Buttermilk Chicken Nigella Lawson Food

BUTTERMILK SCONES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F and line a large lipped baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Put the flour into a bowl with the baking soda, cream of tartar, and sugar. Chop the butter and the vegetable shortening into pieces and drop them into the flour. Rub the fats into the flour - or just mix any old how - and then pour in the buttermilk, working everything together to form a dough.
• Lightly flour your work surface. Pat the dough into a round-edged oblong about 1 3/4 inches thick and cut out 2-inch scones with a biscuit cutter. (Mine are never a uniform height, as I only pat the dough into its shape without worrying whether it's irregular or not.)
• Arrange the scones fairly close together on your lined baking sheet, and brush with beaten egg (to give golden tops) or not as you wish.
• Bake for 12 minutes, by which time the scones will be dry on the bottom and have a relatively light feel. Remove them to a wire rack to cool, and serve with clotted cream and your favourite jam.
• Make Ahead Note: Scones are best on the day they are made but day-old scones can be revived by warming in oven preheated to 300 degrees F for 5 to 10 minutes.
• Freeze Note: Baked scones can be frozen in airtight containers or resealable bags for up to one month. Thaw for 1 hour at room temperature and warm as above. Unbaked scones can be put on parchment-lined trays and frozen until solid. Transfer to resealable bags and freeze for up to 3 months. Bake direct from frozen, as directed in recipe, but allowing extra 2 to 3 minutes baking time.

NIGELLA LAWSON'S BUTTERMILK CHICKEN RECIPE WITH A TWIST

Steps:

• Place chicken pieces in a large freezer bag or a large bowl. Add buttermilk, ¼ cup of oil, 2 cloves of garlic, pepper, 1 tablespoon of salt, 2 tablespoons of rosemary, and honey. Make sure all the chicken pieces are marinaded in the buttermilk. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or seal the bag securely and refrigerate overnight.
• When you're ready to cook the chicken, get another large bowl. Place the cubed potatoes, 2 tablespoons of oil, 1 tablespoon of salt, 2 tablespoons of rosemary leaves, the olives, and 2 cloves of garlic into the bowl, and then mix well. Finally, place the potatoes and olives in a single layer in a large roasting pan lined with foil.
• Heat oven to 400 F. Remove the chicken from marinade and shake of excess marinade. Place the chicken on top of the potatoes and drizzle with the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil.
• Roast for 45 minutes, and stir the potatoes and olives halfway and turn the chicken over. Continue roasting until well browned and until juices run clear.
• Serve the potatoes and chicken together.

BRANDIED-BACONY CHICKEN

Steps:

• Heat oven to 425 degrees F.
• In a small frying pan, cook the bacon over medium heat until it's crisp and the pan full of gorgeous bacony fat, about 4 minutes. Take the pan off the heat, the bacon out of the pan and straight into the cavity of the chicken, sitting the chicken breast side up in a roasting pan as you do so. Pour the brandy into the still hot frying pan and let bubble for a minute. Pour the brandy mixture over the chicken. Place the roasting pan into the hot oven and roast for 45 minutes, making sure juices run clear between leg and body. Let rest 10 minutes before carving.

CHICKEN WITH 40 CLOVES OF GARLIC

Steps:

• When I was young, this old French classic was still - though in a quiet way - very much in vogue. I dare say it was because the novelty of using so many garlic cloves had not worn off; it seemed somehow dangerously excessive. Even so, I don't think anyone would think it quite unremarkable now to put 40 cloves of garlic in a casserole. Certainly, if you peeled and chopped - let alone minced - the garlic, it would be inedible, but garlic cloves cooked encased in their skins grow sweet and caramelly as they cook, like savory bonbons in their sticky wrappers, rather than breathing out acrid heat. This is a cozy supper, not a caustic one.
• This dish entered my canon under someone else's auspices. A few years ago, for the fortieth birthday of a then-colleague and friend of mine, Nick Thorogood, his partner asked everyone to contribute something written expressly for purpose to be compiled in a fat tribute of a book. Since most of Nick's and my conversation dwells, with almost fetid passion, on food, it seemed only proper to write a recipe for him. And given that it was his fortieth birthday, this seemed the right recipe.
• It is not quite the classic version (not that there is only one: food is as variable as the people who cook it) but it sticks to the basic principles. Maybe because the white meat on chicken tends towards the utterly tasteless these days, I prefer to use not a whole chicken, but thigh portions only. Naturally, this wouldn't make sense if you were raising your own chickens, then slaughtering them for the pot, as was the custom when this recipe came into being (and very good it would have been, too, for adding oomph to an old bird) but if you're following the contemporary shopping model, it works very well. For some reason, I veer towards recipes that can easily be cooked in one of my wide and shallow cast-iron Dutch ovens and this fits the bill perfectly.
• By all means, add some steamed or boiled potatoes alongside if you wish, but I'd prefer, by far, a baguette or two to be torn up and dunked into the flavorsome juices; though don't rule out the option of sourdough toast, which is the perfect vehicle for spreading the sweet-cooked garlic onto. Otherwise, some green beans or baby peas or a plain green salad is all you need for a sure-fire salivation-inducing supper.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Heat the oil on the stovetop in a wide, shallow ovenproof and flameproof Dutch oven (that will ultimately fit all the chicken in one layer, and that has a lid), and sear the chicken over a high heat, skin-side down. This may take 2 batches, so transfer the browned pieces to a bowl as you go.
• Once the chicken pieces are seared, transfer them all to the bowl. Finely slice the scallions, put them into the Dutch oven and quickly stir-fry them with the leaves torn from a few sprigs of thyme.
• Put 20 of the unpeeled cloves of garlic (papery excess removed) into the pan, top with the chicken pieces skin-side up, then cover with the remaining 20 cloves of garlic. Add the vermouth (or white wine) to any oily, chickeny juices left in the bowl. Swish it around and pour this into the pan too. Sprinkle with the salt, grind over the pepper, and add a few more sprigs of thyme. Put on the lid and cook in the oven for 1 1/2 hours.
• Make Ahead Note: Chicken can be browned and casserole assembled 1 day ahead. Cover tightly and store in the refrigerator. Season with salt and pepper and warm the pan gently on the stovetop for 5 minutes before baking as directed in recipe.
• Making Leftovers Right: If I do have any chicken left over - and I don't think I've ever had more than 1 thigh portion - I take out the bone then and there and put the chicken in the refrigerator. Later (within a day or two), I make a garlicky soup, by removing the chicken, adding some chicken broth or water to the cold, jelled juices, placing it over a high heat and, when that's hot, shredding the chicken into it and heating it through thoroughly, till everything is piping hot. You can obviously add rice or pasta. Otherwise, mash any leftover garlic into the concentrated liquid (which will be solid when cold), chop up some leftover chicken, and put it all into a saucepan with some cream. Reheat gently until everything is piping hot, and use as a pasta sauce or serve with rice.

BUTTERMILK ROAST CHICKEN

Steps:

• Butterfly chicken by placing breast side down and using heavy-duty kitchen shears to cut along both sides of backbone. Discard backbone, turn chicken over and open it like a book. Press gently to flatten it.
• Place chicken in a large freezer bag. Add buttermilk, 1/4 cup oil, garlic, peppercorns, salt, rosemary and honey. Seal bag securely and refrigerate overnight or up to two days.
• Heat oven to 400 degrees. Remove chicken from marinade and place on a rack so excess can drip off. Line a roasting pan with foil and place chicken in pan. Drizzle with remaining 2 tablespoons oil. Roast for 45 minutes, then reduce heat to 325 degrees. Continue roasting until well browned and until juices run clear when chicken is pierced where leg joins thigh, about another 20 minutes.
• Place chicken on a carving board and allow to rest for 10 minutes before cutting into serving pieces. Place a portion on each of four plates, and drizzle each serving with pan juices.

BUTTERMILK CHICKEN - NIGELLA LAWSON

Steps:

• Combine all ingredients (use 4 tbsp oil) in a large ziptop bag. Refrigerate several hours or overnight.
• Remove chicken from marinade and place in a roasting pan. Drizzle with remaining 2 tbsp oil. Roast in a preheated 425F oven for 30 minutes. Serve hot or cold.

RITZY CHICKEN NUGGETS

Steps:

• Cut off the chicken peg bone if there is 1, and put the chicken breasts one at a time into a freezer bag so that it lies flat. Bash with a rolling pin until the chicken is quite thin, and then take it out and slice into about 6 to 8 slices. Repeat with the other chicken breast. This is easiest done with scissors.
• Put the slices into a freezer bag with the buttermilk and leave in the refrigerator to marinade for up to 2 days.
• When you are ready to cook them, heat the oil in a large frying pan, or preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
• Tip the cracker crumbs into a wide shallow bowl, and then shake off the excess buttermilk from the nuggets and dip them in the crumbs. Coat them well before lying gently in the hot oil, and cooking for about 2 minutes or so a side until they are golden brown. Transfer to a kitchen towel on a plate to blot the excess oil.
• Alternatively, you can lay the crumb-coated chicken nuggets on a lined baking sheet and bake for 15 to 20 minutes. They can also be frozen once marinated and crumbed. If cooking from frozen, add 5 minutes to the oven cooking time.
• Slice the lettuce into 1/2-inch slices across and put into a bowl. Add the diced gherkins and capers.
• Combine the dressing ingredients, whisking together, and then pour over the salad tossing it to mix. Arrange on a couple of plates and sprinkle over the parsley. Serve with the chicken nuggets.

NEW ORLEANS COLESLAW

Steps:

• Trim and shred the cabbage; you can do this either by hand or with a food processor.
• Peel and grate the carrots, and finely slice the celery and scallions.
• Whisk together the mayonnaise, buttermilk, maple syrup and vinegar and coat the shredded vegetables with this dressing.
• Season with salt and pepper and toss with the chopped nuts.

MUGHLAI CHICKEN - NIGELLA LAWSON

Steps:

• Put the ginger, garlic, cumin, coriander, and chili into a food processor, or into a mortar and pestle, and blend to a paste. Add the ground almonds and water and then blend again, set aside.
• Heat the oil in a large pan and add the chicken pieces - in batches so they fry rather than stew - and cook them just long enough to seal on both sides, then remove to a dish.
• Add the spices and turn them in the oil. Add the onions and cook them until softened and lightly browned, but keep the heat gentle and stir frequently, to avoid sticking. Pour in the blended paste, and cook everything until it begins to colour. Add the yogurt, half a cup at a time stirring it in to make a sauce, then stir in the stock, cream, and sultanas.
• Put the browned chicken back into the pan, along with any juices that have collected under them, and sprinkle over the garam masala, sugar, and salt. Cover and cook on a gentle heat for 20 minutes, testing to make sure the meat is cooked through.
• It's at this stage, that I like to take the pan off the heat and leave it to cool before reheating the next day.
• So either now, or when you've reheated it, pour into a serving dish and scatter with the toasted flaked almonds.