Luke’s Recipes

19/09/2021

15 minute chipotle mayo and chicken tortillas

Adele was out and I was feeling lazy…

Ingredients for this portion (approx):
- 4x medium tortillas
- Breaded goujons 270g
- Light mayo
- Chipotle paste
- 1 lime

For the tortilla chips: Put a half tablespoon of olive oil in a big bowl; one teaspoon of: smoked hot paprika, ground cumin; salt and pepper. Cut 2x medium tortillas into triangles (6ths or 8ths), place on a baking tray and place into 200c oven for 4-5 mins or until golden brown.

For goujons: do yourself a favour and put them in your air fryer for 7 minutes at 200c, or if you like life in the slow lane wait 15 minutes using a regular oven.

For coriander: chop it up!

For chipotle mayo: mix light mayo and chipotle paste (usually in a jar at most supermarkets) to taste. Start with a teaspoon of chipotle paste, squeeze in some mayo, mix, taste, if too spicy add more mayo, if not spicy enough add more chipotle. You can squeeze in half a lime too for extra zing.

I also made a spicy salsa but stay tuned for that. Until then…

Enjoy the fiesta! (With a beer, preferably models but I only had estrella… sorry not sorry.)

14/09/2021

40 minute smokey chicken enchiladas

We love a saucy enchilada! These were made extra naughty with crispy chicken skin, I think just because we bought chicken thighs with skin-on.

Cut chicken thighs or breast into smallish cubes or strips. Fry on a medium-high heat in veg oil until sealed and getting a bit of colour. Throw in diced onion and bell or sweet peppers of similar sizes (2-3cm squares). At the same time I throw in a teaspoon or two of: smoked hot paprika, ground coriander, ground cumin, cinnamon powder. I use a heaped teaspoon of chipotle paste here too though you could use a dried chipotle or two instead.

After a minute or two of sautéing wack the heat up and deglaze with red wine or a Mexican beer depending on your mood. This is the majority of your enchiladas filling done now, just add a half cup of water with some chicken stock in once the alcohol has cooked off. You’ll know is has cooked off as it will have stopped smelling like alcohol. Oh and throw a splash of red wine vinegar in for good measure. Let this reduce until the sauce thickens a little. You can also mix a tablespoon corn flour with a splash of cold water into a paste and add this to the sauce to instantly thicken it.

Warm your tortillas up in a microwave for up to 30 seconds. Fill them with the chicken, use a spoon with holes as you don’t want much sauce in the tortilla itself. Roll them up and line them into a baking tray. We usually do 8 big ones or 12-16 smaller ones. Now pour the remaining sauce over the top of the enchiladas and put the baking tray into the oven for 10-15 minutes or until the edges of the tortillas begin to crisp up.

We served here with black beans, sweet corn, chopped coriander, sour cream and fried chicken skin bites.

Enjoy the fiesta!

12/09/2021

30 minute fried chicken

This one is quick and naughty. We don’t do this too often. It’s a crowd pleaser and just about acceptable if balanced with otherwise healthy components on a plate.

We prefer skin-on, bone-In chicken thighs for maximum flavour and juiciness. Make sure the chicken is out of the fridge at least 30 minutes before you want to cook it, this will ensure it cooks more evenly and avoid uncooked chicken.

We cover in a flour mix to help with the crunch but this isn’t a full on breadcrumb or batter KFC-like recipe. We use equal parts plain flour and corn flour with a mix of spices: smoked hot paprika, ground coriander, garlic powder, onion powder, ginger powder, dried oregano, salt and pepper. You can vary quantities and what spices you use to your own taste.

When combining chicken and flour, be sure to use a deep bowl, baking tray or casserole dish. Make sure you have plenty of your flour mix so that you can bury the chicken thighs one at a time in the flour and compress down with you hand. Shake to ensure no loose flour remains as this flour can come off and burn in the oil when cooking and you don’t want that to impact the flavour or colour of you’re chicken.

Okay so now the chicken is covered in flour we can get started. You’ll want to use a tall sided sauce pan to reduce the amount of oil going everywhere. Heat veg oil to 175c (350f). If the oil gets too hot you can add more oil or take the pan off the heat completely (or both if things go really wrong – safety first!)

Start with the chicken skin-side down, you should hear it crackle, and don’t turn until the skin looks golden like it does in the video. Use long tongs to take a peak. This may take up to 10 minutes. When skin golden and crispy turn over for another 5-10 minutes.

You want the chicken temperature to get to 70c, use a cooking thermometer to check once both sides a looking golden. Avoid poking too many holes in the chicken though as you want to lock in the juices.

You may struggle to get the temperature to 70c before the outside goes golden. If this is the case have the oven on 180c and pop the chicken in for 10 minutes or until it reaches 70c.

Whether you used an oven or not, rest the chicken for 15 minutes on a cooling rack and you’ll notice the temperature will increase further to 75c+. This is the safety level needed to ensure the chicken is safe to eat. I recommend taking chicken out before it reaches this safe temperature as food continues to raise in temperature and keep on cooking when resting. This balance ensures juiciness and maximum flavour but you can always go higher if your sensibilities require it.

And there you have it, a bit of temperature science results in crispy and juicy chicken! 🍗

Served with an Asian slaw: red and white cabbage, lime juice, crushed coriander seeds and Siracha mayo.

09/09/2021

Our friends cooked us a meal of spaghetti alla norma, rocket salad and pinot noir while we were holidaying in Dorset back in June.

Nothing beats good company and a good meal 😊🤤

07/09/2021

8 hour curry from Dishoom

We love it when a restaurant publishes the recipe to our favourite dishes. The ruby curry from Dishoom is an all round winner, a slightly more sophisticated Tikka Masala.

The 8 hour cook time includes 6 hours of marinating for maximum flavour. Don’t let that put you off! Just prep in the morning the day you want to eat.

Full recipe: https://iamafoodblog.com/dishooms-ruby-chicken-curry-recipe/

Dishoom's famous signature chicken ruby curry recipe: super simple to make and utterly addictive. No regrets, just great curry.

05/09/2021

20 minute carbonara for 2-3 people

This is a real favourite of ours. A traditional dish of Rome. The story goes that every Roman has spaghetti, eggs, pecorino cheese and guanciale (pork cheek) in the pantry at home just in case they invite a friend home for an impromptu lunch. Easy to throw together in 20 minutes, it isn’t a well balanced meal but that’s not the point of this hearty carb loader. Eat if you want to feel happy.

Let’s prep first. Crack two whole eggs (or three egg yokes for added indulgence) into a small bowl. Grate a decent amount of pecorino romano cheese into the eggs, I’ve never measured but I’d argue it’s equal amount egg and cheese. Then crack more pepper than you ever have into the bowl. There aren’t many ingredients in this dish, the pepper should pack a punch. Mix and set to the side.

Slice guanciale, use pancetta lardons or if you have to, slice cured streaky bacon.

Get your water on the boil for pasta. Make sure it’s a big pan of water, the spaghetti needs room to swim. And the water needs to be as salty as the sea. Don’t waste any olive oil in the water, it’s not needed (for any pasta, ever).

Okay, get ready. The water should be bubbling and you should have a frying pan with tallish sides heating on high heat. We need about 10 minutes from here and then we are done.

Put 250-300g of spaghetti in the water. Within seconds have the meat frying in a generous amount of rich olive oil (not virgin). We want to get the fatty meat leaking it’s juices and combining with the olive oil as this is the base of the sauce. Be sure to stir the pasta with tongs from time to time to make sure none of it sticks to each other.

As the fat begins to render on whatever meat you chose, put a large spoon of salty and starchy pasta water in the frying pan. This will bubble, you can turn the heat right down now. Put another spoonful of water in with the eggs and cheese, and mix the bowl until the cheese begins to melt.

We now just need to wait for the pasta. Grab a single strand from the water and taste. You want it al dente, which means that it still has a bite (resistance). If it’s still uncooked, try again in a minute or two.

When the pasta is ready, use the tongs to transfer it into the frying pan. It’s fine if a bit of water moves over with it. The pasta should soak up the water, if everything looks too dry add in some more pasta water. Now turn the heat off.

Now we add the egg and cheese mixture into the pan and stir like crazy. Try not to let the sauce hit the side of the pan too much. You can toss the pasta instead if you’re feeling brave.

You’re done. Use the tongs to bundle the carbonara on a large plate. Aim to get some height for the theatre and thrill. Serve with a health crack of pepper on top and a glass of pecorino or pinot grigio white wine.

Buon appetito 🧑‍🍳💋

02/09/2021

So much good food in Dorset. Can recommend in order of photos:

Dorshi in Bridport for dumplings and Asian small plates.

Rise in West Bay for great beers, burgers and other tasty dishes to please the whole family.

Downhouse Cafe for tea and scones or lunch.

Dorset Pale for a lovely fresh beer that is as refreshing as a lager.

31/08/2021

15 minute salmon

Super flavourful, Asian-style salmon with crispy skin. This one is rapid and healthy. Perfect midweek dinner.

Marinate salmon fillets (skin-on) in veg oil, light soy sauce, marmite, honey, diced fresh chilli (or chilli flakes), and minced/crushed garlic. Mix all the ingredients in a bowl and cover salmon. The longer you leave it the better but it can be cooked immediately.

To cook salmon you have a couple of healthy options:

1) Cook skin-side up in air fryer at 200c for 6-7 minutes (you can check after 4 mins, use your finger to see if the skin is crispy)
2) Cook skin-side down in grill for 3-4 mins and then flip so skin-side up for another 3-4 mins

We served it with peppers stir fried in soy sauce, oven roasted carrot and broccoli (with oil, chilli, garlic, onion seeds) and rice with spring onion and radish.

29/08/2021

Dinner in Cyprus at 21:30 and 29c heat! Served was prawn saganaki a feta and tomato-based dish with prawns, loukanika and pastourmas village sausages and grilled halloumi.

29/08/2021

20-30 mins

Sweet and sour chicken is a real quick one, yes it feels naughty as it contains ketchup, but try it and you won’t regret 🤤

Cut chicken thighs (boneless, skinless) into large chunks (2-3 per thigh), mix with 1 beaten egg and corn flour in a large mixing bowl with salt and pepper. Fry in wok on high heat, be sure to heat the wok and see it smoking before you add the chicken. Fry in veg or rapeseed oil (high smoking point) until chicken golden brown then set aside.

Time to sauce! Cut onion into 8ths (like a balti) and cut bell peppers into 8ths also of a similar size. Thinly slice garlic cloves. Turn wok on high heat and wait till smoking again. Add more oil and throw onions and peppers in. You should hear them crackle as their skin caramelises. Keep tossing them to avoid burning. Once they have a nice colour, turn heat down to low-medium and add slices of garlic. Squeeze in tomato ketchup and tomato puree, splash a load of worchester sauce and a splash of cider vinegar. Mix in wok and taste. If it’s not sour enough, add more cider vinegar. If it’s not sweet enough, add any old sugar little by little until the taste is right. The ketchup should have added enough salt but you may want to add a few cracks of pepper.

Throw the chicken back in the pan to warm through for a few mins and then serve with rice and stir fried veg.