Chicken and Cider Hotpot

This wonderful recipe came from my Sainsbury 2014 Calendar. There are a couple of things that I would do differently with this recipe. First, I should have browned my chicken a little longer, second I would use 2 apples instead of one and third I would use boneless, skinless chicken breasts. Other than that, the recipe is pretty easy and it all goes in one pot. The 3rd section of the recipe does not say to stir the pot, but I found after about 10 minutes it was sticking so I stirred mine. I should have waited until the end to add the bacon, but I followed the recipe. I used Hornsby's Hard Cider (the dry version), but Stella would work if you can get it. Just make sure that whatever cider you do use is a dry one. Here is the recipe as printed.

Chicken, Bacon, Leek and Cider Hotpot

1 Tbsp. olive oil
8 chicken thighs
150g smoked bacon lardons
1 onion, finely chopped
1 leek, sliced thickly
4 Tbsp. plain flour
250ml dry cider
500ml chicken stock
1 red apple, peeled, cored and diced
600g baby potatoes, quartered
28g flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped
100ml crème fraiche

Heat oil in large, shallow ovenproof casserole. Place chicken thighs seasoned with salt and pepper, skin side down into dish and cook 3-4 minutes, until sin is crisp and golden. Turn over and cook for 2 minutes more. Remove and place to the side.
Tip bacon into pan and cook for 5 minutes until crisp, remove and place to the side. Stir in onion and leek and cook 5 minutes until tender. Stir in flour, cook 1 minute then pour in cider and stock.
Bring to gentle simmer and cook 3 minutes before stirring in apple, potatoes and 1 Tbsp. parsley. Top with chicken thighs and scatter with bacon. Season with salt and pepper, cover and cook 30 minutes over medium heat, until chicken is tender.
Stir through crème fraiche. Heat through 1 minute and top with remaining parsley. Serve.

Herby Chicken and Butter Bean Soup

I came across this recipe in the February 2014 edition of BBC Good Food. I made a few changes to the recipe, but I'm sure it's pretty close to the original. I know I complained some about how hard it was finding ingredients for my recipes while in England, but the same thing happens here. When I went to my local Price Chopper, there were no butter beans! If you need black beans, pinto beans, baked beans or pork and beans, then Price Chopper is the place to shop. I ended up at Hy-Vee where they actually carry butter beans and I was able to make the soup. This is a good soup, especially when the weather is so cold. Serve it up with a nice green salad and some warm bread.

Herby Chicken & Butter Bean Soup

4 chicken thighs
1.5 liters chicken stock
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 onion, chopped
6 carrots, chopped
3-4 sprigs each rosemary, sage and thyme, leaves picked and chopped
2 tsp. each ground cumin and coriander
1 tsp. turmeric
1/2 tsp. anise seeds
400g can butter beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup frozen peas, thawed

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Sprinkle both sides of chicken thighs with salt and pepper, place on baking sheet and bake for 45 minutes. When the chicken is cooked, remove meat from bones and shred.
Meanwhile, heat oil in large sauce pan. Add onion and cook for 10 minutes until starting to carmelize. Add carrots, herbs and spices and stir for 2 minutes to toast the spices. Add the stock, shredded chicken and butter beans, cook, covered for 30 minutes. Using an immersion blender and blitz the soup, leaving partly chunky. Add thawed peas, heat through and serve.

Chicken Scallopine with Lemon Sauce

My friend Alicia sent me this recipe and it is so good. I prepared it last week to rave reviews! I used 2 chicken breasts for my recipe since I was cooking for two and served it on top of a wonderful lemon rice. I flattened my chicken as much as possible without the correct tools, but the flatter the better. That way you will get an even and quicker cook on the breast. Thanks for the recipe Alicia!


Chicken Scallopine with Lemon Sauce 

4 portions of Veal, Chicken, Pork or Turkey
 2 eggs
2 T milk
 1 t salt
 1 t pepper
flour
½ C white wine
 2 C chicken stock
 1/3 C olive oil
 1/3 C vegetable oil
6 T butter
 1 lemon thinly sliced
1 juice of lemon
 2 T parsley  

Whisk eggs, milk, salt & pepper. 
Heat oils. 
Dredge scallopine in flour, dip in egg mix, pan fry, brown evenly, drain on paper towel.  
Remove pan from heat, discard oil, wipe out pan. 
Add half of butter, melt. 
Add lemon slices, cook until golden, remove. 
Add remaining butter, wine & lemon juice, bring to vigorous boil, syrupy. 
Add stock, boil, reduce by half, about 5 minutes. 
Add scallopine, heat thru & serve, sprinkle with parsley. 

Nando's Chicken Restaurant - Leeds

Nando's is somewhat of a fast food hybrid. We walked by this place numerous time during our first few days here and they always seemed busy. We stopped in on our first Saturday and put our name on the list. We had to wait about 15 minutes for our table. The guy who sat us and gave us our menus asked if it was our first time in. When we said yes, he explained the menu and told us we just go up to the window to order and they bring the food when it is ready. The chicken is marinated in a peri-peri sauce and then it's flame grilled. You choose the heat of the sauce that you want. He then brought us 3 wings with the medium sauce, on the house, to give us a reference point as to how hot we would like it.

 

I ordered the chicken breast pitta with one side (spicy rice)7pounds30p and Dan ordered the skin on boneless breast with chips and a salad, 10 pounds 25p. We loved it! The food was fresh, the service was great and the chicken was perfectly cooked. We enjoyed it so much that we went back the following night and had dinner.

 

 

This time around we ordered a full platter for two people. You choose 4 sides, we went with rice, salad, coleslaw and peas. The meal is 19 pounds 85p. We enjoyed it all, especially the peas with mint! They serve soft drinks, beer and wine. Dan and I each ordered beers, me a Sagres and Dan a Brahma.

 

 

This location is on Briggate, they have another one just up the street in Trinity Leeds. We will be back again and again... www.nandos.co.uk