Quick roast chicken with mustard and wine sauce

I was hungry, but determined to have a run before dinner last night so I was looking for something I could bung in the oven and forget until I got home. This Convenient Kitchen easy roast chicken dish fit the bill perfectly (although I had to cheat a tiny little bit)…

Roast chicken ingredients.

The great thing about this dish is that you can do the steps simultaneously so, while I browned my chicken on both sides in olive oil and butter, I trimmed my gorgeous baby carrots (more of those please C-Kitch), and peeled the spuds, shallots and garlic. I used my roasting pan (instead of a frying pan) to brown the chicken so it captured all of those lovely juices for the gravy.

Browning the chicken.

And here comes the cheat… The recipe recommended putting the carrots into the oven 10 minutes after the other ingredients but I had my running shoes on and was raring to go. So, when I par-cooked my potatoes (for four minutes in my microwave steamer) I also par-cooked my carrots (for three minutes). Just enough to soften the outer very slightly.

Let the roasting commence.

Back from my run (I never said it was going to be a long one) about two-thirds of the way through the cooking I turned the chicken and gave everything else a good shake so it got nice and brown and didn’t stick to the bottom of the pan.

Giving everything a shake up.

Another 10 minutes or so and everything was looking seriously golden and delicious. I’m usually from the crunchy (in a good way) school of roasting but I really roasts other people cook when the veggies are softer and just have one or two crunchy edges. I’ve just never been able to achieve that myself, possibly because I tend to get distracted and leave everything in the oven until the very last minute. This recipe produces juicy soft potatoes, carrots and onions.

Roasted and ready to plate up.

After removing everything from the pan except a couple of garlic cloves I used white wine to deglaze the pan (an old Ready, Steady, Cook expression) using a wooden spoon to prise up all the yummy, sticky bits. Once everything was incorporating nicely I added chicken stock and Dijon mustard and got it bubbling at a healthy pace for a couple of minutes to reduce. I’ll confess to using the smallest sprinkle of gravy powder to thicken things up, but that is optional and purely according to taste.

Homemade gravy.

All that remained was to pop this on the plate and devour. And I mean devour. This roast recipe is exquisite. I’m not sure if the secret is in the lemon juice, the Dijon mustard or the tarragon or all three, but the result is a taste sensation!!!

Easy roast chicken with mustard and wine sauce.

To enjoy your own adventures in The Convenient Kitchen visit http://www.TheConvenientKitchen.com.au

Chorizo frittata with mixed salad

This is a simple recipe, but takes a little bit of time to prepare because there are a few steps involved. The result, a light, tasty meal perfect for the transition into Spring salad season.

Frittata ingredients.

First up I browned the chorizo sausages on all sides, allowing them to cook almost all the way through.

Frying the chorizo.

After removing the sausages from the pan I softened the onion for a few minutes before adding the garlic and the grated sweet potato. The next time I cook this one I might actually have a go at wringing some liquid out the sweet potato using kitchen towel before I add it to the pan.

Softening the onion, garlic and sweet potato.

Once the vegetables were softened I removed them from the pan, into a large glass bowl, then added the torn spinach while the mixture was still hot, stirring thoroughly to allow the greens to wilt.

Wilting the spinach.

After stirring through the now-sliced sausages, I returned the vegetable mix to the pan and covered it with the beaten eggs. I added an extra egg to make sure the omelette mixture covered the filling thoroughly, swirling it around the pan to spread it evenly.

Frittata after grilling.

After allowing the frittata to cook almost all the way through I added a sprinkle of tasty grated cheese to the top and popped it under the grill for a couple of minutes so that the cheese when lovely and golden and the top of the frittata had a chance to cook.

Chorizo and sweet potato frittata.

A dash of olive oil and lemon on the mixed leaf salad and a slice of frittata and Tuesday night’s dinner was ready to go. Very tasty.

To create your own Spring taste sensations visit http://www.TheConvenientKitchen.com.au

Porterhouse with roasted fennel, baby carrots & quinoa

Ok, so I’ve had my first culinary malfunction in The Convenient Kitchen. It wasn’t catastrophic but it was a reminder to really think about what I’m doing rather than just blindly following the recipe.

Today's ingredients.

The quality of the produce for this dish was beautiful as always. The porterhouse steaks were lean and bursting with freshness and I loved the whole baby carrots.

Vegetables and quinoa ready to bake.

Where I tripped up was with the quinoa. We sent a tweet and Facebook post out during the week recommending that the recommended amount of oil used be reduced and the water quantity increased to compensate. I followed that instruction but where I fell down was that having drizzled the oil and water over the dish I didn’t notice that not all the quinoa grains were surrounded by liquid. Perhaps I should have used a smaller roasting pan, perhaps I should have given the whole lot a good stir after putting the ingredients in the pan… As you can see from the picture below, there was some burning where the dry grains failed to absorb and expand and simply burnt to the bottom of the pan.

Roasted vegetables.

All was not lost. I caught the burning before it got too serious and managed to scrape the grains off the bottom of the pan. They actually added quite a cool crunch to the dish. The other vegetables were cooked through and beautifully tender and the quinoa that did cook (which tended to be the quinoa that I’d sprinkled over the vegetables rather than directly on the bottom of the pan) was also cooked perfectly. It hadn’t even occurred to me that it would be possible to cook quinoa in a roasting tin so this recipe was a great source of inspiration and I’m determined to try it again – and perfect it – soon.

Barbecuing the steak.

The Porterhouse cooked up a treat on the barbecue and I kept it nice and medium and tender.

Porterhouse with roasted fennel, baby carrots & quinoa.

The finished dish actually didn’t look or taste half bad (actually it tasted pretty darn good). Lesson learned, a new cooking method for quinoa in my repertoires and a determination to do this one better the next time around.

To find your own way in The Convenient Kitchen visit http://www.TheConvenientKitchen.com.au

Easy chicken, basil and carrot pilaf

I don’t make any secret of the fact that I’m the queen of the rice cooker. The prospect of cooking rice by the absorption method fills me with almost as much trepidation as a visit to the dentist (well, more, if I’m totally honest)! So, it was as much as I could do not to reach for the pack of pre-cooked basmati with this recipe. Steeling myself I committed to cooking this pilaf from scratch and I feel like I’ve earned a cooking stripe that has long been missing from my chef’s uniform as a result!

Chicken, basil and carrot pilaf ingredients.

Such simple ingredients but the makings of some sensational flavours with the combinations of raisins and carrots, peas and lemon, leak and basil.

Browning the chicken after sweating the leak and garlic.

Once the leak and garlic had a chance to sweat, it was time to add the chicken and lemon zest, stirring it constantly until the meat was opaque all over.

Coating the rice grains.

Next came the coating of the rice grains with some continuous stirring to prevent them from sticking and to make sure each grain had a chance to absorb the flavours already building in the saucepan.

Adding the carrot, peas and liquids.

Rice coated, I added the grated carrot, peas and raisins, followed closely by chicken stock and the juice of half a lemon. After bringing the pan to the boil I gave it one last stir (terrified that the grains would stick to the bottom of the pan), then reduced the temperature to a gentle simmer and covered the pan.

How the rice looks after simmering for 12 minutes.

After 12 minutes the rice grains looked fluffy and light. Resisting the urge to check the bottom of the pan for burnt, stodgy basmati, I removed the pan from the heat and left it, covered, for another 10 minutes.

Chicken, basil and carrot pilaf.

Lo and behold! Perfectly cooked basmati rice. Light, fluffy and bursting with contrasting flavours and textures. The raisins had plumped up beautifully during the cooking process, the flavour of the carrot and the lemon and the basil and the leak all brought something to the dish. I also added a few almond slivers – a touch I’d highly recommend because it adds a nice crunch to the dish.

Success. Who knew following a recipe would yield such results?

To challenge your own culinary demons in The Convenient Kitchen visit http://www.theconvenientkitchen.com.au 

Honey & soy baked barramundi with rice and bok choy

Blogging while I’m eating… probably not great for the waistline but one way to ride the wave of inspiration – this dish was a triumph! Not only is it lightning-quick to prepare (especially if you’ve taken the tip and frozen rice portions for future use) but it’s awesomely tasty. Looking for a umami hit? Then this is the dish for you…

Star players: baked honey & sesame marinated Barramundi.

First step is to marinate the fish. The longest part of this recipe process is preparing the marinate and it really doesn’t take long. Just some soy, honey, sesame oil, chopped garlic and ginger (and some improvised chopped fresh chilli because I love a spicy kick). You only need to marinate the fish for a couple of minutes because you cook it in the marinate as well…

Marinating the Barramundi fillets.

There’s a bit of an art to creating the tin foil parcels so I’ve done some step by step photos, below. First place two generous pieces of tin foil in a baking tray side by side, turning up each edge so that they create little wells.

Step 1 of creating your Barramundi parcels.

Next, place one piece of fish in each tin foil ‘well’.

Step 2 of creating your fish parcels.

Next, divide the liquid and marinate between the two wells, making sure to keep everything within the tin foil – no overflows.

Step 3 of creating your Barramundi parcels.

To seal your parcels, first pull up the shorter sides (where the liquid is most likely to leak, then take the two longer ‘sleeves’ and use them to pinch together the two shorter sides. Then pinch the tin foil together gently – so that it doesn’t tear and let the liquid evaporate during cooking – but firmly so that there aren’t any gaps through which the liquid can evaporate. They should look like the below (or more tidy if you’re neater than I am ).

Barramundi parcels ready.

A quick twenty minutes on a high heat in the oven, bok choy steamed during the last 10 minutes and this is the result. Have a dig around in your larder and see if you’ve got any sesame seeds because they make a nice tasty garnish. I also stirred a little Katchap Manis through my brown rice for added flavour although it probably wasn’t necessary because there was plenty of marinate left in my parcels for me to pour over my finished dish.

Baked honey & soy Barramundi, steamed bok choy & rice.

Garnish with lemon and eat. Deeeeeee-lish!

Enjoy your own adventures in The Convenient Kitchen… visit http://www.TheConvenientKitchen.com.au

Oven-baked lamb and leek sausage and tomato risotto

I pretty much love everything The Convenient Kitchen dishes up but if I had to pick a favourite so far, this would be it. What makes it so good? Read on…

Sausage and risotto starring ingredients.

If you’ve been following this blog you’ll know that my risotto repertoire has has expanded significantly since I began my Convenient Kitchen odyssey. Where this dish has it over on the others is that it’s ‘set and forget’. There’s no hovering over a hot risotto pan coaxing the arborio rice to al dente perfection. With this recipe, once you’ve gone through the initial set-up, the best thing you can do for it is leave it alone. What more could you ask for in a risotto?

Browning the sausages.

The first step is to brown the plump, juicy lamb and leek sausages. I have to say they were fabulous specimens - plump, juicy and you could see the herbs in the sausage meat.

Toasting the rice.

The next step is to soften the vegetables and toast the arborio rice grains in olive oil, stirring continuously. Whatever you do, don’t leave the celery out of this dish because it’s the absolute highlight. For some reason it just makes the flavour and texture of the finished recipe spectacular.

All in.

After reducing some white wine in the vegetable/rice mix for a couple of minutes you put the chopped tomatoes, stock and sausages (which you’ve sliced into bite-sized pieces) into the casserole dish, cover and cook. Don’t feel that you have to keep checking on it, just keep the lid on and let the liquids do their magic.

Baking complete.

After about 25 minutes all the liquid is absorbed, the rice is wonderfully crusty around the edges. All that remains is to stir through some chopped flat leaf parsley and sprinkle with freshly grated parmesan cheese. Perfection!

Oven-baked lamb and leek sausage and tomato risotto.

I think one of the reasons I loved this dish is because it reminds me of my Mum’s tomato rice, one of my all-time favourite meals. She lives in France so I don’t get many opportunities to enjoy it and, until now, I’ve found it damn hard to replicate.

I loved this one so much that I cooked it a second time last week, leaving out the sausages and including some diced carrot. My dream vegetarian meal! On that occasion I added some crushed garlic at the vegetable softening stage. Another top tip is to chop up the heel of your parmesan cheese and drop it into the mix when you add the liquids. I saw it done on an Italian cooking show once and it adds tremendous depth of flavour.