Now not to blow my own trumpet or anything….cue trumpets….but this turned out really well. Sometimes I manage to come up with a dish that I think works really well, not that often, I’ve still got a lot to learn, but this one rocks. I filmed this one too so check back in a few days for the video. That’s why I don’t have so many photos. Remembering to take photos, film and cook proved too much for me. haha

This recipe will take a while so for sure it’s a weekend thing. In fact when I think about it you really need to have made some roast chicken legs the day before so you can make this the next day. If you do it all at once then just roast the chicken legs in the oven with salt, pepper and a bit of olive oil. Cook that for 30 mins then you can add it to the pan. This is a great recipe for a dinner party as  you can do a lot of it the day before.

Now I had some left over chicken legs in the fridge form when I cooked my Chicken and Quinoa salad. After an investigation in the fridge and cupboards I decided to try some sort of stuffed mushroom thing. This is my favourite kind of cooking. Seeing what you’ve got hanging around the fridge and  coming up with something funky to eat.

So I had 6 cooked cold chicken legs. I’d left it in the pan I cooked it in when I kept it in the fridge so all the chicken juices had formed this amazing tasty jelly at the bottom of the pan (like one of those jelly concentrated stock pot things you can buy now…..only better 🙂 so I had this chicken, some Portobello mushrooms, 1 courgette, a red and green pepper and one red onion. I had a little think and this is what I came up with.

This will make enough for 4 people. You will need.

•  6-7 cooked chicken legs
• 4 slices of free range smoked bacon
• 1 red and 1 green pepper – finely diced
• 1 red onion – finely diced
• 5 Portobello mushrooms – 4 left whole with the stalks carefully removed. 1 finely diced.
• 1 courgette – diced
• garlic – 1 finely diced. 3-4 left whole with the skin on.
• 2 baby cos lettuce leaves per person – washed and spun dry.
• nice organic carrots – Organic is really important for the carrots, we really want lots of flavour and sweet earthiness
• cherry tomatoes
• fresh parsley – finely diced. Keep the stalks whole to use later.
• Quinoa – one handful washed/rinsed under water.
• Good Sea Salt – I use Maldon salt. Not found a better salt yet, it’s just amazing.
• fresh black pepper
• dried chilli flakes
• sweet paprika. Not smoked. Smoked would be too overpowering in this dish I think.
• Good extra virgin olive oil
• Balsamic Vinegar
• Red wine – 1-2 glasses

1. Right here we go! I used a nice large, heavy based frying pan with a lid. If you don’t have a pan like this then use a large saucepan that you have a lid for.

Get the pan to a medium high heat. Add a good lug of the olive oil then straight away pop in the red and green peppers and then add the courgettes. Season (with salt and pepper) stir well and keep moving around gently for a few mins.

Now add the onion and garlic. Keep moving it around for a few more mins then add a large handful of cherry tomatoes. Now sprinkle over with 1-2 teaspoons of paprika and a pinch of the chilli flakes and a bout 10 parsley stalks.

Stir this well for 1 min then add the cold, cooked chicken legs and the nice jelly stock from the pan. Give this a stir then add the red wine. Another quick stir then once it’s bubbling pop the lid on and turn down to low.

Leave this for about 15 mins with the lid on, stirring occasionally. After 15 mins add the quinoa and diced mushroom. Stir well then pop the lid back on. Give this another 15 mins for the quinoa to cook. You can tell it’s cooked when there is a white line round the edge of the quinoa. (about 15-20 mins)

after 15 mins take the lid of for some of the liquid to evaporate so it thickens. While it does this pull the chicken carefully off the bones. Watch out for bones and cartalidge, also try not to shred the chicken, just let it flake apart so you get different sizes bits. One you’re removed the bones just keep stirring carefully every few mins.

Now while this is simmering get a ceramic  oven dish drizzle with olive oil and put the mushrooms in the dish. Place 4 smash cloves of garlic (skin on) around the mushrooms. You can use the garlic to help prop up and level off the mushrooms.  Add a tiny bit of seasoning. Now get some breadcrumbs and a handful of fresh parsley and finely dice together. Add salt and pepper then grate a generous amount of parmesan into the mixture. Mix up well and put to one side.

Now spoon a bit of the chicken vege mixture onto the mushrooms, . Not too much! Once you’ve done this pull out a few larger chunks of chicken form the pan and place on top. Now sprinkle generously with the breadcrumb and parsley mixture. Don’t worry you will end up with  lots of it in and around the mushrooms but thats good as we can use it later.

Now pop in the oven on about 160-170°C for about 30-40 mins. Keep a watch out in case of burning. After about 15 mins get out the oven and drizzle all over with a bit of olive oil and pop back in the oven. After 30-40 mins the mushroom will be nicely cooked and the top a bit golden and crunchy. Turn the oven off and leave in there to chill in the residual heat.

While this is happening get your diced bacon spread out on some foil and pop under the grill. After 5 mins brush with a little bit of olive oil (you don’t need much!)

Put back in the grill and stay with it while it cooks. As soon as the fat and bacon has gone crispy its done. About 10 mins total i’d say. You want kind of crunchy crispy bacon.

Now for a stroke of genius. Get some of the chicken vege mixture, about 3 tablespoons. Try not to get too much chicken in there, so avoid the big bits. Put this in a bowl and add 2 table spoons of olive oil and 1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar, season and mix well. Done. Add 3 handfuls of freshly grated carrot and a couple of pinches of finely diced parsley and mix well.

Now to plate up! Get 2 baby cos lettuce leaves on the plate add a spoon of the carrot mixture in the lettuce leaves and pop one of the mushrooms on top. Now add a little pile of the carrot mixture next to it. Sprinkle the bacon around the plate and on the mushroom and pile of carrot salad. Finally grate some parmesan liberally across the plate, with a little sprinkle of the breadcrumb mixture form the bottom of the oven dish over the carrot salad.

Sorted. Enjoy. serve with a nice crusty bread and butter.

yum!