Jamie Oliver's Greek Chicken with Herby Vegetable Couscous & Tzatziki

I try very hard to limit myself to two new cookbooks a year - one at Christmas and one in the summer. I  already have way more than I need but not buying any new books is, obviously, unthinkable! Having said that, I had already failed by mid-March thanks to the new Clandestine Cake Club book and Paul Hollywood's Bread (both brilliant). Nevertheless, I still allowed myself my summer purchase and invested in Jamie Oliver's recent book, Jamie's 15-Minute Meals.

Both with this book and it's predecessor, 30 Minute Meals, there has been plenty of comment about how the titles are misleading. I would ignore any negativity, however, and buy this book because, so far, I've had nothing but success with it and if you get organised in advance then the timings aren't too far out. You have to have everything ready before you start the clock, pans heated, kettle boiled etc, so you will be in the kitchen longer than 15 minutes but even taking that into account you can get some great dishes on the table in a relatively short space of time.

Jamie uses some clever techniques to speed things up. In this recipe, for example, the chicken is flattened to decrease the cooking time and vegetables are finely chopped in a food processor, rather than by hand.

It's also clear that a lot of time has been spent making the recipes well balanced and relatively healthy so even the pasta dishes are served with a salad or something similar. Big flavours are also a key feature with various herbs and spices being used in most recipes to add interest.

On the negative side, Jamie does like to use a wide variety of ingredients that will leave you with leftovers to find a home for - half a bunch of dill, 2 teaspoons of harissa, 40g feta etc - so you might find you need to do a little extra research to find other recipes to use up what's left. He also uses chillis and coriander in a large number of the recipes, neither of which I like, however I've had no problems with leaving them out or replacing the chillis with a few dried chilli flakes.

This particular recipe was a real hit when I made it. The oregano and all spice gave the chicken an amazing flavour and the tzatziki was the perfect match with the warming heat of the peppers and chilli in the couscous. Once I had everything ready it took me around 20 minutes to get it on the table. I took a bit longer because I didn't want the pepper mix to be raw so fried it for a couple of minutes and I also didn't flatten the chicken quite enough so it took a little longer to cook.

I made half the recipe for two of us and the portion size was pretty much spot on.

I'll definitely be making this again and I urge you to try it too! You can find the recipe here.

Chicken and Tomato Supper

Here we are in March already.  I know I say it every year but I really don't know where the time is going and I can't believe it's almost a month since my last post!

Today's dish is a simple recipe ideal for family dinners and comes from my trusty Dairy Book of Home Cookery: New Edition for the Nineties. I've had it for years and it's the book I always turn to it if I want a basic recipe for something like Shepherds pie or pancakes.

This is a great dish that's delicious and really easy to make. The toasted bread and cheese on top add interest to an otherwise simple dish and it's just perfect with a few greens on the side.  

Chicken & Tomato Supper
(adapted from The Dairy Book of Home Cookery)

1 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 pepper, chopped
1 courgette, cut into half moons
400g passata
1 tsp italian herb seasoning
350g/12 oz chicken breast fillets, cubed
1 tsp cornflour
100g/4 oz wholemeal bread, toasted and cubed
100g/4 oz cheddar cheese, cubed

1) Warm the oil in a large saucepan or frying pan and cook the onion and pepper for three minutes. Add the courgette, tomato, chicken and herbs. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 10-15 minutes until the chicken is cooked.

2) Blend the cornflour in a little water and stir into the chicken. Cook until thickened.

3) Spoon into a flameproof dish and scatter over the bread and cheese. Place under a preheated grill until the cheese begins to melt (keep an eye on it to make sure the bread doesn't burn).

Serves 4

Forever Nigella - Salad Days

I haven't been able to participate in the last couple of Forever Nigella challenges but when I saw the theme this month I was keen to take part. The theme for this month's Forever Nigella challenge is "Salad Days" and is being hosted by Dom at Belleau Kitchen. The weather is warming up (or at least it was until this weekend!) and salads are becoming more appealing so it was great to have the opportunity to try out one or two new recipes.

The first one that caught my was the Chinatown Chicken Salad, which is tucked away in Nigella's latest book, Kitchen, among a selection of recipes for using up leftover chicken. It's well worth cooking some chicken from scratch just for this recipe though. I really loved all of the different elements that made up this salad, in particular the crunchy tortilla chips and peanuts and the delicious gingery soy/lime dressing. All of the ingredients came together perfectly to make a delicious dish which was a complete meal in itself.

I had some tortilla chips and lettuce left over from the previous recipe so I decided to try out the Quick Chick Caesar Salad, also in Kitchen. This is a slightly speedier version of the classic Caesar Salad which replaces croutons with tortilla chips (although Nigella also suggests using cubes of garlicky roast potatoes, which sounds delicious). While it didn't quite have the wow factor of the Chinatown Chicken Salad it was nevertheless a really delicious filling tea. I've never made a proper Caesar Salad dressing before which, in this case, includes a raw egg, so I wasn't quite sure how it would turn out. It was lovely though, although next time I might use a little less lemon juice.

As before, one of the principle rules for participating in the Forever Nigella challenge is that we're not allowed to reproduce the recipes we use on our blog posts. The aim is encourage our readers to go out and buy Nigella's books and reap the benefits as we have. I really would recommend Kitchen to anyone - it's a great book containing some truly fantastic recipes.

Roasted Pepper, Pancetta and Mascarpone Risotto

Risotto isn't something I make very much. Yes, it's pretty straightforward to make and, on some level, the amount of stirring involved makes the process quite relaxing I suppose. However, I have small children and at the end of the long day if I have to choose between standing at the hob for 30 minutes attending to a saucepan or leaving something to it's own devices while I slump into a chair then I'm afraid the second option is going to win. Having said that, if I'm feeling in the right frame of mind I will dig out the arborio and get stirring. And this recipe in particular really makes the effort worthwhile. The salty pancetta and creamy mascarpone really lift it to another level and turn it into something special.

Roasted Pepper, Pancetta and Mascarpone Risotto

(adapted from a recipe by Valentina Harris in Good Food Magazine)

2 red or yellow peppers (if you're in a rush use sliced roasted peppers from a jar and start the recipe from step 3

50g/2 oz unsalted butter

1 small onion, finely chopped

1 garlic clove, crushed

175g/6 oz risotto rice

1 litre/1 1/2 pints vegetable or chicken stock, kept just below boiling point in a pan

50g/2 oz diced pancetta

1 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp finely chopped flatleaf parsley

3 tbsp mascarpone

50g/2 oz freshly grated parmesan

1 tbsp snipped chives for garnishing

1) Preheat the grill to high, then grill the fresh peppers whole for 10-15 minutes, turning them frequently, until the skins are blackened all over. While they are still warm, put them in a heatproof bowl and cover with clingfilm. Leave to stand for about 10 minutes until cool enough to handle.

2) Peel the skin from the peppers - their flesh will be quite brown in patches. Cut them in half, remove and discard all the seeds and membranes, then cut the peppers into thin strips and set aside.

3) Melt the butter in a large heavy-bottomed saucepan, then fry the onion very gently for about 10 minutes until soft and transparent. Add the garlic and three quarters of the peppers. Stir together gently over a low heat for about 3 minutes, then add the rice all in one go. Stir until the grains are coated and toasted all over, about 5 minutes. The add the first ladleful of hot stock and stir it in. Cook slowly adding stock until the grains are plump and swollen.

4) Meanwhile, in a separate pan, fry the pancetta with the olive oil until it is brown and crisp. When the rice is cooked to the right degree (in other words neither chalky nor mushy, but just chewy), take it off the heat and stir in seasoning to taste, plus the remaining ingredients. Cover and leave to stand for about 3 minutes before spooning onto serving plates. Sprinkle with the chopped chives and offer extra parmesan at the table.

Serves 2.

Vegetable Enchilladas

Oh dear, poor neglected blog. I can't believe it's almost a month since my last post. I've been stuck in a bit of a cooking rut of late but I've had a good rifle through some of my cookbooks and earmarked a few ideas to help me rediscover my cooking mojo.

This recipe is one of my stock recipes and is a great way of fitting in a few of your five-a-day without too much trouble. It's another one of those recipes-that's-hardly-a-recipe but worthy of mention nonetheless. It's very straigtforward to assemble and you can adapt it to whatever you have in the fridge or garden. What I've listed below is my standard recipe but you could add anything you like...courgettes, peas etc.

Vegetable Enchilladas

(origin unknown)

1-2 red or yellow peppers

1-2 leeks

1-2 cloves of garlic

Handful of mushrooms

1/2 - 1 cup of sweetcorn, tinned or frozen

Large handful of spinach

6-8 tortillas

Jar of Tomato & Chargrilled Veg Pasta sauce

Grated cheese

1) Preheat the oven to 180c

2) Slice or chop up the veg into bite sized pieces. Heat a splash of olive oil in a large frying pan and add the veg. Cook, stirring regularly, until softened.

3) Pile a spoonful of veg onto a one of the tortillas and fold up (I put the veg on the top half, fold up the bottom of the tortilla then fold in the sides). Place the parcel in a large baking dish and repeat until all the vegetables are used up (6 tortillas are usually enough to fill my large oval baking dish).

4) Spoon the pasta sauce over the top of the tortillas and top with grated cheese. Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes or until the cheese is melted and bubbling.

Serves 2-3

The Lunch Challenge - Part 4

Well, the sun is shining and summer is definitely on the way. I always know we're nearly there when the Wisteria flowers appear (see above!).

So, my fourth, and probably final lunch recipe for now, is another from Jo Pratt's In the Mood for Food. I really wanted to try out a couscous recipe as part of my lunch challenge and so I made Meditterranean Vegetable Couscous.

This was another lovely recipe and easy to put together. It's not quite an "all in one bowl" recipe as you do of course have to roast the veggies in the oven, but that wasn't too much of a hardship and worth it for the end result.

Mediterranean Vegetable Couscous

(adapted from In the Mood for Food by Jo Pratt)

1 small red pepper

1 large or 2 small courgettes

1 small aubergine (I got a regular sized one - they were all the same price and I wanted to get my money's-worth!)

2 red onions

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

salt and pepper

about 20 cherry tomatoes

200g couscous

1 1/2 tablespoons green pesto

1-2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar

a handful of stoned black olives

a few torn basil leaves or some rocket leaves

1) Preheat the oven to 200c, gas 6

2) Chop up the pepper, courgette, aubergine and onions and toss in a roasting tray with a tablespoon of olive oil. Season and roast for 25 minutes. Add the cherry tomatoes and return to the oven for a further 10 minutes (I left mine a bit longer - I like my veg well roasted). Remove from the oven and leave to cool.

3) Put the couscous in a large bowl and pour over 350ml boiling water. Stir, cover with cling film and leave for 10 minutes. Fluff up with a fork and leave to cool.

4) Mix together the remaining tablespoon of oil with the pesto and balsamic vinegar. Add this to the vegetables then toss it all together with the couscous. Mix in the basil or rocket leaves.

Spring! (..onions and more beansprouts).

I think these flowers prove that Spring is definitely here!  Not really food-related, I admit, but they looked so pretty this morning I couldn't resist.

Anyway, on to dinner.  In order to use up the bag of beansprouts I opened for the previous recipe I made Sweet & Sour Beef Noodles from Wagamama - Ways with Noodles, and very nice it was too.  I'm definitely in full-on stir fry mode at the moment - they're quick and healthy, what's not to like! 

This recipe calls for a handful of beansprouts, one or two spring onions and half a red pepper (although I found) a small one in the supermarket and used all of it.