Algerian Chicken with Vegetables

This is an Algerian recipe that belonged to my Nan.  Do you have any of those recipes that no matter how hard you try you just can’t every do it quite as well as you Mum or your Nan did?  This is one of those recipes, it’s one that she’d very often be cooking when we went around there for dinner as kids and it always makes me think of her but I can never get it just right, just how she used to make it.

Still it’s a lovely recipe, lightly spiced and very easy to make.  Best of all it’s a one pot dish so perfect for those evenings when you’d much rather be sat down with a good glass of wine than washing up hundreds of dirty dishes.

Algerian Chicken with Vegetables
Serves 2

2 Chicken legs (preferably free range)
1 small onion
1 green pepper
2 carrots
1 chilli pepper (optional)1\2 lemon
A good handful of raisins
A handful flaked almonds
500ml vegetable stock
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp turmeric
1\2 tsp cinnamon
Pinch saffron

Method

In a wide based pan, heat a little oil and add the finely chopped onions.  Fry until soft.

Add the chicken legs to the pan and fry on both sides until browned.

Dice the carrots and add to the pan along with the stock and spices.

Bring to the boil, cover and simmer for about 20 minutes.

If you want a to add a little heat to the dish add a finely chopped and deseeded chilli.

Slice the pepper and finely slice the lemon and add to the pan along with the raisins and almonds.

Simmer for a further 20 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and tender.

Algerian Spiced Chicken Wings

I’m determined to make myself feel more summery despite this cold Spring that we’re having.  It’s the 4th April, I’m looking out of my window and instead of seeing blossom on the trees and buds on my roses, I’m looking at bare branches and snow.  So to try an encourage the sun to warm us all up here’s another BBQ classic from my house, Algerian chicken wings.  It’s a lovely, fragrant dish that uses that old favorite spice mix of mine, ras el hanout and best of all it’s dead simple, quick and easy to make.  It’s one of those recipes that I’ll throw together when I need to do something quick and is great served with pita bread, a salad or couscous.

Algerian Spiced Chicken Wings
Serves 2

8 chicken wings
1 tsp lemon juice
2 tsp ras el hanout (my recipe for this can be found HERE)

Method

In a bowl, mix the spices with the lemon juice.

Toss the chicken in the spices mixture until it’s well coated.

Cover and leave for an hour or over night (if you’re just after something quick you can use it straight away but leaving it does really help the flavours).

Grill the chicken until cooked and serve with salad, pita bread or couscous

Kofta Burgers in Pita Bread

This tends to be a popular BBQ recipe in our house, the temperature this year is nowhere near being warm enough for a BBQ (at least not in my little corner of England) but I’m kind of hoping that it’ll warm up soon.  Obviously you don’t have to wait for the sun, just pop them under the grill instead.

Lots of recipes use egg or breadcrumbs with the meat to bind it.  There’s really no need, just add a sprinkle of salt to the meat, make the burgers and pop them in the fridge for a couple of hours and they’ll hold together wonderfully.  I don’t really know the ins and outs behind it all but the salt causes some sort of reaction in the meat which causes it to bind.

You can use either beef or lamb for this recipe, if you’re using lamb try adding some freshly chopped mint to the burger and perhaps serve with a minted yoghurt.

Kofta Burgers in Pita Bread
Makes 4 Burgers

500g minced beef or lamb1 small onion
2 tsp Ras El Hanout (see my recipe for the spice mix HERE)
A good pinch of salt
Freshly ground black pepper
4 pita breads

Method

Finely chop the onion and fry until soft.

Mix the onion, spices, pepper and salt into the minced meat.

Form the meat into a large meat ball and separate into evenly sized quarters.

Shape the meat into four burgers, cover and pop in the fridge for a couple of hours (they will happily keep in the fridge for a few days as long as your meat was fresh to start with).

To cook, grill the burgers until cooked and serve in the pita breads with a salad.