Tuesday 5th February 2008

Right, last night I said I couldn't think about what to do for food today. Today, I've been to the old Sainsbury's, and done a bit of shopping - I'm pretty broke right now even though it's not that long after pay day - blame it on the council tax! Anyhow, when I go to do a bit of shopping, I've got to be thinking, what am I going to buy that I'm going to get good value out of , as well as being a bit on the low fat side, and non-fattening.

So I went for chicken. Frankly, I think it's the best value for money that you can get, because you can do so much with it, and it goes so far. Ordinarily, I'd roast a chicken, have it cold the next day, and maybe make a soup, and I'm going to be doing pretty much that now, but instead of roasting it, I'm going to be steaming it. But not your average steamed bird!

I wanted to give it a bit more flavour. So in the base of the pan, I chopped up a lemon that I used half of for the dressing on the salad I made the other day. I chopped an onion into two big pieces, so the chicken can sit on these and be lifted above the water/stock at the bottom of the pan. I've also added a good handfull of lentils - green puy lentils, because by the time I come to use the stock, these will more or less have dissolved, and really added flavour to it. Make sure you've washed the lentils and picked them over in case you've got some small stones and detritus in there. Frankly in my opinion, you can't go wrong by adding puy lentils to just about any meat dish. I think they enhance the umami flavour which is the new flavour type they discovered a few years ago, in addition to the salt, sour, sweet etc. And no, I don't know why they called it umami, and I just hope I've got the spelling right!

Anyhow, on top of these very basic items, I've also added a good piece of mace - this is the lacy 'shell' of a nutmeg, and an excellent spice in it's own right. It's there in the midst of your Christmas spice mix, but it's very good just chucked in a pot for a little extra 'something'. I added a couple of cloves of garlic, and a couple of bayleaves, and on top of this, I did add a stock cube. It's a vegetable stock cube, but I'm a real woman here for heavens sake, I haven't got time to make a stock on top of all this! Then, I noticed the remains of some fresh thyme that I bought a week or so back, and has basically dried out in the kitchen. So I chucked a couple of - well, almost twigs, in. So this is what it looks like at that point.

At this point, you add a couple of inches of boiled water from the kettle.

You then wash your chicken. I can't stress this too much, give the chuck a good wash in cold water, inside and out. Pop the washed bird on the top of the onion pieces.

At this point, I refill the kettle in case the water needs to be topped up at any point during the cooking period. Put a good tight lid on, and stick a timer on - it'll need to be steamed, over a low heat on the top of the oven, for a good hour and a half, to two hours. At one and a half you can have a check to see if it's done but sticking a skewer into the most meaty part of the bird, and checking to see the juices run clear. Alternatively, you can wait until the bird appears to be falling apart - it's certainly done at this point, and for the soup later on, this is a good point to reach, as you'll almost certainly have got some of the marrow like additions to the stock.

Anyhow, here is my pot ready to start off steaming!

Don't you love my ladybird timer? He's magnetic too! I got him from the tourist information shop in Bath last year, completely by accident, because my last one had just broken (it fell totally apart!) and I was taking my brother David in to get some books on hotels. Whilst he scoured the shelves, I was browsing the tat (and hellishly expensive tat they have in these places) and there he was.He was a bit more than I'd normally pay for a timer, but he's bright and cheerful, so I didn't mind!

Anyhow, I have to say as soon as it started steaming, the flat's been full of the most lovely scent. It's the thyme mostly, but it's really lovely. I'll have it plain tonight, with some boiled potato's and leeks I've got in the fridge, but tomorrow I'm going to have a go at replicating the lovely tuna salad I had from M&S the other day - only with chicken. If I remember, I'll photograph it along the way and put up the recipe. Anyhow, the above is way better than your standard boiled or steamed bird!