Chicken with Lemon and Rosemary

This is ridiculously easy to do and guaranteed to please - if you want to use a 'Brai pack' chicken (Spinneys' 1kg chook all cut into breasts, thights, legs and wings) then you can feed two and snack on leftovers the next day - just cut back on the other ingredients.

OK, the HDR shot is dead. Here's a traditional snap taken in the time honoured camera-top flash in the kitchen tradition!

This goes majestically with a rough sweet potato mash or a tomato and onion salad.

Ingredients

• 4 chicken breasts on the bone
• 2 bulbs garlic
• 4 sprigs rosemary, cut up
• 1 lemon, cut into 1/8th slices
• 25g Butter
• Olive oil

Heat the oven up to GM7/22oC/425C.

Spread the butter over the chicken pieces and place them in a baking tray along with the lemon pieces, cut up pieces of rosemary and garlic cloves (leave them in the skins!). Drizzle a splash of oil over the whole lot and a dash of sea salt and black pepper, then slip 'em into the hot oven and leave 'em for 35-40 minutes to cook, crisp and brown.

Now you just have to quaff a cheeky chilled pinot grigio and read a good book while you wait!

Ginarek or Geranak

It’s typical of Arabic accents that this fruit has two names depending on who you speak to, and at least three spellings. We shall stick to genarek or jinarek. Don’t worry too much about the Latin spellings: this is, after all, phonetic transliteration of a non-Romance language!

Ginarak (pronounced jenarek) is much loved in the Arab world. It looks like a wee green apple, almost like a crab apple – and has a slightly sour flavour, although by no means as bitter or astringent as a crab apple. It has a light, delicate taste that somehow reminds me a little of gooseberries and yet it has a most satisfyingly crunchy quality. All in all, it’s one of the Middle East’s best kept secrets.

It’s in season right now and you’ll find it in little trays in all the supermarkets – it’s traditionally eaten raw with, at the most, salt. Ginarak’s got a stone in the middle that’s pretty much stuck to the fruit, so it’s almost impossible to pit: you have to cut around the stone to remove the flesh. Although most people snack on jinarek raw, it stews well (you have to do it gently to avoid burning the fruit and then press it through a sieve: the resulting pulp can be used as a fruit puree - you'll need quite a bit of sugar but I've tried stewing it in sweet wine which is just diviiine and very Levantine Roman) and there are pickle recipes out there, buried deep in Levantine Mums' treasure chests. When I find one, I’ll share.

In the meantime, here’s a recipe for ginarek shots, an application for the refreshing, crunchy quality of the fruit that hit me just before a dinner party...

Ginarek Shots

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Ginarek Shots

This is a little fiddly thing wot I served up in place of sorbet as part of a multi-course dinner – a little palate-freshener and a surprise for those who haven’t come across this slightly sour-fresh Levantine fruit. The mixture is crunchy, salty, sour and yet has little sweet notes. A real little explosion of surprising things, then...

Inrdedients

• 12 Ginarak, finely diced
• 1cm celery, finely diced
• 2 medium shallots, finely diced
• Pinch salt
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp honey
• 2 tsp olive oil

In a small frying pan, fry off the shallot in the oil to soften, taking care it doesn’t burn. Add the honey and let it caramelise lightly before removing from the heat. Mix everything together in a small bowl and refrigerate. Serve the salad in cooled shot glasses, with perhaps a teaspoon of frozen tequila in each one and a finishing pinch of salt.

You’ll need coffee spoons to eat it with!

Classic Sandwiches 2 - the Jibarito

Most people don't know this one, but it is fast becoming a classic. The only problem here might be to find plantains, but large green bananas would work. The plantains should also not be too ripe (just starting to go black)

From Wikipedia:

"The jibarito (pronounced hee-bah-REE-toe), a specialty of Puerto Rico and Chicago, is a sandwich made with flattened, fried green plantains instead of bread. It was invented in 1991 by Jorge Muñoz y Coquí Feliciano in Aguada, Puerto Rico in their famous restaurant named "Plátano Loco" (crazy plantain) where it is the king of the house. It was later introduced to Chicago at the Borinquen Restaurant, a Puerto Rican restaurant, by owner Juan "Peter" Figueroa."

So this is the way you do it:

1 large green plantain, peeled and sliced lengthwise and in half (4 pieces)

If you can't find plantain, try 2 very large green bananas. 

oil (for deep frying) 

30 ml butter 

15 ml Olive oil 

1 large thinly sliced onion 

2 cloves garlic, minced 

Pinch cumin 

1-2 pinch cayenne or dried chipotle powder, to taste 

200g thinly sliced steak (Skirt steak is best) or thinly sliced chicken breast. 

salt & freshly ground black pepper, to taste 

4 slices American cheese 

1 tablespoon mayonnaise 

romaine lettuce 

thinly sliced tomatoes or roasted red peppers 

15 ml teaspoon melted butter 

15 ml Fried minced garlic

You will also need 2 heavy cutting boards

Heat the oil, then fry the peeled and sliced plantain for 1 minute.

Remove the plantain from the oil, place on a heavy cutting board (if wooden, wrap board in plastic first, which will assist in the spreading of the softened plantain), top with another cutting board, and flatten the plantain between them.

Fry the now-flattened plantain in the oil again, until the outside is golden and crispy; remove from the oil, set aside on paper towels dry, keep warm.

Over medium high heat, melt 15 ml butter and olive oil together, then sauté the onions until just soft.

Add the garlic, cumin, and cayenne to taste, stir well, then add the meat slices and sauté until browned; season to taste with salt and pepper.

Spread mayonnaise on the bottom slice of flattened fried plantain, followed by 2 slices of American cheese, then the meat and onions. Top with lettuce and thinly sliced tomato (or roasted red pepper), then the remaining plantain top. 

Combine 1 teaspoon melted butter with 1/4 teaspoon fried minced garlic, brush the upper plantain slice with the butter garlic mixture.

Makes 2 sandwiches

Tapenade

I have an awful weakness for this dark, salty little snacky dippity thing and love digging up wodges of it with a flat bladed knife and slathering it on hot, crunchy toasted bread (preferably rough bread that's been brushed with garlic and oil and toasted in the oven).

Yes, yes, it's got anchovies in it, but you'll not know once the final mixture's been combined. If you can make it a day or two before you intend to use it, then do - the flavours meld together and richen - seriously. You can smooth it into pots for serving and top it up with a preservative layer of fine EV olive oil if you like.

If you want to be more refined, then tapenade is perfect with slithers of toast for aperitifs, smashing with big, ballsy balloons of dark, blood-red wine and a neat addition to your armoury of canapé toppings, too.

But on rough, rustic toasted bread, tapenade is simply great.

Ingredients

• 15g anchovy fillets
• 100g pitted black olives
• 30ml olive oil
• 1 tbsp brandy
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 2 tsp (4 large) capers, chopped
• 1 tsp seed mustard

Whizz in a small blender.

Store for 24/48 hours.

Eat.

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Penne with Cauliflower

Sometimes a recipe is so simple that it seems almost pathetic. But eating something that is all about one simple extraordinary flavour is what good food is all about. Important here is the freshness of the ingredients. Freshly grated cheese, (never the stuff in the green can) and black pepper straight out of the mill. Good quality olive oil.

This can be mushy cauliflower with macaroni or it can be something superb, depending on your ingredients and how you treat them.

Serves 6.

You will need:
125 ml EVOO
5 Cloves garlic, crushed
1 Head cauliflower, cored and separated into florets.
500g Penne pasta
125 ml flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
125 ml feshly grated parmesan cheese.
Salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste
Red pepper flakes to taste.

In a large sauté pan, heat the olive oil. add the garlic and cook gently until softened and lightly coloured. Add the cauliflower. Season with salt & pepper, stir well and cook until softened, about 15 minutes. Lower the heat, and simmer until the cauliflower is very tender, about 10 minutes more. It will break up a bit, that's fine. Meanwhile cooke the penne as per the instructions on the packet. Drain the pasta and add to the cauliflower, stir in the parsley and red pepper flakes and toss for a minute over high heat.

Serve topped with the grated cheese.

Slow Roasted Lamb Shanks

This is a Jamie Oliver recipe and is an absolute winner. For some extraordinary reason this dish is a big hit with my children, who are the world’s fussiest eaters, so double bonus points all round.

I serve this with a big pile of slightly sloppy creamy mashed potatoes.

You will need:

4 lamb shanks
180ml white wine
2tbsp balsamic vinegar
3 celery stalks, chopped fine
1 carrot, chopped very fine
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 can chopped tomatoes
6 anchovy fillets
Pinch of dried mixed herbs
Fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped.
1 tbsp fresh rosemary chopped fine
Plain flour
Dried herbs



And then you need to:

Heat a heavy casserole dish over a medium flame and glug some EV olive oil in.

Rub the fresh rosemary over each of the shanks and then dust with a little flour which has been seasoned with sea salt and pepper.

When the oil is hot brown the four lamb shanks and then remove and set to one side.

Turn the heat down a little and throw in the onion, garlic, carrot and celery and a pinch of salt. Gently sweat the vegetables for about 10 minutes.

Add the balsamic vinegar and reduce. Add the white wine and again reduce by about half.

Add the tomatoes, pinch of dried herbs and the anchovies, bring to the the boil, and put the lamb shanks back in the pot. Put on a lid and place in a preheated over (350F/175C). After 1 hour and 30 minutes remove the lid and cook for a further 30 minutes.

Place one lamb shank on each plate, stir the flat leaf parsley into the remaining sauce and then spoon over the delicious thick tomatoey stew and serve with creamy mashed potatoes.

Classic Sandwiches 1 - The Cubano

There have been several posts here on sandwiches; we have here the Croque Monsieur, the Bacon Butty and I propose to post a series of classic sandwiches to continue the trend.

Sandwiches are classic in themselves. Everyone of course knows that the sandwich is attributed to John Montagu, the 4th Earl of Sandwich, (1718 - 1792) who wanted something that he could eat while playing cards. I can only assume that his sandwich was very different from what is made today. Probably it consisted of sliced roast beef on heavy black bread, an imaginative cook may have added mustard, horseradish or some other available flavouring. Probably butter was not used. In any case, we all thank the good Earl for his devotion to his card game. The first in the series will be the Cubano, or sandwich mixto. This sandwich was first served to Cuban workers in the Tampa, FL area around the turn of the last century and the original contained Genoa salami. This is the Miami version, which is found everywhere, and dispenses with the salami. Apparently the Tampa version still contains salami, but nowhere else.

Ingredients

• Cuban bread - as this is not available outside Cuba or Florida, substitute French bread but zap it in a nicrowave oven for 30 seconds before using.
• Butter, softened
• 500g ham sliced - Use a good quality, sweetish ham.
• 500g Sliced roast pork
• 1 Kg Swiss cheese (Gruyere),sliced
• Sliced dill pickles (lengthwise sliced are better)
• Yellow mustard (optional)

Never use mayonnaise

Preheat a pancake griddle or large heavy frying pan. Cut the bread into sections about 8 inches long. Cut these in half and spread butter on both halves (inside). Make each sandwich with the ingredients in this order: pickles, roast pork, ham, and cheese. Don't be stingy here!

Place the sandwich on the lightly oiled hot griddle (or frying pan). Place a heavy iron skillet or bacon press on top of the sandwich to flatten. (You really want to squash the sandwich, compressing the bread to about 1/3 of its original size!) A panini press is also good for this.

Grill the sandwiches for two to three minutes on each side, until the cheese is melted and the bread is golden. Make sure your griddle or fry pan is not too hot, or else the crust will burn before the cheese melts. Slice the sandwiches in half diagonally and serve.

Thanks to 3 Guys from Miami for the true recipe.

New Orleans Style Barbecued Shrimp

Barbecued shrimp, one of the best dishes in all of New Orleans cooking, is completely misnamed. They're neither grilled nor smoked, and there's no barbecue sauce. It was created in the mid-1950s at Pascal's Manale Restaurant. A regular customer came in and reported that he'd enjoyed a dish in a Chicago restaurant that he thought was made with shrimp, butter, and pepper. He asked Pascal Radosta to make it. Radosta took a flyer at it. The customer said that the taste was not the same, but he liked the new dish even better. So a legend began.

The dish is simple: huge whole shrimp in a tremendous amount of butter and black pepper. The essential ingredient is large, heads-on shrimp, since the fat in the shrimp heads makes most of the flavor. You can improvise on this. Sometime beer or wine is added, but I think it is fine as is.

The amount of butter and pepper in here are fantastic. But understand that this is not a dish you will eat often, although you will want to. You should to try it once, though.

Ingredients

1.5 Kg fresh large shrimp with heads on, about 40 shrimp.

50 ml lemon juice

30 ml Lea & Perrins or any worcestershire sauce.

3 cloves garlic, chopped

45 ml freshly ground black pepper

5 ml salt

750 g butter, softened

30 ml olive oil

15 ml Crystal or Tabasco hot sauce.

1 loaf French bread

This is how you do it.

Preheat your oven to 200 degrees C.

Devein the shrimp if you wish, rinse them and shake off the excess water. Put them in a large baking dish, and distribute the liquid ingredients over them evenly. Cover with a thin even layer of black pepper. Don`t worry, just do it, it is almost impossible to use too much pepper. Cut the butter into small chunks and distribute evenly over the top. Add salt over this.

Place in the oven for 10 minutes. Stir. Back in until shrimp are just done. You will have pink shrimp in a reddish-brown sauce. Serve in large bowls with lots of the liquid. No utensils here, use your hands. the bread is for sopping up the juices. Don`t check your cholesterol level for at least a month.

About 4-6 servings.

Honey Lemon Glazed Chicken with Fregola Sarda

A possible result of the remarkable tides of culinary influences and ideas that wash the shores of the Mediterranean, fregola sarda is a relatively obscure Sardinian pasta - a similar idea to the north African rolled wheat-balls that we know as couscous. Some poor, misled bastards may only recognise the latter in its retailed form as Ainsley Harriott’s Couscous. I feel sorry for them.

There's another Mediterranean similarity in Lebanon's 'mughrabiyeh' or Palestine's 'maftoul', also little rolled balls of wheat about the size of a black peppercorn, although not toasted like fregola. Both are served traditionally as a filling accompaniment to meat, especially chicken.

Fregola sarda, then, are rolled balls of durum wheat semolina (pasta to you, mate) which are then toasted to give a distinctive and wholly delightful vignetted brown colouring ad a totally unique flavour, earthy and rich. It’s good old fashioned peasant food and, like so many good old fashioned peasant foods, is only now available in ‘artisan’ delicatessen packets. You can get it through the Internet, specialist stockists or, if you live in Dubai, from the little shop of rare delights that graces the Grand Hyatt hotel’s Panini, probably one of the nicest places in the city to have a casual and excellent coffee, sandwich and cake.

Fregola sarda should not be confused with ‘pepe’, the little pasta balls that make up one of the many (and confusingly named) varieties of ‘soup pasta’ the Italians are so fond of – although it can be used in that role (where it adds a certain cloudiness and a lovely thickness because of the loose starch that clings to the little balls of pasta after they’ve been rubbing about in their packet). It’s more distinctive than that – it’s great as a salad ingredient in place of orzo, for instance; it makes a smashing base for little piles of roasted vegetables and can be served in warm risotto-like mixtures, replacing the Arborio.

Fregola Sarda pasta

Here it’s a base for a Mediterranean-style marinated chicken breast, although if you want to serve two, you can ditch the chicken and just serve the warm mixture of pasta, bacon and courgette.

I love grilling meats – it’s by far my favourite treatment for chicken breast and striploin steaks – and I always line the grill pan with foil to save on washing up but also to collect the juices. It helps if you push the foil down between the bars.

A note on toasting pine nuts. I like to toast pine nuts in a small, dry frying pan, tossing them with such gay abandon that excited archaeologists exploring the far-flung and darker corners of my kitchen often discover long-lost pine nuts.


Ingredients

• 4 chicken breasts

Marinade

• 50 ml honey
• 50 ml vinegar
• 50 ml white wine
• 2 tsp fresh thyme leaves
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• Sliced zest of ½ lemon

Fregola Sarda

• 150 fregola sarda pasta
• 2 courgettes, chopped
• 25g pine nuts, toasted
• 25g parmesan, grated
• 2 rashers smoked back bacon, chopped
• 1 large shallot, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 50ml white wine

Mix together the marinade ingredients and marinate the chicken for as long as you reasonably can – ideally more than a couple of hours.

Boil a kettle of water and put the fregola sarda in a pan with a splash of olive oil.

Grill the chicken, basting with the marinade so that it browns and crisps, turning it over after about 10-12 minutes. When it’s done, allow it to sit for a short while.

While the chicken’s cooking, cook the fregola sarda. Pour the boiling water over the pasta and cook it for 12-14 minutes, stirring occasionally.

In a frying pan, fry off the shallot in the oil, adding the courgettes, the bacon and finally the garlic. Take the pan off the heat and add the wine. When the pasta has lost its hard, chalky core and is ‘al dente’, drain it off and then pour it into the courgette and bacon mixture. Toss it all together, adding the grated parmesan and, finally, the toasted pine nuts

If you’ve timed it right, the chicken will just be done and rested for five minutes – so you can slip the pasta mixture into a warmed plate, top it with a chicken breast (and maybe pour over some of the dark, sticky juices from the grill pan), serve it up with a fine pinot grigio and Robert’s yer father’s brother!

Pesce all'Acqua Pazzo

You can do this with any kind of really fresh fish, or with shrimp. Or both. I sometimes put in some squid as well. Acqua Pazzo means crazy water, in the language spoken in the boot-shaped country. This goes well with lots of rustic Italian bread. It is easy, quick and delicioso.

Ingredients:

100 ml extra-virgin olive oil (yes, lots)

1 medium onion, cut into 1 cm dice

4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

30 ml fresh hot chiles

250 g fennel, cut into 1 cm dice, fronds reserved

1 large can tomatoes with juices, squished by hand

2 cups white wine (Corvo is best, Frascati will do)

125 ml S. Pellegrino sparkling water plus 5 ml salt

16 fresh large shrimp, peeled and heads left intact, or equivalent quantity of fresh fish fillets, cut into pieces. Or a combination.

5 ml Ricard, Pernod or Ouzo.(optional)

Freshly ground pepper

Do it like this:

In a large pot, heat the oil until smoking. Add the onion, garlic, chiles, and fennel and cook 8 to 10 minutes, until soft and light golden brown. Add the tomatoes, wine, and salted water and bring to a boil. Add Pernod if using. Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes. Add the shrimp or fish and simmer until cooked through, about 7 minutes. Don't overcook. Check salt. Pour into a soup tureen, garnish with fennel fronds or lots of chopped parsley, and serve with plenty of freshly ground pepper, and Italian bread.

Serves 4 hungry people.