Grilled chicken and Comte cheese wraps

Work has been crazy hectic for me with late nights and early morning runs to the kitchen, churning out hundreds of macarons and delivering to Selfridges where we have a stand at the moment as part of the 'Meet the Makers' campaign that runs till the end of August. If you do want to pick up some printed macarons, do drop by :)

Anyways, coming to the recipe. I have trouble sorting out the lunch scene in between all the chaotic baking. I almost always never eat lunch on time and its around 4 or so in the evening that i manage to grab a bite and by then I'm famished. On days i wake up early enough, i manage to make something for lunch, and by make i mean pack the leftovers from last night or make a sandwich. This wrap happened on one of those days I was sick of eating rubbish sandwiches from the nearby supermarket. I had grilled the chicken a day before and so it was really easy to put together. I chucked it into the microwave for a couple of minutes and it tasted so so so much better than the store bought ones.

Comte cheese has turned out to be a favourite of ours and i keep adding them to almost all of our pasta and sandwich dishes. I was sent a 24 month aged Comte and I've been very stingy with it. I used it in this sandwich and its been nicely wrapped and put in the freezer for future use. The nutty flavour of Comte is perfect in this wrap and i love it even more a bit melted. This recipe was passed on from Comte as part of the Bastille Day Celebrations and its a fabulous one to take to picnics and such as Comte is a hard cheese and doesn't melt that quickly in this hot weather, which btw has gotten to me so much, i actually want the cold to come back. Its so muggy and stuffy during the night, and the days are even worse. I know, I know, i complain when it cold, i complain when its hot as well :)

Serves 4

Tortilla wraps- 4

Boneless chicken thighs- 2, around 250 gms

Paprika- 1 tsp (optional)

Salt and pepper- to taste

Oil- 1 tbsp

Yoghurt- 3 tbsp

Mayonnaise- 1 tbsp

Lemon juice- a splash

Carrots- 150 gms, grated

Red pepper- 1, small

Lettuce- 1 small head

Comte cheese- 100 gms, grated

Wash, pat dry the chicken and cut into bite size cubes.

Season with enough salt and pepper and the paprika. Keep aside for half an hour.

When ready to cook, preheat oven grill and line a baking tray with aluminium foil.

Arrange the chicken pieces on the tray and grill in the oven for about 15 to 20 minutes, flipping each of them after about 10 to 12 minutes.

Once cooked, keep it wrapped in the foil itself.

Make the sauce by whisking together the yoghurt, mayonnaise and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper.

Grate the carrots, dice the red pepper into long strips and tear the lettuce into big slices. 

Lightly heat a tortilla, either in the microwave or in a frying pan. Place on a serving plate.

Generously spread the yoghurt sauce on to the tortilla leaving about an inch from the edges.

Place the lettuce, peppers, carrots and chicken slices on the wrap and top with freshly grated Comte cheese.

Roll the wrap tightly and gently heat in the microwave for a couple of minutes, just to get the cheese melting. Of course, this step is purely optional, but i like it this way.

Cut the wrap diagonally and serve warm.

Do the same with all other remaining tortillas.

Notes: Feel free to use chicken breasts instead and you can even pan fry it in about 2 tbsp of oil.

Original recipe called for corn as well, but i didn't have any at home so omitted it

With thanks to Comte cheese for the samples.

Afternoon tea with Champagne at the Corus Hyde Park

Some time around last week we turned 7 (OK fine, I don't know the exact date, but that's besides the point really). Yes! 7 years since we met each other in a small cafe in Chennai. Me, never wanting to get married, He, enthusiastic about getting married. Poles apart on a lot of things, but on the same page for a few other. Yet! we somehow have managed to make it this far. Its been a rough 7 years with me Ro would say, but I would shrug and say that's marriage. I think Ro's good husband material :)

After so long, we don't even bother wishing each other remembering 'petty' occasions like this. Although, the die hard romantic in me, sometimes do wish it wasn't so. I had been wanting to do an Afternoon Tea session for a long time and when an opportunity came up, I grabbed it thinking we will have a nice afternoon out together. But Ro of course had better things to do than spend an afternoon having 'tea' with me, and so had to change plans. Determined to not dampen my spirits, I grabbed a good ol' girlfriend of mine and headed out into Central London for a fun afternoon out. And boy, am I glad I did, because believe it or not, a day out with a girl friend can sometimes prove to be so much more therapeutic than a romantic afternoon out with the husband :)

Afternoon Tea is such a big deal here its not funny. Some hotels like The Ritz and Inter Continental are soooo known for their Afternoon Tea deals, you have to book a table waaay in advance. Although that was the kind of afternoon tea I had in mind, this deal was good enough for me, and its Groupon that I have to thank for this fabulous offer. From hair cuts to restaurant deals to cooking classes to mini breaks I have done it all. In the initial days after signing up, it used to be a struggle to not pick up the amazing voucher deals.  Now I have a grip on myself and although I scout the website frequently, its only when I absolutely need something do I pick it up. The Afternoon Tea with Champagne for two was too good a deal to pass and I am glad I picked it, because it was so worth it.

 

Corus Hyde Park is located bang opposite the park (as the name suggests) and is a 3 min walk from Lancaster Gate tube station. We headed straight to Olio's Brasserie, just off the reception area, and waited a good 5 minutes for someone to come greet us (not a good start, if you ask me). So I asked at the reception and was politely told someone would be with me soon. No luck again but then I spotted a stewardess at the counter and she guided us to our table. When we were kept waiting, I thought we would be placed somewhere near the stairs or something, but was pleasantly surprised to be seated right next to the huge windows, with good views of the autumn colours of Hyde park (not to mention enough lighting for my pictures, although it was such a gloomy and rainy afternoon, they haven't turned out that great).

We were dutifully given our menu's and asked to pick the tea of choice. There were quite a few interesting options- from the traditional blends like Winchester Breakfast, Darjeeling and Earl Grey to the more contemporary ones like Rooibos orange and eucalyptus, Milk oolong and if that's not fancy enough for you, then try the Lavender hibiscus, a Blooming Tea, which literally does the same in your tea cup. We were not too adventurous with this and so settled for the Winchester breakfast and Classic Chai. Both were brought to the table promptly and we enjoyed the steaming cups of tea while it was pouring cats and gods outside. Oh and we also had to figure out how to handle the two flutes of Baron de Marc Gobillard, Brut Champagne in between sips of tea. Needless to say, the Champagne was happily welcomed, and the tea left to go cold in the tea pots.

 

Then came the exciting bit, the array of tarts, cakes, scones and sandwiches. Arranged in traditional 3-tiered plates, they were a pretty sight. Taste-wise, however, we were a tad bit disappointed. The cupcakes were too dry and the brownie (I think it was a brownie) was anything but moist. The carrot cake was good, but it was not with cream cheese, but more like butter cream. The tartlets were teeny tiny pastry cups filled with something like butter cream with a blackberry perched on one and a raspberry on another. I don't think they can technically be called fruit tarts, but they were pretty cute and we liked it. That said, the scones were to die for and we smothered ours with clotted cream and jam and had a blast getting some extra calories into our bodies. The sandwiches were also pretty good, with the cucumber and cream cheese being my favourite and the ham and cheese a close second. The macarons also did their job of being all good looking with the perfect feet and stuff and the flavours- orange and coffee- were not disappointing either. 

Our tea session stretched on for about 2 hours, because you just cannot stuff everything into your mouth at one go (and also because we weren't shooed out of the restaurant) and its something you really need to enjoy at a slow pace. So the next time you are in London, or anywhere in UK, make sure you treat yourself to a good English Afternoon Tea session. Also, don't forget to check out Groupon for some good deals in your area and trust me, its a decision you wont regret.

Thanks to Groupon for a gift voucher with which I picked up this deal.