Chicken Salad

Chicken Salad

More of an idea than a recipe but absolutely fabulous and delicious!!

Dressing:
45ml olive oil
15ml grape vinegar
2,5ml mustard
15ml honey
a pinch of salt

Per portion/person:
1 fresh mango, peeled and sliced
1 smoked chicken breast, sliced
a handful of rocket leaves

Mix all the ingredients for the dressing together and whisk until amalgamated.
Dress the rocket leaves with half the dressing and set aside.

Layer the salad by arranging the mango slices on a plate, the chicken slices on top of that and finally top it with the rocket leaves.
Drizzle with some of the remaining dressing and serve.

Buttermilk Roasted Chicken

Buttermilk Roasted Chicken

This is one of the easiest ways of roasting a chicken and will leave you with juicy, fall-off-the-bone meat and a delicious gravy.

1 whole chicken
10ml salt
30ml vegetable oil
30ml butter
60ml sage leaves, roughly chopped
the juice of two lemons
one garlic bulb, halved horizontally
500ml buttermilk
100ml milk

Preheat your oven to 190℃.
Wash and dry the chicken and rub the salt over the entire bird.
Add the oil and butter to a saucepan over high heat and brown the chicken, turning it as you go along.
Turn off the heat and add the remaining ingredients to the saucepan.
Put a lid on/cover with aluminium foil and cook in the oven for 40 minutes.
Remove the lid and cook uncovered for a further 50 minutes.
Place the chicken on a serving dish.
Strain the sauce through a fine mesh/sieve and serve it on the side with the chicken.

Fusion Chicken

Fusion Chicken

I have named this recipe “Fusion Chicken” because it brings together a few different principles in cooking chicken: almost black-chicken; almost butter chicken and almost pan-fried chicken. The combination makes for a very flavourful and juicy chicken that is one of the quickest dishes you will ever put together!

125g + 90g butter
30ml ground cumin
30ml smoked paprika
30ml dried origanum
20ml salt
6 chicken breasts, skin removed
15ml flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped
fresh lemon wedges to serve – these are essential!!

Melt the 125g butter and add the cumin, paprika, origanum and salt to it. Stir/whisk together to dissolve as much of the spices as possible.
Lay the chicken flat in a ceramic dish and pour the butter mixture over it. Flip the breasts to coat them evenly.
Cover with a tea towel and set aside at room temperature for 20 minutes.
Place a large cast iron pan on medium-high heat and add the 90g butter to the pan, to melt.
Add the chicken breasts to the warm pan and cook for 7 minutes before turning to cook for another 7 minutes. Do not fiddle around with the chicken! Spoon some of the pan juices onto the chicken as it cooks.
Remove the breasts from the pan and slice them.
Place on a serving dish and sprinkle with the chopped parsley.
Squeeze a good amount of lemon over the chicken before serving.

Pan-Fried Tarragon Chicken

Pan-Fried Tarragon Chicken

This is one of those easy mid-week meals that takes no time at all to prepare and leaves one surprised at the amount of punchy flavour and goodness on a plate! The sauce is enough for 6 – 8 chicken breasts but equally for 4.

6 – 8 chicken breasts, skin removed
5ml garlic powder
15ml dried tarragon
60ml + 30ml butter
15ml lemon juice
250ml sour cream

Dry the chicken breasts and place them on a chopping board.
Drizzle with the smallest amount of vegetable oil and season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
Mix the garlic powder and tarragon and sprinkle evenly over the breasts. Rub the mixture over the chicken with your fingers.
Put a heavy-base pan (skillet) onto medium-high heat and allow it to warm up.
Add 2 chicken breasts to the hot pan and cook for about 6 minutes without moving them around.
Flip the breasts and add 15ml of the butter to the pan. Cook the chicken for another 6 minutes.
Remove the cooked breasts from the pan, set aside and keep covered while you cook the rest.
Turn the heat down to low and add the 30ml butter, lemon juice and sour cream to the pan and simmer for one minute.
Place the cooked chicken back into the pan, cover with a lid and cook for another 6 minutes to warm it through.
Serve with a crisp green salad.

Portuguese Roasted Chicken

Portuguese Roasted Chicken

2kg chicken, portioned
1 fresh chilli
2 cloves of garlic, minced
5ml chilli flakes
15ml smoked paprika
10ml dried oreganum
2,5ml dried thyme or 5ml fresh thyme leaves
60ml lemon juice
30ml vegetable oil
30ml brown sugar
2 red onions
500g potatoes
a handful of parsley, roughly chopped

Preheat your oven to 200℃.
Place the chicken pieces in a roasting tray, season with salt and pepper and set aside.
Chop the chilli finely and add it to a small bowl with the garlic, chilli flakes, smoked paprika, oregano, thyme, lemon juice, vegetable oil and sugar. Stir to combine.
Drizzle the spice mixture over the chicken pieces. Turn the pieces and smear the spices over the chicken with your hands.
Peel the onions and cut into wedges.
Cut the potato into quarters.
Add the onion and potato to the roasting dish and mix through with your hands.
Place in the oven and roast for 50minutes.
Take the chicken from the oven, sprinkle with the parsley and serve with a crisp salad.

Chicken Pie

Chicken Pie

As far as I’m concerned chicken pie is a crowd pleaser and a very convenient fall-back when you have to feed many people. This pie is made with store bought pastry but has a fabulous flavour! You will feed 6 hungry people with this recipe but you may double quantities for a larger pie.

9 chicken breasts, skin removed
1litre chicken stock
200g mushrooms
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, minced
15ml turmeric
15ml salt
10ml thyme leaves
250ml greek yoghurt
1 packet shortcrust pastry
Egg wash: one egg beaten with 15ml of milk

Cut the chicken breasts into chunks and add them to a large saucepan.
Pour the stock in and add some hot water to cover the chicken.
Bring to a boil, turn the heat down to a simmer and cook the chicken for one hour.
Turn off the heat and allow the chicken to cool in the liquid. (This will prevent the chicken from drying out and losing its taste).
When the chicken is cool enough to handle comfortably: drain and discard the liquid and pull the chicken apart with your hands or two forks, as you would with pork belly.
Keep the pulled chicken to the side.
Preheat your oven to 220℃.
Put a heavy based saucepan onto the heat and cover the bottom with oil.
Add the mushrooms and fry them at high heat until they start to caramelise.
Add the chopped onion and cook until soft.
Now add the garlic, salt and thyme leaves and cook for one minute while stirring.
Add the cooked chicken and the yoghurt to the saucepan and reduce the heat to a light simmer for 30 minutes.
Spoon the chicken mixture into a heat-proof dish and allow to cool.
Roll the pastry to the size of your oven dish and cover the chicken mixture with it.
Brush the pastry with egg wash and bake for 25 minutes or until golden.
Serve warm with a salad.

Chicken in Mushroom Sauce

Chicken in Mushroom Sauce

This creamy mushroom sauce adds richness to an otherwise very lean meat and transforms quick and ordinary to extraordinary and delicious.

4 – 6 chicken breasts
45ml butter
15ml vegetable oil
250g mushrooms, sliced
4 cloves of garlic, minced
15ml thyme leave (or 5ml dried)
45ml white wine
250ml cream
125ml parmesan cheese, grated

Cut the chicken in half horizontally so that you have 2 very thin breasts.
Season the chicken on both sides with salt and pepper.
Put a heavy bottom pan onto medium-high heat, add 30ml butter and the oil and cook the chicken until golden – about 3 minutes per side.
Remove the cooked chicken, cover and keep warm.
Turn the heat onto high and add 15ml butter.
Add the mushrooms and cook for about 5 minutes – you want caramelised, golden brown mushrooms.
Now add the garlic and thyme and cook for another minute.
Deglaze the pan by pouring in the wine and scraping the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon to get all the caramelised bits to come loose.
Turn the heat down to medium and the cream. Simmer for 3 minutes or until the cream thickens slightly.
Add the parmesan to the sauce and season well with salt and pepper.
Return the chicken to the pan and warm through for about 2 minutes.
Serve the chicken breast on rice, mashed potato or couscous, with lashings of the mushroom sauce.