One-Pot Lemon Chicken with Thyme Rice

Today I got the greatest surprise. My best friend whom I haven’t seen in 5 years since she moved to Barbados conspired with my hubby to pay a surprise visit. We had a lovely afternoon/evening catching up and it was so wonderful to see my good friend again, I've really missed her. I didn’t want her to leave but we will catch up again during the week before she returns.

Still unaware of the impending visit I had planned to try out this One-Pot Lemon Chicken with Thyme Rice recipe which I had book-marked from Fay’s Family Food cookbook. I made this for lunch and my son and his girlfriend (typical teenagers that don’t appreciate good food) didn’t like it so there was plenty of left-over’s. It worked out great as it gave me a lovely meal to offer my friend without taking me away from catching up. We all really enjoyed this meal and were in agreement that it’s a casserole full of flavour.

One-Pot Lemon Chicken with Thyme Rice

Serves 4 adults

Ingredients
6 chicken pieces (thighs and breasts work well)
1 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
150g pack Italian pancetta cubes
2 large garlic cloves
280g brown basmati rice (I didn't have brown so I used white)
700ml chicken stock
Juice and zest of 1 ½ lemons (unwaxed)
2-3 bushy sprigs thyme
250g frozen broad beans (a couple of handfuls)
Freshly ground black pepper

4 litre ovenproof casserole dish, with lid

Set the oven at 200oc fan/220oc/gas mark 7. In your casserole dish, brown the chicken pieces in a little olive oil. Remove and set aside.

In the same oil, fry the onion and pancetta for a couple of minutes. Then crush the garlic and add. Keep stirring for a minute, being careful not to burn the garlic.

Put the rice in and stir to coat.

Add the stock, lemon juice and zest, thyme, the broad beans and a twist of black pepper.

Bring to the boil, then pop the chicken pieces on top. Put a lid on and stick in the oven for 50 minutes.

Serve straight from your dish. Season on your plate.

Lime Cheesecake with a Chocolate Crunch

It’s been a lovely sunny and warm weekend, with most of the time spent meeting up with friends for drinks, pottering around the house and garden and catching up with our son who came home for the weekend; after working with his girlfriends dad and staying at theirs during the week.

With my son and Sophie, his girlfriend, over for the weekend I couldn’t go without making something special. I would normally use my tried and trusted recipe for Lime and Chocolate Cheesecake from Nigella Bites, but this weekend I decided to try out an alternative from a new cookbook, Fay’s Family Food, that I had not yet cooked or baked from (that's what happens when you own over 200 cookbooks and the collection keeps growing)! This is a great cookbook and I have quite a few recipes book-marked that I can’t wait to try!

This cheesecake is creamy, light and refreshing with its chocolate crunch base that compliments the subtle tangy lime wonderfully. The cheesecake was a hit and I will definitely be making this easy, simple and lush dessert again!

Lime Cheesecake with a Chocolate Crunch

Ingredients
40g butter
20g dark chocolate
50g ground almonds
100 dark chocolate digestives biscuits or similar, crushed
800g light cream cheese
185g soured cream
175g caster sugar
4 large eggs and 2 large egg whites
Zest of 3 limes
1½ tbsp lime juice (I added 2½ tbsp)

Line the base of a loose-bottomed cake tin (24cm) with baking paper.

Melt together the butter and chocolate in a bowl over simmering water. Leave to cool, then mix with the almonds and crushed biscuits. Press down into the tin to form a base and pop into the fridge for 15 minutes or so.

Pre-heat the oven to 150oC (fan), 170oC, gas mark 3. With your electric whisk, beat the cream cheese, soured cream and sugar till light and fluffy. Add 4 of the eggs, one at a time. When combined, add the lime zest and juice. Mix.

Separately whisk 2 eggs whites to soft peaks, then fold into the creamy mixture and combine. Pour over the base and bake for 1 hour, 20 minutes in the middle of the oven.

Leave to cool for 2-3 hours at room temperature, then pop into the fridge overnight.