Recipe: Chilli Garlic Chicken, with Smashed Carrot and Parsnip

A recipe using the old and the new- from the last harvest of my summer chillies, to the lovely seasonal winter root veg! To be honest i probably shouldn't be blogging right now- i've got a lot of packing and organising to do!! Going to Iceland on saturday (and no- not the shop!! No chicken tikka bites for me!!). Will update you all on my shinanigans when i get back, promise! The root vegetable "smash" doesnt look amazing I guess, but the flavours in this dish are to die for!

Chilli Garlic Chicken with smashed carrots and parsnips (serves 3)

The chicken
3 large chicken breasts
50g butter
1 tbsp olive oil
3 little hot green chillies
25g fresh coriander, stalks and leaves
2 garlic cloves
1 tsp crushed ginger
Salt and pepper

The mash
350g parsnips, peeled and diced
700g carrots, peeled and diced
1 tsp cumin or dukka
2 tbsp single cream
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat the oven to 200C. Mix all the chicken ingredients (except the chicken!) in a food processor. Put the chicken breasts in an ovenproof dish, and rub the butter all over the breasts. Cook in the oven for 40 minutes (Halfway through cooking process, baste with the juices).
2. Meanwhile, bring a large pan of water to the boil. Boil the parsnips and carrots in salted water for 20 minutes, or until soft. Remove the chicken from the oven, and remove the chicken from the juices it’s been cooking in.
3. Drain the vegetables, and mash with the cream, cumin, and all of the juices from the chicken. Season to taste, and serve alongside the chicken!

Recipe: Chilli Jam

Yay. Finally, I can give up preserving for a while. My room is full of jars and i have spent so much time and a fair amount of money this year making all these things. I've just got to make chilli jam until the frosts kill my chilli plants, and i'm all done. In this recipe, it's hard to judge how hot the recipe is going to be, because there are so many different sizes and varieties of chilli, all with different heat (or "scoville") ratings. The ones i've been picking from outside "Apache" chillies, are fairly hot, and very little. I would guess using 8 "normal" large red chillies that you get in the supermarket would do the trick though. This Jam is not that hot really, its just delicious and peppery and sweet- would be a good accompaniment to asian dishes (like spring rolls/tempura etc), and dad actually loves it in cheese sandwiches! He'll put chilli in anything, lol!

Chilli Jam (makes about 4-5 normal jam jars)

8 red peppers, deseeded and chopped
15 little red chillies
10g crushed ginger
8 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tin chopped tomatoes
½ tsp chilli flakes
750g sugar
200ml red wine vinegar
50ml cider vinegar

1. Blend the peppers and chillies in batches in a food processor until finely chopped. Add all the ingredients to a large pan, bring to the boil, skim any scum that forms, and cook on a high temperature for 1 hour and 10 minutes, stirring often.
2. Pour into jars, allow to cool, and then seal!