Movie night: Flight

Theming dinner to movie night can be entertaining.  The things most consumed in Flight are booze and cocaine ....

But, we needed an actual dinner - so I made us airline meals ... smoked salmon cocktail;  roast chicken dinner, ice cream and cheese and crackers.




Spring onion
Red pepper
Smoked salmon
Mayonnaise
Paprika
Salad leaves

Chicken thighs
Chicken rub
Potatoes
Butter
Carrots
Green beans
Leeks
Mustard
Cream

(Ice cream out of a tub, cheese and crackers with butter)

1.  Rub the chicken thighs with olive oil and a little herbed rub.  Roast for about an hour.
2.  Prepare potatoes to make fondant potatoes by chopping into almost they same, almost cubes.  In a deep frying pan melt butter, add potatoes, and water to about half way up the potatoes.  Simmer gently for ages, basting frequently and turning now and again.
3.  Prep other veg.
4.  Mix chopped spring onion, finely diced red pepper and smoked salmon together, bind with a little mayonnaise and add a sprinkle of paprika.  Fridge until ready to plate up.
5.  Steam carrots and beans, fry/poach the leeks in a little olive oil and water, when soft stir in a teaspoon of mustard and a spoon of cream.
6.  Keep an eye on the potatoes, add more water when required.  After about 40 minutes the butter water mixture will have reduced down, now start browning the potato cubes ... keep basting but turn them over, about 3 minutes on each edge.
7.  Line started "dishes" with salad leaves, blob in the salmon cocktail.
8.  Put ice cream in ramekins, cover in foil, and pop in their well.
9.  Add cheese and biscuits.
10.  Plate up chicken and potatoes, with a spoon of meat juice in one well, and veg in the other.
11.  Serve, watch people fall about laughing,  scoff.

Italian sausage pasta

Italian sausages from Nick Fielden's family butcher in Todmorden Market Hall inspired this dinner - and it was delicious.

Italian sausages
Olive oil
Onion
Mushrooms
Red pepper
Green beans
Cherry tomatoes
Pasta
Spinach
Cheddar cheese

1.  Squeeze the sausage meat out of the sausage skins and form into small balls.
2.  Fry the sausage balls in olive oil until slightly crispy around the edges.
3.  When the balls are done, removed them and start to sautee the chopped veg in the meat juices, you may wish to add a little more oil.  Start with the onion, then red pepper and green beans, then mushrooms, finally add the quartered cherry tomatoes.
4.  Cook the pasta in salted water.
5.  Add the sausage balls back to the sauce, adding a little water if it looks a bit dry.  Just before the pasta is done wilt spinach into the sauce.
6.  Drain pasta and add it to the sauce, grind over plenty of black pepper.
7.  Serve, with grated cheddar to taste, scoff.  Have seconds.

BBQ chicken pie

We had lots of BBQ chicken bake left over, and it would have been criminal to waste it - so I stripped the chicken meat from the bones, mixed it back in and topped it with sliced tomatoes, strong cheddar and a pastry top.  It was delicious served with good old baked beans.

Leftover chicken bake
Tomatoes
Cheese

Plain flour
Salt
Butter
Natural yogurt
Water


1.  Make pastry, rub butter into salted flour, when it resembles breadcrumbs add a dollop of natural yogurt and a drop of water.  Work into a smooth paste.  Put in the fridge for 30 mins or so, to make it easier to handle.
2.  Strip the meat from the chicken bones and mix the leftovers together.
3.  Put the mixture in an oven dish and cover with sliced tomatoes and slices of cheese.
4.  Roll out the pastry and layer over the top, pushing the edges into the oven dish.  Slash/stab to let out steam, and brush with milk/soya milk.
5.  Bake for about 35 mins at 180.
6.  Serve, scoff.

Barbeque chicken bake

Chicken legs ... and various bits and bobs from the veg box - but wanted to make it a bit more tasty (but easy) ... so BBQ marinated chicken, and chucked it all into a baking tray ... it was delicious, and created its own sauce.

Olive oil
Potatoes
Carrots
Fennel
Onion
Red pepper and tomato relish
American mustard
Soy sauce
Ketchup
Black pepper
Chicken legs
Garlic
Red pepper
Peas

1.  Slosh olive oil into a big oven dish and add potato chunks.
2.  Add peeled carrots, chopped into decent sized pieces (ie. average carrot, chop top third off, halve the rest and chuck those chunks in)
3.  Add fennel bulb and onion, both cut into wedges.
4.  Make "BBQ" sauce by mixing relish, mustard, olive oil, ketchup, pepper and soy sauce - squish the chicken legs around until well coated.  Then add peeled garlic cloves.
5.  Stick in the oven, at 180 for 45 mins (ish)
6.  Add chopped red pepper, stir around.
7.  After about 20 minutes add podded peas (or frozen), stir around.
8.  10 minutes later - stir, scoff ... have seconds ... it was proper tasty.

Fish curry

An interesting fish curry, as most of the vegetables were very definitely English ... but a small tin of bamboo shoots added a tiny oriental edge ... A malaysian curry powder and coconut milk - mildly spicy, and a really nice texture.

Onion
Garlic
Groundnut oil
Malaysian curry powder
Carrots
Mushrooms
Coconut milk
White fish (pollock)
Bamboo shoots
Frozen peas

Basmati rice

1.  Finely chop onions, and crush garlic, fry in groundnut oil.  Put the rice on.
2.  Add curry powder and stir in well.
3.  Add chopped carrots and mushrooms, then add coconut milk and simmer until the veg are a bit cooked.
4.  Put the fish on the top, cover and allow to steam/poach for a few minutes.
5.  When the fish is nearly done add a tin of bamboo shoots and a handful of frozen peas.
6.  Stir in - ready in 2 minutes.
7.  Serve, scoff - easy and very tasty.