Lemon & Cumin Spatchcock Chicken

Removing the backbone to butterfly a whole bird is known as spatchcocking. You can do this with smaller birds such as Guinea Fowl or Poussins but here I've used a freerange 3½lb chicken. It's not difficult at all if you follow my instructions. It makes cooking the bird so much quicker, you'll get a lovely moist chicken throughout. This is a great method for the grill or BBQ but here I baked it in a hot oven for around 45 minutes.

I chose Lemon & Cumin to marinade the bird but you could choose what ever flavours you like, from curry & yoghurt, peri peri, mustard & honey or whatever you'd prefer.

First prepare the marinade

2 tbsp good olive oil
3 shallots finely chopped
1 red chilli sliced (optional)
2 heaped tsps cumin
1 heaped tsp ground coriander
1 heaped tsp paprika
1 tsp ginger powder
1½ lemons, zested, & the juice
sprigs of fresh thyme
freshly ground black pepper

Stir all these ingredients together and it's ready

you'll need a 3½lb freerange (preferably) chicken
a good pair of kitchen scissors
2 long skewers
a dish large enough to hold the bird (non metallic)

Instructions

lay the chicken on a board

turn it over so that the nose is facing you

with strong sharp kitchen scissors cut down one side of the backbone

Cut down the other side and remove the backbone

Turn the bird back to breast side up, with the heel of your hand press down hard along the breastbone, you'll hear the little rib bones cracking, you just need to flatten the chicken out so it's about the same depth all over.
Insert two skewers starting with the wings,through the breast and out through the legs as shown. This will keep the bird together and make it really easy to turn.

Place in an ovenproof dish and pour over the marinade making sure that both the top and the underside are well coated.

Cover well and refrigerate for at least 2 hours but I like to prepare this the day before it's needed as the flavours are so much better that way.

When your ready to cook it, heat the oven to around 220c 425f gas 7 and roast breasts facing down for around 25 mins then turn the bird over and roast for another 25 mins or until cooked through but still juicy. Cover with foil & leave to rest for around 15 minutes before portioning it out. This can also be BBQ'd keep it well away from the hot coals though, try 15/20 mins a side and check to make sure it's thoroughly cooked. I'd suggest around 45mins in all but this will depend on the heat intensity of your grill.

I love to serve this with some sweet potato chips, I roasted mine in the oven just sprinlking with a little olive oil and then baking for around 30 minutes turning once.

The salad I choose was just avocado, toasted pinenuts & watercress or spinach. I didn't use any dressing just a spoonful of the chicken juices poured over was delicious enough.

Hope you'll all have a go, you'll certainly impress your friends & family.

    

Roasted Cauliflower Tikka

This lovely cauliflower dish makes a perfect side for curries, grilled meats, chicken and fish dishes.

I shared it on the same post as my  Coconut Beef Curry but I thought it deserves it's own little blog.

The cauliflower is simply coated in a yoghurt & a lemony Indian spice marinade then roasted ...so easy... I do hope you'll try it.



Roasted Cauliflower Tikka

This delicious side dish couldn't be easier to make

Ingredients:-

a large cauliflower leaves & stems removed and cut into bite sized florets

for the marinade:_
6 Tbsp  Greek Yoghurt
the zest & juice of 1 large lemon
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp hot chilli powder
½ tsp Turmeric
2 cloves of garlic crushed
1 tsp sea salt

a tsp or 2 of Garam Marsala or curry powder to sprinkle over before baking

Method 

In a large bowl mix all the marinade ingredients together
Add the cauliflower and mix well until it it's coated in the marinade
Transfer to an oven proof ceramic dish ( I used my Pyrex tray)
Sprinkle over with the Garam Marsala or curry powder

Heat the oven to 175c approx 350 f 

Bake for around 20-25 mins until the cauliflower is tender but still has a little bite and the top is beautifully golden

If you prefer your cauliflower soft with no bite then I  suggest you steam it for a couple of minutes then cool it thoroughly at stage 1 of the recipe.

Lemon, Almond & Ricotta Cake - Gluten Free

I turned out my kitchen cupboards the other day to find that I had 3 large packets of ground almonds with their expiry date looming. What better way of using them up than this gluten-free Lemon, Almond & Ricotta Cake.

It's a really simple recipe, basically swopping flour for the almonds and perfect for any of you who are wheat intolerant.

This recipe is taken from my Dorlicious Page 

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This recipe will serve at least 10 good portions

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You'll need an 11" /28cm loose bottomed baking tin, greased and lined with baking parchment

If you prefer to measure rather than weigh your ingredients here's a handy Conversion Chart

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Set the oven to 160c/325f/gas mark 3

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The ingredients

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350g/12½oz softened butter (I used salted)

400g/14oz caster sugar

600g/1lb 5oz ground almonds

1 tsp baking powder 

6 large eggs

2 large unwaxed lemons zested & juiced (if you can find any Amalfi lemons all the better)

a 250g/9oz tub of Ricotta cheese 

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Method

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In a large bowl beat together the sugar & butter until light & fluffy

Beat in the eggs one at a time

Add the almonds and the baking powder & lightly mix through

Add the zest & juice of the lemons along with the Ricotta and mix gently but thoroughly

Place the mixture into the lined tin and level it.

Place on a baking sheet then pop into the centre of the oven

Bake for around 50 minutes, then turn the oven down to 150c/300f gas mark 2

I baked mine for approx 1 hour 15 minutes but ovens vary. Check after an hour.

If it's browning too quickly, loosely cover with a sheet of baking parchmentm or foil 

Just make sure that there's no wobble in the centre of the cake and if a skewer is inserted it comes out clean

It should be golden brown with a slight spring when touched

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Leave to cool in the tin on a wire rack.  Don't  be tempted to remove it until it's relatively cool . It's a moist cake and is liable to break easily. It would be better placed in the fridge for a little while to help it firm up.

I'm greedy, cut mine too early and managed to break the cake in half arghhh!!!! I won't be doing that again.

Lemon, Mascarpone Drizzle Cake with Blueberries

This is my wonderful friend Anneliese from Rising to the Berry's recipe. You can find her fabulous blog at http://risingtotheberry.blogspot.com/ The recipe was recently posted in Good to Know Magazine.

         225g Stork (you can use the same quantity of softened unsalted butter if preferred)

• 225g caster sugar
• 225g self-raising flour
• 4 large eggs
• 2 level tsp baking powder
• 1tbsp milk
• Finely grated zest of one large lemon (I used two as I like mine very lemony)
• For the drizzle:
• 100g granulated sugar
• Juice of one large lemon

For the filling:

• 250g mascarpone
• 125g lemon curd
• I added a box of blueberries and made a little extra filling so I could pipe the lemon curd flavoured cheese on the top

1. Set your oven to 180°C/360°F/Gas Mark 4.
2. Now move your attention to greasing two 8 inch sandwich tins, then line the base of each tin with greaseproof paper. This has to be the most tedious part of baking (after washing up of course) but it needs to be done! To save time, I fold a large piece of greaseproof paper in half, draw around a tin, grab scissors and cut around the outline. This will give two circles for your effort! Now we can move on to the fun part of making the actual cake – yay!
3. We are using the easy peasy all in one method; I rarely use the creaming in method for fear of the dreaded curdle! Simply measure the Stork, sugar, flour, eggs, baking powder, milk and lemon zest into your awaiting mixing bowl. A word of advice would be to take care when measuring in the baking powder. A rounded teaspoonful instead of a level one could result in a sunken cake which would, of course, be a bit disappointing.
4. When all of the cake ingredients are within the safety of your bowl, whisk until you have created a smooth mixture. This should take around one to two minutes if using an electric whisk. If you are using your own muscle power, then it will of course take a little longer!
5. Divide the suitably smooth mixture equally between your pre-prepared tins and level out. Place the tins straight into the warmth of the oven. The cakes should take between 25 and 30 minutes to cook, but check after 20 minutes. Don't open the oven door any earlier as this is another way to get a sunken cake. The sponges are ready once they are springy to the touch and the edges are coming away from the tins.
6. Leave the cakes to cool in the tins whilst you get on with making the zingy lemon drizzle. First of all, juice your lemon into a small bowl. Try warming the lemon in the microwave for a few seconds first; this helps to get as much juice out as possible. Tip the granulated sugar into the bowl to join the lemon juice and give it a good stir. Next you can spoon this delicious mixture over the two cakes (which are still sitting patiently in their tins) and leave to cool completely.
7. Once the cakes are finally cold you can extract them from the tins. Now all that is left to do is make the simple filling. Fold the lemon curd into the mascarpone. The joy of using mascarpone is that it is already at a beautifully thick spreading consistency - no whisking required! Sandwich the two cakes together with the ever so tasty lemony filling, then stand back to admire your work. Not for too long though – dive in, cut yourself a large slice and congratulate yourself on a job well done. Enjoy - you deserve it!

Baked sesame coated Sea Trout with lemon,tarragon cous cous, asparagus & cherry tomatoes

Sesame baked sea-trout with lemon, tarragon cous cous, asparagus & cherry tomatoes

Cous cous is just the easiest thing to make. Just pour over hot stock and leave for 10 minutes, fork through & hey presto it's done. You can make this dish with salmon instead of sea trout and the addition of asparagus makes it something a little more special. This is such a wonderful dinner party dish that won't keep you away from your guests for most of the evening.

For 2 you will need
2 4/5oz sea trout fillets
a handful of sesame seeds
80 grams cous cous
juice & grated zest of 1 lemon
handful of chopped tarragon & parsley
small bunch of asparagus
12 or so cherry tomatoes halved
sprinkling of roasted sesame oil

season the trout and sprinkle over some sesame seeds
place with the tomatoes in a baking tray
set the oven to 200c/400f gas 6
pop the trout & tomatoes into the oven and bake for around 12-15 mins
Remove from the oven and let it rest for a few minutes before serving

While it's baking perpare the cous cous
trim the asparagus, chop the stems into small pieces keeping the tips whole.
Boil in a little salted water for no more than 5 mins and strain, keep warm & reserve the cooking water.
In a bowl place the cous cous, lemon juice & zest
Pour over 1 cup of the reserved asapargus water and sprinkle with a little sesame oil.
Cover & leave for around 10/15mins
Fork through & season.
Add the tomatoes & asparagus and fork through again.

Arrange prettily on a plate and serve garnished with a lemon wedge and a tarragon leaf.






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