The Crossroads restaurant enjoys a very good reputation for its cuisine. Here are a few special recipes for you to try out at home.
Carlos Rafael, the Spanish chef who used to work at the motel, introduced quite a few Spanish items to the menu. Although Carlos is no longer at the motel – you will remember how tragically he died in Spain – the dishes proved so popular with the guests that they still appear on the menu. Here is one of Carlos’s favourites:
POLLO CHILINDRON for 4
- 1 3-lb chicken
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 large onions
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed with a little salt
- 2 small green peppers
- 2 small red peppers
- 2oz smoked ham, finely chopped
- 14oz tin peeled tomatoes
- 8 stoned green olives, halved
- 8 stoned black olives, halved
- salt
- freshly ground black pepper
Joint the chicken into eight pieces and season each piece with salt and pepper. Heat the olive oil in a flameproof casserole and fry the chicken joints for about 5 minutes, till lightly browned. Remove the joints and place on one side.
Peel and chop the onions, crush the garlic and cut the peppers (after de-seeding) into ¼” wide strips. Fry the vegetables in the oil for about 5 minutes, until soft but not brown. Stir in the ham and tinned tomatoes and cook over a high heat to reduce the liquid to a fairly thick sauce. Return the chicken pieces, cover the casserole and simmer gently for about 30 minutes. Check the seasoning, stir in the olive halves, and serve with lots of saffron rice and a green salad.
When David Hunter returned from his trip to the Middle East with Angela Kelly he was firmly converted to the food he had tasted, enthusing for weeks about the meals he had eaten in Greece in particular. In the end, Meg decided to try one of his favourites on the menu, and was delighted to find that the guests enjoyed it as much as David. Here’s the recipe:
KOTOPOULO ME MELITZANES for 4
- 1 3-lb chicken, cleaned and trussed
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 8oz button or pickling onions
- 12oz aubergines
- 8oz courgettes
- 4oz okra (or a small tin)
- 8oz small fresh tomatoes
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- sprig of fresh rosemary
- ¼ pint chicken stock
Preheat the oven to 190°C/Gas Mark 5. Heat the oil in a large frying pan and lightly brown the chicken. Place the chicken in an ovenproof dish.
Peel the onions but leave whole, and fry in the oil for about 5 minutes until lightly browned. Cut the aubergines into large cubes, top and tail the courgettes and cut into ½” slices and cut the stems from the fresh okra. Add all the vegetables to the frying pan and cook for about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and add the whole tomatoes, salt and pepper. (If you are using tinned okra, drain it and add at this stage).
Place the vegetables around the chicken, pour over the chicken stock and add the sprig of rosemary. Cover the dish and bake for about 1½ hours or until tender. Serve with boiled rice and a tossed green salad.
As you probably know, Meg loves having people to eat, whether it be a large dinner party or just snacks with drinks. As a tasty alternative snack to the ubiquitous vol au vents, Meg makes these special hot Italian Scones. She has often been asked for the recipe – here it is!
ITALIAN SCONES
- 1lb plain flour
- 1oz baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 4oz butter
- 1 red Oxo cube
- 1oz grated strong cheese
- milk to mix
- For the topping:
- ½lb pork sausage meat
- 4oz Lancashire cheese
- tomatoes and olives to garnish
- watercress to garnish
Sieve the flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl, crumble in the Oxo cube and rub in the butter. Add the grated cheese and mix to a soft dough with the milk. Roll out the dough to a thickness of ¼”, cut into circles about 4″ across and place on a greased baking tray. Roll out the sausage meat and cut out a 4″ circle for each scone. Bake the pastry circles at Gas Mark 7/450°F for 5 minutes, top with the sausage meat circles and bake for a further 10 minutes. Remove from the oven, sprinkle with Lancashire cheese and grill until brown and bubbling. Garnish with tomato slices, olives and watercress.
For a slightly more formal buffet party, Meg likes to serve this special cottage cheese and noodle ring as an impressive centrepiece, filled with shrimps in piquant sauce. Chilled, it makes a perfect summer dish, as her guests will testify.
COTTAGE CHEESE AND NOODLE KUGEL for 4
- 4oz short-cut noodles
- 8oz cottage cheese with chives
- 2 dessertspoons Parmesan cheese, very finely grated
- 2oz butter
- 1 carton soured cream
- 2 eggs
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
Cook the noodles for about 10 minutes in 2 pints of well-salted boiling water until just tender. Drain, melt the butter in the noodle pan and return the noodles. Blend together the soured cream, cottage cheese and Parmesan cheese and mix in the buttered noodles. Season well and bind together with the beaten eggs.
Oil a 1-pint ring mould, pack in the noodle mixture, cover with greaseproof paper and bake at Gas Mark 5/375°F for 45 minutes or until set. Unmould and fill (with shrimps in sauce, chicken, tuna etc.), garnish and serve with a green salad. Eat hot or cold.
Recipes courtesy of The British Poultry Information Service, The Oxo Meat Cookery Service and The Pasta Information Centre.