Chicken and Prosciutto Pot Roast

Chicken and Prosciutto Pot Roast

As much as I relished the World Cup Challenge, I've loved cooking all the food I really enjoy again. Many people think cooking a whole chicken is the chore of a Sunday, but I think it's a great midweek meal with plenty of leftovers to help with lunch in the following days. This dish is simple but the flavours are delicious, especially the tomato sauce. Served with couscous and some stir- fried vegetables, it really is a no fuss dinner that everybody will enjoy!

The secret to the sauce is cooking the chicken on top of it. This allows the chicken to soak up the wonderful tomato flavour and the sauce benefits from the chicken juices and fat. You can remove the skin from the chicken before wrapping with prosciutto if you wish.

Serves 4

1 Whole Free Range Chicken (approx 1.5Kg)
5 slices of Prosciutto/Parma Ham
1 tbsp Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
1 Onion (finely chopped)
1/2 Chilli (finely chopped)
1 Tin of Chopped Tomatoes (400g)
1 tsp Sugar
Sea Salt and Freshly Ground Pepper

Couscous and Stir-Fried Veg to serve

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C.

1. Cover the top of the chicken with slightly overlapping slices of prosciutto and sprinkle a little pepper on top. Set aside.

2. Heat the oil over a medium heat in an oven safe casserole dish (ensure the chicken will fit and the dish has a tight fitting lid) and add the onion and chilli. Season with salt and pepper and cook for 5-7 minutes to soften. Add the tin of tomatoes and sugar and bring to the boil. Place the chicken on top of the sauce and cover the pot with a tight fitting lid. Place in the oven and cook for 1 hour.

3. After an hour, remove the lid and continue cooking for 15-20 minutes until the chicken is cooked through. (check that it's 73 deg C with a thermometer) Serve with couscous and stir-fried vegetables.

Al Fresco Ideas - Fish

Al Fresco Ideas - Fish

In a country where the average temperature floats around 10 degrees celsius, it's important to take advantage of any good weather. This week has been particularly good - no better time to organize family and friends for a get together!

Growing up, our BBQ's were loaded with enough meat to feed a small army. It always worked out expensive and consequently, they were a rare event. Although occasions like these are memorable, it is possible to have a more affordable BBQ suitable for everyday dinners. The joy of al fresco cuisine is that it's simple; leaving plenty of time for beer! For a great sauce, try my recipe for the Colombian Hogao here. You can swap the coriander for other herbs to give a more unique flavour.

BBQ Sea Bream

Most fish can be BBQ'd with great success and work well if cooked whole. Ask your fish monger to gut and de-gill the fish and to de-scale it if you plan on eating the skin (I peel off the skin after BBQ-ing so I leave the scales on to stop the skin from tearing). Stuff the fish with slices of lemon, chopped parsley (or other herbs) and plenty of sea salt and pepper. Slit the fish a few times if you want to speed up the cooking process. Place on a hot BBQ until cooked through (all the flesh is flaky). Peel off the skin and enjoy.

Stuffed Mussels

Although not BBQ'd, mussels are a great treat to be enjoyed outdoors with a nice glass of white wine. Saute garlic and anchovies in butter and extra-virgin olive oil for 7-10 minutes and add dried breadcrumbs. Meanwhile steam mussels until opened (discarding any that don't) and remove the top (empty) shell. Spoon the breadcrumb mix into the bottom shells and sprinkle with chopped parsley. 

Skewered Crevettes

Soak some wooden skewers in water for an hour or so to stop them burning on the BBQ. Thread through raw crevettes/prawns and sprinkle with sea salt, pepper and lemon juice. Cook on a hot BBQ for 2-3 minutes on each side.

My Dad never looks too optimistic:

World Cup, Round of 16

World Cup, Round of 16

Day 16, 17, 18, 19

The World Cup Round of 16 games proved to be some of the most exciting so far with the little teams really putting it up to the giants. I can now begin to plan my dishes for the quarter final clashes after some rather unsuccessful attempts during this round. On Saturday I decided to see why Chewy Luis is so hungry and cooked a Uruguayan dish:

Day 16 - Uruguay

Pollo en Escabeche

Marinated Chicken

This dish left a lot to be desired. I looked up about ten versions of the recipe but they were all quite different. I went with a bit of a mix but the basic idea is to brown chicken pieces in hot oil and then stew in vinegar until cooked through. Although some recipes recommended a mix of vinegar and stock I went with (to my eye) the more authentic ones, vinegar only. The chicken and vegetables are edible but the dish becomes dry as you can't really use the vinegar as a sauce.

I can understand using vinegar in a chicken recipe, a tablespoon or two into a stew can really bring it to life but this was too much for me. I don't blame Suarez for taking a bite out of Chiellini, he couldn't have tasted much worse than this!

There is, of course, the possibility that I made a right bo**ox of this or went in the wrong direction. If you have a good one or know someone from Uruguay that does, please send it on.

Day 17 - Mexico

Vegetarian Chilli

I love Mexican food and so decided I'd celebrate the vibrant cuisine for the second time. After a few days of heavy eating I wanted to go with something full of vegetables and very little meat. After browsing through Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's "Veg Everyday" book (which was living beside my bed for a few weeks) I decided to something crazy; a dinner with no meat! To say I love meat is to partake in the biggest understatement of all time. I didn't even eat vegetables until about two years ago (apart from potatoes of course) so to think that someday I would CHOOSE to cook a vegetarian dish is crazy. I have cooked vegetarian dishes before of course but this is different, this is a dish that is all about the meat. Not anymore! I've adapted Hugh's brilliant recipe to my own tastes but if you don't like it too hot then remove the seeds from the chillies.

Serves 4

2 tbsp Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
1 Onion (finely chopped)
2 Chillies (finely chopped)
2 cloves of Garlic (finely chopped)
1 stick of Celery (finely chopped)
1 tsp Cumin Seed
1/2 tsp Smoked Paprika
1/2 tsp Cayenne Pepper
1 tsp Oregano
1/4 tsp Ground Coriander
Pinch of Allspice
1 Red Pepper (diced)
1 Green Pepper (diced)
1 tbsp Tomato Puree
1 Tin of Chopped Tomatoes
1/2 tsp Sugar
1 Tin of Kidney Beans (drained)
100ml Red Wine
100ml Water
1/2 tbsp Worchestershire Sauce
Sea Salt and Freshly Ground Pepper
Boiled Rice and Yoghurt to Serve

1. Heat the oil over a medium heat and add the onion. Season and cook for 5-6 minutes to soften. Add the chilli, garlic, celery and spices and cook for 5-6 minutes stirring regularly. Add the peppers and tomato puree, stir well and cook for 2 minutes before adding the tomatoes, beans, sugar, red wine, water and worchestershire suace. Simmer on a low heat for 30 minutes until thickened. Serve with the boiled rice and yoghurt.

Day 18 - Germany

Beschwipster Huhn

Drunken Chicken

On Day 18 I decided to cook German. I had done a German "dish" during the group stages but it was my cheat day. I put together some sour dough bread with lots of butter and topped it with a sliced hard boiled egg. Not exactly Gorden Ramsay! This time I decided to go with something that would require a little more effort. Although German's are particularly notorious for their sausages and sauerkraut, I wasn't really in the mood for pork so I picked a chicken dish instead. This is my take on the classic Beschwipster Huhn (Drunken Chicken)

Serves 4

2 tbsp Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
50g Streaky Bacon (chopped)
1 Onion (finely chopped)
2 cloves of Garlic (finely chopped)
8 Chicken Thighs (or a mix of thighs and drumsticks)
1 stick of Celery (finely chopped)
2 Carrots (finely chopped)
200ml Red Wine
100ml Chicken Stock
1 tsp Dried Marjoram
1 Bay Leaf
Sea Salt and Freshly Ground Pepper
Bulgar/Potato/Rice to Serve

1. Fry the bacon in the oil over a medium heat for 5 minutes before adding the onion and garlic. Season and cook for 5-6 minutes to soften. Add the chicken pieces and brown all over before adding the celery, carrot, wine, stock, marjoram and bay leaf. Season well, cover and simmer over a low heat  for 30 minutes until the chicken is cooked. I served with Bulgar to keep things healthy but you could serve with potatoes/rice etc.

Day 19 - Switzerland

Bundner Nusstorte

Swiss Walnut Tart

It may have taken me 19 days of World Cup action but I've finally made a dessert. In my house it's never necessary for me to do any baking, Ali is the baking queen! It's a good mix, I do the savory, Ali the sweet. I thought I better try my hand at one for this challenge though and couldn't resist this wonderful looking (and tasting) tart. I used this recipe from the ever reliable food.com. The filling is fantastic, I swapped the standard sugar for demerara in the filling and it worked a treat, giving a deeper, more intense flavour. I wasn't overly fond of the pastry although I did add the 2 tablespoons of water without checking so it could well be my fault. If you have a favourite shortcrust pastry recipe though, I'd use it instead.