Marinated chicken with pickled plums

After nearly a week of being uninterested in food and cooking due to a non-Covid infection, on Sunday my interest was suddenly stirred by a chicken thigh recipe in an ABC newsletter. Whilst the ABC recipe and my final recipe in the end bear little relation to each other, the ABC recipe was definitely the trigger for my imagination and made me think about chickens and the plums I have had pickling in a high cupboard for years (based on Stephanie Alexander’s recipe which she suggests will last a year). The ABC writer also wrote about what she was cooking in a way to use the process to stir the imagination with different tastes and that started me thinking about what to cook. 

The end result with some cauliflower and Chinese broccoli added to the other ingredients was quite a delicate blend of flavours all of which could be sensed. I served mine with brown rice which mopped up the plum-flavoured chicken juices. Thank you to the ABC and to Stephanie both of whom constantly inspire me! 

Ingredients

5 chicken thighs (skinned) - about 800 gr

3 tbs soy sauce

3 gloves garlic crushed

3 tsp crushed garlic

Rind of half lemon

150 gr olive oil

4 dsp spiced plums

A handful of cauliflower florets

2 cups chopped Chinese broccoli

150 gr Zero shiraz

Mode

Crush the garlic and ginger

Finely slice the rind off the lemon and cut into slivers

Place the chicken in bowl

Pour over the soy and olive

Add garlic, ginger and lemon rind

Stir to cover the chicken

Cover the bowl and refrigerate overnight

Preheat the oven to 200c

Assemble the ingredients in a baking dish or tray with an edge

Place the chicken in the dish

Pour over it any remaining marinade and scrape in any delicious ginger, lemon and garlic bits

Spoon the pickled plums around the chicken

Break the cauliflower into florets and poke in

Pour over the Zero shiraz 

Give it shake and put it in the oven

Bake uncovered for 40 minutes

Just before then chop the Chinese broccoli roughly

Remove the chicken dish from the oven

Stir through the broccoli and turn over chicken in the process

Cover with foil or a lid.

Cook for another 20 minutes. 

Lemon potatoes

I love lemon potatoes but for some unknown reason have never cooked them. The topic arose in a conversation with @ladymidnight recently and I wondered why I have never done so. We talked about different shapes people cooked them in and after a bit of research in my cookbooks this is what I came up with last night. Just yummy!

Ingredients

2 large potatoes

Dry rosemary

Olive oil

2 lemons

1/2 cup water

Mode

Preheat oven to 220c

Chop potatoes in desired shape

Place in ovenproof dish

Pour oil over potatoes and use hands to ensure potatoes are coated

Sprinkle over dry rosemary

Place in oven and bake for 20 minutes

Meanwhile juice the lemons and add water to lemon juice

Remove potatoes from oven

Pour lemon mixture over the potatoes 

Return to oven for another 40-45 minutes

Lazy lentil soup with sage and chili

This recipe is loosely based on a recipe of Diane Kochilas from her book Ikaria. She, however, started from scratch with dried lentils and my other ingredients are slightly different as is my method. But hers was the inspiration to use sage and chili which are not ingredients I had used before in lentil soup. 

Ingredients

1 large brown onion

Olive oil

800 gr canned lentils

400 gr diced tomatoes

6 dry sage leaves

3 dried bay leaves

1 tsp Sambal Oelek

2 cloves garlic

Water

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

Mode

Heat some olive oil in large saucepan on high heat

Roughly chop onion

Add to olive oil and stir to cover with oil

Cook for a few minutes stirring occasionally

Meanwhile peel and crush the garlic 

Drain and rinse the lentils

Add the garlic and Sambel oelek to the onions and stir

Add the bay and crushed sage leaves to the mixture and stir

Add the drained lentils and combine

Finally add the tomatoes and stir

Add about two cups of water and stir

Bring the mixture to the boil and reduce to a simmer

Simmer for about an hour stirring occasionally

Just before serving add the vinegar

Remove the bay leaves and any sage stalks

Serve with a drizzle of olive oil and additional vinegar if desired

Baked sardines with orange and lemon

Ah! The second half of my birthday sardines was cooked differently a day or so later. A friend thought from a photo of them that the olive oil was lemon juice, so this time I added lemon and orange juice and used cumin seeds instead of sumac. I ate this lot with potato and sweet potato baked with garlic, rosemary and olive oil.  It wasn’t my birthday dinner but another delicious meal in Melbourne’s latest lockdown.

Ingredients

16 filleted sardines

1/2 lemon

1/2 orange

1 clove garlic

2 tsp cumin seeds

Olive oil

Mode

Preheat oven to 180c

Arrange sardines in baking dish

Crush garlic and add to sardines

Sprinkle over cumin seeds

Add olive oil

Squeeze orange and lemon and add to dish

Bake in 180c oven for 20 mins

Baked sardines with sumac

Well it was my birthday and for the second year in a row I was in lockdown and had to cancel my previously arranged dinner out with friends. So I had a lovely Zoom meeting with interstate friends (originally planned as pre-dinner event) and then wondered what to cook. Would it be fresh sardines or fresh tuna? This is what I went for on my birthday. I ate the sardines with potatoes roasted with olive oil, rosemary and whole garlic cloves. 

Ingredients 

16 filleted sardines

1 tsp sumac

1 clove garlic

Olive oil

Mode

Preheat oven to 180c

Arrange sardines in baking dish

Sprinkle sumac over

Crush garlic and add

Sprinkle with olive oil

Bake in oven for 20 minutes

Σεσκουλοπρασόπιτα

Another day, another variant on χορτόπιτα and σπανακόπιτα. But this version is certainly not suitable for Lent due to the animal products.

Ingredients

Half bunch silverbeet

1 leek

2 spring onions

2 cloves garlic

1 tsp Sambal oelek

180 gr ricotta

80 gr fetta

18 gr dill

1 egg

Parmesan

Phyllo

Olive oil

Poppyseed

Mode

Preheat the oven to 180c
Roughly chop the silverbeet, discarding the thick stalks
Clean and slice the spring onions 
Place the vegetables in a steamer 
Peel and crush the garlic and add
Add Sambal oelek
Steam on the stovetop until soft, stirring occasionally
Meanwhile place the ricotta in a bowl
Crumble the fetta by hand on top
Add the egg and stir to combine

Chop the dill roughly, discarding thick stalks and add to cheese mixture

When the vegetables are cooked, add to the mixture and combine well
Using a pastry brush and olive oil line the bottom of a baking dish with about six layers of phyllo, taking care to oil well between each layer
Add the cheese and vegetable mixture to the phyllo
Fold the phyllo over the mixture and cover with several layers of phyllo brushing with oil between each layer
Fold in the edges and oil the top layer
Sprinkle with poppyseeds
With a sharp knife cut the top of the pie into desired portions. DO NOT cut through the bottom of the pie
Cook for 45 minutes in 180c oven until top is crisp and golden
Leave to rest for 2-3 minutes after cooking
Then with a sharp knife cut the portions through to the bottom of the pie.

Pork rissoles with Vietnamese mint #blogjune Day 10

A cold, wet day called for some fun cooking. There was minced pork to be had at Piedimonte's and I had a bunch of Vietnamese mint so pork rissoles with Vietnamese mint was the answer. I served them with some stir-fried vegetables.

 

Ingredients

600 gr minced pork
1/2 bunch Vietnamese mint
2 cloves of garlic
2 tsp chopped/crushed  ginger
1 tsp Sambal oelek
2 tsp chopped lemongrass
Flour
Olive oil

Mode

Place the pork in a large bowl
Peel and crush the ginger and garlic and add
Chop the Vietnamese mint and the lemongrass and add
Finally add the Sambal oelek and stir to combine fully, using hands to finish.
Using a spoon form the mixture into rissoles and roll in flour
Heat olive oil in a pan and add the rissoles
Fry until cooked through, turning regularly.
Meanwhile prepare vegetables which you wish to serve with them.

Lime sardines - grilled or baked!

The sardines, derivative of Lorenza di Medici, were delicious yesterday, but what will I do with the rest of the sardines? I had a look at a few recipes, mainly in Greek books, and then went back to my bible for ideas, Stephanie. I don't think I have cooked many of her recipes, but I love her this goes with that column under each of the topics and often pull the book down for inspiration.

Finally I decided that I would marinate the sardines this afternoon and then grill them this evening. I thought about various combinations from Stephanie but then decided to focus my marinade on the limes that I had on hand. Sardines are oily and strong flavoured and need something to balance that. Lime juice should do the trick and I really like lime juice. I finally settled on a combination of lime juice, olive oil, ginger, garlic, coriander and Sambal oelek (hot chilli paste).

Of course, the first trick was to secure the kitchen from the cats who were going berserk about the sardines yesterday ;>) and still aware of something very interesting in the fridge. Stephanie suggests always cooking sardines outside because of next day's smell, but I don't have a barbecue so I shall have to bear the consequences, I thought as I prepared the marinade. Then as I was putting the bowl with the sardines and the marinade into the refrigerator, I had an idea. These would be delicious baked in this marinade with potatoes. So I'll offer two variants for this recipe. And to obviate the need for grill cleaning and a sardine-smelling kitchen, I'll make the baked variant tonight.



Lime sardines

12 sardines (cleaned, headed, and butterflied)
Juice of 2 limes
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon Sambal Oelek
1 teaspoon crushed ginger root
2 cloves garlic crushed
Chopped coriander to taste
Two potatoes (for option 2)

Mix together all the marinade ingredients. Place the sardines in a bowl. Pour over the marinade. Allow to rest in the refrigerator for at least two hours.

For grilled lime sardines:
Heat the grill until it is very hot. Place the sardines on the grill skin side up. Brush with the marinade. These should be cooked in about two minutes. Serve with green salad and olive bread. Serves two for a main meal, or can be served as part of antipasto.

For baked lime sardines:
Preheat the oven to 180 Celsius. Peel and chop each of the potatoes into about eight pieces and add to the lime and sardine mixture. Bake for 80-90 minutes until the potatoes are tender and have absorbed the lime mixture. If you partially pre-cook the potatoes, you could speed up the process but the long cooking allows all the flavours to permeate beautifully. Serve with green salad. Serves two for a main meal.