Tag Archives: garlic

Moroccan Roast Chicken and Vegetables

27 Monday Jul 2020

Posted by in chicken, Dinner, Vegetables

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Succulent and moist – Moroccan Roast Chicken

Was it just chance that we were watching a doco about a Moroccan women’s Fantasia team (look it up – fascinating) – while in the oven I had a dish cooking which was from a recipe called Moroccan Roast Chicken? Weird. Anyhow, I was drawn to the recipe because (a) it looked delicious (b) it was in one pot and (c) I had a chicken. (And quite probably in no way is this recipe authentic!)

The recipe I had was for potatoes and tomatoes to be added, however I added brussels sprouts and decided not to use tomatoes. The original recipe also called for dried apricots – alas the pantry did not have any so I subbed dried cranberries – and they were delicious! You get the drift – experiment with what is in your pantry.

To be more authentic you should cook this in a tagine – but we don’t have one. I did cook it in a ‘dutch oven’ – a very large heavy cast iron pan with a lid. It did the trick.

This will take about 2 hours to cook. Time enough to have a glass of wine (possibly more – it depends on your average minutes per glass I guess) and prepare any other veges you want to add to this dish. I steamed some carrot and then braised it in a little butter and cumin.

Left: Chicken with spice rub Middle: veges with oil rub Right: Ready to go into the oven

Turn the oven on to 180 degrees celsius.

Ingredients:

  • 1 tsp dried coriander
  • 1 tsp smoked paprika 
  • 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
  • 1 tsp sumac  
  • 1 tsp black pepper
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 x medium sized chicken
  • 4 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1/2 lime or lemon (or splash out and use a whole one)
  • 500g baby potatoes, cleaned
  • 8 clove garlic, peeled (I cut my cloves in half)
  • 2 handfuls of dried cranberries
  • salt/pepper to taste
  • parsley (to serve)

Mix spice mix together. Ensure chicken is dried (pat with a paper towel) and remove giblets if they have been left in. Pat spice all over chicken. Add quartered lime/lemon and 2 teaspoons of spice mix inside chicken. Add about 2 tablespoons of olive oil to your pan and then place chicken in pan.

Place potatoes, brussels sprouts, garlic and cranberries into a bowl and add about 2 tablespooons of oil and season with salt and pepper. Mix these together and then add into pan alongside the chicken.

Cover with the lid and let bake for up to 2 hours – depending on your chicken it might be ready 15 minutes or so earlier. Although I had a reasonably small chicken I cooked it for the whole 2 hours – it was delectably falling off the bones. Because the pan doesn’t create steam like a tagine, you might want to dowse the chicken with the pan juices when you have finished cooking (or even part way through).

Garnish with parsley and serve.

Mr MWCED and I decided this is definitely a keeper recipe and we’ll cook it again.

Ginger Meatballs and Coconut Broth

30 Sunday Jun 2019

Posted by in Dinner, Pork, Rice

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Saturday night – need something that is reasonably easy to eat for Mr MWCED had a tooth extracted/stitches so doesn’t want anything too hard on his gums. I had pork mince and a quick search on my favourite food blog soon found the inspiration. Thank you once again, Smitten Kitchen.

The original recipe suggests that the broth is sieved – but I wanted to ‘beef’ it up with some vegetables so added some onion, celery and carrots. You can add whatever else might be in the magic fridge – I would.

This would serve about 4 people – though I’d probably add a few more veges, make more meatballs or have a side of something. While I halved the original recipe for the meatballs I kept the broth at around the same amount of ingredients – for you can never have enough of a delicious broth, right? Chile is up to you – you could use more, or less.

MEATBALLS

  • 500g minced pork
  • 1 large egg
  • 1-1/2 tablespoons panko breadcrumbs
  • 1-1/2  tablespoons grated peeled fresh ginger
  • 1 large garlic clove, finely chopped
  • 1 tablespoon fish sauce
  •  teaspoons salt

BROTH

  • One 165ml can coconut cream
  • 1-1/2 cups chicken or vegetable stock
  • 1/4 cup thinly sliced peeled fresh ginger
  • 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
  • 1 fresh red chile, thinly sliced
  • Finely grated zest and juice of 1/2 lime
  • 1 tablespoon fish sauce
  • 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
  • 1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar
  • salt
  • 1 small onion sliced
  • ¼ cup thinly sliced celery stalk
  • 1 small carrot thinly sliced
  • 100g baby spinach
  • Coriander and mint for serving

Make the meatballs: Preheat oven to 220 celsius. Combine all of the ingredients in a large bowl.  Make small size meatballs and place them on a baking tray about 1-inch apart. Bake until the meatballs are golden brown and just cooked through, about 12 to 14 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the broth: In a large saucepan, combine everything except the spinach and bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat so the broth is simmering. Simmer 10 minutes, until the flavours are infused into the broth. Season to taste, if needed, with salt. 
Add the meatballs to the broth, return to a simmer, cover, and simmer until cooked through and tender, about 10 to 15 more minutes. Add spinach and cook just to wilt. Season the broth with salt and lime juice if necessary. Serve with herbs, additional chiles, lime wedges, rice and roti.

Olive Tapenade

23 Sunday Apr 2017

Posted by in Appetisers, Nibbles, olives, Party, Uncategorized

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Last year we were lucky enough to have a great crop of olives. And, sadly, now we have moved we don’t have any olive trees – though to be 100% honest I think I would be just as happy to buy or trade some fresh olives from someone – even 2 small trees provided far too many olives for just one person to plough through – Mr MWCED doesn’t like eating olives so that leaves them all for me.

The olives we picked were mostly very small.   I decided to brine them and now have a multitude of jars in the pantry. They really need to be used.   It is a labour of love using them in anything as it takes an age to stone them, but at the same time I know exactly where they came from and what has gone into them.  IMG_0867.JPG

I have to admit that the taste on their own isn’t amazing. I don’t know if it was the type of olive, or my brine.   They are fine cooked but I wouldn’t put them out for snacking on.   As they are fine when cooked I thought maybe a tapenade might be worth trying. Though not cooked, I thought a mix of other ingredients may work to create a tasty mix.

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An hour later (well, it felt like an hour!) after stoning a cup of olives we now have tapenade. Most recipes call for fresh garlic, however I had some roast garlic from the other night and it works fine, probably providing a somewhat more refined garlic taste.

Olive Tapenade 

  • 4 cloves roasted garlic
  • 1 cup pitted olives
  • 2 tablespoons capers
  • 3 tablespoons diced fresh parsley
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 teaspoons basil pesto (or to taste)
  • 2 fillets anchovies – rinsed
  • Black pepper (grind into blender – as much as you want)

I just put everything into the blender and mixed it up. The pesto was an addition at the end as I felt the mixture needed a bit of jazz.   It worked perfectly.   The recipe makes enough for two ramekins.

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The tapenade will go out on a cheese platter later this afternoon when we have some drinks on the deck.   And some of it might end up on the pizza I think we will make for dinner.