One-Pot, Wonderful

The nights still close in early and cold chills in the air means warming, comfort food is a must. Here's a wonderful way to quickly put together a hearty meal for a family, or for two; the extra can be frozen and saved for future 'quick' fixes.

All you need is:

1 pot
1 knife & board
and a Wooden Spoon

along with these (or a variation) ingredients:

1 whole Chicken
2 Onions, quartered
2 Garlic Cloves, roughly chopped
2 Celery Sticks, roughly chopped
8 - 10 Baby Carrots, trimmed or 4 large, roughly chopped
8 - 10 Baby Marrows, trimmed or 3 large, roughly chopped
A handful of cherry tomatoes
1 Cup of Brown Rice
1 Cup of Soup Mix (I like to make my own with 1/2 Black Lentils, 1/4 Barley, 1/4 Split Peas)
1/2 Lemon

Herbs of your choice, I like the following:

2 Fresh Rosemary twigs 
3-4 Bay Leaves
2 tsps Oregano

plus Salt and Black Pepper to taste.

First fill the kettle and pop it on to boil. While you wait for the water you can prep the veggies by topping and tailing the Carrots and Marrows, or chopping into large chunks if using larger veg.
Rinse all these under the tap to make sure the skins are all clean and lovely. No time is wasted peeling and all the goodness is preserved.

Peel and quarter the Onions and Garlic cloves and chop the celery into smaller pieces.

The kettle should now have whistled so, pop your whole Chicken, ensuring there are no giblets in a little packet inside, along with all the veggies into a large pot and fill up to cover the chicken with the hot water.
Turn on the stove to a medium to high heat to get the liquid bubbling.

Now add the Rice and Soup mix to the top as well as the herbs and Black Pepper. I tend to only add the Salt towards the end of cooking because it can make the meat tougher.

Put the lid on the pot and turn down the heat and leave for an hour; I recommend using this time to relax with a glass of wine and your latest knitting project!
After an hour give the pot a stir making sure the grains are not sticking to the bottom and there is still liquid bubbling in the top. Squeeze the lemon into the pot and add the rind too. Then season with salt and pepper and leave for another 1/2 hour.

You may like to add a chicken stock cube or some other spices to your version. More lemon, cumin and some cayenne makes a wonderful exotic tasting dish for those who are more adventurous.

Dish up the rice and veggies in a big heap with Chicken that falls off the bone ...and enjoy! One pot, very little prep and just a little dash of patience to make a healthy, homely meal. 

This makes enough for 4 generous portions. Perhaps also a little extra leftover that you can add 500mls of stock to for a lovely soup the next day.

SIO Tips no 33

If you put your knitting down mid row the wool should always be on the right hand side of the work when you set off again.

SEEKITOUT: Changing the world a stitch at a time.

SIO Tips No. 20

Honey has a high fructose content which means you can use less honey than sugar to achieve the desired sweetness in recipes. This means less calories and more goodness.

SEEK IT OUT: Changing the world a stitch at a time

SIO Tips No. 19

Prepping Leeks for a recipe? Make sure you get all the grit out of the leaves - slice vertically down the green stem to the white flesh & rinse under the tap. This is less fiddly than peeling back each layer and yields more for the pot.


SEEK IT OUT: Changing the world a stitch at a time

Feast on Autumn

The wonders of Autumn have arrived, the stunning burnt oranges, the deep reds and the golden tones of the trees are finally here.  When the sunshine shows through the world looks wonderful.  Many fruit and vegetable crops are well down this year all due to the weather hampering everything from the pollenating bees to rotting the potatoes in the fields. In the SIO HQ garden we have a lovely old apple tree but only 5 apples this year, which is a huge shame as normally it is laden.  

However, there is fruit out there and recently we went in search Wimberries (Bilberries), only found a handful or two, not enough for a pie but enough to flavour one.  Add any of the tart fruit to apples, the greatest bulker of pies or crumbles, and you can enjoy the flavour of your red fruit however little you have.  Often, berries and fruiting currants are expensive, so eking out with apple is a really cost effective way to make lovely food go further.  These days you can even buy tinned apple slices in supermarkets if you have no time to peel, these tinned apples are not the gooey pie filling, that is something totally different.

Crumbles can be made more exciting with some of the flour being replaced with oats, adding a little sweet spice such as nutmeg, a touch of honey or even some crushed nuts.  When replacing flour with oats it is normally double flour to oats - so for 8 oz. of flour it would be 4 oz. of oats.

Serve with lashings of hot custard for a real winter warmer.

We found some good examples at http://www.recipes4us.co.uk/Crumble%20Toppings.htm including some excellent savoury ones.  Crumble is so easy to make and you can even store uncooked crumble topping in a air tight box in the freezer to save time later.  Naturally you can also freeze, if well covered/sealed, a fully made crumble too.  Why not stock up when autumn fruits are at their best.  We decided to try out some packet toppings, they vary greatly and only one we really tried we felt we would recommend to stand in for home made and that was Greens. Of course this was not a scientific test and we only tried a few. http://www.greenscakes.co.uk/recipes/desserts/rhubarb,-strawberry-and-coconut-crumble.aspx

SEEK IT OUT: Changing the world a stitch at a time 

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