Sammy's chicken kebabs

Sammy and Carmela are gradually doing more and more cooking, and right now this is Sammy's favourite thing to do with chicken.

Ingredients
1 kg skinless chicken breast
juice of 1/2 lemon
6 tbsps of natural yoghurt
2 tbsps of chickpea flour
1-inch piece of ginger, peeled and finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
1/2 tsp chilli powder
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp salt

Method

1. Cut the chicken into chunks, put in a bowl and mix well with the lemon juice.
2. Mix the yoghurt and the chickpea flour, then add the ginger, garlic, spices and salt, and mix well. Pour over the chicken pieces, mix well and leave to marinade (anything from 30 minutes to overnight).
3. Preheat the oven to 220oC, and line an oven tray with lightly greased foil.
4. Thread the chicken pieces onto skewers, and cook in the hot oven for 12 minutes.

Rabbit dhansak

I have mixed feelings about market shopping: it's time-consuming and can be both physically and mentally exhausting, as you struggle to make sure the stallholders don't palm off shoddy produce on you and have to adapt your cooking to what's available. But when I'm in the right mood, I find it really stimulating. I often have great recipe ideas while looking at what's on display, sometimes directly inspired by whatever is laid out in front of me, and sometimes taking advantage of a bit of daydream time while I wait to be served.



When I got back to Spain from Italy the other day, the first thing I did (after frantically feeding the washing machine and hanging up wet clothes) was to pop down to the market. In the fish section, I bought a kilo of clams. And at the butcher's I picked up a beautiful free-range chicken, which I intend to do al ajillo but with the added twist of a pickled lemon, and I also got some pork ribs, which I plan to pressure cook with chilli and ginger. My final purchase was a free-range rabbit, but instead of doing my usual coniglio alla cacciatore, I thought I would do a bit of fusion cooking, so I came up with this rabbit and brown lentil curry. I don't know if this really qualifies as a dhansak or not (usually, I think, a meat curry where the sauce is thickened with red lentils) and I don't care either.

Ingredients
1 onion
4 cloves of garlic
2-inch piece of fresh ginger
6 tablespoons of vegetable oil
4 teaspoons of mild curry powder
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 free-range rabbit, jointed
250g brown lentils
800 ml of chicken stock
juice of 1/2 lemon
small bunch of fresh coriander

Method

1. Peel and finely chop the onion, garlic and ginger, and puree in a food processor with the vegetable oil.
2. Gently fry the puree in an open pressure cooker, being careful not to burn.
3. When the onion is turning golden, add the curry powder and salt, fry for another 30 seconds, then add the rabbit pieces and fry for a minute or so, turning them so that they become well coated with the onion and spice mixture.
4. Add the lentils, chicken stock and lemon juice, close the pressure cooker and bring up to full pressure (2 rings). Cook for 15 minutes, then cool the cooker under runninng cold water.
5. Open, check for seasoning, add chopped coriander and serve.

Googlecooked!
Googlewhacking is the sport of trying to find an elusive query (two words - no quote marks) with a single, solitary result. Googlecooking is the art of producing a recipe (two-word title - yes quote marks) for which there are no other hits. I give you "rabbit dhansak"!

Clam and potato stew

I'm always intrigued by how certain combinations of food become fixed. It's more obvious in Spain, where there is both a more extensive repertoire of traditional dishes and a more conservative approach to cooking (facts which I guess are related).



I was in the market today shopping for fish and, as usual, not quite sure what to buy when I spotted some nice-looking clams at 6 euros a kilo. I usually just cook clams a la marinera, with paprika and sherry, but I wanted something that would turn them into a one-pot meal. At first, I thought about doing them with rice, but then it struck me that they would be good in a potato stew. In Cadiz, the usual thing to combine with potatoes like this is cuttlefish (papas con choco) but it worked very well with the clams and I will definitely be repeating this one. I think I might also try to work out a curried version with coconut milk and turmeric at some point.

Ingredients

1 head of celery
2 cloves of garlic
olive oil
2 teaspoons of smoked paprika
1 teaspoon of cumin
2 kg of potatoes
1/2 kg of green beans
4 ripe tomatoes
1 teaspoon of salt
1 glass of white wine
1 glass of chicken stock (or replace with fish stock or water)
2 bay leaves
1 kg of clams


Method

1. Clean and chop the celery and garlic, and fry gently in plenty of olive oil.
2. Peel the potatoes and cut them into large chunks. Cut the green beans into 2-inch segments. Cut the tomatoes into large chunks. Wash the clams thorough in plenty of cold water.
3. Once the celery begins to soften, add the paprika and cumin and fry for 30 seconds or so before adding the potatoes, beans, tomatoes, wine, stock, bay leaves and salt.
4. Bring to a boil, turn heat to low, cover and simmer gently until the potatoes are just done.
5. Add the clams, stir well, cover and continue cooking for a few minutes until all of the clams have opened.

Pork meatballs with squid, in a green curry sauce

I'm always a little nervous when people introduce me as a foodie. It's true that I love food and love cooking, but I would hesitate to describe myself as a good cook. I'm well aware of my shortcomings - gaps in my knowledge and my technique, and the more than occasional mediocre dish that I produce.



However, every now and then I cook something that makes me think that maybe I do deserve to be described as a good cook. It's usually when I bring together some slightly unusual ingredients in an inspired combination that I have not knowingly copied from anywhere else, and this was the case with this meatball curry that I cooked up this evening, having spent the day out drinking beer on the first Saturday of Carnival. The ingredient which lifts it up onto another level is the inclusion of some squid in the meatball mixture.

Ingredients
meatballs
100g squid, cut into small pieces
1 leek
2 cloves of garlic
1-inch piece of fresh ginger
500g minced pork
2 tbsps light soy sauce
1 tbsp white wine
2 tbsps green chilli chutney (substitute with 1 tbsps of minced green chilli and 1 tbsps lemon juice)
4 tbsps breadcrumbs

sauce
vegetable oil
1 onion

2 cloves of garlic

1-inch piece of fresh ginger
4 kaffir lime leaves
1 stalk of lemongrass
1/2 tin of coconut milk
1 tbsp fish sauce

2 tbsps green chilli chutney (substitute with 1 tbsps of minced green chilli and 1 tbsps lemon juice)


Method
meatballs

1. Peel and chop the garlic and ginger, and wash and chop the leek. Put the cuttlefish, leek, garlic and ginger into a food processor, and chop finely. Transfer to a large bowl, add the pork, soy sauce, wine, chilli chutney and breadcrumbs, mix well, return to the food processor and whizz briefly.
2. Form the mixture into walnut-sized chunks and fry in vegetable oil until browned. (You will probably need to do 2 or 3 batches.) Remove to a plate.

sauce

1. Peel and chop the onion, garlic and ginger, transfer to food processor and chop finely.
2. In a medium saucepan, fry the onion mixture gently in vegetable oil. Once the onion has softened, add the coconut milk, kaffir lime leaves, lemongrass, fish sauce and green chilli chutney, and stir well.
3. Bring to a simmer, then add the meatballs, cover the pan and cook for 10 minutes. Serve with rice.