Kitchen Voyage

Monday, 23 May 2011

Ten roast chicken recipes with Ten chicken fact

I will be launching a series of chicken baked recipes by this week, the idea is to share my favourite chicken baked recipes, I considered that cooking chicken in the oven needs very little preparation and tastes great. Also every recipe will go with a fact I just learned watching the BBC program The Private life of the chickens. Also given the abuse of the chicken food industry, for all the recipes I used organic free range chicken from Abel&Cole, Waitrose organic and my local butcher, even if there is no real proof that organic food is better than non-organic I used for ecologic and welfare reasons.
How to Cook chicken. Chicken is a kind of meat like pork where bacteria are present throughout the meat; you can eat for example rare steaks because the bacteria are present outside of the meat. For this reason is very important that you always check if your chicken is cooked, to do this you must check always the more thickest part, in a whole chicken is between the breast and the leg; where shouldn’t be any pink meat.
Ps: In most of the recipes I used chicken thighs, but feel free to change for chicken breast. Also you remove the skin I recommend you to drizzle a few olive oil for avoid that the chicken pieces get dry.

Fact 1: In the planet are 7000 species of birds, we only domesticated 7 for food. The domestication of chicken started 8000 years ago.

Recipe 1: Saffron Chicken with potatoes.

Saffron Chicken with potatoes

500g charlotte potatoes (halved)

800g chicken thighs

2 red onions (in wedges)

150g cherry tomatoes on the vine

100g Serrano ham (in small pieces)

3 tbsp. olive oil

150 ml sherry

1 garlic clove (crushed)

3 rosemary sprigs

Pinch saffron strands.

Oven at 200ºC. 562 kcal /4 serving

1. Season the chicken thighs with salt and pepper.

2. Put the potatoes in a pan and cover them with cold water, add salt and bring to boil, then simmer for 10 minutes. Finally drain the potatoes.

3. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan, add the season chicken skin side down for about 3 minutes and then turn over for about 2 minutes more. Now the thighs should be golden.

4. Add onions, garlic, and sherry and stir very well, add the saffron. Remove the pan to the heat.

5. Now put everything in a roasting tin, with the potatoes, ham, tomatoes on the vine and rosemary.

6. Cook for about 35 minutes, shaking the roasting team every 12 minutes for wet the chicken in their juices. Ready to serve.

Fact 2: It Is believed that the domestication started in Thailand, the Red Junglefowl in South Asia is one of the more ancestral population that still exist in the world.

Recipe 2: Rioja Roast Chicken.

1 large chicken ready to cook

1 red onion (chopped)

8 garlic cloves (sliced)

80g Spanish chorizo (diced and skinned)

400g can chopped tomatoes

1 or 2 dried red chillies

5 tbsp. olive oil

1 organic chicken stock cube

250 ml rioja red wine

1 tsp. dark muscovado sugar

1bay leaf.

Oven 180ºC – 400kcal / 6 serving

Casserole with room for the whole chicken

1. Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a large pan at medium low heat, add the onion and garlic, and cook until browned and softened.

2. Add the chorizo, cook for 5 minutes and add the stock cube. Stir everything.

3. Transfer all the ingredients from the pan to a casserole pot and add the wine, tomatoes, sugar, bay leaf and chillies over the chicken, and put the lid on or cover with aluminium foil.

4. Cook the chicken for 1 hour. Remove the lid and brush the skin with olive oil, and season. Return the chicken to the oven but without covers it for another hour.

5. When is ready, remove the chicken from the oven and let rest in a plate or board.

6. Now in the casserole you have a lot of juices, perfect to make the sauce. Remove the bay leaf and chillies, and put the juices in a pan at medium heat. Bring to boil and reduce by half.

7. Serve pieces of the chicken with your favourite sides dishes, and pour some of the sauce over the chicken.

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Friday, 20 May 2011

Benefits of walnuts

Walnuts by funadium

Now if you are nuts does it mean you are healthy

The nuts with more antioxidants and of better quality are the walnuts, as it reflects a study of the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania. The consumption of seven nuts to the day is sufficient to secure the benefits for the health. The walnuts are better than peanuts, almonds, pistachios and other nuts. A handful of walnuts almost contain double in antioxidant that the same amount of the rest of nuts. Another benefits of consume nuts is the great amount of proteins of high quality that can replace the meat, vitamins and minerals, dietetic fibre and they do not contain gluten. Years of investigation anywhere in the world tie the regular consumption of small amounts of these foods with the smaller risk of cardiac disease, certain types of cancer and diabetes type 2, among others health problems.

More news at Nutrition-Food industries

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Wednesday, 18 May 2011

Kitchenvoyage restaurants in Glasgow

First, where we stay.

Bedroom - Gran Central Hotel

We stayed here at the beginning of May. The former Central Hotel has had a £20 million pound refurb to restore it to its former glory. The public rooms echo the grandeur of Victorian times but with a 21st century design.
Hotel facilities are limited at the moment but will include a gym and high level terrace once the work on the upper floors is complete. There is a lovely champagne bar which overlooks the station concourse as well as many rooms for corporate conferences and functions.
The ballroom is a tour de force and very elegant and now used for social occasions and conferences/presentations.
The Grand Staircase is equally stunning with a huge chandelier which cascades down from the fifth floor.
We had a room on the fourth floor, of a largish size and a good sized bathroom. The room was well soundproofed from the station below.
However the amenities were somewhat below for a 4 star hotel. No mini bar, no heating or towel rails in the bathroom and a poor tv service which was difficult to control with the remote.
Breakfast was of the buffet style in an elegant room with Venetian style chandeliers but coffee/ tea service was intermittent at best.
The hotel is well located for the various attractions of Glasgow and I am sure that once the refurbishment is completed and small issues ironed out, The Grand Central Hotel Glasgow will be a superb place to stay in the centre of Glasgow.

Where we eat .

The Ubiquitous Chip

Set in vibrant Ashton Lane this is one of Glasgow’s best restaurants. The building, a converted stable block is charming and well decorated with a fish pond just inside the entrance.
Opposite is a well-stocked bar with vintage wine bottles stacked horizontally below.
To eat my we had the traditional Scottish haggis as a starter which was beautifully cooked and very tasty and a salmon salad which was well presented and very satisfying.

To follow we had Venison medium rare with roast potatoes and a selection of vegetables.
Again beautifully cooked and tender meat and a Scottish sirloin steak served medium rare. This was possibly the best steak I have ever had..full of flavour and very tender almost melting in the mouth.

We had a bottle of a rather good California Red, Vintage 2005 to go with the food.
We shared a dessert of Scottish Oat and Vanilla Ice Cream which finished off a truly spectacular meal.
Our waiter David was welcoming on arrival and gave us a wonderful table on the ground floor.
Highly recommended for traditional Scottish dining! Price a hefty £125 for two but well worth it.

Roganos

An Art Deco institution since 1935 in Exchange Place this restaurant specialises in fish dishes and does not disappoint.
We had the Fruits de Mer platter which was an orgy of mussels, oysters, shrimp and crab and a salmon roulade to start followed by Lemon Sole with new potatoes and spinach.
We had a bottle of Alsace wine with the meal which went down very easily!
Attentive service in elegant surroundings this is must for lovers of all things fishy.
Price £107.00 for two

The Grill on the corner

Situated near our hotel the Grand Central this is a trendy eclectic cavernous place popular with young and old alike. The food is not of the same standard as the above but is well cooked and presented. Service is friendly and efficient. This time our dishes were a ginormous rack of ribs which hid a mountain of chips plus a bottle of Brahma beer to wash it down and a Dublin bay scampi and chips with a large glass of Sauvignon Blanc.
We left both full and satisfied from the large meals we had eaten. Price around £56 for two

And finally...

Ketchup

A return visit to Ashton Lane for the best burgers and fries in Glasgow.

A Ketchup Burger & Ketchup interior room.

Popular with the student crowd and their teachers alike. Sitting at high tables on bar stools this place has a certain 1950s retro chic going on many different varieties to choose from best served with their own brand of tomatoes ketchup which was delicious. We washed the meal down with Scotlands favourite non-alcoholic beverage Irn Bru !

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Tuesday, 17 May 2011

Time to ask to your fishmonger for the fish liver.

Cod Liver Bottle

The fish liver is an organ that the fish industry discard for sale, with the exception of the liver cod, used for medicinal propose.
The Almeria University has publicised a study that the fish liver have a rich nutritional value. The liver fish are rich in fatty acid polyunsaturated, especially from the family of the popular Omega 3.

Follow reading the notice in our Nutrition-Food industries section ◦

Sunday, 15 May 2011

Glasgow, the Scottish creativity city.

Merchant City

Always I am going to Scotland i feel I trespass a magic frontier and I get in a mystic land, with a fairy-tale landscape and cities that show us the opulence and decadence that the Scottish had suffered.

But after years of poverty, Scotland has become a risen economy thanks to the petroleum, the tourism and the attractive of their culture.

Edinburgh is the aristocratic capital of the country but Glasgow for centuries has been the “ugly one” but luckily like in Bilbao, the city had found its way to be an architectural and cultural stand out and the place to go shopping in Scotland and north England.

The best way to arrive to the city must be by train but unfortunately United Kingdom has forgotten its old railways glories and to travel 400 miles by train takes you about 4:30 hours, at least they still doing good weddings.

So we arrive at the windy airport of Glasgow in uncommon hot sunny day. After our check-in the first walk is the Merchant City, the old rich merchant district that flourish with the lords that make fortune with cotton, tobacco and textile industries. After 1750 until 19^th centuries the merchant city get rich and develop beautiful buildings like the Trades House, the Hutcheson’s Hall, Tobacco Lord´s House and another grand Victorian buildings and neo classical like the actual Modern Art Gallery. At the moment the historical buildings with their clean facades, just remind me of Edinburgh, but you look more closer in the narrow alley you discover the black walls, the street musician, that is just not the typical pipe, they play songs of Texas and even the newest of Belle & Sebastian.

Before to leave the area is mandatory go to George Square and contemplate the Victorian buildings around and the statues of Walter Scott, Queen Victoria and the lions.

After a short walk you will be in the Scottish golden Z, a bunch of walking street that form a Z, and where are the most popular shopping centres, and high street shops. Even if you are not fancy to shop some of them worth a visit like the Buchanan Galleries, Princes Square and glass structure of the St Enoch Centre. Also the Argyll Arcade built 1827 are nice to visit with their jewellery shops but if you like something more alternative you must go to the Barras Market, you will be surprised!

Armadillo by Foster

But now is time to move, and ahead to the futurist design over the side of the Clyde River that offer the Science Centre and the Conference Centre, called by the locals the armadillo, even the Norman Foster architect try to emulate a sea shell and to my taste one of his worst attempt when you are getting closer to the building. As well you can contemplate a giant ship crane that reminds us of the historical past of the docks and the Clyde river; that I am pretty sure than for centuries has never been look so clean. And now the area has a new arrival the new spectacular transport museum (open 21^st june).

Inside Kelvingrove museum

After this you are ready to back to the city and visit the Great Western Road, a posh area close to the Glasgow University, and Kelvingrove museum. The Kelvingrove is a Victorian red palace where you can find a taxidermist elephant, French impressionist and Flemish painting, some art for the Scottish boy, Mackintosh and even a Spitfire from the second world war. Even the display is quite chaotic in some stages, they have a lot of information to learn about what are you watching, really much better than the disappointed visit of the Modern Art Museum, a real waste of time if wasn’t for the nice interior of the buildings.

Anyway Glasgow have around 20 museum and galleries, most of them are free, the Burrell Collection is the art collection of one of the richest shipping merchant of the city and include more than 8000 pieces, including Rodin, Cézanne, Greek and Egypt object. No far you can find the Pollock house for admire Spanish painting of Goya, Murillo and El Greco.

Kibble Palace

Much of the expert believe that the word Glasgow mean “dear green place”, we can be sure but is true that Glasgow is one of the European cities with most green space for habitants, and prove of that are thebotanic gardens with impressive Kibble Glasshouse, iron and glass in their more beautiful expression manage to keep a tropical forest inside.

Before to leave you need to explore the Charles RennieMacKintosh universe, he was an architect, designer, and artist that change the stone for the iron and glass transforming everything in more functional and simple without left the beauty and harmony with the nature. The best examples of his art are in the Hill House (Helensburgh), Willow Tea Rooms or Glasgow School of Art.

Loch Katrine

Another good thing about the city is that Glasgow is the perfect springboard to the Scottish countryside and history, Loch Lomond biggest of all of them is a short drive, you will astonish with the lake view and charming bed & breakfast around them. Also you are not far from the Lowlands, maybe with less fame that the Highland but they are rich in history with famous battles and heroes like William Wallace. The natural park of the Trossachs known as the Scotland in miniature because of its stunning scenery, is home of another Scottish character the anti-heroe Rob Roy MacGregor a kind of Robin Hood but with the difference he kept the cattle stole from the rich for himself. Inside the park is the Loch Katrine, were you can make a cruise in a steamship boat meanwhile you understand surrounding for the beauty of the lake why sir Walter Scott´s wrote the epic poem “The Lady ofthe Lake”.

Maybe for the outsider to United Kingdom driving in the narrow path of the Scottish countryside is not the best option. We recommend Timberbush Tours for enjoy Scotland at its best

Where we stay.

Bedroom - Gran Central Hotel

A Ketchup Burger & Ketchup interior room.

Wednesday, 11 May 2011

Gazpacho!!

Tomatoes, gazpacho main ingredient

Find the original recipe of the gazpacho or even the origin of the word has been a lost study case for the historian, mainly because exist equal quantities of gazpacho recipes like andalucian families, and is a dish created by peasant that can´t access to read or write, so the origin is not documented. Gazpacho is a dish that was consumed by peasants in the field during the harvest, they needed something nutritious and at the same time refreshing, to cope with the hard work and hot weather.
The earlier gazpacho dated from when the south of Spain was under Arabian control the gazpacho was made just with garlic, olive oil, bread and almonds, today in some areas they are still doing and is known as white gazpacho.
Later on with the introduction of new vegetables coming from the Americas like tomato and pepper, the gazpacho takes the color that we know today. And even today with the demands of the tourist industry and new modern cooking technique the gazpacho continues its evolution always providing us with nutrients and flavour.
The gazpacho is very easy to make, and now more than ever with the juicing or blender machines, but still quite tricky to find the correct balance between the ingredients, for that reason gazpacho in tetra brick like Don Simon becomes summer by summer more popular in the Spanish tables, even everyone knows that gazpacho like our mothers can’t be beaten.

Kitchen Voyage trip to Seville

Gazpacho recipes.

Classic Gazpacho.

Bowl of Gazpacho

3 slices of white bread (without crust about 200 g)
500g ripe tomatoes or british red choice tomatoes.
1 cucumber (peeled – seeded – diced)
1 green pepper (seeded – halved)
3-4 cloves of garlic (peeled)
125 ml olive oil
2 tbsp sherry vinegar.

1.    Put the bread in a bowl and pour a glass of water, soak by 30 min.
2.    In a blender put the rest of ingredients (reserve the vinegar) and blend for 1 minute.
3.    Remove the bread and drain any water excess.
4.    Add the bread to the blender and blend until you get a nice consistency, if is too heavy just add more water. For me must be creamy but some people like more drinkable. So this point is up to you. You can sieve the cold soup if required.
5.    Now season with salt and the 2 tbsp. of sherry vinegar.
6.    Refrigerate for at least one hour and serve in very cold individual soup bowls.

Real Salad Gazpacho.

30 g stale white bread (torn)
300g ripe tomatoes or british red choice tomatoes.
1 ltr chilled tomato juice
3 eggs (hard boil). Then separate the white from the yolk
½ cucumber (peeled – seeded – diced)
1 red pepper (seeded – halved)
4 salad onions (thinly sliced)
1 red chilli (thinly sliced and deseeded)
2 garlic cloves (crushed)
1 tsp chopped oregano leaves
4 tbsp olive oil
4 tbsp red wine vinegar
2 tsp Dijon mustard
Little ices cubes.

1.    In a big bowl mix mustard, olive oil, vinegar, bread, garlic, and hard boil egg yolk, and paste with a fork
2.    Add the vegetables and tomato juice. Mix everything very well.
3.    Season with salt and pepper. And chill in the fridge for at least 1 hour and serve in very cold individual bowl soups.
4.    Pour over each bowl the white eggs chopped with a few oregano leaves and some ice cubes. And then sprinkle over a little olive oil.

Ham and quail egg Gazpacho.

250g white bread
500g ripe tomatoes or british red choice tomatoes.
¾ cucumber (peeled – seeded – diced)
1 green pepper (deseeded – halved)
2 cloves of garlic (peeled)
125 ml olive oil
2 tbsp sherry vinegar.
250g Serrano ham shredded
2 quails eggs (hard boiled)

Follow the step above. When you are ready to serve sprinkle over every bowl the Serrano ham and add on the top half quail egg.
This recipe is interesting because you add some protein to the dish.

Adding water you can Gazpacho like a drink

Macerated Gazpacho (1 day preparation)

500g ripe tomatoes or british red choice tomatoes roughly chopped.
3 black peppercorns
250 ml tomato juice
4 basil sprigs (leaves only)
1 red pepper (seeded -cut in strips)
½ small yellow pepper (seeded - cut in strips)
1 garlic clove (peeled – chopped)
1 thyme sprig (leaves only). 1 bay leaf
2 tsp balsamic vinegar. Some olive oil.
2 slices of white bread

1.    Mix in a bowl the chopped tomatoes, peppercorns, tomato juice and half of the basil leaves, and cover with a clean film. Put in the fridge for at least 2 hours.
2.    In a medium heat pan with a few olive oil sauté for around 8 minutes the stripped peppers, with the garlic, bay leaf and thyme and the rest of the basil. Season with salt.
3.    When the peppers are soft (avoid any browning) remove from the heat and tip onto the bowl of tomatoes.
4.    Cover the bowl again and put back to the fridge for another 24 hours.
5.    After 24 hours or marinating, blend the mix until smooth.
6.    Pass the mix through a sieve. Season with salt, pepper and balsamic vinegar.
7.    Check the consistency, if is too thick just add a few extra tomato juice.
8.    Cover again the bowl and put back to the fridge for at least 1 hour
9.    Preheat oven at 150ºC
10.    Now cut the bread in 5mm slices and gave them a nice drizzle of olive oil and a good pinch of salt.
11.    Scatter on a baking tray an toast in the oven for about 4 minutes.
12.    Serve the tomato soup in very cold individual soup bowls and top with the white bread croutons.

White artisanal Gazpacho.

75 grs. Almonds (blanched and peeled)
2 garlic cloves
150 grs. White bread
8 tbsp. Olive oil.
3 tbsp sherry vinegar
1 litre of very chilled water
Bunch of white grapes or apple slices to serve.

1.    Soak the white bread for 5 min, and drain.
2.    Put the almonds, garlic and a pinch of salt in a mortar and pestle and crush them until you get a thin paste.
3.    Then add the drained bread and mix very well and start to add the olive oil meanwhile you still crush the mix.
4.    Now move the mix to a bowl and add the vinegar. And then pour the chilled water very slowly and mixing everything very well.
5.    Season and pass the mix through a sieve.
6.    Pour into cold dish soup bowl and serve with grapes or apple slices.

Gazpacho tips:

*Use bakery bread, if you use processed bread they contain additives and the bread behaves in a different way when it is getting stale.
* The secret of the good gazpacho is finding the equilibrium between the ingredients. Dont overpower the flavour of your soup, If you like more cucumber or peppery, serve them like a garnish.
* If you are not in a sunny region, perhaps you need to add a pinch of sugar before to chill the soup for extra sweetness.
To avoid the cucumber repeating on you, you must peel, deseeded and macerate in salt for 20 minutes.
*If you have digestion problem with the garlic, you should put the garlic in a pan with cold water and bring to boil. When is boiling retire the garlic and repeat the same process another 2 times.
* Only the gazpacho cook at home conserves all the nutritional properties

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