Paper Chef #57 - Chicken Roll

Sometimes Paper Chef throws a combination of ingredients at you that leaves you wondering how you can possibly combine such diverse into one dish. This was the case this month.
The random ingredients selected by Sarah from Simply Cooked left me a bit worried. How could I pull Dried Dates, Currents, Bread, & Kale into a dish????????
Firstly I had to find a substitute for Kale (wrong season) so something from the same family to keep it similar - cavoelo nero was the choice.
Next: What to create.
Thinking about the different flavours, sweet for the currents & dates; neutral with bread (well most types); & savoury cabbage... Hmmmm.
For what ever reason (& I still don't know where it came from) I decided to do a chicken roll or stuffed chicken.
A chicken breast, flattened, with a cavolo nero (or kale), date & current layer, rolled & steamed.
Actually sounded quite nice, and tasted great, but didn't photograph well at all...


Contents:
2 tbls chopped currents
2 tbls finely diced dates
1/2 cup fresh bread crumbs
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1/4 stp chili powder
2 tbls butter
1 tsp fresh tarragon, chopped
Handful cavolo nero leaves (no stems)
2 chicken breasts
Salt
Pepper
Process:
Clean & remove any stems from the cavelo nero - you only want the tender leaves - & place into a steamer.
Steam until very tender & remove to cool.
When cool enough to handle, finely chop.
Melt butter in a saucepan over a low heat.
When starting to bubble add the garlic & cook until starting to go translucent.
Add dates, currents & chili, & cook for a few minutes.
Add bread crumbs & gently stir allowing them to absorb all the butter.
Add tarragon & remove from heat and allow to cool.


Pound the chicken breasts into a flat roughly rectangular shape.
Place each flat breast on a piece of cling film - hindsight is amazing.
Spread a layer of the chopped cavolo nero over each breast.
Layer the sweet bread crumb mixture over it & season with salt & pepper.


Messy part now.. Tightly roll the chicken & hope the stuffing doesn't fall out too much, use the cling film to help roll it.
Wrap tightly in 2 layers of cling film.
Steam for about 8-9 minutes, just enough to cook the chicken & warm the the centre.
Gently remove the cling film - I used scissors rather than trying to unwrap.
with a Sharp knife, cut slices on an angle.
This was served with a verblanc.

Dinner for One (Me)

Its not often that I get to have a night to myself, but when I do I make the most of it. A DVD that tickles my fancy, usually something B-grade sci-fi, and cook something interesting for myself.
I wondered off to the shops on Carlisle St and came back with a chicken maryland half dozen baby desiree potatoes, some salad leaves, a bottle of white & the B-grade DVD: Lost In Space.
Some rummaging in the fridge revealed fresh tarragon, thyme, garlic & butter.
So here is my dinner for 1: Roast Tarragon chicken with Roast Thyme Potatoes.

Ingredients:
1 chicken maryland, skin on
5 or 6 baby potatoes
1/2 tbls tarragon
1 tsp thyme
1 small clove garlic
1 tbls butter
Salt
Pepper
2 tbls olive oil

Method:
Pre heat the oven to 230c
Peel & steam the potatoes until they are just cooked, easily pierced by a skewer.
Chop the tarragon roughly & place in a small bowl.
Peel the garlic & finely chop or microplane, add to the tarragon
Add about 1/2 tsp salt, & pepper to taste
Add the butter & combine thouroughly.
Place half the mixture under the skin of the chicken & rub the remainder over the top of the chicken.
Place into an oven proof dish just big enough to hold the chicken, skin side up.
Place the olive oil into a bowl & add the thyme leaves, pepper & salt.
When the potatoes are ready rough up the outsides with a fork and add to the bowl containing the thyme & oil, and toss coating the potatoes.
Place into a separate roasting dish from the chicken & scoop out any remaining oil from the bowl. Add a little more oil to the pan if it looks a bit dry.
Place both dished into the oven for about 30min, basting occasionally. Don't over cook the chicken!
Serve with a nice side salad and a fresh bread roll to soak up the juices.

Paper Chef #45

Hmm... A month has past since the last Paper Chef & what have I blogged about in that time?

Nothing.

Zero.

No Street Art.

No food.

No recipes.

No enlightened social commentaries.

Maybe I've just lost the blogging mojo or have no inspiration but what ever is missing I hope it does return. It frustrates & annoys me to see just one post for the month.

But Paper Chef is here again & that always seems to stir my imagination!

This month is no different with the ingredient chosen by last month's winner Janie from musingri.

So what do you make with Chicken, Yams, Lentils, & Green Tea?

Well you rule out the Yams & invoke the substitution clause. A trip to the markets and no yams were to be found. A quick google on the mobile revealed that Taro was a close relative of Yams. Another lap of the markets & no Taro. So I had to settle for another root tuber - Sweet Potato, although it was from the otherside of the world & not related to Yams as Yams & Taro are from the South Pacific & Sweet Potato was originally from Haiti.....

The change in an ingredient didn't force a change in idea though. I had thought about it & discarded various ideas before settling on a fairly simple dish of Green Tea marinated Chicken with with Lentils & Sweet Potato (or Yam) crisps, which turned out quite well.

I'm only going to write the recipe for the marinade & chicken. Lentil you can prepare in your favourite way & the Sweet potato crisps were simply finely sliced on a mandolin & then dry roasted. The Green Tea can be brewed from either teabags or leaf. I used teabags only because it was easier.

Ingredients

2 chicken marylands

125ml freshly brewed Green Tea, cooled to room temperature

1 clove crushed garlic

1 thumb sized grated ginger

1 tbls soy sauce

1/4 tsp chili powder, more or less depending on the kick you like

Method:

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl & then add the chicken

marinade for 2 hours

remove from marinade & roast in a hot oven until the juices run clear, basting occasionally if you feel its drying out too much.

I served the chicken on a bed of lentils with the crisps, with a bit of orange zest for colour & tang.

Chicken & Leek Pie

Have you ever woken up in the morning with a craving for a particular dish or food?

Well that's what happened to me Saturday morning. I woke up & wanted to make a Chicken & Leek pie. Wasn't interested in any other type of pie, it had to be Chicken & Leek. With a shortcrust cover. Not puff pastry - shortcrust.

A quick rummage through some recipe books to get an idea of quantities & I was on my way.

Fresh Leeks, free range chicken thighs - do not use breast as it will dry out & be horrible. Unfortunately I had to use dried Tarragon as I couldn't find any fresh. Some lard & a nice glass of white wine (for myself) & time to start having fun.

Ingredients

Filling

500g boned free range chicken thigh or leg

150ml chicken stock

150ml water

150 ml white wine (I used Chardonnay)

1 tbls Tarragon

salt

cracked black pepper

200g sliced washed leek

20g butter

1 tbls water

2 tbls plain flour

1.5tsp Dijon mustard

3 sprigs fresh thyme

100ml cream

Crust

100g plain flour

100g self raising flour

100g lard

30ml approx cold water

1 egg, beaten, for glaze

method:

Add the stock, water, wine, half the tarragon, sprigs of thyme & chicken to a saucepan & bring it to the boil, then reduce to a simmer & simmer for 20-25 minutes until just cooked.

In a separate saucepan add the leeks, butter & water, cover & sweat down till just tender.

Remove the leeks from the saucepan with a slotted spoon allowing all the liquid to remain in the saucepan.

Add the flour & mix in to form a roux. remove from the heat.

Remove the chicken from the pot & set aside to cool.

Add the remaining herbs & cream to the poaching liquid & bring back to the boil.

Allow to boil for a few minutes to reduce the liquid.

Cut the chicken into rough 2cm pieces.

Whisk in the roux & allow to thicken slightly

Add the chicken & leeks & combine with the sauce.

Season to taste & remove from the heat & allow to cool.

Sift the 2 flours together & rub in the lard with your fingertips.

Add just enough iced water to form a dough.

Form into a flat dis, wrap in cling film & chill for 20 minutes.

Roll out to a thickness of 5mm and cut to a shape slightly larger than your pie container.

Place the cooled chicken & leek mixture into the pie dish or dishes.

Cover with the pastry & crimp the edges with a fork.

Slice a couple of air vents into the pastry & brush with beaten egg

Bake for about 25-30 minutes until the pastry is golden brown & you can hear the filling bubbling.

When ready remove from the oven & allow to cool slightly before serving.

Paper Chef non-entry

Well it was Paper Chef time the weekend just past.
We had some wonderful ingredients selected by last month's winner Kristina of Former Chef
they were:
Almonds
Chicken
Corn
& her selection of: Fish Sauce.
My initial idea was a type of Chicken Kiev dish, but with an almond butter center seasoned with Fish Sauce and rolled in polenta. But I was talked out of this & into a Korean style Chicken & Corn soup with chicken, prawn & almond dumplings.
Good idea, bad execution. :(
Dumplings were delicate in flavour but became overwhelmed by the soup which tasted fine while cooking but ended up way too rich. And to cap it all off the photo's were bad.
If that wasn't bad enough for the first time ever,I even managed to stuff up a Creme Anglaise later that day!

The stars must have been wrong that day......

Tarragon Chicken Drumsticks

Whenever my partner Paul tells me that I'm cooking dinner, it always seems to leave me flustered.
Its not that I can't cook, but what to cook.
So many considerations, whats the weather like, what did we have the previous night, what do I feel like having, whats available at the market. I guess its this flustered condition that Paul hates going shopping with me, cause I wonder around the stalls & shops wondering what to make, what looks tempting. Sometimes one ingredient jumps out at me & the whole meal is based around that ingredient. And that was the case with this one. Some wonderful fresh Tarragon. That led to corn-fed chicken drumsticks. A couple of different types of baby potatoes, & some fresh green beans. It ended up being a very delicious meal.

Components:
4 corn-fed chicken drumsticks
1 clove minced garlic
20g butter
1 tbls coarsely chopped fresh Tarragon
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
100ml Chicken stock
50ml brandy
100ml cream
1 tbls fresh Tarragon leave to finish

Method
Pre-heat the oven to 220c
Combine butter, garlic, tarragon, salt & pepper to form a paste
Rub the paste evenly over the drumsticks and place into a small baking dish, just big enough so that the pieces aren't touching.
Roast for about 30min turning after 20min.
When ready, remove the drumsticks to a serving dish, cover with foil & allow to rest.
Deglaze the roasting pan by adding the chicken stock, & reduce the liquid.
Heat the brandy in a ladle over a flame & allow to ignite.
Add the flaming brandy to the roasting pan & allow the brany to cook out abit.
Add half the tarragon leaves & cream & allow to heat through.
Season if needed.
Pour the sauce over the drumsticks & sprinkle the remaining tarragon over the top.
I served this with roasted baby potatoes & steamed fresh beans.
But there is no photo as the camera is playing up....

Paper Chef - November

Welcome to my new blog, and what better way to start than with a Paper Chef challenge.
This month the event was hosted by last months winner Magnus .
As winner he has the honour of posting this months four key ingredients and posting the round up. So this month we had Turkey, Anaheim peppers, Winter Squash, & Lentils.

A quick Google & worked out Winter Squash = Butternut Pumpkin, then off to the markets I went, where I discovered that there were no Anaheim peppers to be found. The closest I could find in shape & size were European Sweet Peppers, so that is what I used.
Next stop, my favourite poultry & game shop for turkey some turkey breast, which they had sold out of. Not good. I could have bought a whole turkey but that would have been overkill for just 2 of us, and i wasn't going anywhere near supermarket bought turkey! So another substitution happened - Chicken Breast.
And what combination was I going to do?
Poached Turkey (chicken) breast with marinated peppers on a bed of Bondi (french) Lentils and roasted caramelised butternut pumpkin.

Ingredients:
1 Turkey breast (or 2 chicken breasts)
100g French or Bondi lentils, cooked until al dente
100g butternut pumpkin (winter squash) cut into 1cm cubes
2tbls golden syrup
Anaheim or sweet peppers
Chicken stock
Handful rocket
Finely diced red pepper for garnish

Method:
Roast the peppers in a hot oven or over an open flame until the skin blisters. place in a bowl & cover with cling film & allow to cool before peeling & de-seeding. I then marinated the peppers in herbs, chilli & olive oil.
Toss the cubed winter squash in the golden syrup & roast in a hot oven until the start to caramelise.
bring the chicken stock to a simmer then poach the meat until its firm to the touch.
Remove from the stock & allow to dry on kitchen paper.
When dry pan fry the breast to colour the meat.
Toss the warm lentils with some rocket and arrange on the plate.
Slice the meat & arrange on top of the lentils.
arrange some of the marinated peppers on the meat and garnish with some of the finely diced red pepper.
Sprinkle some of the roasted winter squash around the plate.

If you wish you can drizzle some of your favourite dressing over the dish.

As with all my Paper Chef recipes all quantities are very approximate as I never know what amounts will work....