2 recipes for when you find yourself the owner of 40 pints of finest red wine vinegar

This is the blog post for people who can answer yes to the next two questions (although others should feel free to read it anyway)

1. Have you just discovered that instead of being the proud owner of 40 pints of finest red wine you are in fact the owner of 40 pints of finest red wine vinegar?
2. Have you got a naturally sunny disposition and a 'if life gives you lemons make Moroccan spiced chicken with preserved lemons' attitude?

Still with me, then let me begin.

The two recipes to take the opportunity to try out should be a vindaloo and Poulet saute au vinagre. Basically very similar recipes but one has taken a trip round the world with a Portuguese sailor so some enterprising Goan chef can make a few delicious tweaks. The vindaloo in this case is as far removed from the usual Indian restaurant fare as any of Madhur Jaffrey’s other recipes are, which reminds me I should do her korma again which is a lot spicier than you'd expect still without being too hot.

Poulet saute au vinagre

[Disclaimer: I've not cooked this yet]

Season and brown 1.8 kg chicken in butter and olive oil (brown the butter to the point of just turning nut brown before browning the chicken for cheffy bonus points). Add 6 large tomatoes chopped (or 2 tins maybe?) and cook down until the tomato is totally stewed. Pour in 300 ml top quality red wine vinegar and simmer until almost completely disappeared. Add 300 ml chicken stock and simmer to reduce by half then remove the chicken and keep warm. Whisk 60g butter into the sauce, add 1 tbsp parsley then pour over the chicken and sprinkle over another 1 tbsp parsley. 

Chicken Vindaloo

[Disclaimers: 1) although I've done it very successfully with boiling hens and a lot longer cooking time, the original recipe used duck, chicken may be nice and tender before the cooking time is up, maybe pull the chicken out and finish the sauce off separately if need be. 2) The original recipe used cider vinegar, although the original-original recipe would surely have been red wine vinegar brought from Portugal, or red wine brought from Portugal which had turned a bit vinegary. Some experimentation with quantities of vinegar and sugar below may be required but the final dish wants to have a good sour note to it. ]

Brown 2.7 kg chicken in oil and remove. Add 1/2 tsp mustard seeds and 1/4 tsp fenugreek seeds to the hot oil and when the mustard seeds start to pop (a few seconds after going in) throw in 15 curry leaves and 2 medium onions sliced into half rings. Stir fry until the onion starts to brown then add 2 tbsp grated fresh ginger and 10 garlic cloves smashed to a pulp. Fry for a minute before adding 1/2 tsp ground turmeric, 1 tbsp ground cumin, 1 tbsp paprika, 1 tbsp ground coriander, 1 tsp cayenne, 1 1/2 tsp garam masala and frying for another 30 secs (probably best to mix these together before you start). Add 2 chopped medium tomatoes (1 tin?) and cook until softened. Add the chicken back in alongside 120 ml top quality red wine vinegar, 3 tsp salt and 1 tbsp sugar. Bring to the boil then simmer for 45 mins stirring occasionally. Finally turn the heat up for the final 30 mins to thicken the sauce and finish cooking the chicken.

That’s all, happy cooking.