Creamy Tarragon Chicken (& Spring Greens with Bacon)

(Serves 2)

We have a lot of spring greens in the fridge. I came across the SG&B dish on the BBC Good Food site, so they can take the credit for that (though I'm still typing it out here), but the chicken and potato goodness was one of those 'chuck it in, see what happens' sort of ventures that I enjoy so much.

It turned out well.

My Mam (who is my only customer) said it was delicious and probably the best thing I'd ever cooked for her. So there's a good review for you.

For the Chicken

2 chicken breasts (or 4 goujons, as we used), cut into slithers

5 or 6 new potatos, cut into bitesize chunks

1/3 red onion, sliced

50g Philedelphia

1 chicken stock cube

1 tsb honey (ours has lemon in it, I recommend a few drops of lemon juice if yours is normal honey)

a few drops of worcester sauce

1 garlic clove, crushed

tarragon

coriander

salt

pepper

For the side

Half a head(?) spring greens, thinly sliced

2 rashers back bacon - the BBC recommended a smoked, thick cut bacon. But we like/only had normal, unsmoked back bacon. So there.

1/2 veg stock cube*

A knob of butter

Black pepper

*Again, the BBC says to cook the greens in veg stock water for 5 mins but I think this made it a bit soggy. Perhaps it just needs to really drain, for a few minutes even, but if you like your spring greens really crispy, in more of a 'crispy seaweed' sense, then forego the boiling/veg stock part and just hoy 'em in the frying pan with the bacon.

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Chuck the chopped chicken and potatoes in an overproof dish with the herbs, salt and pepper and rub the herbs into them. Add the onions to the dish, and put all the other ingredients (except the Philly) into a jug with around 400ml of water until the stock cube dissolves. Pour the mixture over the ingredients in the dish and stick it in the oven on about 200º for about 40 mins (or until the chicken is cooked and the potatoes are soft).

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Chop the greens and pop them in veg stock water to simmer for 5 mins.

Chop the bacon and add it to the butter in a frying pan. Add the greens and fry away until everything is crispy. Top with black pepper and serve.

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When ready, take the dish from the oven and pop it on top of a medium heat hob. Add the Philly and stir it in, leaving it on the heat for a few minutes until it's mixed into the sauce and thickened it.

I had to leave the dish on the hob for quite a while as I found my sauce to be a bit thin, but I had put more water in than I've noted here so hopefully you won't have the same problem!

Enjoy!

Chunky Beef Stew (with Roasted Veg)

We had this on Tuesday night, when it was horribly windy/icy/snowy outside. It's a good winter/random cold snap in early spring warmer-upper.

(Serves 2)

For the stew:

Large handful of Mince

2 mushrooms, diced

6 baby plum tomatoes (or cherry tomatoes), halved

1/2 red onion, sliced

1 garlic clove, crushed

1/3 courgette, diced

A handful of Peas

Olive oil

Butter

Salt

Pepper

Chilli powder

Coriander

Thyme

Ketchup

Gravy granules

Roast

1 carrot, finely sliced

1 parsnip, finely sliced

5 or so new potatoes, halved or quartered depending on size

Olive oil

Butter

Salt

Pepper

Chop up the veg to be roasted, stick them on a baking tray with a couple of small knobs of butter and a sprinkle of the other ingredients, and bake on 180º for about half an hour.

In a big pan, add a knob of butter and a squirt of olive oil, then add the onions and garlic and the herbs and spices. Cook for a couple of minutes, then add all the veg (except the mince and peas - we used these from frozen but even if yours are fresh they shouldn't need as long). Cook these for another couple of mins, THEN add the mince and peas and cook until the mince is browned.

Add a squirt of ketchup and a sprinkle of gravy granules, then a small glass of water. Turn the heat down to simmer for around 15 minutes. Ours was at the perfect consistency at the same time the roasts were done - good timing!

Serve up - as presented above is well recommended, so it's like a bowl of soup with the roasts to dip in the tomato-y gravy. We also crumbled some cheshire cheese on top.

I missed good cheese. I love Cheshire cheese. Germany likes a waxy cheese. I detest waxy cheeses. We did not see eye-to-eye in the cheese aisle.

Smoked Salmon & Cream Cheese Parcels.

Ana here!

These little parcels are something I conjured up today when I was staring into the fridge. Also the fact that the smoked salmon was going out of date tomorrow really helped me what to decide what to have for lunch! you'll need some form of ramekin or small bowl around 3 inches deep and 5 inches wide, cling film and the following ingredients:

smoked salmon (around 8 slices per ramekin)
2 tbsps cream cheese
2 tbsps diced red pepper
a handful of raw baby spinach
lemon juice
salt and pepper

(I apologise for the lack of measurements, I forget to weigh everything!)

firstly, line the ramekins with cling film, then line with the salmon, covering the sides and the bottom. leave a couple of cms hanging over the edge. But leave a couple of slices free for the top!

in a bowl, mix the cheese, lemon juice and salt and pepper. start layering the cheese and fillings, starting with the cheese on the bottom of the ramekin. layer on the red pepper and squish them down. Spread on more cheese, the layer on the spinach. Finish off with the remainder of the cheese. Cover the cheese with the remaining salmon. Fold over the excess bits of salmon, press down and put in the fridge for a couple of hours. To turn out the parcel, simply lift them out using the cling film and whack onto a plate!. These are a really good starter, served with a small mixed salad however I was eating mine for lunch so had a pretty big salad!

An Update.

Jenn here.

I'm back from Berlin, as of a week ago.

As you may recall, I spent a lot of time cooking veggie in Germany - I know, veggie and Germany don't usually go hand in hand - and it's really upped my game.

If ever you find yourself in a food rut, I suggest cutting something that you normally eat out - meat, or dairy, or wheat - and cooking becomes a challenge again. I'm back to being more adventurous and trying out new dishes, new recipes. And I've found a load of veg that I'd never liked or possibly even eaten before that I now enjoy (sprouts, fresh beetroot, cabbage. CABBAGE.) and those that I'm still not really a fan of (chicory. *shrug*).

I got a recipe book as a leaving gift, except it's not a cookbook, it's more a notebook where each page has space for a photo, and an ingredients list, and instructions for me to fill in as I go. And I intend to instagram my way through the book. And this blog.

Layout and blog frequency overhaul imminent!

The Kitchen Cabinet

A quick note, to alert you to the new BBC Radio 4 programme, The Kitchen Cabinet, in which food personality Jay Rayner and a team of experts answer audience's foodie questions.

It's like Gardener's Question Time but for food - Episode 2 (in which they discuss Indian fusion cooking and 'the perfect tomato sauce' - never put tomatoes in the fridge) is on iPlayer right now (which, I am happy to add, is available to everyone. BBC Radio is internationally available, unlike the TV/TV iPlayer, which I miss every damn day.)