The Humble Chook - cont.

My brother called to visit at the weekend and was treated to the end of the organic chicken I’d picked up the previous week (don’t worry, I stored the breasts in the freezer). To be honest, the breasts were a bit too big for two people, I felt seriously stuffed afterwards, but they were just too good to stop eating. The recipe was adapted from Cook with Jamie which asked for the chicken to be wrapped in pancetta and baked on a bed of leeks. Now, I know my local supermarket does pancetta bits but I can’t find sliced pancetta anywhere; drop me a line if you know where I can get it in future (I have a feeling in my gut that Lorraine’s going to say Superquinn).

            Jamie Oliver has many critics but I have to say, his food is accessible to everyone and if I’m honest, it was the early days of the Naked Chef that got me really experimenting with salads, dressings and flavours. The Essex slang can be annoying but he’s toned that down a lot which makes watching Jamie at Home a pleasure these days. I enjoy the way he focuses on one ingredient for an entire episode although, I never think it’s long enough; it’s like a half hour has just disappeared without notice. I guess that’s why More 4 show back to back episodes every Sunday.

            A can of cannelini beans in the cupboard begged to be used and when cooked with a tin of tomatoes, some garlic and basil, made a delicious side dish to accompany the chicken. Talk about a protein feast; the late Dr Atkins would have been proud of me. The rest of the leeks were made into leek & potato soup for the week at work; I don’t know if you’ve noticed but I try and use up EVERYTHING. It’s a crime to let anything rot in your fridge as pretty much any kind of veggie may be used in a delicious soup, frittata, tartlet, stir-fry, the list goes on and on.

            On another note, I called into Alchemist Earth for the Ginger Girl tasting as kindly informed by Maz last week. Wow, it was an Aladin’s cave of delicious cheeses, crackers, chutneys, jams, juices, jellies and more on sale and available for tasting. I was in my element, chatting about the market, organic food, organic skincare products and scoffing at the same time. I left with a tub of Ren body scrub (the best skincare product I have ever used and up to recently only available in Selfridges of London and the web) and a jar of Ginger Girl’s sloe & apple jelly which I’m planning on using in a gravy to accompany either duck or pork in the near future. I’ll keep you posted (geddit?), now, back to the chicken.

Baked Chicken, Bacon & Leek Parcels

with stewed beans

Serves 2

What You Need

Two chicken breasts (best you can afford)

6 rashers of streaky bacon

2 large leeks, outer stalks removed, washed and thinly sliced

Sea salt & pepper

1 can of cannelini beans

1 tin of tomatoes

A handful of basil leaves

2 cloves of garlic finely chopped

Olive oil

What You Do

• Pre-heat the oven to 200C.
• Make two small bowls out of some tin-foil to fit the chicken snugly.
• Wrap each breast in 3 slices of bacon / pancetta.
• Spread a layer of leeks in the base of each bowl and lay a wrapped breast in each bowl. Season, transfer to a baking tray and place in the oven for 25 / 30 minutes (the breasts I used were huge so needed 30 mins).
• In a pan, heat the oil and add the garlic. After a minute or two, add the beans, tomatoes, basil, salt & pepper. Bring to a boil and simmer until the chicken is cooked.
• When the chicken comes out of the oven, allow it to stand for a few minutes before slicing it.
• Place a spoon of beans on the plate, then the leek on top, and the chicken on top of that.
• Dig in!

Comments

[Maz]

I wish I'd been able to go into the Ginger girl tasting, I'd say it was great. I can't wait to get into town again (not til easter sat now) I really want to see that shop.

Mike got slices of pancetta in tesco one time he was in there. I actually prefer the bits for doing sauces coz they are handy and they have a lot of fat which I love (yes I know some people find that disgusting but I don't care)

Just heard that Dunnes is opening, over where the southcourt is so that would be fantastic for Raheen to have a different supermarket - I'm feeling very anti-tesco at the moment.

By the way, don't suppose you know of any good veg shops?

Sorry, this comment is nearly as long as your post, ooops.

[Sarah]

I didn't hear about Dunnes coming to Raheen at all but that's brilliant news. Tesco definitely need a kick - they're so hit & miss on everything.
Hmm, there's the organic shop beside Lazio's at the milk market but that's pretty expensive so I just stock up at the Saturday market - need to get myself one of those granny trollies for lugging the 'messages'. You'd probably have more joy back home - smaller towns haven't shunned their greengrocers like the bigger cities.

[lorraine@italianfoodies]

I have to disappoint and say they don't but I have asked them for it! I actually haven't seen it in Limerick which is really strange because Jamie uses it a lot in his earlier books so I'm sure there is a demand! We just got a really good block of pancetta in LC today - the real stuff with loads of fat!! Ginger Girl is actually dropping in samples to me tommorrow!!

[Sarah]

Lor, I'm jealous, jealous, JEALOUS!!!!

[jen]

People do like to knock Jamie don't they? But I think his last two books have been his most mature and interesting to date. But I also have a soft spot for his salad dressings and anything that I can make after work (there's a good and quick salmon/green beans/cherry tomato/anchovy/basil bake in... the second book I think...)

[Rachel@fairycakeheaven]

mmmmmmmmmmmmm loverly!!! Nothing like some lovely chicken, I've made a lovely one from the Avoca cookbook 2 before must try this one though and have some lovely organic chicken in the freezer, must go and take it out now!