Elly's Harissa Chicken

This is totally not my recipe at all, but one from the wonderful Nutmegs, Seven - a blog run by Elly McCausland.  It was designed to be cooked on a BBQ, and to be honest I think it would benefit from being so cooked (the yogurt marinade would work much, much better).  Nevertheless, not everyone has outside space and even if we did it's cold / wet most of the year, so there ought to be scope for doing this in the kitchen as I did.  Cooking this under the grill would probably be (a) nicer, (b) more sensible and (c) healthier.  My grill is shit so it went in a pan instead.

Also, whilst I have no doubt that this dish would be vastly improved by allowing the chicken to marinate overnight, I didn’t have that kind of time – it was a post-work supper.  Marinating time aside this is a remarkably quick and easy dish to make of an evening – so think of it as a simple supper.  There is that niggly hour between steps 1/2 and 3 – but if you could get them done in the morning before work you'd be good to go by the time you get home.

To the extent that I have departed from Elly's recipe – largely in terms of ingredients – it is due to not having stuff in.

Ingredients:

For the chicken:

300ml yoghurt
3 tsp rose harissa
½ tsp chilli flakes
1 tsp smoked paprika
3 cloves of garlic
2 tbsp olive oil
450g chicken breasts

For the tabbouleh:

200g bulgur wheat
½ cucumber
200g tomatoes
1 shallot
15g fresh mint
30g fresh parsley
1 lemon

Also:

2 peaches
1-2 tbsp Pomegranate molasses

 1. In a big bowl mix the yoghurt, harissa, chilli flakes, paprika, garlic (crushed) and olive oil.  I didn't have the lemon salt that Elly suggested so I used some smoked Maldon sea salt (a product I own simply as a result of not paying enough attention in Sainsbury's one time).  Slice the chicken breasts horizontally so that you end up with two 'steaks' of the same area but somewhat thinner – these will cook quicker and the surface area is increased so the marinade should mix better.  Douse the chicken in the marinade and stick this in the oven – ideally for an hour at least.  Pour yourself a drink and relax for an hour, you've earned it.

2. Actually, before pouring that drink, do one more thing: prep the bulgur wheat.  Place the wheat in a large heatproof bowl and pour boiling water over it to cover and then add about half a centimetre.  Set that aside for, again, about an hour.

3. To make the tabbouleh, peel, de-seed and chop the cucumber into little half centimetre cubes.  Chop the tomato into about the same size cubes.  Chop the shallot as finely as you possibly can.  Roughly chop the parsley and the mint.  Mix everything into the (now softened) bulgur wheat.  Season to taste with salt, a lug or two of olive oil and the juice from the lemon.  It needs to be quite sharp, so you'll probably need all the lemon juice, but start with half and add to suit your own tastes.

4. Slice the peaches around their equators and twist to separate them whole from the stone.  That knobbly bit inside, by the way, is what they make amaretto out of, not almonds.  Anyway, I digress.  Get the griddle pan on super-hot before brushing it with a little olive oil.  Don’t use an actual brush, the bristles will melt.  Instead, very, very carefully rub it lightly with a couple of pieces of kitchen towel that have been oil-dunked.  Places the peach halves cut-side down onto the griddle's ridges and cook for about 4-5 minutes before turning and doing the other side.  I had a spare fig in the fridge which joined out peachy friends quite happily.

5. At the same time, get a frying pan onto a medium heat as well.  This needs to be a non-stick pan.  Like really, really needs to be a non-stick pan.  It will get stuff stuck to it.  When it's hot, fish the chicken pieces out of the marinade and, leaving plenty of the marinade still in situ, place them carefully into the pan.  This will produce a lot of fizzing and spitting as the water in the yoghurt is separated out and the fat in the same melts out.  Cook this liquid off (to the extent that it's possible) and keep going until the meat browns on the bottom.  Then flip it over and give it the same treatment on the other side.

6. Allow the chicken to rest a while whilst you dish up.  Drizzle the pomegranate molasses over the peaches (and the meat, and the taboulleh, and really anything else you feel like – although bear in mind it's quite a strong, sharp taste).

 - GrubsterBoy -

Shakshuka

Shakshuka is not something I've ever heard of.  In fact, I don’t think I would have heard of it now had it not been for my friend's boss moaning about hers.  Apparently, she had made one, stuck a picture on Instagram, and them been disheartened that it looked unappealing. 

 

For the record, I checked out the picture, by the way, and thought it looked aces.  But, then again, it's basically eggs poached in a rich, spicy sauce – so what is there not to like?

 

It's very similar to Jamie's heuvos rancehros recipe – which I shall attempt again soon and enlighten you all with – but with a more Mediterranean / North African / Middle Eastern vibe.  It's a seriously scrummy brunch idea – there can be few greater treats than eggs and sauce on a lazy Sunday morning – but also works wonderfully as a supper treat.  Accompaniment-wise, it needs little more than a hunk of crusty bread, or some unleavened thing (as we did) to keep it happy – otherwise, it's a dish in itself.

 

This recipe is largely purloined from Yotam Ottolenghi, who seems to have forgone his usual style of listing 2,000 hard-to-source ingredients for otherwise simple dishes. 

 

Ingredients:

 

x4 free-range eggs (Go for top quality – I know it's expensive, but it's also worth it – the eggs have got to be the star of the show in this dish.)

½tsp cumin seeds
x2 small yellow onions (Or one large one, whatevs.)
x3 sweet peppers – yellow and red (I used my favourite things: the long, pointy peppers that I think taste amazeballs.  As they're a little insubstantial, I threw an extra one in for luck.)
x1 fresh red chilli
x3 sprigs of thyme
Small bunch of coriander
Small bunch of flat leaf parsley
2tsp muscovado sugar
x2 bay leaves
x6 ripe, good quality, tomatoes
Pinch of saffron

 

To serve:

Feta cheese
Chopped coriander

 

 

1. Slice the onions.  You'll need them ready for step 3.  Also, I recommend taking this opportunity to slice up the peppers into long, thin strips, finely chop the chillies, and chop up the tomatoes into big chunks.  Chop the parsley and coriander too.

 

 

2. Dry roast the cumin seeds over e medium-high heat in a large, flat skillet – you'll need one with a lid.  Give them one to two minutes, no more, and stop them if they start turning black.

 

3. Add some oil to the pan and chuck in the onions, dropping the heat a bit so that they don’t brown too much.

 

 

4. Once the onions have softened a bit, chuck in the peppers, chilli, parsley, coriander, bay leaves and sugar.  Keeping the heat high, cook until the peppers have softened and are starting to take on some colour.

 

 

5. Throw in the tomatoes and saffron.  Season well.

 

 

6. Keep it cooking for a bit, reducing the heat down so that toms collapse and leave you with a thick, unctuous sauce.  If needs be, add water from time to time – but it small quantities – to keep the sauce liquid.  Remember that you have to cook the eggs in this – so you want it like a tomato pasta sauce.

 

 

7. Once ready, turn the heat down so that the sauce is at barely a simmer.  Hollow out four little wells in the liquid, and (as quickly as you can, so that they cook all at the same time) crack each egg into its own well.  Put the lid on and leave for 8 minutes or so – lifting the lid at the end to check that they’re done.  What you want is for the white to be fully cooked, but the yolks still lovely and molten. 

 

 

8. Serve immediately – don’t waste any time, as these puppies will keep on cooking in that hot sauce.  Crumble feta over the top and sprinkle on some chopped coriander.  Dunk bread and enjoy.

 

 

 - GrubsterBoy -