Barbecued Chicken with Guacamole

Serves 4

• 4 chicken breast fillets
• 2 tablespoons olive oil

  Olive oil

  Usually the darker green the oil, the richer the flavour.

  • Extra virgin olive oil is good for drizzling on salads and should never be heated as this destroys the fine properties
  • Lighter olive oil is good for adding to bread, or to flavour a salad or marinade for chicken, meat, fish or vegetables. Lighter olive oil can be gently heated and added to marinades and baking.
• salt

  Salt

  Consider tablesalt, sea salt or crystals.

  Sea salt’s pronounced and salty flavour means less is required to season food.

  and freshly ground black pepper

  Black peppercorns

  Best used as a condiment.

  They can be lightly crushed and used to spice up a creamy sauce or to coat fillet steak or chicken breasts.

  • Although it might seem odd, grinding black pepper over a bowl of strawberries enhances the flavour of the fruit.
  • Pepper that is pre-ground is not fresh tasting and often has other ingredients mixed in.
  • Choose the type of mill that suits you, and if you want coarser pepper you can loosen the screw on the top of the mill or crush the seeds in a pestle and mortar
• rice

  Rice

  Great as an accompaniment or for making risotto and pilaff.

  • White long grain rice is good for salads, and its absorbent qualities go well with sauces and casseroles.
  • Risotto rice has an incredible capacity to absorb a great amount of cooking liquid and still retain bite, just like paella rice.
  • When cooked, basmati rice gives a light, fluffy, separate grains perfect to accompany curries or biriyani and pilaff dishes.
  • Rice can replace breadcrumbs in stuffing’s and a few grains can be added to soups to thicken the broth.
  • You have to be careful when reheating rice as there is a nasty little bacteria called bacillus cereus which may be present in cereals, particularly rice, and it is resistant to heat.
  • It’s important always to cook rice for a hot dish just as you need it and serve it piping hot. If the rice is for a cold dish, once it’s cooked, cool it as quickly as possible and chill within two hours. To do this, drain the rice in a colander, rinse with cold water then tip into a large shallow container. Once it is cold, cover and keep refrigerated for no longer than a day.
  to serve
• 200g guacamole

• 150g baby plum tomatoes, halved
• 1 small red onion, thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh coriander

  Herbs

  Ideal for seasoning pastas.

  To keep cut parsley or coriander, put in a hole free polythene bag with a couple of tablespoons of cold water, give the bag a good shake and keep in the salad drawer of the fridge. Herbs should keep for a week like this.

• juice of 1 lime
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

  Olive oil

  Usually the darker green the oil, the richer the flavour.

  • Extra virgin olive oil is good for drizzling on salads and should never be heated as this destroys the fine properties
  • Lighter olive oil is good for adding to bread, or to flavour a salad or marinade for chicken, meat, fish or vegetables. Lighter olive oil can be gently heated and added to marinades and baking.
• A pinch of caster sugar

  Sugar and Syrups

  Try having in stock caster sugar, muscavado, honey and golden syrup

  • Once opened ensure they are tightly resealed with quick clips or bag clips.
  • If you have got rock-hard brown sugar, crystallised honey/syrup, place in a suitable non-metallic bowl and give a quick blast of about 30 seconds on high in the microwave to bring these back to their normal state.