The Great Gates of Kiev

 This blog is rarely, if ever, a political forum. However in light of the dire situation in the Ukraine, today's dish is one that is a tribute to the brave individuals who are putting up stern resistance to the unlawful and unprovoked invasion that is taking place. 

There are many different types of Ukrainian Dishes but, perhaps, the most famous is the Chicken Kiev. Those of a certain age will no doubt remember their parents purchasing frozen bags of Mini Kievs as a treat in the nineties as well as Alan Partridge having a hypothetical argument with Chris Rea about the virtues or otherwise of this dish. 

Spring and the longer days had ignited some fresh inspiration into my choice of dishes and, on the last weekend prior to the clocks jumping forward, I had a pop at making Chicken Kiev. It was a Sunday and after a very early walk, courtesy of the Dogg waking me up at 6am, I set to work. 

On the playlist was the Smiths Third, and by a hair's breadth, best album "The Queen is Dead". The post punk guitar firepower of Johnny Marr and sardonic wit of Morrissey combine to best effect on the title track, "Cemetery Gates", "Bigmouth Strikes Again" while "There is a Light that Never Goes Out" manages to be poignant and uplifting with its keyboard and synth-bass textures. 

So to the ingredients of this dish:

125 grams of Gluten Free Breadcrumbs. 

100 grams of Gluten Free Plain Flour.

5 beaten Eggs.

1 teaspoon of Smoked Paprika. 

2 Chicken Breasts, mine were obtained from the dependable Stretton Hall Farm | Facebook 

2 Diced Cloves of Garlic. 

5 shredded Chive Sprigs.

2 knobs of Butter. 

The method goes like this:

1. Stir the Eggs and Breadcrumbs together in a mixing bowl. 

2. Add the Plain Flour and Smoked Paprika and stir into the mixture.

3. Make an incision into the middle of the Chicken Breasts and insert the Garlic, Butter and Chives into the incision. Fold the Chicken Flesh back over the incision so as it covers the filling. This gives the best chance of avoiding the filling bursting out during cooking. 

4. Coat the Chicken Breasts in the Breadcrumb, Egg, Smoked Paprika and Flour Mixture. Then place on an oiled baking tray, cover with clingfilm and place in the fridge for a couple of hours. 

5. Cook for 40 minutes on Gas Mark 6 before serving.

The mixture of melted butter and herbs that had diffused inside the Chicken while it cooked, coupled with the thick, flavoursome breadcrumb batter made this a recipe to return to time and again. 

Fare Thee Well, Jamaica

 When times get challenging, some of us head to the coast and others to the hills to get our heads together. I'm in the latter category. Heading to the hills is just what I did recently before making a Jamaican Jerk Chicken Recipe. 

It was one of those Sundays that happen in March; not quite winter and not quite spring. The sun was high and the way was clear for miles. I could see a panorama to almost  all points of the compass to places over fifty miles away. The lingering chill in the air reminded me that it was not yet spring, but the sun and the long-distance views gave real hope of exciting travels in sunny summer weather as well as long, light days being just around the corner.

There had been some potentially game- changing decisions made since before the holiday season, in a manner not seen for about four years. Now as then, it seemed I would have to  ride the Tiger.

One way of gaining perspective on all this is to go the hills for a walk and look at the long-distance views to remind yourself there's a huge wide world outside of your comfort zone. Another is to cook good food and listen to quality music while doing so. I followed those tips by pulling out Mark Knopfler's bouncy and folky 2002 effort "The Ragpickers Dream", a record I often associate with the start of spring, positive renewal and important change. The record was the soundtrack to the making of some Jamaican Jerk Chicken. 

There are several different ways to make this recipe that all involve a mix of sweet and savoury spices plus liberal doses of Chilli. I like to make mine like this:

Two Chicken Breasts, mine were sourced from the ever wonderful Stretton Hall Farm Shop. Check them out at: Stretton Hall Farm Shop | Facebook  

The juice from two fresh Limes.

A diced Clove of Garlic.

A diced White Onion. 

A teaspoon of Jerk Seasoning.

A teaspoon of All Spice.

A teaspoon of Nutmeg.

A teaspoon of Chilli Flakes.

Twenty-Five grams of sliced Fresh Ginger. 

Half a teaspoon of Black Pepper. 

The first step is, a good four hours before cooking, to marinate the Chicken Breasts by rubbing them in Sunflower Oil with all the other ingredients so that these ingredients are spread evenly around the Chicken. Once the ingredients are rubbed into the chicken, put it on a deep and oiled baking tray and seal with clingfilm to keep the flavours in and allow them to infuse with the chicken.

When you are ready to cook, remove the clingfilm and cook the chicken for around thirty to thirty five minutes on Gas Mark Six. 

The difference early infusing makes is that the chicken is much more flavoursome than it would be otherwise and has that classic sweet and sour flavour that makes Caribbean Cuisine special. 

I served the chicken with another classic Caribbean Dish which comprised of boiled white rice mixed with Kidney Beans in Chilli Sauce. 

Cake Five

 It was my Dad's birthday recently and he needed a cake. I decided to take a risk and make a cake recipe I had never tried before all just a matter of hours before his birthday celebrations began. Here's what happened next...

The choice of music to cook to was one my younger self, as well as my dad's younger self, could well have scoffed at. On the player was not only Frank Sinatra's first album, but one of the first album's ever made. In fact original copies came with the records comprising it presented in a booklet that was like an old style photograph album. The record is more primitive than Sinatra's more polished and slickly produced later efforts. It contains lots of songs that seem about adversity and staying power as well as the simple joys of life. Check it out here at: The voice of Frank Sinatra album - YouTube 

Like my Dad before me, the teenage me disliked the Frank Sinatra listened to by the parents before growing to appreciate his music after seeing a bit more of the world and life generally. Plus Ca Change down the generations clearly!

So to the ingredients which were as follows:

The Cake Mix:

150 grams of Gluten Free Self Raising Flour.

2 tablespoons of Cocoa Powder.

4 tablespoons of Instant Coffee. 

150 grams of Unsalted Butter Cut Into Cubes.

125 grams of Demerara Sugar.

25 grams of Ground Almonds. 

3 Duck Eggs beaten well. 

The topping:

150 grams of Icing Sugar.

25 grams of Unsalted Butter.

2 tablespoons of Cocoa Powder.

2 tablespoons of Instant Coffee.

3 tablespoons of lukewarm water. 

The method goes like this:

1. Cream the Butter and Sugar together until they are light and fluffy.

2. Add the Flour, Cocoa Powder, Instant Coffee and Ground Almonds and stir them together with the Butter and Sugar until they are fully combined. 

3. Add the Eggs and stir them in until there is a pliable, semi solid paste.

4. Put the mixture in a greased Cake Tin. Cook in the oven for twenty minutes at Gas Mark.

5. After this stage the interior of the cake will still be pretty moist, so turn the heat up to Gas Mark 6 and cook for a further twenty-five minutes ensuring the cake does not burn. Check it is ready by poking it with a skewer. If very few bits come out on the skewer the cake is ready. 

6. Leave the cake to cool on a wire rack. 

7. While the cake is cooling, combine the topping ingredients in a mixing bowl and stir hard to form a sweet paste. 

8. After the cake is cooled, spread the paste over the cake's top and allow it to solidify. 

The cake and I made it to the celebrations where my Dad enjoyed consuming it as we talked of the way the world is falling about our ears as well as engaging in critical appraisals of our favourite Velvet Underground and Miles Davis Records. 

Steak's Too, Baby

It was a Friday in late February. To celebrate my Dad's Birthday we had took a walk in the White Peak and discovered an ancient carving in a cave, which was like the set from one of the better Indiana Jones Movies.  

On the way home I picked up a fillet steak from my favourite farm shop the excellent Stretton Hall Farm Shop. Check out their website at: Stretton Hall Farm Shop | Facebook  

The sun was shining and it was time to be inspired by something from a place that fate had allowed me to understand a lot more over the past three years. Using that inspiration I made a Chinese style Fillet Steak with a special sauce and freshly steamed Broccoli. 

The album on the player, to help conjure up a feeling I was cooking the dish on a hot beach at the height of a hot August Night, was Santana's sophomore scorcher "Abraxas". The record is chock full of Latin Funk and contains a well-taken cover of Fleetwood Mac's Classic "Black Magic Woman".  Check it out at: Santana Abraxas Full Album - YouTube

The ingredients were as follows:

One Fillet Steak. 

Three crushed Garlic Cloves. 

A teaspoon of Chinese Five Spice

One head of Broccoli cut into smallish florets. 

For the sauce 

Three tablespoons of Chicken Broth.

Two tablespoons of Oyster Sauce.

Two tablespoons of Soy Sauce.

One teaspoon of Chinese Five Spice.

This is a simple dish to make. The first job is to steam the Broccoli for fifteen minutes until it is a little soft but with hints of being still crunchy. Then take it off the heat and leave to one side. 

After that it's time to fry the Garlic Cloves for around five minutes on a medium heat until they start going golden brown. Once that's happened, add the Fillet Steak and fry for three minutes on each side so that it is cooked rare. Meanwhile add the sauce ingredients together in a jug and stir well. Combine them on a serving plate with the Steak and Broccoli. 

Although there is an element of frying, this is still a flavoursome and healthy meal thanks to the iron of the Broccoli and the protein of the Fillet Steak while the sauce gives the flavours a pleasing and different twist. 

Green Gruff Goodness

 An old work colleague used to say that if someone looked tired they probably needed some broccoli to perk them up. What I think she was getting at was that this foodstuff contains lots of iron to help one feel better if feeling a little fatigued. 

After Storm Eunice had vanished and I had completed my mandatory daily exercise programme, prescribed by the cricket club, I slipped on my copy of Fleetwood Mac's 1972 lost classic "Bare Trees". The cover of this album features, you've guessed it, some leafless trees that poke faintly out of the mist in a scene replicated regularly in the English Countryside at this time of year. The music within is however different gravy, being a mixture of driving and swinging rock, stoner sounds and sunny west coast pop. If you want to venture beyond the obvious of "Rumours" in exploring the Mac's Discography you could do much worse than start with "Bare Trees". 

Following a day of storms and walks in the ice, I needed something to warm me up that contained iron and a spot of carb loading. With a potato, Brocolli and Cheese Soup I found just what I was looking for. The ingredients for this one were as follows:

One head of Broccoli cut thinly.

Two large Baking Potatoes that were cubed and with the roots removed but the skin left on. 

A teaspoon of White Pepper.

Half a pint of Chicken Stock

Some mustard and pepper Cheddar acquired from the ever wonderful Stretton Hall Farm Shop. Check out their page at: Stretton Hall Farm Shop | Facebook 

The method is quite simple and goes like this:

1. Sweat the Broccoli, Potatoes and White Pepper in Sunflower Oil in a deep pan or Le Cresceut on a medium heat for around ten minutes.

2. Add the Chicken Stock and simmer for a further twenty minutes on a medium heat.

3. Blend and then return to the pan or Le Cresceut, warm through and add the cheese so that it melts into the soup before serving. 

The goodness contained in the fresh vegetables coupled with the richness and tang of the mustard cheese gives this soup a starring role in the revitalising dishes of the winter months.

A Taste of Honey

In January a spontaneous sleepover, with Dogg in tow, lashings of Campari and a cathartic 10 mile walk that, I now realise, lit flickering embers to make a new light shine brightly and reveal a path towards something exciting and new.

Energised, I returned home in the mist and fading light which induced me to stick on the bleak, yet somehow triumphant final flounce by the Walker Brothers; 1978's "Nite Flights". They knew it would be their last record and so came up with something radical, dark, dystopian, industrial and life affirming. The record's feel could have been a metaphor for my mental state after a month of challenges I was starting to emerge into something potentially brighter.

I decided to cook something that combined sweetness with Salmon as follows:

Two Fillets of Fresh Salmon

Two Homegrown Corn on the Cob 

100 Grams of Noodles

For the Sauce:

Three finely sliced cloves of Garlic.

100 grams of Unsalted Butter.

Three tablespoons of Honey

Three tablespoons of Peanut Oil

The method to make this Sweet Salmon dish goes like this.

1. Steam Salmon, and Corn on the Cob for twenty minutes.

2. Boil noodles for twenty minutes.

3. Melt Butter in a sauce pan and add Garlic, cook for around five minutes.

4. Add Honey and Peanut Oil, stir together.

5. Remove the Salmon from the steamer, then glaze and serve with Sweetcorn and Noodles.

Despite being in the freezer for around three months, the homegrown Corn on the Cob was sweet and fresh in a way its supermarket counterpart isn't. The flavoursome Salmon was also quite rich and made much tastier by the winning combination of Honey and Peanut Oil. 

Ugly Kid Tofu

It was a Saturday of Storms, being chased by 6 Doggs through remote woodland, cathartic sunshine and real hope. It was also a day of some new creativity that was inspired by a pre-holiday season trip to a local Thai Restaurant where I had battered Tofu with a special Soy Sauce. 

Despite not possessing a deep fat fryer I decided to have a go at making my own battered Tofu. 

On the player was Jellyfish's 1990 debut album "Bellybutton" an album that takes pure pop, bouncy lyrics and stadium size hooks to the next level. The band have sold few records during or after their lifetime but for those of us who know them, they are not only one of the greatest bands of the nineties; but one of the all time great bands. 

So the recipe for this one and it's as follows:

One block of Tofu of the standard size sold in supermarkets. 

Gluten Free Rice Flour and Plain Flour that gives a total of 100 grams.

1 Duck Egg, beaten. 

2 Cups of Semi-Skimmed Milk 

Half a cup of Peanut Oil

Half a cup of Oyster Sauce.

The way to make this dish is to first place the flour in a bowl and form a hole in the middle of it. Then gradually add the Duck Egg, Milk, Peanut Oil and Oyster Sauce gradually stirring it into the the Flour as you do so. 

The Tofu needs preparing by putting it between two paper towels and two heavy objects to squeeze excess water out of it. Once it's dried, cut it into cubes and mix thoroughly with the batter mixture to give it the best chance of being fully coated. 

After that I heated some sunflower oil in a frying pan and fried the batter coated Tofu for around five or six minutes turning regularly before serving it with some noodles, fried ginger, sweetcorn, homegrown chilli and a bowl of Oyster Sauce for dipping. 

While not as crisp and golden as battered Tofu found at restaurants, this battered Tofu had a texture and a flavour that lifted it above the blandness usually associated with Tofu.