Greek-style chicken

This is a simple, quick, tasty recipe for a midweek dinner or weekend lunch. It's based on a recipe for Greek grilled chicken from Little Spice Jar, except I've baked instead of grilled, and added a few olives for more Greek flavour. I served this with polenta (note to self: never make polenta ever again!), and in winter the chicken is good with something absorbent (mashed potato, couscous) because the marinade makes a sauce, but for the summer I would serve this with salad or vegetables. This recipe serves two people.

Ingredients

• 2 large chicken breasts
• 1 large (or two small) lemons
• 6 to 10 pitted green olives
• 1 tablespoon of minced garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon of dried rosemary
• 1/2 teaspoon of dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon of dried thyme
• 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
• 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
• 3 tablespoons of olive oil

Method

1. Make the marinade (don't worry, it will only need half an hour of marinading!): mix everything except the chicken, lemon and olives in a large-ish bowl.
2. Add the lemon juice to the marinade, mix well, and then put in the chicken. Leave to steep for half an hour.
3. Heat the oven to 200°C.
4. Slice the remains of the lemon, and slice the olives.
5. Once the marinading is done, put the chicken, with its marinade, into a small casserole dish, so that the chicken breasts sit together cosily. Scatter over the olive slices, and lay the slices of lemon over the chicken.
6. Bake for 35 minutes. When it's done, test by cutting open the thickest part of each breast to ensure it's not pink inside. 
7. Discard the lemon slices, slice the chicken, and serve.

Faux piri-piri chicken

This is my own version of the famous Nando's piri-piri chicken, which is easy, quick, tasty, and fairly healthy too. I served the chicken in pitta breads with lettuce, tomato and mayo, and then cold in sandwiches the next day, but it would also do well as a main with vegetables or rice. I was lucky enough to attend a wedding in Portugal, where I acquired a little bottle of piri-piri sauce (which resembles Tabasco), but if you don't have any, this dish will work just as well.

Ingredients

• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
• 1 red pepper
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 2 lemons
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 1 tablespoon of tomato purée
• 1 tablespoon of white vermouth
• 1/4 teaspoon of turmeric powder
• 2 teaspoons of smoked hot paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 1 teaspoon of black pepper
• A few drops of piri-piri sauce (if you have it)

Method

1. Make the marinade: take a bowl large enough for all the chicken, and in it mix the oil, tomato purée, vermouth, spices, salt and pepper. Add a few drops of piri-piri sauce if you have it.
2. Crush the garlic and mix this with the rest of the marinade.
3. Cut the lemons in half, and squeeze the juice of three halves into the marinade. If you're inattentive like me, spend the next ten minutes fishing lemon seeds out of the mix. Reserve the remaining half lemon for later.
4. Cut the pepper into small dice and add these to the marinade.
5. Now for the chicken. Cut each breast in half across the width, and add the six pieces to the marinade. Get your hands in there and mix to make sure the meat is well covered. Then set aside for at least half an hour, or overnight in the fridge.
6. When you're ready to eat, heat the oven to 200°C.
7. Take a lasagne dish or large casserole dish and put the chicken into it, with its marinade. Make sure the chicken pieces are in an even layer, but not too spread out. Similarly, make sure the pieces of pepper are close to the chicken, so that they add their juice to the meat while cooking, and also don't burn.
8. Slice the remaining half lemon thinly, and then cut each slice in half. Lay these slices over the chicken.
9. Bake in the oven for 35 minutes. At the end of that time it will smell fantastic, and look slightly blackened in places. The lemon will be tangy and chewy, and the chicken tender and full of flavour. 
10. Slice the chicken pieces to serve, and season with some more piri-piri sauce if you like. Enjoy!

Chicken with mustard and creme fraiche

This is one of my favourites - so easy and so tasty. I often replace the chicken with turkey steaks, and it's just as good. Serve with baby spinach or salad. The recipe comes from Nigel Slater, writing in the Observer back in May last year. I've made it four or five times since then!

Ingredients

• 4 chicken thighs or turkey steaks
• 250ml of creme fraiche
• 2 or 3 heaped tablespoons of grainy mustard
• 2 garlic cloves
• 150g of pancetta or lardons
• 3 or 4 small sprigs of thyme

Method

1. Set the oven to 200°C or gas mark 6.
2. Put the chicken or turkey in an oven-proof dish.
3. Put the creme fraiche into a bowl, and stir in the mustard.
4. Crush the garlic and add to the creme fraiche mixture.
5. Pull the thyme leaves off the stalks and add them to the creme fraiche mixture.
6. Cut the pancetta into short little strips (if you're using lardons, they'll probably be chopped already).
7. Fry the pancetta or lardons in a non-stick pan until the fat is golden.
8. Mix the pancetta or lardons with the creme fraiche sauce, then pour it over the chicken or turkey.
9. Bake in the oven for 35 minutes until the sauce is bubbling.
10. Throughout this process help yourself to a glass or two of chilled New Zealand white.

Baked cornflake chicken

I love deep fried food as much as anyone, but I can't bring myself to deep-fry anything at home - the sight of all that oil just puts me off. So I was very interested when a friend mentioned that she had heard you can create the same effect by baking chicken in crushed cornflakes. Well, I gave it a go, and I must say I'm very pleased with the results. Popcorn chicken without the saturated fat! I experimented with the spices in the crunchy coating, but the flavours didn't really come through strongly enough. Next time I think I'll try dried chilli flakes, maybe sesame seeds, certainly more salt and pepper. I served this with tzatziki for dipping, and Nigella Lawson's lemon and rocket cous cous. This recipe served two people heartily.

Ingredients

• 2 large chicken breasts (free range unless you like the taste of guilt)
• 1 egg
• 4 or 5 large handfuls of cornflakes
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• ½ teaspoon of salt
• ½ teaspoon of ground paprika
• ½ teaspoon of ground coriander
• ¼ teaspoon of ground allspice
• 5 or six good grinds of black pepper

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180°C / gas mark 4.
2. Take a roasting tin and line the bottom of it with tin foil. Then smear one tablespoonful of olive oil over the foil.
3. Cut the chicken into generous bite-size chunks.
4. Take a small polythene bag, and put the cornflakes and spices into it. Then crush the bag in your hands until the cornflakes are reduced to little chips, the smaller the better. Then tip into a bowl.
5. In another small bowl, beat the egg with a fork.
6. Dip the chicken pieces in the egg, and then roll in the crushed cornflake mix.
7. Put the coated chicken pieces into the roasting tin, and drizzle the remaining olive oil over them.
8. Bake for 1 hour.

Poached chicken quiche

I cobbled this recipe out of several others, which is why it amounts to a lot of effort for a quiche. However, the poached chicken bit is very versatile – shredded for salads or soups, or mixed with the crème fraiche and herbs in sandwiches.

Ingredients

• 3 free-range chicken breasts
• 2 sticks of celery (though as always with celery, you can leave this out)
• 2 spring onions
• 1 tablespoon black peppercorns
• 1 tablespoon sea salt
• 1 handful fresh basil leaves
• 1 tablespoon grainy mustard
• 250g low fat crème fraiche
• 2 free-range eggs
• 175g plain flour
• 90g butter
• Salt and pepper to season

Method

1. Chop the celery and spring onions into rough chunks.
2. Fill a large pan with water, add the celery, spring onions, peppercorns and sea salt, and bring to the boil.
3. Add the chicken to the boiling water and return to the boil. Then as soon as it’s boiling, clamp on a lid and turn off the heat. Leave for one hour for the chicken to poach, then remove from the water.
4. Now make the pastry (yes, make! Or use frozen. But making it is dead easy). Start by preheating the oven to 220°C (gas mark 7) and putting the flour into a bowl.
5. Cut up the butter into little bits, and add it to the flour. Rub the butter between your fingers until you have something like fine breadcrumbs.
6. Add one or two tablespoons of cold water, and mix with a round bladed knife until it forms a dough – your dough shouldn’t be too sticky.
7. Form the dough into a ball, wrap it in clingfilm and put it in the fridge for 30 minutes.
8. Take out the chilled dough, roll it out and line a pie dish that’s about 23cm wide.
9. Prick the base all over with a fork, then cover the pastry with tin foil and fill the dish with baking beans. Bake in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes, taking out the foil and beans for the last ten minutes.
10. Back to the filling. Shred the chicken with a fork. The meat will be really soft and flaky.
11. Put the flaked chicken into a bowl with three or four tablespoons of the crème fraiche.
12. Chop the basil finely and add it to the chicken.
13. Season with salt and pepper, add the mustard and mix together thoroughly.
14. In another bowl lightly beat the eggs with a fork, and mix with the remaining crème fraiche. Season this too.
15. Spread the chicken mixture over the base of the pastry case, and then pour the egg mixture over the top.
16. Reduce the oven temperature to 180°C and bake the quiche for 35 to 40 minutes until the top has set. Serve either hot or (preferably) cold, with salad – I had it with some tasty watercress.