Basil Chicken Roast

I love the Herbs.......yes I said it with a cheap reference to weed. This post has nothing to do with that "herb" or Erb! (with accent) but everything to do with the type that is used for cooking. The herb that shall be used in this recipe is Basil. I simply love the flavour, freshness and aroma of the plant and the way the flavours rubs onto your hands.

Sometimes I pretend to be Italian and order a basil pesto pasta  (I'm not too certain if basil pesto or even the pasta is Italian, I have to question the norms because it might not be true), this is a nice dish but quite stingy on the amount of fresh herb used. In a way this is like the achaar used in Indian dishes and the stinginess to which it is used. Pesto to Italians is like achaar to Indians. The theory seems a little stretched.

That is one of the advantages staying in Pretoria, there is the Boremark where I get to visit once a week and get exceptional value in terms of quality vs quantity vs cost. When all 3 items are high there must be a catch and there is, you have to be at the Boremark early on a Saturday morning, preferable between 530am and 7am, to take advantage, this is a middleman free zone. Straight from the farmer to you.

This recipe infuses all the flavour of the basil into a roast chicken. That fresh aromatic herb in a chicken and better still the chicken juices at the bottom also give off that sort of aroma. Soo so good.

Ingredients
1 Bunch Basil (bunch again is at the discretion of the farmer but a more accurate term could be 1 cup diced product)
1 Sprig Curry Leaves (at the discretion of the tree you pick the sprig from)
4 Cloves Garlic
1 Tbsp Ginger
2 tsp Coconut Oil
1,5 tsp Salt
1 Red Onion
1 Chicken

Method
Blend Basil, curry leaves, ginger, garlic, salt and coconut oil until you get a paste
Insert paste between chicken skin and meat
Insert onion into the bird orifice
Place in baking pan or oven container and cook on medium heat (150 Deg C) for 1 to 1.5 hrs
I personally prefer placing chicken on raised stand within oven so that the bird becomes crispy all around

Serves well with butternut chips

Enjoy!

Spinach - slaw

Spinach......the coolest thing about spinach growing up was popeye. This leafy vegetable has been getting a hard time since most of us were juniors. It might have even been classed in the same realm as broccoli. Personally I enjoyed a creamy spinach but the cream part is generally considered unhealthy. One of my good friends from a town called Kathu (yes there is a town by that name in SA), showed me a really nice white sauce and I might place it on this blog in the future with her blessing.

Anyhow almost all the dishes that I have been inserting into this blog have mostly been mains. This dish can be eaten as a main but generally makes a good side. The thing I do not enjoy about spinach is that it takes quite abit time to process the leaf and once you cook it the output is very little relative to the effort. The raw taste is rather bitter and generally people of the sub-continent persuasion will curry it.

What I like about this recipe is that it is quite quick to make, volume-ous, maintains a small crunch and compliments protein mains quite well if needed.

The ingredients can be adjusted to the desired feel and taste

Ingredients:
1 bunch of spinach (a bunch is such an arbitrary measurement, since the bunch "size" is determined by the grocer. "my grocer is better than yours?")
1 handful macadamia nuts (I just had these at home, much cheaper than the other types of nuts, I suppose it could work with other nuts. A peanut is a legume, not a nut nut)
5 Tbsp Olive oil
5 Tbsp Greek Yoghurt
2 cloves garlic

Method:
Remove spinach leaf from stork
Place leaves (obviously after it have been washed), macadamia nuts, olive oil, yoghurt and garlic into blender (food processor)
Blend to desired consistency
You can add in salt if you feel the taste is too natural

Voila and enjoy!