Mid-Week Dinner Idea : Harissa Chicken

Easy recipe, quick meal idea, harissa, chicken

In France, Moroccan food is the counterpart of Indian food in Great Britain. When I was a young adult and money would hardly stretch to the end of the month, eating out was an extra-ordinary event.

We would never go anywhere else but for "un Couscous". Very recently, my friend rang, to tell me with a giggle: "I went to the loft, to clear it up and guess what I found?.... My Couscous Dress." Yes, we had special extra large dresses which would accommodate us and all the couscous we could eat. Tight jeans would have been a liability.

My favourite part of a Couscous meal were the juices mixed with harissa and spread over semolina. I was so hooked on harissa that at home, my preferred snack was harissa on toast.

Now, I would not dare to post such things as semolina harissa or harissa on toast but the next best thing for "not that young but not that old adults": Harissa Chicken to be served with semolina or a green salad. It's extremely quick and easy, the perfect Mid-Week Dinner Idea.

Harissa Chicken

Ingredients

4 chicken breast
4 tbsp harissa paste (rose harissa is nice)
1 garlic bulb, broken into cloves
1 lemon , cut into wedges
400g cherry tomatoes (on the vine if you wish)
2 tbsp olive oil
green salad or semolina to serve to serve (optional)

Method

Heat oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5. Oil a baking tray with olive oil

Break the garlic bulb and break it into cloves, it's entirely up to you how many cloves to use.

Spread in the tray, add the cherry tomatoes (with or without the vine).

Cut the lemon into 6 wedges.

Score the chicken breast and rub with harissa

Place the lemon and the chicken in the tray

Drizzle with olive oil

Bake for 45 minutes

I would like to share this recipe with Inheritance Recipes hosted by Coffee and Vanilla. Because it reminds me so much of time past but also because it's the type of food, I grew up with when staying with my Moroccan maternal family.

At Home with Sherlock Holmes : A Visit to Portsmouth

2017 has been dubbed "The Year of Literary Heroes" thanks -in part - to the 125th anniversary of the first Sherlock Holmes publication by author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The book, published in 1892 was the first collection of Holmes stories which Conan Doyle had been publishing in magazines since 1887.

Conan Doyle Show Case Portsmouth City Museum

Like many readers, I first picked up a volume of the Adventures of Sherlock Holmes as a child and, the child in me has always been disappointed by the fact that Sherlock and Watson's famous address at 221B Baker Street doesn't actually exist but why should it? For tangible evidence of Holmes genius, I should have been looking into the author, not the character

Portsmouth Harbour

The search led me to Portsmouth where Conan Doyle set up his medical practice in 1882 and where he wrote the first two Holmes stories. While living in Portsmouth Conan Doyle did much more than writing. He was a goalkeeper for the local football team and he getting into a ring to box. He played cricket in the same team as J.Barrie, the creator of Peter Pan and popularized skiing. In the late 19th century, Spiritualism was a popular system of belief, the practice of the occult and paranormal was common. Doyle believed that these practices had a scientific background which is one of the reasons he became a Freemason.

Following a literary trail is a fun way to get into the stories and the characters. Sherlock Holmes trail could start with Conan and Louisa Doyle's first home. The house where they lived has been bombed during the war, like most of the buildings in Portsmouth but a Blue Plaque marks the spot. In this case, most of the visit will take place in Portsmouth City Museum which offers a wonderful permanent exhibition called ' A Study in Sherlock'.

This exhibition showcases the largest collection pertaining to Doyle, and his creation Sherlock Holmes, in the world. The gallery explores Doyle's early life as a doctor in Portsmouth, his sporting activity and later interest in spiritualism as well as Sherlock Holmes as depicted in films, theatre, advertising and elsewhere. It includes a Sherlock Holmes mystery and a narration by Stephen Fry, patron of the collection.

Michael Gunton, the museum's resident Doyle expert, uncovered the collection for me. As I was marvelling at a case containing, games, cards, fake everything and more. He explained, "the marketing memorabilia was developed in the 30th but people were already writing spoofs of the great detective from 1900. For example, there is a silent film from 1916 called "the Mystery of the Leaking Fish" in which the hero called "Coke Anyday" is a detective who sniffs a talcum-like-powder which enhances his powers of investigation. Every few years there is a creation which draws the attention to Sherlock Holmes taking the name and sometimes very little else."

Conan Doyle loved Southsea/Portsmouth. Though he left after a decade, he bought a second home there, probably attracted by the town's raw energy and the ambient patriotism. There is something about literature and Portsmouth/Southsea. Something which can not be explained. It has been home to a large number of famous authors. H.G. Wells and Somerset Maugham who had a miserable time while living there, unlike Kipling whose memories of the town are happy. Dickens was born in Portsmouth. I would never hazard a guess at author Neil Gaiman's feelings towards his hometown but it certainly inspired him as the road lay-by near the sea which serves as bus terminal is called The Ocean at the End of the Lane. His book of the same name was ‘Book of the Year in the British National Book Awards’ 2013.

The Ocean at the end of the lane credit Solange Berchemin

Inheritance Recipes - February 17 : Round up

February is a fun month for food bloggers and that was reflected in the entries. We heard how Only Crumbs remain proposed with her Loveheart shortbreads, travelled back in time to Italy with Gillian's Kitchen and her authentic Paolozzi meat sauce.

A place we don't visit very often on this challenge is Danemark but we now can "Dessert like Danes" thanks to Fab food for all and her family recipe: Danish Fedtebrod

Shaheen decided to spread the love and show the next generation how to beef up traditional recipes with her Black Beans Chili with Red Pepper Hearts

From her Polish Kitchen Coffee & Vanilla gave us a Chocolate Cheesecake like no other and from her archives a Red Borscht

We read about how it was to grow up on Cape Breton in Canada and how a Jewish family celebrates Tu B’Shevat, the New Year for Trees, with respectively Cape Breton Scones and a fruity Challah

In celebration of the art of childhood memory, White Chocolate and Raspberry Cremes Brulees by Gluten Free Alchemist and les Bugnes Lyonnaises

Join us with your recipes in March, find the linky at Coffee 'n Vanilla

Cauliflower Cake - Choux-Fleur Cake

My Beetroot and Chocolate muffin recipe was a runaway success and I am hoping that this Cauliflower Cake will be the same. Though one can imagine quite readily the taste of the former, the latter might be a little more complex to conjure.

Choux-Fleur Cake is moist with a crunchy nut topping. It smells slightly of cauliflower but when I bought it The Queen's Orchard where I volunteer, nobody was able to name the secret ingredient. This cake is a dessert and not a savoury cake.

Besides cauliflower, this cake contains 1 Bramley apple, the old favourite cooking apple. The original Bramleys were propagated in Nottingham in the early 1800's, things you learn when volunteering!

There are only a few cooking apples (proper). Of course, any apple can be cooked with a varied degree of success. Blenheim Orange is another, it has a nutty flavour and goes way back to the 16th century.

He first spotted the recipe in Garden News whilst on a visit to his mum. I have not modified it much.

Ingredients

175g plain flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

2 1/2 tsp cinnamon

110 salted butter, diced

110g golden granulated sugar

50g ground almonds

110g peeled, cored Bramley cut in small pieces

2 tbsp lemon juice

110g cauliflower floret grated

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 medium eggs beaten

50g chopped walnuts

1-2 tablespoons Demerara sugar

Method

Preheat oven to 160C fan oven / 180 conventional

grease 20cm cake tin (pref loose bottomed)

1- sieve flour/ baking powder/cinnamon into a food processor

note that using a food processor will produce best results

2- Add butter, sugar, ground almond and whiz

3- Then eggs and vanilla to the mix

4- mix the cauli and the apple in a bowl with the lemon and add to the mixture, give it a quick pulse and transfer to the baking tin.

5- Combine walnuts and sugar and scatter on the top. Bake for 40-45 minutes do the skewer trick to see if it's cooked, if not leave it to cook for another 5 minutes. Let it cool before turning out.

Click on the picture to see the recipe of the Chocolate and Beetroot muffin

I am sharing with Cook Blog Share hosted by Hijacked by Twins.

Give-Away #36 :One OXO GOOD GRIPs Non-Stick Pro Sponge/Sandwich Tin worth £19.00

I am considering making a Choux-Fleur Cake but not the savoury kind rather the sweet kind and this baking adventure will require professional baking equipment. Thank goodness, the good people at OXO GOOD GRIPs have offered to lent me a hand by sending me their Sandwich Tin.

I like the idea of a solid straight wall and micro-textured pattern which ensures even baking because let's face it, I need all the help I can get when it comes to baking cakes.

Even more exciting, you get a chance to win the same sandwich tin worth £19.00, just use the comment box and the Rafflecopter to tell us what you'll cook with it. Competition ends on the 28/2/17 at midday Good luck

a Rafflecopter giveaway

What's new in the Kitchen #17: Love

Mr Kipling who "makes exceedingly good cakes" went a tiny-wee-bit overboard this Valentine's with a "boo-cake" made from 80 long-stemmed roses which display Kipling's cakes at their best. Slightly outside our budget at £400 but ....

The alternative a smaller bouquet of 20 roses sold from Mr Kipling's Facebook page for £30 is a fun idea.

Last year, I had the pleasure to meet Antonio Carluccio who spent the last 50 years sharing with us his passion for Italian food. He regaled the audience with tales of his beginning and made us blush when he revealed one of his secret dreams,

"To make love on a bed of basil". Here is one of his creations for Valentine's day: Amore E Baci

For more Valentine's ideas head to:
Elizabeth Kitchen diary

This is not a paid post, I was sent a sample by Carluccio's. As always, wording and opinions expressed are our own.

Coconut Macaroons : A Kitchen Disaster

biscuit, little treat, easy recipe, coconut macaroon

Don't they look just adorable? so much so that you could almost reach out and bite into one. Well, don't. Pictures like people lie. They were a real disaster.

At first, I thought my skills were in question as I am not the best of bakers but, after a few week when the initial "outrage" had passed, I compared recipes and I was not entirely to blame. The recipe used was a "double baking" recipe similar to a biscotti recipe and of course.....I never read the recipe to the end. I served them single baked, yurk, and double baked them for the picture. But, by then nobody was interested anymore.

The experience will have taught me one thing. Even if I had taken my time with the recipe I would not have felt comfortable with the double baking and if you are not comfortable with a recipe, you should look for another and whichever one you choose when baking, stick to the proportions and the instructions.

In fact, Coconut Macaroons are simple to make, perfect for school holidays

Ingredients:

2 free range eggs
225g desiccated coconut
150g caster sugar
glace cherries to decorate
Method

In a large bowl, Beat the eggs thoroughly, add the coconut and the sugar, stir.
Prepare a couple of baking trays by lining them with a baking sheet, if you have only one tray, you'll have to bake two batches.
Shape 16 balls, they don't have to be perfectly round, if fact, it's unlikely that they will be.
Place them on tray(s) decorate and bake in a preheated oven 180C/gas 4 for 25 minutes, they might need a little longer so keep an eye and let them back for another 5 minutes if they are not golden.

Tip: Macaroons will stay fresh for a week in an airtight container.

February 2017 - Inheritance Recipes

More than ever we need to celebrate DIVERSITY. Please join us in February with your family recipes wherever you are in the world, through your recipes in the pot, let's be proud of our roots. let's share our stories.

ABOUT INHERITANCE RECIPES

Inheritance Recipes is a challenge that Margot of Coffee and Vanilla and I have started to celebrate dishes food bloggers cherish. We would love to hear about your friends and family recipes.

Recipes which have been passed down by a family member, a friend, through an ancestral culture and dishes which you would like to bestow to future generations.

See some examples on the January round-up

We will share your recipes via our social media channels and include them in the round-up (with pictures) at the end of the month. We will also add your recipes to the Inheritance Recipes Pinterest board (that has 2.3 K followers) and include your blog’s handle in our Inheritance Recipes list on Twitter. Don’t forget to subscribe to them both!

HOW TO ENTER

Please, link back to challenge page on both: Pebble Soup and Coffee and Vanilla blog.

If possible, display one of the IR badges on your recipe post. (Click through to open one of the badges, right click to save it to your computer and then upload badge to your blog.)

Add your recipe via linky -Up to 2 recipes accepted per blogger.

Feel free to link up to past posts but please, update them with links to the challenge pages to qualify.

Recipe suggestions:

traditional recipes or preparation methods,
national recipes from all over the globe,
dishes that you often prepare with your children (starting a new tradition),
recipes inspired by childhood memories,
dishes inherited from a family member or a friend.

Closing date is the 28th February.

Please note that entries that fail to follow “how to enter” instructions won’t be approved.

If you use Twitter to promote your recipe, please use #InheritanceRecipes, tweet it @coffeenvanilla or @solangeweb and we will re-tweet it.

And last but not least, have a look at the terms and conditions if you haven't yet done so.
We can't wait to see your recipes and read their stories.