A month in food, chicken pies, endings and return

  
The weather has been nothing like spring for all of March. Only now, as we edge into April, it is getting sunnier and warmer by increments, but it is still undoubtedly cold. I am responding to even a one degree change from say, 4 Celsius to 5, with gusto, rocking the (as featured in Paris Vogue for those that dare mock) socks and Birkentstocks combo and making salads most nights to balance out our steady diet of pasta, pies and paella.

The organic grocery store is an Eden of bunched leafy beauties, pinks, reds, even violets.  There is something in the name of blood oranges that compels me, cutting in to their flesh is a moment of anticipation - how red will it be? The delicate ends of fennel are making their way into a Sicilian pasta of sundried tomato paste, raisins and tuna and the feminine beauty of cerise radishes make me try even harder to like them.

 Usually I would buy radishes for their beauty alone and they would languish in my fridge until I begrudgingly chopped them past their prime into a salad. But this year, I have been delightedly featuring them in every salad, nestling up with creamy avocados and those juicy blood orange segments, in couscous with salty olives and toasty hazelnuts, even eating them whole as I sip some Chianti and prep dinner. The watery crispness is such a great contrast to the bitter juice, they clean the palate while invigorating it. I am converted.

It was also River's 6th birthday at the end of March and some chocolate chip muffins were called for after school the day before. I make these from a basic muffin recipe but substituted white flour with spelt and wholemeal flour  (he didn't notice) and golden castor sugar to try and offset the chocolatesugar fest that his birthday and Easter would herald.

Mini hangovers were a little more plentiful in March too, as my 40th was cause for get-togethers (wine with friends). We also had some BIG NEWS that caused some BIG STRESS and EXCITEMENT (more wine): we are moving back to Australia! We have exactly 4 weeks to the day before we leave England, after nearly 7 years here in Manchester. It's a long story, but with a hopefully happy ending. I am going to miss so many people and say goodbye sadly to great colleagues and friends, but my homesickness has been a constant and I am so happy too to think now about life back HOME. Anyway, hangovers: I find sourdough topped with spinach and mushrooms fried in olive oil and generously salted with avocado and coffee help.

I have to thank my husband for agreeing to go back to Australia - he is English and has been loving his work here and has an old mother to leave behind. I have been feeding him with much care and thought as a way of showing my happiness and love. Gareth's appreciation of a pie, a chicken pie to be precise, is legendary (find another one here). I am substituting shortcrust for filo these diet days, and this one was a stunner.

I make a base of sweating down leeks or onions with carrots and celery in olive oil and a bit of butter till nice and soft and tasty - about 10 minutes - add some chopped herbs like rosemary, sage, oregano and then fry off pieces of happy chicken adding about a tablespoon of flour once the chicken is sealed. Stir to coat all the bits of onion etc and then add milk (about 1 cup should do it) until you have a sauce that is thick but not gloopy. I usually add a sneaky pinch of vegetable bullion and season with salt and pepper. For this pie I added some spinach leaves, small florets of cauliflower and small cubes of new potato. Peas, broadbeans, carrots all go nicely too. The filo pastry is layered on the bottom of the pie dish with a light brush of melted unsalted butter between each layer - about 4 in total. Top with another 4 sheets of buttered filo and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Bake for about 30 mins on 180 C or until golden.

 I do love courgettes; Marcella Hazan says that whenever she presents yet another pasta dish with courgettes (actually, now that I'm an Aussie again I will call them zucchini) her husband sighs a little, and yet I agree with her - they are so perfect a vegetable. This month I became the proud owner of The Silver Spoon. The Italians really know how to respect a zucchini. I made a dish from the book of lightly steamed strips of baby zucchini drizzled still hot with a very fruity extra virgin olive oil and a squeeze of lemon then sprinkled with parsley. I served them with roast chicken and it was a lovely combination.

Another thing I like about Italian food (the list is very long) is the lightness of their sweets and cakes. This one is made from olive oil and yoghurt and has very little sugar. I made it from a master recipe in The Silver Spoon and added some toasted hazelnuts (left over from when I made the couscous above) and two peeled and sliced pears. 

 Finally, there's a new cookbook on my list to buy - shot by Ed Park who did the phenomenal photography in The Silver Spoon and published also buy Phaidon: Sicily - Recipes from the Silver Spoon Kitchen.  You may remember me raving about my holiday in Sicily last year when we stayed on an organic lemon and olive farm (find it here), owned and run by the gorgeous and spiritual Fabio and his family. While we were there I actually happened to meet Ed Park as he was travelling around Sicily commissioning the local women to cook the recipes for this very book. Fabio's mother was going to cook some for him and I was invited on the day to prepare some dishes myself and help Ed co-ordinate the shoot. It was synchronicity at it's best and this month a feature of the book appeared in The Financial Times Weekend Magazine, including the chicken pie I made. This recipe is so so so good. So here it is, another chicken pie recipe! (I haven't changed the recipe below but you can always substitute making the pastry for store bought shortcrust)

Pasticcio di pollo
(from Sicily: Recipes from the Silver Spoon Kitchen)

300g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
70g sugar
100g butter
50g lard
2 eggs
2 tbs Marsala

For the filling

3 tbs olive oil
1 medium chicken
500ml hot chicken stock
50g shelled pistachio nuts, peeled
50g shelled almonds
100g fresh breadcrumbs
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2-3 tbs chopped flat leaf parsley
1-2 tbs drained capers, rinsed
1 lemon juice and zest
salt and pepper

Method

Make the filling. Heat olive oil in shallow pan, add chicken and cook over n=medium heat, turning occasionally, for 10 mins until lightly browned. Drizzle with 100ml of the stock, simmer, adding more stock a little at a time until the chicken is tender - 40 mins. Remove pan from the heat and let the chicken cool. Remove the skin and bones and tear the meat into strips. (You can always use roast chicken meat instead of this process)

Dry-fry the pistachios and almonds until just gold. Chop coarsely.

Put the remaining stock into a bowl and soak the breadcrumbs, then drain. Mix together the breadcrumbs, eggs, parsley, capers, lemon juice and zest, chicken and nuts in a bowl. Season to taste and stir.

Pre-heat the oven to 180C/Gas Mark 4. Line a 24cm round cake tin with greaseproof and grease with butter.

To make the dough, sift the flour into a bowl, add the sugar, butter, lard, 1 egg and the Marsala and mix well to form a smooth dough. Divide the dough into 2 pieces, 1 larger than the other. Roll them out into a round. Put the larger round in the bottom of the tin and top with the filling, cover with the second round. Lightly beat the remaining egg. Decorate the top of the pie with pastry trimmings and brush with the beaten egg. 

Bake for about 45 mins, until golden brown. Let stand for 5 mins before serving.  

 

           

goodbye england, goodbye xx