Recipes

Spice it up – Recipe No. 2 for the summer is Ras el Hanout Chicken with Chickpea Mash. & also… how does your garden grow?

Posted on June 12, 2022June 12, 2022 by sheila kiely

Ras el Hanout spiced chicken & chickpea mash – Sheila Kiely

Ras el Hanout chicken strips ⬇️

Chicken fillet cut into long strips or mini chicken fillets
Ras el Hanout
Heat some oil in a pan, add the chicken, dust generously with Ras el Hanout, turn over after a couple of minutes and dust the other side, one last turn and chicken should be done , cut through to centre to check white all the way through

Spiced Chickpea Mash ⬇️

The LIST
1 tbsp olive oil
4 garlic cloves crushed or chopped
1 tbsp crushed chillies or ‘easy’ chillies*
1 tbsp cumin
2 tins drained chickpeas crumbled – use food processor
Large handful chopped fresh coriander
The METHOD
Heat the oil in a saucepan, add the garlic and chillies, cook for a minute
Add the cumin, mix through
Add the crumbled chickpeas and the coriander
Mix well, heat through & serve
TO SERVE
Serve with lime wedges, Greek yoghurt & crusty bread
*easy chillies refers to jar of crushed chillies that are long-life, simple to use and stored in the fridge

⬆️ Recipe ends here

Well, the above are old favourites and I have shared these before. Ras el Hanout is a magnificently warming spice blend that will warm up your food and is perfect for enhancing summer dishes. I like to serve this with a side of mashed avocado splashed with lime though in Ireland getting hold of perfectly ripe avocados can be tricky and involves mostly luck!

At last the degrees have decided to start climbing and we have been gifted with some warmth and when the sun breaks through and clouds dissipate there is NOWHERE more beautiful than Ireland as it never gets too hot. We have brightness until 10pm which is magnificent and these stretched days will stay with us until 21st June. Each day awakens shortly after 5am and the darkness of winter becomes a faded memory.

Lawns are being cut and humming mowers and strimmers are a familiar background sound though it’s lovely to see that many gardeners are taking heed of the threatened bee population and leaving strips of dancing wildflowers, daisys, buttercups and dandelions to flourish.

So Instead of mowers I wish you a summer filled with nature’s sounds, chirping birds, buzzing bees, gentle breezes through the trees and meadows.

Slán for now, x Sheila.

Ras el Hanout spiced chicken – Sheila Kiely

Chickpea mash, made in minutes – Sheila Kiely

Sauce required? Sprinkle some paprika over Greek yoghurt, tadah- Sheila Kiely

Berbere Baked Chicken

Posted on October 16, 2018July 6, 2021 by sheila kiely

Sunday morning, he took two of the lads to football training and I jumped out of bed knowing that food had to be got for their return and a decent dinner made as the twin girls had a football match later in the afternoon. No ordinary football match – a Senior County Final and a replay at that – so woe betide me if there were no food. (October 2018). Off I went, fitting in a yoga class and then a flit through the supermarket. On my return however they were back and my hero of a husband was already cleaning the kitchen with Niall having cooked for them all. They had polished off scrambled eggs and black pudding and there was no panic for me to cook. I didn’t mention that I had stopped off for a scone and a cappuccino in between the yoga and the shopping did I? It’s an official habit of mine now, a scone with Irish butter and a cappuccino. It’s usually accompanied by a catch up on my Instagram Feed and those stories can be very distracting!
This lack of time pressure made my foray into the kitchen so much more enjoyable. It is so much nicer to cook when you yourself are not starving and the masses are not persistently inquiring as to the nature of the dish and ‘when will it be ready?’

I had intended on a quick cook dish though and proceeded with my plan. Oven was preheated, vegetables quickly chopped and then tipped in a large baking dish with some berbere dusted chicken mini fillets.
Is Berbere new to you? It is to me. A recently discovered (by me!) Ethiopian origin spice blend similar to Ras El Hanout but with a really gentle warmth. I found it on the shelves of my local Dunnes Stores and have been using it for the past week or so and it’s going down well with everyone.

The Berbere baked chicken was accompanied by harissa spiced couscous with a little coriander mixed through and a good dollop of natural yoghurt spiked with lemon juice and topped with a sprinkling of Berbere for colour.

Baked Berbere Chicken:
You will need:
A few baby potatoes
1 Aubergine
1 courgette
1 red pepper
1 red onion
Olive oil or rapeseed oil
Mini chicken fillets 400-700g (judge by how many you want to feed!)
Berbere spice blend
Serve with couscous made with tsp harissa paste and some coriander
Natural yoghurt spiked with lemon juice and dusted with berbere.
Method:
Preheat the fan oven to 200C
Microwave the baby potatoes for 5 to 10 mins until easy to cut through
Cube the aubergine and courgette
Deseed and slice the red pepper
Peel and slice the red onion
Scatter the vegetables in the base of a large baking dish
Slice the par-cooked baby potatoes and scatter on top
Drizzle some oil over the vegetables and then mix them around
Place the chicken mini fillets on top of the chopped vegetables, drizzle with some oil and dust with berbere.
Cook in the hot oven for 25 to 30 minutes until the chicken is cooked through – turning the chicken over midway through cooking and dusting with a little more berbere.
Enjoy! Sheila

Recipes

One Tray Fish Bake. A simple fish supper.

Posted on September 19, 2018September 19, 2018 by sheila kiely

I have to share today’s triumph with you and YOU have to make it. I’m not commanding you, I’m simply imploring, I’m pleading because it is so simple and so tasty that I don’t want to be the only person in the world who has made this. Share this with me. Please.

You will know how many people you are cooking for so use your judgement in the amount of the following ingredients you will need. I’m giving quantities that cook for 5.

You will need:

10 baby potatoes

5 pieces of fish (I used hake)

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp tomato pesto

1 tbsp mixed herbs

3 large spring onion

2 handfuls baby spinach leaves

3 tbsp chopped sundried tomatoes

Lemon to serve – optional

Method

Heat a fan oven to 200C and follow the method in the following words and pictures. You will need a large baking dish and tin foil.

Note : test your fish is cooked through to the centre before serving. Smaller / thinner fish pieces will take less cooking time.

Note 2 : my previous microwave would have cooked baby potatoes in 5 mins, my current one takes 8 mins so that time will vary. (You could boil if you prefer)

Lots of pluses for this dish. Simple, tasty, healthy & minimal washing up. I do hope you get to give it a try.

Enjoy! Sheila

Recipes

Chicken Biryani, a delicious creamy one pot curry

Posted on August 12, 2018August 13, 2018 by sheila kiely

I love food. That’s a given. This is one of the best things that I have ever cooked. What that means is that this is a really good dish. REALLY GOOD! Okay, you get it, I like this Chicken Biryani. Let me count the ways though : It is easy. It is relatively quick. It is a crowd pleaser. It will feed a crowd (yes, these are two different points). It cooks in one pot. It is delicious. I like it. 7. There are 7 reasons why this is a really good dish! And you don’t care, you just want the recipe so move along there Sheila and share…

Couple of notes, if you are finding your way with cooking and exploring new things you may yet have come to use cardamom. Don’t be put off by ingredients that may be unknown to you. You will find cardamom pods easily in the super market and you will bash the outer husks using a pestle and mortar or a rolling pin to release the inner seeds. Another note I like to share is about fresh ginger. Keep it in the freezer and grate what you need straight from frozen using a microplane grater, there is no need to peel ginger.

Chicken Biryani Recipe
Feeds 6 easily.
You will need :
250g frozen peas
1 tbsp coconut oil
1 onion chopped finely
spices :
2 tbsp grated fresh ginger
1 tbsp Garam masala
2 tsp turmeric
8 cardomon pods seeded
Half teaspoon ground black pepper
2 tsp cumin
Chicken breast 500g
2 tbsp tomatoes purée
2 cups quick cook rice = approx. 350g
Tin coconut milk
2 cup veg stock = approx. 250ml
Flaked almonds to toast
Fresh Coriander to serve
Method:
Place 250g frozen peas in jug of boiling hot water and set aside
Finely chop the onion, grate the ginger, crack open the cardamom pods to release the seeds
Melt 1 tbsp coconut oil in large pan over medium heat
Gently fry the onion for 5 mins.
Stir in the following spices :
2 tbsp grated fresh ginger
1 tbsp Garam masala
2 tsp turmeric
8 cardomon pods seeded
Half teaspoon ground black pepper
2 tsp cumin
Cook spices couple minutes stirring through the onion.
Add chopped chicken 500g and 2 tbsp tomatoes purée, mix to coat chicken with spice
Add the drained peas stir through
Add 2 cups rice stir through
Pour in Can of coconut milk and the 2 cups veg stock
Raise the heat until just begging to bubble, stir well reduce the heat to medium and cover with lid for 10 mins
(Check every so often with wooden spoon that nothing is sticking to bottom of pan if it is give it a stir and turn down the heat a little.)
Toast the flaked almonds in a frying pan
Chop the fresh coriander
Once the Chicken Biryani has simmered for 10 minutes remove the lid and test to see if rice cooked, if not simmer a little longer covered and add more liquid if any danger of sticking.Turn the heat up for a few minutes more until just bubbling again.
Serve with the toasted almonds and fresh coriander.}
Enjoy! Sheila.

Recipes, What's for Dinner Mom?

Crispy Lardon & Mozzarella topped baked potatoes for a Simple Supper

Posted on July 25, 2018July 25, 2018 by sheila kiely

Tasty, Easy and Very Affordable here’s a simple supper idea. Here’s another dinner idea told mostly in pictures.

Crispy Lardon & Mozzarella topped baked potatoes for a Simple Supper

You will need:
Potatoes for baking
Bacon lardons
Onions
Some oil
Dried basil
Mozzarella ball
Iceberg lettuce
Plum tomatoes
Mini mozzarella balls
Salt, Pepper, Olive Oil & Balsamic Vinegar

Method:
STEP 1 – Put potatoes on to bake in hot oven (takes 40mins to 1 hour depending on size)
10 minutes before the potatoes are fully cooked do the following :

Fry up the lardons – 5 mins approx.