Poultry Recipes.
Poultry recipes vary so much and there are so many things you can do with chicken, duck, turkey, etc. Poultry is an ingredient used in most countries cooking, from Indian to Chinese, Italian to Malaysian, Thai to American cooking and beyond!
It is worth knowing that on the Isle of Wight there is no poultry farm currently! All the supermarkets, wholesalers and other retailers bring the chicken over to sell. I enjoy using chicken because it is a great foil to the various styles I like to cook. My favourite recipes include Thai Lemongrass chicken with a sweet chilli dip and Chinese style Hoisin Chicken drumettes. Both canapes or you can scale them up for a main course. Chicken in a Red Pepper Sauce, and the first recipe, an Italian style dish.
Most of all, I like recipes to be as simple as possible and poultry lends itself to that approach. Chicken meat is predominately a consistent light flavour and can take a great deal of spices, herbs and other flavourings to make a great dish. Duck is a bit stronger, along with Pheasant. Thee can take stronger flavours.
Included in this category are the other poultry ingredients, such as duck, game, turkey, and so on. I have cooked many of these, creating some fabulous flavours on a plate. I particularly like using duck as, again, it is a versatile ingredient. It takes Chinese flavours really well as classic French recipes, Duck a la Orange and Duck with Raspberry Jus.
I will add more recipes to this catgeory as time goes by.
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Chicken Breast with Baby Spinach, Rocket, Tomato, and Strawberry Salad
This is a simple recipe, and there is not much preparation required. A chicken breast flattened, pan fried or grilled on a BBQ, served with a simple salad and dressing. Perfect for summer days as a lunch or early dinner. Most of the Isle of Wight farm shops will have the chicken and IOW Tomatoes as well as local salad crops during the summer. The combination of young spinach leaves and rocket make a great tasting base to the salad, peppery and sharp. If you cannot find spinach or rocket, then use your favourite salad leaves.
Sumac is a lovely spice which has a tangy, lemony base note that add something special to a summer recipe like this one. From the genus of the cashew plant is has been used for centuries to add its distinctive flavour to many dishes. The Phoenicians used it before the Romans introduced lemons. Much used in Arabic and Mediterranean cooking, it is also used as a dye and for its medicinal qualities.
You can scale the recipe for the number of people you are serving. I like to serve this with small roasted potatoes, or, crushed and buttered new potatoes, or some pasta coated in olive oil and some parmesan cheese.
The chicken with just the salad, is a perfect summer lunch when served with a cold glass of Pecorino, or Sauvignon Blanc. Enjoy it with your favourite cold drink!
Ingredients
- 2 chicken breasts
- 1 tsp of Sumac to sprinkle on the top of the chicken
- 1 clove garlic crushed
- Half a red chili no seeds finely chopped or ½ tsp of chili flakes
- 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 100 g/3½oz mix of baby spinach & rocket leaves
- 175 g/6oz strawberries stalks removed and sliced in half or quarters depending on size
- 100 g/4oz Isle of Wight baby tomatoes the mixed colour’s look great with this recipe
- Shavings of Parmesan or Pecorino cheese or grated for topping the chicken and salad
- 4 tbsp of Olive oil
- Sea salt and black pepper
Instructions
- Put the chicken breasts between 2 pieces of clingfilm, and using a rolling pin, gently bash the chicken to a thickness of 1 cm/½ inch. Rub each of the chicken breasts with olive oil and season with the Sumac, the salt and pepper.
- Put the oven on at 180C, 160C Fan, Gas Mark 4, just in case you need to cook the chicken a bit more, and to keep it warm for a few minutes if you are cooking a larger number of chicken breasts.
- Now make your dressing. In a small bowl whisk together the finely grated garlic, chili, balsamic vinegar and 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Heat up a heavy bottomed frying pan over a medium-high heat. Cook the chicken breasts for around 4 minutes each side, flipping once, until browned and cooked through. You could cook the chicken on a BBQ, cook for 4-5 minutes on either side.
- To check if the chicken is cooked, slice open and check no pink flesh remains. If there is, continue to cook the chicken in the oven until you are happy it is cooked through. You could use a food thermometer to check it is over 74C or above and is white in the middle. When the chicken is cooked, you can serve it whole or transfer the chicken to a chopping board, and slice into around 5 pieces on a 45-degree angle.
- Toss the spinach, rocket, tomatoes, and strawberries with around 2 tablespoons of dressing so everything is lightly coated. Pile up on serving plates and top with the cooked sliced chicken. Drizzle the remainder of the dressing over the sliced chicken and top each dish with the shavings of cheese.
CHICKEN IN LEMON, HONEY AND THYME
This way of cooking chicken is simple and results in a moist piece of meat.
Ingredients
- Mix the marinade ingredients together.
- Cover each to the thighs in the marinade. Turn once or twice whilst they marinade. Leave overnight to ensure they absorb as much flavour are possible
- Pre-heat the oven to 200C. Put the chicken and the marinade in a covered ovenproof dish and cover with foil. Cook for approximately 30 minutes. Remove and cook on the BBQ for as long as needed to get the great colour from cooking on coals.
- The reason for pre-cooking the chicken is to ensure that you avoid any risks of food poisoning associated with Chicken. BBQ’s are the biggest risk for undercooked chicken.
Instructions
- Mix the marinade ingredients together.
- Cover each to the thighs in the marinade. Turn once or twice whilst they marinade. Leave overnight to ensure they absorb as much flavour are possible
- Pre-heat the oven to 200C. Put the chicken and the marinade in a covered ovenproof dish and cover with foil. Cook for approximately 30 minutes. Remove and cook on the BBQ for as long as needed to get the great colour from cooking on coals.
- The reason for pre-cooking the chicken is to ensure that you avoid any risks of food poisoning associated with Chicken. BBQ’s are the biggest risk for undercooked chicken.
Notes
Serves 4
CHERMOULA
Chermoula is a marinade, perfect for meat, fish, or firm vegetables.
Mainly found in countries in North Africa. There are many variations of this recipe using ingredients like fresh ginger, preserved lemon, and others. It is like a pesto that can be used with almost anything. You can keep it in a tight lidded jar in the fridge for a week, or portion it into 4-5 tablespoons in a small container and freeze.
The paprika will give it a deeper green colour, if you use turmeric, it will look a little more orange or yellow in colour.
Remember to taste as you make this. You need to balance the salt, garlic, lemon, and herbs into a rounded flavour.
Ingredients
- 1 large bunch coriander
- 1 large bunch parsley
- 2 tbsp cumin seeds toasted and crushed in a mortar
- 2 tbsp sweet paprika or smoked sweet paprika
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper
- 4 cloves garlic
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 90 ml/3 fl oz olive oil + extra for thinning down if making a marinade
- 1 tsp sea salt
Instructions
- Place all the ingredients in a food mixer and blend to a rough paste.
- Check the taste often.
Notes
Makes approx 6 portions
Preparation time: 10 minutes
CHERMOULA CHICKEN WITH RICE
A simple and tasty dish to use the Chermoula! The Chermoula recipe is simple and delicious. Chicken, fish and vegetables will taste wonderful with this marinade.
Ingredients
- 2 chicken breast fillets cut into large pieces
- ½ a large onion cut into dice
- ½ a red and yellow pepper de-seeded and diced
- 70 g basmati rice
- 3 tablespoons of olive oil
- ¼ quantity of your Chermoula mix
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- Marinade the chicken pieces in the chermoula for a couple of hours or overnight.
- Fry the onion and the peppers in 2 tablespoons of the oil, until soft. Leave in the pan on a low heat.
- Cook the rice, by heating a tablespoon of oil in a pan. Keep stirring the rice to coat it with the oil. As the pan heats the rice will turn white, once it all looks like that, add cold water to halfway up the pan. Allow the water to come to the boil, turn the heat down and let is simmer for about 10 minutes. Taste a rice kernel and if it is soft and the rice has absorbed most of the water, you can drain the rice.
- Start cooking the chicken pieces in a frying pan. Have the heat medium hot and the pieces will start to brown quickly. Keep turning the chicken and after 10 minutes they should be cooked.
- Add the rice to pan with the onion and peppers. Stir and mix, then put on a plate or dish.
- Top with the chicken pieces and garnish with some coriander leaves.
Notes
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 15 minutes
Serves 2
Cooking time: 15 minutes
Serves 2