LEON 2

It is well known that I am a great fan of LEON, both the London restaurants, and their first cookbook.


Now I'm delighted to own their recently published second cookbook, LEON: Naturally Fast Food.


The book is again in two major sections. The first part is Fast Food with healthy meals that shouldn't take more than 20 minutes prep and the second section is Slow Fast Food containing recipes that can be made in advance when you have time to enjoy when you are in a hurry. Brilliant. I love the book already even though I've only had an hour browsing it, and such an appealing design and layout. Published by Conran Octopus.

Only back a few days but I had the chance Tuesday evening to test the new book when I made the Spanish Pot Roast Chicken and I'm pleased to report it was a triumph.
The publishers have kindly agreed to let me publish the recipe here and have provided a pic to go with it. Do try it, a perfect dish for these cold winter nights.

SPANISH POT ROAST

 Warm and spicy.

3 onions

3 carrots

1 whole bulb of garlic

4 tomatoes

3 teaspoons fennel seeds

2 heaped teaspoons smoked sweet paprika

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 whole chicken, 1.5–2kg in weight

2 tablespoons sherry vinegar

250ml white wine

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Heat the oven to 190°C/375ºF/gas mark 5.

2. Quarter the onions (no need to peel them). Cut the carrots into long batons.

Slice the bulb of garlic across and quarter the tomatoes.

3. Put all the vegetables in the bottom of a large casserole with the fennel seeds,

1 tablespoon of the olive oil and 1 teaspoon of the paprika. Season well and stir.

4. Rub the remaining oil and paprika into the chicken along with some salt and

pepper. Place the chicken on top of the vegetables and pour in the vinegar and

white wine.

5. Cook in the oven for 1 hour, covered, then remove the lid and cook for another

30 minutes to 1 hour to brown the chicken and, depending on its size, ensure it

is cooked through.

Tips

° Add some peeled potato chunks to the pot for a full meal in one pot.

° Otherwise serve with rice or pasta.

° If you like a bit of spice use hot paprika in place of the sweet stuff.

° Great with some added chunks of chorizo mixed in.


Footnote: The picture above shows three dishes all from this section of the book. The top one is the Spanish Pot Roast, lower right is Indian Pot Roast Chicken (that is next on my list), and lower left Pork Belly with Turnips and Prunes.
I followed their first tip above added the peeled potato chunks which made it a complete one pot dinner that was absolutely full of flavour.