Recent Posts
It's shallot season, and while my shallots continue to mature in the ground, you can pick up commercial ones at the supermarket or green grocer for a reasonable price at the moment.
A sweeter, more delicate flavour than onions, shallots caramelise well and cook relaitvely quickly.
They are a great match for chicken and the sweetness of a fortified wine beautifully complements them. So, it's no surprise that chicken with cognac and shallots is an absolute winner.
Chicken with cognac and shallots
1 tbsp olive oil
30g butter
1.8kg chicken pieces
2 tbsp cognac or brandy
8 french shallots, peeled
2 tbsp chicken stock
2 tbsp dry white wine
3 thyme sprigs
Heat the oil and half the butter in a large frying pan over med-high heat and brown the chicken for 6-8 min. Transfer to a large flameproof casserole dish with a tight fitting lid. Put the dish over low heat, sprinkle the cognac over the chicken and flame it. To do this, light a match and lower the flame onto the cognac until it lights then let the flame extinguish itself.
Melt the remaining butter in the frying pan over med-low heat and cook the shallots without burning for 5 minutes. Add the chicken stock and wine, increase the heat to high and boil, stirring for 30 seconds to deglaze the pan. Pour the contents of the pan over the chicken and add the thyme.
Cover the casserole tightly with foil and put the lid on. Cover again with foil over very low heat, barely simmering and cook for 45 minutes. Transfer the chicken pieces to a plate and keep warm. Increase the heat and boil until the juices thicken to a light coating consistency.
Spoon the juices over the chicken and serve with wilted spinach and mash potato.
For something a bit different at your next gathering, try putting together a platter with your own home made dukkah, some marinated olives, good olive oil and balsamic and a couple balls of your own yoghurt cheese.
Similar to a cream cheese or smooth ricotta, yoghurt cheese retains a slight tangy yoghurt flavour and is great spread on baguettes. For a slightly sweeter alternative, try is spread on slices of sourdough with a spread of blackberry jam over the top. Mmmmmmmm
Marinated yoghurt cheese balls
1.5kg greek style yoghurt
2 clean muslin squares, about 50cm square
2 fresh bay leaves
3 thyme sprigs
2 oregano springs
500ml olive oil
Put the yoghurt in a bowl with 2 teaspoons of salt and mix well. Put the muslin squares over one another and put the yoghurt mixture into the centre. Gather up the corners of the muslin, and tie together, suspended over a bowl, and leave to drain in the fridge for three days.
You might need to mess around a little bit to find a combination of things so that the yoghurt is truly suspended.
Once drained, the yoghurt will have the texture and consistency of ricotta cheese. Remove from the cloth and put into a ball. Roll tablespoons of the mixture into balls and put on a large tray. Cover and refrigerate for 3 hours or until firm.
Put the balls into a sterilised 1 litre glass jar. Add the bay leaves, thyme and oregano. Fill the jar with olive oil then seal and refrigerate for up to a week. Return to room temperature before serving.
Ahhhhh, Jo Seagar, you were treating my so well - but now, within the pages of your 'foolproof' recipes I have found a flaw.
I was delighted to read about your rum and raisin apple cake, and even more excited to try it out myself, but where you say cook for 40 minutes... well, I don't think that's quite correct. For you see, I cooked your cake for 40 minutes, at the desired temperature, in my oven which has only ever served me well, and when I inserted a skewer to test, your cake was still quite gooey... so, I kept your cake in there for a bit longer, and then a bit longer, and then a bit longer. And finally when I thought it could take no more, I pulled in out of the oven to cool overnight.
After visions of sugarplums dancing in my head, I awoke the next morning and decided to cut the cake, just to be sure it was done. But done it was not, and so, back into a slow oven for another 30 minutes it went.
Despite the excessive cooking time, this cake is a winner. The combination of sweet and soft cooked apple is beautifully complemented by the spice of cinnamon and rum and the occasional crunch of walnuts. Next time (and there will be a next time because it is such a delicious cake) I will cook it in a bunt tin so that the heat can penetrate through the middle of the cake as well.
Rum and Raisin Apple Cake
from Jo Seagar's The Cook School Recipes
1/2 cup rum (white or dark)
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
3/4 cup oil
2 teaspoons vanilla essence
2 1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
2 large Granny Smith apples, cored and cut into 1cm dice
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup raisins
Preheat your oven to 180 degrees C. Grease a 24cm bunt tin. You can use a spring form pan, but be prepared to cook for a lot longer than specified.
Simmer the rum in a small saucepan until it has reduced by half. Beat the sugar and eggs together and add the oil, vanilla and reduced rum. Mix in the dry ingredients, apple, walnuts and raisins. Scrape into the prepared tin and bake for approximately 40 minutes, until a skewer comes out clean and the cake has pulled away from the sides of the tin. Please note, that from my experience this cooking time is very rubbery here - test after 40 minutes, but be prepared to cook for double this time.
Cool in the tin for 5 minutes, then carefully turn out onto a wire rack and cool further. Serve with cream and a dusting of icing sugar.
This recipe takes the artichokes which are growing in your garden, and turns them into something you can use in an antipasto, salad, pasta or on a home made pizza
[ Click here to read more ]
The warm weather is well and truly upon us here in SA and that means light, fresh meals for dinner. Warm chicken salad is a year round favourite, but after last year's success of a Warm Lamb Salad I decided to make a variation on this to serve for a friend
[ Click here to read more ]
Back when alcohol was new and exciting, and cooking was only something I did when I could take over the kitchen from mum or dad, one of my good friends passed on this recipe for a delicious mousse. Cointreau was the liqueur of our choice (and still is when I'm in the right mood) and with chocolate it is an unbeatable combination
[ Click here to read more ]
After such success with Jo Seagar's Chardonnay Cake, I flicked through her book looking for more inspiration. To be perfectly honest, everything looked good, but this one stood out as something to try. A friend came over for dinner and that was that
[ Click here to read more ]
Birthdays come but once a year, and although there are those who wish they didn't have to add another number each time they came round, I don't think it matters how old you are, you still need to celebrate
[ Click here to read more ]
This will be my second attempt at making preserved lemons, after my first attempt a couple of years ago went mouldy. This is not an uncommon occurrence apparently, as a batch which my mum made for me just a little while ago did the same thing
[ Click here to read more ]
The perfect accompaniment for any meal, or a meal in itself, roast vegetable couscous can be made with whatever you have lying around in the fridge
[ Click here to read more ]
|
|
|
Comments (1)
Add Comments
Read More
Comment by Helen Randell
on Rum and Raisin apple cake
Rough Cooking