chicken and almond pilaf

 

the key to making a decent chicken pilaf is having really good quality chicken and chicken stock. if you skimp on these then there is a high likelihood that the dish will be bland and not worth the effort. this dish was made using leftover meat from a roast chicken plus the stock that i had made from that chicken’s carcass.

making chicken stock whenever you have a roast is incredibly worthwhile and easy. i also ways strip the majority of the meat off the carcass, then put the bones into a large pan, cover with water, add a peeled and halved onion, a peeled carrot, a bay leaf and some peppercorns. if i have fresh parsley in then i’ll add that as well (you can just use the stems and keep the leaves for something where they will be part of the end dish). bring to the boil and then let it simmer (i cover it so there isn’t too much steam gathering in the kitchen) for an hour or two. when it’s ready, drain and strip any final tiny bits of meat off the carcass.

this dish has subtle flavours which, i think, really let the chicken shine through. we ate it with salad as a summery supper, sitting in the garden, but it was as nice the following day, eaten at room temperature as a packed lunch.

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broad and green bean pasta with lemon and pink peppercorns

 

i had a wonderful treat earlier this week, i received my first broad beans of the season, squeaky fresh and completely delicious, courtesy of food4london.

my immediate temptation was to have them in a salad with the peas and courgettes which accompanied them but i had a real pasta craving so decided to try draw inspiration from an ottolenghi recipe which pairs them with lemon and pink peppercorns.

i added thinly sliced courgette discs and green beans to the mix and the result was a lovely pasta dish full of the flavours of summer. i am sharing this with graziana of erbe in cucina who is this week's host of presto pasta nights.

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roast chicken with lemon & herb stuffing

living in london has its ups and downs and the last few weeks have epitomised that – with the heatwave that we have been experiencing, the city has been full of people beaming with joy at the chance to bare their limbs and enjoy the sun. hidden in cooler corners and under trees are those londoners who find the heat that bit much to bear and who are longing for the temperatures to cool.

i’m in the first gang and really am delighted that the weather is so glorious, however at least once a day, when i have to jump on a tube, i feel real sympathy for my cooler weather loving friends. standing (because inevitably you will be) on a hot, humid and smelly tube is no way to enjoy london life.

which is why it is all the more amazing that i decided to crank up the oven and roast a chicken. i had to though – the beautiful label anglais bird i bought via food4london was taking up too much space in my freezer.

i cooked it very simply, rubbing the skin with olive oil, salt and freshly ground black pepper. inside i stuffed it with a mix of slow-cooked onions, breadcrumbs, fresh thyme and oregano from the garden plus lemon zest, juice and seasoning. the chicken was basted with the juices it released and we ate it, sitting in the garden, with asparagus and some of my best broccoli.

the chicken was incredibly flavoursome and the stuffing reminded me of my childhood roast chicken dinners, when both stuffing and bread sauce were obligatory. best of all there were lots of leftovers and the carcass created a wonderful stock.

it was definitely worth creating the extra heat in the kitchen.

feast for a fiver

my recipes for lemon & mackerel pilaf and berry ripple ice cream have been featured in today's guardian newspaper, in an article which called for people to share their menus for two courses which feed two people for under a fiver. see what other menus were suggested here, including one from dinner diary.

the article was in response to a series of menus suggested by well-known chefs which were derided on the guardian blog for being unimaginative. i think we, the readers, did better than the chefs. what do you think?

homemade ricotta

 

as i mentioned in my post about ricotta gnocchi, i decided to make my own ricotta.

there are lots of different methods online and i chose the simplest version i could find. it’s also the healthiest as it only uses milk not cream. although having said that i did use full-fat (organic) milk as i wanted the ricotta to have as much flavour as possible and it’s the fat in milk which is the tasty stuff.

once the ricotta is made it’s very easy to add flavourings so this is definitely worth experimenting with, especially given no special equipment is needed, just a bit of time.

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