Freestyle cooking - a pinch of this ... a dash of that ...

I think I classify myself as a Kitchen freestyler.

Freestyling Definition

A highly experimental method of approaching problems (similar to the notion of "winging it"). Merging elements of pragmatism and daredevil improvisation, freestyling has developed into a unique and controversial school of thought. 

I love reading cook books, I love talking to other passionate cooks about food, I love going to markets and seeing all the fresh produce and love going out to restaurants and getting ideas - but I rarely follow instructions to the letter.

I freestyle and relish the challenge of looking in the fridge and working out what to do with what I have.

Tonight it the challenge was something that called for: sage, chicken, spinach and olives

... and the answer I came up with was 'Chicken, spinach and ricotta deconstructed lasagna' - and it worked! I slow cooked chicken thighs to make a ragu. I stripped the chicken from the bone and then mixed spinach and ricotta to make an alternate layer lasagna - not exactly authentic Italian, but super tasty).

There's a pattern developing here ... 

I am not prescriptive in the kitchen. I always like to interpret recipes and make them work with
a. what I have at hand, and
b. the flavours I prefer

I seem to always add a pinch of this ... a dash of that

It doesn't always work, My husband has taken to labelling my interpretation failures as 'Chicken Surprise' ... or 'Pumpkin Surprise' (the 'surprise' denoting the failure) but I've found that the longer I work at perfecting this cooking business, the successes now outweigh the failures.

Last week I was flicking through Jamie Oliver's Fifteen Minute Meals and came across his 'Chorizo and Squid Greek style couscous salad (p. 166) and I changed it. I'm not a massive fan of cooking squid (I love calamari fresh at the beach from the fish and chip shop or BBQ'd in summertime) so I substituted chicken and it was AMAZING - and healthy!

So here's Jamie's version [annotated with my suggested improvisations] .... 

Chorizo & Squid Greek-Style Couscous Salad

Couscous

4 spring onions

100g baby spinach

1 bunch of fresh mint

1 mug (300g) of couscous

1 lemon

Chorizo & squid

400g baby squid, gutted and cleaned [I substituted Chicken thighs diced]
80g cured chorizo sausage
olive oil
2 mixed-colour peppers [I used green and yellow peppers which I roasted first in the oven, I also added a punnet of roasted grape tomatoes]
1 tbsp runny honey
sherry vinegar [I used red wine vinegar]
2 cloves of garlic
8–10 black olives (stone in) [seeing it was Greek, I used Kalamatas]

Garnishes

50g feta cheese
1 heaped tsp harissa [I omitted the harissa yoghurt]
4 tbsp fat-free natural yoghurt

 

Blitz the trimmed spring onions in the processor with the spinach, most of the top leafy half of the mint and a pinch of salt and pepper until fine . Remove the blade, stir in 1 mug of couscous and 2 mugs of boiling water, put the lid on and leave to sit in the processor • Cut open the squid tubes and, using a regular eating knife, lightly score the inside in 0.5cm crisscrosses, then slice with a sharp knife about 1cm thick, and roughly slice the legs

 

Slice the chorizo and put it into the pan with 2 tablespoons of oil • Deseed,slice and add the peppers, then about 4 minutes later stir in all the squid,the honey and a splash of vinegar • Squash over the unpeeled garlic through a garlic crusher, destone and add the olives and stir for a few more minutes

 

Fluff up the couscous and mix with the juice of ½ a lemon, then tip on to a big board or platter • Spoon the squid, peppers and chorizo over the couscous • Crumble the feta over the top and pick over the remaining mint leaves • In a small bowl, ripple the harissa through the yoghurt and serve everything together, with lemon wedges on the side

Jamie's version is designed to be prepared quickly, but seeing I have no time constraints I freestyled and extended it a little. It took longer than 15 minutes, but it was worth it!

a. I roasted the peppers in the oven first with a punnet of mini grape tomatoes with just a drizzle of olive oil. The tomatoes are really fragile when they're hot - so that they held their shape, I only stirred them through the completed dish just before serving.

b. I used a good quality chorizo that oozed out oily, porky, paprika-y goodness (warning ... this dish aint halal!). Once the chorizo was warmed through and had released the fat, I added the sliced onion and garlic to soak up the chorizo flavour.

c. Then I added the chicken and the kalamata olives.

d. Once the chicken was cooked, I gently stirred through the sliced roasted pepper and the roasted grape tomatoes.

e. Then I added the red wine vinegar and honey

So, freestyling is one thing - but there's a reason Jamie O is a professional and I'm a pretender. I would never have thought to put vinegar or honey in this dish but it really did made it special! The combination of honey/vinegar served to deglaze the pan and create a sticky delicious glaze to the roasted veges and chicken.

So - once it was done, I just spooned it over the prepared cous cous and then crumbled fetta on the top!

We'll definitely be making this 'Jamie Oliver feat Nic' version again!