Lemon and herbs roast chicken

This is what a real, lemon and herbs, juicy, tasty roast chicken looks like.

Simple as it is, I coud not help but taking some photos of this beauty as it went out from the oven and share them here. I had not planned a blog post at all. I was just in the middle of a lazy Sunday roast at home, but could not stop myself from taking the camera and improvise a shooting before we ate it with a large, green leafy salad.

Real food is made of this. Simple, unexpected pleasures popping up from the ordinary. The sharp citric juice notes of a couple of lemons and the delicate aroma of rosemary and thyme did wonders for the otherwise bland meat of a whole chicken.

 

I know, you can hardly call this a recipe. But it was so, so good I just wanted to have it here. And share the joy of enjoying this little wonder in the middle of a cold winter day. Easy, honest homemade food full of flavour with just a few ingredients. How could anyone resist this?

Lemon and herbs roast chicken
Ingredients (4-5 people)
1 whole chicken (1.5 kg)
2 medium lemons
2-3  sprigs rosemary
1 sprig thyme
Olive Oil
Salt



Preheat oven at 190º/170º Fan
Put a teaspoon of oil in a roasting pan and spread it to coat the pan. Put the chick on top of it, with the breast side touching the base of the pan. Add some olive oil on top of the chicken (a couple of tablespoons), salt, and the sprigs of rosemary and thyme and put in the oven for 45 minutes.
Take the pan out of the oven, turn the chicken arround so that the breast are now upwards, coat with the juices from the pan, and add the juice of 1 lemon. Cut the other lemon in quarters lenghtwise and add to the pan. I usually put one in the cavity, but this is optional. Add a bit of salt, and put again into the oven for another 45 minutes. Check from time to time and in case the chicken is getting too brown, cover with foil.
Once cooked, remove from the oven and leave to rest for 10 minutes before carving and serving with a green salad.

(For cooking time, add 20 minutes per 500 grams, plus 20 more minutes)

Light moussaka

Even before I got familiar with the expression "comfort food" I already knew it existed.

Not the expression itself, but the feeling of food that automatically warms you up, food that makes you feel good when you first taste it, food that can solve almost, almost any problem, present or future; Food that will warm your body and soul at once.

In my personal comfort food category there are quite many things, as to get into that category all they need is just to put a smile in my face.

In this category there is always a place for moussaka.

What I have done in today's recipe is just a leaner, cleaner version of the traditional one, but still with all its comforting filling –and taste! So, I have significantly reduced the fat by substituting beef for chicken and turkey, and I have changed béchamel by a sauce made with yogurt. Although you might think that it does not sounds appealing at all, believe me: you should give it a chance. Even as light and reduced in fat, this version is still one of those dishes that will cheer your stomach every time.

 It will be nice as prepared, but will get into perfection overnight. It  freezes wonderfully (with the only precaution of freezing it without the yogurt sauce). You can double the amount and freeze one moussaka without the yogurt sauce. When you want to have it, add the sauce and re-heat as needed.

Just one tip: as you will need some time for the yogurt to release the serum you have to do this step at least a few hours earlier. Best if you leave it running down overnight in the fridge and prepare directly the following morning.

Then, just prepare to open your comfort food repertoire to a clean take on the traditional moussaka.

Light moussaka
Ingredients (4 to 6 people)

250 grams plain non-fat yogurt
500 grams ground turkey (or chicken or mix of both)
1 onion
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (1/2 if you are not too fond of spice)
1 teaspoon coarse salt, plus more for the aubergines
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 can (400 grams) chopped peeled tomatoes
1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano (or 1 teaspoon dried oregano)
2 medium aubergines (about 500 grams)
50 grams grated Parmesan cheese
1 large egg plus 1 large egg white
Olive-oil cooking spray

Directions

Drain the yogurt in a cheesecloth-lined sieve until thickened, (2 hours or overnight). Place the turkey in a medium saucepan over medium heat; cook until browned, about 6 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to a medium bowl. Add onion, garlic, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg, and pepper to the saucepan; cook until onion is translucent, about 10 minutes. Return turkey to saucepan with tomatoes and oregano. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to medium low; simmer until sauce has thickened, about 1 hour. Remove from heat; set aside.
Preheat your grill. While the stuffing cooks, cut the aubergines into slices, longitudinally. Sprinkle with salt on both sides. Place in a colander over a bowl; let stand to drain. Discard liquid; rinse each slice under cold running water to remove all salt and juice (this is the classic way, as they say aubergines will be bitter unless you do this. However, in my experience, you can perfectly live skipping this step, so, if you do not have the time, just skip it altogether without fear of any catastrophe).  Dry the slices on  paper towels. Lay the dry slices on a clean baking sheet; coat with olive-oil spray; grill until browned, about 2 minutes. Turn; coat with olive-oil spray; grill again until browned, about 2 minutes more. Repeat until all aubergine slices have been grilled; then, set them aside.
Place the drained yogurt in a small bowl. Add parmesan and the eggs. Whisk together briskly with a fork and set aside.
Preheat the oven to 180ºC degrees. Then, assemble the moussaka: Place a layer of aubergine on the bottom of an 20 cm by 20 cm baking pan. Cover with half the turkey sauce. Place another aubergine layer, then the remaining turkey sauce. Add a final aubergine layer; cover with the reserved yogurt mixture. Bake until the mixture is bubbling and the top starts to brown, (about 30 minutes). Transfer to a heat-proof surface; let sit until the moussaka cools slightly and firms, about 10 minutes. Cut into squares; serve.

Almond chicken soup

It is my belief that a good bowl of soup can fix almost, almost anything. It does not even need to be a hot soup in the middle of a flu or in a cold night after a horrible day. Even in summer, I love a cold soup, or a liquid custard for dessert.

I guess my love for soup will be an advantage when I become a venerable old lady with no teeth. Until then, I love soups in all their forms and I never get tired of making soups and custards. The secret, in all cases, is a good stock as base, either beef, chicken or vegetables. I usually prepare my own stock in quantity and freeze to go using it as required. But now you can find a full range of quite good quality commercial stock types so you can prepare soup in a moment. Another advantage of  this recipe is that everything is cooked in the same pot, so if you have the stock ready,  in just 15 minutes you'll have your soup on the table, and cleaning the kitchen will not take longer than that.

Almond Chicken Soup

1/2 onion
50 grams of raw almonds, chopped or powdered
1 clove of garlic
Fresh parsley leaves
400 grams chicken breast into cubes
1 liter of chicken broth
A few sprigs of thyme or herbs to taste
Oil

Preparation

In a heavy bottomed pan, put a few drops of oil and sautée the onion over medium heat. Add a few tablespoons of water to finish cooking onion, until it is transparent. While onion is cooking (it takes about 5-7 minutes), mash in a mortar the almonds with diced garlic and parsley until you have a paste. If necessary, you can add a tablespoon of the broth to bind it.

Once the onion is cooked,  add the crushed mortar and fry lightly. Add chicken cut in dices of similar size and fry lightly. Do not worry: cook just the outside, the inside will cook later. Add broth and thyme sprig or herbs to taste. Bring to a boil, lower heat to medium and cook about 15 minutes, or until chicken is cooked thoroughly.

Vietnamese chicken salad

A long, long time ago, I saw a Vietnamese salad at citrus & candy blog, and I loved all of it. Above all, the part that advises adjusting the proportions of meat and vegetables to taste, and changing the ingredients, because that is the funniest part in the kitchen. I have not made too many changes, but a few. I do not use fish sauce, so I adjusted the marinade and seasoning to my taste. And I used mint instead of coriander, and fresh hazelnuts instead of roasted peanuts. So maybe it is not a Vietnamese salad, after all, but I liked the name so much that I wanted to keep it, anyway. 

What is certain is that I am a skeptic with marinades. Better said: I was a skeptic. Probably I had not found one to my taste. In this case, with strong flavors such as soy sauce, garlic and ginger in it and leaving chicken inside it overnight, I can assure that the naturally bland chicken breast was tasty, absolutely tasty.

Anyway, like any good salad, it admits lots of variations. Even just the way I prepared it, it is a very tasty and unique dish with an exotic note that you cannot miss.

Vietnamese chicken salad

Ingredients (for 4 servings)


For the chicken marinade
4 chicken breasts, clean and cut in fillets of similar size
2 tablespoons of water

1 tablespoon soy sauce (I prefer low salt)
1 tablespoon of grated fresh ginger 

3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons oil (optional: can be replaced with more water if necessary to clarify the soy sauce)
2 teaspoons sugar

For the dressing

2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons water

1 tablespoon lime juice
1 tablespoon sugar
2 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon chopped fresh ginger
1-2 chilies, clean seed, and chopped


For the salad
1/2 Chinese cabbage, cleaned and chopped leaves into strips
1 carrot, chopped
3 shallots, julienned
12-15 raw hazelnuts
2 shallots, julienned, sauteed
2 cloves garlic, chopped and sauteed
1 large red chilli, finely chopped
Mint leaves (or Vietnamese coriander, which I obviously was not able to find)

Directions
Place the chicken in a zipping bag. Then mix the marinade ingredients and pour over chicken breasts. Keep in refrigerator until ready to use (at least half an hour, preferably overnight). The chicken can be grilled, fried or steamed, and then crumble into strips or pieces. Add a couple teaspoons of the marinade to prevent drying. I grilled it without oil, just before using it.
Mix the dresing ingredients in a bowl and emulsify well with hand mixer until making a smooth sauce. Reserve.
In a large bowl, put the vegetables and the mint leaves. Add the chicken and season to taste. Complete with shallots, garlic, hazelnuts, chilli and mint, and serve immediately accompanied by more seasoning.