HRH Prince Charles - Groussaka (Grouse Moussaka)

Are you game for a dish fit for a future king? Prince Charles revealed his love of 'groussaka' as he celebrated his 70th birthday. His version of the Greek dish Moussaka, but with grouse instead of lamb.

(Yes I know they are cuddly pheasants - anyone want to knit me a grouse?)

It turns out that I have something in common with HRH The Prince of Wales. When he celebrated his 70th birthday a couple of weeks ago (no I'm not 70!) he shared his love of game and in particular pheasant crumble and grouse moussaka. Game is something that I too love and I'll often choose from a menu when dining out but admittedly it's not something that I tend to cook at home. I've pondered on the reasons for this and there are a number which I suspect others can relate to. Firstly it's really not something that you can easily pick up in the supermarket, then there's the 'Bambi' factor, misconceptions of strong taste and tough texture and lastly worries about plucking and preparing. I suspect that Prince Charles doesn't have to factor in any of these as whilst he may well be involved in shooting he's not actually doing the cooking!

Barbecued Chicken Wings with Nut Butter and Maple Syrup

Post in collaboration with Thermapen

A no fuss barbecued Chicken Wings recipe with a tasty marinade of Nut Butter and Maple Syrup. Pop them over indirect heat on the BBQ for sticky, sweet and nutty finger lickin' goodness. Ensure they are cooked to perfection with a Thermapen digital thermometer.

I love a barbecue as much as the next person but had pretty much always gone for the convenience of gas over the (perceived) hassle of charcoal. My 15 year old son appears to be on a mission to change my mind. He's always been a bit of a foodie, will eat pretty much anything (bar bananas and sultanas) and watches a lot of food channels on You Tube. He came across BBQ Champ on ITV and DJ BBQ via Food Tube and got bitten by the BBQ bug. I introduced him to barbecue guru Marcus of CountryWoodSmoke, Auntie Adele (she of the Gingerbread House) bought him the Grillstock cookbook, he joined the UK BBQ Facebook Group and they led him astray even further! To be fair - there are worse hobbies he could have...

Parmigiano Reggiano Chicken (or Turkey) Filo Pie

I'm all for a shortcut when it comes to cooking. If Delia can write a whole book about cheats and Mary 'fesses up on Bake Off that she doesn't make her own Filo Pastry I reckon I'm in good company. Personally I'd prefer to use a pre-prepared product that helps me short circuit cooking times and techniques than resort to a ready meal. I'm not saying they don't have their place but there is definitely room for a halfway house between cooking everything from scratch and popping a ping meal in the microwave. In today's recipe I've been working with Giovanni Rana and their new Italian Indulgence Parmigiano-Reggiano Sauce. It's an instant time saver that will allow you to create fabulous food without a faff.

The fresh chilled sauce is made with authentic PDO Parmigiano-Reggiano blended with cream. Whilst it's undoubtedly great served traditionally with pasta it also makes a wonderfully versatile ingredient. A second new addition to their Italian Indulgence range is a Basil Pesto with Pine Nuts & Garlic. Giovanni Rana’s authentic pesto is vibrant and rustic and lends itself to countless dishes, from simple spaghetti through to pesto topped salmon fillets and stuffed chicken breasts. In my recipe today I've used the wonderfully silky and creamy Parmigiano Reggiano sauce to help make the filling for a showstopping Chicken Pie. 

The timing of publishing this recipe is particularly apt with the festive season approaching. My Parmigiano Reggiano Pie would be the perfect way to use up leftover turkey and you could easily add in some ham, cranberry sauce or even leftover sprouts! Filo pastry is a fantastic shortcut and makes an impressive finished product for very little effort. Pop a pack of filo and a tub of Italian Indulgence Parmigiano-Reggiano Sauce in your trolley when you do the Christmas Shop and you'll be sorted for an effortless twixtmas meal. To make it year round with chicken, my top tip would be to cook a whole chicken in the slow cooker. Pop it in with nothing else and cook on low for 6-8 hours. I promise it will work and you'll have fantastically succulent chicken just falling off the bone. The by-product will be a wonderfully rich chicken stock which will be perfect to use in the pie instead of a cube. Win win! 

Parmigiano Reggiano Chicken (or Turkey) Filo Pie

500g Cooked Chicken or Turkey, shredded

200ml Chicken Stock

1 Tub/180g Giovanni Rana Parmigiano Reggiano Sauce

2 Tbsp Chopped Parsley
1 tsp Smoked Paprika

Salt & Pepper

50g Butter, melted

8 Sheets Filo Pastry

20g Parmigiano Reggiano, Grated

Preheat your oven to 180c
In a large bowl mix together the shredded cooked chicken/turkey, chicken stock, Parmigiano Reggiano Sauce, chopped parsley and smoked paprika. Combine well and season with freshly ground salt and pepper.
Brush a 25cm loose bottomed quiche tin with melted butter.
Lay out the filo pastry sheets and lightly brush the top one with butter. Carefully place it in the quiche tin to line the base with an overhang at each side. The pastry doesn’t have to fit in smoothly – a few wrinkles and folds in it are fine.
Brush the second pastry sheet with melted butter and this time lay it down into the tin the other way round, so it drapes over and lines the base. Repeat the criss-cross layering with 6 out of the 8 butter brushed filo sheets.
Spoon the cheesy chicken mixture into the pastry lined tin. Crumple the final 2 buttered sheets of filo to cover the top then fold in all of the other pastry to form a parcel.
Brush the top with the last of the butter and sprinkle over the grated Parmigiano Reggiano and some more Smoked Paprika.
Bake for 25-30 minutes until the pastry is golden brown.
Remove the tin and transfer the Parmigiano Reggiano Filo Pie to a serving plate.

Disclosure : This is a commissioned post for Giovanni Rana. As always, all views expressed are my own.
Thank you for supporting the brands who make it possible for me to continue to share my Edible Scottish Adventures with you.

Maple Double Mustard BBQ Chicken Thighs

When the sun shines everyone loves a BBQ. Forget burgers and sausages, my personal favourites are steak and chicken. I like my steak rare so all is good when it's still pink after barbecuing however when it comes to chicken, pink is absolutely the last thing you want. The recipe I'm sharing today uses skinless and boneless chicken thighs which I love for their flavour and texture. I've combined them with a fantastically tasty marinade of maple and mustard. But how do you make sure that your barbecue chicken is fully cooked? Cue my trusty Thermapen.

I've previously blogged about using it for my Spiced Apple and Rosehip Jelly and 7 Hour Spiced Pulled Leg of Lamb and it's an absolute kitchen essential as far as I'm concerned. I recently gave my Mum one as I couldn't cope cooking without it when visiting her! British made the Thermapen is the worlds fastest reading kitchen thermometer. The true temperature of a foodstuff can be tested in just three seconds. It really does take the guesswork out of your cooking ensuring that your steak is perfect, your fudge will set, your jam won't run off your toast, your chocolate is tempered and your BBQ won't give anyone an upset tummy.

For chicken the magic number you are looking for is 75°C. In addition to ensuring that it's up to temperature you should also check that there’s no pink meat and that the juices run clear. Remember to use separate tongs, utensils and plates for raw and cooked chicken, and regularly wash your hands. Enough of the safety advice, lets get back to the recipe. The two kinds of mustards I've used - American style yellow and wholegrain - provide a fantastic flavour and the maple syrup gives a wonderful sticky sweetness and caramelisation. Do make sure you use pure maple syrup and not maple flavoured syrup. The difference is like night and day.

Maple Mustard Chicken Thighs

Serves 4

800g Skinless & Boneless Chicken Thigh Fillets

4 Tbsp Pure Maple Syrup

2 Tbsp American Style Yellow Mustard

2 Tbsp Wholegrain Mustard

2 Cloves Garlic, crushed

Salt & Pepper

• Mix together the maple syrup, mustards, crushed garlic and salt and pepper to make a marinade.
• Prepare the chicken thigh fillets by trimming off any excess fat and making two or three slashes in the top of each.
• Place the chicken thighs in a bowl, pour over the marinade and rub it in well.
• At this point you can either cook them straight away or cover the bowl with clingfilm and place in the fridge to let the flavours develop for anything up to 24 hours.
• Cook the chicken on the barbecue, turning frequently until the thighs reach a reading of 75°C on a Thermapen thermometer.

For further barbecue chicken inspiration take a look at Camilla's Baked and Barbecued Thai Chicken Thighs and Emma's Honey and Mustard Glazed Chicken and if you fancy a sweet treat for desert it's got to be my BBQ Waffle S'mores. 

Disclosure : This is a commissioned recipe for Electronic Temperature Instruments. As always, all views expressed are my own. 
Thank you for supporting the brands who make it possible for me to continue to share my Edible Scottish Adventures with you.

Spiced Oaty Chicken Goujons

I was delighted to be asked by my friends at Hamlyns Oats to develop a recipe for them to be included in a leaflet that they are using at shows and events this year. There is so much more that you can do with Oats and Oatmeal than simply Porridge. Cranachan and Skirlie are particular Scottish favourites and of course oatmeal features in both haggis and black pudding. A quick look back through my own posts found plenty of baking recipes for Oatcakes, Muffins, Crumble and Flapjacks but I wanted to push the oaty boundaries a wee bit further for this particular project and came up with a healthy oven baked take on Chicken Nuggets made with a lightly spiced crumb coating of Oats and Oatmeal. 

Hamlyns traditional range of Oats and Oatmeal is produced from premium Scottish oats, grown and milled in Scotland - 100% Scottish from seed to mill to finished product. They work closely with a network of farmers across Scotland, with the majority of their suppliers located in the north east of Scotland, near their oat mill at Boyndie in Banffshire, in the heart of Scottish oat growing countryside. I've always been a traditionalist when it comes to my porridge. Always salt, oatmeal on the top and never sugar. Recently however I've been converted to a rather wonderful combination of peanut butter, raspberries and maple syrup. Not quite sure what my Brose eating grandfather would have made of that. But then again I doubt he'd ever eaten a chicken nugget!

Spiced Oaty Chicken Goujons

450g Chicken Breast Mini Fillets

100g Hamlyns Scottish Porridge Oats

50g Hamlyns Scottish Oatmeal 

1 tsp Smoked Paprika 

1 tsp Cumin 

1/4 tsp Salt 

1/4 tsp White Pepper 

50g Plain Flour 

2 Free Range Eggs, beaten 

Spray Oil 

Preheat your oven to 180c 

Combine the Oats, Oatmeal, Smoked Paprika, Cumin, Salt and Pepper in a shallow bowl. 

Sieve the plain flour into a second bowl. 

Beat the free range eggs in a third bowl. 

Coat each Chicken Breast mini fillet firstly with the flour. Then dip it into the beaten egg and finally into the Oaty mixture making sure it is fully covered. 

Place the goujons on a baking sheet and spritz them with Spray Oil. 

Bake for 15 minutes before turning and spritzing again. Return to the oven for a further 10-15 minutes or until the oats are just starting to brown and the chicken is cooked through. 

Serve with your favourite dips. 

The other three recipes within the Devoated Food Bloggers booklet are 

• Oaty Sticky Toffee Pudding by Lesley at Scottish Mum
• Tomato Gnocchi Bake by Jac at Tinned Tomatoes 
• Very Berry Vegan Energy Bites by Emily at A Mummy Too

Scottish readers may have spotted this recipe featuring on The Daily Record magazine's Page Ate. I contributed a selection of three recipes that are perfect to make with kids during the summer holidays and this was one of them. The other two were Peanut Butter Ice Lollies and Tunnock's Teacake Rocky Road. So when the kids start with "I'm bored" there's plenty to keep them occupied in the kitchen. 

Disclosure : This is a commissioned recipe for Hamlyns which originally appeared in their Devoated Food Bloggers Recipe Leaflet. All views expressed are my own.

Roast Duck with Fig, Port and Star Anise

Figs seem to be popping up everywhere I look at the moment. They're all over my Instagram feed and beautiful boxes of them are tempting me in the supermarket. I know how Adam and Eve must have felt. When Gressingham Duck, the remarkable duck people, asked me to come up with a twist on the usual fruity sauces served with roast duck, figs immediately sprang to mind. This fruit is worthy of much more than the humble Fig Roll.

Combining fruit with meat is a bit of a Marmite thing for some folk. With the exception of a Ham and Pineapple pizza I'm generally in the love camp. In some cases its a real match made in heaven. Pork & Apple being a perfect example. The sharpness of the fruit cuts through the fattiness of the meat and makes the perfect combination. Duck is often paired with Plumb, Orange and Cherry sauces. Time for an in-season figgy twist.

ROAST DUCK WITH FIG, PORT AND STAR ANISE

1 Whole Gressingham Duck

8 Fresh Figs

150ml Port

1 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar

1 Star Anise

25g Demerara Sugar

Salt & Pepper

Roast Duck

Pre-heat your oven to 220°C, Fan 200°C, Gas Mark 7

Remove all packaging. Take bag of giblets out of the body cavity (they’re useful for stock)

Weigh the duck without the giblets. It’s important to do this – don’t just use the weight on the bag, as this includes the giblets

Place on a rack in the roasting tin, prick the skin all over an rub a teaspoon of salt into the skin

Roast in the middle of the oven for 20 minutes per 500g, plus 20 minutes extra

Cut a cross in the top of 4 of the figs, going only 3/4 of the way down. Nestle these in the corner of the roasting tin with the duck for the last 15 minutes of cooking.

Rest the duck for 10-20 minutes before serving.

Fig Sauce

Chop up four of the figs into 0.5cm cubes and place in a small pan with the star anise, port, balsamic vinegar and sugar. 

Bring to a gentle simmer and cook for 10-15 minutes or until syrupy and jammy.

Taste and season with salt and pepper.

Serve alongside the roast duck and roasted figs.

For further inspiration take a look at these 10 quacking (sorry!) recipes from fellow food bloggers plus a couple more from me. Lots more to be found in the recipe section of www.gressinghamduck.co.uk

1. Vietnamese Style Duck, Noodle and Crunchy Vegetable Salad by Recipes from a Pantry
2. Tea Smoked Duck with Rice Noodle Salad by Supper in the Suburbs
3. Smoked Duck Salad with Blackcurrant Glazed Figs, Blue Cheese and Toasted Hazelnuts by The Foodie Couple Blog
4. Duck Breast & Plum Salad by Foodie Quine
5. Crispy duck wraps with chocolate hoisin sauce by Emily's Recipes & Reviews
6. Duck Legs with an Orange & Chilli Glaze by Gingey Bites
7. Crispy Duck Legs with Gluten Free Hoisin Sauce by Natural Kitchen Adventures
8. Thai Style Duck with Coconut, Pineapple and Pak Choi by Foodie Quine
9. Duck with Blackberry Relish by How to Cook Good Food
10. Baharat Spiced Roast Duck over and Orange and Pomegranate CousCous Salad by Recipes from A Pantry

Gressingham Duck have provided have provided a fantastic hamper worth almost £60 as a giveaway for readers of Foodie Quine. It contains:

• 2 x duck steaks (£4.75 each)

• 2 x duck legs (£4.00 each)

• A whole duck (£8.99)

• Mini fillets (£4.00)

• Duck breast (£8.49)

• Pulled duck legs (£4.00)

• A Gressingham Apron (RRP £15.00)

• A Gressingham Thermometer (RRP £5.00)

Entry is via the Rafflecopter widget below. To enter, let me know in a comment "What's your favourite way to eat duck?" For additional bonus entries you can follow me on Twitter, Tweet about the Giveaway or like me on Facebook. Giveaway ends 12th October 2015 12:00am. Good Luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure - Gressingham Duck provided me with product and vouchers in return for this post. All views expressed are my own.

Chicken Tikka Masala in the Tefal Actifry

I've been aware of the existence of the Tefal ActiFry for some time. A magical machine that cooks chips with very little oil. That's pretty much all that I knew. However as intrigued as I was by the concept I didn't think it would be worth the cost or worktop space purely for cooking chips. This was until Tefal got in touch and asked me if I'd like to take part in their #ActiFryDay challenge and replace a Friday night takeaway with a healthier ActiFried alternative. I was surprised to learn that in addition to chips I'd be able to cook up a whole range of takeaway favourites. Sweet and Sour Pork, Lamb Kebab, Chicken Tikka and Beef and Vegetable Stir-fry were among the surprising variety of ActiFry recipes at my disposal.

The Tefal Actifry Express XL duly arrived (rrp £249.99). It's a bit of a monster and looks somewhat like an alien spaceship. The first couple of times I used it I diligently put it back in its box, however this has now been binned and it sits on a shelf in the utility room. Much too big to have out on the worktop at all times in my opinion. Of course the first thing I had to make was chips. I used Scottish Rooster potatoes as that's what was under the sink. I excitedly tweeted a photo of them cooking only to be told that they were no good. I'd normally take such a disparaging comment with a pinch of salt (and lots of vinegar) but it came from Calum Richardson, owner of the award winning The Bay Fish & Chips in Stonehaven. He explained that unfortunately Scottish tatties don't make good chips as they have too high starch and sugar content. He also advised me to thoroughly wash them once chopped and that the varieties to look out for were English Maris Piper or Markies. Armed with this insider information I went shopping and tracked down some Maris Pipers. 

With the right variety of potatoes my next batch were much more successful and I've since experimented with chips, wedges, sweet potato wedges and patatas bravas. My first impressions of the ActiFry were as follows: 

• not as quick for chips as I thought. Time taken is comparable to cooking in an oven as opposed to a deep fat fryer 
• noisy and bulky 
• constantly stirs so nothing sticks to the bottom, however the constant stirring can break up some foods 
• only requires one spoonful of oil to cook 1kg of perfect crispy chips
• very easy to clean - removable parts can go in the dishwasher
• can be opened and closed throughout the cooking cycle 
• easy to operate 
• no preheating required
• hands free cooking
• transparent lid lets you see whats going on
• doesn't keep cooked food hot so you need to watch your timings to ensure your whole meal ready at same time 
• for best results you need the right variety of potatoes 

Having mastered the basics it was time to push the potatoes aside, take up the #ActiFryDay challenge and create a healthier takeaway. A survey by Tefal revealed that Brits are consuming well over half a billion takeaways a year. Based on the nations favourite takeaway dishes, this suggests we could collectively be eating up to 12,400 tonnes of saturated fat. 1 in 7 of us are eating 2,900 calories per takeaway at least once a week. Scary statistics! By cooking Chicken Tikka Masala in a Tefal Actifry the saturated fat content is reduced from 17.4g in a typical takeaway portion to just 1g per serving.

ACTIFRY CHICKEN TIKKA MASALA

Ingredients

500g boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into 2cm pieces

100g Tikka Masala curry paste

2 pots (150g size) natural low fat yoghurt

1 ActiFry spoon of vegetable Oil

1 Large finely chopped onion

390g canned premium chopped tomatoes

150ml of water

1/2 teaspoon of sugar

2 teaspoons on lemon juice

Method

1. In a large bowl mix the Tikka Masala paste with 4 tablespoons of yougurt. Add the chicken in the coat then cover. Leave the marinate in the fridge for two hour or overnight.

2.Heat oil in ActiFry for 2 minutes. Add the onion and cook for 5 minutes. Add the marinated Chicken and cook for a another 10 minutes.

3.Add the chopped tomatoes and water cook for another 10 minutes. Add the yogurt, sugar and lemon juice. Serve with basmati rice and naan bread.

I was really impressed with how my curry turned out. The hot air and oil combination gives some delicious charring on the edges of the chicken and being able to get on with other things in the kitchen whilst the curry took care of itself was a real bonus. I used rapeseed oil which worked really well and added in half a bag of spinach that was lurking at the bottom of the fridge for the final couple of minutes. Completely forgot about the sugar and lemon juice! Photo here is from before the yoghurt was added so that's why it's so dark in colour. I've still got lots of experimenting to do and from a quick Google search it seems that I can cook pretty much anything in an ActiFry. Still to be tried are sausages, frozen oven chips, risotto, stir fry and on the menu for later this week are these Parmesan Crusted Chicken bites from Sarah at Taming Twins. This will be my first attempt at making something without the paddle. If you are an ActiFry aficionado please do leave any hints, tips or meal suggestions in the comments as I'd love to try them. Happy FryDay!

Disclosure - I was provided with a Tefal Actifry Express XL for the purpose of this post. I was not obliged to review positively in return. All views expressed are my own. This is not a paid post.

Orange & Lemon Chicken Traybake

Marmalade is used in this quick and easy chicken thigh traybake recipe to provide a sticky citrusy kick alongside orange and lemon wedges. Served with cous cous it's sure to become a regular midweek mealtime favourite. 

Orange & Lemon Chicken is a real family favourite recipe in the Foodie Quine household, particularly with my daughter who regularly requests that I make it. She did go to a nursery called Oranges & Lemons when she was a baby, perhaps they indoctrinated her?! It's nearly a one pan dish as all the chicken elements are done as a traybake in the oven with some of the juices from them then being served over the cous cous. Quick and Easy to prepare and really tasty. 

I tend to use whatever Marmalade I have lurking in the cupboard, it works really well with pretty much any variation. I've used everything from traditional Seville through to pink grapefruit and even those with Champagne or Whisky. 

Telegraph Food have been running a series of Readers Recipes and when they put out a request for orange recipes I submitted mine and it was included in their roundup. They described it as Bright and cheery: the orange chicken traybake. Others chosen were Hot Orange Salad, Vodka & Orange Marmalade Cake and Chocolate Truffles with Orange and Sichuan pepper

ORANGE & LEMON CHICKEN

INGREDIENTS

8 Chicken Thighs

2 Oranges

Zest and Juice of 1 Lemon

2 Red Onions

Bunch of Fresh Thyme

4 heaped tablespoons Marmalade

Salt and Pepper

250g Cous Cous

Chicken Stock Cube

250ml water

METHOD

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees

Mix together the lemon zest and juice, 2 tablespoons of the marmalade, and the juice of one of the oranges.

Cut the remaining orange into wedges and do the same with the red onions.

Make two slashes in each chicken thigh and slip in a sprig of thyme.

Put the chicken into a large ovenproof dish and nestle the orange and red onion wedges in between.

Pour over the juice mixture, spoon the remaining marmalade on top of each chicken thigh and season the whole dish with salt and pepper.

Cook 35-45 minutes, or until the chicken is golden on top and cooked through.

Ten minutes before the chicken is ready make up the cous cous with 250ml of water and a chicken stock cube.

Before serving use a baster or spoon to remove half of the juices from the chicken. Mix this through the cous cous along with a handful of thyme leaves.

Turkey is for life - not just for Christmas

Hands up if you only eat Turkey at Christmas? Yup me too. Apart from the occasional recipe which specifically calls for it, December is pretty much the only month in which it features. I was recently contacted by British Turkey to take part in a Blogger Recipe Competition and devise a tasty year round dish using turkey. They gave me a £15 budget and it went surprisingly far.

For a grand total of £14.97 I got two packs of mince, two packs of breast stir fry and a pack of diced thigh. Each 500g in weight. Great value for five potential meals. I had actually spotted a turkey recipe on a fellow bloggers #mealplanningmonday post and had bookmarked it to make so popped it on my own mealplan whilst I pondered my own creation.

The Bacon and Sweet Potato Turkey Burgers were simple to make and very tasty. I used my trusty Lakeland burger maker to give them the perfect shape. The chopped bacon through them combined with cinnamon really lifted the flavour of what can be a bland meat. Would definitely give these a go again. 

And now to my own creation. I opted to utilise mince again and spice it up in a quick and easy curry dish. I'm a big spinach fan so had to get that in too.

TURKEY KEEMA CURRY

500g British Turkey Mince

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 onion finely chopped

3 cloves of garlic crushed

1 Tsp ground cumin

1 Tsp ground coriander

3 Tbsp Curry Paste (I used Pataks Tandoori)

3 Tbsp tomato puree

1 red pepper diced

tin of coconut milk

240g baby spinach

Heat oil in a deep frying pan and saute the onion and garlic until lightly browned.

Mix in the ground cumin, coriander and curry paste and cook off for 1 minute.

Add the turkey mince and cook until browned.

Stir in the red pepper, tomato puree and coconut milk.

Bring up to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes.

Add the spinach and continue cooking for 5 minutes or until wilted.

Serve with rice and/or Naan bread.

Check out the British Turkey website for further recipe ideas, nutritional information and cooking tips. Plenty of inspiration there for the three remaining packs of turkey in my freezer. When I was purchasing my turkey products for this challenge I noticed that there were also Turkey Drumsticks available. Only time I have ever come across these was at the fast food stands in Disney World. Might not be going to Florida this year but I'm sure going to attempt to create a Turkey Leg Cart in my own kitchen.