Chicken Shwarma

You know when you're craving a take away but feel the full on guilt for indulging in a greasy no good for you kebab - this is my simple and much healthier version of a shwarma - a kebab marinated in Middle Eastern / Asian spices and traditionally roasted on a spit.

My version is much simpler - done in the oven - but with all warming spices and juiciness of the chicken thighs.

I served mine on naans with a full salad and condiments on the side. You can always switch it up and serve in pitta breads or even just a full salad to make it healthier and lighter.

you can find my easy peasy naan recipe here 

My shwarma recipe will feed 4-6 people if using naans or 6-8 if you're using pitta pockets. You'll need the following :

1kg boneless chicken thighs - cut into chunks

1 tsp onion salt

2 tbsp cornflour

1 1/2 tsp garam masala

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground star anise

2 tsp smoked paprika

1 tsp tumeric

1/2 tsp chilli powder

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tbsp harissa paste/powder

3-4 tbsp olive oil

small handful of fresh coriander chopped 

• Start by mixing all the dry ingredients into a bowl, add in the oil and stir together to make a paste.
• Add in the chicken along with the harissa and mix together until all the chicken is coated fully
• leave to marinate for at least 30 minutes - you can even prep this the night before as this will help the marinade absorb fully into the chicken,
• Once ready to cook, preheat your oven to 160c fan/180c. 
• Take a long piece of foil and with the longest side facing you, place the chicken onto the foil, forming a sausage shape, ensuring the chickenn is packed together nice and tightly.
• Roll the chicken up tightly, forming a sausage shape - again ensuring its packed together nicely, place onto a baking tray seam side down
• Place in the oven for 40-45 mins
• Remove from the oven and let it cool a little  - you don't want the hot steam burning you or any of the juices to spit out. The foil will help in keeping it nice and warm
• Place carefully onto a serving board/plate, open the foil up, carve the shwarma and serve as desired 

Toad in the hole

When it's been a cold, wet, windy typically British winter day and evening and all you want is some comfort food to warm your insides up, toad in the hole is definitely one of my all time favourites to  make.

It's  so simple, but so so delicious, and an added bonus is that it all cooks in one pan  which means less to wash up - win win

I served it with my red onion gravy and some buttery mash- and it definitely hot the spot.

To serve 4 people you will need :
8 sausages ( i used shezan halal lamb ones )
30g butter
50ml oil
125g plain flour
A good pinch of salt and pepper
2 large eggs
80ml milk
40 ml cold water

• Start by preheating your oven to 210c ( fan)

• Put  the flour, salt and pepper into a bowl, make a well in the centre and crack the eggs into the well

• Whisk the eggs with the flour to form a thick batter. Slowly add in the milk & continue to whisk and you should have a smooth pourable batter. Place in the fridge to rest

• Place the sausages along with the butter and oil into a roasting dish - mine was about 25x30cm , cook for about 15 minutes till just cooked.

• Take the batter out of the fridge, pour in the cold water, and whisk together.

• Remove the sausages from the oven & pour in all the batter quickly but carefully

• Place back in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes until the yorkshire pudding is crisp and golden, and serve

Who says Nandos is just for chicken ?!

Sundays go hand in hand with long lie ins, late breakfasts, staying in your pyjama's for as long as possible and most importantly a good old roast dinner. I don't know about you but a sunday without a roast of some form is just criminal.

With that said a roast isn't always possible when you've kids running crazy around the house or are desperately (is it just me ?)  trying to catch up with the mound of laundry and ironing. This is a recipe that really requires hardly and prep at all, and cooks away slowly while you can get on with whatever else needs doing..  Or if your anything like myself .. plonk yourself on the sofa and do as little as possible !!




To serve a family of 4 for you will need :
2- 2 1/2 kg lamb shoulder
2 sachets of Nandos garlic & herb seasoning (medium hot)
100ml olive oil
fresh rosemary sprigs*
2 medium red onions

• Start by preheating your oven at 200c, (fan assisted) then in a small bowl combine the 2 sachets with the olive oil and stir together and put aside.
• Take the lamb shoulder and lightly score all the top and underside. Take the garlic marinade, pour over the shoulder and rub in well with your hands, making sure you get into the scored cuts.
• Take the rosemary sprigs and tuck into a few of the cuts on top and the underside
• Cover the lamb with foil and place in the oven and leave for 2 hours
• After 2 hours, remove the foil from over the lamb**, add in 2 roughly chopped onions. Lower the heat down to 150c and place back in the oven for a further 3 hours
• The lamb now should be golden and fully roasted. Remove from the oven, recover with the foil and leave to rest for at least 10 minutes.
• Serve with your favourite roast veg, my easy peasy yorkies and gravy  … and lashings of gravy 

Yorkies and Gravy

What's better than a home made roast ? It's a home made roast with home made gravy AND yorkshire puddings .. both of these go perfect with my roast lamb shoulder, the recipe which is here

If you're one of those that thinks gravy and yorkies are a bit of a mission, i promise you not.


To make 6-8 yorkshire puddings you will need:

100g plain flour
2 eggs
100ml milk
pinch of salt and pepper
oil oil

• Preheat your oven on full *
• In a 12 hole cupcake/muffin tin, pour about a tablespoon of oil into each hole
• Place the tray into the oven for the oil to heat up for about 10 minutes - the oil needs to be bubbling hot.
• Whisk together the milk & eggs and add in a pinch of salt and pepper.
• In a bowl, place the flour and make a well. Slowly pour the milk into the flour whilst continously whisking. You should end up with a smooth batter. If there are any lumps, continue to whisk for a further couple of minutes
• Carefully remove the muffin tray from the oven and pour in the batter into each hole evenly. Try to be as quick, but careful, as you can. 
• Lower the heat to 250c and place the tray back in the oven, leave for 25-30 minutes. Do not open the door until the yorkies have almost doubled in size and are golden brown in colour. 

To make the gravy you will need :

Roasting juice from the roasting dish
1 tablespoon of flour
350-400ml of stock

• Start by removing your roasted meat or poultry from the roasting dish and placing aside. Place the dish on a low heat over your cooker.
• Remove excess bits of fat as you'll end up with a rather heavy and greasy gravy, scrape the juices  and bits off the tin with a wooden spoon and you should see the juice begin to simmer
• Add in the tablespoon of flour and mix and stir continuously and you should end up with a paste like consistency
• Slowly pour in the stock, again continuously stirring. Keep stirring till the flour and stock have combined together. Leave to simmer for a couple of minutes to thicken. 
• If after a couple of minutes the mixture is too thick, add in some more stock or even just a little water. If it's too runny for your liking, leave for a few more minutes. Season with a little salt and pepper

Mad Moroccan Lamb

For todays post I'm sharing a recipe that isn't one of mine, nor one that is of my mothers. It's a recipe from a chef who I am a huge fan of, from his very early days as The Naked Chef - the amazing Jamie Oliver.

In all honesty I stumbled on Jamie by pure chance, bored at home one weekend channel hopping and I caught an episode of The Naked Chef half way through and I was instantly hooked. Fast forward 16 years and I am still very much a fan of him & religiously watch his shows, and own (almost) all his cookery books

I love his drive for healthier school meals, his passion for his foundation set up to help youngsters step into the world of cookery and that he really tries to show how cooking can be enjoyable, easy and not just a chore.  

I absolutely love this recipe as not only is it the base of a roast, but with a Moroccan twist - and I'm definitely a fan of foodie twists !!

This recipe was the perfect excuse to invite people over to eat with the 4 of us -  so I invited my cousins & their kids, and am quite chuffed with how much it was enjoyed, considering it was my first attempt. I followed the recipe to the exact specifications, if i were to change anything, it would be to half the amount of cous cous as you end up with quite a bit left over !


For 6-8 people you will need :

for the lamb:
1 x 2kg lamb shoulder
2 tsp cumin seeds
2 tsp coriander seeds
2 tsp fennel seeds
2 tsp black peppercorns
2-3 dried red chillies
2 tsp salt
small handful rosemary leaves

for the chickpeas:
4 large red onions peeled and sliced
1 cinnamon stick
bunch of marjoram or tyme leaves
2x 400g tin of chickpeas
200ml balsamic vinegar

for the cous cous:
2 pints of water
250g mix of  dried apricots, raisins, sour cherries & cranberries
700g cous cous
2 lemons halved

for serving:
500ml plain yougurt
handful fresh coriander
1 fresh red chilli, deseeded & finely sliced

• Preheat your oven to 220c/ Gas mark 7. Score the lamb in criss crosses about an inch apart. In a grinder or pestle and mortar smash up the spices till you have a powder, and with a little olive oil rub this all over the lamb, and push some rosemary into the cuts of the lamb. Put the lamb in a roasting tin, cover with foil and cook in the oven for 2 hours.
• Next, heat a little olive oil in a pan and fry your onions, along with the cinnamon and marjoram or tyme for about 15 minutes or until the onion have softened. Add in the chickpeas with 3/4 pint of water and balsamic vinegar. Simmer on a low heat till nice & thick and remove from the hob.
• In a saucepan, bring your water to the boil & add in the dried fruits, simmer for 5 minutes, the fruit will plump up. Remove from the heat and add in the cous cous with a little olive oil and leave to soak up the water. When there is no liquid left in the cous cous, pour onto a baking try and spread out flat evenly.
• After 2 hours, the lamb should be golden and just roasted all the way through. Lower the heat to 200c/ Gas mark 6, remove the lamb from the oven and set aside out of the roasting tin. Add a little water to the roasting tin, and scrape off any sticky bits from the bottom of the tin.
• Grab a large pot or another roasting dish with 4-5 inch high sides and lightly brush with olive oil, add in a quarter of the cous cous, or just enough to cover about 1 inch of the bottom of the pan.
• Place the lamb into the pot, and sprinkle over the chick peas- remember to remove the cinnamon stick. Put the lamb on top, pour over the roasting pan juices and then add the rest of the cous cous, covering the lamb evenly. Place the lemon halves on top, lightly oil and wet a sheet of greasproof paper and cover the cous cous. Cover with a sheet of foil and place back in the oven for an hour - hour and a half.
• Use a knife to pull some of the cous cous away, and the meat should pull away and fall of the bone- it's now done. Leave to rest for 5 minutes while you spike the yogurt with the juice from the roasted lemons.  
• Dollop some yogurt into the middle of the dish, scattered with the chopped coriander and chilli and serve !

                                     

        

 INSTAGRAM LINK HERE

Quick style, but just as fab roast chicken, with all the trimmings

It's been a few weeks since my last blog. I've been so busy between housework, kids appointments, and the general madness of a hectic household my blogging's been neglected. 

Whilst the kids are now occupied with their collection of bricks & have got their dad joining in, I wanted to get this blog down.

On a Sunday I absolutely love nothing more than a good old roast with the trimmings, and it's a brilliant way for me to get the kids into eating their vegetables- they aren't keen on them when  just boiled, but roasted in the oven with herbs & a little bit of spice, they will wolf them down.

so today I'm posting the recipe for the lunch we've just polished off- with some sent off to my mum & baby sister in law . (she's 27 but the youngest out of us lot, so sorry Sadaf if you're reading this)

I love this recipe for roast as it's a variation that cuts a few corners, with the use of Nando's seasoning, really doesn't require too much effort & tastes just as good as a version that may take you hours 

 To serve between 4-6 people you'll need the following :

2 medium chickens cut in half/ quarters
2 sachets of Nandos BBQ Seasoning
1 sachet of Nandos Hot seasoning
2 sachets of Nando's Lemon & Herb seasoning
5 Large potatoes 
3 large parsnips 
1 large sweet potato 
a good handful of sprouts
3 large carrots 

•  I normally start by placing the chicken in large bowl, then I add enough olive oil to just coat the chicken, and then add in the BBQ & Hot Nando's seasoning.* with my  hands, then mix the chicken together and make sure all the chicken is coated well with the seasoning. 
• I'll leave the chicken in the fridge for at least 2 hours to marinate**
• I then peel the potatoes, sweet potatoes, parsnips & carrots and chop into chunks/quarters, don't worry about them being all the same size & perfectly cut, it's much easier & quicker than trying to make them all look perfect.
• To get the veg crispy on the outside, I tend to par boil my veg so it's just slightly softened, drain them from the water, then put them in a roasting dish, add the sprouts & pour in a few tablespoons of olive oil and then coat with the Nandos lemon & Herb seasoning.
• To roast the chicken, I preheat the  oven to 200 C, remove the chicken from the fridge and place it in my roasting dish & cover with foil. I put in the oven for an about and hour & a half.
• Half way through I take the foil off, turn the pieces over and let  the chicken crisp up, & then place the veg in the oven.
• To make sure the veg doesn't catch or over cook, I give them a toss around when they've been in the oven for about 30 minutes.
• I'll then serve the chicken & veg with good old yorkshires & lots of gravy

So that's my quick style, but just as fab roast chicken, with the trimmings - I hope you'll give it a go and let me know what you think or let me know of your own variations so I can give it a go. 

* I normally buy the seasoning from my local Asda, but I'm sure the other large supermarkets will sell it too

** If I'm in a real rush for time, I'll leave the chicken for the minimum 2 hours, leaving it overnight is best as it gives more time for the seasoning to do it's job