Moroccan Chicken with Aubergines

This is a dish we had the other night, when I realised that we haven't had Moroccan food for AGES! Also I had some baby aubergines (eggplant) that I was meant to use in another dish, but hadn't.

So pulling out the dried apricots, flaked almonds and various spices, I set to work on this. Moroccan Chicken with Aubergines, couscous and yoghurt.

Ingredients:    (Serves 3-4)

3-4 chicken breasts
a little olive oil
1 large aubergine or a few small
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground ginger
about 10 dried apricots, soaked and halved
400g tin plum tomatoes, halved
handful flaked almonds


Method:

Set the oven to 200 C. Halve the aubergine(s), set on a baking tray, drizzle with a little olive oil and season. Bake for about 35-40 minutes until soft. Remove from the oven and set aside.

Flatten the chicken breasts (I put one at a time into a freezer bag and hit firmly with a rolling pin until about 1 cm). Cut in half, widthways. Heat a little oil in a large pan and fry the chicken each side until just turning golden. Drain on kitchen paper and set to one side.

In the same pan, add the onion and garlic and fry in the oil and juices until golden. Add the spices and fry to release the aromas and then add the apricots and tomatoes and stir well. Scrape the cooked aubergines from the skin with a spoon and chop. Add to sauce and stir in along with the chicken, spooning the sauce over. Squeeze in the juice of a lemon and leave to simmer gently for about 30 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste, garnish with fresh coriander and flaked almonds and serve with couscous and yoghurt.

For the couscous:

Put 1 cup couscous into a bowl and add one vegetable stock cube. Add just over 1 cup boiling waiter and stir. Cover with cling film and leave to steam for five minutes. Add anything you like - I added chopped tomatoes, chopped raw courgette, finely chopped red onion and some chopped coriander stalks. Serve this with the chicken, lots of sauce and a dollop of yoghurt, sprinkled with paprika. Enjoy!

Baked Hake with Serrano, White Beans & Baby Greens

Normally when I have hake, which is a meaty fish similar to cod, I tend to cook it with a Spanish stew, but the weather is so warm at the moment and I wanted something more summery.

I spotted a tin of cannellini beans in the store cupboard, so imaging France, wine and cassoulets.. I came up with this light and tasty supper. Hake fillet, sprinkled with a little paprika and baked. A cassoulet with beans, garlic, white wine, serrano and shredded baby greens. (Which with the serrano, paprika and Spanish wine, turned out to be possibly Spanish anyway!). Enjoy!

Ingredients:   (Serves 2)

2 x hake fillets, skinned and boned
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, sliced
70g serrano ham, slices halved
1 glass white wine
100ml vegetable stock (cube is fine)
400g tin cannellini beans
100g baby leaf greens, shredded
juice of 1 lemon

Method

Drain the cannellini beans in a colander and rinse, set to one side. Cook the shredded greens in boiling water for 5 minutes and add to the beans in the colander.

Add the olive oil to a large pan and fry the onion, garlic and serrano for a few minutes until onion is cooked and serrano browning and beginning to get crispy. With the heat up, add the glass of wine and cook on a high heat until the wine evaporates. Add the stock, beans and greens and stir through well. With the back of a fork, mash the beans into the sauce to thicken. Turn heat to simmer.

Put the hake in a shallow dish and drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper and a little paprika (smoked paprika if liked). Bake in a 200 C oven for 10-12 minutes, or until cooked through.

Season the cassoulet with a little salt and pepper and the juice of a small lemon, tasting to check the seasoning.

Serve the fish on top of the cassoulet and drizzle with a little oil. Have with crusty bread and a glass of white wine, if liked. We had Trisquel and it was perfect! 

Home made bread is lovely with this.

Delicious Spanish wine.