The idea for this came from a 'winter barbecue'; a summer al-fresco one seems so far away. So by making this in mid January, you can have all the flavours and ingredients you'd eat in abundance in the summer months while it's actually dark and cold outside. It's basically just some chicken and vegetables on skewers served with couscous, salad and pitta breads. The kebabs are made with a technique from Jamie Oliver, instead of cutting the chicken into pieces and then threading them onto skewers, you put 4 skewers through a chicken breast then cut down between them (see photo below, a picture tells 1000 words). These are so versatile, you can put any type of meat or vegetable and serve it with rice or
Ingredients -
1 to 1 1/2 chicken breasts per person
Vegetables such as cherry tomatoes, peppers, mushrooms, courgettes, onions, cut into sizeable chunks that can be threaded
Couscous (I use Ainsley Harriot's dried roasted vegetable couscous that you just add boiling water)
Brown Pitta Breads
Salad
2 skewers per person
1. Load up the skewers with the meat and vegetables, see photo for the easy way to thread the chicken.
2. Then cook or grill in a griddle pan over a medium to high heat until the chicken is cooked through.
3. Prepare the couscous to your packet's instructions and serve with your favourite salad.
4. When the chicken is cooked, remove the skewers and toast the pittas in the griddle pan for a few minutes on each side.
This is part 2 of the double desserts using the left over egg whites from the Crème Brûlées. These meringues are made from a recipe in Eric Lanlard's 'Home Bake' cookbook and look like the ones often seen piled up in the windows of patisseries. I don't think mine quite match up to that standard but they taste good, nonetheless! And people are always so impressed if you make meringues rather than buy them. I swirled the mixture with melted chocolate before to give a marbled look and also drizzled melted chocolate over the top. These would be delicious with some ice cream and fresh fruit like raspberries or strawberries. Or you could crush up to make an Eton-mess by mixing them with whipped cream and fresh fruit.
Also, if you haven't made meringues before then here are some tips:
- Make sure your bowl and whisk are scrupulously clean and free from any grease/traces of fat. I do this by scalding them in boiling water.
- Don't over or under whisk your egg whites. If they are under whisked and not 'peaky' enough, they haven't incorporated enough air so will sink. But if you over whisk, they will go flat too. So that's why folding in the last 1/2 of the sugar is good to avoid the over beating.
- Finish making the meringues quickly and put them in the oven almost straight away.
- When cooked and ready to lift off the baking sheets, use a flat palette knife to get right underneath and carefully prise up.
Ingredients -
4 egg whites
225g caster sugar
1. Preheat the oven to 100c and line 2 baking sheets.
2. In a large bowl, using an electric hand whisk, whisk the egg whites to soft peaks. Whisk half the sugar, 1 tbsp at a time into the mixture until stiff. Carefully fold in the rest of the sugar using a large metal spoon.
3. Carefully drop spoonfuls of the mixture spaced well apart, onto the paper. Bake in the oven for about 1 1/2 hours until dry and the meringues can be lifted easily from the paper. Leave to cool in the oven with the door ajar.
Extras:
Raspberry swirl meringues - Mix 2 teaspoons framboise, 2 -3 drops raspberry extract and a small knife point of food colouring paste. Mix well and then swirl through the finished meringue mixture just before baking.
Chocolate swirl - Melt 100g dark chocolate and swirl with a wooden spoon through the mixture just before baking and drizzle some on top.
Caramel - Use Golden caster sugar instead for a caramel taste.
The problem with starting a new blog is that I've got so many recipes & things I've cooked to suddenly add all at once. I want to blog them all right away so I'll have to go back to all the yummy things I've made this year.
This pavolva is one I made in the summer (seems so long gone now) and it's absolutely delicious and easy to make! It's from Nigella Summer and I remember watching her make it on tv once but found the recipe online.
It helps if you have a food mixer but you can do it by hand just as easily. (I'm lucky in that my boyfriend got a Kenwood k-mix food mixer for his birthday so I steal it all the time!)
I think this pavlova is so much more delicious than traditional 'white' pavlova, probably because I'm such a chocoholic! But raspberries and chocolate together are my favourite combination!
But anyway, here's the recipe -
For the Chocolate meringue base -
6 egg whites
300g caster sugar
3 tbsp cocoa powder, sieved
1 tsp balsamic or red wine vinegar (I used red wine to make it a bit sweeter)
50g dark chocolate, finely chopped (but leave some in chunks to melt)
For the topping -
500 ml double cream
500g raspberries
More dark chocolate to grate over the top
1. Preheat the oven to 150 degrees (Nigella says 180 but I found this too hot in a fan oven)
2.Line a tray with baking parchment (stick the corners down with some of the meringue mixture when made)
3.Beat the egg whites in a clean, grease-free bowl until satiny peaks form, then add the sugar a spoonful at a time until the meringue is stiff and shiny.
4. Sprinkle over the cocoa, vinegar and chopped chocolate and gently fold in until all incorporated.
5.Mound on to a baking sheet in a fat circle (approx 23cm in diameter) and smooth sides and top.
6.Place in the oven and cook for about 45minutes. I'm not great on timings but I just quickly check to see if it's done. It probably needs a bit longer than this actually, maybe an hour to completely cook, but my oven started to burn the top so I had to turn it down a bit more. - Nigella says 'when it's ready it should look crisp around the edges and sides but dry on top, when prodded you should feel the promise of squidginess beneath your fingers'.
7. Open the oven door and leave to cool completely in the oven.
For the topping -
1. When ready to serve, invert on to a flat-bottomed plate.
2. Whisk the cream until thick but soft and pile on top of the meringue and scatter over the raspberries. Then grate the chocolate over and serve!
4. When the chicken is cooked, remove the skewers and toast the pittas in the griddle pan for a few minutes on each side.
