ITALIAN FOODIES

                          

I have spoken briefly about the princess’s entry into the awkward food stage, she has become so fussy I can’t believe it, she refuses to eat vegetables referring to them all as “cacka”, she is so independently minded at 18 months, I thought this didn’t happen until she was 18 years:) The only things she will eat is “pita”, “pata” and “stik”, fillet steak is her new love. We went to Gallagher’s in Bunratty for dinner the other evening and the only baby options they had were the baby bowl(mash & veg) or fresh fish goujons, I ordered both in the hope she would eat something. She didn’t touch the baby bowl of mash and carrot but devoured the fish goujons and then promptly ordered “drawbies” a.k.a. strawberries (the only fruit she will eat) from the waitress who very kindly provided her with a big bowl of fresh juicy strawberries with chocolate ice-cream.
 
I have to say we had a really nice meal in Gallaghers, they have a lovely outside area where you can dine “al fresco” and a garden full of roses, well, it was full until the princess arrived but the staff were very nice about it, they were so friendly and professional. The food was excellent, I had the fresh mussels to start and then the hake with lobster sauce for main which was delicious but Bruno picked the best as usual, he chose fresh oysters with a glass of Guinness to start and then the full sea bass for main course which was outstanding, it was so fresh and very simply cooked so the flavour was amazing.

Due to the success of the fish goujons I decided to try her with some chicken goujons served with Parmesan mash and she absolutely loved it. I’m not a big lover of chicken breast, I find it quite dry so I made some sun-dried tomato mayo to dip them in and it was really delicious. 

                        

what you need for 2 adults and 1 fussy toddler

 - 4 chicken breasts, I used organic free range.

 - breadcrumbs, I used the pre-made bag from Superquinn. You can make your own with left-over bread but I’m too lazy:)

 - 2 beaten eggs

 - 2 sprigs rosemary, picked and finely chopped

 - 100g grated parmesan

 - sea salt and black pepper

 - olive oil

 - sun-dried tomato tapenade, Superquinn stock a fresh version or you can make your own. I’ll post the recipe later.

 - mayo, I use a really good brand called Stokes which uses free range eggs etc etc ……… Hellman’s is fine too though!

                    

what to do:

 - cut your chicken breasts into goujons and season with salt and pepper

 - fill a frying pan with lots of oil and heat

 - mix your breadcrumbs, Parmesan and rosemary together and season.

 - dip your chicken pieces into the egg and then the breadcrumbs and cook until golden brown, drain on kitchen paper.

 - mix your tapenade with your mayo, you could use pesto if you prefer.

 - serve, dip and enjoy!!!

                        

buon appetito!!

p.s. there is a new Irish food blog which I have been meaning to add a link for ages, check out Sadhbh’s blog and say ciao!

p.p.s Deborah of “humble housewife” fame has moved to a very slick new site called tastie, drop over and say ciao too!

                                  

The rugby talk is over and it’s back to recipes and food talk, well kind of!!!! To be honest I’ve been a bit lazy since moving into the new house and the lack of freezer and oven aren’t helping so I haven’t really cooked much so I’m dragging out some oldies I have stored and not used. This has turned into the longest 10 days ever to have my finished kitchen, it’s closer to 30 or 40 at this stage and there is still no end in sight. Now I’m being a bit of moaner to be honest as I still have my FIVE gas rings even though I’ll probably never use them all!

                          

but then I look down and see this

                          

and I get depressed, crack open a bottle of wine to drown my sorrows and ring the MIL to see if she’s cooking anything. I tell myself she loves having us round so I’m really thinking of her plus the wine industry is in crisis so I’m just doing my bit for the world:) I know - a saint!!!!!

This recipe is from way back about a month ago when I was an OO (oven owner), I found it in Delicious mag and loved the result so it’s a keeper. We still eat roast chicken in Ireland in the summer as our weather is so changeable even though we have been quite lucky recently.

                   

what you need:

 - 1 kg potatoes cut into 1cm slices

 - 4 garlic cloves

 - 2 rosemary sprigs, leaves picked

 - 1 lemon - peel it and chop the skin

 - whole free range/organic chicken

 - 150g pancetta cubes

 - butter - I used about 100g

 - 300ml white wine

 - sea salt and black pepper

what to do:

 - pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees

 - put the potatoes into a pot of water, bring to boil, add some salt and simmer gently for about 5 minutes until tender. Drain and set aside.

 - If you have a mini food processor whizz the garlic, butter, lemon peel and rosemary together. If you’re like me and don’t possess one of these most basic kitchen tools, just finely chop the garlic, lemon peel and rosemary and mix together with the butter.

 - starting from the neck of the chicken loosen the skin with your fingers, being careful not to tear it. Spread the paste between the flesh and skin, smoothing it down and around the bird as far as you can go. Cut your peeled lemon in half and stuff into the chicken.

 - layer the potatoes and pancetta in the base of a roasting tin, sit the chicken on top, season and pour over the wine. Roast for 1 and half hours until the chicken is golden and cooked through.

                                          

buon appetito

p.s. TK Maxx in Limerick have “Bialetti” frying pans in stock at the moment and “Bodum” knives!!

                                     

I mentioned a while back that we were moving house but surprise surprise we’re still at our old abode!! Why? I hear you ask seen as we bought this standard semi - detached house off the plans nearly 2 years ago, we got the keys in December but what’s been the big delay - our kitchen from Italy!!! It’s times like these when the Italian culture drives me mad, we’ll get it when they are ready!! I wouldn’t mind but we are getting the bedroom and part of the sitting room too so it hasn’t been an option to move in without the kitchen. Anyway it arrives tonight, well the boxes arrive and the Italian fitter is going to return next week as he is very busy - HELLLOOOOOO???? I’m really excited though as we just picked it out of a brochure last September which we don’t have anymore so I can’t even remember what it looks like so it doubles the excitement - God knows what I’m going to get:) but we got our present kitchen and bedroom from him so I’m not too worried!! All I remember is there is a 5 ring gas hob, extra large oven, full fridge, full freezer etc etc - a foodie kitchen heaven!! I shall post a pic when it is ready to go, probably next Christmas at the rate things are going!

Bruno is over at the new house at the moment helping him unload the millions of boxes so I have a roast chicken dinner waiting for him when he returns - I know, I really am wonderful;) I’m always looking for new roast chicken recipes as I tend to stick to the garlic, lemon, rosemary combo so I was delighted to see recipes in both Delicious and Taste Italia this month!! This one from TI was absolutely delicious but you have to love onions as much as I do and it’s really simple which I love nearly as much as onions:)

what you need:

- 1 kg onions, peeled and sliced - I used red as I had no white and they were perfect.

 - 4 garlic cloves peeled

 - mustard ( I used good “ole” colemans)

 - chicken - I used organic from SQ

 - 5 tbsp chicken stock( I used 1 Kallo organic stock cube even though I know Sarah wouldn’t agree but one word “children”!!!!!:)

 - 125 ml white wine

 - sea salt and black pepper

 - olive oil

what to do:

 - pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees

 - place the garlic and onions in an oven dish, season and pour in some olive oil.

 - using your hands cover the outside of the chicken with mustard, don’t be afraid to use loads as you don’t taste it but it gives loads of flavour. I always do this with roast beef and lamb too!

 -  place your chicken on top of your onions , season and drizzle with olive oil and cook for 35 mins.

 - the recipe doesn’t include potatoes but I love one tray meals so I cooked some new potatoes cut into quarters in salted water until a little tender and then drained them and added to tray.

 - turn the chicken over, pour in the wine, add your potatoes and cook for another 25 mins!! I added my stock here too! Add more during cooking if onions are drying out!

 - turn the chicken again and cook for 10 mins until skin is golden and crispy and serve!!

                                                  

buon appetito!!

                                   
So, the coundown to Christmas has begun and how nice is this weather, it actually feels like Christmas. I was complaining last week that there was no Christmas atmosphere this year but since the weather became really cold and crisp it has turned all Christmassy:) The tree is up and the princess is amazed by it, we have to stand in front of it about 10 times a day and just point at all the lights and the babababababa balls, I know everyone says it but it really is so much better with little ones around. Our last day is this Sunday and we close until Jan 3rd - yipeeeeeeeeee!! It will be so nice to just relax because even if we are not in La Cucina there are always phone calls and one of us is always popping in just to keep an eye on things so it will be really nice just to switch off. I don’t know how we will manage when we open a second business, we will have no life!!!!

I know most of you only have eyes for turkey at the moment but I’m sure a roast chicken might feature somewhere over the holidays and I wanted to share this recipe with you as an alternative to the regular roast chicken. This recipe is based on Ursula Ferrigno’s spatchcock poussin recipe and I have to say it was one of the nicest recipes I have ever had for roast chicken, It was so tasty and the combination of flavours work so well together and it is really easy to prepare. I served it with roast potatoes done in goose fat which is available from all supermarkets these days.

                                        

what you need:

 - 1 medium to large chicken. I used an Organic, corn-fed chicken from Superquinn. There really is no comparison in taste and the main difference is the colour of the meat. The meat in the legs should be brown not white.

 - 2 tbsp olive oil

 - 4 rosemary sprigs

 - sea salt and black pepper

 - 350ml white wine - dry

 stuffing

 - 150g ricotta cheese

 - 55g gorgonzola cheese - I know a lot of people don’t like blue cheese but you really don’t taste it, it just adds a great flavour.

 - 55g grated parmesan cheese or fontina cheese

 - 4 slices mortadella finely chopped(optional) Mortadella is an Italian cold meat, it’s available in Superquinn or any Italian deli.

 - a handful of fresh flat leaf parsley chopped

 - 1 tbsp marjoram - I haven’t seen any of the fresh variety in Limerick???? I used dry that one of our Polish staff gave me.

 - 1 tbsp chopped fresh sage

 - 25g melted butter

what to do:

 - preheat the oven to 220 degrees

 - to make the stuffing, place the ricotta, parmesan, gorgonzola, mortadella, herbs and butter in a bowl and mix.

 - gently ease the skin from the breasts of the bird and spoon the stuffing into the area between the skin and meat. I rubbed whatever was left all over the outside of the bird. Brush the chicken with olive oil, season and top with a sprig of rosemary.

 - place the bird in an oven tray and pour over the wine. Roast for 25-30 mins, reduce the heat to 180 degrees and cook for a further 15 mins until the chicken is cooked through.

 - to make your potatoes, par-boil your potatoes in plenty of salted water. Heat your goose fat in a tray over a high heat, add a couple of sprigs of rosemary and unpeeled garlic cloves. Add your potatoes and transfer to the oven and cook  for 30-40 mins. 

                                

buon appetito!!

 

Milanese is one of those dishes we often have when we want something quick, easy and tasty!! We usually have it with fillet or dare I say it “veal”and a bit of salad on the side. Even when I was in hospital with the princess “The MIL” sent it into me a couple of times, I’m afraid I just cannot do hospital food!!! I love the way they offer you a fry or salad for your tea - what a choice, I can’t imagine a fry is going to help you recover faster;) I was there for 2 weeks and never ate the lunch or tea once, Bru used to arrive in twice a day laden down with foil containers full of minestrone soup and the likes. I think they thought I was some snobby “yung wan” but I brought them in a huge cake before I left and I was forgiven - I did eat my porridge every morning though:)

I’ve mentioned before that Panini Pollo is one of our most popular sandwiches, it’s a toasted ciabatta with mayo, lettuce, tomato and this chicken recipe - definately not “authentic Italian”. We make 20 of these fillets every 2 days much to the delight of the kitchen staff! We also use this recipe for our party chicken goujons, we just cut up the chicken into goujons first and then bread them and serve them with a pesto mayo and sun-dried mayo dip. There are a few variations of this recipe, you can check out Gino di Campo’s recipe here, he serves it with a nice tomato & olive salad. He mentions about black olives, for a while we had a really nice Italian black olive in La Cucina but it didn’t sell because of the colour, it was more of a purple colour than black but customers seemed to want the really black ones, he says the best olives are the aubergine coloured as the really black ones are dyed with squid ink - I never knew this and I prefer the purple ones as they have a lot more flavour so I might get them back and do some educating!!

Did anyone see Gino on Tubridy on Saturday night (I know the boring life I lead), I like him, I know he plays on the charming Italian a bit but it works and he’s very entertaining! I loved his quote:
 
“Italian food is like Italian men - minimum effort and maximum satisfaction” and Ryan’s response “with Irish men it’s the other way round”. - NO COMMENT;)

WHAT YOU NEED FOR BASIC RECIPE:

 - 2 chicken breasts - buy the biggest you can find

 - 2 eggs beaten

 - plain flour

 - 8 tbsp breadcrumbs - you can make your own or just use the fresh breadcrumbs available in most of the supermarkets. We make our own in La Cucina.

 - sea salt and black pepper

 - olive oil - we still have the olive oil for frying in La Cucina.

WHAT TO DO:

 - open out your chicken breasts like a butterfly and pound until quite thin and season. This is important because if the chicken is too thick your breadcrumbs will burn and the chicken will be raw in the middle. 

 - dip your chicken into the egg and then into breadcrumbs. Some recipes use flour before the egg, we don’t but it’s up to you.

 - fill the base of a pan with olive oil and add your chicken. The key to getting the golden colour is to cook it over a low heat.

I find this recipe fine with fillet or veal but with chicken I think it needs a little more so you can add some chopped flat leaf parsley or rosemary and Parmesan to the breadcrumbs and it makes it much tastier.

serve with any of these or all if you want:)

 french bean salad
 potato salad
 cherry tomato salad

 

BUON APPETITO!!
 
p.s here are a few new blogs I have found recently

proud Italian cook - Marie always leaves lovely comments on my blog and she cooks fab Italian food on hers especially the Limoncello Tart mmmmmm!!

2 new Irish blogs which is great to see - little bird eats and fruity cook. Check them all out and leave a comment or 2:)

 

So winter has arrived here in Ireland, the days are wet and cold and it has started to get dark at 8pm and do you know what I really don’t mind! I know I’ve complained a lot about the weather on this blog but it’s just the bad summers that get to me, it’s just that every year we have this great expectation that this is the year we will have the “scorcher” and then we all get so disappointed that it doesn’t happen. Will we accept that it won’t happen next year??- of course not, someday we’ll show those Italians with our flower filled terraces where we dine “al fresco” and eat the sweetest tomatoes and the ripest fruit sitting with our bronzed “famiglia” drinking local wine because the grape harvest has been so good as a result of the scorching temperatures and dipping our crunchy bread into locally produced olive oil - we can dream I suppose:)

I suppose the reason why I enjoy the winter here is that Ireland is actually a great place to be in the winter, we have been to Atina in the winter and it’s pretty dismal. Italians tend to hibernate during the winter whereas the Irish come into their own, the bbq is put back in the shed, the patio table is put under cover until next summer, the lawn mower is put away( yahoo says Bruno) and we all tend to start eating and drinking out again, we’ve gotten over the depression of the summer and we all accept Ireland as it is supposed to be - wet and grey. We can eat what we want again because we don’t have to worry about getting into the bikinis or swim shorts for 2 weeks plus we need a little extra padding for the cold nights ahead:)

Winter to me also means Christmas, family and lots of food. I love winter food - soups, stews, roast meats, real hearty peasant food and so easy to prepare. I have 3 sisters,  I know,  my poor father and believe me they all talk as much as me;) and the only time we are all together is Christmas and this year there will be 2 new additions - the princess and her little cousin so it should be a good one. My dad now has to listen to 7 women - God help him!!! 

This is a really nice roast chicken dish from Aldo Zilli for those cold, wet evenings:)

WHAT YOU NEED:

• 4 chicken breasts on the bone or chicken legs - Superquinn are now doing a new corn-fed chicken range!!
• 2 garlic cloves crushed
• 300ml dry white wine
• 1-2 sprigs rosemary chopped - the recipe calls for 2 tbsp but we don’t like too much herbs so I used a little less.
• 1-2 sprigs thyme chopped
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• sea salt and black pepper

WHAT TO DO:

 - pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees

 - mix the herbs and garlic with 2 tbsp of olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

 - season your chicken and rub them with the herb mixture.

 - heat the remaining oil in a large frying pan, add the chicken and fry for 2 mins on each side until golden brown. Transfer to a roasting tin.

 - add the wine to the pan juices and bring to the boil, stirring. Boil for 3 mins and then pour the wine over the chicken. Roast the chicken for 40 mins until cooked through and serve with the cooking juices spooned over the top. Don’t forget the bread for the “scarpetta”!! 

 - Serve with roast potatoes - peel and cut into large chunks,  season and pour over some olive oil- you don’t need any herbs or garlic as there is enough in the chicken so keep the potatoes plain and simple!!

BUON APPETITO!!

P.S. To make the changes of seasons easier my question to you this week is “WHAT DO YOU LOVE ABOUT WINTER”???

p.p.s - check out a new site called www.cookshow.com which features videos from regular people making their favourite recipes, who knows I may send in one - gotta go get the hair done;)

I have to admit I’m a bit of a TK MAXX addict, I find it great for the princess’ clothes and housewares - especially their pans, they do a really good range of Italian pans which we buy for La Cucina believe it or not. They’re much cheaper than the Tefal. The one in Limerick is so busy they are building another one, just for furniture and housewares. The odd time I pick up a cookbook for La Cucina  for customers to read while waiting for their food, the latest one being Aldo Zilli’s Simple Italian Cooking. He’s not as popular as the other big names but I decided to buy it as it looked good visually and it was only €5.99 and I have to say it was the best €6 I’ve spent in a long time.

Compared to other books it’s not very fancy but his selection of recipes are so simple and uncomplicated and would suit anyone who has an interest in Italian food but doesn’t want to spend hours in the kitchen. He has step by step photos and easy to follow instructions and I think I will probably cook the majority of recipes which is a rare thing for a cookbook. I just don’t have time to be cooking complicated food and to be honest I don’t have a big interest in it, we prefer simple flavours anyway so that’s why his recipes appeal to me so much.

I’ve never cooked Poussin before and I’ve seen it a few times in Superquinn so I was interested to try it out and it was absolutely delicious. You can just use regular chicken pieces if you prefer, it would have the same result.

WHAT YOU NEED:

• 2 Poussin
• 2 red chillies seeded and chopped
• leaves from 1 sprig rosemary finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves finely chopped
• 4 tbls extra virgin olive oil
• 8 plum tomatoes halved, seeded, and roughly chopped
• 100ml dry white wine
• sea salt and black pepper

WHAT TO DO:

 - preheat the oven to 220 degrees.

 - remove and discard the elastic holding each Poussin together, then turn the Poussin over so it’s breast side down. Cut along one side of the backbone with a pair of strong scissors to open out the bird.

 - Cut along the other side if the backbone and remove it. Open out the bird, turn it breast side up and press down with the palm of your hand to flatten it. This process is known as spatchcocking. Wash the birds and pat them dry on kitchen paper.

 - Chop your garlic, chilli and rosemary together very finely.

 - Season your birds with salt and pepper and rub your chilli mixture all over the birds.

 - Heat your olive oil in a roasting tin on your hob and then add the Poussin skin side down and cook for about 5-10 mins until the skin is golden brown and crisp. Turn over and repeat.

 - Sprinkle the tomatoes over the birds and add the wine. Bring to the boil, then transfer the roasting tin to the oven and cook for about 40 mins until the birds are crisp.

 - Serve the birds whole with patate arrosto or a simple rocket salad with parmesan.

BUON APPETITO!

 

At long last I have returned, my wireless still isn’t working so I’m sitting on the stairs in the hall connected with my life saving yellow cable! We (me and my buddies at BT) still don’t know what happened as it transpired that there was no cable fault after all that so now we are going to try a new modem at a cost to myself of course and see what happens!!! Anyway at least I have access, I wish I had better news on the dishwasher situation , I’m sure you’re all mad interested to know, it’s still not working, you wouldn’t believe how much  I miss it, two words people  - BABIES BOTTLES !!! I’m literally chained to the sink, a sight Bruno loves to see for a change:)

It was a sad week in the Italian Foodie household as the best programme ever to grace our screens came to an end. We have been big ” Soprano” addicts from the first episode and rarely missed one. Ivonne spoke about the final episode on her blog which finished a while back in Canada and I was terrified reading it that someone might give away the ending but they didn’t. Like everyone else the ending took us by surprise, the build up was great I had butterflies in my stomach (ADDICT), myself and Bru were getting all excited - will Tony die?, O my god what’s going to happen to Meadow? and then NOTHING???? We must have sat there for at least 2 minutes in silence with our mouths open and then we both went “WHAT THE FXXX?????? All that we could do was crack open a couple more bottles of Peroni and sit there and try and figure out “DID TONY GET SHOT OR WHAT????  Nothing left but “Lost” now which drives me crazy every time I watch it but I still never miss an episode!!

I was a bit lazy on the cooking front last week without my blog, my menu planning went out the window but don’t panic I’m back on the straight and narrow or else Bru will just move back in with his mother:). She’s actually off to Italy today for 5 weeks so no big Sunday lunch or dinner Wednesday and sometimes even Friday. I know, I know but she’s just the best cook and you would take advantage too if you had a personal chef who loves nothing more than cooking for the family. Since I started the blog she’s pulling out all the stops as I’m always asking her questions and have started to take more of an interest in everything she makes. It was pasta with lobster last Wednesday with lobster salad and an antipasto of parmesan and sliced mushrooms with a lemon and oil dressing, on Sunday it was home-made pasta with tomato sauce followed by roast rack of lamb with roast potatoes - DELICIOUS!!! Now you see why I will miss her!!

This rustic recipe is from last month’s Taste Italia and is very easy to prepare with simple and clean flavours.

WHAT YOU NEED:

• chicken pieces - I used organic drumsticks and thighs -4 of each
• 1 lemon sliced
• 1 sprig rosemary
• 1 sprig thyme
• 1 whole garlic - skin left on, press down on cloves with a knife to release the flavour.
• olive oil
• dry white wine
• plain flour
• sea salt and black pepper

WHAT TO DO:

 - season your chicken pieces and dip into some flour and shake off the excess.

 - heat some olive oil in a pan and cook your chicken pieces until golden brown.

 - add your herbs, lemon slices and garlic, cook for a couple of mins on a high heat and then turn down, cover and leave to cook for 20-30 mins until chicken is cooked.

 - remove your chicken and add a good splash of white wine and let the alcohol burn off and simmer for a couple of mins until liquid becomes a sauce consistency.

- serve with some patate arrosto and asparagus with parmesan(next post) on the side.

 

BUON APPETITO!!

 

Firstly it was a sad day in La Cucina yesterday as one of our longer serving members of staff left to return to Estonia. We just want to say a big THANK YOU AND GOODBYE to Raido, he was one of the best employees we ever had and we are sad to see him go. We find it quite difficult to get staff as there are very few Italians in Limerick, most of them go to Dublin, we’re always so jealous when in Dublin and the Italian restaurants are full of Italian staff. It just makes it easier to train someone when they are Italian as they know the basics already. We have a busy few weeks ahead of us anyway with staff on holidays but we’ll get through it, we always do!

 

This is one of his many great 20″ pizza, maybe someday we’ll visit La Cucina Estonia!

As I mentioned in my last post the “italian foodie” kitchen was a hive of activity over the weekend with our guests who came expecting a foodie haven so the pressure was on not to disappoint. We don’t often cook chicken, maybe once a month but we had made this a while back and really liked it so we made it for dinner on Monday night. A couple of glasses of Prosecco with fresh strawberries was had as an aperitif, we then had this chicken dish stuffed with mascarpone, ham and mushrooms served with roast potatoes and peas with pancetta and then Bruno put on his cocktail hat and rustled up a few tasty mojitos. The guests had to catch a flight at 6am, not a picture of happiness I would imagine.

This chicken recipe from the Silver Spoon is quite easy to make and very tasty.

WHAT YOU NEED!  - SERVES 4

• 40g butter
• 250g mushrooms
• juice of 1 lemon strained
• 1 garlic clove peeled
• 1 tbsp chopped flat leaf parsley
• 4 chicken breasts - I used organic but they were too small and too hard to fill so I would recommend buying the biggest fillets you can find.
• 2 cooked ham slices cut in half.
• 100g mascarpone cheese
• salt and pepper.

 

WHAT TO DO:

 - preheat the oven to 200 degrees - could somebody please tell me how to do the little symbol.

 - grease your roasting tin with butter.

 - chop your mushrooms and pour your lemon juice over them to stop discolouration.

 - melt 25g of butter in a pan, add the garlic and cook until brown and remove.

 - add the parsley and mushrooms and cook for 5 mins over a high heat, season with salt and pepper and cook for another 2 mins.

 - slice horizontally through the chicken without cutting all the way through, open out each one like a book, pound with a meat mallet and season with salt and pepper. To be honest I’m useless at this so Bruno did it!

 - place a piece of ham on one side of the chicken, divide the mascarpone among the fillets and top each one with mushrooms.

 - fold the fillets together and secure with cocktail sticks.

 - season with salt and pepper and put a knob of butter on each one.

 - place the chicken in your roasting pan and cover with foil and roast for 15 mins.

 - discard the foil and brown the chicken under the grill.

 

BUON APPETITO!!

 

On Monday night Bru put on his culinary hat and cooked us a very tasty risotto with porcini and barolo wine. Any excuse to steal a good bottle of Italian “vino rosso” from the Piccola. It was Champion’s League night on Wednesday(yawn) so it was my turn at the cooker. At the moment due to being at the princess’ beck and call I’m cooking the easiest and fastest recipes possible. This roasted chicken dish definitely falls into that category. It’s one of those dishes where all the ingredients go into one oven tray with minimal preparation. I think I got it from one of Jamie Oliver’s earlier books!!

what you need:

• chicken legs & thighs - we use the organic Moy Park from Superquin
• 4 garlic cloves - leave the skin on
• 1 pack of cherry tomatoes - Dunnes “simply better” range are really good as they are very sweet and full of flavour. I used Italian organic tomatoes that I got at the Farmer’s Market on Saturday.
• basil leaves
• 1 red chili finely chopped (optional)
• 1 red onion sliced thickly
• sea salt and black pepper
• olive oil

how to make it:

• preheat your oven to 200 degrees
• place your chicken in an oven tray, season with salt and pepper and add a few glugs of olive oil
• cook for about 20 mins
• add your cherry tomatoes, garlic, red onion, chili and basil
• cook for another 30-40 mins - I like the tomatoes to be quite dried out and the chicken crispy so cook it according to personal taste.

BUON APPETITO!!!