Chicken Goujons
This is a recipe I used for my party. Everybody liked them.
I used the following.
- A pack of four boneless and skinless chicken breasts. I don’t know how to bone and skin!
- Half a pot of natural yogurt.
- A good teaspoonful of curry powder.
- Zest of a lime.
The method is simple.
- Slice the chicken into long, thin strips. I found it best to slice slightly across the chicken. These are then places in a baking tray. As it was a party I used disposable ones.
- Mix the yogurt, curry powder and zest of the lime in a bowl and then spoon it all over the chicken. I also turned the chicken, so that everything was well covered. It was then left to marinate for about twenty minutes.
- I then cooked it in the bottom of the top oven of the AGA for about twenty minutes, turning them in the sauce every five minutes or so,
Everybody liked them. They also seemed to keep well for a couple of days in the fridge.
Pubs
I don’t go down the pub very often. Especially, if I’m by myself! But on Saturday night after the rather disappointing goal-less draw against Leicester, I went for a drink in the sun at one of my favourite pubs, The Woolpack in Ipswich.
The Woolpack, Ipswich
It is a good and friendly pub, and there were several of my old friends there, from when I lived just north of the town. It is also better on a sunny day, as there are plenty of seats outside.
It also serves draught Aspell Cyder, which is always a very good reason to visit the pub. They will also serve it without the silly special glass, that Aspall promote.
Frittatas from Waitrose
Just found two frittatas in Waitrose. One is asparagus and parmesan and the other is chorizo. They are both gluten-free.
Testing one for lunch, but those at my party will have them too.
When I bought them in Cambridge today, if you bought four you got a free cool bag!
Queues in Sainsburys
I went to Sainsburys last night to get a few things, so that I could experiment for my party on Sunday. Now, this is nothing against Sainsburys in particular and I know they have the system in some of their stores, but it is so much easier shopping with the QwikCheck system, that I use in Waitrose.
The queues at the check-out were to be avoided. The girl at the check-out I had could have been a clone for “Computer Says No!”
I was also worried that their gluten-free offerings were worse and fewer in number than the last time I went.
But is this because there has been so much publicity lately about how to cook without gluten and now that a lot of food is so much better labelled?
Rabbit Casserole
I got this from Nigel Slater at the Guardian. I made five this evening and the one I ate was very nice. The other four are now in my freezer.
A sweet, apple-rich stew for a cool autumn evening. A piece of rabbit or chicken on the bone and a decent butcher’s sausage should be enough for each person, leaving you with four pieces of meat to make a soup-stew for tomorrow. To make soup of the leftovers pull the meat off the bones then return it to the remains of the stew and slowly reheat. Make thick toast croutes to put in the bottom of your soup bowls, then ladle the thick beany soup over them. A drizzle of olive oil is a sound finishing touch. If you need more liquid then add a little stock or water as you reheat.
The qualities shown serve four.
- 250g dried flageolet or haricot beans – I used a large tin of borlotti beans. Perhaps not as good, but easier.
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 8 large rabbit or chicken pieces on the bone – I used two diced rabbits from the UK Game company.
- 4 decent sausages, cut into four – These were Musks gluten free.
- 2 medium onions
- 400g dessert apples – Two English Bramleys.
- 3 sprigs rosemary
- 2 tbsp flour – Doves Farm gluten-free.
- a bay leaf or two
- 500ml cider, stock or, at a push, water – No prizes for guessing I chose the cyder. Aspalls!
- 3 tbsp double cream (optional)
- 1 tbsp cider vinegar (or more to taste) – Aspalls too!
The method is as follows.
- Soak the beans overnight in cold water. Drain and bring to the boil in fresh, unsalted water. Let them simmer for approximately 40 minutes, checking their progress now and again. How quickly they are ready will depend on the age of your beans. Drain and set aside. I just opened the tin!
- Set the oven at 190C/gas mark 5. Warm 2 tbsp of the olive oil in a shallow pan, add the rabbit or chicken pieces and the sausages and let them colour nicely on all sides. While the rabbit or chicken is cooking, peel and roughly chop the onions, core and chop the apples, and remove the rosemary needles from their stems and chop them.
- Remove the meat to a plate and add the onions to the pan, letting them soften, then introducing the apple, allowing it to colour on all sides, adding more oil if necessary. Stir in the chopped rosemary, flour, bay leaf, salt and pepper, then the cider or stock. Let the liquid bubble for a couple of minutes, stirring to dissolve any crusty bits from the pan. Stir in the drained, cooked beans.
- I put the meat back in now, but the original recipe didn’t say.
- Bake for 45 minutes to an hour, covered with a lid. Check the meat is tender, then stir in the cream if you are using it and the cider vinegar. The sauce should be quite sweet, but if it’s too much so, reduce it by stirring in more cider vinegar. Check the seasoning, adding more salt, pepper, and cider vinegar as necessary.
Serve in shallow bowls.
I just had one with new potatoes and froze the other four!
Rabbits
Cuddly! Aren’t they? No! Delicious? Yes!
There is a report that they do a lot of damage to crops. As someone who keeps horses they are a nightmare, as what would happen if a horse at speed puts their foot in a rabbit hole and turns over. They don’t do too much damage to my crops as I don’t really have any, but muntjak do eat all my young trees.
The report says that nunbers are increasing and blames the government for removing rules that allow you to complain about your neighbours, who don’t keep rabbits down. And as those neighbours are often nebulous government agencies like highways or large corporations like the railways, it is not easy to complain without a big stick.
That may be the case in some areas, but I’m in the middle of nowhere and all then rabbits round here are either mine or my neighbours.
Rabbit numbers are increasing, but they really haven’t got to pest levels yet. But as they say rabbits breed like well – rabbits!
Could though one of the causes of the increase in rabbits be the ban on hunting?
But you say that you didn’t hunt rabbits with hounds! No, but you hunted foxes and whereas before the hunting ban, you saw lots of foxes round here, now they are very rare indeed. I don’t even smell them like I used to in the gateways, where they marked their territories.
So it’s not rocket science to see that if you have less foxes, you might well have more rabbits.
But why are the foxes declining? The only reason I can think, is that whereas some years ago, if they saw a fox, farmers and gamekeepers would leave him for the hunt, now they make sure he doesn’t get away.
Obviously, it needs a proper study, than just my personal observations.
Another reason for the increase is that years ago, country kids often used to go rabbiting, bring them home and skin them for the pot. I don’t know whether it’s still legal, but parents don’t let their fourteen-year-olds take out the 4-10 these days!
And talking of the pot! Rabbits are delicious and good for you!
So let’s make the farmers problem, someone else’s opportunity. We just need to buy them in the butchers or the supermarket. I’ll get some today in Waitrose for supper tonight.
The Coeliac Travel Problem
It was a two and a half hour journey of 155 miles home. But at least I had the top down on the Lotus, which is a great way to drive under the stars. Sadly, I didn’t see any meteorites.
I hadn’t eaten since lunch before I left and except for a fruit bar, I didn’t eat anything on the way back. I generally don’t stop in motorway service stations, as it means putting up and taking down the hood. Not that this is a problem, as it is much quicker, than those fancy electric ones you now get on convertibles, but I am just lazy.
But all of the garages on the A14 had shut their shops, so I got home hungry.
So I went to bed after a small whisky and a bag of crisps.
I should have planned better, but it is a real problem to find sensible gluten-free food to eat on the go. Especially as my fridge that plugs into the car has turned itself into just an insulated box!
Food Sell-By Dates
Melanie Reid wrote a thought provoking article for The Times yesterday on food sell-by dates. The first two paragraphs set the tone.
Made a cracking lasagne on Sunday. The cheese was several weeks old, the parsley so wilted it was borderline slimey, the tomatoes needed big mouldy bits cut off and the cream was ten days beyond its sell-by date. The mince was … well, I should really have cooked it midweek, but it was only a little bit grey.
The dish tasted terrific and no one in the house has yet died, or at least not so you’d notice. In fact, after a lifetime of scouring the fridge for leftovers and lost inspiration, I’m sure as a family we have superior immune systems and a sturdier bank balance. Though perhaps not quite as robust as that of one particular friend, who only ever buys food from the supermarket discard bin and is correspondingly able to fund a second home in France.
Today there is this response in the same paper.
Sir, Last night I played Russian roulette and won (“Hang the sell-by date: just eat and enjoy”, Melanie Reid, Notebook, Aug 11).
Tonight I might not be so lucky.
Tim J. Smith
Chief Executive
Food Standards Agency
What do I do? Use my commonsense and I’ve never had food poisoning. But for me being glutened is much more important. I’d admit I’ve done that a couple of times.
Are We Tourism Friendly?
I am going to see Ipswich play at Shrewsbury tonight. Let’s hope it’s better than Sunday.
So I thought I’d leave about lunchtime, go to the Ironbridge Gorge Museum and then have a meal in a decent restaurant before the match. Or have a decent lunch, then go to the Museum.
But!
The Ironbridge Gorge Museum shuts at five! In other words you arrive after lunch and have probably about two hours to explore. Surely, if we want to encourage people to stay at home, then museums should be open much later in the summer. Especially, as with Britain’s variable weather, we need to try just that bit harder.
As to restaurants, there is nothing in the area in the Good Food Guide. Not necessarily definitive, but it’s always a good pointer as to the eating experience. No restaurants at all, usually means nobody tries.
A Freezer from John Lewis
Eighteen months ago I bought a new freezer from John Lewis. It had a few moments, probably caused because I didn’t shut it properly, but everything inside was ruined.
The service man called and was charming, even though he knew that it was probably my fault.
But the best thing about the response from John Lewis was that they paid out for the food inside and the cheque arrived within five days of submitting the claim!
We hear so many stories of bad service, I think that sometimes we ought to post when it’s good! No very good!
Guess where I’ll be buying any appliances I need. In fact, since I bought the freezer, I’ve bought a bread maker, a microwave, a digital camera and a toaster from the same group.
The Anonymous Widower 