Holiday

I've been on holiday for the past week, spending all the time at home. Maybe it looks like I've been doing nothing, but actually I've made good use of my time. I've been reading (and completing) a book a day, I've been doing some good programming (more about that next time) and I've been cooking every day, trying out some new recipes.

Here's a recipe for what has been termed "Chicken ratatouille" (if you want to impress your friends, note that 'ratatouille' contains all five vowels, although not in the correct order. 'Facetious' is a shorter word which contains all five vowels in the correct order). This is a very simple dish to make, especially for those who feel challenged in the kitchen. One dices vegetables, such as onions, red and yellow peppers, courgettes, sweet potato and potato, and spreads the mixed, diced vegetables into an glass oven dish. I put greaseproof paper into the dish first and poured the vegetables onto this, but I doubt that this is essential. One then drizzles olive oil onto the vegetables. On top of the vegetables one puts slices of chicken breast (the bigger the better) and these are also drizzled with olive oil. Into the oven for about 45 minutes at 180 degrees Centigrade. I probably turned over the chicken breasts after about half an hour and maybe even stirred the vegetables a little. 

That's all! The family were very pleased with the dish, although they thought that they were eating fish at first (that's before tasting)! The chicken breasts shriveled somewhat whilst cooking, which is why they should be fairly large prior to cooking.