Chicken with Potatoes (Or Sunday Roast)

People seem to really enjoy this meal so here is another (initially) mommy recipe. The quantity I make is for 3-4 people.

I'd use:

• chicken (Thanks, Captain Obvious!)
• 6 potatoes 
• 1 lemon
• 1 cube or stock pot
• mustard (absolutely necessary in this food- the more the better)
• salt, pepper, oregano, paprika
• mixed mediterranean herbs (thyme, sage e.t.c.)
• rosemary (doesn't have to be the bloody romantic one from Waitrose, normal would do as well)
• fresh sage from your village on the mountain (optional)

First of all I wash the chicken really really really well. I cannot stress how well. Even with vinegar. Not sure if the salmonella issue is an urban legend but better to be safe than sorry.
You can also marinate it before, but I wouldn't go in such a bother.

Then I make my famous sauce as such:  I boil water and fill a cup. In there I dissolve the cube or stock pot, the juice of the lemon, 1 tablespoon of mustard if it's the hot one  or 2-3 if it's mild, 1 teaspoon of garlic, as much mixed herbs as you like, rosemary and lot's of paprika. Oh and olive oil of course. I want everyone to be free to add the herbs and spices in the amount he/she likes. No food tastes the same in this way and this is the magic. Anyway, I mix everything and stir and voila, THE SAUCE.

Keep THE SAUCE, aside and peel the potatoes. Cut them in smaller pieces and put them along with the chicken in the tray. Pour THE SAUCE on top and sprinkle with more paprika, salt and pepper.

You have something that looks like this:



Pour some olive oil on top of everything and put in the oven. It needs approximately 1 hour in 200 degrees let's say. You have to check on it regularly though and turn around the potatoes and chicken if they get more brownish on the top.

By the end you have something that looks, hopefully, better than this:



But the taste...Oh the taste.

Enjoy! (Best served with feta or another sauce)

Bonus: The another sauce
Mix greek yogurt with mustard and paprika. You have a sauce that goes amazingly well with this food.

 Double Bonus: The Music That Goes Amazingly Well with this food

1. Simon and Garfunkel - Scarborough Fair
2. Nick Drake - River Man
3. Vashti Bunyan - Train Song
4. Espers - Rosemary Lane
5. Jackson C. Frank - Milk and Honey
6. Sibylle Baier - Tonight
7. Bonnie "Prince" Billy - All the Trees of the Field Will Clap their Hands
8. Scout Niblett - Kiss
9.  Bill Callahan - River
10. Mariee Sioux - Wizard Flurry Home
11. Hem - Half Acre
12. First Aid Kit- Emmylou
13. Johnny Cash - Redemption Day

Lentils

I didn't get to eat this dish often in my family as my sister is tremendously allergic to lentils. One bite and she becomes Violet Beauregarde. But since I enjoy this very Greek-ish food, I have been making it often since I left home. So here goes:

For 2-3 people I'd use:

• 1/2 or 2/3 packet of lentils
• 1-2 carrots
• 1-2 tomatoes (normal Greek size, here I had to use 3 smaller ones)
• 1 onion
• a bit of garlic
• 1 teaspoon of mustard
• 2-3 bay leaves (or even more, but do use them)
• 2-3 tablespoons of vinegar (and you might add to your plate later as well- lentils are best when vinegary enough)
• 1 chicken or vegetable cube (depending on how vegeterian you feel today)
• olive oil, salt, pepper, oregano
• a pinch of tumeric

Before I go on, I feel I need to do a Disclaimer here. First of all the Waitrose products you see, are not there because I suddenly won the lottery but because unfortunately it's the only supermarket within walking distance from where I am situated. And secondly some products are from Greek supermarkets (like the salt), Greek mountains (the oregano in the jar) or exotic India (tumeric-for which I have to thank my lovely Indian friends). 

Right. So first of all I put the lentils in plenty of boiling water and let them boil for 5-10 minutes. Then throw away the water, keep the lentils and there you go, food is ready. Just kidding. You do throw away the water and keep the lentils in a bowl. Throwing away the "1st boil" makes them less heavy for the stomach to digest.

Then you cut or grate the onion, carrots and tomatoes like this: 

You put a little olive oil in the pan and let it get really warm. Once "fried" you put in a teaspoon of crushed garlic, stir for 1-2 minutes, then you throw in the lentils. Cover with water (preferably preboiled from a kettle) and once it boils, add the cube, onion, carrot, tomatoes, 2-3 bay leaves, 1 tsp mustard and the pinch of tumeric. They should look something like this:


Lower the temperature (let's say 3 or 4 out of 6) and let it cook. I'm not good with time so I don't count minutes, I taste the food several times. When the water is absorbed you taste them. If they are not soft enough you add a bit more water and again if necessary. The whole process I'd say takes around 45 minutes.

When they are soft enough and there is very little water left you add salt, pepper, vinegar and oregano. Don't add the salt before or they will take forever to cook, or the oregano will make them more bitter. If you like them more as a soup, take care to leave more water in them. I don't prefer them as soup usually so here is how mine turned out:



Add fresh olive oil and/or vinegar to your plate and enjoy!  (Eat it with feta. Feta is love, feta is life)

Bonus: Music to Listen to While Cooking this Food

1. Siouxsie and the Banshees - Happy House
2. Bauhaus - The Passion of Lovers
3. She Wants Revenge -Tear you apart
4. Joy Division - She's Lost Control
5. Sad Lovers and Giants - Things we never did
6. Skeletal Family - Promised Land
7. Forward Music Quintet - Waiting
8. South of No North - Lacrimae Christi
9. Christian Death - Romeo's Distress

Something fresh this way comes

Dear all,

Welcome to my new blog. People seem to have been enjoying my food and desserts recently so I thought why not share the love with everyone. My cooking has a greek-ness attached to it (that's unavoidable I guess) and most of what I make is inspired by mommy and grannies. During my past year in the UK I've been experimenting, especially with Indian cuisine, combining our own precious mediterranean herbs with Indian spices. The result is up to you to judge. I don't claim to be completely original as I'm pretty sure there are billions of better blogs like this, out there. This is just to share with my friends mostly, the recipes they try and like. The basic rule I apply: Nothing is too hot. Spicy yes. A bit hot? Maybe, but not too much as to destroy your taste buds. And another thing. Everything is cooked with greek olive oil. It makes all the difference. My family produces olive oil. I know.

Moreover, since sound and image play a major part in my life and I generally like the scripta that manent, I may write about whatever else, music or films I happen to come across. It's my blog after all and I'll do as I please. If I feel like writing just an idea, I'll do that as well. Mostly I'll be too bored or busy to write anything at all but oh well. That's all for now.

Prepare your forks (or spoons, or chopsticks, or hands or whatever).

Live,
Sandy