Roasted Stuffed Chicken Thighs
Monday, May 17, 2021Chicken thighs are super cheap and bursting with flavour. These are filled with a wild garlic stuffing for a tasty and budget-friendly meal. You can stuff chicken thighs with anything you like, herbs, garlic, fruit, quinoa, nuts, cheese and vegetables. Try your favourite combinations and be creative.
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- Rinse wild garlic thoroughly and dry. Roughly chop them. Crush the fennel seeds and peppercorns finely in a mortar and pestle. Place chopped wild garlic in a vegetable chopper together with crushed fennel seeds and peppercorns, lemon zest, nuts, seeds, and olive oil. Process until the mixture has a paste-like consistency.
- Preheat the oven to 200C/400F. Loosen the skin of each chicken thigh, then ease the paste under it. Season all over, then put in a baking tray and roast for 40 minutes or until the meat is cooked and the skin is crisp. Serve with pearly barley salad or simply with a side salad.
Turkish Simit with A Twist
Saturday, May 15, 2021Simit, Turkish sesame bread ring, is the most well-known and popular street food in Turkey. The dough is first twisted and shaped into a ring, then dipped in a grape molasses solution diluted with water, which helps the seeds stick to the simit and gives them a hint of sweetness. It's crusty, filling and very tasty. Great as a breakfast with butter, cheese and olives, or as an easy lunch with a bowl of soup or simply plain. However, I thought I would experiement it with some beet juice and poppy seeds instead of the more traditional sesame seeds. I guess not all the Turkish friends would approve, but it's FUN. So why not? Sunflower seeds and pepitas would be great as the coating too.
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- Mix water, beetroot juice and yeast in a bowl. Leave for 5-10 minutes for the yeast to activate.
- Mix the flour and salt in the bowl of your stand mixer. Add in yeast mixture. Mix on slow speed for 3-4 minutes until the dough comes together. Increase the speed to medium and knead until the dough becomes smooth and elastic, about 5-6 minutes.
- Turn out the dough and shape into a ball. Return to the bowl and cover with a plastic wrap or clean kitchen towel. Set aside to proof for 45-60 minutes.
- Mix the molasses and water in a bowl until well combined. Divide the dough into 8 even portions. Roll each portion into a 45cm long rope. Take two dough ropes and place them alongside one another. Braid them together and squeeze the two ends together to form a ring. Repeat with the remaining ropes to make 4 simits.
- Preheat the oven to 220C/430F. Dip each bread ring into the molasses mixture and coat with poppy seeds. Place it on a baking tray lined with parchment paper and set aside for 10 minutes.
- Bake for about 18 minutes until nicely golden brown and cooked through. Enjoy it with butter while they are still warm.
Dukkah Eggs with Blistered Pimientos de Padrón
Thursday, May 13, 2021Coated with dukkah, paired with blistered pimientos de padrón, these eggs are guaranteed to spice up your breakfast or a light lunch. Serve them with your favourite sauce, like hummus, avocado sauce or herbed yoghurt.
Pimientos de padrón or just padron peppers, are small, Spanish green peppers with a sweet mild taste. They're super-simple to make, requiring little prep and just five minutes of cooking. Dukkah is a middle Eastern spice blend consisting of a mixture of herbs, nuts and spices.
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- Bring a small saucepan of water to the boil. Add eggs and simmer for 6 minutes for soft-boiled eggs. Plunge the eggs into cold water to stop the egg from cooking any further.
- Peel the eggs and brush them with one tablespoon of olive oil. Place dukkha on a plate and roll the eggs in the dukkha. Set aside.
- Wash the padron peppers and dry well. The drier they are, the better they’ll brown and blister. Heat the remaining olive oil in a large skillet over a high heat. Fry the peppers, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes until blistered and browned.
- Transfer the peppers to a serving plate and season with some sea salt. Sprinkle with some dukkah if desired. Serve with dukkah egg and your favourite sauce.
Pearl Barley Salad with Wild Garlic Pesto
Tuesday, May 11, 2021This storecupboard grain with its nutty flavour and chewy texture makes a great alternative to rice or couscous in this filling and delicious salad teamed with red onion, sweet juicy orange, ripe grape tomatoe and a wild garlic pesto. This salad make a great side dish for some roasted chicken or even main meal salad.
Barley comes in two basic forms: hulled and pearl. They are both nutritious, rich in calcium, minerals, iron and potassium and contains lots of soluble and insoluble fiber that supposedly helps with digestion.
Hulled barley has had the tough, inedible outermost hull removed but still retains its bran and endosperm layer. It's brown in colour and nuttier and chewier. The outer bran of pearl barley is removed and the grain polished to a pale, creamy-coloured grain, making it more tender to the bite and faster to cook than the hulled variety.
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- Rinse and roughly chop the wild garlic leaves. Blitz the wild garlic leaves, grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, garlic, lemon zest and pine nuts to a rough paste in a food processor. Season, and with the motor running slowly, add in olive oil. Taste, season and add in lemon juice. Transfer the pesto to a clean jar and top with the extra olive oil. Will keep in the fridge for two weeks.
- Place the pearl barley in a bowl and add enough water to cover the grain by 1 to 2 inches. Rub it with your fingers, drain the water, and repeat a few times. Transfer the grain into a mesh strainer and rinse under running water. Drain.
- Place barley in a saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring to the boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium. Simmer, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes until the barley is al dente. Drain. Refresh under cold running water. Drain again.
- Place them in a large bowl. Add in red onion, orange, wild garlic and the pesto. Toss gently to combine.
Sesame Rolls
Monday, May 10, 2021These sesame rolls are crispy on the outside and soft, chewy on the inside. The texture actually reminds me of bagels. They are perfect on their own, but also ideal to use as buns for sandwiches. I love it with avocado spread and it would be nice to go with some creamy egg salad too.
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- Dissolve the yeast in water. Set aside for 5-10 minutes until frothy. In the mixing bowl of your stand mixer combine 1/3 of flour, salt, sugar, and dissolved yeast and mix until blended. Cover and let sit for 30 minutes. Add in the rest of the flour and knead until smooth.
- Grease a bowl or container, put the dough inside, cover with film and let rise until become nearly to double size, about 1 hour.
- Line a large baking tray with baking paper. Set aside. Divide the dough into 6 even portions. Using the palm of your hand, roll each portion into a 40 cm long rope. Bring the two ends together, twisting to join them and form a circle. Place them on the prepared baking tray.
- Preheat the oven to 200C/400F fan-forced. Brush the rolls with the water and sprinkle with the sesame seeds and a little salt. Set them aside to rise for 30 minutes until they're puffy. Bake for 15–20 minutes or until nicely golden.