Tag: chicken

Clarified chicken stock

For a brown stock, use the skin and carcus of a roast chicken? Break it into 3 or 4 big pieces  so it takes less room in the pot. Add an onion, a couple of carrots and a couple of sticks of celery.talked halved). Cover with water, add a bay leaf and simmer for 90 mins.

This will give you a greasy, cloudy stock.Cool it in the fridge overnight.

Filter it using a sieve with cloth or kitchen paper in. This will remove the solidified fat, and any bigger bits from thestock.

Next, add 1-2 egg whites to the cold stock and whisk in. Put it in a pan and bring Botia simmer. A thick scummy crust will form on top as the egg whites cook. Don’t mix it in, orshimmer too hard. Let it cool a little, the re filtthorough acloth lined sieve.

Bingo, clear brown stock, with no fat.Salt to taste.

Chicken fricassee

I’m not sure how original this recipe is, Because I’ve been tinkering with it for years. According toWikipedia Fricassee is a ‘type’ of stew rather than an exact recipe – so I guess I’m fine. Anyway, here it is..

  • 6-8 chicken thighs, skin on
  • Flour, to roll the chicken in
  • Salt
  • 1/2 bottle white wine
  • A handful of shallots, rough chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • Double cream- about 1 third of a cup
  • Mushrooms, sometimes

Coat the chicken with flour and put into a really hot Oiled pan.Turn once when browned-this. Gives it the deeply chickeny taste.

Add the wine garlic, just smashed, not cut or crushed, and fry for a moment.

Add the wine, salt and a little water so that the chicken is nearly covered.simmer gently till the chicken is tender (90mins +)

Remove the chicken from the stock, let it cool a little and remove the skin and bones.

Sieve the stock and put aside to let the fat float to the top (so it can be skimmed off)

In a pan, fany the shallots and mushrooms, add the stock with the fat removed. There should only be about 1/2 pint of stock. Reduce a little if theres toomuch.

Add back in the stripped chicken, and add the cream.

Check it’s seasoned properly, and serve. It’s good with rice or a baked spud. Mmmmmmm.

chinese Barbecue chicken wings

  • 1kg  chicken wings
  • 1/2 cup soy sauce
  • 1/4 cup honey
  • 3 star anise
  • 3 cloves of garlic
  • 1/4 cup szechuan peppercorns

Take a bunch of chicken wings. Remove the tiniest end and bin. cut the remainder into 2 pieces at the joint.

Pack them into the bottom of a saucepan, as tightly as they will fit in. Keep to a single layer on the bottom if you can. Into the pan put all of the other ingredients, and a little water so that the wings are just about covered.  Simmer the pan for about 90 minutes.

Remove the wings from the stock, and cool. Once cool, cover with honey and bbq for a few minutes until tanned and crispy.

You can prepare these the day before, and as they’re already cooked they only take a minute or two on the hottest bbq.

Chicken Piri Piri

First, make the piri piri sauce. Don’t buy Nando’s.

Next, take chicken- drumsticks, thighs, quarters – whatever you fancy, but skin on. The darker meat is nicer. Slash the meat and skin, and rub in a little of the piri piri sauce into the skin, and into the cuts. About 3 tablespoons of piri piri will do a whole chicken, cut up into portions.

The easiest way to do this is to put it all into a plastic food bag, and massage it through the plastic.

Let it all marinade for at least a couple of hours, then cook it all on a BBQ. If you must, cook it in an oven, but it’s not as good!

Irish Pasta

It’s called Irish pasta because it has it has pasta (white) carrots (orange) and broccoli (green). OK, I suppose it’s actually a Pasta Premavera. 

A Premavera is made with crisp spring veg- like broccoli, carrots, mange tout- but the trick is the sauce. It’s a mix of melted parmesan cheese, juices and the starchy water from the pasta. It’s a very light sauce, and you have to mix it ‘as it happens’ in the pan with the pasta, cheese and sauce.  

 You can add a chicken breast if you like. I think this is one of my favourite pasta dishes a the mo. It feels quite healthy but, well, probably isn’t, with the cheese, butter and bacon hoofed in.

Deird and Poppy love this recipe too.

250g fuselli Pasta
2 carrots (medium)- cut into thin carrot strips
2 handfuls broccoli
4 slices smoked bacon
clove of garlic
glug dry sherry or white wine
1 mozzarella ball
large knob of butter
2x4cm parmesan cheese
toasted pine nuts
Boil pasta, in the last two minutes add broccoli and carrots. drain and butter.
dice and fry bacon and garlic, and deglaze with sherry/wine.
add bacon and parmesan to pasta, carrot & broccoli
stir till parmesan melts, and makes a light sauce (add back some pasta water if too dry)
chop the mozzarella and add it, along with the pine nuts, stir and serve