Jessie and Lennie Ware's Marbella chicken, chicken soup and matzo balls
It’s a real family affair in the kitchen today as we’re joined by singer-songwriter Jessie Ware and her mother Lennie. Following the success of their Table Manners podcast, the pair have released their first cookbook of the same name and today they join us in the kitchen to whip up their delicious Marbella chicken.
This one pot dish is the perfect people pleaser - guaranteed to leave your guests full and their plates empty.
Marbella chicken
Recipe Taken from Table Manners The Cookbook
Serves: 4-6
Ingredients
10 boneless skinless chicken breasts and thighs (4 breasts, 6 thighs), cut into large chunks
8 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 tbsp dried oregano or chopped fresh oregano leaves
small bunch of fresh basil, leaves chopped
5 bay leaves
4 tbsp red wine vinegar
4 tbsp olive oil
2½ tbsp capers
about 20 green olives, pitted
10 ready-to-eat dried apricots, cut in half
10 no-soak prunes, cut in half
2 tbsp brown sugar
generous handful of red seedless grapes (optional)
250ml dry white wine
salt and pepper
Method
Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/gas 6
Put the chicken into a large sealable plastic bag or a container with a tight-fitting lid, together with the garlic, herbs, vinegar, olive oil, capers, olives, apricots and prunes. Leave in the fridge to marinate overnight.
Tip the chicken and its marinade into a roasting tin. Sprinkle over the brown sugar and add the grapes, if using.
Pour the white wine around the chicken mixture and bake for 50 minutes
Taste and adjust the seasoning. Leave to stand for 5–10 minutes before serving. Serve with rice: we like this with Green Pesto Rice.
TIP: You can use all thighs, which are more moist, or all breast pieces – in which case cook for a slightly shorter time to avoid dryness. Alternatively, use only skin-on bone-in thighs, which may need a slightly longer cooking time.
Chicken soup
Recipe taken from Table Manners The Cookbook
Serves: 6 (makes about 2 litres)
Ingredients
2 kg chicken thighs and legs
5 large onions, skins left on, halved, cutting off the rooty bit
8 carrots, sliced about 2-3cm thick
4 celery sticks, with leaves, halved
1 leek, halved
½ swede
2 tbsp Telma Chicken soup Mix (available from a kosher shop or online) or 2 good-quality chicken stock cubes
1 tsp whole black peppercorns
1 tsp salt
Matzo balls to serve
Method
Put the chicken and all the vegetables into a stockpot or a very large pan (about 4 litres capacity) with enough cold water to cover everything by about 5 cm (about 3 litres) and bring to the boil. When boiling, skim off all the frothy scum until there is none left. Add the soup mix or stock cubes, the peppercorns and salt, bring back to the boil and then reduce the heat and gently simmer for 2-3 hours.
Season the soup to taste, then leave to cool. Pour the soup through a colander into a large bowl. Carefully retrieve the carrots from the colander and add back to the soup. Give everything else a good squeeze to release the juices. Some people put a little of the chicken into the soup, but I’m not sure it has much taste after being boiled for so long - you will make your cat/dog very happy if you give them the bone free chicken meat!
Put the clear soup and carrots in the fridge for at least 2 hours or overnight. When it’s well chilled the fat will rise to the top and you can easily skim it off.
To serve, bring the soup to the boil over a medium heat and add your cooked matzo balls just before serving
Matzo balls
Recipe taken from Table Manners The Cookbook
Serves: Makes about 15 balls
Ingredients
100g medium matzo meal
1 tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
Pinch of white pepper
3 large eggs, beaten
1 tbsp rapeseed oil
4 tbsp hot chicken soup (see above recipe) or boiling water
Method
Put all the dry ingredients in a bowl, gradually stir in the eggs and oil and then gradually add the chicken soup, mixing until smooth. Cover the bowl and chill for 30 minutes - it will firm up slightly.
Line a tray with baking parchment. Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil
Wet your fingers and take small pieces of the mixture to make soft balls, about 2cm in diameter, placing them on the lined tray until you have used up all the mixture
Drop the balls into the boiling water, turn down the heat and gently simmer for about 20-25 minutes until they are soft. They should swell up slightly, rise to the surface and look like little clouds.
Lift out using a slotted spoon and serve them in chicken soup