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Middle Eastern Roast Chicken with Toum

View my step by step video

Middle Eastern Roast Chicken

This post is all about Mother’s Day. One day to respect and shower a person with love and affection that we should be doing year long. I’m part of a group of YouTubers called Tastemade and when they spoke about creating a collaboration for Mother’s Day, I jumped at the opportunity. This Mother’s Day is especially hard for me as my mother has not been well for the last 3 months and it’s been a very difficult time for all of us. I based this recipe on all the flavours my mom would love and although we can’t celebrate this year, I hope to celebrate with her in the near future.

This roast Chicken is smothered in a delicious marinade made with ingredients like olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, harissa, sumac, salt, pepper and pomegranate molasses.

Toum Garlic Paste

It’s roasted to perfection and served with a delicious Toum which is an authentic garlic paste served as a dip or a spread. You can find that recipe here

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Middle Eastern Roast Chicken with Toum

Ingredients

  • Ingredients
  • 4 Chicken quarters – skinned and cleaned
  • Marinade
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • Juice of a lemon
  • 1 tsp chopped garlic
  • 1 tsp harissa
  • 1 tsp coarse salt
  • 1 tsp coarse pepper
  • 1 tsp sumac
  • I lemon sliced
  • 1 onion sliced
  • 1 – 2 tbsps toasted pinenuts
  • Parsley for garnish
  • Toum for dipping
  • Arabic pita
  • Olive Oil

Instructions

  1. Process
  2. Score the Chicken and store it in a ziploc bag with the marinade in the fridge overnight
  3. Pre heat the oven to 350 degrees and add a roasting pan
  4. Once the roasting pan is hot, add the Chicken and return to the oven and cook for a period of 25 mins
  5. In the mean time, pour the leftover marinade from the bag into a saucepan and cook it on a high heat till it reduces by half. This will kill all bacteria
  6. Remove the chicken fom the oven in between and baste with half the marinade
  7. Remove the Chicken from the oven after 25 mins and flip over, baste with the remaining marinade and add the lemon and onion slices
  8. Return for another 20 mins
  9. Turn the oven to broil setting for another 7 – 10 mins
  10. Remove and sprinkle with extra sumac and pine nuts and serve with tomb and kabobs. Garnish with parsley
https://kravingsfoodadventures.com/middle-eastern-roast-chicken-with-toum/

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Chicken Fajitas – A DJ BBQ recipe for Food Revolution Day

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Food Revolution is an event I like to participate in yearly. It resonates so well with me as this is something I live with my own kids. Growing up with grandmothers, aunts and my own mother who are excellent cooks, it never occurred to me that there are so many kids out there that have to fill themselves up with empty calories like deep fried foods and candy.

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KarenAaron

Did you know that diet related illnesses are the no 1 reason for childhood obesity? This is a global epidemic – over 42 million children are obese or overweight under the ages of 5. We need to stand behind Jamie and support instituting compulsory practical food education in schools across the world, share it via your social networks and educate the kids around you. Do your part and help change our children’s futures – sign the petition link at the end of this video.
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To mark this event, I decided to remake DJ BBQ’s recipe for Chicken Fajitas and show my son Aaron how to prepare this himself. Both my boys will soon be off to University and while I’m sure they will not always find the time to prepare their own meals, they will at least make the right food choices. Well that’s the hope anyway.
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I met DJ BBQ on the set of Jamie Oliver’s Pressure Cooker a reality show that pita home cooks against each other producing a gourmet meal under a tight timeline for the Time’s restaurant critic Giles Coren. Hid recipe for Chicken Fajitas is not only delicious, it’s fresh and nutritious when you make your own pico de gallo and guacamole. Making food fun is a great way to get your kids into the kitchen and in charge of what they put into their mouths.
 
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Chicken Fajitas – A DJ BBQ recipe for Food Revolution Day

Ingredients

  • Ingredients
  • 2 pounds chicken butterflied chicken breasts
  • Marinade
  • 1 tsp each Paprika, Cayenne, Garlic and Onion powder, Cumin powder, Mexican Chilli powder, Sea Salt and Brown Sugar
  • Juice of one Lime
  • Splash of Ginger Ale
  • 2 Peppers
  • 2 –3 Jalapeños
  • Tortillas
  • Guacamole
  • Pico de gallo
  • Sour Cream

Instructions

  1. Process
  2. Make the marinade by mixing the dry and wet ingredients together
  3. Marinade the chicken for an hour
  4. Slice the Jalapeños horizontally and remove the seeds
  5. Cut the peppers into strips
  6. Cook the peppers on a hot grill so they are slightly charred
  7. Add the chicken and the jalapeños
  8. Remove when cooked and slice
  9. Heat the tortillas
  10. Assemble the Fajita – Guacamole, Sour cream, Pico de gallo, Chicken and peppers and top with the sliced jalapenos
  11. Enjoy!
https://kravingsfoodadventures.com/chicken-fajitas-a-dj-bbq-recipe-for-food-revolution-day/

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Boneless Lamb Roast with Goat Cheese and Red Peppers

Watch step by step instructions

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I’ve made a leg of lamb many times before, but when I learned how to make this at a course at George Brown Culinary, I fell in love with the simplicity of this recipe. Although cooking with a bone in has great advantages, a boneless roast can be stuffed, cooked and sliced to an elegant perfection.

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Boneless Roast Lamb
Lamb is often considered a spring time feast and this recipe with it’s medley of veggies is perfect to grace your table at Easter or any other celebration. It’s center of Goat cheese gives the lamb a wonderful tenderness.

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Boneless Lamb Roast with Goat Cheese and Red Peppers

Ingredients

  • Ingredients
  • 1 boneless leg of lamb
  • Coarse Salt
  • Black crushed pepper
  • 1/2 onion chopped fine
  • 1 tsp finely minced garlic
  • 3 sprigs of Rosemary
  • 1/2 cup chopped Parsley
  • 3 springs of Thyme
  • 150 gms Goat cheese
  • 2 tsps each Whole grain and Dijon Mustard
  • 1 cup chopped red pepper
  • Mirepoix of vegetables - onions, carrots, celery and red pepper
  • Olive oil

Instructions

  1. Process
  2. Start with the filling, heat some Olive oil and sweat the onions
  3. Add the garlic and the red peppers followed by all the herbs
  4. Switch the flame off and add the cheese to melt
  5. If the cheese is not melting, switch the heat back on but be careful not to cook the herbs
  6. Add a tsp each of both the mustards and leave to cool
  7. Remove the net from the lamb leg and using a sharp knife, make horizontal cuts to butterfly it.
  8. Dry the lamb with a paper towel and sprinkle with salt and pepper and place it on a board, fat side down.
  9. Mix the other two mustard types together and spread some on the inside of the lamb
  10. Once the filling is cooled, spread it all over the lamb and roll it up
  11. Using butcher's string or twine, truss the roast (see video)
  12. Using the remaining mustard, spread it all over the lamb, cover with cling wrap and marinate
  13. Heat your oven to 450 degrees and heat your roasting pan and add the lamb to it.
  14. Cook it for 25 mins, then reduce the temp to 350 and add the mirepoix of vegetables to it
  15. For medium well, cook for 45 mins and well done for 90 mins
https://kravingsfoodadventures.com/boneless-lamb-roast-with-goat-cheese-and-red-peppers/

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Rosemary Chicken Lasagna

Watch my step by step instruction video
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Who doesn’t love Lasagna? This recipe comes all the way over from Vancouver IslaLyndsayKarenPromond from my good friend Lyndsay Wells the Kitchen Witch. I’ve never met Lyndsay face to face, however I feel like we are soul sisters. We have so much in common from appearing on the same TV show Recipe to Riches, to running our own blogs and YouTube channels. We both have full time jobs are are driven by our passion for food to make videos and recipes so everyone can enjoy!
Late last year Lyndsay and I decided to do our first YouTube collab together and decided to schedule somewhere in Feb. The plan was to swap recipes and see how we made out. I scanned Lyndsay’s channel and boy does she have a LOT of recipes. There was one that caught my eye almost immediately and that is the recipe I am going to share today – Rosemary Chicken Lasagna with Mushrooms, Kale and Spinach. It’s Lasagna without a hint of tomato sauce and swaddled with cheese – to die for. Here is the recipe!
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Rosemary Chicken Lasagna

Ingredients

  • Ingredients
  • 2 – 3 tbsps Olive oil
  • 1 lb boneless Chicken breast
  • 1/2 red onion
  • 8 cloves chopped garlic
  • 8 oz sliced Mushrooms
  • 1 tbsp fresh Rosemary
  • 1 cup each Kale and Spinach
  • 2 tbsps chicken stock
  • Lasagna sheets
  • 2 cups Ricotta cheese
  • 3/4 +1/2 cup Gruyere cheese
  • 1/2 cup Parmesan
  • 2 cups Mozarella
  • 4 tbsps butter
  • 4 tbsps flour
  • 5 cups milk
  • Salt
  • White Pepper
  • Pinch of nutmeg

Instructions

  1. Start by butterflying your Chicken breast and cut it into small cubes
  2. Heat some Olive oil and sauté the Chicken till golden brown. Remove from heat
  3. In the same pan add a bit more oil and sweat the red onions and Garlic followed by the Mushrooms
  4. Add the Rosemary and ensure that the Mushrooms are cooked
  5. Add the Kale and Spinach and cook
  6. Add a little bit of Chicken stock for moisture and keep aside
  7. Prepare the Bechamel by melting 4 tbsps of butter and stirring in 4 tbsps of flour till there are no lumps
  8. Slowly whisk in 5 cups of cold milk
  9. Cook stirring frequently till thickened
  10. Stir in 3/4 cup of grated Gruyere cheese
  11. Add salt, pepper and pinch of nutmeg
  12. In a 9 x 12 greased baking dish, add some Bechamel at the bottom and cover with two Lasagna sheets that you may need to trim to fit
  13. Add one cup of Ricotta over and spread
  14. Add half of the Chicken mixture
  15. Add 1 cup of Mozarella followed by 1/4 cup each Gruyere and Parmesan
  16. Add more Bechamel
  17. Add two more Lasagna sheets
  18. Add one more cup of Ricotta
  19. Add the other half of the Chicken mixture
  20. Pour over the remaining Bechamel sauce ensuring that the Lasagna sheets are well covered
  21. Add another cup of Mozarella followed by 1/4 cup each Gruyere and Parmesan
  22. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 30 – 40 mins or till the cheese is golden brown and bubbly.
  23. Watch my step by step video here and follow the links to watch Lyndsay try my recipe for Thai Chicken Soup!
https://kravingsfoodadventures.com/rosemary-chicken-lasagna/