Chicken Leeks & Feta, Blood Orange Cake and more...

Sorry about the week's delay, but I had horrible muscle pain for a couple weeks, that have finally faded. Hurt so much I could not bend over, or lift my legs enough to put on socks, or tie my shoes! Migraine type headache for a week on top of it all. We think it was an interaction between the statin I take for high cholesterol and one or more other drugs I take for my diabetes, probably triggered by a couple months of gym workouts. As soon as your body starts getting better, it smacks you just to see if you're serious about getting healthier.

This week's post is a combination of things for your dining delight. Sally's oldest friend and her husband came to spend almost a month with us, in celebration of their 35^th wedding anniversary. Fiona and Sally grew up in Brighton, on the south coast. Today Fiona and her husband Toby Barnes live in Mablethorpe, on the northeast coast of England.

Fiona's Chicken with Leeks and Feta

Our Guest Chef this week, Fiona Barnes, has been friends for some 45 years! She's a great cook herself, and I sure don't mind sharing a few column inches to showcase her most excellent dish!

4 Chicken Breasts, boneless, skinless, and butterflied

2 large Leeks, sliced into thin rings just into the green ends

1 lbs New Potatoes, quartered - she used Dutch Yellow

7 oz block Feta, cubed and crumbled

1 stick unsalted Butter

1/2 cup chopped Mint leaves

Steam the potatoes. While they're working, cook the leeks over medium heat. Add half a stick of butter and a dash of salt & pepper to taste as they start to cook. Reserve the leeks when softened.

Lay the butterflied chicken out on a griddle pan, and dust with salt and pepper to taste. Fire the broiler to High, and cook about 5 minutes on the beauty side, then flip and cook the second side of the chicken 3-4 minutes. You want the meat done, but not browned.

Pull the pan from the oven, and top each breast with ¼ of the leeks and ¼ of the feta. Return the pan to the broiler for 3-5 minutes until the feta just gets a bit brown on the edges. Plate the finished breasts.

Put the hot potatoes in a bowl, top with a couple tablespoon sized dollops of butter, and the chopped mint. Stir with a large spoon of a minute or so until the butter is melted and the mint evenly distributed. The scent of the heated mint is intoxicating!! Serve alongside the plated chicken.

What great flavors!! The mint and feta play wonderful counterharmonies with each other. Simple but savory and oh, so good. You've gotta try this one folks!

Blood Orange Sponge Cake

It's been dog's years since I've made a cake from scratch. Knowing I'm a fan of The Great British Bake Off program, Fiona brought me a copy of the cookbook from Season 2, called How To Bake The Perfect Victoria Sponge and Other Baking Secrets. You'll be hearing about other recipes over the coming weeks/months, but while surfing through the delicacies, my eye was first caught by a Blood Orange Sponge Cake recipe. I love Blood Oranges, and earlier this year, as they were going out of season, I frozen about a dozen whole fruit. This recipe, I thought, would be a perfect use for these dark beauties.

One thing I learned the hard way is that what the Brits call “caster sugar” is not the same as our “confectioner's sugar” as I had always been led to believe. In the first step I used confectioner's sugar rather than granulated sugar, and the mixing took 4 times as long as it should have! You'll want to use an 8” non-stick Springform pan for this recipe, and line the bottom with parchment paper. A common 9” pan would make too thin a cake.

For the Sponge:

6 large Eggs, at room temp

6 oz. Granulated Sugar

3-1/2 oz. Almond Flour

3 oz Slivered Almonds

Zest of 2 Blood Oranges

For the Syrup:

4 oz Granulated Sugar

Juice of 4 Blood Oranges

Preheat the oven to 350F. Separate the eggs putting yolks and eggs in separate large bowls. Freeze one blood orange to make slicing it easier.

To the yolks add the 6 oz of sugar and the orange zest. Beat with an electric mixer for 3-5 minutes until the mixture is thick like a mousse. Fold in the almond flour.

Beat the egg whiles until you get very stiff peaks. Fold the eggwhites gently into the yolk mixture, in three additions, until well combined. Lastly fold in the slivered almonds.

Spoon the sponge into the springform pan and spread it evenly. Bake for 45 minutes or until the sponge is golden brown and springy when pressed lightly. During the baking the mix will swell up like a souffle and then gradually sink.

While the sponge is baking, make the syrup. Combine the sugar and blood orange juice in a pan, bring to a simmer, stirring often until the sugar is dissolved. Continue cooking for 2-3 minutes, then set aside to cool slightly. Makes about a cup of syrup.

When the sponge is done, remove it from the oven and set the pan on a large plate. Run a round-tipped knife around the inside of the pan to loosen it sponge. Stab the cake all over with a skewer or chopstick. Pour the warm syrup all over the top, reserving about a quarter cup.

When it's time to serve, slice the frozen orange into thin rounds and place them on top of the cake. Heat the remaining syrup in the microwave (30 seconds) and pour it all over the top of the cake. You can garnish with more slivered almonds if you choose. The cake won't keep long, but it is so tasty, it's not going to last more than 24 hours in the fridge.

This one is a "Show Stopper, folks!  You've gotta try this one!

Lemon-Basil Butter Salmon

Simple is as simple does. Juice of a lemon, quarter cup of chopped fresh basil, half a cup of melted butter. Stir together, brush over salmon or other filets while they cook on a bed of diced onion and tomato.

Simple No-Boil Lasagna

Our English guests got to try out my new, simpler version of Lasagna twice this week. As a main dish on Thursday, and again on Sunday as a “lite” dinner (smaller squares).

12 Lasagna Noodles

1-1/2 lb “meatloaf mix” (Beef, Veal, Pork)

2 cloves Garlic, chopped

1 tsp dried Oregano or Italian seasoning

Salt and ground Black Pepper to taste

16 ounce small curd Cottage Cheese

2 Eggs, beaten

1/2 cup grated Parmesan Cheese

1-1/2  jars tomato-basil pasta sauce (I used 1 jar red sauce, 1/2 jar Alfredo sauce)

12 oz box of sliced Crimini or White Mushrooms

2 cups shredded Mozzarella Cheese

Sauté meat with garlic, herbs and spices. In a separate bowl combine the sauces and beaten eggs. In a bowl, combine the cottage cheese and Parmesan. In a 9x13 baking dish lay down a splash of the sauce. Lay down three noodles length-wise and a shorter piece across the end,

Layer the sauce, then the cottage/Parmesan, and top with half of meat. Next lay down the entire package of mushrooms. Now repeat layering the sauce, meat and cottage/Parm. Top everything with the mozzarella. 

Cover with tinfoil and bake in a 350F pre-heated oven for 45 minutes. Remove the foil and cook for an additional 10 minutes or until the cheese gets brown and bubbly. Wait at least 15 minutes before serving.