moro’s roast chicken with preserved lemon

i decided to use my chicken to make the moro roast chicken with preserved lemon, as suggested by lillyanne. i also made a preserved lemon and broad bean pilaf to go with it.

the chicken itself was fabulous – i’ve been put off buying chicken recently as no matter how careful i am about sourcing them the birds often look like they have bruises or freezer burn which makes me worried about the way they were kept and killed (i’m sure there is a proper way of describing this but my mind has gone blank!).

anyway, the able & cole chicken was a nice colour, non-bruised and tasted delicious. i also loved the fact that it came complete with giblets which meant we had great gravy and i treated myself to devilled chicken liver on toast for brunch the following day.

the moro marinade – garlic, lemon, cumin and sweet paprika – gave the chicken a fabulous flavour and really lifted the meal out of a gloomy chilly london and towards somewhere more mediterranean and springlike. i liked it a lot – thanks for the suggestion lillyanne!

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ready, steady, chook!

 

abel & cole have very kindly sent me one of their environmentally friendly soya-free chickens (follow the link to find out why they think soya-free feeds are important) and i thought it would be fun to let you chose how i cook it!

it’s a whole bird with giblets. what should i make? something you’ve been wanting to try but are a bit intimidated by or just haven’t got round to? something you lreally ove and think i should try? any and all ideas welcome, especially those that involve using the giblets! and, as long as there are at least six ideas to choose from, i promise to do (at least) one of them!

i’m going to cook the bird next weekend so you’ve got a week to let me know what you think...

sweet chilli chicken

last weekend we invited friends round to help us turn our new house into a home. it‘s amazing but the simple act of welcoming our friends and spending time catching up over a plate of food and a glass of wine really has made the place feel different. it's now very definitely our home.

it was also a great opportunity to get myself out of the cooking rut i have been in, and back into my recipe books and kitchen.

like many foodies, i am constantly printing off recipes i want to try, or tearing them out of newspapers and magazines. these are stored in an ever-growing collection of files. there is also a large notebook which was the first place i started putting my recipes (while i was still at university) and it was from this that i chose what to cook.

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easy spanish chicken

this was a very quick and simple supper. chicken thighs and new potatoes, roasted together for 35-40 minutes. but, to make it a bit different i mixed the new potatoes with some crushed garlic and smoked paprika and slid slices of chorizo between the skin and meat of each chicken thigh. a drizzle of olive oil and the juice of a lemon, before going into the oven, were the final touches to this quick roasted supper with an abundance of spanish warmth.

chicken tagine with green olives and preserved lemon

 

something that i often have in the freezer is packs of chicken thighs and i’m always thinking about different ways to cook them. this week the winning choice involved north african flavours and the development of a dish that i’ll definitely be making again.

the gentle richness of the chicken contrasted with the fresh piquancy of the preserved lemons and it is definitely worth using them.

preserved lemons last for ages so don’t be put off from making or buying them. if you want to buy them i like the belazu brand. and while you’re looking at their lemons, their rose harissa and smoked chilli jelly are great too. the chilli jelly is particularly lovely with strong cheddar and oat biscuits!

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