AZ's Homemade KFC

Sometimes - particularly when you or I have come back from the pub with the munchies - only so-called junk food will satisfy. This is a dish I tend to batch-produce and freeze: only takes a few minutes of "ping", and my cheat's tip is to put it - and the microwaved jacket potato - under a hot grill to crisp up.

For enough crumb to make 6 pieces, mix together 100g breadcrumbs,100g flour, 1 tsp paprika, 1 tsp dried mint, 1 tsp parsley,1 tsp cracked black pepper and 1 tsp cajun spices (chilli/cayenne, cumin, garlic, thyme, oregano & pepper). Dip chicken pieces into a bowl of beaten egg and then into the crumb mix. Shake off excess, deep-fry to seal, and then bake in a hot oven for approx 20 mins.

Rather than chips I had a jacket potato stuffed with full fat cream cheese, home-made coleslaw and I used up some spinach leaves in a mixed salad.

Berber-style Stuffed Chicken Thigh & Salad

It was one of those days when I craved Middle-Eastern/North-African flavours but wasn't really in the mood for lots of couscous or rice - hence the accompaniment of spiced wedges. I don't know how many cuisines I raided to arrive at the final dish.

For the marinade:
1dstsp oil (Olive or Veg), a pinch S+P, 1 tsp lemon juice, 1 scant tsp cumin, 1 scant tsp crushed garlic and a pinch of cayenne pepper. Mix well and rub the skin of the boned chicken with the mixture and then marinate skin-side up. I had 2 thighs to myself which was a bit greedy - one large one would have been ample. Stand for at least an hour.

For the stuffing:
1 heaped tsp of couscous mixed with 30ml of boiling water. Add a pinch of salt and 1 tsp finely chopped red onion, 1 tsp finely chopped peppers, half  a tsp of ground cinnamon and 1 tsp dried mixed fruit. Leave to stand for about 15 minutes, fluffing occasionally with a fork.



With the boned chicken thigh skin down, spoon some filling into the middle, roll up, tucking the ends in, and secure with cocktail sticks. Roast uncovered in a very hot oven for 30 minutes.

For the spicy wedges:
A big  handful of potatoes - skin on - cut to desired size mixed with a little vegetable oil, a shake of sea-salt, a pinch of cracked black pepper, a pinch of chilli powder, a pinch of paprika and1 tsp of crushed garlic. Cook for the same length of time as the chicken.

The salad was just a bit of whatever I had in the fridge, with a tomato-flavoured dressing: 2 tsp tomato ketchup mixed with 2 tsp French dressing and couple of shakes of Worcester sauce. Simples!

Business in Birkenhead Buffet

 Last Thursday I had the pleasure of doing the catering for the third networking event held at Ashville Lodge, the home of The Wirral Society for The Blind & Partially-Sighted, overlooking Birkenhead Park.

The guest speaker was Geoffrey Prince - dubbed GuruGeoffrey by Ida Moos - who is always fascinating to listen to, whether yarning about his time on the New Brighton lifeboat, turning his house in New Brighton into  the Hollins Hey Hotel, scuba-diving in exotic climes or his boat-building business in Birkenhead. The glass is always half-full, never half-empty. As I type, he has just posted on Facebook another of his truisms: "Successful people are the ones who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks others throw at them."

 Positive thinking is essential.

I try to balance familiar food with some new experiences: my chicken tikka kofte are always a hit, whilst the sausage and baked bean fritters were utterly new - but very well received, nonetheless.

Tikka Kofte ready to fry

Sausage & Baked Bean Fritters

I've been trying to buy dried haricot beans for about a month but neither Asda nor Tesco are stocking them so I've switched to pinto beans for my home-made baked beans. This recipe uses sausagemeat, minced onions, mashed cooked beans, seasoned with S+P, chives, Worcester sauce, tomato ketchup and puree, bound with a mixture of flour, breadcrumbs and beaten egg. I form them into little cakes, deep-fry to seal and then bake in a medium oven for about 15 - 20 minutes.

 

The other success of the evening for me was the "Chiantishire Bean" Crostini - a recent adaptation of my classic hummus recipe: 13th March 2011. My only disappointment was that nobody else seemed to be as addicted as I am to my new vegetarian dish, Spicy Mexican Refried Bean Dumplings.

Ah well!