Piri-Piri Chicken with Roasted Mediterranean Veg

This is probably my absolute favourite thing that we eat at home. It requires absolutely no skill, and essentially the flavours come from a packet but it is so tasty that I had to add it to the blog!
There is easily enough vegetables here to serve 4 but I love these more than the chicken so I'm always happy to fill up my plate with the veggies. You can chuck just about anything you want in; normally we do peppers, mushrooms, onions and courgette. I had some new potatoes left over from last nights lamb dish so I parboiled them for 5 minutes and added to the vegetables before putting in the oven.

Ingredients:
2 large chicken breasts
1 red pepper
1 green pepper
1 courgette
200g mushrooms
1 red onion
1 sachet Schwartz Mediterranean Roasted Vegetables mix
1 sachet piri-piri spice mix (Nando's or the supernarket's alternative)

Instructions:
1. Slice all the vegetables and place in an oven-proof dish.

2. Pre-heat the oven to 220c (200 for fan oven) or gas mark 7.

3. Mix the vegetables with the mix and 1 tbsp of olive oil. Spray with Fry Light before putting in the oven.

4. Cook in the oven for 25 minutes tossing the vegetables regularly. Respray with Fry Light as necessary.

5. Whilst the vegetables are cooking, butterfly your chicken breasts. (I prefer smaller pieces of chicken so cut them in half length ways too but that's up to you!)

6. Season the chicken pieces lightly with salt and pepper before sprinkling the piri-piri mixture over them. Spray lightly with Fry Light.

7. Spray the griddle with Fry Light (or lightly oil) and heat. Add the chicken. Cook until the chicken is cooked through (about 5 minutes each side although this is dependent on the thickness), turn the chicken regularly and spray with Fry Light intermittently so it doesn't dry out.

8. Serve immediately, with some Nando's dipping sauce for those who like a bit of spice.

Note: If you don't like spicy food, this also works well with lemon and herb rub instead of the piri-piri.

Lamb Chops with Bacon, Mushroom and Red Wine Gravy

The weather has been so foul that this hot dinner was very welcome by all. So much for Summer!
Dinner smelt so good tonight and I was so ready to tuck in that I completely forgot to take a photo! I realised half way through eating but Rhys assures me this gives good reason to make it again - I think that's his way of giving it the OK stamp of approval.

Ingredients (Serves 4):
8 lamb chops
8 medium sized mushrooms
8 rashers of bacon
1 small onion
1 glass of red wine (125 ml)
1 pint bisto beef gravy

Instructions:
Lamb:
1. Heat the grill on high for approximately 5 minutes, before turning down to medium.

2. Place the lamb chops under the grill. Obviously how long you cook on each side depends on how pink you like them - I did mine for approx 8 minutes each side as I prefer them a little crisp - but reduce the time if you prefer yours more medium-rare.

Gravy:
This recipe actually comes from the Great Little Ideas website, which is full of treasures. I've adapted it very slightly and doubled the quantity because we're gravy fiends in this house. It seems odd to serve a Bisto beef gravy with beautiful lamb, but this gravy did work really well. I hope you enjoy it!


3. Chop the bacon into slices and slice the mushrooms. Finely dice the onion. Add the bacon and onion to a drop of oil (although I used FryLight and it worked fine) and cook for 3 - 4 minutes.

4. Add the mushrooms to the bacon and cook for a further 3 minutes.

5. Add the red wine and heat through for 3 minutes.

6. Make up 1 pint of gravy as per pack instructions, and add to the pan.

7. I found the gravy was very thin, so bringing the gravy to the boil, add a further 2 heaped teaspoons of gravy granules. Whisk to prevent any lumps. Allow to simmer to boil off some of the excess liquid.

8. Serve over the lamb with your choice of potatoes and vegetables (I did new potatoes, baby carrots and dwarf beans).