On Sundays I will provide a roundup of some of our favourite recipes from the past week. Although occasionally a recipe will deserve a post all of its own!! If you are interested in the recipes for any of the dishes on our weekly menu, and I don't feature them in the round-up, please just ask.
Monday supper this week was a standby and regular feature on our menus - Crispy Skin Chicken with Spanish Rice. I adapted this from a recipe in one of the pile of cooking magazines I receive each month (another guilty pleasure I'll share more of at a later date!). This meal is extremely budget friendly if you use Chicken Thighs and you really don't need to season the chicken - unless you feel you must!!
3 tsps Oil
Skin on Chicken Thighs
2 Tomatoes, Chopped
2 Celery sticks, Sliced - you really can add in whichever veg you prefer - I've made this with onion, mushroom, green pepper and courgettes in with equally delicious results.
2 cloves of crushed garlic (I use the cheat of ready minced garlic!)
2 tsps paprika (smoked adds a really deep flavour but regular paprika is fine too)
Sliced roasted peppers - don't always add this, but if I have a jar in the fridge I throw in a couple)
300g long grain rice, rinsed
500ml Chicken Stock (i use one Knorr stock pot with boiling water)
Heat the oven to 200C and grease a pan large enough for all Chicken Thighs to be in a single layer.
Heat 2tsps oil in a large frying pan and cook the chicken, skin side down, over medium heat for 5 mins until starting to nicely brown. Turn and cook for 5 mins other side - transfer to the baking pan and cook in the oven for 15-20 mins until fully cooked through.
While chicken is cooking, heat the other tsp of oil in a saucepan and saute vegetables, garlic and paprika for 3-4 mins until softened. Add the roasted peppers, rice and stock. Cover the pan and simmer over a low heat for 12-15 mins until rice is cooked. Let sit, with lid on, for 5 mins and then stir through and add some fresh herbs if you wish.
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On Tuesday we had a Brinner day! (Breakfast for Dinner). This takes on a variety of themes but usually involves eggs, bacon and then either french toast, american style pancakes or waffles. Recently I'd been craving some of the delicious Pain Perdu that I used to eat at a great little breakfast spot in the states. Creamy French Toast topped with caramelised fruit and a little whipped cream, with a side of bacon. So I got experimenting to come up with a make at home version! Oh my, it was soooooooooooooo good!
100g Golden Caster Sugar
70g Butter
Fruit - this time I used an apple and 5 plums - apples sliced and plums quartered - but you could use any seasonal fruit
Walnut halves (could also use pecans)
2 Eggs
100ml Milk (whole milk is best!)
Thick sliced bread - I used brioche which pairs well with the fruit but you can use any thickly sliced bread - white is best for French Toast
Put 50g of the sugar in a frying pan with 2 Tbsps water - cook over a low heat until sugar dissolves. Turn up the heat slightly and cook until a caramel colour (keep watching as it can quickly turn from caramel to treacle!) Stir in 30g diced butter and cook for just a minute until smooth. Add the fruit and walnuts and stir to coat - leave in the pan to keep warm over a very low heat.
Beat the eggs with the remaining sugar and milk. If I were making this without the fruit I'd add a little vanilla too. Place the bread in the egg mixture and soak for about a minute then turn and soak the other side (best to do this 2 slices at a time). Melt 20g butter in a large frying pan until starting to foam (again, watch it as you don't want the butter to burn -low to medium heat). Use a fish slice to add the bread to the pan (it will be very soggy!) and cook for 2-3 minutes on each side until nicely browned. Repeat with the rest of the bread and butter.
Pile the fruit on top of the French Toast and finish with a swirl of cream (or creme fraiche) and whatever extra breakfast foods you fancy.
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Chicken Breasts
2 Eggs
Breadcrumbs (dried, if you don't have your own you can be canisters of them at the store - usually close to the gravy mix on the shelves)
Dried Herbs - your favourite combination - I used Italian Mixed Herbs
1 Tbsp butter
Olive Oil
Wrap the chicken breasts in cling film and bash with a rolling pin or frying pan to flatten (great stress relief!)
Beat the eggs with a little salt and pepper in a shallow dish, in another dish place the breadcrumbs and nix through the herbs.
Dip each piece of chicken in the egg and then the breadcrumbs and coat well.
Melt the butter with some oil (about 1 tsp of each per chicken breast) in a frying pan over medium heat. Cook the chicken for about 5 mins on each side until cooked through and crispy - you'll probably need to cook them 2 at a time to avoid crowding the pan.
Hope you will try some of these, please let me know if you enjoyed them!
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