Chicken and Maple Syrup

Those following me on instagram (ann.sutton.148) will have seen the regular postings of my lunchtime salads usually consisting of random fridge and greenhouse ingredients. Dressings are also becoming somewhat of a feature, blue cheese with celery, grapes and walnuts or horseradish and sour cream with left over steak being two of my favourites.

Todays salad was a selection of garden produce (lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes and green pepper) a handful of left over sugar snaps (from Peru I see sorry!) with chicken, bacon and a maple syrup dressing. I will say more about the dressing later it originated from an amazingly simple and delicious chicken recipe I cooked a couple of nights ago.

"Chinese Pot Roast Chook" was a recipe featured on John and Lisa's Weekend Kitchen last month I followed the recipe and here it is  https://www.itv.com/john-and-lisas-weekend-kitchen/articles/chinese-pot-roast-chook

My main reflections are that the combination of spices and spring onions inside the chicken together with the simple sauce of maple syrup and soy sauce give a depth of flavour which is reminiscent of Peking duck. The chicken cooked with the lid on and turned regularly makes it meltingly tender. I did take the lid off for the last 15 minutes to crisp it up a little. Pac choi and sugar snap peas lightly blanched then dressed with soy sauce and sesame oil worked well. The sauce creates itself so Thai rice was perfect to complete the dish.

The chicken was delicious cold too hence the salad. Maple syrup is not something I have used before but I reckoned with the aromatic chicken and some bacon it would work well and it did.

Balsamic and Maple Syrup Dressing

1 part balsamic vinegar ((I used raspberry)

1 part maple syrup

1 heaped teaspoon of Dijon mustard

1 splash of oil oil

Season to taste and mix well

 

Sea Bass with Japanese Flavours

A pack of frozen sea bass that had been lurking in the freezer for sometime and a shiny green courgette fresh from the garden were the starting point for this Japanese inspired meal.

Sliced shallots and a large spring onion were fried in vegetable oil before adding plenty of chopped garlic and ginger. Add the raw sliced courgette and some broccoli cut into small florets. Cook for a few minutes then add a small amount of chicken stock (it doesn't want to be too wet) simmer for 5 minutes while you prepare the fish. 

A couple of months ago I made some 7 spice powder for this chicken dish  https://annsfooddiary.blogspot.com/2020/05/yakitori-or-grilled-chicken-skewers.html and had plenty left so decided to add some spice to the sea bass.

Mix a generous amount of cornflour with two teaspoons of 7 spice powder remembering it has quite a kick. Coat the sea bass on both sides and fry in a hot pan skin side down for 2/3 minutes then turn over for a couple more. 

Turn off the heat and while the fish is resting add some teriyaki or similar sauce to the vegetables (I used a mix of honey, soy sauce, rice wine plus a splash of sesame oil)

You can buy 7 spice seasoning ready prepared in the herb and spice section of most supermarkets.

Its Courgette Time

It is quite possible that this food diary entry will divide the crowd as courgettes do seem to be a love them or hate them thing.

Green courgettes are certainly the most popular although there are many different varieties, shapes and colours. Just a few plants will give you a steady crop throughout mid summer and into early autumn.

My recipe for stuffed courgette originates from my childhood when courgettes were far too exotic for us but instead it was the big watery beast that is a marrow. What made the marrow special (or even edible) then was the stuffing of peppery sausage meat, sage and onion and my recipe doesn't deviate far from that mix. It is also always served with frozen peas.

These round courgettes seed come from near Barcelona and seem perfectly at home in our climate and soil. On the face of is Rocalba seed seems expensive but the bag is large, the quality good and the range more interesting than many traditional variety's. My vegetable on the right bears a pretty good resemblance to the packet picture.

For preparing and baking the courgette I followed this recipe https://www.greatbritishchefs.com/recipes/stuffed-provencal-courgette-recipe while the courgette was baking I fried diced onion and garlic in a little olive oil with chopped sage and thyme. I then added a generous portion of sausage meat which came ready seasoned with nutmeg and black pepper. For slightly more bulk I added some diced green courgette.

After 30 minutes in the oven the courgette was cooked through and still holding its shape. Fill with the sausage stuffing letting some fall into the cooking dish to flavour the sauce. There is no need to add liquid as the vegetable creates its own. I did however add half a pod of my favourite the chicken https://www.knorr.com/uk/knorr-products/stock-pots.html

Pop back into the oven for about 40 minutes I left the lid on the casserole dish as that way the "sauce" is generated. 

It is extremely hot once cooked so allow to stand for a few minutes while you cook the peas. I literally just bring them to the boil then serve.