Blood Orange, Tarragon and Almond Chicken

As I mentioned in the In My Kitchen post blood oranges are my best friend this time of year.

 

From the sweet syrup cakes to moist roast chicken I am detecting a strong bond between the blood orange and the almond.

 

My day tomorrow is all mapped out after I get my hands on some more of these babies, making more cordial, a curd and fine tuning the sauce pictured below.

 

I may head into some experimental ground by trying to preserve them or making a salt.

 

Oh and an ice cream how could I forget ice cream............

 

Clearly this is becoming an obsession, so if ever you can't find me start looking at any fruit shop.

 

Blood Orange, Tarragon and Almond Roast Chicken

Ingredients

• 100g soft butter
• 50g blanched almonds
• Zest and juice of 2 blood oranges
• 2-3 sprigs of tarragon
• 2 chicken maryland
• Salt and black pepper

Method

• Put almonds into a plastic bag and bash with a rolling pin to roughly crush
• Add butter to mixing bowl
• Add almonds, zest and juice of blood oranges and roughly torn tarragon
• Mix with a fork to combine
• Put mixture on plastic wrap and roll into a log
• Refrigerate for about 20 minutes (could be made ahead)
• Slip a finger under the skin of the chicken and fill each piece with half of the butter
• Massage it evenly over the thigh and into the leg
• Place on a lightly oiled baking tray and season with salt and pepper
• Bake at 180°C/160°C fan for 30 mins
• Let rest for 10 minutes
• I served with blanched broccoli and kale sautéed in butter and more almonds

 



It's a ready!

Let them eat Catfood

Family heirlooms can be funny things. The value of these items is rarely determined by dollars or sense. The most expensive diamond can not compare to a childhood Christmas angel, dirty, ratty and missing a hand.

The same is the case with family food heirlooms. It can be that one dish that no matter who makes it doesn't taste the same as the Nan's, or it can just be the dish itself. For me it is my Nanna's cream of chicken soup I have been trying to master for years, I'm close to cracking the secret, I think it's nutmeg.
AB's all time favourite is a "dish" that is known by the family as Catfood. Before I came along and took over the kitchen I do believe that a large percentage of AB's diet was made up of Catfood. Surely some of you have turned away in horror, as you should, Catfood is horrid, I mean it with love but I can't stand the stuff. I wasn't going to post the recipe just in case it was a breach of the charter of human rights, but seeing it was AB's birthday this is an extra present.
Please if you make it you do so at your own risk, although I an worried that there will be a flood of comments from people that actually love it!!
My next challenge is to do a pimped up version of catfood that I'd eat.

Catfood
makes a huge tray so it can be frozen for lunches

• 1kg of pasta, Penne works well but any short pasta will do.
• 2 cans of tuna
• 2 bottles of passata
• grated cheese to cover, I'd say about 2.5kg is needed to make it taste OK, but a 500g bag will also do the job.

Method

• Cook pasta and drain.
• Add tuna and passata/sauce to baking dish
• Add pasta and stir through
• Add cheese
• Bake at 180 degrees C for 35-40 mins until golden.
• You can try with adding onion or herbs,but be aware they aren't part of the original recipe as I found out.

Being the birthday week there has to be a cake and in the words of Kath Day-Knight, lets just say I like to team with a theme.

It's a mystery

AB has been the inspiration for some of my best cooking triumphs, remember the meat lovers ice cream, well the chico ice cream was a success. No matter what is plated up there is always praise even though I may sit there and do my best Mary Berry or Manu Fieldel and over critic each element of the dish. "oh it's is verging on a soggy bottom" "mmm butter, but there needs to be more sauce" The only time I knew I had missed the mark and risked being eliminated is when I heard "it's a strong flavour". Really you couldn't buy support like that, although I will be in trouble for writing about it.
I will in the coming weeks bring myself to blog AB's favourite dish, Catfood, it will take some time. Till then he provided this mystery box challenge after I asked him to pick up some meat for dinner.
"what do you want?"
"i dunno surprise me"
"OK...I could make you do a masterchef mystery box?"
"bring it on!"

 

Pasta south of the border



serves 4-5 and on the table in 30 minutes
Ingredients as above

• 6 italian sausages
• 360g oyster blade steak
• 1 brown onion
• 1/4 of a pumpkin
• 200g green beans
• 1 can red kidney beans
• 1 bag pasta
• 1 red chilli*
• 250ml sour cream*
• olive oil*
• bottle of pasata*

*pantry item

Method

• Add boiling water from the kettle to a boiler with a good dash of salt
• Put steak and sausages into food processor and mince
• Dice onion and saute with olive oil in fry pan
• Add meat to onions
• Dice pumpkin and add to boiler
• Add pasta to pumpkin, try to cut pumpkin the same size as pasta or smaller.
• Add pasatato meat and season
• Cut green beans into 2cm pieces
• Drain red kidney beans
• Just before the pasta is cooked, add green and red beans to sauce.
• Drain pasta and pumpkin
• Stir through sour cream, save a bit to garnish
• Add pasta and sauce to boiler and mix through
• Serve with dollop of sourcream and sliced chilli

There seems to be way too many steps but it really is just chop, add, cook, eat. Can't wait for the next mystery box, although I know you are all still thinking AB's favourite dish is catfood.

A good helping

There are so many foodie movies, Julie and Julia, Big Night, Chocolat, this list goes on. Sometimes you can find a little surprise plate when you least expect it.
Recently I saw The Help, and not only did it leave me knowing that "I is good, I is kind, I is important" but also all I could think about was how tasty Minny's fried chicken and okra looked. I had to have it!
After I had satisfied that desire I found the need evolved into making some of Minny's pies, I did omit her special ingredient. If you haven't seen it i won't spoil it, you must see it, you will never think of pie the same way again.

 

Fried Chicken and Okra
This recipe is very flexible you can use any cut of chicken and mix the spices the way you like them. Normally I use garam marsala as my "KFC" type fried chicken but when I was making this I had run out, I know I was shocked too!
Into about a cup and half (don't measure it just guess) I added a Pandora's box of spices. No measuring just a bit of this and a touch of that, go wild!
These are what ended up in the flour:

• Chinese 5 spice
• Ground coriander
• Ground cinnamon
• Ras le hanout
• Paprika
• Salt
• Pepper
• All spice
• Ground Cumin
• Chilli
• Sesame seeds

The chicken pieces I marinated in soy sauce while I made the flour.

Heat a deep saucepan of which ever oil you prefer to fry in, I had canola.

Drain the chicken and then coat in the flour.
In the hot oil fry till just crispy and then finish cooking in a 180° oven for about 20mins or until chicken is cooked. This will help keep the chicken juicy without it drying out from the fast cooking in the oil.

For the Okra.
Simply cut the stalk end of the okra and and coat it in the flour.
Fry in the hot oil for about 3 mins till crispy on the outside and soft in the middle.

This recipe isn't really even a recipe more of just a method but it tastes soooooooo good. I'm sure it's not a patch on the real southern fried chicken but sometimes you do what ever you have too to satisfy a fried chicken need!