* Spicy Chicken Jambalaya

I'm dosed up with Lemsip Max and because I can't taste mild flavours at present, I thought I'd better go with something spicy for dinner that not only will tickle my taste buds, but might actually clear my airways too.

I know that Neil would really love some bog standard mashed potato, meat and gravy - but yet again I'm in the mood for rice, and he'll eat anything if you serve it with warm bread - so I whacked a wholemeal baguette in the oven to accompany my Spicy Chicken Jambalaya and he loved it.

Or he said he did.

NOTE: This recipe was cooked in my fan oven - To cook in a conventional oven use less liquid and be prepared to double the time it takes... Why did I cook it in the fan oven?... I was hungry... it was quicker.

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Serves 3 (double up the quantities to serve 5 - 6)

Prep time - 10 minutes

Cooking time - 1hr 10 minutes (Fan Oven)

You will need

A frying pan/skillet

An oven proof dish with lid

Ingredients

2 tbsp olive oil

1/2 red onion - diced

1/2 yellow pepper - deseeded and diced

3 sticks celery - diced

1 tsp dried thyme

1/2 tsp MILD chilli powder MILD. It has to be MILD.

1/4 tsp ground ginger

1 clove garlic - crushed

110g chicken breast - chopped into 2cm cubes

100g smoked gammon or bacon

60g chorizo sausage - sliced

100ml white wine

400ml boiling chicken stock

1 tbsp tomato puree

150g easy cook (converted) long grain rice

Juice of 1 lime (optional)

1 tbsp fresh parsley - chopped (optional)

Method

Preheat oven to 180c/160cfan/350f/gas4

Heat 1 tbsp of the olive oil in the frying pan and gently soften for 5 minutes. Add the yellow pepper, celery, thyme, MILD chilli powder, ground ginger and garlic and cook for 3 minutes before transferring it all to the ovenproof dish.

Add the remaining tbsp of oil to the frying pan, add the chicken pieces and fry until lightly browned. Add the chicken and the raw gammon/bacon to the ovenproof dish.

De-glaze the frying pan with the wine, making sure to scrape all the crusty bits of chicken and spices off of the bottom and into the wine. When the wine has reduced slightly add the stock and tomato puree, mix to combine then pour over the contents of the ovenproof dish. Put the lid on the dish and place in the oven for 20 minutes.

Remove dish from oven and add the rice, stir it in, put the lid back on (I placed a layer of tinfoil between the lid and the dish for an extra tight seal). Cook for 15 minutes, stir and add the sliced chorizo. Put back in the oven for 5 minutes.

Remove from the oven and leave to stand for 10 minutes with the lid on before removing it and fluffing up the rice with a fork.

Optional: Stir in the lime juice and the chopped fresh parsley. 

Serve with a crusty wholemeal baguette and a green salad.

Don't forget to adjust cooking times and liquid amounts to suit your own oven.

If you haven't already guessed, I used the wrong chilli powder and we were ON FIRE! Still, I was able to breathe freely for the first time in two days.