5-6 people

1 kilo pork fillet, cubed
1 medium onion, sliced
15mls tomato purée
30mls soy sauce
300mls vinegar
600mls water
300mls pineapple juice
50g brown sugar
2 carrots, cut in batons
½ red and ½ green pepper, chopped
10mls parsley, finely chopped
25g chopped cucumber
2 apples cored and chopped
seasoning
cornflour to thicken
small tin pineapple chunks
10ml vegetable oil for frying

Heat the oil in a pan and fry the pork. Add the onion and cook for 3-4 mins.
Add tomato purée and stir.
Add soy sauce, vinegar, water, pineapple juice and sugar. Bring to the boil and thicken with the cornflour dissolved in a little cold water.
Reduce the heat and simmer until the meat is cooked.
Add the chopped parsley, fruit & vegetables, cook for a further 5-7 minutes.
Serve with boiled rice.

Food Monday ~ Coronation Chicken

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With the summer finally here and the hype all around for the Diamond Jubilee, I combine both with a cold dish that is my version of Coronation Chicken.

Coronation Chicken
Preheated oven to 180°C

For the Marinade:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 bunch flat leaf parsley
1 bulb garlic, finely chopped
2 shallots, finely chopped
10 ml medium Curry Powder
Salt & fresh ground black pepper to season
1 to taste nutmeg
500g chicken breast cut to bite sized pieces

For the dressing:
3 fluid ounces creme fraiche
90 ml mayonnaise
1-2 limes, zest and juice
3 inches fresh ginger root finely grated
30 ml Mango Chutney
50g Sultanas

To Garnish:
50g flaked almonds

Mix the marinade ingredients together in a shallow dish. Add the chicken and toss well to coat thoroughly. Cover and refrigerate for 2-3 hours or overnight.

Lift the chicken with a slotted spoon and drain excess liquid.  Spread in a single layer on a prepared roasting tin and season with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Drizzle over olive oil.
Roast in a preheated oven at 180°C for 25 minutes, baste occasionally until the chicken is cooked through. Leave to cool completely.

To make dressing, place creme fraiche, mayonnaise, lime juice and zest in a bowl. Peel and grate the ginger,  add 2 teaspoons of the lime juice to the dressing. Stir, cover and chill in the refrigerator until chicken is cooked and cold.

Combine the chicken and dressing, add the Mango Chutney and sultanas adjust the seasoning, and refrigerate.

Garnish with the flaked almonds and serve with boiled new potatoes and green salad.
Serves 4-6

Variations: Use as a filling for individual precooked pastry cases or as a sandwich filler.

Food Monday ~ Ground Beef Noodle & Sour Cream

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Ground Beef Noodle & Sour Cream
Serves 3

½ oz butter
1 small onion finely chopped
8 ozs beef mince
4 ozs tagliatelle*
½ teaspoon celery salt
12 fl ozs tomato juice
Pinch thyme
Pepper & Salt
1 tsp worcestershire sauce
5 ozs sour cream

Heat Butter in a large pan, add onion and cook until soft.  Add meat and brown.  Meanwhile cook noodles to directions on packet drain and refresh with cold running water.  Spread cooked noodles over Meat and add tomato juice, celery salt, and thyme, Worcestershire sauce, salt & pepper.  Cover and simmer for about 30 mins stirring occasionally.  Stir in sour cream.
Serve with bread & side salad.

* Spellchecker didn’t like my use of Tagliatelle. It suggested Taleteller – It knows me too well. 😆

Food Monday ~ Sweet & Sour Chicken

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Sweet & Sour Chicken
Preheat oven to 200ºC      Serves 4

1 onion chopped
½ green pepper sliced
½ yellow pepper sliced
1 carrot diced
few green beans (optional)
1 lb chicken breasts diced
8 oz can pineapple chunks drained (reserve juice)

Sauce
1 tablespoon cornflour
1 tablespoon caster sugar
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon orange juice
1 tablespoon tomato sauce
1 tablespoon sherry
Juice from pineapple
dash worcester sauce
seasoning to taste

Mix all sauce ingredients together.  Set aside.

Fry onions until soft.  Add peppers, carrot and beans and cook for a few minutes.  Remove from pan and keep hot.  Seal chicken in the pan and then layer chicken with Vegetables and pineapple in a casserole dish.  Pour over sauce, cover and cook at 200ºC for ten minutes, then reduce oven to 190ºC for 30 minutes.  Test and season to taste.  Serve with wild rice.

Food Monday ~ Duck Parcels

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Duck Parcels
Preheat the oven to 200°C

1 shallot, chopped
2 ribs celery, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1 teaspoon dill
4 slices bacon or pancetta, chopped
2 duck breasts
salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 cooked beetroot (not pickled)
375g puff pastry *
A little beaten egg.

Place the chopped shallot, celery, carrot, dill and bacon or pancetta in a bowl and mix together.
Slice the beetroot and set aside.
Remove the skin from the duck breasts and discard.  Wash &dry the meat and season with salt & pepper.
Cut the pastry into four pieces a little larger than a duck breast.  Brush two pieces of the pastry with beaten egg and divide the vegetable mixture between them leaving  a border round the edge, place a duck breast on top of each. Divide the beetroot slices between them, placing them on top of the duck.  Brush the other two pieces of pastry with the egg and place egg side down on top to form a parcel. Seal round the edges with a fork. Brush over the top of each parcel with egg and put a couple of slits along the top.
Place on a greased baking tray and bake for 30 minutes or until dark golden in colour.
Serve with a spicy sauce, fantail roast potatoes and a green salad.

This spicy sauce recipe came with a bottle of Cassis and works well with the parcels.

Spicy Sauce

1 teaspoon butter
1 shallot
50 ml cassis
150 ml red wine
1 bay leaf
1 cinnamon stick
50g butter chilled

Melt a teaspoon of butter over low heat and add the chopped shallot. Stir gently for about 5 minutes to soften, add the cassis and simmer to reduce to about 1 tablespoonful.  Add the wine, bay leaf and cinnamon stick and simmer again until reduced by half.  Remove the bay leaf and cinnamon stick.  Cube the butter and add to the sauce a little at a time, stirring constantly.
Season and serve immediately.

* I use ready rolled

Food Monday ~ Pan Roasted Duck with Cherry Sauce

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Pan Roasted Duck with Cherry Sauce
Preheat the oven to 200ºC

4 duck breasts
400ml white wine
4 tablespoon olive oil
4 tablespoon caster sugar
4 tablespoon cornflour
24 cherries, stones removed
salt and pepper

Rub the duck breasts on both sides with olive oil, salt and pepper.  Place them in a frying pan skin side down.  Cook for five minutes.  Pour off any excess fat, turn the duck breasts over and cook for 15 minutes.

To make the sauce:

Place the cherries in a pan and cook with the sugar and the wine.  Blend the cornflour with a tablespoon of water until smooth then add to the cherries in the pan and continue to cook for I further minute.

Food Monday ~ Terrine of Chicken & Ham

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Terrine of Chicken & Ham.

1 lb lean ham or bacon.
1 small/medium chicken
½ bottle of white wine or 350 mls dry cider
2 cloves of garlic
1 small onion, chopped
2 bay leaves
Sprig Rosemary
2 or 3 tablespoons fresh parsley
Salt & black pepper
Half a sachet of gelatine (opt.)

Line a loaf tin 9” x 5” x 3” with food wrap.  A damp cloth may help to press it into the corners.

Cut the ham into small chunks and put into a bowl of cold water for an hour.
Divide the chicken into four to six sections for easier cooking.
Put into a wide saucepan and add the drained ham.  Pour in the wine or cider, adding the onion garlic and herbs except the parsley.
Cover and bring to the boil. Simmer gently until tender – about 1½ hours, ensure the liquid doesn’t evaporate.
Lift out the meat and discard the bones and skin.
Finely chop the chicken and the ham.  Blitz half of the meat in a food processor to give a combination of smooth and chunky textures in the finished dish.

Mix the meats in a bowl, adding the chopped parsley.  Add about 200 mls of the cooking liquid to the meats.  For a firmer set  dissolve the gelatine in the cooking juices before adding to the meats.  Pour into the prepared tin and chill for a few hours or overnight,
When completely set, turn out the terrine and cut in slices with a sharp knife.
Serve with salads.

Food Monday ~ Lamb Steaks & Crunchy Rosti

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Lamb Steaks & Crunchy Rosti

4 lamb steaks
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
Salt & ground black pepper
4 tablespoons oil
1 glass red wine
150ml lamb stock
Sprigs of flat leaf parsley for garnish

For the Rosti:

2 large waxy potatoes, peeled
½ onion, peeled and finely chopped
1 egg, beaten
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh parsley

Spread the steaks with mustard and garlic and season with black pepper.  Leave for 20 minutes.

Grate peeled potatoes and put into a bowl with the onion.  Add beaten egg, then chopped parsley and season.  Heat half the oil in a pan and fry dessert spoons of potato and onion mix until browned on both sides and cooked through.  Remove from pan and keep warm.

Heat the remaining oil in pan and cook lamb steaks to preference.  Remove from the pan and keep warm.  Add wine and stock to the pan.  Bring to the boil then simmer until reduced by half.  Season.  Arrange lamb steaks on rosti, pour over juice and garnish with sprigs of flat parsley.