Another recipe :)

This is one of my favourite chicken dishes. I had something similar for the first time at my friend's Eirik a few years ago, but I've changed the recipe and now I'd dare to say that it is almost perfect. I'd recommend organic vegetables and chicken. The mushrooms and leeks especially have a stronger and more deliciuos flavour.
These quantities are enough for 2 hungry people (or 3 boring ones). I call it "Ginger Chicken with Mushrooms and Leeks".

350g of chicken breast
250g of chestnut mushrooms
2 or 3 leeks (depending on size)
1 medium size fresh ginger root
1 clove of garlic
soy sauce
4 table spoons of mirin
1 tea spoon of sugar
vegetable oil

Chop the ginger and the garlic finely. Heat a large pan with 4 table spoon of vegetalbe oil. Add the chopped ginger and garlic, a splash of soy sauce, 1 table spoon of sugar and 4 table spoon of mirin.
In the meantime rinse the chicken breast and cut it into 3cm dices. Add it to the pan and fry it on medium to low heat until the meat has absorbed all the flavours and is cooked through.
Meanwhile wash the mushrooms and leeks and slice them. Not too thinly.
Add the leeks and another splash of soy sauce then cook for 5 minutes until the leeks start caramelising. Add the mushrooms, cover the pan and cook for another 5 minutes. It is important that you cover the pan because it creates steam and the dish will be really juicy and the chicken very tender.
Serve in a deep dish or a bowl on top of a generous serving of Japanese white rice. You can use brown rice if you prefer, but it doesn't work as well.

HAPPY WHITE EASTER?!

It is unbelievably cold. I went out today and it was bloody freezing. What's going on? Fair enough Easter falls early this year, but it is colder than it was at Xmas! Today I was wearing the same clothes I was wearing in NY last December.

I went for dim-sum at Shanghai Blues, near Holborn and I could see sleeth and wind blowing the umbrellas off people while I was eating. Tommy got caught in the storm! I wanted to go in town for a walk, but it was too cold. I went to Selfridges, bought Easter eggs and came straight back home. I finally managed to put away all my clothes, so my bedroom doesn't look like a messy charity shop any longer.

I want to go to the cinema to see "The Orphanage". Maybe I'll go tomorrow. I'm not sure. This year I haven't made plans for Easter. I've been invited by Yuri to a party at his restaurant off Clerkenwell, but I don't fancy drinking and I know that if I go I will get carried away...

I am so happy that we have 4 days off in a row. I just want to relax and take it easy.

I have found some new recipes, which are really good. I have made them both twice already and they always turned out successfully. The first one is "Chicken with Tarragon". This is a mix between a roast and a stew. The chicken is cooked with olives, lemon, pancetta, white wine and tarragon. As a side dish to this recipe I prepare "New Potatoes with Mustard". These are very easy to make and super tasty. You just need to coat the new potatoes with wholegrain mustard and chopped onion and then bake them in the oven. I've made these for Cat and Giulia and they both seemed to like them a lot.

The third recipe I found is "Coconut Tart". The hard part is to prepare the shortcrust pastry, but the rest is easy and fast. This tart is very nice, kind of like a big macaroon.