Sticky chicken with lemon and honey

Those of you with picky eaters at home will probably agree with me: it’s not easy and sometimes not pleasant at all to cook for them. :/ For that reason, when my husband requests something in particular for lunch or dinner I feel relieved – I know I won’t need to spend hours (and brain cells) thinking of the menu.

While watching Nigel Slater's Simple Suppers a couple of weeks ago we saw Nigel making golden and caramelized chicken pieces when Joao said: “how about that for lunch?” – I immediately agreed since we’re both crazy for roasted chicken. Nigel’s chicken is dead easy to make – the refrigerator and the oven do all the work – and turned out delicious, crunchy and sticky on the outside and absolutely tender and juicy on the inside, falling off the bone. It was so good that my husband placed it on the #1 spot with Donna Hay’s chicken baked with chorizo, which up to that day had been his favorite way of eating chicken.

Sticky chicken with lemon and honey
slightly adapted from the always wonderful Nigel Slater

4 large chicken pieces, bone in and skin on – use your favorite cuts
juice of 2 lemons
1 tablespoon runny honey
½ tablespoon Dijon mustard
3 garlic cloves, crushed into a paste
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
soft butter, for preparing the baking dish

Place the chicken in a medium bowl. In a small bowl, whisk together with a fork the lemon juice, honey, mustard, garlic, salt and pepper. Pour over the chicken, mix to coat all the pieces and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate overnight or at least for 4 hours.
Preheat the oven at 200°C/400°F. Line a baking dish with a double layer of foil and brush the foil with the butter.
Transfer the chicken to the prepared dish and pour over any left marinade. Bake for about 45 minutes, or until cooked to your liking – we like our chicken very golden brown, as you can see on the photo, so I baked it for 1 ½ hours.
Serve immediately.

Serves 2

Ricotta and feta tart

Because Jamie Oliver’s delicious escarole and salami tart was a great dish for lunch both at my house and at the office I felt like baking another savory tart – this time I had no smoked ham in my fridge (as the original recipe called for) but a tart made entirely of cheese (there’s parmesan in the pastry!) did not sound like a bad thing. And, indeed, it was not; I just regretted not adding a handful of chopped parsley to the filling before spreading it on the pastry.

Ricotta and feta tart
slightly adapted from the always delicious and beautiful Donna Hay Magazine

Pastry:
1 ¼ cups + 1 tablespoon (185g) all purpose flour
pinch of salt
½ cup + ½ tablespoon (120g) unsalted butter, cold and diced
½ cup (50g) finely grated parmesan
2 tablespoons sour cream*
2 egg yolks

Filling:
230g ricotta – I used homemade
50g feta, crumbled
1 egg
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
finely grated zest of 1 lemon
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Make the pastry: place the flour, salt, butter and parmesan in a food processor and process for 1-2 minutes or until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add the sour cream and yolks and process for 1-2 minutes or until a dough forms. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
Lightly butter a 24cm round pie dish or tart pan. Roll the pastry between two pieces of lightly floured baking paper until you get a 30cm round. Line the prepared dish with the pastry leaving a 5cm border overhanging the sides of the dish. Set aside
Preheat the oven to 200°C. Place the ricotta, feta, egg, garlic, mustard, lemon zest, salt and pepper in a bowl and mix well to combine. Spread the filling over the pastry and fold the border to form the outer crust of the tart**. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden.

* homemade sour cream: to make 1 cup of sour cream, mix 1 cup (240ml) heavy cream with 2-3 teaspoons lemon juice in a bowl. Whisk until it starts to thicken. Cover with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature for 1 hour or until thicker (I usually leave mine on the counter overnight – except on very warm nights – and it turns out thick and silky in the following morning; refrigerate for a creamier texture)

** I had trouble making the pastry border, so I removed the excess pastry and cut flower shapes with it using a cookie cutter, then I placed them on top of the filling before baking the tart

Serves 4

Tomato, arugula and grana padano tart and a Sunday miracle

A miracle happened in my house last Sunday – I said I was going to make this tart for lunch and Joao said he was going to eat it, too. :D
After lunch, he said the tart was delicious, which made me both surprised and happy – those of you with picky eaters at home know the feeling... :)

It’s a very simple recipe, with almost no cooking involved, but I had to share it with you.

Tomato, arugula and grana padano tart
from Australian Gourmet Traveller

Grana padano pastry*:
1 cup (140g) all purpose flour
100g chilled unsalted butter, coarsely chopped
1/3 cup (34g) finely grated grana padano – or use parmesan as in the original recipe

Mustard dressing:
½ tablespoon olive oil
juice of 1 lime
½ teaspoon Dijon mustard
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Topping:
500g mixed baby tomatoes, such as yellow grape, cherry and baby Roma – halve the larger ones and leave the small ones whole
1 small bunch of arugula
shaved grana padano, to serve

For grana padano pastry, process flour and butter in a food processor until fine crumbs form. Add grana padano, process to combine, add 2 tablespoons (or more) iced water, pulsing to form a dough. Turn onto a lightly floured surface, knead lightly to form a disc, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until chilled (1 hour). Roll out on a lightly floured surface to a 35cm-diameter round and line a lightly buttered 24cm-diameter tart pan, trim edges and prick base with a fork. Freeze for 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F. Butter the shiny side of a large piece of aluminum foil place it, buttered side down, tightly against the crust. Fill with baking weights/dried beans. Bake pastry until light golden (15-25 minutes), then carefully remove paper and weights and bake until golden and crisp (5-10 minutes). Set aside to cool completely.
For mustard dressing, whisk ingredients in a large bowl to combine, season with salt and pepper to taste and set aside.
Add tomato to dressing, toss lightly to combine, then transfer to pastry case. Toss the arugula leaves in the dressing too and place some leaves over the tomatoes (you’ll serve the remaining leaves with the tart slices). Scatter over grana padano shaves and serve immediately.

* I kept the pastry in the freezer (well wrapped in plastic) for 1 week; thawed it in the fridge overnight before using – it worked perfectly.

Serves 4 as a light meal – the hubby and I ate the whole thing and there was nothing left. :D

Spinach soup with creamy potato mustard mash

After watching “The Wrestler” I could not bring myself to stop singing “Sweet Child O’ Mine” - and now it is impossible for me to think about the song without thinking about the movie as well.
When I think of vegetables, I’m automatically reminded of Ana Elisa and her amazing salad and soup recipes, among other delicious treats.

I slightly adapted this soup from DH mag #38, but Ana was the inspiration for me to prepare it.

Spinach soup with creamy potato mustard mash
from Donna Hay magazine

Mash:
2kg sebago (floury) potatoes, peeled and chopped
50g butter
¾ cup (180ml) whole milk
4 tablespoons Dijon mustard
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Soup:
100g butter
2 onions, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 x 500g bunches English spinach, trimmed, washed and chopped
¼ cup parsley leaves
5 cups (1.2l) vegetable stock
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Start with the mash: place the potatoes in a saucepan of cold water, bring to the boil and cook for 20-30 minutes or until tender. Drain and return to the saucepan. Add butter, milk, mustard, salt and pepper and mash until smooth. Set aside and keep warm.

Now, the soup: heat butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and cook for 10 minutes or until just golden, add spinach and parsley and cook for 5 minutes or until wilted. Add stock and cook for another 5 minutes. Place in a food processor/blender and process until smooth – be careful since the mixture will be very hot.
Stir through salt and pepper.
Place spoonfuls of the mash in the base of bowls, pour over the soup and serve.

Serves 4

Savory crepes filled with broccolini cheese soufflé

I have certain preconceptions, must admit it. That feeling of “haven’t seen it but don’t like it already” – I’ve tried going against that, but it didn’t work out... and I think it is worse now that I’m older - I’m more intolerant.

I read something the other day about Clint Eastwood’s new movie (hey, Mark, more imdb links for you!) :). Angelina Jolie is on it, so I won’t even bother - no time to waste. If the Oscar buzz involving her drives me nuts already, watching all that “talent” in action will do me no good.

But I’m not a bad person. I also have “haven’t seen it but like it already” moments. Or, in this case, “haven’t eaten but love it already”. :)

And what a great recipe this is! I slightly changed the filling and was really pleased with the result. Running late and starving, I pulled the crepes out of the oven the minute the filling puffed and firmed – that’s why mine don’t have a gorgeously golden crust like the ones Leila made. It's OK: I’ll solve that next time, when I make the crepes filled with hearts of palm soufflé. ;)

Savory crepes filled with broccolini cheese soufflé

Crepes:
125g all purpose flour
1 egg
1 egg yolk
300ml milk
generous pinch of salt
oil for brushing the pan

Filling:
225g broccolini florets
salt and freshly ground black pepper
45g unsalted butter
45g all purpose flour
300ml milk
½ teaspoon Dijon mustard
120g cheddar, grated – I used yellow mozzarella from here, made with cow’s milk (it looks like Monterey Jack cheese)
fresh oregano leaves, to taste
4 tablespoons parmesan, finely grated
4 eggs, whites and yolks separated

Start by making the crepes: sift the flour in a large bowl and make a hole in the center. Add the egg, egg yolk, salt and a few tablespoons of the milk. Whisk well. Gradually add the remaining milk, whisking between additions, until you have added all the milk and the batter is smooth (it will be a rather thin batter).

Heat a 22cm non-stick frying pan over medium heat and brush it lightly with oil. Pour 3 ½ tablespoons of batter into the pan, swirling to cover the bottom completely. Cook for 1-2 minutes, until golden; flip the crepe and cook for further 1-2 minutes. Slide crepe onto a plate. Repeat process with remaining batter, coating the pan again if necessary – you’ll get 8 crepes.

Now, the filling: cook the broccolini florets in a pan of salted, boiling water for 1 minute. Drain, cover with cold water and drain again*.

Melt the butter in a small saucepan over low heat, then add the flour, stirring constantly; cook for 1 minute.
Remove the pan from the heat and gradually add the milk, whisking constantly to avoid lumps. Put the pan back over heat, add the mustard, mozzarella, parmesan, salt and pepper, whisking until the cheeses melt. Remove from heat again and set aside to cool completely.

Pre-heat the oven to 200ºC/400ºF; lightly brush a non-stick large baking sheet with oil.

Add the egg yolks to the cooled cheese mixture and mix well. In another bowl, beat the egg whites until firm peaks form. Carefully fold in the egg whites into the cheese mixture, then add the broccolini florets and oregano leaves.

Divide the filling in the center of the open crepes and fold them to encase the soufflé. Place the crepes in the prepared sheet, sprinkle with the extra parmesan (I forgot!) and bake for 15 minutes or until the soufflé is puffed and golden and the crepes are crisp.
Serve with a simple salad.

* I steamed the broccolini florets until al dente

Serves 4