Chicken Challenge

A close personal friend of mine recently threw down a challenge to make an exotic marinated chicken recipe and today's blog entry is about the recipe I made to respond to this. 

The week had ended in quite a sombre way as I had learned that an old friend, who I met during my uni days and kept in touch with after graduation, had lost his two year battle with cancer on St George's Day. Another hero the late, great England Batsman Denis Compton also passed away on St George's Day in 1997. However this friend of mine was a hero much closer to home. 

The choice of music to go with the cooking was David Bowie's 1977 album "Heroes". Bowie himself also lost a battle with the same type of cancer that my friend had. I first heard the album on the original vinyl in Autumn 2004 while studying a degree in my parents'cobweb ridden attic. It was on the degree I was studying for that I first met my friend. I noticed when I visited his student house in the City a few months later after first making friends that he too owned a copy of this album. It was one of the many connections I shared with him over the years. He is gone too soon. 

The album, which I chose to listen to as a tribute to him, can be heard at: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mO2pGEUc5-vrZZDGEi9uJI33xEZfYGCh0

The ingredients of this recipe are as follows:

Four Chicken Thighs.

The marinade is made from:

Half a cup of Olive Oil.
The juice of two Lemons.
Six Garlic Cloves, peeled and sliced very finely into small cubes. 
One teaspoon of Black Pepper. 
One teaspoon of Ground Cumin.
One teaspoon of Paprika.
One teaspoon of Turmeric.
One teaspoon of Ground Cinnamon. 
One teaspoon of Garlic Salt.
One teaspoon of Chilli Flakes. 
One ripe White Onion, peeled and sliced finely into small squares. 

The method for this recipe is:

1. Mix the marinade ingredients together in a measuring jug or bowl. 

2. Use a brush to cover the Chicken Thighs with the marinade ingredients. 

3. Place the marinated Chicken Thighs and excess marinade on a baking tray with high sides. Cover the tray with clingfilm and leave for one or two hours to allow the flavours to infuse. 

4. Cook in the oven on Gas Mark Seven for forty minutes. 

5. Serve with a side of your choice. I found that homemade Peas Fried Rice, which I made by boiling some Brown Rice for fifteen minutes and Garden Peas for five minutes before lightly frying them and the Rice with some Soy Sauce, went well with this recipe. 

The recipe was made special by the marinade fusing with the skin of the chicken thighs to create a golden brown colour and a taste that balanced sweet and sour in just the right way. 

The thighs have it- a golden, crispy Chicken with plenty of Peas Fried Rice.

The Golden Goose Flies Low

The title of today's blog entry comes from a quote by Ax, one half of the legendary World Wrestling Federation Tag Team Demolition, before he and his partner went out and won the Tag Team Championship at Wrestlemania IV in 1988. Although the result was scripted, as it was sports entertainment not sport, the complete quote he says about the Golden Goose flying low and taking the chance to grab it is a powerful metaphor for taking opportunities in life. 

Thirty two years later in the early months of the third decade of twenty first century there's an  illness that restricts our movement in ways unimaginable even two months ago. However, despite what we may be told, the words from 1988 still apply today if we look hard enough and do not believe everything we are told by those who claim to hold all the keys. 

On the player on this particular evening in Spring 2020 was Styx's 1983 record "Kilroy Was Here". The album is a concept album that paints the picture of a bleak future in which rock music is banned by totalitarian rulers and a shady body called the "MMM (the Majority for Musical Morality)" who do the government's bidding. The story's central character is  Robert Orin Charles Kilroy. He is a former rock star who has been imprisoned by MMM leader Dr. Everett Righteous.  Kilroy escapes using a disguise, an episode which is described in the gleefully bouncy opening song "Mr. Roboto". As a good friend pointed out recently, the present situation appears to have made musicians and celebrities vanish from headlines, concert halls and theatres and so caused indirectly some of the events depicted in this album.  This in turn has made the record appear much more vital and relevant than it ever was upon original release. It's certainly a case of great art only appearing so some time after it was produced.  

A link to this record if you'd like to listen is at: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_k9NPYPA_LLBWBqBs-DWhVJp5qmqfwgmSo

One of the positives of the situation we all face is that it has made me realise the benefits of local food suppliers. For example for this recipe of a Goose and Duck Egg Rosti I acquired the Eggs from a local dealer within walking distance with all other fresh vegetable ingredients obtained from my newly re-opened and reborn Greengrocers just two minutes away on foot. Both businesses add value to the local community and their produce is top-drawer. 

The ingredients are as follows:

Eight Ounces of Halloumi.
1 Onion, topped, tailed, peeled and the cut into cubes.
1 Teaspoon of Black Pepper.
1 Teaspoon of Dried Chives.
Eight Ounces of shredded Sweetheart Cabbage. 
3 Spring Onion, topped, tailed and sliced thinly. 
1 White Potato, peeled and grated. 
1 Duck Egg
1 Goose Egg 
Tablespoon of Olive Oil
Cress to garnish.

The method is as follows:

1. In a Le Cresceut or a deep frying pan fry the Onions in rapeseed oil on a medium heat for around 10 minutes. 

2. Add the Chives, Black Pepper, Shredded Cabbage, Spring Onion and Grated Potato. Fry for a further 10 minutes stirring constantly to avoid sticking. 

3. Add the Duck Egg and half of the Halloumi and stir it into the mixture to create a ball.

4. Meanwhile fry the Goose Egg for around seven minutes on a medium heat in a separate frying pan. 

5. Lay the remaining Halloumi out on a plate with the cress to garnish. 

6. Top the Halloumi and the Cress with the ball of Rosti. Place the Goose Egg on top of the Rosti.

The thick yolk of the Goose Egg when mixed with the Rosti and stray Halloumi pieces gave this recipe a rich taste. It was a recipe with plenty of protein from the yolks of both eggs and goodness with the greens. It certainly helped my positive mindset, which was enhanced by a telephone call from a close personal friend later that evening. 

The base of Halloumi and Cress just before the Rosti and Goose Egg are added.

Simnel when you’re winning?

The second of my traditional Easter Recipes this weekend was a Simnel Cake. The topping of this cake features a layer of Marzipan topped by some extra balls of Marzipan and a cross to remind us all of the origins of this cake. There is debate as to how many balls should be on top of a Simnel Cake. Some say it should be twelve to get proper symmetry and to represent each of the twelve apostles. Others say that it should be eleven balls to represent eleven of the apostles as the twelfth and excluded one is the traitorous Judas Iscariot. 

The ingredients of the cake are as follows:

For the cake itself: 

175 grams of Unsalted Butter.
175 grams of Demarera Sugar. 
3 beaten Free Range Eggs.
A teaspoon of All Spice. 
A teaspoon of Vanilla Essence. 
175 grams of Plain Flour. 
500 grams of mixed Peel and Sultanas.

25 grams of diced Lemon Rind.

2 tablespoons of Apricot Jam 

For the topping: 

A block of Rolling Marzipan.

On the player was more of the Big O this time in the shape of the 1988 compilation "The Legendary Roy Orbison" which was no doubt released to cash in on his well-deserved renewed level of success. It focuses on his excellent sixties hits including "Love Hurts" which includes perhaps the best arrangement of Piano and Strings on any record ever. 

So to the method which goes as follows:

1. Cream the Butter and Sugar until a mixture with a fluffy texture is created. 

2. Gradually beat in the Eggs to the mixture. 

3.Add the Allspice and Vanilla Essence. 

4. Stir in the Flour.

5. Add the Fruit and stir in until a thick paste is created. 

6. Put half the mixture into a greased cake tin and add the Apricot Jam atop it.

7. Then put other half of the mixture on top of the mixture and Apricot Jam already in the cake tin. 

8. Cook for one and three quarter hours on Gas Mark 1.

9. Turn out onto a rack and leave to cool. Put a skewer into the cake; if the skewer comes out clean apart from any Apricot Jam then it is done. If it does not then return to the oven for a further ten minutes.

10. Once the cake is cooled roll out the Marzipan and use two thirds of it to cover top of the cake and then use the remainder to create twelve balls representing the Apostles as well as a cross shape to decorate the top of the cake.

This cake is sweet and rich with a taste sensation that, if you think hard enough, can take you to better places away from all of this. 

They were all yellow; the chosen twelve sit atop the cake with a rudimentary cross in the middle. 

Neapolitan Easter

One product of this disturbing lockdown is that many people have been baking, if they have been lucky enough to get hold of any flour. On Instagram and Facebook I have seen some excellent and very professional efforts at baking bread. On a tropical Good Friday I decided to throw my hat into the ring by making a bread that is known in Italy, especially Naples, as a savoury Easter Treat. The usual process is to make a circular bread with a hole in and fill it with ham, hard-boiled eggs and some cheese.

The ingredients for my take on this bread were:

6 slices of Prosciutto cut into small squares. 

8 ounces of Chilli Cheese cut into small cubes. 

6 sprigs of Rosemary 

6 cups of Wholemeal Bread Flour

1 sachet of Yeast 

0.1 litres of Olive Oil 

2 cups water

On the player was Roy Orbison's final and greatest studio album "Mystery Girl" produced by the great Jeff Lynne and featuring songs by stars such as Elvis Costello, Bono and the Edge. It finds the Big O in typically engaging voice with many of the songs coming up to the quality of his memorable and long run of 1960s hit singles. I first heard the record while riding in my Dad's aged Fiat Uno as he and my mum transported me to play some junior cricket for a Peak District Team in the summer of '94. The album has stuck with me ever since. 

The method for this recipe was as follows: 

1. Combine the flour, yeast and Rosemary in a mixing bowl.

2. Gradually add the Olive Oil.

3. Then add the Cheese and Prosciutto pieces. 

4. Then add the water until all the ingredients are mixed together.to form a ball. 

5. Knead into a flat circle.
6. Punch a hole in the middle.

7. Leave in the refrigerator for 2 hours then get out for 45 minutes and bake on Gas Mark 5 for 45 minutes before serving hot or cold. 

The results of this project gave a bread that was slightly crunchy on the outside yet moist and very rich and flavoursome on the inside.