- Dinner tonight -

Being the end of autumn there isn't much selection in my garden..although this afternoon I managed to harvest the tiniest baby beetroots, a few baby leeks and spinach.  I will confess to swiping my best friends brocolini out of her garden next to me!  Don't worry I'll pay her back with some red onions or something..



Spinach and leek stuffed chicken legs with baby beetroot, brocolini and golden sweet potato

4 free range chicken legs
sea salt and black pepper
2 tsp cumin seeds, toasted and ground
4 large handfuls of spinach, blanched and refreshed in iced water then squeezed dry
150g feta cheese
2 baby leeks, sliced
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

8 baby beetroot, washed with 2-3 cm of stem left attached
8 stems brocolini, blanched and refreshed in iced water
4 golden sweet potato, chopped into chunks
leaves from the beetroot

4 tbsp balsmaic vinegar
2 mandarins, juiced
2 tsp dijon mustard
8 tbsp olive oil
sea salt and black pepper

To make the stuffing; gently saute leeks and garlic until soft and golden.  Meanwhile blanch your spinach then finely chop.  Crumble feta into a bowl, add cool spinach, leeks, garlic and sea salt and pepper.  Mix together well and set aside.

For the chicken, gently loosen skin from flesh all over the thigh bone.  You can remove thigh bone if you wish but I'm a mother of two not a chef!   Squash stuffing into a ball in your hands and shove under the skin, smoothing it down over the leg bone and meat.  You don't really need to secure the skin with toothpicks just push the skin back down over the thigh meat as much as you can.  Season with salt, pepper and cumin.

Roast sweet potato and chicken legs in a hot oven (200 degrees) for 30 minutes, adding baby beetroot for the last 10 minutes.

To make dressing;  whisk all ingredients together or shake in a jar.

When everything is cooked and your beetroot is nice and crispy, mix with dressing, beetroot leaves and brocolini.  Serve immediately.

Chicken and preserved lemon tagine

A tagine is a pot unique to Morrocco, but not essential.  Serve this tagine over warm hot buttered cous cous, sprinkled with torn mint leaves.


Serves 4

4-6 pieces of leg and wing chicken pieces
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground ginger

sea salt and black pepper
2 onions, peeled and roughly chopped
3 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
500ml hot homemade chicken stock
1 bay leaf
large pinch of saffron
1 cinnamon stick
1 preserved lemon, sliced
handful of green or black olives, destoned
sprig of thyme

Turn oven on to 160 degrees.  Rub chicken with ground spices to coat, then fry in hot pan for 5 minutes or until golden on all sides.  Add onions, garlic and fry for a couple more minutes.  Place chicken, garlic and onions in a tagine or casserole dish then add all the other ingredients.  Put in your oven and cook for 1-2 hours or until the meat is falling away from the bone.  Season with salt and pepper and serve.  Easy and delicious!

Eco food

Eco food to me is............economical, environmentally aware and eatable.  With a little bit of education we can still eat good food ie free range or organic without the price sending your grocery bill skyward.  Every week I buy a waitoa valley free range chicken which is very Sophie Gray of me but I get three meals out of it.  One with the breasts, one with the thighs and wings and I use the carcass for stock be it for risotto, soup or casserole.  Here's my three recipes of the week.

Crumbed chicken breasts with roast red pepper, baby beets and goats feta
Apricot and preserved lemon chicken tagine
Spiced kumara soup with crisp fried ginger

Crumbed chicken breasts with roast red pepper, baby beets and goats feta.  Serves 4

2 chicken breasts
fresh wholegrain bread
1 egg whisked lightly with a splash of milk
plain flour
sea salt and pepper
handful of roughly chopped italian parsley
few tablespoons thyme leaves
handful of grated parmigiano reggiano

2 handfuls of mixed leaves - I used mizuna, cos, red oak, washed
2 red peppers
4 baby beetroots, peeled and sliced thinly
150g goats feta
1 tbsp wholegrain mustard
1 tbsp honey
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
sea salt and pepper

Cut each chicken breast into 2 or 3 even sized pieces.  Sandwich between two layers of cling film then bash with a meat mallet or pestle until the chicken is an even thickness much like schnitzel.
Put wholegrain bread, herbs, sea salt, pepper and parmigiano reggiano into a food processor and whiz until you have coarse breadcrumbs.
Now make your crumbing station, put plain flour onto a plate, crumbs on another plate and whisked egg into a bowl.  Dust the chicken lightly with flour, shaking off the excess then place chicken into the egg.  Coat with egg, drip off excess then coat thoroughly with breadcrumb mixture.  Set aside until ready to cook.

Chargrill your peppers on an open flame until blackened and blistered then put into a bowl and cover with cling film.  This makes it easier to peel later when they are cool.
Put all the dressing ingredients into a jar or bowl and shake/whisk to combine, set aside

Heat up a pan add a spalsh of olive oil and fry your chicken til golden and crisp, about 2-3 minutes. Season with sea salt.  Mix together all the salad ingredients leaving the goat feta to sprinkle over at the end.  Serve.