Nick Gilmartin's Weblog

Chicken and Prosciutto Ham Parcels

This was something simple and delicious that I threw together tonight.  You will need the following:

Two chicken thighs, boneless and skinless

Two thin slices of Prosciutto ham.

Two large potatoes sliced thinly

One red pepper and a handful of mushrooms, sliced.

Set your oven on at 180 degrees celcius and take two flat bottomed baking tins.  Add a tablespoon of oil to each tin.  Slice your potatoes thinly and layer in the bottom of the first tin.  Season with low-sodium salt, pepper and oregano.  Add a splash of olive oil and leave to bake in the oven for fifteen minutes, or until golden.

Take your chicken thighs and wrap them tightly in the slices of prosciutto ham, then place on the other baking tray and place on the shelf below the potatoes in the oven.

Finally chop your mushrooms and the pepper coarsely and place them in a baking tray with a splash of oil, pepper and oregano.

Bake for at least fifteen minutes or until the chicken is completely cooked (check with probe that it is at least 75 degrees in the middle) or until it is white in the middle.  Once the potatoes are golden and slightly crispy, they are cooked.  The vegetables don’t need long, barely five or six minutes until they are soft.

Plate up and serve.

Enjoy!

Lemon Chicken Kiev and oven baked Chips

Do you remember a while back we made breadcrumbs?  If not check out Uncle Mario’s Meatballs.  We will be using them again.

You will need:

Two chicken breasts.

Two lemons.

Half a bowl of breadcrumbs.

Half a bowl of plain flour.

Half a bowl of egg whites (about four).

Two tablespoons of margarine or butter.

Method:

Grate the rind of the lemons into the breadcrumbs and mix them in.

Juice the lemons and add the juice to a small dish and add the margarine.  Mix the two together until you have a paste.

Mix your lemon juice and margarine into a paste

Open the chicken breasts and spoon the paste in.

Cut flat and deep into the chicken breast

Slice into the chicken breast nice and deep.  Take a heaped tablespoon of paste and add it to the centre of the chicken, and close it.

Add the paste to the centre of the breast

Carefully dip the chicken breast in the flour, then the egg white and then the breadcrumbs.  Add it to a baking tin.  Repeat with the second chicken breast.

Roll the breast in flour

Then the egg white

Finally the breadcrumbs and lemon zest

Oven bake the chicken breasts at 180 degrees until the chicken is cooked and the breadcrumbs covering it are brown.  You can serve with chips and salad or whatever you like.

Oven bake at 180 degrees celcius for about twenty minutes or until chicken is cooked and the breadcrumbs are golden brown

Enjoy!

Chicken and Chorizo Paella

Anybody got a holiday to Spain booked this year?  Because if you do then you may get a chance to try this little number.

The traditional Paella comes in a lot of varieties, Meat and Chicken, Seafood or even a vegetarian version.  The one we are doing today is the Chicken and Choritzo Paella.

You will need a large Paella pan (or failing that a large frying pan and a baking tin).

And the following:

Four Chicken thighs.

One Chorizo sausage cut into semi circle pieces, not too thinly, you want to taste it.

One medium punnet of mushrooms.

One red and one green pepper.

One small tin of peas.

Half a pint of chicken stock.

125ml of white wine.

Two cups of rissotto rice.

Two lemons.

One splash of olive oil.

Help yourself to a glass of white wine while you are cooking.  If it works for Keith Floyd..

Method:

Dice the chicken thighs.

Using a seperate knife and chopping board dice the mushrooms and peppers.

Drain the tin of peas.

Juice one lemon and cut the other lemon into six peices.

Fry the chicken thighs until they are no longer pink.

Add the peppers and mushrooms and fry till soft.

Add the choritzo and stir.

Next add the juice of one lemon.  Once that has soaked in add the white wine.  One that has soaked in add the chicken stock.

The trick is to let the flavours soak in one at a time.

Set your oven at 180 degrees and take the paella dish off the stove.  Cover the dish in tin foil and place in the oven.  Allow the paella to cook for fifteen or twenty minutes.

Garnish with the wedges of lemon and serve.

Enjoy!

Pork Cassidy serves with oven baked potatoes and veg.

This one is pretty easy but also very tasty.

You need the following:

Two pork fillets

Piri-piri seasoning (two tablespoon)

Paprika (two tablespoon)

Barbeque sauce (Newman’s own in my current favourite)

Take one small teaspoon of olive oil and pour it on to a foil baking tray.

Place the pork fillets on to the tray and sprinkle a table spoon of piri piri seasoning all over the pork, making sure you cover the edges.  Then do the same with the paprika.  Take a blunt knife and spread it thinly over the pork then turn the fillets over and repeat the process.

Next pour barbeque sauce over the pork and use the knife to spread it evenly.  Carefully turn the pork over and repeat the process.

Finally heat an oven at 180 degrees celcius and cook the pork for arroximately 25 minutes, checking regularly.

You can serve it with potatoes or rice and vegetables.

I named it after Newman’s most famous character, Butch Cassidy.  And why not?  Enjoy!

Today we have something a bit more adventurous for you lot to work your magic on.  Firstly you will need a big-ass pan like the one in the picture.  Failing that a large frying pan will do.

Then you will need:

Rissotto Rice

Small tin of peas

One red pepper

Three large mushrooms

Two lemons

175ml of white wine (or one medium glass)

175 ml of Chicken stock

Mixed herbs and Tumeric

Mixed seafood (I recommend pre-cooked) such as Crawfish, Prawns, Clams, Mussels, Scollops, Squid, or even Crab.

Take a large hot pan and add a tablespoonful of oil.  Once this is heated add the peppers, peas and mushrooms and fry gently for a minute.  Then add the seafood and stir for two more minutes.  Add a sprinkle of mixed herbs and half a teaspoonful of Tumeric.  Cut one lemon in two and juice it, and add the lemon juice.   Then add the chicken stock and white wine and leave to simmer.

Meanwhile take a pan of boiling water and add a cup of rice and a teaspoon of tumeric.  Once the rice is soft enough drain the rice and water through a sieve or colander.  Then run the rice under a tap for a minute to wash off any excess tumeric.  Add the rice to the pan with the seafood and stir well.

While it is simmering heat an oven at 180 degrees celcius.  Once the oven is hot cover the pan in tin foil and place in the oven.  Note:  If you have cooked all this in a frying pan or wok just transfer it to a baking tin.

Once it looks and tastes cooked (note the mussels should be open, if not leave a little longer), cut the remaining lemon into quarters and place around the edges of the pan.

Allow to bake for twenty or thirty minutes and serve.

Enjoy

A wholesome tasty meal

You need:

Two chicken breasts

One beef steak tomato

One mixed meat tapas packet containing choritzo and parma ham

One ball of fresh Mozzarella

Olive oil

Oregano

This one is a bit fiddly but it is worth it. Take each chicken breast and cut a pocket in them with a sharp knife. Roll up the choritzo and insert into the pocket of the breast. Then wrap the parma ham around the breast. Take an oven proof dish and add a table spoon of olive oil to the bottom. Add the chicken and ham carefully. Then using a fresh knife chop the tomato into small diced pieces and place carefully on top of the chicken. Then take the mozzarella ball and chop it into slices. Take equal amounts of Mozzarella and place on top of the tomatoes. This isn’t as easy as it looks. Finally add a teaspoon of Oregano to the top of each.

Place the dish with the chicken in it into a pre-heated oven at 160 degrees and cook for 30 minutes or until you are certain it is cooked. Check the middle with a knife if you are not sure.

Allasio is a small town in northern Italy where I first tried a dish similar to this. I recommend a visit some day.

Buono appetito!

You need:

One chicken, suitable for roasting.

Two lemons

Four cloves of Garlic

Olive oil

Tarragon, salt and pepper.

Roasting potatoes and root veg if you like

Switch oven on at 160 degrees. Place the chicken on a baking tray with a tablespoon of oil in the bottom. Grate a lemon and keep the zest on a small plate then cut it into wedges. Next remove the string or elastic binding the chicken and stick the lemon right up it’s bum! Take your cloves of garlic, peel them to the bare flesh and shove them up it’s bum too. You may alternate between lemon and garlic to ensure an even flavour.

Next rub a little oil into your fingers and massage it into the chicken breast and legs. Then sprinkle the zest over the chicken.

Follow this up with a tablespoon of freshly chopped tarragon and season with salt and pepper.

Chop several potatoes and place around the chicken, season with salt, pepper and tarragon.

Place in the oven and cook for approximately 40 minutes, or until the chicken has cooked through to the middle.

As it cooks the flavour of the lemon and garlic will seep out into the chicken flesh and into the potatoes in the baking tray.

And there you have a delicious healthy chicken dinner.

Enjoy!

Going in

Greek Salad

This is a lovely Mediterranean salad that is chunky and tasty.

You need:

One cucumber

Two beef-steak tomatoes

One block of Feta cheese (Total is best)

One small pack of Mint leaves

Cut the cucumber, tomatoes and feta cheese into dice-sized pieces. Roughly chop the mint and add all ingredients to a bowl with a tablespoon of olive oil. Stir all ingredients well and tip into a serving bowl. You may wish to add a sprig of mint for decoration.

Nothing to this one.

Olive oil

I recently came up with an italian Chicken receipe on a warm summer night when I was having a bit of a cooking experiment day.  I hope you like it.

Serves two.

You will need:

Six chicken thights, skinned and boned.

Four or five rashers of unsmoked bacon, finely diced.

One punnet of mushrooms.

One tin of tomatoes, chopped.

125ml of red wine.

Mozarella Cheese ball, nice and moist.

Worcester sauce, Oregano, Salt and Pepper.

Set a hob at 180 degrees

Take a hot wok and a dash of oil, and heat gently.  Add the chicken and bacon to the wok and stir until they are just nicely cooked.

Add the punnet of mushrooms and stir-fry until they reduce or shrink.

Add the red wine and allow everything to soak.

Add the tin of tomatoes.

Allow mixture to simmer then add a sprinkle of Oregano, a dash of salt and pepper and a tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce.

Take a taste with a teaspoon.  If it is to your taste, great.  If it is too sweet add more Worcester sauce (I use loads).  If it is too sour add a sprinkle of sugar (sticky brown sugar is best).

Heat an oven at 180 degrees.

Take two earthenware bowls and spoon the mixture into the bowl.

Open the Mozarella packet and carefully slice it into four slices, then carefully add two slices to the top of each bowl.  You may also add a pinch of Oregano for garnish.

Cook the two bowls in the oven for ten minutes or until the Mozarella is completely melted.

Carefully remove from the oven and serve with fresh Focaccia bread or potatoes and veg if you like.

Enjoy!

An easy to make Cajun stir fry

Today we have a simple idea for a stir fry with plenty of scope for adaption. You will need:

One large onion

Two peppers (any colour)

a punnet of mushrooms

Three or four thin slices of parma ham

Four thin slices of chorizo sausage

Four slices of Pepperoni

Six frankfurter sausages

160 grams of fresh king prawns, cooked

One cup of rice

A good shaking of Cajun spices

An interesting mix of cooked meat, seafood and vegetables

Method

Put a pan of boiling water on the stove. Once it is boiling add the cup of rice and stir gently. Next dice the onion as thin as possible. Then chop the peppers and mushrooms and roughly chop the frankfurters, and dice the cooked meat.

Take a large wok and add a tablespoon of olive oil. Add the diced onion and break it up with a spatula, stirring regularly until the onion is a light caramel colour. Then add the mushrooms and continue to stir until they have shrunk down. The peppers are added next and lightly fried.

Stir fry all the ingredients

After them you add the meats, the frankfurters and the prawns. Finally add two tablespoons of Cajun spices. Once the rice is cooked drain the water and add to the stir fry. Continue to stir well and taste a bit. If it needs a bit more spice add a sprinkle. Finally dish it up into a large bowl and serve. And thats your lot!