Yakitori Chicken

This simple recipe makes about 8-10 skewers of lush Chinese style marinaded chicken... - my take on Yakitori Chicken, but with stuff I had in the cupboard...

Ingredients

Meat & Stuff

• 6 Chicken breasts diced
• 2 red peppers cut into 1inchish squares
• 1 large red onion cut into 8

Marinade

• 175ml light soy sauce
• 125ml sherry
• 4 Tbsp Tomato Ketchup
• 2 Tbsp cider vinegar
• 4 cloves garlic crushed
• 1tsp seasme oil
• About 3 tbsp demerera, 
• About 80 ml of orange or pineapple juice
• 1 finely chopped red chilli 
• 3 spring onions and a thumnail sized piece of ginger, both finely chopped... 

Method

• If you've got wood skewers soak them for at least 1/2 an hour.

• Mix all marinade stuff and bung in a medium sealable bag with the air all pushed out and put in a bowl in the fridge for 1.2 to 2 1/2 hours (can use a bowl covered with clingfilm at a push).

• Agitate every 1/2 hour or so. Thread meat & veg onto skewers. Throw marinade away.

• Cook on a screaming hot BBQ for at least 15 mins, turning frequently - I prefer about 25-30 mins...

• Lush..

Scottie's Biscotti

People often ask me "Hey, what are you doing in my garden?"...

No, sorry, start again - people often ask me "Do people call you 'Scottie'?" 
and my usual reply is "Only once..."

For the sake of this recipe I'll make an exception 'cos it kinda works...

Picture the scene if you will....
It's mid morning - you're sitting by Lake Como in an Italian cafe sipping your Espresso* and feeling generally relaxed and at one with all things.  A sailing boat drifts lazily by using the gentle breeze as it's only method of getting from 'Here' to 'There'.  A fisherman is pulling in his net singing 'O-solo-mio' and you can't help but get an urge for a Cornetto, which aren't as big as they used to be and they were only 50p (or am I think of a 'King-Cone').  

Instead of a Cornettos (or King-Cones) the waiter brings you a very hard sweet biscuit which is surprisingly nice dunked in your coffee...  You ruminate on simpler times, when you could just take in the world as it went by... no email... no mobile phones... no download limits and no irritating calls about PPI...  

You drain your espresso, retch slightly because of the crumbs of biscotti you find at the bottom of the cup and commence a slow meandering walk along the shores of this picturesque and unspoilt vista that has seen more history than Nicolas Parsons.  

You wake in the middle of the night, with the sudden realisation that you didn't pay the bill in the cafe -" Oh well never mind", you think to yourself, "I'll pop back tomorrow and tell the manager that his staff need better training.."

A smile makes it's way across your lips as you slip back into your slumber, with images of irate Italian waiters being fired, drifting playfully through your head.

Anyway, here's my recipe for Biscotti - eat it in your kitchen when it's raining and it'll make you feel a bit better. Pics courtesy of Mikey - Thanks Son, although I did have to rotate all of them 180 degrees before uploading any of them.

I'm sure I've got a pic of Lake Como somewhere (or perhaps it's Perry Como..., I'm not sure...)

Ingredients

• 250g plain flour
• 250g caster sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 2 large or 3 small eggs lightly beaten
• 100g shelled pistachio nuts
• 150g sultanas (or if you're really posh quartered glace cherries!)
• Zest of one lemon
• 2 tsp granulated sugar
• A handful of almond flakes to decorate

Method

• Preheat your oven to 160c /140c Fan...er... gas mark B(?)

• Line a baking tray with baking parchment and grease with a little butter (that's the only real fat in this recipe!)

• Sift the flour, caster sugar and baking powder into a large bowl then stir to combine.

• With a wooden spoon, beat in about 1/2 the eggs until well combined.

• Add the rest of the eggs a bit at a time until you get a dough-like consistency. Note - you probably won't need all of the egg and just add a bit at a time - it's easy to end up adding too much egg and end up with a cake sponge consistency. If this does happen add 20g of flour and 20g caster sugar then mix - add more in 20g quantities until you get it back to a dough-like consistency)

• Stir in the nuts, sultanas and lemon zest until well incorporated (yes I know it's not a lemon in the photo, but actually any citrus will probably do the job...)

• Divide the mixture into two, make them into two 25cm long 'sausages' and place on the baking tray - flatten them slightly.

• Sprinkle on the granulated sugar, then the flaked almonds.

• Bake in the the oven for 15-20 mins until golden brown. Tip: better to over bake slightly rather than underbake and have them all soggy - it makes the next stage a lot easier.

Yes I know it's underbaked...

• Remove from the oven and allow to rest for about 10 mins.

• Turn out onto a chopping board, and using a bread knife cut diagonally through each 'cake' to form 3cm wide biscuits.

• Place the biscuits back on the tray on their sides them pop back in the oven for 6-10 mins.

• Remove from the oven then turn the biscuits onto the other side and bake again for 6-10 mins.

• When baked, allow to cool on a rack.  Tip - if they are still a bit 'soggy' as mine often are because I almost always add too much egg!) pleace the cooling rack with the biscuits in the oven as it cools - it should dry them out a bit.

• Serve with Lavazza espresso* coffee, or with vanilla icecream as a dessert...

Because of the dryness of these biscuits, they will keep in an airtight container for about a week, however I've never had them long enough to check this for certain.

Recipe adpated from James Martin's version on BBC Good Food, although you will notice that I have never once used the word 'poncy'.


 *that's espresso by the way - not bloody expresso!!! - get it right or I'll hunt you down and leave a damp spoon in your sugar...

Traditional French Baguettes

We had loverly baguettes in France and I've been trying to emulate them since we got back....

Ingredients (for 4 - 6 baguettes)

• 500g flour
• 325g water (approx 25°C) + 1-2 tbsp
• ¼ tsp fast action yeast
• 12g salt
• 50g sourdough starter

Method

Mix the flour and yeast in a large bowl.

Make a well in the mixture, and add the water, salt and sourdough.

Gradually mix the 'well' ingredients, incorporating flour from around the edge using the Scott Glass 'erosion' method.

Once all of the ingredients are well combined, turn out onto a well floured surface.

Kneed and slap the dough around a bit for about 5 mins

Add the extra 1 - 2 tbsp of water depending on how sloppy your dough is - it needs to be fairly sticky and should firm up after a further 8-10 minutes of kneeding.

Leave the dough to rest under a sheet of oiled cling film for 30 minutes

Roll the dough out and then fold in on itself to form a ball.

Place in a large bowl with the cling film on top then leave in the fridge overnight (up to as much as 24 hours - good if you want to do several batches at different times)


Remove the dough from the refrigerator and separate into 4 pieces.

Rest the dough and covered with oiled cling film for 10 mins

Shape into baguettes with two folds and, without squeezing place, them onto a generously floured tea-towel, with folds separating the baguettes

During this time pre-heat your oven to 240C / 200C Fan, place a roasting with approx 1 inch of water on the bottom of the oven and your baking pan in the centre.

When the oven is very hot place the baguettes in the hot baking pan and turn over then slash them with a very sharp knife or razor blade.

Bake for approx 15 minutes.

Let cool