Piri Piri Chicken

I tend to eat a lot of chicken because if cooked right, it can have a lot of flavor.  On the other hand if not cooked well it can be dry, tough and without much flavor.  This chicken has a lot of flavor which come from the piri piri sauce that the chicken is cooked in.  (This recipe is based off Piri Piri chicken from Jamie Oliver's Meals in Minutes.)  I also tend to use a lot of boneless, skinless chicken which makes it all the more important to have good flavor infused into the chicken.  This method uses a bit of cooking on the stove top as well as finishing in the oven so it gives you enough time to work on other things to serve with this chicken.

Piri Piri Chicken
1 1/2 pounds chicken breast
olive oil
1 red bell pepper, sliced or cubed
1 yellow bell pepper, sliced or cubed
6 sprigs of thyme
cilantro leaves
1 red onion, chopped
5 cloves garlic
1 serrano chile, stalk removed
1 jalapeno, stalk removed
2 tablespoon sweet paprika
2 lemons, zested (1 lemon also juiced)
1/4 white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
fresh bunch of basil
salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 400F.  Put a large pan on to heat (to cook the chicken).  Place the chicken on a cutting board and season it with olive oil, then season with salt and pepper.  Place the chicken into the preheat pan and cook until golden on each side.  (The first side should take about 5-6 minutes, then turn over.)

In the meantime, make the piri piri sauce.  Add the chopped red onion to a blender with the garlic, chiles, paprika, lemon zests, and juice from one lemon.  Add white wine, Worcestershire sauce, a pinch of salt and pepper, the bunch of basil and a little water.  Blend until smooth.

Add the red and yellow pepper to the chicken.  Turn the heat down to medium and stir the peppers.  Pour the piri piri sauce into a baking dish, add the peppers then the chicken (and any cooking sauce).  Next, add the sprigs of thyme and place in the oven on a middle rack.  Bake for about 15 minutes or until everything is baked through (and hot throughout).  Chicken will be cooked when it reaches an internal temperature of 160F.  Remove chicken from oven the serve with the cilantro leaves sprinkled on top. 

Roasted Leg of Lamb

I once took a cooking class and part of that class was making a roast leg of leg.  Since there were about 8 students and one chef, we divided the recipes up, which meant I did not get to participate in making the roast leg of lamb.  I have had rack of lamb and helped prepared that, but I was thinking about things to cook for a Christmas gathering while walking through the grocery store.  I thought about all the mutton I ate in New Zealand.  Then I stumbled upon this awesome leg of lamb which I decided was what had to be made for my group of friends who were coming over in the not distance future.  They had all been to my house before, but their significant others had not.  I had never served lamb before, so it was decided; I would roast the leg of lamb as the center piece to the meal.  I served the leg of lamb with a variety of roasted vegetables which worked out very well in the end as it meant a bunch of preparing in advance, but then left little to be done once everyone arrive, with the exception of carving the lamb.

This is a simple recipe, which only takes time to actually roast the lamb and afterwards let it rest.  This is based off the Roasted Leg of Lamb from Richard Bertinet's cook Cook in a Class of your own.

leg of lamb (I think mine was about 6 pounds)
olive oil (4-6 tablespoons)
salt and pepper (about 1 tablespoon each)
garlic cloves, about 6, cut into quarters, but depends on how many slits you make
rosemary and thyme, fresh sprigs
red wine to make a gravy (about 1/2 bottle)

Take out lamb a little before roasting so it can warm up before baking.  I took mine out about 1.5 hours before roasting.  Preheat the oven to 375 F.  I usually do this 20-30 minutes in advance.  Rub with olive oil, salt, and pepper.  I sprinkle it on first to be sure I have enough salt and pepper, and then I add the olive oil.  Use enough to coat, but not drip off Cut into the skin and meat at an angle so that you can stuff a sliver of garlic and rosemary and thyme into each cut.  Place the leg of lamb into a roasting pan and place in the oven for about 2 hours (or 20 minutes per pound).  You can check the temperature so you don't over cook it (about 135 F for rare and 145 F for medium rare).  The last 30 minutes it is a good idea to cover so it doesn't brown too much.  Remove lamb from oven and let it rest on a warm plate or cutting board for about 20 minutes, covered with the foil.  When the lamb is resting, you can make the gravy.  Use about 1/2 a bottle of red wine and cook on the stove top until it has thicken a bit.  If you like a thicker gravy, you can add cornstarch.

Chicken Pot Pie

The finished product! Doesn't it look delicious?

One of my goals in cooking for me and my husband is to make sure I use enough vegetables.  My husband doesn't like vegetables or at least that is what he is always telling me.  So my challenge is to get him to eat vegetables in a way that he doesn't realize he is eating as much as he does.  The good part is that he is always willing to try something at least once, which makes experimenting with new recipes easier than it could be.  There are a number of recipes I can now get him to eat that don’t include meat, which at times I find too heavy.  This recipe from Ad Hoc at Home, while a little time consuming was a winner as far as including aromatic vegetables, but also in getting them to go along well with some meat.

Before the sauce is added...

This recipe is not for the faint-hearted because I have never had all four of my burners working at the same time for just one recipe.  However, it was only for a short period of time and the job was done - to get flavor into raw vegetables without overcooking them.  Also, because it was a pot pie, there is of course a part of the recipe in which you have to make dough.  I have never liked working with dough and used to avoid recipes with them at all cost.  I never bought store-made dough as I didn't want to give in to a partially homemade dish.  In the past five years though, I have not only begun working with dough, but have also mastered the basic dough recipe.  As much as I dislike rolling out dough, it likes me and without fail the crust (or cookies) turn out great.

Bechamel Sauce for the pot pie.

Chicken Pot Pie

Pie Crust:

2.5 cups flour

1 teaspoon salt

10 ounces unsalted butter, cold

About 5 tablespoons cold water

Combine flour and salt in a bowl.  Add the butter and use your hands to mix into pea-sized lumps.  Add the 5 tablespoons water until it forms a ball.  Add more as needed for the flour mixture to come together.  Divide dough into two (one should be slightly smaller as the top will need less than the bottom crust).  Refrigerate for about an hour.  Roll out dough into a round about 13-14 inch bottom for a 9 inch pie plate.  Add flour as needed, but don't incorporate too much.  Put the first piece into the bottom of the pie plate and roll out the second for the top.  Refrigerate while ingredients are cooking.

Filling:

1 cup red potatoes cut into 1/2 inch pieces

1 cup carrots cut into 1/2 pieces

1 small onion cut into 1/2 pieces

3 bay leaves

3 thyme springs

24 peppercorns (black preferably)

1 cup celery cut into 1/2 pieces

2 cups shredded cooked chicken

Sauce:

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

3 tablespoons flour

3 cups milk

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon parsley

1/2 teaspoon chopped thyme

pinch of cayenne pepper

Glaze:

1 egg, beaten

Put the potatoes, carrots, and onions in separate small saucepans with water to cover and 1 bay leaf, 1 sprig of thyme, and 8 peppercorns for each pan.  Simmer for 8-10 minutes until just tender (med-high heat).  Drain vegetables, discard thyme, bay leaves and peppercorns.  Spread the vegetables on a baking sheet.  Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.  Fill a medium bowl with ice and cold water.  Blanch the celery until just tender, but still crisp (about 1 minute).  Drain and transfer to the ice water bath.  Drain and add to the baking sheet.

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat.  Whisk in flour and cook for 2-3 minutes.  Whisk in milk and lower the heat to keep the sauce at a gentle simmer.  Whisk often until the sauce has reduced and thicken to about 2 cups (about 35 minutes).  Don't let the sauce burn.

Preheat oven to 375 F.  Strain sauce through a fine mesh colander.  Season with salt, pepper, parsley, thyme and cayenne pepper.  Remove the rolled dough from the refrigerator.  Scatter the vegetables and chicken into the pie plate with the crust.  Pour the sauce over them.  Moisten rim of dough with the beaten egg.  Place the top crust onto the pie plate filled with chicken and vegetables.  Press the edges to seal the dough.  Remove any extra dough from edges.  Brush the top of the dough with the beaten egg.  Cut a small vent in the top of the dough to let steam escape.

Bake on the lower oven rack until the crust is golden brown about 55 minutes.  Remove from oven and let rest for 10 minutes.  Cut into wedges and serve.  Serves about 6.