Posts Tagged ‘Spring greens’

Chinese spring greens with crispy liver

Thursday, April 5th, 2012

Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 10 min
Serves:2
Liver takes on a whole new look and taste with Richard Corrigan’s colourful stir fry that’s perfect for supper for two

Ingredients
25 g caster sugar
1 lime, segmented, juice reserved
2 cm piece root ginger, grated
1 head spring greens, leaves separated
1 pig’s liver
50 g rice flour
Pinch Sichuan ground pepper
knob butter
1 handful tenderstem or purple sprouting broccoli
15 g black beans, soaked overnight, or tinned, drained black beans
splash soy sauce, and sesame oil
1 red chilli, seeds removed, chopped
3 cm piece root ginger, julienned
sliced spring onions, to garnish

Method
1. Make a little stock syrup by heating the sugar with 2 tbsp water in a small saucepan over a low heat, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Simmer very briefly until syrupy, then remove from the heat to cool. Place the lime segments in a bowl and pour in a little of the lime juice and enough of the sugar syrup to just cover. Scatter over the grated ginger and leave to infuse.

2. Drop the spring greens into a pan of boiling water, blanch for 1-2 minutes, then drain in a colander and put under running cold water to refresh. Drain well and cut into small pieces.

3. Trim any excess sinew from the liver then cut into 1cm thick slices. Mix the rice flour with the Sichuan pepper and some salt. Dust the liver in the seasoned flour and shake off any excess. Heat a splash of olive oil in a heavy-based pan. Dip the liver in the flour, then place in the hot pan. Fry until coloured on one side then turn over, drop a small knob of butter into the pan and reduce the heat. You want to colour the outside of the liver but the middle should still be pink.

4. In a separate frying pan or wok stir fry the broccoli with a little dash of water and a splash of oil. Stir in the black beans and the lime seeped in syrup. Season with a splash of soy sauce and sesame oil. Scatter in the chopped chilli and julienned ginger. Serve the crispy liver on a bed of the vegetables and garnish with spring onions.

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Spring chicken with grain mustard sauce

Wednesday, April 4th, 2012

Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 35 min
Serves:2
Mark Sargeant’s moist, seasonal chicken is flavoured with lemon, garlic and thyme and served with a rich white wine sauce

Ingredients
1 spring chicken, about 1kg, cut in half
1 lemon
1 heads garlic, unpeeled
1 sprigs thyme
1 red onion, unpeeled and quartered
dashes of olive oil
100 ml white wine
100 ml double cream
1 tbsp wholegrain mustard
1 heads spring greens

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 180/160 fan/gas 4.

2. Colour the halves of chicken in a frying pan then place in a roasting tray. Cut 2 wedges out of the lemon and reserve, then cut the rest into chunks and put in with the chicken. Add the garlic cloves, thyme and red onion quarters to the tray and drizzle with olive oil. Roast in the oven for 20 minutes then remove and leave for 5 minutes.

3. Discard the cooked pieces of lemon and set aside the chicken, the garlic and the onion. Put the wine in a saucepan and cook to let the alcohol burn off. Add the juices from the chicken and boil to reduce a little, then add the cream and mustard. Bring back to the boil and set aside.

4. Shred and lightly cook the greens in boiling water until just tender. Drain well, season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper and drizzle with olive oil. Place the greens on each serving plate and top with the chicken, garlic, red onion and a lemon wedge. Pour on the sauce and serve.

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Sautéed bacon, new potatoes and spring greens

Monday, April 2nd, 2012

Prep time: 5 min
Serves:1-2
Make Matt Tebbutt’s simple fry-up for a hearty, yet not-too-wicked weekend breakfast

Ingredients
150 g new potatoes, such as Royal Kidneys or Jersey Royals
1-2 bay leaf
butter, for frying
olive oil, for frying
1 small clove garlic, crushed
2-3 pieces thick-cut farmhouse bacon
1 handfuls girolles, or other wild mushrooms
1-2 handfuls spring greens
crusty bread or toast, to serve, optional

Method
1. Put the new potatoes into a saucepan with the bay leaves and a good pinch of salt. Cover with water, bring to the boil and cook until tender. Drain and set aside. When cool enough to handle, cut each potato in half.

2. Melt a knob of butter with a splash of olive oil in a large, heavy-based frying pan. Add the garlic and sizzle for a few seconds.

3. Add the bacon slices, allow to brown for a 1-2 minutes, then turn them over. Add the mushrooms to the pan. Once both sides of the bacon have browned, remove it from the pan and cut it into pieces.

4. Add the potatoes to the pan with the mushrooms.

5. Using the heart of the spring greens only, separate out a large handful of small leaves and add these to the pan.

6. Mix the chopped bacon back into the mixture, warm through and finish with a good sprinkling of black pepper.

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Crispy chicken & asparagus pie

Friday, May 6th, 2011

Make a superhealthy, supertasty crispy chicken and asparagus pie in 20 minutes

Ingredients

* 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts , cut into bite-size pieces
* knob of butter
* 100g asparagus , cut into bite-size pieces
* 100g spring green vegetables (we used baby spinch and defrosted peas)
* 100g ham , torn
* 100ml low-fat crème fraîche
* 50g fresh breadcrumbs

Method

1. Heat grill to medium. Spread the chicken out evenly in a shallow baking dish. Dot with half the butter and grill for 7-10 mins, turning occasionally until cooked through. Meanwhile, put the vegetables in a bowl and pour a kettle of boiling water over them. Leave for 2-3 mins, then drain.
2. Scatter the veg and ham over the chicken, dollop on the crème fraîche and season to taste. Sprinkle on the breadcrumbs, dot with remaining butter, then slide under the grill for 5 mins more until heated through and the topping is crisp.

Try

Make it with potato, in portions or with fish

To make it with potato top with a pack of ready-made mash and grill until heated through and crisp on top. Or to make it in portions, use small gratin dishes for single servings. And to use fish, grill 4 fish fillets and a handful of raw prawns until cooked through, then follow from step 2, leaving out the ham.

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