I would like to welcome all of my new followers- loving that you re loving the blog. So I have a recipe section you may want to look at and here is another.

So no photos for this  one my friends because this has been requested by my dear friend Karen before she dies from eating too much chicken parmejano (see recipe for new readers it is available.) I suggested this to her the other night and she asked that I post it. Here goes……

Ingredients

Chicken (yes we do eat a lot of chicken!)

Chorizo – for us the stronger the better but that is a personal choice

Peppers – green and red as always depends on how much you are cooking or if you really like peppers!

Onions

Smoked paprika – I know this is difficult to get in France so I improvise with BBQ sauce (trust me it works)

Paprika (yes you do need both!)

Garlic granules

salt (you need salt to cook food folks, if you want it to taste good!)

Honey/BBQ sauce I tend to use a little of both

Olive oil

Calimari

You will also need an oven pot that ideally can be used on the hob and in the oven. If not cook in a saucepan or wok and then transfer to an oven dish with a lid.

Let’s Witchy Poo….

Chop up the chorizo into pieces of whichever size you like and add to pot on the hob with a dash of olive oil and some garlic granules.

Stir until the chorizo has started to brown (I cannot stand soggy chorizo!)

Remove from the pan into a dish leaving the residue of chorizo and oil in the pan.

Cut up your peppers and onions (don’t slice the onions rough cut them)  I use loads because they caramelize in this dish but it is up to you.

Add the peppers and onions to the pot and some more olive oil, the paprika, smoked paprika and garlic and salt. Stir and monitor until they all start to soften. (As always I don’t give exact measurements that is why I am called the Witchy Poo cook TASTE is the key, taste your food as you cook it!)

Remove the softened peppers and onions and put them in the bowl with the chorizo.

Chop up your chicken breasts and add them to the pot with some more olive oil, paprika, and smoked paprika and stir until they have changed in colour (it is not essential to brown)

Add the peppers and chorizo back to the pot, add some more of all your spices, and for those who like it a bit hotter you can add some Cayenne pepper. Stir it all in and add the BBQ sauce.

Put the lid on the pot (or transfer to the oven pot with the lid) and put in the oven on 150 degrees about a gas mark 5, for about 40 mins. Keep  your eye on it so it does not dry out and about 10 mins before it is cooked add the honey (taste it before it may be sweet enough).

Now I used to stir prawns into this dish about ten minutes before the end and it is a lovely addition. But now I batch cook and I don’t like re-heating prawns. So I serve with some fried calamari on top, because the two flavours just complement each other perfectly. Then I serve with crispy roast potatoes and a green salad (add some crusty bread as well as the sauce is beautiful.)

So away you go – another recipe for the weekend.

And please folks, if  you have tried any of my recipes please let us know how you got on on the blog so that other followers can read it – we are nearly up to 200 now!!!

I know I have been a busy girl!!

Moisy

As promised, yes I know over a week ago, the Witchy Poo Cook is back just in time for Friday dinner. For those who are health conscious look away now!!

Since moving to France Rich and I are often shocked when we think how much we used to spend on takeaways. In England (and other countries) it is so easy to get a takeaway, delivered to you door so you can have a few glasses of wine and not even have to worry about driving to collect it; you can just call them any time and one will be delivered, some takeaways delivering until four in the morning!!

But not in France!! Oh no!! Not in the rural area where we live. In addition the only type of takeaway you tend to be able to get delivered are kebabs and pizza and only until about eight or nine in the evening. There is no culture here of getting pissed and then stuffing your face!! So as Rich and I do like to have a few wines in the evening I have taught myself to cook most takeaways at a fraction of the cost. So look out for more but today we are going to be cooking my husbands favourite…. Friday Night Kebab.

The ingredients you will need are…..

Chicken breasts – depending on how many you are catering for.

Kebab meat – if you want the kebab in the picture. You can buy doner kebab meat in most supermarkets over here and probably can where you live. Personally I find it better because it tends to be cut thinner and it is mainly for Rich as I used to eat chicken kebab, but each to your own I am going with the picture.

Olive oil

Onions

Wheat tortilla’s

Chilli sauce (whatever you prefer, I go for sweet chilli, Rich goes for burn your arse hot!!)

The Spices – Salt, paprika, garlic granules, ras al hanout  (morrocan spice), you can also add some tajine spice if you don’t have ras al Hanout, cumin, coriander (the dried green leaves are best but whatever you have will work.)

The salad – All the usual suspects, tomatoes, but lots of cucumber, lettuce and onion.  You will also need some lemon juice and vinegar – to get that authentic takeaway wilted salad my husband craved!!

Let’s Witchy Poo…

Cut the onions into slices and add to a frying pan with olive oil. Let them sweat and and then add a dash of all of the spices – yep go for it.

You will have to keep them moving now and probably add some more oil.

Slice the chicken into small slices, or larger and break up in the pan.

Add the chicken to the pan with the onions once the onions have started to brown, and then guess what? Add some more spices, don’t forget the salt!! Again you will need to add some more oil.

Stir away and let the chicken brown. Then put into an oven dish and into the oven on 150 or gas mark 4.

Now for the kebab meat…

Repeat all of the above except add kebab meat. Simples!! But if you want it to come out like my photo then I let the kebab meat really cook and brown, and  then I add it to the same oven dish as the chicken and put it back in the oven for about twenty mins whilst I cook our chips in our Actifry (see there is something healthy in this!!)

Prepare the salad next as you have to ensure it has marinated, so add it all to a bowl and add salt, lemon juice and we add red wine vinegar (not a lot as you don’t want a massive puddle in the bottom of the bowl!)

Once the chips are almost becoming crispy put the wheat tortilla on the plate and add the salad, and then the meat, and then some more salad.  It’s done!!

But if really want it to taste like a takeaway turn the oven off and then put it back in the oven so that the salad starts to wilt, just like it does when it is delivered. I know how sad are we?!!

Add the chips and chilli sauce of your liking and munch away……..

If you want to make something different you could substitute the kebab meat for mincemeat and cook it with the spices until it is brown and crispy!!!

Yum……..

Enjoy and can I ask if you have tried my recipe’s then please give some feedback to the blog readers – I know some of you have so give it a go. Also please share and rate I want your feedback good or bad.

Have a lovely weekend

Moisy

Before I start this blog this is my foray into recipes, as suggested by some of my readers and my editor friend Karen. So I would really appreciate your feedback and if you could rate the posts using the star rating system at the top of each blog. Thank you in advance….. on to the post…….

During Karen’s visit (see post from August) we decided that my method of cooking is very Witchy Poo, (or when I am dancing twitchy poo!!)  I add a bit here, and a bit there, a bit of this a bit of that and voila!! I come up with something good to eat. So I will henceforth call myself the Witchy Poo Cook when it comes to the recipes I post on my blog.

So lets start with Karen’s favourite we are going to call it Karen’s Chicken Parmejano because she made me cook it for her twice!!

You will need:

Chicken breasts (obviously!!)

Olive oil (preferably with garlic infused but it doesn’t matter)

My previous recipe of chopped up garlic and parsley

Some garlic granules (yes there is lots of garlic involved here!)

Salt and pepper (again this is obvious but, just in case)

Basil (fresh preferably)

Sugar (three to four teaspoons)

Mozzarella (2 balls, don’t buy the expensive one folks, you are using it for cooking after all!)

Two tins of tomatoes and a carton of passat – but this is dependent on how much sauce you want and how many people you are catering for; we like loads of sauce so if we were cooking for four for example we would use two tins of tomatoes and two cartons of passat, and perhaps add another ball of Mozzarella, get it?

A lidded pan that can be used on both the hob and in the oven preferably, but if you don’t have one then cook it up and then transfer to a lidded oven proof casserole dish once the preparation on the hob is complete.

And last but never least (given the name of the dish is Parmejano!) Parmesan cheese

So….

Let’s Witchy Poo:

Put the oil in the pan and if it does not have garlic in it add at least half a bulb of garlic (yes half a bulb folks I live in France!!) If you have made up my wonderful parsley and garlic mix then add a couple of tea spoons of that as well. Make sure it is a good glug of oil.

Let it all start to brown

Then add the tomatoes (chopped up) and passat.

Add salt and pepper, some more parsley and garlic mix, the sugar and sprinkle garlic granules in as well.

Stir it!

Taste it!! Add more of whatever you feel is necessary. Always remember, as my mum used to say, you can always add but you can’t take away!!

Then after about 5 mins break up leaves from at least half a basil plant and stir in, let it all simmer for another five mins.

Remove the sauce from the pan into a jug.

Heat the oven to 150 degrees (about gas mark 5 I think but you will need to look it up as I don’t have a gas oven!)

Chop your chicken into small pieces.

In the same pan, and this is very important: With the residue of the sauce remaining in the pan, add another glug of oil and garlic, and parsley.

When it starts to sizzle add the chicken and it is important to make sure that the chicken browns because this adds to the flavour of the dish.

When the chicken is brown add the sauce back to the pan and stir. (if you have to transfer to an oven proof lidded pan now is the time to do it before you add the sauce back to the dish.)

Turn off the heat to the pan.

Break up the balls of mozzarella and plop into the pan all over the dish.

Liberally sprinkle Parmesan all over the top.

Put the lid onto the pan.

Put it into the over for about 45 mins.

Serve with pasta and a further liberal sprinkling of Parmesan, a green salad, and crusty bread to soak up that lovely sauce.

An alternative could also be to cook the chicken breasts whole (one for each person) and then follow the recipe in the same way, but this time serve with crispy roast potatoes, sprinkled with Parmesan, a green salad and crusty bread.

You could also serve with garlic bread, look out for my recipe for that in the next few weeks.

Enjoy

Moisy