Morocan Chicken Tagine: Daring Cook(Brine and Roast)

Audax of Audax Artifax was our November 2012 Daring Cooks’ host. Audax has brought us into the world of brining and roasting, where we brined meat and vegetables and roasted them afterwards for a delicious meal!

All-Purpose Brine:
Makes 4 cups of brine enough for about one pound (½ kg) of meat
This is the brine to use for most cuts of meat and poultry that will be roasted.
Ingredients
4 cups (1 litre) of cold water (see note 1)
¼ cup (70 gm) table salt or ½ cup (70 gm) Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt
optional 2 tablespoons (30 ml) (30 gm/1 oz) sugar (see note 2)
optional 3-4 peppercorns, a few springs of herbs, a garlic clove or two, a knob of ginger etc. (see note 3)
Instructions
1. Heat 1 cup of water to boiling point add the salt and stir until all the salt has totally dissolved.
2. Place in a non-reactive container (glass, plastic, stainless steel, zip-lock bags etc). Add the remaining water and stir. Make sure that all the salt has dissolved. Wait until the brine has reached room temperature.
3. Add your cut of meat make sure that the meat is completely submerged (that is totally covered in the salty water) if need be you can weigh down the cut of meat with a clean plate (etc). If using plastic bags make sure that the meat is totally covered in brine and make sure that is bag is locked securely.
4. Cover the container with plastic wrap to prevent odours contaminating the flavour brine or the brine leaking.
5. Place the container into the refrigerator for the soaking time suggested by the guidelines above.
6. If desired you can air-dry your poultry (usually over night) in the refrigerator if you wish to have crispy skin on your bird. It is best to pat dry your brined item (inside and out) with paper towels before cooking.

I made double the brine solution.

Once the chicken had sat overnight in the brine I took it out of the solution and allowed it to dry out a bit in the fridge.

Grate an onion and combine with some freshly grated garlic, ground ginger, black pepper and saffron. Cover the chicken and place in the tagine with some stuffed green olives. Roast the chicken in the tagine.

 Morocan Chicken tagine served with cous cous, tomato relish and roasted cherry tomatoes and mushrooms.

The brining was well worth the effort and made for a tasty, moist chicken and is something I will definately do again.

Beetroot Brownies

Daring Kitchen: Appam and Curry

Mary, who writes the delicious blog, Mary Mary Culinary was our August Daring Cooks’ host. Mary chose to show us how delicious South Indian cuisine is! She challenged us to make Appam and another South Indian/Sri Lankan dish to go with the warm flat bread.

We weren't that impressed by the curry and I think there are a lot easier tastier curry recipes out there. Mixed reviews on the Appam, I think they might be something of an acquired taste. 

Appam
Servings: Makes about 15. I find 3-4 are enough for a serving
Ingredients:
1 ½ cups (360 ml/300 gm/10½ oz) raw rice
1 ½ teaspoons (7½ ml/5 gm) active dry yeast
2 teaspoons (10 ml/9 gm) sugar
½ cup (120 ml) of coconut water or water, room temperature
1 ½ tablespoons (22½ ml/18 gm) cooked rice
½ teaspoon (2½ ml/3 gm) salt
about ½ cup (120 ml) thick coconut milk (from the top of an unshaken can)
Directions:
1. Soak the raw rice in 4 to 5 cups of water for 3 hours. You can soak it overnight, although I did not try that.
2. Dissolve the sugar in the coconut water or plain water and add the yeast. Set aside in a warm area for 10-15 minutes, until very frothy.
3. Drain the rice and grind it in a blender with the yeast mixture to make a smooth batter. You can add a bit of extra water if needed, but I did not. Add the cooked rice, and grind/blend to combine well. You can see that it is not completely smooth, but very thick—that’s about right.
4. Pour into a large bowl, cover and leave in a warm place for 8-12 hours. You not only want the mixture to rise and collapse, but to ferment. When it is ready, it will have a slightly sour and distinctly yeasty smell. Don’t worry--they are mild tasting when cooked!
5. Add the coconut milk and salt, and a bit of water if necessary, so that you have a batter that is just a bit thicker than milk. Notice how it bubbles after you add the coconut milk. I recommend test-cooking one before thinning the batter.
6. Heat your pan over medium heat. Wipe a few drops of oil over it using a paper towel. Stir the batter and pour in 3-4 tablespoons, depending on the size of the pan. Working quickly, hold the handle(s) and give the pan a quick swirl so that the batter comes to the top edge. Swirl once only, as you want the edges to be thin and lacy.
7. Cover the pan and cook for about 2 minutes. Uncover and check. The centre should have puffed up a bit, and will be shiny, but dry to the touch. When ready, loosen the edges with a small spatula and serve immediately. These need to be served hot out of the pan.

Served with Chai Pani's Malabar Chicken Curry

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20 week scan: the one where we find out if we team pink or team blue

Another Mars bar, another 1.5 litres of cold water, another brisk walk around the car park.......................

Its a BOY!

We'd already settled on a boys name and as soon as we found out he was a he, we announced that his name is Joshua.


Heres a clearer view thanks to sprout.

Sprout says he is the size of a carrot now.

A first glimse of baby Clarke

After several attempts baby finally decided to play along and give us a picture. It took a Mars bar, about 1.5 litres of cold water and several laps of brisk walking around the car park.

He/she is as perfect as can be!

I found a fantastic app for the iPhone/iPad called sprout, lots of information and lovely graphics.

Heres what our little monkey looks like now:

 

Download the app here

According to the app, the baby weighs about 14grams and is beginning to demonstrate the sucking and grasping reflex.

Speechless