Chicken Katsu

 

Chicken Katsu with Stir Fried Veg

No preamble this time except to say Katsu is awesome and one of my go to choices if I find myself in Wagamama’s (not their recipe). Hopefully if you’re having a go at this , Panko breadcrumbs should be easy to find in most supermarkets , if not Amazon sell them. You can take normal breadcrumbs and toast them under the grill so they’re dry and crispy but not browned, this gives them a panko like Crunch

Chicken Katsu

100g flour, seasoned with lots of salt and pepper

1 free-range egg, lightly beaten

200g Japanese panko breadcrumbs

4 boneless chicken breasts

100ml groundnut or vegetable oil

For the curry sauce:

1 tbsp groundnut or vegetable oil

1 onion, peeled and chopped

3 whole garlic cloves, peeled and chopped

2 carrots, peeled and finely chopped

2 tbsp plain flour

1 tbsp medium curry powder

600ml chicken stock

2 tsp honey

1 and ½ tbsp Soy sauce

½ tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp White wine, Cider or Rice Vinegar

1 bay leaf

1/2 tsp garam masala

To make the sauce, heat the oil in a small pan. Add the onion and garlic and sauté for 2 minutes, then throw in the carrots and cook slowly for 10 minutes with the lid on, giving the odd stir occasionally. You want to sweat the vegetables until softened and starting to caramelise.

Stir in the flour and curry powder and cook for a minute. Slowly pour in the stock bit by bit until combined (do this gradually to avoid getting lumps). Add the honey, soy sauce and bay leaf and bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to a slow simmer and cook for 20 minutes. The sauce will have thickened and taken on all of the flavours, although you still need it to have a pouring consistency. Add the garam masala, now you can pass the sauce through a sieve but that’s a lot of hard work, so I used a stick blender to create the smooth sauce, you can also use a normal blender ( I prefer the sick blender as you can blend in the pan and there’s less washing up) if you have none of those then sieve is your only option

Now prepare the chicken. Lay the seasoned flour, egg and breadcrumbs on separate plates. Coat the chicken in the flour, then dip into the egg and finally into the breadcrumbs.

Over a medium heat, heat the oil in a frying pan and fry the breaded chicken breasts for 5 minutes on each side, or until golden and cooked through. Check after a couple of mins for each side and if its starting to darken too much, then turn over. If you find that the outside is cooked but the middle isn’t, put in the oven at 180 degrees for about 3-4 mins, checking to see if its cooked. 

Another tip to check the chicken is cooked without cutting it open, a meat thermometer is the sure fire way but not everyone has one, so push a sharp knife into the fattest part of the chicken and leave there for 5 seconds, remove and gently touch the flat of the knife to your lip, if your response is ooh, that’s hot, then it’s done, if it feels cold or Luke warm , it needs a few mins more

Remove from the pan with a slotted spoon and leave to drain on kitchen paper. Slice the chicken diagonally and serve with the sauce drizzled over, steamed rice 

Bonus Recipe – Stir Fried Veg

Ok so this is a bit of guidance as opposed to a recipe but hopefully if you’re thinking of a simple side dish to the above this will work for you

2 Large Handfuls of shredded Veg. What Veg is up to you, the key is cutting everything thin and to the same size, Normally I’d use Pak Choi, Cabbage, carrot and Mange tout , however Sainsburys were out of Pak Choi but I spotted a cut price box of pre-prepped veg for stir frying for 90p, so couldn’t go wrong. The box had onion, edamame beans, red onion and broccoli, so up to you really

1 Large Garlic clove finely chopped

1 tsp finely chopped Ginger

2 good splashes of Soy Sauce 

100 ml Veg Stock

A couple of Small drops of sesame oil (optional)

Heat a wok or frying pan until really hot and smoking, add about a teaspoon of Veg, Rapeseed or groundnut oil and swirl around

Chuck in the Garlic and Ginger fry for about 10 seconds

Add the veg and stir round, moving the veg all the time so the veg is coated in the ginger and garlic

Add a couple of good glugs of soy sauce, stir again

Add the veg stock and continue to stir until the veg is cooked, about 3 -5 mins. Ideally you want veg to still have bite but not raw and definitely not soggy, finish with sesame oil if using

Transfer to a serving plate and sprinkle with sesame seeds

Lamb and Spinach Spanakopita

Lamb and Spinach Spanakopita

I’ll start this by admitting I’m not a great fan of Greek food, there I said it. Now before you start to raise the levels of fume to that of a middle Englander watching footage of Dinghy’s bobbing in the channel, allow me to explain. My times in the Hellenic islands, have been by and large, restricted to the oh so touristy spots, where countless sea front eateries offer up the same tired plates, namely grilled meat with tzatziki. However, if you look closely, you’ll find the odd gem that amongst all the Souvlaki and Gyros, such as the occasional Stifado or Kleftiko, which if you’re willing to break from the norm, are a delight. The same can be said for Spanakopita. If you’re one of those people who looks at the main ingredients and thinks Nah not for me, then I encourage you stay open minded for a little longer. On the face of it the idea of a cold or room temperature cooked Lamb dish doesn’t sound that appealing but when you add buttery onions, gentle spicing, sharp feta and cooling mint, all wrapped in crunchy pastry, this might change your mind

Like my last post this is a recipe taken more or less word for word from Good Magazine 

 

 

Filling

2 Tbsp Olive Oil

800g Lamb Shoulder cut into cubes

500ml Lamb stock

1 Cinnamon Stick

1 Bay leaf

1 Tbsp Butter

1 Large (or 2 small) onion sliced

2 Cloves of Garlic crushed

1 tsp ground coriander

1 Tbsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground cinnamon

500g Spinach

150g feta crumbled

½ small bunch of mint chopped

2 tbsp pine nuts toasted

1 egg lightly beaten

 

Pastry Case

100g Melted butter

270G filo pastry

2 tbsp sesame seeds

 

Heat half the oil in a casserole pot over. Medium heart and fry the lamb for 5-7 mins or until deep brown all over. Cover with the stock and the cinnamon stick and the bay leaf, bring to a simmer, cover and cook for 1 ½ hours until the lamb is tender and falling apart

Heat the remaining oil and the butter in a large frying pan with a pinch of salt

 For 15-20 mins until golden and sticky. Add the garlic and the spices and cook for 3 mins more. Remove the lamb from the stewing liquid, reserve the liquid , transfer to a chopping board and shred with 2 forks , stir the meat into the onions with around 50ml of the stewing liquid.

Put the spinach in a pan with 1tbsp of water and cook for 3-4 mins or until wilted. Wrap in a clean tea towel and squeeze out the excess liquid. Roughly chop the spinach and stir into the lamb and onion mixture along with the feta and onion, mint and egg, season.

 

Heat the oven to 200 degrees and brush a round 22cm spring form cake tin, layer 4 sheets of filo then brush with melted butter. Spoon the filling and fold the over hanging pastry over the top . Scrunch the remaining pastry over the top of the pie and brush with the remaining butter

, sprinkle with sesame seeds. Bake for 40-45 mins or until golden and crisp. Serve at room temperature or cold

Harissa Cauliflower Pilaf

First thing to admit here is that this recipe is straight out of Good Food Magazine so I’m not calling it my own and the only thing I changed is I removed Dill because, well Dill is awful stuff but each to their own eh

Now whilst I’m not averse to meat free meals, I haven’t really posted many veggie dishes and although I do try to eat less meat it’s usually some form of curry that bubbles away on the stove

These days though you can’t move for vegan and veggie evangelists urging people to go more plant based. To be fair they have a point, too much meat is not good for you or the planet. I suppose one the best things to come out of this new movement is the range of plant based dishes is ever expanding, which can only be a good thing , right?

Roasting the Cauliflower first gives a nice crunchy texture and adds a nuttiness to the dish that works well with the sweeter elements and its tied together with that spicy harissa kick

300g Basmati Rice

1 Red onion finely sliced

2 Lemons, 1 juiced, 1 cut into wedges

2 tsp sugar

4 tbsp Harissa

1 Garlic clove crushed

1 Tbsp. Olive Oil

1 Large or 2 Medium Cauliflower, broken into large florets and stalk chopped, Large leaves roughly chopped

Pinch of Saffron

2 Bay leaves

700 ml Vegetable stock

100g Sultanas

100g Flaked Almonds, toasted until golden brown

400g Chickpeas, drained and rinsed

50g Pomegranate seeds

Wash the rice really well then leave to soak for at least an hour

Put the onion, sugar with a pinch of salt and toss in the lemon juice, leave to pickle

Heat the oven to 200C. Whisk 2 tbsp of the harissa the garlic and the oil in a large bowl then add the cauliflower and toss till its all coated. Season then tip into a roasting tin, roast for 20 mins until golden brown

Meanwhile mix the saffron, bay leaves, stock and the rest of the harissa, keep on a low heat whilst the cauli roasts

Remove the cauli from the oven, tip into a dish and squeeze over the juice of one lemon wedge. Drain the rice and tip into the roasting tin, pour over the stock and mix well, stir in the sultanas, half the almonds, the chickpeas and half the cauliflower. Cover the tin with a double layer of foil, sealing well then bake for 30 mins until the rice is tender and the stock is absorbed.

Fluff up the rice with a fork, then fold in the remaining cauliflower. Scatter over the remaining almonds and the pomegranate seeds. The sprinkle on the pickled onions and squeeze the remaining Lemon Wedges

Sausage, Nduja and Fennel Pasta

I’ll be honest Ndjua is a new thing to me, in fact I’ve only been aware that it’s “A Thing” for a couple of years now. If you too are unaware of its existence, I’ll try to explain. Nduja is a spicy Italian spreadable salami, I’ve only seen it in Jars, but I guess it probably comes in a traditional salami shape as well. The taste is sweet spicy and carries herbal note that I can’t quite explain but safe to say it’s very very tasty but in moderation. My previous exposure had been on a pizza, pretty much mostly pizza outlets have whacked on a bit of Nduja because apparently its rather on trend or maybe not, to be frank, I really don’t care.

Right then, my creation. As mentioned, pizza seems to be the vehicle of choice and I wanted to try something different but sticking to the Italian theme I opted for Pasta.

Using the Nduja as a sauce ingredient I bolstered the meat content with some actual bona fide sausage, to add depth I went for the usual wine for piquancy plus fennel to add depth and an interesting background flavour. The result is a moderately spicy pasta that’s slightly sweet, and herby with a tang at the end to make you want more.

Ingredients – 4 People

4 Good quality Pork Sausages

2 heaped teaspoons of Nduja Paste

1 teaspoon of Ground Fennel seeds

1 Carrot finely chopped

Half a Celery stalk finely chopped

Half a glass of white whine

1 Tablespoon of tomato puree

1 Medium size onion diced

2 cloves of Garlic finely chopped

500 ml of Chicken Stock

Pasta of your choice – I went with Fusilli

Remove the skin from the sausages and break into small chunks

In a large frying pan gently brown the sausage bits and then remove from the pan placing to one side

Add the chopped onion, season and gently fry until soft. Turn up the heat, add the Carrot, Celery, Fennel and Garlic , season again and fry for 1-2 minutes. Now stir through the Nduja until well combined. Add the tomato puree, cook for a 30 seconds or so, then stir well to make sure all ingredients are combined. Add the wine and using a wooden spoon or spatula make sure you get all the brown bits at the bottom of the pan released, continue until the wine has all but evaporated and stir in the stock and add a little more seasoning

Bring to a slow simmer then add back in the browned sausage, once simmering again partly cover and cook for 20-30 mins , until the carrots are soft. Once cooked, check again for seasoning

When the sauce is about 10 mins away (or cooked, you can leave it to simmer gently) bring a pan of water to the boil, add plenty of salt and cook the pasta to instructions. If your sauce looks a little dry whilst the pasta Is cooking put a ladle of the pasta water into the sauce, stir well and it should look luxuriously silky again

Drain the pasta well and in the pan add a good glug of olive oil plus a lot of black pepper. Stir well.

At this point you can either ladle the sauce into the pan with the cooked pasta, stir well and serve. Or you can dish out pasta onto plates/bowls and ladle sauce on top.

Finish each dish with a grated parmesan and chopped basil