Good homecooked meals for the cold season
I wanted to share last night's dinner with you - I managed to sneak yet more of the (seemingly unending supply of) apples from our garden into both these dishes:
Beetroot salad with diced apple and fresh basil.
Thyme flavoured chicken thigh fillets with onions and apples. (Click through images for larger views).
I served this with rice, but a good wholegrain bread, steamed couscous or quinoa would have worked just as well.
Recipe for Beetroot salad:
Scrub 4 slim beets and boil for ½ hour in salted water. Plunge into cold water and rub the skins off. Cut off both ends.
When the beets are cool, dice them and marinade in a mixture of 2 tbsp white balsamic vinegar, 1 tsp honey, 4 tbsp virgin olive oil, 1 tbsp grated onion and a little salt and pepper.
Core 1-2 apples and dice finely.
Rinse, dry and chop 1 large handful basil leaves.
Mix everything and serve.
When I want a more filling version of this, I add chopped walnuts or hazelnuts, and/or crumbled sheep's-milk feta-style cheese. Check the cheese for saltiness before using - if it's decidedly salty you can desalinate it by letting it steep in clean cold water for ½ hour.
Thyme flavoured chicken thigh fillets with onions and apples:
2 onions, peeled and thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic, peeled
3 apples, cored and sliced
6 chicken thighs (upper, not drumstick), bone removed
sprigs of thyme
salt, pepper
olive oil for the wok
1 small glass white wine
Season the chicken thighs with salt and pepper.
Heat 1-2 tbsp oil in the wok. Fry onions until clear, then add garlic and thyme.
Add the chicken to the middle of the wok, pushing the onions to the sides, and fry until lightly golden. Turn and fry the other side as well.
Add apples and mix well.
Pour the wine over the dish and let it boil at high heat until the alcohol evaporates. Lower heat, cover and simmer until done - about 10 minutes.
This was delicious! Recipes are copyright yours truly, and free to use at home.
Coming soon: a post about orange-glazed, stuffed, roast duck with the most delicious fresh fennel and orange flavoured salad.
Bon appétit!