Duck a L'orange

With this dish you could serve either rice or mustard and spinach mash to give a mix of flavours. In the picture is sauteed baby potatoes and stuffed cabbage

Duck A L'Orange (Serves 4)

4 Duck Breasts    

50g Butter

4 Oranges             

200ml Soy Sauce

1 Tsp Ground Cinnamon  

1 Tbs Honey

Method:

1. Zest two of the oranges. Juice three of them, and take the peeled segments from one. When segmenting that last orange, don’t just break it apart by hand - try to cut between the membranes.
2. Slash the fatty side of the duck breasts in a criss-cross pattern, through the skin and fat so the flesh shows through - best to do this while they’re still chilled as the firm flesh makes it easier to slice neatly.
3. Mix the orange juice with the zest, cinnamon, honey and soy sauce.
4. Place the duck breasts in a dish, skin side up, pour over the sauce.
5. Chill for 24 hours.
6. Pan-fry the duck, skin-side down, for 10 minutes on a gentle heat (the fat needs to melt and brown).
7. Drain off the fat and return the meat to the pan, other side down.
8. Add the orange segments, half of the marinade, and allow to reduce for five minutes.
9. Remove the meat and whisk in the butter to make a sauce.
10. Slice breasts attractively - don’t just serve them whole.
11. Best not to keep the leftover marinade - it’s had raw meat sitting in it for 24 hours. Though you could probably get away with marinating something else in it if used straight away.

Shepherds Pie

Shepherds pie, is such a classic a great way to fill you up on a cold day, especially this time of the year, you can make it the night before so then all you have to do is put it in the oven and heat it. Serves 4.

Olive Oil 
700g Lamb Mince 
1  Carrot - finely chopped
1  Onion - finely diced
Fresh Rosemary
Fresh Thyme
2 Cloves of Garlic 
Salt
Pepper
Worcestershire Sauce 
Tomato Puree 
75ml Red Wine 
75ml Chicken Stock 

Potatoes:

660g Rooster Potatoes
35g Milk 
75g Butter 
Salt
Pepper
Egg Yolks (2)
35g Parmesan Cheese 

Method:

1. Boil some water, throw some salt and your potatoes in, and set a timer for 15 minutes – start on your filling.  
2. Upon the timer going off, take your potatoes out and strain the water off. 
3. Put potatoes back into the pan, or into a medium mixing bowl.
4. Mash the potatoes with their ingredients from above and keep warm (your filling should be about done by this point)
5. Pour Olive Oil into a hot, rather large pan, then add meat. 
6. Stir meat as if your life depends on it for a few minutes so it’s nice and brown, and broken into very small pieces. 
7. Add your Rosemary, Thyme, and Garlic, then stir some more. 
8. Quickly add your Carrot, and Onion, stir a little longer. 
9. The idea at this point is to get everything to a minced consistency.
10. Add Worcestershire Sauce, stir, add Tomato Puree, stir, add Red Wine and sweat down for a minute or two. 
11. Add chicken stock and cook for 3 more minutes.
12. Scoop your meat mixture into a deep casserole or other oven safe dish and then spoon the mash over the top. 
13. Spread the mash over the top of the mix with the bottom of the spoon and then sprinkle a generous portion of Parmesan cheese over the top. 
14. Poke the top with a fork several times to give it a peaked look and stick it in the oven at 200 degrees/ gas mark 6 for 18-20 minutes to brown the potatoes and set the pie. 

What's for dinner? - Chicken and Roasted Baby Potatoes

This is a great dish with little washing up which is always a bonus. What you do is seal the chicken on a pan and put it on a roasting tray and add the sauce you made earlier and put the chicken in the oven. Most of the washing up will be done before the food goes in the oven leaving you with two roasting trays.

This recipe serves 4.

4 chicken fillets

10 mushrooms

5g castor sugar

Salt and pepper

Sauce;

Chopped tomatoes (2 tins)

Handful of fresh basil

Pinch of sugar

Pinch of salt

Pinch of pepper 

1 tsp dried chillies

Method;

1. Put a saucepan in a high heat
2. Add the salt, pepper, sugar and basil to a saucepan
3. After 3 minutes add the tomatoes 
4. After 2 minutes add the chilies
5. There is no need to add tomato puree to this sauce as it will reduce in the oven.
6. Preheat the oven to gas mark 5/ 190 degrees 
7. Place the chicken on a roasting tray
8. Add the sauce
9. Cook for 20 minutes 

For the potatoes:

1. Par boil some baby potatoes 
2. Cut in half and colour on a grill pan with no oil at first
3. When the pan is quite hot and the potatoes begin to colour add some oil
4. Then place on a roasting tray and cover the base of the potatoes in chicken stock (optional) 
5. Cook for 30 minutes at gas mark 5/ 190 degrees 

What's For Dinner? - Jamie's Chicken

I hope you had a nice Halloween, I thought I would give you something filling and something easy as I am sure you need something like this after coming down from the sugar buzz.


This dish is known as Jamie's Chicken in my house as it originally came from a Jamie Oliver recipe I then altered to make it my own., there is noting wrong with Jamie's original recipe but I like to change things up and make them my own.

This is quite a cheap enough recipe to make as its uses chicken thighs which are quite a cheap cut of meat. In Superquinn for example you can buy a 12 piece pack of chicken thighs they call it family value for €4.99 now that is a deal! I would generally go 2-3 chicken thighs per person as there is not a lot of meat on them but there is a lot of flavour. This recipe would serve 4.

12 Chicken Thighs
12 Cherry Tomatoes
6 Fresh Basil Leaves
Salt and Pepper
500ml Boiling Water
1 Chicken Stock Pot

Method:

1. I would first prep the chicken, remove the excess fat as it just stays as fat it doesn't crisp up
2. Boil the kettle and measure a pint(568 ml) or 500ml of boiling water to a Knorr Chicken Stock Pot
3. Preheat the oven to gas mark 6/200 degrees
4. Put a griddle pan on a high heat and when it is hot about 2-3 minutes place the chicken skin side down just to get a nice colour, you don't need to add any oil as the fat of the skin of the chicken will melt. When there is a light brown colour on the skin side turn it over and just seal on the other side.
5. Place the chicken on a roasting tray add the tomatoes and shred the basil leaves with your hands don't bother to chop it add the seasoning and for an optional extra some dried chili flakes give a slight kick to the dish.
6. Add the boiling chicken stock and place in the oven for 1 hour - 90 mins.
7. This is the difference between my recipe and Jamie's he doesn't brown the chicken he roasts it for 40 minutes I brown mine and then slow cook it for 90 minutes making the chicken succulent and so tender it falls off the bone. 
8. I would serve this with potato either mash or fondant that way it is a simple dinner you don't have to watch over meaning you have time to do something else. 

What's For Dinner? - Spiced Slow-Cooked Lamb Shanks

This dish is is great, it really hearty food, full of flavour, and they way the meat is cooked means it just is so tender and comes so easily off the bone. This recipe would serve 4. With this i would serve mashed potato or the spinach and mustard mash.

Spiced Slow-Cooked Lamb Shanks

4 Lamb Shanks

1 Tsp Coriander Seeds

1 Small Dried Red Chilli / 2 Tsps Fresh Chilli

 1 Tbsp Fresh Rosemary

1 Tsp Marjoram / Oregano

1 Tbsp Flour

1 Clove Of Garlic, Finely Chopped

1 Large Carrot, Quartered And Finely Sliced

6 Sticks Of Celery, Quartered And Finely Sliced

2 Medium-Large Onions, Quartered And Finely Chopped

2 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar

170ml Dry White Wine

6 Anchovy Fillets

800g Tins Of Plum Tomatoes

1 Handful Of Fresh Basil, Marjoram, Flat Leaf Parsley Roughly Chopped

Method:

1. Season the lamb with the sea salt and the black pepper.
2. Smash the coriander seeds and dried chilli and mix with the chopped rosemary and dried marjoram.
3. Roll the lamb in this mixture, pressing it in well.
4. Dust the lamb with flour.
5. Heat a casserole pan, add the oil, brown the meat on all sides then remove from the pan.
6. Add the garlic, carrot, celery, onions and a pinch of salt and sweat them until softened.
7. Add the balsamic vinegar and allow it to reduce to a syrup.
8. Pour in the white wine and allow to simmer for 2 mins.
9. Add the anchovies and then the tinned tomatoes, kept whole Shake the pan and return the lamb to it.
10. Bring to the boil, put on the lid and simmer in the oven at 180 degrees / gas mark 5 for 1 ½ hours, then remove the lid and cook for a further half hour.
11. Skim off any fat and taste for seasoning.
12. Finally, stir in a handful or roughly chopped basil, marjoram and chopped flat leaf parsley.