It’s a gorgeous Sunday today. The sun is out, beautiful people everywhere lounging about in the park, the duck pond is glorious and the park looks amazing! J and I are back at our favourite pub overlooking the park, pints of Hoegaarden in hand and laptops fired up doing different things. I’m writing this blog and J is doing some work, but it’s lovely to be together after a brief spell apart.
J came back on Thursday night after a week with his folks. It was lovely to see him at the airport – you see, we usually don’t go to pick each other up. London is an unforgiving city during rush hour traffic and generally we make our own ways back home. But this time I decided to go get J from the airport (being the die hard romantic that I am) and for those of you who know London, City airport is only 15 minutes from Canary Wharf where I work! Plus, I think I really missed him this time. Perhaps, I realized how much goes on in my life without my knowing only because J just makes it happen!
We have been together so long that I have forgotten what it was like to be apart. The other day I could not find any fresh socks in the sock drawer. It was only then that I figured that J is like my laundry fairy. Miraculously, twice a week the laundry is done, smelling fresh and crisply folded into our wardrobe. I was really cold last Sunday after I came back from my big road trip. I had no clue how to work the new complicated computer controlled heating device. So, I just put it on manual and have had the house heated to 21 degrees all week with no timer working (I shudder to think of the bill). If J was around, it would have been perfectly timed to heat the house up an hour before I got back so I could draw myself a long warm bath and not bother with domestic technology. On Sunday night, when I opened a bottle of wine sitting in front of the telly, it dawned upon me that I actually missed the old fella. Drinking a lovely merlot watching rubbish TV on your own on a Sunday evening is no fun.
I guess I take it all for granted when J is around. I pull my weight around the house with the cooking and the bills but I guess one only really appreciates something when you don’t have it (even if it is temporary). Right, so I’m going to show my love by whipping up a big meal for J this evening. I bought some beautiful artisan chorizo yesterday so I’m going to experiment with a chicken and chorizo dish that I tried a while ago. The best way to your partner’s heart is definitely through their stomach. And a bit of Spanish chorizo and a lovely glass of Rioja will definitely do the trick!
Roast chicken, chorizo and potatoes with thyme and butter beans
You will need (serves 2)
250 gms of chicken breast diced
250 gms chorizo. Don’t buy the supermarket sliced crap! For this to work you need a proper chorizo sausage!
4 cloves of garlic finely chopped
2 medium white onions finely chopped
1 tin of butter beans (or if you have no access to butter beans,
3 large potatoes
1 tablespoon fresh thymes leaves
1 teaspoon of dried oregano
2 red birds eye chillies
The zest of 1 lemon
1/2 tablespoon of paprika
1 tablespoon fresh parsley chopped
pepper to taste
1 vegetable stock cube
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
Cherry tomatoes for decoration
To make
It looks like a lot of ingredients but this is actually a really easy main dish to make.
Peel the potatoes and cut them into quarters. Par boil them in a saucepan. Pre heat the oven up to 200 degrees centigrade
While the potatoes are boiling, dice the chicken, cut the chorizo into thick slices and keep aside.
In a frying pan heat one tablespoon of the vegetable oil. When the oil is hot, sauté the onions, chillies and garlic till golden brownish. Then add in the thyme and paprika and fry for about 5 mins on a low flame.
Use an ovenproof baking dish and spoon the sautéed spices into this. Then add the oregano, chicken, chorizo, par boiled potatoes, butter beans and pepper and then mix well. Sprinkle the stock cube over the mixture and oven bake for about 30 minutes. Do not add salt as the chorizo and the stock cube contains enough salt, you can always add more if it is not to your taste.
After 30 mins, take out of the over and then plat up with the cherry tomatoes as shown in the picture. Garnish with fresh parsley. Voila! Its a super tasty and lovely dish and especially yummy with some full bodied Rioja.
