Bacon

Boursin-stuffed chicken wrapped in Bacon

Published on September 15, 2015September 8, 2015 by A Frog at Large4 Comments

We eat a lot of chicken in our house and sometimes I get a little bored with my regular recipes.

The recipe I’m going to share below was cooked up by my good friend Lozza and it has been mentioned so many times in my circle of friends that it has turned into a bit of a mystical beast. A few had tasted it during a round of postpartum meal rotas and raved about it. Others, like me, had only heard just how tasty and easy to cook it was, and I thought it a bit unfair to have to listen to the tones of near reverence of those who had been lucky enough to try the dish.

Anyway, I had all the ingredients at home last week, so I thought I would give it a go. I reached out to the author herself and she confirmed there’s really nothing to it. Despite the presence of Boursin, it’s not a strictly a French or British recipe, instead, we are making a foray into European cuisine, darlin’.

Ingredients

Four chicken breasts (or boneless thighs)
One garlic & herbs Boursin
smoked streaky bacon, enough to wrap around each piece of chicken
150 mls chicken stock

Method

Pre-heat the oven to 190°C.
Slice a side of the chicken breasts into a pocket and put a generous spoonful of Boursin (or just open the thigh and roll it in).

Wrap bacon around the chicken tightly to keep it closed.

Place the chicken in a casserole dish.
Pour the chicken stock over the meat.
Close the lid tightly over the dish and bake for an hour.

Serve with Dauphinoise potatoes, new potatoes or rice and some green vegetables of your choice.

I wasn’t sure how the girls would respond to a garlic-flavoured cheese but they both devoured it and asked for extra sauce. It’s fair to say this recipe was a complete success and I am adding it to my regulars. Thank you Lozza!

Even better, there is still half of the Boursin left…

Boursin stuffed chicken wrapped in bacon — Yes, I like my potatoes. Two whole dinners you say? Naaah

Inside a Franglish Pantry: Lentils

Published on February 15, 2013September 21, 2015 by A Frog at Large2 Comments

I’m going to start on a slight tangent but yesterday was Valentine’s Day and we had lentils for dinner. That’s right, lentils. Hardly the romantic food of love, you might think, especially when Facebook was exploding with soppy declarations of luuurve and pictures of flowers and chocolate had taken over the newsfeed. Unfortunately, my day started so badly that I didn’t notice there were flowers on the dining room table. My only excuse is that it was 4.30 am at the time and I was making a desperate dash for the toilet. It’s times like these that only having a downstairs bathroom is a real PITA!

When I was finally ready to face the world around 9 am, I did notice all the lovely things Badgerman had left behind and with my stomach finally settled, the Lindt chocolate with strawberry bits did much to improve my mood. It did however take until the afternoon for me to feel ready to think about the lovely dinner I had planned to cook. Last week, we decided not to go out for Valentine’s Day and had a rummage through our more festive recipes for something suitably yummy to indulge in. To my immense surprise, Badgerman turned down the lamb curry I would have placed bets on being top of his list in favour of a duck with lentils extravaganza.

Now onto the subject of this post: lentils. I originally had a different title for this post, it was going to be ‘Hateful Foods from my childhood: Lentils’. I used to hate lentils. I still sort of don’t like them. Like quinoa, bulgur wheat and whatever other pulse you can think of, it’s all been meh to me from the start. I can never look forward to them. I don’t know what child looks forward to lentils ever, but they’re particularly unforgiving, especially when you’ve been expecting couscous instead. Can you tell I’m slightly bitter about this?

Since becoming an adult and holding all the power when it comes to what goes into my mouth, I have stayed very clear off them until a few years ago. I watched a food programme where chef Valentine Warner demonstrated a Duck with Lentils recipe and managed not only to make it look edible but also incredibly appealing. I thought to myself that it might be time to give my taste buds another go at them – in the name of science of course – so I made the dish and to my immense surprise, it was delicious, and was still delicious when I made it another time, so it was not a fluke. Whilst I am not going to ever reach punching the air ‘yeah lentils!’ levels of excitement, I can now feel good about giving my body an occasional health surge, and that’s nothing to sniff at.

The recipe is officially called Wild duck breasts with Puy lentils, chanterelle mushrooms and bacon and can be found straight off the BBC food website but as I’m nice and all, I’m also going to copy it below and add my own comments. I would rate it as easy and can vouch for the cooking time too, which is a rare thing! For the two of us, I approximately halved the required ingredients, which worked fine.

Less than 30 mins preparation time / 30 mins to 1 hour cooking time / Serves 4

Ingredients

175g/6oz Puy lentils (that is, the dark ones, whether or not it specifies ‘Puy’, which indicates the region of France these lentils originate from, just don’t use orange or yellow lentils)
2 bay leaves
2 tbsp olive oil
10 rashers smoked streaky bacon, rind removed, finely chopped
3 shallots, finely chopped (at a push, use a small onion instead, but it won’t be quite as nice)
2 carrots, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 small celery sticks, finely chopped
2 large handfuls fresh chanterelle mushrooms, wiped clean
sea salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper
dash red wine vinegar
extra virgin olive oil
small handful fresh parsley, chopped

For the duck

4 wild duck breasts
salt
knob of butter

Preparation method

Place the lentils and the bay leaves into a pan and cover with cold water. Bring them to the boil, then drain. Refill the pan with cold water to just above the level of the lentils. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes, or until tender. Add more water if the level falls below the lentils.
Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a frying pan over a medium heat. Add the bacon and fry until just beginning to colour.
Add the shallots, carrots, garlic and celery and fry until the vegetables are soft and the shallots are golden-brown.
Add the chanterelles and cook for one minute. On the subject of Chanterelle mushrooms, I don’t know about anyone else in England but unless you live somewhere where the farmers’ market is particularly awesome (and I want to know where that is!), you simply won’t find them. It might be a bit easier in France, especially in mushroom season i.e. September/October but even then, I’m not sure. Your alternative options are therefore as follows: dried wild mushrooms, which you leave in a bowl of boiling water for about 30 minutes before using, or good old chestnut mushrooms or any other fresh ones you picked up from the shops – about 6 of them will do.
Drain the cooked lentils, then return to the pan they were cooked in. Add the bacon and mushroom mixture and stir to combine. Season, to taste, with sea salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper.
Add a dash of red wine vinegar and cook over a low heat for five minutes. I have discovered through bitter experience that the ‘dash’ thing is too vague for me and that too much red wine vinegar will ruin the dish. However don’t use it and you will be seriously missing out. I couldn’t tell you exactly what it is about it but it lifts the flavour to a whole new level. For 2 people, I used one tablespoon and found it juuuuust right; for 4, it’s safe to say two tablespoons should do.
Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and stir in the chopped parsley.
For the wild duck, using a sharp knife, finely score the skin of duck breasts in parallel lines, then season well with salt. If you are particular about your duck and will notice whether or not it is wild, by all means, get it from your butcher. I bought Gressingham breasts for £8.25 from Tesco and they were very tasty.
Melt the butter in a frying pan over a medium heat. Add the duck breasts skin-side down and place a small plate on top so the breasts stay flat and cook evenly. Cook for 5-6 minutes, or until golden-brown, then turn the duck breasts over and cook for a further 1-2 minutes, or until cooked to your liking. Remove from the pan and leave to rest for five minutes. As for beef, how you like it cooked is really up to you. I personally added a couple of minutes to the cooking time. However I would add my twopence and say that if you don’t like pink meat, you probably shouldn’t be eating duck. This is particularly true of duck breasts; they basically lose all deliciousness if they get brown all the way through. Even a tiny bit of pink is better than no pink at all.
To serve, spoon equal portions of the lentils onto four plates. Slice each duck breast and arrange over each portion of lentils.

Enjoy!

Duck Breast with Puy Lentils, Mushrooms and Bacon

Published on February 15, 2013April 24, 2016 by A Frog at Large2 Comments

duck lentils recipe I’m going to start on a slight tangent but yesterday was Valentine’s Day and we had lentils for dinner. That’s right, lentils. Hardly the romantic food of love, you might think, especially when Facebook was exploding with soppy declarations of luuurve and pictures of flowers and chocolate had taken over the newsfeed. Unfortunately, my day started so badly that I didn’t notice there were flowers on the dining room table. My only excuse is that it was 4.30 am at the time and I was making a desperate dash for the toilet. It’s times like these that only having a downstairs bathroom is a real PITA!

This duck recipe is officially called Wild duck breasts with Puy lentils, chanterelle mushrooms and bacon and can be found straight off the BBC food website but as I’m nice and all, I’m also going to copy it below and add my own comments. I would rate it as easy and can vouch for the cooking time too, which is a rare thing! For the two of us, I approximately halved the required ingredients, which worked fine.

Duck Recipe: Less than 30 mins preparation time / 30 mins to 1 hour cooking time / Serves 4

Ingredients

175g/6oz Puy lentils (that is, the dark ones, whether or not it specifies ‘Puy’, which indicates the region of France these lentils originate from, just don’t use orange or yellow lentils)
2 bay leaves
2 tbsp olive oil
10 rashers smoked streaky bacon, rind removed, finely chopped
3 shallots, finely chopped (at a push, use a small onion instead, but it won’t be quite as nice)
2 carrots, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 small celery sticks, finely chopped
2 large handfuls fresh chanterelle mushrooms, wiped clean
sea salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper
dash red wine vinegar
extra virgin olive oil
small handful fresh parsley, chopped

For the duck

4 wild duck breasts
salt
knob of butter

Preparation method

Place the lentils and the bay leaves into a pan and cover with cold water. Bring them to the boil, then drain. Refill the pan with cold water to just above the level of the lentils. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes, or until tender. Add more water if the level falls below the lentils.
Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a frying pan over a medium heat. Add the bacon and fry until just beginning to colour.
Add the shallots, carrots, garlic and celery and fry until the vegetables are soft and the shallots are golden-brown.
Add the chanterelles and cook for one minute. On the subject of Chanterelle mushrooms, I don’t know about anyone else in England but unless you live somewhere where the farmers’ market is particularly awesome (and I want to know where that is!), you simply won’t find them. It might be a bit easier in France, especially in mushroom season i.e. September/October but even then, I’m not sure. Your alternative options are therefore as follows: dried wild mushrooms, which you leave in a bowl of boiling water for about 30 minutes before using, or good old chestnut mushrooms or any other fresh ones you picked up from the shops – about 6 of them will do.
Drain the cooked lentils, then return to the pan they were cooked in. Add the bacon and mushroom mixture and stir to combine. Season, to taste, with sea salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper.
Add a dash of red wine vinegar and cook over a low heat for five minutes. I have discovered through bitter experience that the ‘dash’ thing is too vague for me and that too much red wine vinegar will ruin the dish. However don’t use it and you will be seriously missing out. I couldn’t tell you exactly what it is about it but it lifts the flavour to a whole new level. For 2 people, I used one tablespoon and found it juuuuust right; for 4, it’s safe to say two tablespoons should do.
Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and stir in the chopped parsley.
For the wild duck, using a sharp knife, finely score the skin of duck breasts in parallel lines, then season well with salt. If you are particular about your duck and will notice whether or not it is wild, by all means, get it from your butcher. I bought Gressingham breasts for £8.25 from Tesco and they were very tasty.
Melt the butter in a frying pan over a medium heat. Add the duck breasts skin-side down and place a small plate on top so the breasts stay flat and cook evenly. Cook for 5-6 minutes, or until golden-brown, then turn the duck breasts over and cook for a further 1-2 minutes, or until cooked to your liking. Remove from the pan and leave to rest for five minutes. As for beef, how you like it cooked is really up to you. I personally added a couple of minutes to the cooking time. However I would add my twopence and say that if you don’t like pink meat, you probably shouldn’t be eating duck. This is particularly true of duck breasts; they basically lose all deliciousness if they get brown all the way through. Even a tiny bit of pink is better than no pink at all.
To serve, spoon equal portions of the lentils onto four plates. Slice each duck breast and arrange over each portion of lentils.

Enjoy!

French English pantry recipes

Inside a Franglish Pantry: Lardons

Published on February 1, 2013September 21, 2015 by A Frog at Large6 Comments

I was cooking a Boeuf Bourguignon for Sunday lunch last week and the smell of lardons frying in the pan reminded me how much of a staple item it is in France and how frequently I use them in recipes.

Lardons are basically diced smoked bacon, which you can buy in most if not all supermarkets already prepared.

In most cookery programmes I have watched in recent years, chefs will often use the more expensive version of the humble lardon in their recipes, Pancetta. It may make any old recipe sound posh but my view is it doesn’t actually make that much difference which type you use. I’m not a chef and not quite that precious about my bacon, and it shows in my personal preference, which goes to Lidl’s beech smoked rindless bacon lardons. They are wonderfully fragrant and are sold in 2 packs of 125g each, making it really easy to avoid wastage, as you can just freeze one of the packs for later use. If you really can’t find lardons anywhere but have access to bacon, you can make your own using smoked streaky bacon. What is most important is that there is a decent amount of fat on them.

Français : Lardons ( porc ) — Lardons (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

As I said I use lardons a lot, especially in slow-cooked stews like the Boeuf Bourguignon, the humble chicken stew, various pasta dishes (it’s a main ingredient of a Carbonara sauce), on pizza, mixed in with sautéed potatoes (or say to improve Sunday evening leftover feast of bubble and squeak).

For a fantastic video tutorial of how to make Boeuf Bourguignon, I cannot recommend enough the wonderful work of Becoming Madame, who uses a Julia Child recipe. It’s very close to the recipe I used, although mine didn’t require carrots and added mushrooms towards the end.

My Boeuf Bourguignon recipe comes the completely non-chefy ‘2000 recettes de la cuisine française (de la gastronomie française aux spécialités régionales)‘.

The Ingredients:

1 kg of beef (I would recommend a mixture of lean and fatty pieces for tastier results), cut into chunks

100 g lardons

1 large onion, chopped

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

250 g chestnut mushrooms

30 g plain flour

50 g vegetable oil

300 ml water

300 ml red wine (from Burgundy for the authentic taste)

1 bouquet garni (I use shop-bought ones, but you can make your own by tying a sprig of thyme, parsley and a bay leaf together)

salt + pepper

The Technique:

1. In a large heavy-based pan (like a Le Creuset dish), fry the onion and the lardons in the oil. When they start to brown, remove from the pan and set aside.

2. In their stead, turn the pan to a high heat and brown the beef chunks on all sides. You can use two wooden spoons to turn the meat. Don’t put all the meat in the pan in one go, it will be quite difficult to turn and brown properly. Instead, properly brown the meat a few bits at a time.

3. Once the meat is brown, set aside with the onion and lardons.

4. In the leftover oil, throw the flour in one go and turn quickly to make an homogeneous paste. Cook for a minute, then add the water and the wine and bring to the boil, stirring constantly to avoid making lumps.

5. Put the meat, onion and lardons back in the pan with the bouquet garni, garlic, salt and pepper. If you are going to add carrots, this is the time to put them in. Cover the pan with its lid and leave to cook slowly on a low heat for three hours. Add the mushrooms, whole or cut into chunks, 30 minutes before the end of the cooking time.

6. Serve with new potatoes and green beans.

The Price of Lardons

Available widely in the UK e.g. Tesco’s 200g smoked lardons are £1.95 (their Finest range has some for £3.10 !!!)

In France, places like Auchan do 180g for around 2.28 €. I say ‘around’ because there is quite a lot of choice between smoked/unsmoked, pork/duck, supermarket’s own/big make like Herta, as you would expect.

Enjoy!