Month: September 2010

by

Cobnuts

Didn’t know what cobnuts were until last week when I found these on sale.

The taste and texture were like a cross between a hazlenut and a coconut, I thought.  Ate them just as they were.  Lovely.

Update – It seems that cobnuts are just young, fresh hazlenuts!  That’s explain why they tasted like hazlenuts then…

by

Juliet’s Roast Chicken with Sauerkraut

Who needs another roast chicken recipe?  Not me, would have been my response a few weeks ago.  But then Juliet came to visit.

Juliet was one of my flatmates in the uni’ years.  My mum always thought she’d be a good influence as she was a bit older than me, from Edinburgh and studying law.  Oh, how we still have a giggle about that!  Anyway, Jules came for a long overdue visit and catch up a couple of weekends ago and we had a ball.  She left me on the Sunday morning with a slight hangover (for the second day running), a chubbier dog and a great idea for that night’s dinner.  Roast chicken with sauerkraut.

That was a week past Sunday and we’ve made this two more times since.  Enough said, I think.

P.S. Being a recipe from her childhood and being half Macedonian, this recipe may or may not have its origins in the tiny, mountainous country.  I like to imagine it does.

Juliet’s Roast Chicken with Sauerkraut

1 chicken (I used a 1.6kg for four people)

1 900g jar of sauerkraut, drained and squeezed until a bit dryer

1 tblspn paprika plus a little extra

Salt

Pepper

2 cloves of garlic, crushed

300ml chicken or veg stock (powder is fine)

  • Add the sauerkraut to a roasting tin.  Stir in the garlic and stock then sprinkle with the tablespoon of paprika.
  • Pat the chicken dry then rub generously with salt, pepper and extra paprika.
  • Place the chicken upside down on top on the sauerkraut and cover tightly with foil.
  • Roast in a 190oC oven (45 minutes per kg + an extra 20 mins).
  • Remove the foil and turn the chicken over.  Increase the oven heat to 220 oC and roast for a futher 10-25 mins.  Or blast it under the grill.  Your choice.
  • Allow the chicken to rest for 10 mins before carving and serving on top of the chicken-y, paprika-y sauerkraut.