Chicken, potato and chorizo bake

Are you in need of a quick and easy supper dish, that's healthy and tasty and with hardly any washing up too !  Well this is the dish for you, a one pot dish that uses one of my favourite cuts of chicken, thighs juicy and extra tasty they are also a great economy cut too, providing plenty of flavour and flesh for your buck.

To enhance the dish I used fresh oregano from the herb garden including the flowers so beloved of the bees at the moment. Did I tell we now host a hive in the garden so I am much more aware of what flowers they enjoy and oregano is a firm favourite, along with cat mint and thyme.

What you need

• Chicken thigh - skin on and bone still in
• Chorizo - approx 1/2 a loop, chopped into chunks
• 1 red pepper - seeds removed and chunkly chopped
• 1 red onion - peeled and chunky chopped
• Couple of large handful - washed baby potatoes, chopped in half or quatered if large
• Small bunch of fresh oregano
• Extra virgin rapeseed or olive oil - about 1 tbsp
• Large metal baking tray
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

What you do

• Pre heat the oven to 220c / 180c fan
• Place all the ingredients in a large metal baking tray
• Toss so all ingredients have a very light coating of oil

Bake for approx 30 minutes baste with some of the delicious juices, bake for another 30  minutes or so until golden.

• Remove and serve with a freshly dressed green salad and a glass of something chilled.

We are linking up to recipe of the week over on A Mummy Too

                                            

And to Cooking with Herbs over on Lavender and lovage - who's theme this month is Summer Herb
Flowers

                                         

Back of the fridge frittata

This recipe came about by combination of wanting to use a few bits and bats that were hanging around in the fridge and the ongoing battle of egg mountain (i.e a recipe that uses plenty of eggs), so using a Spanish omelette as the basis the back of the fridge frittata was born.

Its a versatile forgiving recipe that can use a variety of ingredients and is frugal and filling, its also great to serve cold with salad in a lunchbox (As I have done on several occasions) or as tapas cut into bite size squares with olives with a glass of wine or beer.

What You need

• Onion - large finely chopped
• 1 tin of potatoes - drained (or quantity of cold leftover cooked potatoes) - sliced about the thickness of a £1 coin
• Salami or chorizo (if using)
• Red pepper / green peppers (could be out of a jar)
• Mushrooms (optional)
• Salt and pepper
• 6 eggs - whisked
• Olive oil

Large frying pan and pre heated grill (broiler for our US friends)

What you do

• Heat some olive oil in the frying pan over a medium heat
• Add the onions and cook gently until softened and add the chorizo
• Cook the peppers and mushrooms (if uncooked) in the same pan
• Now add the sliced potatoes, move around in the pan ensuring nothing is sticking
• Season with salt and pepper
• Pour over the eggs and cook until set around the sides
• Place under the pre heated grill until golden and bubbling
• Serve in generous wedges
• Or allow to cool and pack in the fridge for a quick snack or easy lunch dish.

Here it is served with a freshly picked salad from the garden, the salad contains rocket, spinach and mizuna. If you wanted to make this vegetarian just omit the chorizo and of course this is naturally gluten free. Courgette, aubergine or artichoke would also make tasty additions to the dish.

Tenderstem and chorizo spaghetti

I have been having fun today as I am one of the lucky bloggers to be chosen to take part in Tenderstem in Ten challenge, basically the challenge is to make a meal in 10 minutes or less with 10 or less ingredients which includes Tenderstem.

Tenderstem for those of you who don't know is a broccoli originally grown in Japan, that you can eat from head to tail, and it cooks in 3 minutes. Its a really versatile ingredient and given the speed of cooking is a healthy addition to any recipe. The Tenderstem website has loads of inspiration on it on how to use this ingredient.

I had great fun devising a recipe that would be cooked and ready in less than 10 minutes and achievable for anyone. 

This recipe serves 2 adults and is flexible enough for you to free style with other ingredients if you so wish, you could add crushed garlic or finely chopped chilli.You could also subsitute another type of pasta as long it cooks in less than 10 minutes.

Ingredients

• Spaghetti ( approx 75g per person)
• Pack of Tenderstem 
• Olive oil
• Ring of Chorizo - sliced
• Freshly grated paramesan - to serve
• Freshly ground black pepper - to serve

Method

• Steam or boil your Tenderstem for 3 minutes
• Whilst cooking your Tenderstem, put your spaghetti on to boil for the time on the pack, mine was 7 minutes.
• Meanwhile fry off your sliced chorizo in plenty of olive oil, until the chorizo starts to go crispy and the paprika oil is mixing with the olive oil.
• Drain your broccoli and add to chorizo pan to keep warm, whilst your spaghetti is finishing cooking
• Drain spaghetti and add to the chorizo pan and mix well
• Serve sprinkled with freshly grated parmesan and freshly ground black pepper
• Done in 10 :-)