Slow Cooker Chicken

I'm surprised how many people still have a slow-cooker. And how many don't use them. A bit like a bread-maker. You use them for a while, then they end up in the back of a cupboard.
Well, if you do have one, try this. It's tonight's supper and is filling the house with chickenness.
I've got a basic Crock-Pot which has four settings: Off, Low, High and Keep Warm. Plug it in and set it to High. (Actually, the only difference between High & Low is how quickly it gets up to temperature says their website.)
Now get your free-range, organic chicken out of the fridge and let it warm up a bit.
Cut a lemon in half and cut a whole head of garlic in half. Cut the bits of string off the chicken and insert the lemon & garlic into its *ahem* cavity.
Pop the chicken into the slow-cooker and, before you put the lid on, spread on a good teaspoonful of butter. Then, season well with salt and pepper. (Maldon sea salt and freshly-ground pepper, if you can.) Put the lid on and leave it for at least 4 hours.
If you have a large chicken, you may find that the legs rise up during cooking and lift the lid up. This is bad news, so put a heavy, upturned saucepan on top to keep the blighter in.
While that's cooking, a word about vegetables.
Do have roast spuds. Par-boil for 5 mins. Drain. Put back in the pan. Shake with the lid on to break up the corners. then into a cast iron pan, pre-heated with goose fat (If you can. Any oil will do, at a pinch.) Add Rosemary, Salt. Pepper. Gas mark 6 for 70-90 mins depending on the size of the spud.
Any other veg you fancy. My favorite is:
Fry some smoked lardons till crisp & brown. Add 1/4 pint of chicken stock. Bring to the boil and throw in a large handful of frozen peas. Cook for a couple of mins. Add a couple of handfuls of shredded Savoy cabbage. Put the lid on and cook until the cabbage is done - about 3mins. Lovely.
When the chicken is done, remove from the slow-cooker  (Carefully, it may fall apart.) Put it in a serving dish and cover with 2 layers of kitchen foil and a tea-towel. Let it rest somewhere warm for up to 30 mins. That keeps it juicy.
Now, despite having put no liquid in the slow cooker, you will find there is half a pint of lovely chicken stock in there. You can make gravy with that however you like, but if you're pushed for time just add a bit of water and some gravy granules. Works for me.
That's it. The best roast chicken - without roasting.

Spag Bol (Sort of.)

This recipe (or more accurately series of suggestions) came about because of a sunny lunchtime in Taomia, Sicily. We found a local restaurant and popped in for lunch.
I chose the house spaghetti and asked the waiter (and owner & chef too, I think.) What was in it. He said "Spaghetti. With our special sauce." That's all I could get out of him. So I ordered it anyway.
It came in the classic Italian way. A bowl with some good olive oil in the bottom. Al dente Spaghetti on top of that and a very reduced sauce on top. You mix it up and add a bit of ground pepper (No cheese, I was told.) And it was really very good. A great depth of flavour and quite spicy.
I really wanted to re-create it, but the chap wouldn't give anything away. This is as close as I've got...

First, you need mince. Most people would use beef mince, but Sara's allergic to beef so I use lamb mince. Now, this bit is important. Put a little olive oil in a saucepan and heat it gently. Chuck in the mince and stir and stir. You have to brown the mince and break down all the clumps into tiny bits. This takes a little while but is so worth it.
In-between stirs, chop some veg. You really need onions (2 medium) and garlic (As many as you dare. I use about 5-6 cloves of garlic.) Then, whatever you have. Carrot, peppers (red & green.), courgette, leek, celery. Any or all of those. If you can bear to, dice all the veg quite small. It really works better with bits of veg not much bigger than the bits of mince. And keep stirring the mince!
Now, get a bowl and a sieve, and drain the mince. Pour some of the mince liquid back into the pan and soften the veg. Use as much mince liquid as you dare. I use it all, but that's not necessary!
While the veg is softening, chop some basil & thyme if you have them. If not, dried, mixed herbs is fine.
Put the mince back in with the veg and mix together.
Now add the herbs, a good shake (about a tablespoon) of balsamic vinegar, maybe a bit of soy sauce, or Worcester sauce and as much dried chilli flakes as you like. I use a teaspoonful. Stir and cook for a minute or two. Pour in a good slug of red wine and let it bubble. Add some ground pepper and a touch of salt. (only a touch if you've used soy sauce.)
Let that bubble and reduce down a bit. Now add half a tin of chopped tomatoes, or a small jar of tomato and basil sauce or some chopped fresh tomatoes. I use halved cherry tomatoes and put them in a bit later, so they don't disappear completely.
That's it. Let it bubble for as long as you can, uncovered. At least an hour. It needs to reduce quite a bit.
Cook the spaghetti in lots of salted water until just tender. Put a splash of good olive oil in the bottom of each bowl. Then spaghetti on that and a dollop of sauce on the top.
I suggest a good grind of fresh black pepper. And, if you must, some grated Parmesan cheese.
It's not Spag Bol. It's better!

Cooking off -recipe

 

I love recipes. I enjoy following expert advice. Stick to the rules and you can't go wrong. Easy.
Anyway, tonight I'm going off piste for a change...
What do we have? Lamb Chops, various veg and red wine.
So, lets marinate the chops. A pour-and-store-bag is ideal for this. Chuck in Rosemary leaves (keep the stalks), chopped garlic, splash of balsamic vinegar, soy sauce, Worcester sauce and (because I found it in the back of the cupboard) Maggi liquid seasoning. No need for salt & pepper. Close the bag, shake and leave at room temperature for as long as you've got. I left it 1/2 an hour.
Meanwhile, lets do a sauce. Chop onion, garlic, carrot, leek, celery (any or all you have). Quite finely if you can be bothered. Melt olive oil and butter, half & half, and cook the mirepoix  (as the chefs call it) with a sprig of thyme, until soft. Chuck in a large glass of red wine and slowly simmer to reduce by about a third.
Oven on, gas mark 7. (Electric Oven? Google it.)
Get a medium sized cast-iron saucepan. Add a slug of olive oil and set over a fairly high heat. Get the chops out of the bag and scrape all the bits that stick to them back into the bag.(I dried the chops on some kitchen roll. You don't have to). Cook the chops rapidly on both sides for a couple on minutes until brown and a bit sticky. Give the fatty skin a quick burst of heat to start browning and then put the pan in the oven for about 12 mins (for a pink middle.) Then transfer to a serving dish, cover with 2 layers of foil and a tea towel and keep warm. (I use the grill (turned off) above the oven.) That'll keep for ages and become juicer and more tender.
Right, now get some spuds and chop into bite-sized pieces. Using the same sauce pan, put in some oil, paprika and chilli flakes. Toss the spuds in this and put  in the oven. Maybe turn it down to about mark 5. They'll take about 40 mins (but keep an eye on them.)
Now, I happen to have some French beans. So, top & tail and cook in water or stock, or stock cube in water. I'm using a veg stock cube in a cup of hot water. When they're cooked, drain their stock into the sauce and keep the beans warm.
Put the heat under the sauce until bubbling, then sieve into another saucepan, squidging all the liquid through. Reduce the sauce until it's thick & glossy.
That's it. Plate up & serve.
I've never shared a recipe before, so let me know if you try it.
Ah, some red wine left. Cheers

A safe pair of hands?

 

I heard an interview  on the radio this morning. Announcing a new version of an album, to be released in November. And that reminded me of my small part in the making of the original recording...
It 1978 and I was working for a tiny Soho recording studio called Anemone Sound. I was assistant engineer, working with Derek Hanlon. Anyone who knows Derek as filmmaker might be surprised to know he was also a talented sound engineer. Well, he was. Very talented. But, sadly on that Friday in 1978, he'd gone home early.
I was about to leave myself when the phone rang. Would I stay on for a bit as a record company wanted to do an edit on a new album. I wasn't too happy as I was looking forward to a beer or two, but I said OK.
As I remember, they didn't show up for ages and I was on the verge of giving up and going to the pub when they finally arrived.
I can't remember anything about the people who arrived. I think there were two of them but I'm not sure. They handed me a reel of quarter-inch tape and told me they wanted to extend the first track, side one.
I put the tape on and had a listen. It was certainly different. Starting with speech, then a big string section motif, before the rhythm section cut in. Pretty impressive.
Basically, they wanted to repeat about 2 minutes of an instrumental section in the middle of the song.
Now, back in 1978, the only safe way of doing this was to copy the whole song onto another recorder and then copy the section you wanted to repeat. Then cut the repeat into the copy of the song. That way you didn't touch the master recording. Useful if the edit didn't work or someone changed their mind. But then, the version you ended up with was a 'generation down' and would, even with Dolby noise reduction, have a bit more hiss.
So, it was decided that I had to copy just the repeat section and then splice that into the master recording. This is risky. I had to get the levels exactly the same, hope the band hadn't speeded up or slowed down and I was attacking their precious master with a razorblade.
So that's what I did. And it sounded pretty good, to be honest. There was a slight increase in hiss, but not so you'd notice unless you listen for it.
Which I do. Every time I hear Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds!