Category: Chicken

When it comes to cooking I am highly influenced by different cultures. One of my favourite types of cuisine is Mexican, the flavours, the colours and the variety make me thrive!

I may not always cook with the most authentic ingredients or follow the traditional recipes but I do try to honour the dish as much as possible. A favourite week night meal for me is chicken enchilada. It is super easy to put together and can be made using leftover roast chicken to speed things up even further.

Let’s get cooking…

Start by prepping your spice mix, combine the flour, and powders in a bowl and set aside. Heat up the oil in a pan then add flour mixture so that it sizzles. Whisking constantly until it changes colour a little, about a minute. Then add in the tomato paste and mix. Slowly pour in the broth while stirring constantly to avoid clumps.

Allow to simmer for a few minutes to thicken the remove from the heat and add a generous amount of black pepper and the apple cider vinegar.

To assemble the enchiladas, layer a small amount of the sauce in the bottom of a baking dish. Then place some left over or freshly shredded chicken down the centre of a tortilla and roll into a tight cigar and place on top of the sauce. Repeat for however many tortillas you are using. All the tortillas should fit quite snugly.

Top with the remaining sauce and sprinkle over the cheddar and a little feta. Bake at 180 for 30-40 minutes until golden and bubbling. Remove from the oven, top with sliced green onions and serve.

One of the most pleasing dinners to tuck into is a roast chicken. There’s just something that makes it the most comforting meal and it just brightens up any day. It does however take some time to cook but a quick little spatchcock turns this into the perfect week night meal. And who would say no to a flavour packed roast chicken on a cold winter’s day like today?

Let’s get cooking…

Spatchcock the chicken by taking a pair of scissors and cutting straight down the back bone, lay the chicken out flat and press down on the breast bone to break it. You can remove the back bone completely but it does not harm being left on and roasted and can be used late to make a very flavourful stock.

Place the onions in a foil lined tray then generously season the chicken on both side with salt and pepper. Mix all the marinade ingredients together and massage into the chicken, allow it to sit for at least an hour before cooking.

Pour the wine into the tray just before you pop it into the oven. Roast in a pre-heated oven at 180 for 35-40 minutes until cooked through. Once the chicken is cooked, remove from the oven and allow it to rest for 10 minutes before carving. Serve with tenderstem broccoli and roasted sweet potatoes.

If you are a fan of the Friends tv series then you know how iconic a meatball sub sandwich is. When it comes to food bucket list items meatball subs are definitely on my list and quite high up at that.

I took a little leap and made this extra special by using homemade rolls but store bought subs, French baguette or brioche rolls would work just as well. I also used turkey mince which makes this a little lighter but took a store bought shortcut by using a very good quality jarred marinara sauce.

Let’s get cooking…

Mix the mince, pesto, chilli flakes, salt and pepper until well combined. Divide the mixture into 6 equal portions and roll into meatballs. They should be quite large.

Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a pan and place in the meatballs, allow to colour for about 5 minutes then flip and top each meatball with some of the jarred marinara sauce, you could make your own but I find this a quick substitute.

Slice the mozzarella into 6 slices and top each meatball with a slice. Turn the heat down to a low setting and allow the meatballs to cook and sauce to thicken. This should take 10-15 minutes

In the meantime, slit the rolls down the middle and toast in an oven. Once toasted rub each piece with a clove of garlic.

Once the meatballs are cooked, smear a small amount of sauce onto the bottom of each roll then top with 3 meatballs per roll and top with parmesan.

Serve with a few napkins on the side as this gets deliciously messy!

As the weather starts to get cooler I instinctively find myself wanting to cook heartier meals while still maintaining a balanced diet. Stews are my go to because they can easily be thrown together and forgotten about until dinner time which make them perfect for busy days.

Growing up in South Africa meant having many different cultural influences in all parts of our lives. The British colonial era introduced a few wonderful gems to our food culture, one family favourite is a hearty Irish style stew.

This stew is traditionally made with lamb and flavoured very simply with thyme, salt and pepper but I have reinvented it slightly to use chicken which also makes it super speedy. Loading it with veggies means that it also becomes a fully rounded one pot meal.

Let’s get cooking…

Heat up enough oil to coat the bottom of a large pot. Place in chicken and allow to brown on both sides, once nicely browned, throw in the onion, ginger and garlic, thyme and salt.

Allow to saute for 5 minutes then add in all the veg besides peas and courgette. Pour in 500ml of water to start and bring to a boil. Once boiling add in the stock cube and allow to simmer on medium heat until potatoes are cooked. Add a little extra water if it reduces too quickly.

Remove 4 tablespoons of cooking liquid to a small bowl and mix in the cornflour to form a slurry. Mix this into the stew along with the peas and courgettes.

Once the gravy thickens and all the vegetables are cooked turn off the heat and allow it sit for 10 minutes then serve and enjoy.

The most fun part about fusion cooking is using taking the best of each type of cuisine and molding them together to form masterpieces. That is exactly the case with this Indo-Chinese chilli chicken, it is the perfect combination of sweet and savoury with a delightful kick of chilli at the end.

I love serving it up with veggies for a lighter option or for a more filling and Indian inspired twist, rolled into soft garlic naan breads and dipped into a little raita. This dish is a favourite from one of the restaurants we visit and I’ve tried to recreate it at home so that we may enjoy it at any time. Besides the time taken to marinate, it is a very quick dish to cook.

Let’s get cooking…

To start, marinate the chicken and allow to sit in the marinade for minimum of 4 hours or overnight if possible. Allow the chicken to come to room temperature before cooking, heat a small amount of oil in a pan and add chicken pieces, fry for 4 minutes per side and drain properly once cooked. Do not crowd the pan otherwise the chicken will not get crisp.

While the chicken is frying, combine all the ingredients for the sauce and allow to simmer, add chicken to the sauce and toss thoroughly to coat

Serve with charred broccoli and sweet potato wedges for a light option or go full blown Indian and serve in warm, fluffy garlic naan breads. It is delicious either way!

Duck braised with a light tamarind sauce is slightly different but very delicious take on an Indian curry. Typically tamarind is paired with seafood dishes but in this instance the tart tamarind really helps to cut through the richness of the duck providing a light tomato based sauce that is best mopped up by fragrant coriander rice.

This is definitely a weekend dish as the duck needs time to slowly breakdown and absorb all the delicious flavour of the spices and tamarind.

Let’s get cooking…

As always the base for a good curry starts by gently frying onions and whole spices in oil until soft. Add in turmeric, Kashmiri chilli powder and curry powder and fry for a few seconds then add ginger and garlic paste and saute until fragrant.

Add in tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes, the oil should look like it bubbling to the top and tomatoes should form a paste. Next toss in the duck, add salt and ground spices and toss to coat in the spices.

Simmer on low to medium heat until the duck is soft and fully cooked through (you should be able to easily break a piece with a spoon). Stir regularly and add water as needed to allow the duck to cook. This should take 1- 1 ½ hours if your duck is free range.

Once the duck is cooked there should still be a saucy, thick gravy, add in the tamarind paste and stir into the gravy. Allow this to simmer for 5 minutes then turn off the heat.

Garnish with coriander and serve with steamed coriander rice and a carrot salad to cut through the richness.

Sometimes weekdays call for something delicious but not so time consuming to cook. I tried this recipe out on a whim because I had the ingredients laying around and it has turned into quite a keeper. Simple ingredients but big on flavour and very easy to make.

I like to make the lemon butter sauce whenever I have leftover cream and freeze it for days just like this.

Let’s get cooking…

If you don’t have some already made start off by making your lemon butter sauce, melt the butter with garlic, spices and lemon juice, once the butter is melted, remove from the heat and stir in the cream. The sauce should thicken immediately and will be ready to serve.

Season your chicken with salt, pepper and some peri-peri spice. and place into a heavy bottomed pan with a tablespoon of olive oil. Brown the chicken and then pour over half of the lemon butter sauce. Allow to simmer gently until the chicken is cooked through. Serve with fluffy mashed potatoes.

Another truly unforgettable meal/dish from my trip to Istanbul was the doner kebab. This is basically made form lamb or chicken that has been generously seasoned, skewered together and slow roasted on a rotisserie to provide gorgeously tender shavings of meat to be layered into soft warm pita or fluffy flat breads topped with zingy salads and a refreshing drizzle of tzatziki.

I’m making a chicken version that has been marinated over night in a marinade taken from the wonderful Meliz cooks, I’ve tweaked the method a little to adjust for my oven and achieve the best results possible.

Let’s get cooking…

Mix all of the ingredients together and marinade overnight or for a minimum of 2 hours

About 30 minutes before cooking, remove the marinated chicken from the fridge and soak the wooden skewers in water to prevent it from burning.

Using 3 skewers, thread each fillet horizontally onto the 3 skewers, pushing each fillet closely together but leaving a little room for it to cook

Place over an oven dish so that the skewers are resting on the dish and the chicken is not touching the bottom of the dish

Roast for 20 minutes at 180, remove from the oven, baste and turn over, roast for a further 20 minutes and repeat once more for a total cooking time of 60 minutes.

Remove from the oven and allow to rest

I served mine with oven fried potato chips, flat breads and tzatziki.

One of my husband’s absolute favourite meals is a good chicken burger. Since moving to London, one of the best burgers he has had is a southern fried style chicken burger from Borough market. However, the enforement of stay at home orders due to the Coronavirus has meant that we have not been able to eat out for a long time.

So I set about creating my own version of this burger. After a few tries I have finally created something that comes very close to the original burger.

Let’s get cooking…

Combine the ingredients for the yoghurt marinade and allow the chicken to marinade overnight for best results or minimum 1 hour. When you are ready to start cooking, mix together all of the ingredients for the flour dredge and toss each chicken fillets into the flour mixture. Ensure that flour coats the chicken thoroughly. Shallow fry until golden, 5-6 minutes per side.

This is best served with a chipotle mayo, lettuce, crisp onions on a toasted brioche roll.