This is a little bit of a throwback special post – as I recently caught up with a few friends who have been reading the blog. One of my male friend’s feedback was;
“I’m really enjoying reading it but you need more meat recipes”
I can’t help thinking he has missed the entire point of this blog
but I have been meaning to write about this dish as the premise for this is something that TBH and I use a great deal which is;
“High Quality Protein, Simple Carbohydrate & Delicious Green Vegetables”
In TBH’s first trimester her Olfactory senses were turned up to 11 and this meant that truly pungent smells such as Fish Sauce, Curry-like aromas, Dried Shrimp, Game Meats and Oily Fish used to upturn her stomach so entirely she could be beige and green, resembling your grandparents avocado coloured bathroom suite from the 80’s, want to puke and be hungry all at the same time. This culminated in 2 days before cookingthis meal, I cooked a delicious Malaysian Style Curry with Pheasant shot by my Dad. TBH walks in the house and on smelling the heady aromas of Belachan, Fish Sauce and Pheasant gave me a special preview of what her lunch looked like…
What we did find is that Ginger, in particular, was a superb way of calming the nausea (this is nothing knew to you learned souls I’m sure) – we got ginger tea, ginger sweets and a ginger husband, all going great so far, so why not have dinner with some too?
This marinade and dish is simple and dependent on time will only taste better the longer it is left to marinade. It is based on the crossover in cuisines you find in the South-East Asia which has a double effect for TBH. This is the kind of cuisine her mother would cook for her as a child and then add in the medicinal benefits it felt like a triple whammy here, Mind, Body & Soul cooking, check!
We shared this meal with my parents which meant I was not going to introduce anything spicy, as my mother is not a fan of chilli but both my parents love those kind of aromatic herbs and spices that come from Thai cooking. Win, Win, Win for everyone.
Finally, for the necessary carbohydrate part of the meal we have Rice. If you’ve ever wondered why rice can taste so nice (#UnintentionalButExcellentRhymeWin) in Asian / Chinese restaurants ad then when you try to re-create it at home it never tastes as good, there are 4 reasons this seems to be the case;
1. Get a rice cooker – you can cook rice on a hob but the ease, the speed and the quality of the end result is by far the best with one of these
2. Old Rice – Whether this is an old wives’ tale or not; if you buy regular supermarket rice it’s young, is it much higher is starch and has less flavour. Go to a Chinese or Asian Supermarket look at the old ladies’ trollies and buy the good stuff they are buying; It’s totally worth it!
3. Pandan Leaves – take a couple of these weird looking ferns, knot them into pieces and bury it into the uncooked rice and water. It has this unique flavour which is somewhere between grass-like Vanilla and Citrusy Coconut. But once you know it, you’ll wonder why you never used it before.
4. Practice – My mother-in-law taught me to cook rice in 2007 it has only been in the last 18 months(ish) I have managed to get a consistently good cooked rice. Before this, TBH was the only person allowed to cook rice in our house as I would fuck it up every single time, it’s a fact, I am ok with it, kind of, sort of, maybe…
Before Marinating - Remove the wishbone, watch this video on how to, it makes for easier carving and more meat to eat!
Lastly – I buy my Galangal, Ginger, Turmeric Root, Lemongrass & Pandan Leaves fresh and then freeze them once I’ve cut them into suitable size pieces. I advise you all to do this as I don’t use these aromatics everyday so keep them in a freezer bag and when you need them pull a couple of ready chopped up pieces from the freezer. It still tastes great, it’s ready when you need it and you don’t waste any food.Apologies for the rant…
All the best
Goose
Chicken Marinade - Serves 4 - 6 (depending on how hungry you are...) 1.5 to 1.75kg Chicken
3 shallots 4 clove garlic Small thumb ginger (3cm piece) Small thumb galangal (3cm piece) 1 lemongrass stalk 1 turmeric root (if you don’t have this, get some) 1 tsp turmeric powder – for extra colour and flavour 1 tsp salt 2 tsp coconut oil
Other Ingredients
1 bunch of coriander
2 tsp salt
1 lime
1 lemongrass stalk
100g Jasmine Rice per person
2 Pandan Leaves knotted
Your choice of Broccoli, Bok Choi, Savoy Cabbage or Cavolo Nero.
Blend all the marinade ingredients to a rough paste
Coat, Slather and or apply the marinade to the bird inside and out – the interior of the chicken is crucial to season to impart flavour.
Fill the cavity with coriander, a bruised lemongrass stalk & 1 Lime cut in half
(Sprinkle with another 2 tsp salt just before roasting – if your leaving this overnight do not add the extra salt as this can dry the meat out too much.)
Pre-Heat the oven to 200°c
Put the chicken into the oven dish, breast side down.
Put the chicken in the oven and turn the oven down to 180°c
After 25 minutes turn the chicken over and cook breast up for a further 20 minutes
Cook until the juices run clear from a skewer to the thickest part of the meat or if you have a temperature probe, follow the instruction below...
Probe to 67°c and leave it to rest as residual heat will take care of the rest.
Cook your rice whilst the meat rests (absorption method is the best way) and I served simple Stir Fried Greens with Soy Sauce and Sesame Oil to balance out the meal.
This works great on a BBQ too – but don’t wait for Summer in the UK, cook it now and enjoy it! You’ll feel much happier, I promise!
