CHICKEN WITH OLIVES, PRESERVED LEMON AND FENNEL

The chicken part is great but what makes it superb is the polenta with blue cheese..... see below.

8 chicken pieces

1 fennel bulb, coarsely chopped

3 large parsnips, coarsely chopped

 Tbl curry paste mixed with olive oil to thin...maybe 50ml....more or less

1Tbl fennel seeds

a large handful of olives

1/2 preserved lemon / lime

1/2 fresh lemon, thinly sliced then chopped

1

1/4 cup verjuice

pepper

a handful of coriander,chopped

Preheat oven to 180

Put a bit of oil into a baking dish and lay the vegetables over in one layer, turn in the oil.

Combine the chicken pieces, fennel seeds, curry paste mixture and lemons in a bowl and turn them in to coat. 

Place the chicken and all the bits on top of the vegetables in the baking dish in one layer.

Dust with paprika and turn it all in together after 40 minutes.

Bake about 1 hour total.

Just before serving mix in verjuice, pepper and coriander leaves.

Polenta:

1.5 cups polenta : 1.5 litres cold water

To cook polenta with no lumps it is dead easy if you add the polenta to cold water with 1 tsp salt, then heat moderately quickly before reducing the heat and allowing it to thicken. Towards the end of 30 mins. add lots of left-over bits of good, strong cheeses, which must include some blue. Anything and everything is good...not just good..... excellent! This comes from a lovely cookbook I have called "Pass the Polenta".

This is not a low fat meal! But my goodness, it is worth every gram!

 

CHICKEN AND YOGHURT CURRY

Chicken pieces, for this recipe I use about 6 - 8, or use more vegetables and less chicken
1 medium onion, roughly chopped
3 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 - 2 tsp of freshly grated ginger...or more if you like it as much as I do
1/2 cup mint or coriander leaves ,stems and roots
oil, I like peanut
1 tsp turmeric....next year I might be able to say fresh turmeric
1.5 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp or more of sweet chilli sauce
1/2 cup yoghurt mixed with 1 tsp flour
chopped potatoes and pumpkin if you like
1 sliced mango or other sweet fruit or some chutney
2 or more tomatoes, chopped
Other green veg for adding towards the end, like Asian greens or beetroot leaves or any chopped leaves really or maybe some snow peas etc

Fry gently in a large pot: onion, ginger coriander roots and stems for 5 minutes.
Add garlic, turmeric and other spices. Stir in the yoghurt and tomatoes and fry to a thick liquid.
Add the chicken and turn to coat - no need to brown. Add potatoes and pumpkin.
Make sure there is enough liquid to almost cover everything or add a bit of water.
Reduce heat, cover well and cook about 3/4 of an hour.
Stir in fruit and greens. Simmer another 15 minutes or so, while you cook the rice or whatever.
Sprinkle coriander leaves over when serving.

Rice:
1 2/3 liquid : 1 basmati rice
Bring liquid to the boil, covered ( water, fruit juice, coconut milk, or just water)
Add rice, reduce heat, put paper towel over the saucepan then the lid and cook 15 minutes without disturbing

SALLY'S HAZELNUT CAKE

3 eggs, separated
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup hazelnuts, toasted in the oven and coarsely ground
1 large apple, grated

Beat egg whites until stiff. Set aside.
Beat yolks until light and frothy.
Stir in hazelnuts and apple.
Fold egg yolk mixture into beaten egg whites.

Put into a 7" or 8"tin and bake at 170C for about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile bring to the boil: 1/4 cup espresso coffee, 1/4 cup water, 1/3 cup rapadura sugar, vanilla, 1 dsp butter.
Boil a couple of minutes then fold in some extra crushed hazelnuts. When cooked, remove cake from the tin and place on a plate. Pour the syrup over the hot cake.

Serve with plain yoghurt. Resist eating it all, if you can!

PURIS

100g wholemeal flour

100g plain white flour

1/2 tsp salt

2 Tbl oil

1 tsp cumin seeds

150ml water

Sift flours into bowl, add salt and oil and rub in until well mixed. Stir in cumin seed and gradually mix in water to make a soft, slightly sticky dough. Knead for 5 minutes. Rub with a little oil, cover and leave for 30 minutes.

Heat a grill to high. Knead the dough again for a couple of minutes. Divide into 12 balls and dust each with flour. Then roll out into a 5" disc or until very thin. Brush the griller with oil and lay a few of the puris on it and brush them well with oil. Grill a minute or so until well done. Turn, brush with oil and grill until done. Keep warm in the oven as you do the rest. They need to be well done or they will be soggy.

JEAN'S PASTY SLICE

1 quantity Jean's shortcrust pastry
1/2 pound finely diced kangaroo / other tender, lean meat
1 each of potato, turnip / parsnip, carrot, all finely diced
1 Tbl parsley
1 tsp salt

Follow assembly directions given in the pastry recipe below.

Bake 200C 10 minutes. Reduce to 180C 10 minutes. reduce to 160C about 40 minutes, covering with foil to avoid burning. if you don't cook it long enough the vegetables will be crunchy.

JEAN'S SHORTCRUST PASTRY

These are old recipes and all the measurements are imperial. Good luck!

Crumb
4.5 ozs self-raising flour
1.5 ozs plain flour
pinch of salt
3 ozs butter
Add with a knife to form a stiff dough
1 tspn lemon juice
1 beaten egg yolk
A little cold water

For sweet pastry add 2 tsp sugar

Lightly flour a board or the bench. Roll out thinly. Use a bit more than half to line the pie tin. Tip in filling, dampen edge with water and lay top over. Press to seal. Prick top. Decorate with left over pastry cut into shapes. Glaze.

Glaze
For sweet pastry - brush with egg white and sprinkle with sugar
For savoury pastry - brush with egg yolk or milk.

Harvest Stew with Fresh Herbs & Dumplings

This is a recipe from Inanna, who kindly copied this whole thing into a comment box after my post on Deb's turnips.

*1 c. pear nectar
*1 c. low-sodium vegetable broth
*1 T Dijon mustard
*3 tsp chopped fresh thyme
*1 tsp salt
*Freshly ground pepper
*1 small (1 lb) butternut squash, peeled & cu into 1-inch chunks
*3 small turnips, peeled and quartered
*2 carrots, peeled and sliced
*2 zucchini, sliced
*1 medium onion, chopped
*1/2 tart apple, cored, peeled & grated
*6 garlic cloves, chopped

DUMPLINGS *1 c. all-purpose flour*
2 tsp baking powder
*1/2 c. low-fat buttermilk
*2 T unsalted butter, melted
*1 T chopped scallions

DIRECTIONS *Whisk together pear nectar, broth, mustard, 2 tsp thyme, ½ tsp salt and pepper in a large saucepan. Add the squash, turnips, carrots, zucchini, onion, apple and garlic. Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, covered until the veggies are just tender (about 15 minutes).*Meanwhile, combine the flour, baking powder and remaining ½ tsp salt in a large bowl. Combine the buttermilk and butter in another bowl. Add the buttermilk mixture to the flour mixture and stir just until the mixture forms a soft dough. Stir in the scallions and remaining 1 tsp of thyme.*Drop the dough by 6 heaping tablespoons onto the simmering stew. Simmer the stew, uncovered, for 10 minutes, then cover and cook until the dumplings are firm (about 10 minutes more).