Bit of a mouthful that title isn't it 😉 but don't let that put you off. The delicious flavours in the marinade do all the work for you. Which is great, as the school holidays don't give me much chance to cook, unless it is triple chocolate muffins, as muffins are mandatory during school holidays, well they are in our house, as is licking the bowl 🙂
We have had a wonderful few days away in Albany. We had planned to head even further around the coast and visit Esperance, but weather and time just didn't make that possible this time. We are determined to make it next holiday!
It was great to get away, the weather wasn't our friend but it hardly mattered, we had an indoor pool, beer in the fridge and nothing that needed to be done. Now I love to cook, I hope that comes across when I talk, as I really do love every part of it. I enjoy planning meals, food shopping and obviously the actual cooking of the meal. But I also love getting away from the kitchen and allowing someone else to do the cooking. And that is what I did. Aside from crumpets and toast, I didn't cook and it was wonderful. Especially this pumpkin, feta and basil muffin, served warm with butter it was quite frankly perfect. I will be trying to recreate this!
We visited the beach, got hailed on at the natural bridge and spent plenty of time in the pool (well maybe I spent more time in the hot tub 😳 )
But I am home now, the washing machine is catching up, the fridge has been restocked and I have some great plans for the next fortnight. The boys and I have plenty on, birthday parties, zoo trips, adventure parks and a long list of craft and cooking activities. Mr 4 has been planning and describing his paper plate mask in so much detail that I fear if we don't do it tomorrow he may explode. And Mr 7 is looking forward to making gyozas. I promised him I would make him prawn and vegetable gyozas about 3 weeks ago! Better late than never eh? He is happy I waited didn't get around to it, as now he can help me.
So that is my school holiday, plenty to fill our time and hopefully plenty of sunny days. With sunny days in mind we had a delicious chilli and mint spiked lemon chicken for dinner. Served with buttery couscous.
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The chicken is marinated with plenty of chilli, fresh mint and lemon juice. This gives it a wonderful flavour, reminiscent of Moroccan barbecue. I like to cook the chicken on a ridged griddle pan. It smokes like crazy, but the charred edges are worth it. If you don't have a griddle pan use a dry frying pan, an outdoor grill or barbie would do a great job too.
The couscous is the perfect accompaniment, it is soft, mellow and, as the name suggests, buttery.
Be sure to give the chicken a final spritz of lemon and don't forget the sea salt.
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Get the Recipe
Chicken with Chilli, Mint and Lemon served with Buttered Couscous
Ingredients
For the chicken
- 4 chicken thighs
- 1 red chilli
- 1 teaspoon of chilli flakes
- 2 garlic cloves
- large handful of fresh mint
- 3 tablespoon olive oil
- Juice and zest of 1 lemon
- Sea salt
For the couscous
- 1 ½ cups chicken stock
- 1 ½ cups couscous
- 2 tablespoon butter
Instructions
- Place the chilli (fresh and dried), garlic, mint, olive oil and lemon juice into a food processor and blitz until you have a course paste.
- Cut the chicken into large chunks.
- Combine the chicken and paste in a glass or china bowl (don't use metal due to the lemon juice) and leave to marinate for an hour or up to 4 hours.
- When you are ready to eat, heat the chicken stock in a small saucepan until boiling.
- Add the butter to the stock and turn off the heat.
- Pour in the couscous and give it a quick stir before clamping on a lid.
- Leave the couscous to soak whilst you cook the chicken.
- Cook the chicken on a griddle pan until cooked through and charred.
- To serve, fluff the couscous with a fork, sprinkle the chicken generously with salt and a fresh squeeze of lemon.
Nutrition is per serving
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