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Spachcock Chicken?

Spachcock Chicken recipe - Eat wel on Unoversal CreditOK let's dispense with the myths. Yes you can buy a Spachcock Chicken for £7 in the Supermarket. It's be nicely presented with a couple of sticks crossed through it and an oil and herb marinate. But it will generally be the size of a Sparrow!
 
So why bother? Don't!
 
Spachcock is an old Saxon word which basically means spread-eagled. Realistically if you have a pair of kitchen scissors and any bird you are good to go.
 
Birds , fowl, whatever you choose to call them, are basically an empty box with the good stuff on the outside. The ancient Greeks, the Romans, the.... well everybody before us knew that this is not the best physical structure for roasting. You know that Christmas Turkey with the dried breast meat and the thighs and wings which were always the best bits? There is a reason for that. Even in the best fan assisted oven and covered with foil the top of the bird is going to cook quicker than the parts in the tray and doubtlessly dry out.
 
So the fix?
 
Method:-
 
Get a cheap Chicken (Ours was £2.59 for nearly 2Kg).
With a pair of kitchen scissors cut from the rear to the front, taking out the spine. 
Now think of somebody you don't really like and spread the bird out. You might hear a few little bones breaking. Just continue thinking about that person you don't like!
Lay in a baking tray and oil well. Add Salt and Pepper and seasoning to your choice. We used Chilli flakes and Garlic salt.
Roast as you would normally but for about 10 minutes less, depending on the weight.
Remove from the oven, cover and let  rest for 10 minutes or so.
 
Serve with..... Well whatever you have really. Your Chicken will be the star of the show anyway. Moist, succulent and evenly cooked.
 
We'll probably get 3 meals out of this Chicken, for two humans and Buster The Dog! 

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Dong Po Rou

I’m really not sure where Sue is getting these recipes from, or if she’s just making up silly names for them now!!! Let’s call it “Slow Asian style braised Belly Pork” ey?!!!

Ingredients:-

Belly Pork
Spring Onions, cut lengthwaysWe served ours over plain Rice Noodles and garnished with a few sliced Spring Onions. To say there are so few ingredients this really packed a punch, flavour wise. The Spring Onions effectively caramelize in the braising juices.
Ginger Sliced
Soy Sauce
Rock Sugar
Shaoxing Wine

Method:-

(1) Rinse the Belly Pork and blanch in Water for a couple of minutes.
(2) Drain and cut into quarters.
(3) In a pan place a good layer of Spring Onions on the bottom, add the ginger and then place the Belly Pork on top skin side down.
(4) Pour over the Shaoxing Wine (Rice Wine), Soy Sauce and sprinkle the Rock Sugar over the top.
(5) Cover the pan and bring to the boil over a medium heat.
(6) Reduce the heat and simmer for 90 minutes.
(7) Turn the Pork so it is skin side up and continue to simmer for a further 90 minutes.
(8) When ready to serve, spoon the liquid over the Belly Pork.

We served ours over plain Rice Noodles and garnished with a few sliced Spring Onions. To say there are so few ingredients this really packed a punch, flavour wise. The Spring Onions effectively caramelize in the braising juices.

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Miso Caramel Chicken Thighs

Another on for our “100 Asian recipes” gig. This certainly isn’t one you’d find in a UK takeaway. But for a very limited ingredients list this really was good.

Ingredients:-

2 Tbsp of Vegetable Oil
2 Tbsp of Water
2 Tbsp of White Miso
4 Chicken Thighs
4 Tbsp of Brown Sugar
30g of Butter or Margarine
½ a Lime, Juiced
1 Tbsp of Sesame Seeds
Garlic Salt
Onion Salt
Salt & Pepper

Method:-

(1) Mix the Oil with 1 Tbsp of Miso paste and add the Chicken to coat.
(2) Season with Salt & Petter and place on a baking tray.
(3) Place in a pre-heated oven at 180c for 45 minutes.
(4) Add the Sugar to a pan with 2 Tbsp of Water and dissolve gently.
(5) Turn up the heat and boil until it forms an amber Caramel.
(6) Remove the Caramel from the heat.
(7) Gently stir in the remaining Miso and add the Butter / Margarine and Lime juice. And stir aside.
(8) Pour the Caramel over the Chicken and sprinkle with Sesame Seeds.
(9) Cook for a further 5 to 10 minutes.

We served ours with a little stir-fry and some Prawn Crackers. We really enjoyed this as we tend not to have a lot of sweet flavours in our dishes, it was a really nice change.

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Southern style Battered Chicken Wraps

This sliced Chicken breast was the princely sum of £1.49 for 500g in my favourite discount fridge. But not all things are what they appear. It was very thinly sliced and a bit raggedy looking really. Not a problem - batter it!

We did have a few Gluten free Breadcrumbs in the fridge but not quite enough, so improvisation was required…..

Batter ingredients:-

2 Eggs, whisked
Breakcrumbs (Gluten free for us)
2 bags of Crisps, bashed about to within seconds of their lives! (Flavour of your choice)
Plain Flour (Gluten free for us)
Garlic Salt
Onion Salt
Turmeric (For colour)
Cornflour, for dredging

Method:-

(1) Mix the batter ingredients.
(2) Cut the Chicken into suitable sized pieces.
(3) Dredge in the Cornflour.
(4) Coat in the batter mix.
(5) Fry in small batches and drain on kitchen paper.

We used a little salad in the wraps and Mayonnaise. Served with the remaining salad, home made Coleslaw and hand cut chips this was actually quite a filling and quick meal.

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Fish Friday -1, sea bass and razor clams

(OK we actually had this on Thursday, but if you don’t tell anybody we should be fine!)

The foundations of this dish were yellow sticker Sea Bass fillets at £1 each and a yellow sticker tub of sliced sweet Chorizo at £0.20. Great ingredients which in the case of the Sea Bass would generally be beyond ‘Budget’ on their own, deserved a great recipes. We still broke budget by a pound or so, but we’re no going to beat ourselves up about that. A lot of dishes we’ve created recently have been under budget and fed us for two days…..

I wonder how much we would have paid in a fish restaurant for the following:-

Razor Clams with Chorizo, Garlic and Shallots, dressed with fresh home grown Pea micro greens.
Seared Sea Bass in Caper and Lemon Butter sauce, dressed with home grown Parsley.
Mini Hassleback Potatoes dressed with Garlic Butter
Accompanied by Garden Peas

Yes, yes we went a bit restauranty. Sorry, not sorry!

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Chicken of The Woods recipe

As might be clear to some, I’m quite into Mushroom foraging! At the weekend I was out working in central York and happened across a clump of Laetiporus sulphureus (Commonly known as Chicken of The Woods or simply COTW) on an ornamental Plum tree. It took me a few days to gain access as it was behind a tall metal railed fence in the grounds of The Merchant Adventures Hall. But I bagged a decent portion the other day, so we went sort of ‘Buffet style’ last night.

We used the same batter for the Tokneneng (Battered Eggs) and the Chicken of The Woods.

Batter ingredients:-

2 Eggs, whisked
Cornflour
Plain Flour (Gluten free for us)
Turmeric
Hot Chilli Powder
Garlic Salt
Onion Salt
Baking powder
Soda Water

Method:-

(1) Cut the COTW into rough nuggets, scraping off an debris on the upper surface.
(2) Mix Butter Milk, Garlic Salt and the juice of a Lemon and soak the nuggets overnight.
(3) Mix the batter and allow to rest for 10 minutes.
(4) Dredge the nuggets in Cornflour and then dunk in the batter mix.
(5) Fry and drain in small batches.

We served them with a dressed salad, Bacon and Tomato Pin Wheels, micro Pizzas and some DIY dips. Effectively clearing a few stray bit & bots out of the fridge!

 

  1. Sparassis Crispa stir-fry
  2. Clams & Prawns in (DIY) Black Bean Sauce
  3. Black Bean Sauce
  4. Pizza Burger

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