With oil and gas prices going through the roof, adding not only to our own daily wallets, but also to the cost of food and its distribution, it is even more important to shop locally and seasonally. Forget strawberries from Spain, beans from Mexico and tomatoes from Tunisia and see what your nearby farm shops and greengrocers are selling.
It’s also the time to make the most of whatever food you buy so this a selection of what you can do with one chicken – so you can have a roast for one! The first recipe obviously will feed more than you – but follow the recipe as it is as you need all that you don’t eat first for the other recipes. If you don’t want to make the soup straight away (you may be all chickened out by the third day) just boil the carcass with an onion and carrot, strain and freeze for when you do.
COCONUT AND LIME ROASTED CHICKEN
- 65g cooked rice
- 1 lemon grass stalk, finely chopped
- 2cm piece ginger, grated
- 2 garlic cloves
- Chopped coriander
- 2 – 3 kaffir lime leaves, chopped
- 60g shredded coconut, toasted
- Medium to large chicken
- 45g brown sugar
- 60ml fish sauce
- 60ml lime juice
Preheat oven 180oC
Chop lemongrass, ginger and garlic, coriander and lime leaves finely. Add to the cooked rice with the coconut and mix well. Spoon into the chicken cavity. Pour 500ml of water into a roasting pan with the fish sauce and brown sugar and stir to dissolve. Place the chicken, breast side down in the pan and roast for 40 minutes, basting occasionally. Turn the chicken and roast for a further 40 minutes, basting again. To serve, pour the lime juice over. Whilst the chicken is resting, I thicken the pan juices with a little chicken/vegetable gravy granules.
You can add all sort of different spice to the rice mix – experiment!
SWEET AND SOUR CHICKEN AND PINEAPPLE SALAD
- Leftover chicken meat shredded
- pineapple cut into chunks
- 1 – 2 spring onions chopped
- pak choi separated and shredded (you could also use spinach/lettuce)
- ¼ cucumber halved lengthways, deseeded and sliced
- a handful of leaves coriander
- to serve sesame seeds (optional)
DRESSING
- 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
- 1 lime juiced
- 1 tsp runny honey
- 1 red chilli finely chopped
Mix together the dressing ingredients and season. Put all the salad ingredients, except the coriander, in a bowl, add the dressing and toss well. Add the coriander and toss again. Serve sprinkled with sesame seeds, if you like.
Anything-you-Have Coconut Curry Soup – the best soup using leftover veg and chicken carcass.
- 1 tablespoon of olive oil
- 1 chopped onion
- 1 -2 cloves garlic, smashed
- small knob of ginger, grated
- 1 tablespoon red curry paste
- 1 tablespoon turmeric
- salt to taste
- 1 dessertspoon sugar
- 1 14 ounce can of coconut milk
- 1 pint stock made from boiling the leftover chicken carcass
- the fun part – any vegetables you have in the house! You can add:
- potatoes/sweet potatoes/parsnips/carrots/courgettes/peppers/mushrooms/spinach
Heat the oil in a large pot over a medium heat. Add the onion, garlic and ginger and stir fry for a few minutes. Add the curry paste, turmeric, salt and sugar. Stir fry again to combine. Add the coconut milk and stock – and whatever lost vegetables you have found! Simmer until soft, blend to silky smooth and serve with some crispy fried onions and/or coriander on top.
This, too, will make than soup for one – but isn’t always nice to have some in the freezer for a rainl day when you don’t feel like cooking?
Ailsa cooks for One 