Claxton Grove Maple Chicken Roast

Only a couple of weeks ago, London was knee-deep in 10 inches of snow, apparently the most we've seen in a decade. Now that we're finally at the tail end of a freezing winter, what better than an anytime-roast to anticipate Easter? A variation of traditional Chicken roast, this recipe adds some warm Spring sweetness - with lemons, walnuts and maple syrup. A milk rich, garlic-buttered, red Rooster potato mash with skins on makes for a great side dish. As does a cresty parsley and tomato salad. Ah...the light aroma of sunshine and freshly cut grass isn't so long away.

Ingredients
Serves 4


Claxton Grove Maple Chicken Roast :
1 medium free-range chicken
4 Tbs toasted walnuts
4 Tbs unsalted butter
10 sprigs parsley
1 clove finely chopped garlic
2 Tbs corn oil
1/2 lemon, quartered
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper

Rooster Red Mash:
5 'Rooster' red skin potatoes, washed & dried
4 Tbs whole milk
2 cloves garlic
4 Tbs unsalted butter
2 tsp Blütenzauber Salz
(*Sea salt & floral herb mix. Commonly found in German bio markts, though Fleur du Sel, or "Flour of Salt", is a good alternative)

Tomato & Parsley Salad:
3 large vine tomatoes
Large bowl of parsley, finely chopped
1/2 lemon
2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
Pinch of salt
Dash of black pepper

1 Pre-heat oven to 190 deg. celcius. Blitz the walnuts, parsley, garlic, butter, salt and black pepper in a food processor until you obtain a fine spread. Gently loosen the skin over the chicken breasts by sliding your finger gently between meat and skin. Stuff the spread beneath the skin. Stuff lemons inside chicken. Place the chicken in a pan, pop into the oven and leave to roast for 2 hrs. Baste with chicken drippings every 1/2 hr. In the final 20 minutes of roasting, glaze with golden maple-syrup.

2 Slice the red potatoes into quarters. Boil for 20-25 mins then drain. Infuse butter with garlic over a medium heat for about 7-9 minutes to obtain garlic butter. Mash the potatoes in the pot, adding milk, Blütenzauber Salz and garlic butter.

3 Finely chop the parsley and potatoes. Season with lemon juice, extra-virgin olive oil, salt and pepper. Plate the roast chicken together with the mash and tomato-parsley salad. Serve up with a glass of Rosé.

Super Speedy P.M Salmon Teriyaki

After hours on the phone with my sister Michaela last night, musing about food and other kitchen obsessions, I grew so hungry my stomach started turning as loudly as a sulky washing machine grinding a broken drum.

It happens to me more than often enough - by the time I get this hungry, it seems far too late to fix anything decent. If I used to indulge old craven habits like crisps, frozen pizza and microwave chips just to silence the growling tum, I've since learnt that not eating at all's better.

Then again, not eating is always a boring option. The alternative's to conjure up a home cooked meal all under 20 minutes that falls under the wonderfully oxymoronic category of: REAL-FASTFOOD. One-dish stir-frys and other Western/fusion variations of East Asian dishes fall rather neatly, and healthily under this category.

Yet the humble takeaway stir-fry and any other cheat-sheet stir-fry recipe you'd find in books titled 'Wok and Roll' or the like, is probably high travesty. Totally UNREAL. For example, stir-frys that contain bamboo shoots, green, yellow, red peppers, baby corn, beansprouts, sweet peas etc. ALL thrown into one are wholly whored versions of the minimalist miracle that Asian/Fusion cuisine is well capable of being. Avoid miseducating your tastebuds. Stay clean away from those pre-packed Oriental vegetable stir-frys you'd find in our supermarkets in the UK. Rather then an anything-goes stir-fry, using methods like sauteeing and pan-grilling individual, fresh ingredients is sometimes all it takes for simplicity-inspired, asian fast food.

This one's an unassuming, Japanese-inspired gem. It's only message: 'Eat Well, Eat At Home'.

A Perlini-Michaela dinner quick-fix. Seasoning & technical inputs courtesy of Mic, who finally let me off the phone.

Ingredients
Serves 4

4 Organic Salmon Fillets
4 Stalks of Bok Choy (Sliced in half)
2 1/2 cups Japanese Rice

Salmon Teriyaki seasoning:
6 Tbsp Citrus Soy Sauce
3 tsp Granulated Demarara Sugar
1 Tbsp Japanese Rice Vinegar
1 Tbsp Japanese Sake
1 Tbsp Seseme Oil

Bok Choy seasoning:
1 Slice Ginger, size into matchstick slices
1 Tbsp Groundnut Oil or Garlic Oil Cooking

1 Allow salmon fillets to soak in Teriyaki seasoning for 10 mins. Meanwhile, wash rice several times in a saucepan then fill with 2 cups water. Bring rice to a boil over a high heat, then lowering the heat, leave to simmer gently for about 10-13 mins until rice is fluffy and steaming.

2 Heat butter over a medium heat in a frying pan. Add salmon fillets flesh side down first, skin side last, allowing each side to brown for about 3-4 mins. Spoon Teriyaki seasoning over salmon fillets as and when, to keep from burning. Allow the sauce to thicken and brown at the base of the pan.

3 Fry ginger in groundnut oil until fragrant, or simply use garlic oil. Sautee Bok Choy in ginger flavoured oil or hot garlic oil. Drizzle lightly with seseme oil.

Serve the Salmon Fillets and Bok Choy over rice in a large bowl.

Balam Road Lor Mai Kai (Chicken & Mushroom Sticky Rice)

A common breakfast food or tea-time snack originating from Southern China, Lor Mai Kai is a sort of Dim Sum popular in Malaysia and Singapore. Found anywhere from the local coffeeshop to school canteen, this recipe's inspired by 80's nostalgia and named after my first home at Balam Road in Singapore.

Before the pale, factory-made versions you'd find on sale today, I remember those childhood mornings when we'd stroll across to Macpherson Market along Circuit Road. The Dim Sum stall vendor would scoop out a freshly steamed, handmade Lor Mai Kai from out of a tin bowl and onto layers of clear plastic and brown paper for us to take home.

The original (and much oilier) version includes a slice of Lap Cheong (Chinese Sausage), while the Cantonese variety contains dried shrimps or pork, is usually paler and wrapped in lotus leaves.

Ingredients
Makes 6 snack portions

3 cups Glutinous Rice
3 Skinless Chicken Thigh Fillets
A small fistful of dried, sliced Chinese Mushrooms
6 slices Lap Cheong (Chinese Sausage)
2 slices Old Ginger, cut into thin strips
4 Tbsp Corn Oil

Chicken Marinade:
1 Tbsp Premium Light Soy Sauce
1 1/2 Tbsp Oyster Sauce
3/4 Tbsp Seseme Oil
1 Tbsp Shaoxing Chinese Wine
1 tsp White Sugar
Dash of Pepper

Rice Flavouring:
2 1/2 Tbsp Premium Light Soy Sauce
2 Tbsp Seseme Oil
3 tsp White Sugar
Dash of Pepper

Pre-preparation

• Slice each large, skinless chicken thigh fillet in half. Marinate overnight.
  
• Wash glutinous rice. Soak for 4 hours then drain.
• Soak dried sliced Chinese mushrooms in cold water 10 minutes prior to cooking. Retain mushroom stock.
  

Cooking
Use a medium heat throughout

1 Heat oil in wok. Brown ginger strips in oil until fragrant. Pan-sear chicken thigh fillets on both sides for 3-4 minutes. Move chicken pieces to the side of the wok. Add Chinese mushrooms and Lap Cheong slices. Brown for 3-4 minutes, allowing flavours to merge. Remove chicken, mushrooms and Lap Cheong slices. Set aside.

2 Add glutinous rice to wok and flavour. Add 3-4 tablespoons of mushroom stock to rice, to wet as required. Stir and flip rice constantly with a spatula until it acquires a sticky consistency. Remove wok with rice from hob.

3 Arrange chicken, mushrooms and Lap Cheong slices in rice bowls or 4 ounce ramekins. Scoop rice into each bowl/ramekin, pressing down and compacting the rice. Steam on high heat for 40 minutes.