Chicken, Pea & Barley Risotto

Now for something different, I blog about something that isn't sweet! I haven't blogged about main meals for a while as 1) I haven't cooked anything particularly exciting 2) by the time we eat in the evening we just want to eat, presentation and faffing with cameras is low down on our priorities.

I've been wanting to make a risotto sans rice since I ate a delicious spelt risotto at River Cottage. I managed to pick up some spelt grain risotto when I visited River Cottage Canteen, but since returning I've found it nigh on impossible to find spelt grain for sale. I've scoured health food stores and even a vegan wholefood shop (which is usually great for this type of thing). When I enquired about it I was told "they don't sell it as their customers have no call for it" making me think I had committed a huge vegan faux pas. Given that spelt grain seems to be as rare as hen's teeth I had to settle for a similar grain - barley.

Barley is being peddled as the new "Superfood" due to it's low GI, high fibre qualities and because of this has the ability to lower cholesterol along with being a good source of niacin. The main reason for us eating it is that it is filling and I like the taste of it. It does make a great replacement for the traditional rice in risotto. I also like barley in soups.

To make this I also used something called Souper Mix. It's a veg stock recipe from River Cottage Preserves Handbook in which you preserve finely diced stock vegetables & herbs in salt then rehydrate them in boiling water to make a stock. It's a fantastic way of using up lots of vegetables and makes a really flavoursome stock. I can't find the recipe anywhere online so plan to blog about it in the near future. The photo another prime example of my inability to finely dice vegetables, check out the onions - absolutely shocking. I really should just whack them in the food processor.

This risotto is based my traditional risotto recipe, the only difference really being is that it takes longer for the barley to soak up the stock. By using the some of the leftovers from Sunday's Roast Chicken you can truly call this Economy Gastronomy.

Chicken, Pea & Barley Risotto
Serves 2-3

1 large onion, finely sliced
1 clove of garlic, finely sliced
150g barley
150ml white wine
500ml vegetable stock (chicken stock will also do)
leftover Roast Chicken
Handful of peas
thyme
seasoning
knob of butter

1) Gently fry the onion and garlic in the olive oil in a deep saucepan for 3 min. Add the barley and stir for a further 2-3 until the barley begins to brown.

2) Pour in the wine and turn up the heat until the wine is absorbed. Gradually add stock 1 ladle at a time, each time waiting for the stock to be absorbed before adding more. After the 2nd ladle add the chicken. When you have one ladle of stock left, add the peas, thyme and seasoning.

3) The risotto is ready once all the stock has been absorbed and the barley has a very slight bite. If you need it add more stock. Stir in the butter. Leave for 2-3 min before serving.

Pot-Roast Cider Chicken

When snow was coating the UK Abel & Cole contacted me asking if I would like to try one of their soya-free chickens. It's an intriguing concept and not one I had really considered or come across before. As the majority of GM-free soya comes from Brazil, where rainforests are chopped down to make way for soya, Abel & Cole have looked into soya-free ways of chicken getting their protein for growth. I was pleased with the quality of the bird. I'm fortunate to have a very good supplier of organic, free range meat and will continue to use them, but for what ever reason I can't get to them I'll be giving Abel & Cole a call.

Like the chicken we usually buy, this chicken came with the giblets. I'm always freaked out by the giblets. Half pig? fine, giblets stuffed up a chicken? um, no chance. Thank goodness for Hubby. I know I should have kept them to make the ultimate chicken stock, but I couldn't bring myself to use them. Maybe I've eventually get over my gibletphobia.

To cook the chicken I wanted to try pot-roasting, different from my usual way of cooking a chicken. Something I hadn't tried with chicken. I was also yet another excuse to use my Le Creuset dish. Rarely does a week go by when I don't use the Le Creuset dish I got for Christmas. I admit I'm a bit obsessed with it. I was pleased how it turned out. This method of roasting produced a succulent and tasty bird. The roasting juices were then used as a slightly sweet gravy. I'll certainly cook a chicken again this way.


Based on this recipe from Delicious Magazine

Pot-Roast Cider Chicken

1.5kg whole free-range chicken with giblets removed.
330ml dry cider
2 large onions, wedges
4 sprigs fresh thyme leaves

1) Preheat oven to 220oc. Scatter the onion wedges over the bottom of the casserole pan then place chicken on top of the onions. Pour in the cider and sprinkle with thyme. Replace lid and roast in oven for 45 min.

2) Uncover the chicken and roast for a further 45 min, until the chicken is cooked. Remove chicken from pan, wrap in foil and rest for 20 min. The remaining liquid in the pan can be used as a gravy.

Curry Monday - Thai Red Curry

I've always been interested in trying a Thai Red Curry. After a bit of searching on the internet I found a good recipe for curry paste. It was a great deal nicer than the bland looking photo would make out. The only change I would make next time would be to add some veg like mange tout. We'll certainly be making this again soon.

From this week Curry Monday is going to be every two weeks as I want to return to some of the curry recipes I've tried so far...and I'm running out of inspiration!

Thai Red Curry
serves 2

paste
1 red chilli, deseeded
1 tsp coriander seeds
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp ginger, grated
1 stem of lemongrass
1 shallot, sliced
2 cloves of garlic
1 tbsp lime juice
1 tsp hot paprika

sauce
1 tbsp sunflower oil
200 ml coconut milk
splash of fish sauce
2 kaffir lime leaves

1) Blitz all of the paste ingredients together until you have a thick paste. You may need to add a small amount of water to help loosen up the paste.

2) Heat the sunflower oil in the pan then fry the paste for 1 min. Add the chicken, stir to ensure the paste covers the chicken and cook until chicken is browned.

3) Add the coconut milk, fish sauce and lime leaves. Simmer for 15min until chicken is cooked.

Curry Monday - Coconut Chicken Masala

As I'm getting more experienced at cooking from scratch I'm finding it easier, especially when it comes to curries. My store cupboards are now so well stocked it only takes a quick shop for the fresh ingredients and I have a meal. Takes out a lot of the pressure when I can't decide what to cook!

Talking of chicken, this week I went back to my usual fantastic meat supplier after visiting a dodgy farm shop a few weeks back. I'm on their [the great suppliers] mailing list and a few months back they sent me interesting letter saying where all of their chicken is sourced. Their chicken is by far the best around. Not only is it succulent and tasty, but doesn't leach water when you cook it. Kate at a Merrier World has recently written an article all about chicken welfare, which is well worth a read.

Last year Channel 4 featured a programme called River Cottage Treatment where Hugh F-W tried to convert fast-food addicts to good wholesome home cooked food. While searching for a beer batter recipe I came across his recipe for Coconut Chicken Masala that featured in the series. "That's Curry Monday sorted" I thought!

The recipe made a delicious and creamy curry that I would certainly make again. I halved the recipe and it made enough for the 2 of us, plus a small portion for lunch tomorrow.

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's Coconut Chicken Masala

Curry Monday - Chinese Chipshop Curry

Right, hands up, I have a confession. This isn't a traditional Chinese curry. More of an anglicised version; familiar to anyone who has had a takeaway Chinese in the UK.

In Liverpool, where I spent most of my teens, we had Chinese Chipshops. Ideal for situations where you couldn't decide which takeaway to have! This concept causes great confusion to Midlands born-and-bred Hubby where Chinese Chippies are unheard of.

Interestingly the new BBC series Chinese Food Made Easy starts tonight and I'll be watching it with interest. If anyone out there has recipes for traditional Chinese "curries" I would be very grateful if they could let me have a peek.

Tonight's curry is based on Lily Kwok's Curry made with leftover roast chicken and egg fried rice on the side.

Chicken & Mushroom Chinese Curry.
Serves 2

2 tbsp sunflower oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 tbsp ginger, grated
3 garlic cloves, sliced
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1/4 tsp Chilli powder
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground fenugreek
1 1/2 tsp curry powder
125ml water
2 1/2 tsp plain flour
2 1/2 tsp self raising flour
400ml chicken stock
Handful of mushrooms, sliced
200g leftover roast chicken
handful of peas

1) Gently fry onions for 3 min, add the ginger and garlic and fry for a further 30 seconds. Keep gently frying until onions have softened.

2) Stir in all the spices and fry for a further 5 mins. Add the water then blitz into a paste. Stir in the two flours until well combined.

3) Slowly simmer the puree for 20 min until you have a thick paste and it is dark mustard brown in colour.

4)Add stock, mushroom, chicken and peas. Simmer for 10 min until sauce begins to thicken.

Sweet & Spicy Chicken Noodles

Earlier this week I made a big mistake when shopping for the meat. We usually go to a great butcher who's meat is fantastic quality and if they don't have what you want they will sort it for you. As we had been away for the weekend, we hadn't been to the butcher and after a long hard day in work I really couldn't be doing with driving that extra few miles to get the meat. Instead I went to a farm shop just down the road thinking their meet must be good...how wrong could I have been.

* The meat was prepackaged - a big bugbear of mine.
* I couldn't buy the exact quantity I wanted.
* Only once I get home I realised that although the minced beef said 650g on the packaging there was less than 600g - so I had been overcharged.
* The meat was tasteless and when cooking leached loads of water.
* It was no cheaper than our regular fantastic butcher.

They can forget about getting any custom off me again! All in all it had been an "in the clouds" day for me. On the way to work I drove in totally the wrong direction...and it took me a while to click where I was going, plus the meal was meant to have a red pepper in it, but for some obsucure reason while shopping I picked up a broccolli (no I can't see the similarity either!).

and [breathe]

Hubby & I are doing quite a bit of overtime at the moment so midweek dinners need to be quick. This dish took all of 10 minutes.

Sweet & Spicy Chicken Noodles
Serves 2

2 chicken fillets, cut into strips
3 spring onions, sliced
3 tbsp sweet chilli sauce
3 tbsp honey
1 tbsp lime juice
1 small head of broccolli
2 sheets of medium noodles

1) With a small amount of oil in a wok, brown the chicken and spring onions. In a separate saucepan cook the noodles then drain

2) To the wok add the sweet chilli sauce, honey and lime juice. Fry until chicken is cooked.

3) Remove chicken to warmed plate. Add brocolli to sauce and boil until sauce has thickened. Mix in chicken and noodles, then serve.

Curry Monday - Achaari Chicken

Apologies for the brief nature of my posts recently. I'm currently trying to fill in the mother of all applications forms for a job I really want. Not only is the application form long with a detailed supporting statement I also have to submit my CV and covering letter. It seems to be taking forever!

I'm so glad tonight's curry was nice and quick as I wasn't in the mood for anything fancy. Achaari contains similar ingredients to chutney and unsurprisingly resembles chutney in taste. It tasted like a light and spicy sweet & sour curry, Perfect for a summer evening. The original recipe has onion seeds (I couldn't get my hands on any) and a great deal more chilli powder. The only change I'll make next time is to maybe grate the onion to give the sauce a thicker texture.

Achaari Chicken
Serves 2

1 tbsp sunflower oil
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
1/4 tsp coriander seeds
1/4 tsp fennel seeds
1/4 tsp cumin seeds
1 tbsp tomato puree
100ml water
1 onion, finely sliced
1 clove of garlic, minced
sprinkle of chilli powder
1/2 tsp grated ginger
2 chicken fillets, diced
1 small red chilli, sliced

1) Heat the oil in a wok. Fry all whole spices for 1 min to re lase the flavours.

2) Stir in tomato puree, water, onion, garlic, chilli powder and ginger. Fry for a further minute.

3) Add chicken, cover and simmer for 7 min until chicken is cooked. Stir in chilli slices then serve.

Spicy Peanut Chicken Stir Fry

As the weather is slowly getting better we are trying to eat more quick, light(ish) dishes. This dish is based on a recipe in this months Delicious. We both really enjoyed it. Next time I may add a bit more chilli to give it a better kick.

I was unable to find skinless peanuts in the shops so set about skinning some red skinned ones. It took for flippin ever and as soon as Hubby came home from work he commented how I should have just blanched them, we live and learn!

Spicy Peanut Chicken Stir Fry
Serves 2

25g of unsalted peanuts or 3 heaped tbsp of crunchy peanut butter
1 garlic clove
1 red chilli, deseeded
2 tsp ginger, grated
3 tbsp coconut milk
1.5 tbsp soy sauce
2 chicken fillets, diced
1 small head of brocolli, cut into florets
2 sheets of noodles
1 tbsp lime juice

1) Blitz the peanuts, garlic, chilli, ginger, coconut milk and soy sauce until you have a paste.

2) In a wok, fry chicken in a small amount of oil for around 5 min until golden. Stir in the peanut paste and cook for a further minute.

3) Add the broccoli to the wok and stir fry for a further 3 min (or until brocolli is tender) Stir in noodles, cook for 2 min. Add lime juice then serve.

Chicken, Asparagus & Lemon Risotto

Now the British Asparagus season is in full swing we've been taking advantage and eating asparagus in a large amount of meals. With some roast chicken left I decided to make a risotto. Perfect for this time of year. We both really enjoyed it.

Chicken, Asparagus & Lemon Risotto
Serves 2

1 tbsp olive oil
2 shallots, sliced
1 big clove of garlic, chopped
200g risotto rice
100ml white wine
400ml hot chicken stock
6 spears of asparagus, chopped into 1/3
handful of cooked chicken
2 dsp lemon juice
knob of butter
half a handful of parmesan
seasoning

1) Gently fry shallots and garlic in the olive oil in a deep saucepan for 3 min. Add rice and stir for a further 2-3 until the rice is translucent.

2) Pour in the wine and turn up the heat until the wine is absorbed. Gradually add stock 1 ladle at a time, each time waiting for the stock to be absorbed before adding more. After the first ladle of stock stir in the asparagus, after the 2nd ladle add the chicken. After the last ladle of stock has been added stir in lemon juice.

3) The risotto is ready once all the stock has been absorbed and the rice has a slight bite. Stir in parmesan and butter. Leave for 2-3 min before serving.

Curry Monday - Oil Free Chicken Curry

Sunday I cooked a chicken so had a load of leftover chicken that I wanted to use in a curry. I bookmarked Sunita's Oil Free Curry recipe a few weeks ago as it looked so delicious. Well the delicious looking photos were right. The recipe made a lovely creamy and quick curry. Perfect for a mid-week meal. It has to be one of my favourite curries I've cooked recently.

The only alteration I made to the recipe was to halve the recipe and use chicken that was already cooked. I promise I won't go a chicken curry next week! I'm thinking of lamb.

We're slowing (ok that's a lie!) getting through the batch of Nutella & peanut butter brownies I made on Sunday. They get even more fudgy a day after being baked, yum!

Curry Monday - Chettinad Chicken

Tonights curry was Chettinad Chicken. I should have known from the outset it wasn't going to work as well as I had hoped, it's just been one of those days. As it was cooking I could tell there was something missing, it just looked so bland. I re-read and re-read the recipe again and I had included everything. Tastewise it was nice, but didn't have the spicy kick and depth it was meant to have. Only after a google search I noticed that all other recipes for Chettinad Chicken featured tomatoes and a great deal more chilli, mine didn't and may explain why it just didn't look or taste 100% right.

I won't include the recipe as in my eyes it isn't right, so here are some links to some better sounding Chettinad Chicken.

Chettinad Pepper Chicken - Madhur Jaffrey
Chettinad Style Chicken Curry

Ah well, it still won't put me off my Curry Monday challenge. I'm very much welcome to curry suggestions so feel free to leave me a message or email me.

Cashew Chicken & Puris

Today in our house, Monday has been officially declared "Curry Monday", with the aim of me trying more or less every recipe in my new favourite Indian cookbook. What makes it even better is that all of the curries in the book can been made within 30 min, quicker than visiting the local Balti to pick up a takeaway! Usually I do a fancier rice like pulao rice to accompany curries, but as were tasting new curries I'm sticking to plain basmati rice for the time being so I don't overwhelm the flavours.

Tonight was Cashew Chicken's turn. The original recipes does use chicken thigh, but I'm a funny one when it comes to meat and don't like the texture of thigh meat (I told you I was odd!) and it also has quite a sizable amount of apricots in. You can add them if you want, but I prefer apricots in my granola rather than curry.

To go with the curry Hubby made some spiced Puris. Puris are puffed up deep-fried bread and are often used as the base of dishes like chicken chat. I left the puris in the capable hands of Hubby as I have a well known fear of frying. Not the healthiest, but goodness are they moreish. They had just enough chilli kick to complement the curry perfectly.



The curry turned out to be very similar to a lovely salty/sour curry I had a few weeks ago in a restaurant. Very delicious. I had to hide the portion I had put aside for my lunch tomorrow from Hubby as he was very tempted to scoff it. I'm sure if you added the apricots it would sweeten it.

Cashew Chicken
Serves 2

3 shallots, roughly chopped
2 tbsp tomato puree
30g cashew nuts
1 garlic clove
1 tsp garam masala
1/8 tsp turmeric
1 tsp sea salt
1 dsp lemon juice
1 dsp plain yogurt
3 tbsp fresh coriander leaves, chopped
2 chicken fillets, diced
150 ml chicken stock

1) Blitz the shallots, tomato puree, cashew nuts, garlic, turmeric, salt, lemon juice and yogurt until you have a smooth paste. In a pan fry off the paste for 2 min.

2) Add the chicken and coriander to the pan. Fry for a further 2-3 min. Pour in chicken stock. Cover and simmer for 10-12 minutes until chicken is cooked.

Spiced Puris
Makes 8

110g atta (chapatti) flour
1/2 tsp chilli powder
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tbsp water
sunflower oil for frying

1) Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl. Gradually add the water until you have a soft, but not sticky dough. Knead until dough is smooth and elastic. Split dough into 8 balls, then roll out to make rounds about 3 inches across

2) Fill deep pan with about 2-3 inches of oil. Heat to 180oc (when a cube of bread browns in 30 sec). Cook puris in small batches. After a few seconds of being in the oil the puris will puff up. Turn over and continue to fry until golden. Drain on kitchen paper.

Bombay Chicken Masala

On Sunday evening I had all good intentions of writing an account of our cold, blustery, but fun weekend camping in the Peak District...however I borrowed someones compact digital camera and am struggling to get the photos off. That post will have to wait!

I'm a big fan of Indian food and slowly I'm learning how to cook curries at home from scratch that are just as good as the local Balti House. When we first moved into our cottage 3 years ago my Mum gave me a copy of 30-minute Indian by Sunil Vijayakar. Back then I wasn't the most confident cook and the list of ingredients scared me, so the cookbook sat at the back bookshelf. In the summer of last year, I dusted the book down and decided to have another go.

Tonight I wanted to cook a curry that didn't involve cream/coconut cream (like most curries I cook do) and found a recipe in 30-min Indian for Bombay Chicken Masala. What I like about this cookbook is that it tells you how to cook a curry from scratch, unlike the majority of food mags that tell you to use ready-made curry paste. I'll hold my hands up to using Thai curry paste at the moment as I can't get hold of the right ingredients near me, but considering I'm not too far from the Curry Capital of the UK I can get my hand on Indian ingredients relatively easily. Along with the curries, it also tells you how to make the accompaniments including paneer, barfi and puris.

I have to admit I was a bit scared when I saw the amount of chillis going into the curry, but there was no need to worry. It produced a beautifully fragrant, light curry where you could taste the chillis rather than having your head blown off by them. We really enjoyed the curry and am planning to cook some more from this cookbook soon.

Bombay Chicken Masala
Serves 2

3 shallots, roughly chopped
3 green chillies, deseeded and chopped
3 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
1 tsp grated ginger
1/2 tbsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
handful of fresh coriander leaves, roughly chopped
70ml water
1 tbsp rapeseed oil
2 chicken fillets, cut into strips
125ml chicken stock
salt & pepper

1) In a blender blitz shallots, chillies, garlic, ginger, ground coriander, cumin, coriander leaves and water until you have a paste.

2) In a wok, heat rapeseed oil then fry paste for 1 min. Keep stirring, or it'll stick to the bottom of the pan. Add the chicken, stir until thoroughly coated in the paste and cook for a further 2-3 min.

3) Pour in stock, cover and gently simmer for 10-12min until chicken is tender. Season with salt and pepper before serving.

Thai Pie

A few weeks back on Something for the Weekend, Simon Rimmer made delicious looking Smoked Cheese and Leek Pies. This inspired me to get over my savory pastry fear and have a go at making my own individual pies without doing a Delia and resorting to ready-made pastry.

The fact I'm on Easter Hols has injected me with a bit of confidence and time to try new things. By using the Simon Rimmer pastry recipe Simon Rimmer and making a Thai curry filling using the left over chicken from Sunday, I present my Thai Pies!

The original intention was for the filling to be Thai Green Curry, but Hubby picked up Yellow Curry paste by mistake. This paste worked well as it produced a thicker curry, perfect for the pie. I was really pleased as to how the pastry worked out. It wasn't heavy and contained the filling well. I'll certainly be making the pies again, with different fillings. I did take photos of the pie open, but it looked like I had dropped the pie and it had exploded!

Thai Pies
Makes 2 individual pies with a bit of leftover pastry.

PASTRY
225g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
65g suet
65g unsalted butter
pinch salt
splash cold water
1 egg, beaten

THAI YELLOW CURRY FILLING
1 tbsp rapeseed oil
1.5 tbsp yellow curry paste
1 tbsp soft dark sugar
leftover chicken
8 kaffir lime leaves, plus 2 more for decoration
300ml coconut milk
1 tsp Thai fish sauce
a few mange tout and baby corn, sliced
1 tbsp chopped coriander
juice of 1/2 lime


1) For the pastry rub together the flour, suet, butter and salt. Add a splash of water to help bring the dough together. Form into a ball. Place ball back in the bowl, cover in clingfilm and place in the fridge for 30 min.

2) While the pastry is chilling start on the curry. Heat oil, paste and sugar on a high heat for about a minute. Reduce heat then add chicken and leaves until coated in the paste. Add coconut milk, fish sauce and simmer for 20 min.

3) Stir in lime juice, mange tout, sweetcorn and coriander. Remove kaffir lime leaves (optional). Allow to cool.

4) Preheat oven to 200oc. Line baking tray with parchment. Roll out pastry until about 5mm thick. Cut 2 circles 15cm in diameter (about side-plate size) and 2 circles 8 cm in diameter.

5) To make the pies, place about half of the filling mixture in the middle of one of the larger circles (you may have some curry left). Place one of the smaller circles on top of the mixture, then bring the sides up and pinch around the top to help it stand. Place on the baking tray.

5) Brush pies with beaten egg, place kaffir leaf on the top of each pie. Bake for 20 min until golden.

The Perfect Roast Chicken and Chocolate Mousse

This weekend has been busy with cooking. With beautiful ingredients coming into season and the spring sunshine (even if it was interspersed with hail showers!) we both found it quite inspirational.

A few months back I brought a copy of The River Cottage Meat Book. Until this weekend I hadn't really read it properly. I though it was just going to be a book full of meat recipes, but in reality it's an insightful book with the understanding of meat and various ways of cooking it. I'm not a huge meat eater, but found it really interesting. Thanks to this book Hubby has come over all Hugh F-W (minus the curls) and decided to have a go at curing pork. We now have a belly of pork coated in salt living in a Tupperware box under the sink. He's then planning on smoking half of it in the chimney. After this he wants to try making chorizo.

With the duck eggs we picked up yesterday we also managed to get a beautiful local free-range chicken. With my planning quite a few chicken based dishes this week I decided it was the most economical way of buying and cooking chicken. I've never cooked a full chicken before, I guess I found it a bit scary. Last July I did cook a crown of chicken, it was nice, but not perfect and it knocked my confidence.

Well Hugh installed my confidence and I managed to cook a perfect, tasty, succulent roast chicken with a delicious non-greasy gravy to go with it (a serious achievement for me!) We had the chicken with garlic & herb stuffing, creamed leeks, carrots, roast potatoes and Yorkshire puds made with a duck egg. The duck egg made a really good Yorkie pud batter.

The Perfect Roast Chicken - thanks to Hugh!
for a 2.5kg chicken

2.5kg free-range chicken
100g butter, softened
handful of parsley, rosemary and thyme
1 garlic clove, minced
salt & pepper
100ml white wine

1) Preheat oven to 210oc. Mix butter, herbs, garlic and seasoning. Rub all over chicken. Cook for 20 min

2) Turn oven down to 180oc, baste chicken then pour wine into roasting tray (don't pour over the chicken.) Cook for a further 50 min. The chicken is done when the juices run clear.

3) Cover in foil and allow to rest for 20 min.


My rule on Sundays is always to make a dessert, just in case the roast goes wrong (once in a blue moon it does when I'm experimenting). For the dessert I was looking for Nigellas help. When sorting the kitchen cupboards I found some dark chocolate Hubby had bought back from Italy and it needed using up. In Nigella Express she makes an egg less chocolate mousse. I have to say it turned out as a beautiful, dense, rich chocolate mousse. very much an adult chocolate mousse. I took the original recipe and divided it by 3 to give enough for just the 2 of us. It was so rich we only managed to eat half of it...not that I'm complaining as it means some for Monday! Next time rather than serving it in ramekins I may make it in shot glasses.

Chocolate Mousse
Makes 2 ramekins or 4 shot glasses

50g marshmallows, chopped into small pieces
15g unsalted butter
80g dark chocolate, broken up
20ml hot water from a recently boiled kettle
95ml double cream
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1) In a heavy saucepan gently heat marshmallows, butter, dark chocolate and hot water. Stir occasionally until everything has melted and is smooth. Remove from the heat.

2) Whip cream with vanilla extract until thick. Gently fold in chocolate until well combined. Pour into ramekins/shot glasses, cover with clingfilm and place in the fridge for at least 3 hours.

Oven-Baked Thai Rice

We had a dusting of snow over night. Rather than it being the thick blanket I was secretly hoping for it was as if someone had got overexcited with the icing sugar! Yesterday in school we had a delivery of Living Eggs and they started to hatch today. I lost count how many of this kids today asked to go to the toilet when it was clear they were off to nosy at the chicks. Our dream is to own somewhere like River Cottage with our own brood of pigs and chickens.

For tonight I tried a recipe my sister gave me. It certainly had a spicy kick (I never learn with thai green curry paste!) and am very glad there is some leftovers for lunch tomorrow. The red pepper does look quite psychadelic compared to the rice. Next time I may try a green pepper.

Oven-Baked Thai Rice
Serves 2

1 tsp olive oil
3 shallots, chopped
2 chicken fillets
2 tsp thai green curry paste
125g basmati & wild rice, rinsed
1 small red pepper, sliced
zest and juice of 1/2 lime
200ml coconut milk
125ml boiling water
4 kafir lime leaves
dash of fish sauce

1) Preheat oven to 180oc. In oven-safe pan soften shallots for 5 min, then add chicken and curry paste. Cook for 3 min.

2) Stir in the remainding ingredients. Bring to the boil then bake in the oven, uncovered, for 15 min. Stir every 5 minutes.

Oven Baked Red Pesto Chicken

Thankfully we missed to worst of the snow, but it's still bitterly cold with a biting wind. I'm on Chantry Farm's mailing list and today recieved an interesting letter explaining where all their meat came from. With lamb home reared on thier farm, beef from Quenby Hall, Pork from Packington Pork, free-range chicken from Packington Poultry and Derbyshire Dales, free-range eggs from Liberty Farm and fish fresh from the docks in Hull. It certainly gives me a great deal of confidence buying from them as I'm supporting local farmers, something that is very important to me.

Some of thier chicken went into tonights dinner. I've been meaning to make this dish for the last few weeks, but with one thing or another I've ended up cooking something different. It was really delicious and filling and we'll certainly be making it again soon.

Oven Baked Red Pesto Chicken
Serves 2-3

1 tbsp olive oil
2 chicken fillets, diced
1 red onion cut into wedges
1 large red pepper, cut into wedges
1 clove of garlic, crushed
100g basmati rice
1 tin chopped tomatoes
300ml chicken stock
1/2 tsp chilli flakes
5 tbsp red pesto

1) Preheat oven to 190oc. In an ovenproof saute pan, fry chicken in oil until the chicken is starting to brown. Remove from pan. Fry onions and peppers for 4 min. Add garlic and fry for a further 30 seconds.

2) Add chicken back into pan then pour in stock, tomatoes and rice. Stir in chilli flakes. Bring to the boil then bake in the oven, uncovered, for 20 min. Stir in pesto before serving.

Thai Green Curry

While we were at my parents for Christmas we popped to WH Lung, a Chinese supermarket, in Liverpool. I've never been in a Chinese supermarket before and I was like a child in a sweet shop! There were so many ingredients I struggle to find where I live, so I stocked up. My haul included kaffir lime leaves, creamed coconut, spring roll pastry, dried shittake mushrooms and sesame oil.

Tonight's meal was Thai Green Curry. I don't think I've had a proper Thai Green Curry, but have always like the sound of it so decided to give it a go. I know green curry is meant to be hot, but although it was beautifully flavoursome it blew my head off!

I had read a tip somewhere about adding sugar to reduce the heat, I did this and it did work to some degree, but my lips are still tingling. I should have known it would be hot as the main ingredient in the paste is green chillies. Next time I'll 1/2 maybe even 1/4 the paste amount or even make my own paste.

Thai Green Curry
Serves 2-3

1 tbsp rapeseed oil
2 tbsp green curry paste (half if you don't like it hot hot hot!)
1 tbsp soft dark sugar
2 chicken fillets, diced
8 kaffir lime leaves
400ml coconut milk
1 tsp Thai fish sauce
1 tbsp chopped coriander
juice of 1 lime

1) Heat oil, paste and sugar on a high heat for about a minute. Reduce heat then add chicken and leaves until coated in the paste. Add coconut milk, fish sauce and simmer for 25 min.

2) Stir in lime juice and coriander. Taste sauce. If it is too spicy add some more sugar. Remove kaffir lime leaves. Allow to sit for about 5 min before serving.

On the talk of chicken please sign the petition Chicken Out! This campaign is very much in the news at the moment plus I'm a big fan of Hugh's beliefs and ethics.

Chicken Goujons

I'm all for finding ways to cook traditionally unhealthy foods in a healthier way. On the way home from work I had an immense craving for chicken goujons and as I haven't made them in ages I decided now was the time. The coating on the chicken worked really well and stopped the chicken drying out. I served it with potato wedges and coleslaw. The coleslaw we had with it was a bit disappointing. I admit it was shop brought, and according to the packaging it had mature cheddar in it, but we certainly couldn't taste any.

Don't forget to enter the Hotel Chocolat competition. Closing date is 11:59pm 12th December 07

Chicken Goujons
Serves 2-3

2 chicken fillets
3 slices of white bread
3 tbsp polenta
2 tbsp parmesan
couple twists of black pepper
2 eggs, beaten

1) Preheat oven to 200oc. Blitz bread in processor to make breadcrumbs. Mix with polenta, parmesan and pepper.

2) Cut chicken into finger sized pieces. Dip chicken in egg then roll in breadcrumb mix until thoroughly coated. Place on baking tray. Bake for 20-25 min, until golden.

Sweet and Sour Chicken

Today, work has been busy we wanted a quick and easy tea. I've never made proper sweet & sour chicken before as 1) the list of ingredients scared me and 2) never had all the ingredients. As I was flicking through old cookbooks at the weekend I came across a recipe for sweet & sour in The Nation's Favourite Food. I did adapt the recipe slightly.

I served it with egg fried rice and it was far nicer than I was expecting. Hubby commented as how it was just as good as the takeaway version. This is even quicker to make than ordering one and probably a great deal healthier.

Sweet & Sour Chicken
Serves 2-3

2 tbsp sunflower oil
2 chicken fillets, cut into cubes
1 medium red pepper, cut into 1in pieces
thumb sized piece of ginger, grated
3 cloves of garlic, crushed
5 spring onions, chopped
1 small tin of pineapple chunks, drained
black pepper

Sauce
1 tbsp soft dark brown sugar
2 tbsp rice vinegar
3 tbsp dry sherry
2 tbsp dark soy sauce
175 (6 fl oz) chicken stock
2 tbsp tomato puree
2 tbsp of cornflour mixed with 2 tbsp of water

1) Heat oil in wok, add chicken, peppers, garlic and ginger then fry for 3 min. Add spring onions plus pineapple and stirfry for a further 30 sec.

2) Add all the sauce ingredients, bring to the boil then simmer for 6 min. Season with pepper.