Your chicken stash

You could use the remains from your Sunday roast chicken or if you wanted to create the basics for heaps of dishes you could slow cook a whole chicken

Slow Cook a Whole Chicken

1 chicken – between 1.5kg – 1.75kg

1 chicken stock pot

2 tsps of garlic paste or 1 garlic stock pot

generous sprinkle of oregano or garlic

Italian seasoning

OR

Alternatively use two whole star anise in the cavity

and omit the herbs

Place your chicken in the slow cooker and mix the stock pot with the garlic paste and spread over the chicken. Sprinkle with the herbs OR add the whole star anise to the cavity and omit the herbs. Switch your slow cooker to the low setting and leave it for 8 hours.

Strain the stock and freeze the resultant liquid gold if you're not using it, strip the chicken, keeping aside what you need and then bag and freeze the remainder.

You'll get approximately 250ml of stock from the chicken.

If you want to make your own stock - use a large saucepan, cover the carcass with water and any veggie stock you've got and bring to the boil, turn it down to a simmer and let it do its magic for 30/45 minutes. Strain the stock, cool, cover and set aside until you're ready – you may find more chicken to add to your stash.

You don't have to make your own chicken stock – I use Knorr Stock Pots – chicken or vegetable – if need be. These days you can get a “meat-free” chicken stock pot.

I always have leftover Charlotte potatoes in my fridge – an ideal way of avoiding waste!

You'll get cooked chicken too for sandwiches and a slaw or a curry, with noodles or a stir fry – the world is your lobster.

Or even a pie ...

Ease into Autumn …

… with a comfort blanket.

It has to mean soup – what could be better than a steaming bowl of your choice!

How about “chicken soup for the soul” – it makes you feel better when you're having a bad day! It's also a perfect way to use scraps of leftover chicken - remove the chicken left on the legs and wings – and anywhere else. Dice, box and fridge - ready for later.

Here's the recipe :

Cream of Chicken Soup

Serves 4

30g unsalted butter

1 large onion, finely chopped

1 clove of garlic – preferably roasted

500ml chicken stock

250ml whole milk

celery salt and white pepper

diced chicken stash

garnish of grated nutmeg

50-75ml double (heavy) cream

200g Charlotte potatoes, peel and cut

into small dice

a handful of frozen petit pois

Heat the butter in a large saucepan. Add the onion and garlic and sauté gently for 2-3 minutes – there should be no colour, season with celery salt. Add the stock and diced potatoes and simmer gently for 15 minutes then add the milk and simmer again for 10 minutes Remove from the heat and allow to cool. Blitz 2/3 ladles of the soup until thick and return to the pan. Add the cream, nutmeg, peas, ground white pepper and chicken - heat gently until piping hot.

Don't forget to warm the soup bowls.

Here it is :

chicken soup for the soul – a generous

serving for supper - add good bread for dunking!

Freeze any leftover, ready to use on a cold winter day!

Hmm … your chicken stash

Three Cheese Pastizzi Photos

Here they are :

A perfect pillow of cheese and puff pastry

Two bites – gone!

Happy picnicking!

An alternative Pastizzi!

 

Three Cheese Pastizzi

If you don't want to go to the trouble of making the Pea Pastizzi, there's a simpler Three Cheese Pastizzi version – here it is :

Three Cheese Pastizzi

for 20 pastries

2 x 320g puff pastry sheets – 10 per sheet

10cm/4” cutter

300g/12oz ricotta cheese

70g/2oz grated Mozzarella

40g/1oz Parmesan, finely grated

½ tsp of Dijon mustard

celery salt and black pepper

1 egg, beaten – half to add to the mixture

half to seal and egg wash

Mash the ricotta in a medium mixing bowl until it's smooth – use a fork. Season with the mustard, salt and black pepper, stir and add half the beaten egg – mix well. Cover and fridge until ready for use.

Take your sheets out of the fridge and allow them to warm up – you'll get a cracked and split sheet if you try to unroll straight away.

Roll out the sheet – initially you should get six circles – gather the remnants and re-roll for a further four.

Place a level tablespoon of mixture in the middle of each circle. Brush half the circle with the beaten egg and fold up to seal. Edge the seal with a pastry fork and then egg wash.

Pre-heat your oven 200fan/220c/Gas 7.

Bake the pastizzi for 20 minutes.

If you'd prefer to make ahead and freeze, place the uncooked pastizzi on a tray lined with baking paper. Freeze for 2/3 hours or until firm and then transfer to a strong freezer bag – store for up to a month.

To cook – Pre-heat your oven as above. Flour two baking trays and place the frozen pastizzi, egg wash and then bake for 20 minutes or until golden and cooked through.

The method of assembly is exactly as for the pea pastizzi so I'm not going to repeat it. Photos of the mixture et al that you haven't seen are up next.

Pastizzi - onion and spice mix …

... and the method

Heat the oil in a large frying pan until hot. Cook the onion and garlic for 5 minutes or until soft. Add the curry powder, celery salt and black pepper and fry for a further 30 seconds. Place in a container with a lid, cool and then fridge until ready for use.

The photos so far :

Take your pastry sheets out of the fridge and allow them to get to room temperature – you'll get a cracked and split sheet if you try to unroll straight away.

You will need two baking trays, floured and a round straight sided cutter 10cms/4” in diameter. Unroll the sheet – initially you should get six circles – gather the remnants and re-roll for a further four - a total of 10 pastizzi per sheet.

Place a level tablespoon of mixture in the middle of each circle. Brush half the circle with the beaten egg and fold up to seal. Edge the seal with a pastry fork and then egg wash. Do not overfill – use your pastry fork to flatten the filling, it will make it easier to fold and seal – follow the instructions and photos given in “The pastry fork and the dainty” and “The “dew” and the dainty bake” if you'd like to see a step by step photo guide.

The beauty of using a sheet is that it's already flat

– I'd give it a quick once over with a rolling pin just

for the fun of it

Ready for the oven!

Pre-heat your oven 200fan/220c/Gas 7.

Bake the pastizzi for 20 minutes.

Here they are, fresh out of the oven and then cut in half – let them cool!

You'll need 20 of these perfect little pastries – they'll disappear very quickly or you could freeze half the batch for another day!

Alternatively if you're not a lover of peas or taking the time, try the Three Cheese version ...

Perfect Picnic Pastries!

 

Pastizzi

Pastizzi are traditional small pies or more accurately pastries usually made with mushy peas or ricotta cheese, these delicious snacks are baked in a pastizzeria – small family businesses usually found in the Mediterranean – and sold in bars, cafés and by street sellers – long before street food became fashionable and perfect for a picnic.

If you like the idea of miniature pies or pastries but don't have the time or the inclination to make pastry, then I may have the answer. Our old friend the puff pastry sheet!

This recipe is for a curried pastizzi and comes in two stages, soaking and cooking the peas and then adding the onion and spice mix.

Makes 20 pastizzi

2 x 320g Puff pastry sheets

2 eggs, beaten to seal the pastries and

egg wash

175g split peas

1 tbsp of rapeseed oil

1 small brown onion, finely diced

2 cloves of roasted garlic

3 tsps of curry powder – mild or medium

celery salt and black pepper

The mushy peas

You can buy quick soak dried peas, they only take two hours. Incidentally here's your source of fibre not to mention low fat and low sugar. You get two bicarb soaking tablets – why two - so that if you decide to soak half the quantity you have a tablet for each half. A whole packet of peas is 250g.

Soaking

Tip the peas into a medium/large mixing bowl, with the soaking tablets and pour 850ml/1½ pints of boiling water over the peas. Stir them and leave for two hours, drain and rinse.

Cooking on the stove

Place the peas in a medium/large saucepan and add 425ml/¾ pint of boiling water. Add a teaspoon of sugar and salt. Boil gently for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally until the water has been absorbed or the peas are tender. Transfer the peas to a container with a cover and when cooled fridge until ready for use. You may find it useful to cook the peas the day before you want to use them.

You don't have to add the onion and spice mix – it's entirely a matter of taste.

Coming next … the onion and spice mix and the method.

The Tart - a plan, the prep and a photo or three!

The plan is to make the pastry case in the middle of the week when I have time and then wrap and freeze. I can promise you that this pastry recipe is the easiest you'll make and is very kind – by that I mean that you have to work very hard indeed to make a mess of it!

I'll weigh out the cheeses, they can all go into the same bag and then fridge, ready to add the remainder of the filling. The onions can be softened, boxed and fridged, ready to use.

On the morning, combine the filling ingredients, take your pastry case from the freezer, add the filling, cover and fridge until you're ready to bake. To serve your tart warm you need to bake it for 40 minutes and allow for resting, so you need to work backwards from when you're expecting your guests to arrive. If all else fails set your kitchen timer, just in case you get sidetracked!

Here's the pastry case

Here it is again, wrapped ready to freeze

Hey presto – the freshly baked tart!

Another yummy summer idea!