Cornwall Food & Drink Festival 2011

First of all, a huge thank you to all who came to the Food and Drink Festival and watched my demonstration. As promised, I have a couple of recipes from the festival for you to try at home.

So first of all is the Sezchuan dish of Bang Bang Chicken. This will serve 4 to 6 as a starter. Take 225g free range chicken meat ( I used Keith Wicketts free range chicken) and place in a saucepan. Cover with cold water and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Drain and reserve a little of the liquid. Beat out the chicken with a rolling pin until soft and then break up into small strands. (Sandra did a sterling job of this on Saturday!). To make the sauce, blend 2Tbsp sesame paste (Tahini), 1 tsp sesame oil, 2 Tbsp soya sauce, 2 tsp rice vinegar, 1 tsp sweet chilli sauce. Add a little of the liquid reserved from cooking the chicken to make a smooth, creamy paste.
You can either make rolls with the chicken, sauce and gem lettuce leaves, or served on a plate of shredded lettuce, with the chicken on top, dressed with the sesame sauce.

For a very economical and tasty use of leftover roast free range chicken, try these Chicken and Squash Chimichangas. In a frying pan, sweat together 1 onion and 2 cloves of garlic,both finely chopped, in a little olive or vegetable oil. Add 2 chopped tomatoes (green ones are good, but you can use ripe ones if you prefer). Stir in 200g Squash, cut into small cubes, ½ tsp cumin seeds, ½ tsp cinnamon, ½ tsp of coriander seeds and ½ tsp ground cloves or allspice. Add a 400g tin of drained pinto or borlotti beans and 200ml of water. Simmer until the squash is cooked and the mixture has become quite thick. Stir in a handful of chopped parsley or coriander and about 200g shredded up left over roast chicken. Check for seasoning and then roll large spoonfuls of the chicken mix into tortilla wraps, folding the bottom up over it; the two sides into the middle, then roll until you have a squarish parcel enclosing the chicken filling. Secure the parcel with a cocktail stick through the flap on the back. Repeat this process until you have used all the mix. Carefully pan fry the parcels in a little bit of oil in a non stick pan, until golden, the turn over. Serve with Chilli sauce and Salad. Remember to remove the cocktail stick when you eat them.

There was quite a demand for the recipe for the chilli sauce on Saturday, but I think that one will have to remain a secret, at least for the moment...

Many thanks again for all your support and Happy Cooking!

Fiona

Cornwall Food & Drink Festival 2011

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