When the dress rehearsal became the real thing!

In April I wrote about a friend's birthday gift – delivering dinner to her. At the time I speculated about the time when we'd be able to cook for our family and friends again and “do you remember how … the birthday menu is a dress rehearsal”.

Here's the real thing.

The kids (big kids) are coming to visit – staying two nights – yippee and hurray!

Then the light began to dawn – other than planning and cooking the birthday menu I hadn't cooked and entertained guests for the best part of 18 months – gulp.

Get a grip – stick to what you know and plan a menu, from beginning to end and then make a list – or three.

I'm taking my own advice and keeping it simple – they arrive on a Sunday, not quite sure of an eta – I'm thinking early afternoon so I'll be providing an evening meal. We generally have breakfast out too so I booked a table for Monday morning.

Here goes :

Sunday's menu

Roast potatoes

Pizza

Chicken Kiev and “No Chicken Kiev”

Avocado

Beetroot Relish

Roast corn on the cob

Home-made coleslaw

Tomatoes

Lettuce and cucumber

Sweet baby peppers

Warm pitta breads

Fresh strawberries

Vanilla Swedish Glacé

At this point I should explain that my Dil, Cheryl (Dil = Daughter in law) is lactose intolerant and vegetarian.

The menu continued ...

What next for the chicken … the sandwich slaw

Here it is :

Asian Coleslaw

110g white cabbage, finely sliced – approximately

one third of a medium size cabbage

1 carrot – peeled and sliced with a

julienne peeler

1 spring onion – 15g finely sliced

if you want to create a basic slaw stash then

double the amounts given above

3-4 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp caster sugar

½ tbsp rice wine

2 tbsp lime juice

1 tbsp peanut butter

½ tsp chilli powder

4 tbsp fresh coriander

Combine all the above ingredients except the fresh coriander.

Marinade for at least an hour – 2-3 is better still!

Just before serving strain off the excess liquid, stir in the coriander and serve!

Add some sweet potato fries or wedges sprinkled with Chinese 5 Spice seasoning.

A fab idea for a weekend “dive-in” style of supper – plonk everything on the table and let everyone assemble their own favourites.

It's the simple things in life - very often the least effort produces the best food!

When the rehearsal became the real thing ...

What next with the chicken?

First and foremost – strain the stock, bag it and freeze, ready to use on another day. The strength of the stock has intensified and just gets better.

Back to the chicken and my memory is serving me well. In 2018 I shipped the original slow cooked version (stripped) up North when visiting the kids, that chicken was used to make what became known as “a sandwich for the soul”.

You now have a fast version of that chicken using the roasting bag method and who doesn't love a sandwich. The only task you have is to shred the chicken, hardly exhausting!

Here's a list of other ingredients you'll need.

At the top is good fresh bread, the sort that can be sliced into doorsteps – in other words thick slices of bread!

Then there's the “who likes what” list :

Who likes what?

It wouldn't be a sandwich without the extras, here are my

suggestions and it is not an exhaustive list!

Avocado, sliced or mashed to suit, with lemon

juice

Crispy bacon – and bits are better!

Good quality mayo

Beef tomatoes, sliced thinly

Beetroot relish or slices if you prefer

Any salad item you love – spring onions, shredded

iceberg lettuce

capers, cornichons

A slaw of your choice – up next is an Asian

recipe that will compliment your anise infused

shredded chicken

There's an old saying, Jewish in origin I'm sure, that chicken soup is good for the soul. We now have a sandwich for the soul – back then I'd never seen food disappear so quickly and, more to the point, my other benchmark, silently!

Tender, moist chicken - full of flavour – what's not to love.

… the slaw

The final catch up with the “back burner” bits

One of the most versatile of proteins is chicken – fillet in particular. If you are a regular to the blog then you'll know I'm a huge fan of slow cooking a whole chicken, particularly using star anise in the cavity.

However, sometimes you don't want the whole chicken but want the “slow cooked” tenderness and all those flavours but faster. Hold that thought … I give you, the roasting bag! Not a new invention I know but recently I tried an experiment to see whether I could replicate those slow cooked chicken anise flavours.

Have a look at the bags :

 

the cover speaks for itself!

£1.25 for 10

Here's my recipe – if you can call it that, more of an assembly!

Roasting bag chicken fillet

225g chicken stock

3 chicken breast fillets (570g)

2 roasted garlic cloves

2 tsps of star anise powder or 3 whole star anise

Pre-heat the oven 180fan/200c/Gas 6.

I found that if you place your roasting bag in a deep sided roasting tin and then follow the instructions below it keeps all the ingredients together, safely and conveniently.

Mix the star anise powder and roasted garlic together to form a paste and add to the stock. (If you're not using powdered star anise then just drop the whole spice into the bag with the garlic and the chicken). Place your chicken fillets in the roasting bag and pour in the stock, gently! Tie the end of the bag with the strip provided. Ensure that there is plenty of air in the bag and snip one end to allow the steam to escape. Bake for 40 minutes.

Have a look :

before roasting

after roasting – the stock is deep and rich

and infused with star anise

What next with the chicken?

Sally's favourite Homity Pie – the leftover pastry

I don't like wasting food and I never waste pastry.

In my kitchen I've got tart tins of all sizes – perfect for my leftovers.

Here's the tart tin I used :

the tin measures 10cms in diameter x 2.5cms deep

I had enough leftover pastry to line three

tart tins

bagged and ready for the freezer, for another day!

I had leftover filling too and yep, boxed and into the freezer.

A very satisfying use of all the ingredients and the best bit – Sally loved it!

Now for the next piece of kitchen kit ...

Sally's favourite Homity Pie – the dish

I wouldn't normally use a foil pie dish, in the interests of recycling and climate change et al but when I do I re-use them. However in this case the “pie dish” needs to be easy for Sally – easy to place on a baking sheet in and out of the oven – there's nothing more frustrating in recovery when you can't handle a container because it's too heavy – as light as possible and practical is the key.

With that in mind I sourced this dish :

a dish fit for purpose!

with the pastry lining

and then the filling

cooked and ready to eat!

Then there's the leftover pastry ...

Sally's favourite … Homity Pie

I normally make Homity Pie for special occasions – my recipe serves 12-16 depending on the size of slice! I decided to make the same amount of pastry but scale down the filling – here goes :

Sally's Homity Pie – makes 2

Pastry

200g plain wholemeal flour

100g unsalted butter

pinch of baking powder

ice cold water to bind

Rub the butter into the flour and baking powder until it resembles breadcrumbs, then gradually add a glug of water and use and round bladed knife to bring the pastry together.

You can use a processor if you prefer – I'd then tip the pastry directly onto clingfilm and bring it together to form a ball, then wrap and rest it in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Ahead of the game

Bake 3 large jacket potatoes, then cool, peel and dice finely

and place in a large mixing bowl

250g onions, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic – finely chopped or roasted

paste

1.5 tbsp rapeseed oil

salt and black pepper

2.5 tbsp of freshly chopped parsley – 1.5 tbsp for the

filling and 1 for the topping – use less if you are

using dried

150g of grated cheese – I use a mixture of mature

Cheddar, Gruyere and Red Leicester – 100g for the

filling and 50g for the topping

Sauté the onion and garlic in the oil, add to the potatoes and season with salt and black pepper. Add the cheese and parsley, mix thoroughly.

Roll out your pastry and line a greased pie dish measuring 18x14x4 cms (7x5½x1½”) .

Tip your potato mixture into the pastry case and pack it down tightly and flat – it will look as if you'll never get all the filling into the case – persevere – you will succeed.

Top with the remaining cheese and parsley.

Bake in a pre-heated oven – 190fan/170c/Gas 7 for 40 minutes – check after 20 minutes.

Next up … the pie dishes