Traditional Roast Chicken with Roast Spuds

The Sunday Roast is a huge tradition back home, I think it stems from getting up early to go to Mass and then having the day in front of you. In recent times we normally set aside Sundays for dialing in a food delivery and I haven't been to mass either in an age come to speak of it, so I aint cooked a roast in a while. I normally reserve it for special occasions as it always goes down an absolute treat.

Sri Lankan Chicken Curry

If you were like me and never felt you were happy with your homemade curry creations well look no further. I learned this recipe in a Sri Lankan curry workshop and it is remarkably easy to make. The only real issue is finding the ingredients. You will need to find your local Asian shop and locate Rampe (Pandan leaves), fresh curry leaves & fresh ground coconut. All 3 keep perfectly in the freezer so once you find it well then you can then defrost whenever you require.

Poulet à l'estragon (Chicken with Tarragon)

Group D:  France

I do love French cuisine and have cooked many French Recipes already. This time around I wanted something quick & simple that can become part of my weekly menu as I have found up until now that most of my French recipes are all weekend activities.

The below recipe was passionately explained to me by a French friend of mine and after cooking & eating it I can 100% advise this recipe to anyone. It is delicious, easy to make and done in super quick time. Basically by the time your rice is cooked you are ready to eat.

Kure na Paprice (Chicken Paprikash)

GROUP A: Czech Republic

The best thing I have found with undertaking this journey into all of the Cuisines from the European Championships is the new techniques and recipes that I have learned along the way. This recipe is one of those. Normally when I find a recipe I always tweak it and give it that Food Devil twist but when it comes to this little project I purposely have tried to find very traditional recipes and then not change the techniques as then you can really learn something.

With this recipe I really just love its simplicity. Its just onions, bacon and chicken with some paprika & water. When chicken is cooked remove it and then mix in the sour cream/flour combination and you have a delicious gravy/sauce. I served it with potatoes. The Polish potato pancakes would also work really well here.

You really have to try this one, I know for me it will now become a regular in my Kitchen.

For the World Cup Kitchen I cooked a Slovakian Goulash Soup which was very very tasty

Chicken Soup

My thoughts on food have always been that it should be practical and suit the need & purpose for what you want. This soup fits that bill perfectly. This recipe is more or less 100% 'a hangover cure'. Although it is mighty tasty I only seem to cook it to cure a bad hangover….hence the reason why I use the soup mixes. The soup is very easy to get together and when it is ready it will really come to your aid and make your recovery day that little bit more bearable.

On the Soup mixture discussion I like to make a 1.5 litre soup with half of the stock coming from the soup mixture. So use enough soup mixture to make 0.75lt of soup. If you can try combining cream of vegetable & chicken soup for best results

Italian Breadcrumbs

Every now and again you stumble onto a recipe that you know will be with you for a very long time…..an absolute piece of pure genius that every time you eat it, you enjoy every single bite and cannot wait to make it again

Well this recipe for Italian Breadcrumbs is one such recipe…..

Coriander & Spring Onion Marinade

I have been working on this marinade for the first few BBQs of this summer. I always keep my marinades with a consistency of 2:1 in terms of oil & vinegar. By keeping to this ratio the marinade will penetrate the chicken and you will be truly amazed with the flavour. The rule of thumb for marinades and Chicken is that you want to marinade for a minimum of 3 hours.

What I like to do with my marinade is to use half Balsamic & half Applecider vinegar for the contrasting sharpness and also the darker colour of your marinade

Tandoori Murg

This tandoori recipe is quite easy to follow, the only thing needed for it is time for the chicken to marinade. The general rule in Indian cooking is that meats are marinated twice. The first marinade removes moisture and the second introduces flavours and spices. You would ideally like to marinade in your yoghurt& spices for a minimum of 3 hours, a great idea is to marinade overnight and prepare for a weekend lunch or early dinner.

With the below recipe it is a single serving but a great idea for this recipe is to double the marinade quantities and buy a whole chicken and divide it into 4 pieces (2 legs, 2 breasts).

Using boneless pieces of chicken &  push them through skewers for a Chicken Tikka

Chicken Stroganoff

This recipe is a very old favourite of mine, now that the Winter is coming it will start to be on my weekly menu more often. What I love about it is the unique character you can give it. The basis of the meal is all about the flour & spices mixture. You want to have a consistency of 2:1 here. What this mixture will do is to give the sauce an amazing flavour while also acting to thicken up your chicken stock.

Also the beauty of this mixture is that you can really make it your own. So you can make it as spicy as you want, add other spices to it or even add dried herbs if you so wish. Really just play around with it and you will discover what you like & don’t like. Everything is cooked in a Large Wok so after you brown the chicken your onions/mushrooms are also cooked in the same oil so they immediately get the flavour from the spices.

This recipe works great for a mid-week dish and also can be cooked for a more serious dinner as like I said the flavour is very natural & delicious. I always serve it with potatoes but it also works with rice , whichever you prefer.

Chicken Mushroom & Onion Quiche

   

Quiches are super versatile you can really combine any ingredients you like with your egg mixture and make whatever combination you choose. What use to put me off in the past to making them, was the hassle of making the pastry but now with frozen pastry readily available and super cheap you really have no excuses any more.

The Quiche below is a personal favourite of mine, I like to flash fry my chicken slices and then slowly cooking my onions before I add the mushrooms, garlic, chilli & cooked chicken. I will carmelise the mixture with some brown sugar and let cool before adding it in the part cooked pastry with your egg/cream mixture.

One serving will give you 6 very heathly slices

Why not try it? 
 

Day 22: Pollo En Escabeche

Day 22: Semi-Finals

Holland 3 Uruguay 2

 

This is a very interesting dish, it is an authentic Uruguayan recipe for marinated chicken. It uses a combination of 2 parts vinegar and one part olive oil, so you could argue that it is more of a pickled chicken than marinated chicken.

Very simply you just brown your chicken pieces (I used de-boned thigh pieces) then you add in your onions, carrots, garlic & herbs/spices and mix together your vinegar & olive oil and simmer for 1 hour or until the chicken is done. You let the chicken completely cool and then you can eat it in a Salad or in a sandwich.

Its all very tasty and something I certainly never tried before, so why not try it!

Day 14: Pepper & Pesto Pasta

Day 14
Slovakia 3 Italy 2
Paraguay 0 New Zealand 0
Netherlands 2 Cameroon 1
Japan 3 Denmark 1

Disaster for the blog.......Italy are out of the World Cup. I was so confident they would get thru that tonight I prepared something Italian that is quick and easy, not one of my more complex meals that I could of done. Ah well, at least Japan are thru....food wise that is.

Day 13: West African Chicken Stew

Day 13

England 1 Slovenia 0
USA 1 Algeria 0
Germany 1 Ghana 0
Australia 2 Serbia 1 

Since I started this World Cup Kitchen idea I have wanted to try and cook something authentic from Africa….I had penciled in either an Ivory Coast or Ghana game for this recipe. From my reading and understanding of it, it sounds very authentic but also open for improvisation in its ingredients and will work well in a Western Kitchen as all of the main ingredients are readily available.

Day 12: Souvlaki

Day 12 
South Africa 2 France 1
Uruguay 1 Mexico 0
Argentina 2 Greece 0
South Korea 2 Nigeria 2

World Cup Kitchen for today is Greek Souvlaki.

Today was the last game for 4 teams at this World Cup. I had a choice of Greek or South African so I decided on the Greek option....in one of the off days later on in the tournament I will cook something from South Afica in homage to hosts of this World Cup.

Souvlaki can be eaten a number of ways….as a main course meal with accompanying salads or like I had it tonight in a fast food style wrap with chips, tzatziki and salad. 

When marinating your meat for best results leave it overnight to enhance the best flavour from the meat. Also when cooking over a BBQ wait until the coals have been burnt right through and the temperature is not searing hot so the chicken will cook slowly and will remain moist and tender

Day 6: Muslitos de Pollo

Day 6
Chile 1 Honduras 0
Switzerland 1 Spain 0
Uruguay 3 South Africa 0

As Spain are my favourites for the World Cup I thought it would be a nice idea to do one of my favourite Spanish recipes. Normally this recipe would be accompanied by other Spanish Tapas but it stands up as a meal by itself and unlike the Spanish performance today it will not disappoint.

Very simply it is Chicken Drumsticks cooked in red wine…..you cook the chicken until it is falling off the bone and you can serve it with rice or mashed potato. 

Day 5: African Devil Chicken (Piri Piri)

Day 5

New Zealand 1 Slovakia 1
Ivory Coast 0 Portugal 0
Brazil 2 North Korea 1

For tonights meal it was a very easy choice with the Portuguese influence and also with the World Cup being in Africa I decided to go for Chicken in a fiery Piri Piri marinade.

Day 3: Chicken & Leek Pie

Day 3
South Korea 2 Greece 0
Ghana 1 Serbia 0
Germany 4 Australia 0

World Cup Kitchen is an Australian Meat Pie -  a Chicken & Leek pie

When I lived in Australia the one thing I loved more than anything was their meat pies. Shakespeare Pies in Newtown, Sydney was a regular of mine and since I have returned to Europe I do miss the widespread availability of a good meat pie.

Therefore it was logical that in Australia's first game I would try to best create a Aussie Pie. They are best prepared in individual pie dishes but I have looked all over Amsterdam for them but with no success, so I just prepared them in a larger baking tray/dish.

Buffalo Chicken Kebabs

For the first BBQ of the summer I really wanted to try and find a spicy marinade that would compliment the Coriander Chicken Kebabs that I had already decided upon. 

When I lived in Toronto many moons ago we use to all love Buffalo Wings so I decided on trying my hand at a Buffalo wing marinade but to use chicken breast instead of wings as I wanted 2 types of chicken kebabs.

Coriander Marinated Chicken Kebabs

One of my aims for the summer is to perfect the BBQ. In the past I too often have just gone for the easy option and bought my meat already marinated but not anymore. I have a couple of books on BBQing and in it they explain everything you need to know. So let this be the first of many BBQ related posts...

First up a short introduction on marinades: marinades come in 3 components: acids, oils and aromatics

- The Acids help break down the tough muscle fibers, tenderizing the meat

- The Oil coats the exterior of the meat, keeping it from drying out during cooking

- The Aromatics, which can include chopped vegetables, fresh or dried herbs, ground or whole spices and/or condiments add cannon blasts of flavour

Put them together, and there isn’t a food out there that can resist their transforming powers.

First up for my BBQ segment is Coriander Marinated Chicken Kebabs. I used the Oil method as I was using chicken breast. This method leaves the meat completely tender and the flavours nicely balanced between the acidity of the yoghurt and the light sweetness of the chicken.

If you don’t like Coriander look away now!!

Chicken Burgers.....a first time try by Recipe Trawling

We have all cooked something for the first time with varied success. 

So what is important when you cook something new? 

- For me I think the key to cooking something tasty, first time out is to understand the cooking process involved.
- Also you need to think what is the most important part of this meal you are doing. What are the key ingredients?