Scatter chopped spring onions on top.  Serve spooned out with sour cream for dolloping and additional spring onions for sprinkling.  Delicious!



This was really, really, REALLY good!   It was quick to make and was something which I would make again! I served this with a simple salad.  It was fairly low in carbs, high in protein and delicious.


Bon Appetit!

It's just so adorable, and well, Chicken Pot Pie . . .  what's not to like?  I love pies of any kind, but chicken pies are my favorite.

I was watching the Pioneer Woman cook a Chicken Pot Pie the day I made this, and she inspired me to want to make one for us, but I have my own way of doing things.  

I had a mother who made great pies, and she taught me to do the same.

Just look at that rooster sitting there all proud . . .  so cute, but I am eyeballing that little speck of gravy which bubbled up on the side.  Tasty.  Tasty.

 

There it is again, down in the corner . . . I love it when the juices bubble up over the crust in a pie.  Don't you?  Those are the most delicious bits.










The filling is really simple, just chicken, carrots, parsnips, celery, onions and mushrooms.  I normally also add peas also, but didn't have any that day.

 





The gravy is flavoured with summer savory and thyme . . .  and yes there is a smidgen of cream in there.  

Normally I would use leftover gravy, but this day I didn't have leftover gravy, so I had to make a sauce from scratch.

All we needed was a salad on the side and the leftovers were mighty tasty too.  You just can't beat a nice pie for supper.

 







Preheat the oven to 190*/375*F/ gas mark 5.  Bake the pot pie for 25 to 30 minutes, until the crust is golden brown and the filling is bubbling.   Serve hot.

 

Wades Milton Brook Pie Funnel is created in Stoke On Trent by Wade's Potteries.  It is microwave salfe, dishwasher safe, freezer safe and oven safe.  Simply place the pie funnel in the centre of the pie dish before filling.  Pour in the filling around the pie funnel, drape the top crust over top and push down until the character  and steam hole are revealed.  They come in a variety of styles, including cherries and a duck.

You can buy them at The Kitchen Cook Shop for £9.95.  I love it!  It somehow makes a tasty dish even tastier, and it works a charm!

Many thanks to Eddingtons for sending it to me.  

Note- although I was sent this product free of charge any and all opinions are my own.  I was not required to write a positive review.

Lock away the calorie counters because I am going to show you something today which is totally off the scales tastewise, not to mention caloriwise!   Fastfood chicken as only the people in the North East of England, Teesside . . .  do it!  

Hang onto your hats, you're in for a real treat!

Not to be confused with the Italian Chicken Cutlet and cheese dish with the marinara sauce known as Chicken Parmigiana, this is a dish I had heard about for a long time and always wanted to try. 

 I have never been to the North East, but this dish is something I have been stalking for a while, ever since I heard my friend Julie (who is from the North East) talking about.   

Breaded chicken cutlet is the only thing it has in common with its Italian Counterpart.

What you have here is a chicken breast, pounded and breaded   . . .  then deep fried . . .  until it's crisp and golden on the outside and tender moist on the inside . . .

 Slathered with a rich, well flavoured bechamel cream sauce  . . .  and loaded wth lots of grated strong cheddar cheese  . . .

 







Then popped under a grill til the bechamel is bubbling away and the cheese is golden and gooey . . .  the three together.  Heavenly Bliss.  Its as simple as that.   In the North East they would eat them with chips, one per customer.  Come big or stay home.   

I cut it into three and was in heaven with every mouthful.  I have given quantities for four, but really two would serve four people quite amply, especially if you added chips on the side.

 






Heat the grill to high.  Pop the baking dish under the grill and grill until the sauce is bubbling and the cheese is golden.  Serve hot.







The History of Chicken Parmo:

The parmo is said to have been created by Nicos Harris, a chef with the American army in World War II. He was wounded in France, but was brought to the United Kingdom to be treated in a British hospital. He ended up moving to Middlesbrough and opened a restaurant  where he created the parmo at The American Grill in 1958.







You do NOT want to know how many calories there are in one full size Parmo served with chips and salad on the side. Look it up on the net and prepare to be shocked.   Suffice it to say that  . . .  as delicious as it is . . .  this is one heck of a blue moon treat!  I dare say once in a lifetime.  I am glad that I only made one and had two other people to share it with.  Whew!

(My chips were oven baked homemade)

I am always up for chicken. Its not something I ever get tired of. I could eat it every night of the week. I'm not fussy about which part I eat either . . . I love the thighs, I love the breasts, I love the wings. 

 I adore roasted chicken, fried, baked, simmered . . . I just love chicken in any way shape or form!








I was really excited when I found a video on YouTube of Jamie Oliver making some really simple, and tasty Parmesan Chicken Breasts with Crispy Posh Ham! 

 It looked quick, easy and so delicious! I'm always looking for different ways to cook chicken breasts. They are like a blank canvas that takes to all sorts of flavours and textures.

Of course that is one of Jamie's talents isn't it??? 

 He makes cooking look fun and easy, and delicious as well! He's done a lot to inspire young people to want to cook and to eat better!

I made this for our supper last night and it was fabulous! 

 This would work very well served up with some mash and a vegetable, or even alone with a tossed salad. It was moist and delicious and had a wonderful crust of crispy ham. Oh so yummy!!

*Parmesan Chicken Breasts with Crispy Prosciutto*
Serves 2
Printable Recipe

Moist and tender chicken underneath a crust of crisp Prosciutto ham and meltingly tasty Parmesan cheese. What's not to like?

30g of freshly grated Parmesan Cheese (about 1/3 cup)
2 sprigs of fresh thyme
2 skinless boneless free range chicken breasts
freshly ground black pepper
1 unwaxed lemon, finely grated zest
6 slices of prosciutto
olive oil
good quality balsamic vinegar

Place your chicken breasts between some sling film and bash them out with a rolling pin so that they are an equal width throughout. Sprinkle each with some freshly ground black pepper and a little freshly grated lemon zest. sprinkle the leaves of one sprig of thyme over each. Cover with the Parmesan cheese, dividing it equally amongst the chicken breasts. Lay 3 slices of prosciutto over each breast, overlapping them slightly and covering the cheese. Drizzle with a little olive oil and sprinkle with the remaining thyme leaves.

Put a non stick frying pan over medium heat. Carefully transfer the chicken breasts to the pan, prosciutto side down. Cook for 3 minutes on each side, turning halfway through the cooking time until the ham is crispy and the chicken is cooked through.

If desired drizzle with a bit of balsamic vinegar and some olive oil to serve.

We may have a red meat once a week, or probably even less than that . . . and we always have fish at least once as well . . . but chicken, well, it's a real mainstay in our kitchen.




More often than not, I will serve Chicken Breasts.  Chicken was not something we had very often when I was growing up.  

Occasionally my mother would do a Roast Chicken as a treat . . . and every once in a Blue Moon she would cook Maryland Fried Chicken, which we loved.  It was Chicken Breasts, dipped in egg and cracker crumbs and then fried.  

When that was on the menu, we knew were in for a real treat!  Chicken used to be a lot more expensive in the olden days.



Nowadays it's fairly affordable, depending on which type you buy.  If you are not bothered as to it's source or the ethics of responsible rearing, well then you could probably eat chicken every night of the week, coz that kind of chicken is cheap as chips.  

I am a bit more bothered about these things.  My husband worked on a Battery Chicken Egg Farm in Germany when he as younger for a short time and it was more than he could stomach . . . 

I have a real heart for animal cruelty and so I don't have a stomach for eating any kind of meat that's not raised according to high standards of animal welfare . . . so we eat chicken about two or three times a week, and it's always free range.



I know if I had a large family to feed it might be different, but for now it's just us two here,  and I can afford to pay a bit more.  I know not everyone has that option. 

I love chicken breasts because they are like a blank canvas just waiting to be written upon.   

They take to so many different flavours and styles of cooking . . . and as long as you don't overcook them, they make a pretty good basis for a delicious supper.



Today I cooked them a la Cordon Bleu.  I know . . . which interestingly enough is not to be confused with the French Cooking School of the same name.  

Cordon Bleu actually originated in Switzerland . . . and was done using veal cutlets, stuffed with cheese and ham.  

Chicken Cordon Bleu is, I believe . . . an American invention.    Cordon Bleu merely means Blue Ribbon . . . and this is my blue ribbon chicken!



I broke all the rules of course.  But I think I have made it better.  I rolled the ham around the cheese, a good Swiss Emmenthal in this case, and then I cut a pocket into the chicken breast and stuffed it inside.  

No risk of the cheese oozing out because it's inside the ham.  I also happen to believe that if you can cut through the fibres of a chicken breast like that . . . you are going to have one very tender chicken breast.  

I could be wrong, don't quote me on that . . . I only know for sure that it seems to work.



That was the only rule I broke though.  I then floured, egged and crumbed it as per normal, or pané (pan-aaaa) as it was called in Culinary School.  

I added butter to the crumbs ahead of time so that I wouldn't have to fry them, and then I baked them for a few minutes at a high temperature, and then finished them off at a lower temperature.



The end result . . . perfectly cooked Chicken Cordon Bleu . . . crisply crumbed on the outside, moist and tender on the insides and chock full of oozing cheese and ham.



In short.  Fabulous.  But don't take my word for it.  

Try them out yourself and see if I'm not telling the truth.  ☺



  *Simple Chicken Cordon Bleu*
Serves 4 to 6
Printable Recipe

A traditionally complicated dish, simplified.  Delicious and quite easy really!

25 buttery round crackers
4 slices of sourdough bread
6 TBS butter, melted
8 thin slices of deli ham
8 ounces of emmenthaler cheese, grated (about 2 cups, Swiss)
4 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts (I like to use free range chicken)
fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 large free range eggs
2 TBS Dijon mustard
100g of plain flour (about 1 cup)

Preheat the oven 225*C/425*F/ gas mark 7.  Have ready a large baking tray with a lip.  Stir together about 1 tsp of salt and 1/2 tsp of black pepper in a small bowl.

Put the crackers into a food processor and blitz until they are coarsely ground.  Dump into a bowl.  Do the same with the bread, dumping it into the same bowl.  Pour the melted butter over all and toss together.  Spread the crumb mixture out over the baking tray.  Bake them in the hot oven, stirring them from time to time, until golden brown.  This can take anywhere between 3 to 5 minutes.  Remove from the oven and place in a shallow bowl.  Set the tray aside.

Wash your chicken breasts, pat dry and then cut a deep pocket in the thickest part of the breast, with a sharp knife, making an opening of about 3 inches, sliding the knife carefully inside to create the cavity without cutting through the meat to the back or the bottom.  Lay your slices of ham out on a board.  Top each slice with 1/8th of the grated cheese (about 1/4 cup), then roll the ham tightly around it to cover the cheese completely.  Stuff two of these ham rolls in each cavity of the chicken.

Beat the eggs, together with the mustard,  in a shallow bowl.  Place the flour in another shallow bowl.  You should have three shallow bowls laid out.  Place them in this order:  Flour, Eggs and then finally bread crumbs.  Season each chicken breast all over with some of the salt and pepper mix.  Roll each in the flour, then dip into the egg to coat, finally rolling each in the toasted crumbs, pressing the crumbs on to help them adhere.  Place them onto a clean baking sheet, when done, leaving a bit of space between each.  (At this point you could refrigerate them until you are ready to bake them  if you wished.)

Place them into the heated oven and bake for 10 minutes at the higher temperature.  Reduce the oven heat to 200*C/400*F/ gas mark 6, and bake for a further 20 to 25 minutes, or until golden brown and the chicken juices run clear when it is pierced with a fork.  Transfer to a platter and tent with foil.  Allow to rest for five minutes before serving.