Spiced Chicken with Apricot Rice

Based on recipe from Sunday Times. Mr B made this yesterday using two third of quantities  which made plenty for three.

Prep:
Remove fat from 8 skinless, boneless chicken thighs and rub with 2tsp garam masala
Cook 175g puy lentils according to the packet. Drain.
Thinly slice 1 large onion
Roughly chop 90g 'ready-to-eat' dried apricots
Rinse 250g brown basmati rice
Have to hand 750ml hot chicken stock
Toast 100g flaked almonds
Make a raita by mixing 300g natural yoghurt, half a cucumber finely chopped, 2tbsp mint leaves finely chopped

The Cooking part:
In a heavy based pan/flame proof shallow casserole soften the onions in 1tbsp olive oil over a medium heat (5-10 mins). Add 2 crushed cloves of garlic and cook for a further minute.
Add 1 tsp ground cumin, 1tsp ground cinnamon and the apricots. Cook for another minute and then stir in the rice, lentils and stock. Bring to the boil then add the chicken bits on top. Lower heat. Cover and gently simmer for 40 minutes until the chicken and rice is cooked.
Season.

The eating part:
Serve with the raita and toasted flaked almonds.

Bircher Muesli

Writing up one of our healthy breakfast options especially for Claire T!
Variations limited by imagination only!

The night before mix equal quantities of porridge oats, apple juice and natural yoghurt in a bowl. Put in the fridge. We use half a cup of each for two of us

The following morning mix in fruit, spoon into bowls  and scatter over some toasted nuts. Enjoy!

Our favourite combination is an eating apple grated and toasted flaked almonds.

Balckberries and hazlenuts worked well. Will update when we have other combinations!

Spiced Pumpkin Soup

Finally typing up pumpkin soup recipe my friend Kate sent me many years ago :)
Yes pumpkin carving did happen here last night

Spiced Pumpkin Soup

Serves 6 - 8

 

900g pumpkin, peeled, de-seeded and cut into cubes (about half a standard sized pumpkin)

175 g onion, peeled and chopped

2 garlic cloves, crushed

25 g butter

1 sprig thyme

400g tin tomatoes deseeded and chopped

1 tablsp tomato puree

1.2 litres chicken stock (I have used just water and got good results)

salt and freshly ground pepper

pinch of nutmeg

35g butter

1/3 teasp cumin seeds

1/3 teasp coriander seeds

1/3 teasp black peppercorns

1 teasp white mustard seeds

5cm piece of cinnamon stick

 

Put the pumpkin into a pan with the onion, garlic, butter and thyme.  Cover and sweat over a low heat for 10 mins, stirring once or twice.  Add the chopped tomatoes and 1/2 teasp of sugar and tomato puree and cook until dissolved into a thick sauce.  Stir in the stock, s&p, and a little nutmeg and simmer until the pumpkin is tender.   Discard the thyme stalk, then liquidise and return to pan.  Taste and adjust seasoning.     Just before serving, heat the coriander, cumin and peppercorns and crush coarsely.  Melt the butter in a small saucepan and when foaming add the crushed spices, mustard seeds and cinnamon.  Stir for a few seconds until the mustard seeds start to pop.   Remove the cinnamon and pour over the soup.  Serve each bowl with a drizzle of the spiced butter stirred in.

Gluten free seed loaf

Nicknamed 'pigeon bread' by daughter!

Based onJamie Oliver recipe in Sunday Times magazine

Gluten free seed bread

Heat oven to 190C, line large loaf tin with greaseproof paper

Mix a 7g sachet of dried yeast into 375ml of lukewarm water and 4tbsp of extra virgin olive oil. 

In a large bowl combine:

250g gram flour

100g ground almonds

50g linseeds

25g each of poppy, sesame, sunflower and pumpkin seeds. (ie 100g of other seeds)

finely chopped leaves of a sprig rosemary

Pinch sea salt

Make a well in the middle. Beat 4 large eggs and pour into the well. Start combining with the flour mixture and continue whilst adding the yeast mixture.

It looks like a thick batter mix rather than a dough.

Pour it into the tin. Bake for 45 minutes until golden and cooked through. Transfer to a wire rack and leave for 20 minutes before eating.

This is very rich. Jamie has many toppings suggested as a post 'gym' snack. Half a slice with marmite (or gluten free alternative) does for me.

Breast of Lamb Ste Menehould

How to turn a tricky, and hence cheap, part of a lamb into a starter or part of a collation of 'finger food'. Also known in the Brode household as the only way to cook lamb breast!

This recipe takes 12+ hours so do start the night before at least. 
There are three stages.

Slow braise

Heat oven to 140C fan (150C for non-fan)

In a roasting tray that will fit the lamb breast in one layer (cut it in half to fit if needed) put a layer of one chopped carrot and one roughly chopped onion along with a glass of white wine and glass of water. Add a few herbs (a bay leaf and/or sprig of thyme) and a few whole peppercorns. Put meat on top, cover and seal with foil and cook in oven for around 3 hours. The aim is that the bones will be very easy to pull out.

Debone and press

At end of the above, drain off the liquid and remove the veg. Leave meat in tray until it is at a temperature that you can handle. Pull out the bones.
Put back into the tray and put another baking tray on top - or something that covers the meat. Weigh down with whatever you have to hand (tins of beans are a good backstop) and refrigerate over night.

Cut, breadcrumb and grill
Take the pressed meat and cut into 2cm by 8 - whatever makes sense - cm slices. Brush each slice with Dijon mustard. Breadcrumb (as in press bredacrumbs into all surfaces). Brush with melted butter or spray with oil.

Grill on each side until brown (closer to dark brown than light)

Serve with tartar sauce. Now to find the recipe/notes on the last one I made.