Old Spice

Jump to Comments

Old spice, new meal. No I don’t mean I’m after using out of date or past their best spices just that I’ve found a new version of an old favourite and it’s given a whole new twist on a family favourite.

Generally I love making my own spice blends, there is something so relaxing about pounding them in the pestle and mortar, thinking out complimentary flavours and trying to strike that authentic flavour, notebook at the ready; but sometimes life outside of the kitchen gets in the way, the time gremlins get in and all that relaxation goes out the window. On days like that the very thought of creating a spice blend makes me want to scream, but instead of that I reach for one of my ready prepared blends, either one of mine previously made in a large batch or one devised by the wonderful Birgit and her team at The Spice Shop. I may have told you this (several times) before but I really do love that store, they stock every imaginable spice, herb and hard to obtain ingredient a serious cook could ever want, and a whole lot more.

Today was one of those crazy days, I should have been working all day and of because I’d not have been home for dinner I hadn’t even contemplated what would be eaten. I was lucky, the ward shut (Yay! Yay! Yay!) and I got to come home early, excellent stuff, but what to eat? The old family favourite Cajun chicken stood out as an obvious choice, served with a side salad, potato wedges and sour cream dip.

One of things I like to do is marinade the chicken in around half of the spice blend and buttermilk. The buttermilk helps to tenderise the meat and keep it oh so tender; something vitally important when only using breast meat, the thought of chicken on the bone makes me shudder. I find that adding all the spice blend to the marinade leads to it loosing a lot of flavour so my preference is to use about half and then dust the chicken pieces with the rest before cooking. To barbeque would be fantastic but most often I end up using my Le Creuset griddle pan which works just fine, the only essential thing to point out here though is to make sure your extractor is on high otherwise you may just find yourselves being smoked out

The potato wedges are so simple and quick to make too, just cut the potatoes into thick chips/wedges, drizzle with around two tablespoons of olive oil and and seasoning you wish (I used a little black pepper here), with a highly spiced dish I’d keep them simple though, and bake for around 40 minutes at 180C by which time they should be crisp skinned and fluffy middled. If you didn’t want wedges baked potatoes are a great alternative.

Sour cream with a little lime juice added was my accompanying dip of choice. How can you not have sour cream with Cajun chicken, surely that’s a food crime? The lime really cut through the spice of the chicken too, giving a refreshing edge.

A lovely meal to end a great day

12 Comments

Filed under My Recipes, Poultry, Salad