Honey glazed bacon wrapped chicken breast.

Got home from work and though what to cook. I wanted something slightly sweet but with a nice kick. I had some chicken breast spare from cutting down some chickens for stock, some bacon and a cupboard stocked with odds n sods.

This was a bit of safe experimentation as I've made honey glazed chicken a few times and wrapping it in bacon isn't that much of a leap. The special bit was the sticky sweet sauce made from the cooking juices, some Marsala and a little bit of red wine. The results, when added to some boils new potatoes and vegetables was a very tasty and quick tea.

Ingredients

• 1 Chicken breast
• 3 rashers of unsalted back bacon
• 2 tbsp of Marsala for the cooking
• 3 tbsp of Marsala for the sauce
• 1 tsp chilli flakes, don't add too much the heat isn't the point
• 3 tsp clear runny honey
• 2 tsp balsamic vinegar
• good knob of butter

Directions

1. lay the rashers of bacon so they are just overlapping
2. sprinkle most of the chilli flakes over the bacon, leaving a little for the chicken
3. drizzle on some honey, about half
4. place the chicken breast on the bacon and wrap the bacon around it. don't worry if it doesn't go all the way around as it allows the edges to crisp up
5. find a small baking dish and put the vinegar and Marsala in the bottom
6. place the chicken on top and sprinkle on the remainder of the flakes
7. drizzle the remainder of the honey over this
8. add a knob of butter on the top
9. Place in the over, 180 for 25 minutes
10. The potatoes need to go on almost the same time but don't cook the veg too much
11. When the chicken is cooked, feels firm to touch when squeezed with a slight spring or bounce, take out and let rest.
12. in the baking dish add in the wine and more Marsala then heat and reduce to a think sauce, keep stirring all the time

enjoy

 

Thai Green Chicken Curry

The base of this uses a green curry paste, I use the Mai Ploy which is the one most thai places use. However, if you want to make your own you with need:

Fish Paste, Shallots, Garlic, Green Chilli, Galangal, Coriander Roots, fish sauce, palm sugar, Lemongrass, Kaffir Lime Leaves, Lime Juice.

You will need to vary the amounts of each of these to suit your taste, but put them all in a blender until smooth. Use the Fish Sauce to add a little liquid to help the process. Don’t add too much as this is meant to be a thick paste.



Ingredients

•

• 2 Tbsp Oil (Groundnut or Rapeseed)
  
• 2-3 Tbsp Mai Ploy green curry paste
• 2 Tbsp Fish Sauce
• Juice of 1 Lime
• 2 Kaffir Lime Leaves (Optional)
• 5 Thai Basil Leaves (Optional)
• 1 x Tin of Coconut Milk
• 3 Tbsp Palm Sugar or Honey
• Bamboo Shoots (optional)
• Bean Sprouts (optional)
• Green Beans (optional)
• 300g Chicken or Fish or Tofu
• 300ml Chicken of Veg stock
• 2-3 Fresh Sliced chillies (optional)
• Coriander for garnish

Directions

1. Place the oil in heated pan
2. Add the Curry paste and cook off until it starts to brown and dry
3. Add half the coconut milk and bring to boil
4. Add the chicken and cook for ten minutes before adding the vegetables.
5. If using fish or tofu, add about five minutes after the veg so not to overcook
6. As the sauce begins to thicken add more coconut milk and stock as required to keep to sauce light.
7. Allow a couple of minutes to cool before serving and garnish with some Chilli and coriander

 

Massaman Beef Curry and Coconut Jasmine rice

I hadn't made this for a while and had some spare shin of beef left in the fridge. So with some decent Mao Ploy Massaman curry paste, red chillies etc, thought I could use up some of the cupboard stock ingredients near their use by date.

The best trick I've learned with Jasmine rice is to give it a good long soak before using it, it really makes a big difference. The other is when using meat give it a good covering of the Mao Ploy a good hour before cooking.

ingredients for Four

• 3 Tbsp of Mao Ploy Massaman or red curry paste
• 2 good sized potatoes cut into bite size pieces
• 1 Large White Onion cut into small chunks
• fresh Fruit, pineapple, figs, apricots, apples or a mixture of all three about half the size of the meat chunks
• 500g of good quality beef, or better still slow cook some shin of beef or beef cheeks and add later. Cut into bite size chunks.
• 2 x 400ml Tin of coconut Milk
• 2 tsp Tamarind paste, or tamarind water from the soaked pulp
• 2 tbsp of Fish Sauce
• Palm sugar to taste
• 1 Sweet pepper for garnish
• Handful of Unsalted Peanuts
• 400ml Good quality stock
• 1 Stick of lemon grass
• Jasmine Rice for 4

Direction

1. soak the rice overnight in cold water then rinse off before adding the crushed lemongrass and 1 tin of coconut milk for another 2 hours.
2. Cut all the ingredients into bite size pieces
3. In a hot pan, add a small amount of oil and the Mao ploy paste and cook of for a few seconds, this releases the oils in the paste
4. add a code of tablespoons of coconut milk and continue to cook off the paste
5. Add the meat, reducing the heat so as not to burn the ingredients and cook for a few minutes, until the meat is cooked on the outside. If using fish add it towards the end of the cooking so as not to overcooked.
6. add the rest of the milk and the stock and bring to a boil
7. add all the other ingredients and cook until the potatoes are soft, reducing the heat to a nice simmer.
8. Add the garnish just before serving
9. Take the curry off the meat and allow to rest for ten minutes
10. cook the rice in a pan, adding a little water if the rice is uncooked but no liquor remains, use some good quality stock to add extra flavour.
11. serve with some crackers and a nice chilled beer.