Changing to chicken

Last weekend was one where it seemed that different ways of doing things crossed paths in successive days; the part of me that still likes a good night out and the part of me that wants to knuckle down to the task of settling down and taking on  a lot more responsibility.

The first half of the weekend saw me enact the first role at a loud bar in a big city for a birthday party. The live entertainment needed a volunteer from the audience to embarrass for one of their routines and, as seems to be my lot in life sometimes, I was the volunteer. That said people thought I was a good sport in acting as a volunteer and even though inside I wanted to jump on the first train home in embarrassment at the situation, I held my own as best I could for the sake of everyone watching.

The next morning we had a lie in the peace and quiet of the flat and thoughts turned to cooking a healthy but filling Sunday lunch as well as having some much needed downtime. These days weekends are becoming a lot more about having the time to re-charge batteries through walking in the country, have relaxed visits to quiet restaurants and pubs and friends' houses and looking for a property to buy rather than having heavy nights out all the time. This new approach to weekends was one of my New Year resolutions while the other was to have some dishes that were healthy with more protein in and more meat as well.

The meal we decided to make was a chicken stew with all the ingredients prepared from scratch. I first cut up into halves four medium sized chicken breasts which I added to a non-stick pan which I had first sprayed the bottom of with some very low fat cooking spray. I fried the chicken on a medium heat and turned it constantly with a wooden spoon for around fifteen minutes until it began to turn a golden brown. When I cooked it I added a teaspoon of paprika to the chicken and made sure that I combined the paprika fully with all the chicken.

The trick with cooking any raw meat is making sure it is done all the way through and not undercooked. To help ensure that this meat was cooked through I cut the pieces in half part way through cooking and if the middle part that had become exposed through cutting was uncooked I pushed the uncooked part down onto the hot surface of the pan.

Another trick with raw meat, which I had confirmed as being a good trick if you fry anything savoury when I had a meal in early December with a talented local artist, is that early on you should get the spices mixed into the dish to give it the flavour. This was the reason why I added the paprika to the chicken at an early stage.

Next I diced up one large white onion and finely sliced two cloves of garlic. I took the chicken out of the pan and put it on a plate while then adding the onion and garlic plus another teaspoon of paprika to the pan. I fried the onion and garlic until the onions became translucent.

After this I added a can of Borlotti Beans and a can of tin tomatoes to the pan with the chicken and around a pint of water. I simmered the contents of the pan for around thirty minutes with the lid covering the pan. So as to keep the contents from drying up I added water to it periodically.

In the meantime I boiled some rice in a pan for around half an hour.

After simmering the contents of the pan for thirty minutes I took the lid off and simmered the contents for another twenty or thirty minutes. Towards the end of the cooking I added 100 grams of spinach and two tablespoons of chopped parsley all of which combined very easily with the rest of the mixture.

Once the contents of the pan were ready I added the rice to it and served it with some white cabbage. The chicken was succulent and rich while the spice of the paprika and the Borlotti Beans gave a real depth of flavour to the dish. Certainly this was a good meal to have on a cold Sunday morning in winter.

Tatty Beef

On the last weekend before Christmas Week I went up to my grandparents for a long overdue visit. They are both well into their eighties and both been unwell as a result this has meant that each time I see them I wonder if it will be the last time. Negative thoughts I know but that's what the passage of time does to you.

I knew that they were not quite enjoying the high standard of cooking they used to when my Gran was well and were relying on instant meals so I thought it only right that I cooked them a proper meal when I dropped in to visit.

The recipe I chose is one of my granddad's favourites and one as a child I remember Gran making for him on many occasions. It is basically a variation of corned beef hash and in the part of North East Scotland where my Granddad originates from it is known as Corned Beef and Tatties.

With the sounds of Jethro Tull's song "This is not Love" from their 1991 effort "Catfish Rising" thrusting through my mind, as a result of it being on the car stereo on the drive up, I took four white potatoes and peeled them. I then sliced them in half lengthways and put them in a pan of water. I fired up the hob and brought the pan to boil before simmering the potatoes for around half an hour until they were soft.

While the potatoes were simmering I covered the bottom of a frying pan with rapeseed oil and heated the oil gently on the hob. I added to the hob three large shallots that I had first peeled, topped and tailed and diced. I fried them with a hint of black pepper until they became soft and see-through. I then cut up around eight slices of corned beef into small squares and stirred them into the oil and shallots in the pan until the beef was coated in oil. I find that rapeseed oil is the best oil to use when frying beef.

After the potatoes were ready I drained them and then mashed them with a bit of margarine. After they had been mashed I added the mash to the frying pan and mixed it with the beef and shallots to make a thick paste. The meal was now ready to serve.

This type of food is quite basic and easy to throw together quickly but despite this it is a substantial meal that is very filling. Normally it is made with onions but I decided to use shallots to give it a unique twist.

It was certainly something my grandparents appreciated as they ate their helpings quickly and seemed happy at having a dish they explained they had not eaten for a while. I personally find that corned beef has a wonderful savoury taste sadly lacking in other types of beef and this taste is only enhanced with the use of the potatoes; definitely making it a simple but delicious dish.

The shallot pieces shine out of this recipe