Showing posts with label simple suppers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label simple suppers. Show all posts
This is one of my absolute all time favourite chicken casseroles. Not
only is is a great way to use up stale bread, but you can also use up
leftover cooked chicken or even turkey, or you can cook chicken specifically just to
use in it.
This is a recipe which I adapted from an Amish Cookery book I had many moons ago.
You know how that goes. Eventually the recipe becomes your own and it
is no different with this! Its now so much my own that it only vaguely
resembles the original.
I love recipes like this. They may seem a bit old fashioned, but they are always delicious and you don't really need to buy in anything special to make them. Most of the time you will have everything you need right in the house to make them.
I usually poach chicken to use in this recipe. You can also use leftover cooked roast chicken or the leftovers from a rotisserie chicken.
Poaching chicken is very easy to do. I usually poach a whole package of chicken breasts at a time.
Just take a package of boneless, skinless chicken breasts and place them into a saucepan large enough to hold them. Cover with either cold water or cold chicken broth, or a combination of the two.
You can add some salt and peppercorns if you wish. Just bring to the boil then simmer them, covered for about 5 to 8 minutes, depending on the size and amount of them.
Turn the burner off and leave them covered in the stock to cool down just until you can comfortably touch them with your hands. Remove from the stock, shred and use as you would for any recipe requiring cooked chicken. Don't forget to reserve the stock for use in this particular recipe.
The meat always comes out tender and juicy and filled with flavour. You can cook lots at one time and then just freeze it in lots containing two cups. I just double bag it in zip lock freezer bags.
Make sure you label it with the contents and date. Then you will always have cooked chicken on tap and ready to use. You can break it apart very easily from frozen, or thaw it out on the defrost cycle of your microwave oven.
Another thing I like to do when I am using celery is to destring it. I trim both ends and then catch the strings with the end of my knife and pull them towards me. You can just throw the strings away.
Celery strings can sometimes be really tough and chewy. Removing them takes away that problem. It doesn't take long. Lots of people don't like stringly celery. I don't like stringy celery. This way you get all of the flavour without any of the nuisance!
I use the whole loaf bread, crusts and all. Best is a rustic type of loaf, more like homemade bread. It is sturdier and holds up better. No need to dry it.
Just tear it into rough crumbs. You don't want them to be fine at all. You want some texture and substance.
I only ever use butter for cooking. I never use margarine, although I am sure that you could if you really wanted to. I prefer the flavour of butter and I like that it is an all natural product.
I really don't want to fill my body with artificial fats and chemicals. Butter all the way here! I also think butter has a flavour that nothing else really comes close to. That's me. I am a butter fiend!
You only want to add enough chicken stock to the bread to moisten it, so that it is not overly dry. You do NOT want it to be soggy in any way!
The original recipe was very plain. It had no onion, or herbs. I like onion and I like herbs. I also love stuffing, so my adaptions included ways to make it taste more like stuffing.
The original also didn't include celery or any stock. It was basically
just stewed chicken mixed with bread and a ton of butter, with some
celery seed and seasoning. It was very good. (Think of a whole pound
of butter. Yikes! No wonder it was considered tasty!)
Cutting the amount of butter back and adding some aromatics took nothing away from the original. Its a bit healthier and I love the flavours of the celery and onion, plus the herbs.
Not only that, but the butter you do use is infused with the
flavours of celery and onion so it really tastes better with less. Know
what I mean? You can't go wrong!
Whatever . . . stale bread, butter softened celery and onion, a
variety of herbs, seasoning and tender poached chicken mixed with a tiny
bit of stock and baked to give you one very delicious and simple
entree.
This is really very, very good. Especially if you serve it with a bit of gravy and some vegetables on the side. We like tiny boiled potatoes with ours, but mash would also be great!
Leave it to the Amish to create something incredibly delicious out of next to nothing!
Amish Chicken and Stuffing Casserole
Yield: 4 - 6
prep time: 15 Mincook time: 45 Mintotal time: 1 Hour
This is a fabulously tasty and easy bake. Just throw it together and pop it into the oven. I like to serve it with gravy, potatoes and vegetables on the side.
Ingredients
- 3 large chicken breast filets, poached in chicken stock and cooled (Reserve the stock)
- 1 medium loaf of sturdy stale white bread
- 1/2 cup (125g) of butter (1/2 cup)
- 1 medium onion, peeled and chopped
- 2 stalks celery, washed, trimmed and chopped
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp coarse black pepper
- 1/2 tsp celery seed
- 1/2 tsp each of dried parsley, crumbled sage, thyme and summer savory if you have it
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Butter a large shallow casserole. Set aside.
- Melt the butter in a saucepan. Add the onion and celery and cook over medium low heat until softened. Stir in the salt, pepper, celery seed and herbs. Set aside.
- Crumble the bread into a large bowl. Shred the chicken coarsely and add to the bread. Pour the butter mixture over all and toss together. Add only enough leftover stock so that your mixture is not totally dry. You don't want it soggy.
- Pile into the prepared baking dish. Cover tightly with greased foil and bake in the preheated oven for 1/2 hour to 45 minutes. Delicious!
This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you may report it to me at mariealicejoan at aol dot com.
Here we are in that no-man's land between Christmas and New Years. Some of us have exhausted our desire for turkey sandwiches and what-not. We are trying to recoup our energy before preparing to cook our New Years Feast.
These are the days when we are not necessarily wanting to expend a lot of energy on preparing meals. We just want to catch our breaths before the next onslaught! Most of us will have had smaller than normal Christmas celebrations this year.
But small or not, they will have required a lot of time, effort and planning to produce. It takes just as much time and energy to produce a meal for one or two as it does for four, six or more people. Its just cooking on a smaller scale, but not necessarily less work.
If you are like me, you have a healthy store cupboard and these few days in between the Christmas leftovers and the New Years preparations are the perfect time to avail yourself of some of the convenience contained within!
It is surprising just how delicious a meal you can produce with a very few ingredients put together in a delicious way. One of those fab and tasty creations are Naan Bread Pizzas!!
Naan Bread is a flat yeasted bread which hails from the North of India. Similar in appearance and texture to Pita bread, it comes in a variety of flavours. You can get them in a large size, ready to be torn up or you can get them in smaller sizes as well.
For these pizzas I like to use the plain ones, which are simply flavoured with garlic. They are shaped like a tear drop and are roughly the size of your hand.
They are
baked on top of the stove on a flat grill or skillet here, but
in India they would be baked in a Tandoor oven. They are incredibly convenient to use as a quick and easy pizza crust, much like a Pita bread would be.
You will also need a nice melty type of cheese. Mozzarella is the normal cheese that is used on Pizzas and is known for its ooze factor. You can use any cheese you like or a combination of cheeses. I love fontina cheese, or Gouda.
You don't need a sauce for the Naan Bread pizzas, but you will want a nice layer of melty cheese to grab your toppings and form a nice flavour base. You can get as wild as you want with this or keep it simple. Its all a matter of taste and choice.
I always like to keep a variety of olives in my store cupboard. I adore olives. They come in very handy for using in salads, sauces, etc. And . . . they are wonderful on Pizzas.
In the UK I used to be able to get foil packs of dried and seasoned olives in both the green and the black variety. They would sometimes be seasoned with garlic and herbs. They were perfect for use on pizzas.
I would simply tear them up and scatter them over top. I am sure going to miss them. I haven't been able to find them here yet, but I maybe am just not looking in the right places.
Another ingredient I aways keep in my larder are marinated artichoke hearts. They are such a versatile ingredient. I use them to make Artichoke Chicken and a fantastic Artichoke Dip which is really great when you are entertaining.
But they are also fantastic to use as a pizza topping. I like the marinated one because they have plenty of flavour, but you can also use plain tinned ones as well. Both are very good.
I tend to use the oil marinated ones, which is naughty I know. That marinade oil has lots of flavour in it however and is perfect brushed over the Naan breads before you top them with anything else.
It is also very delicious drizzled over top of the finished pizza, again, adding flavour. They are usually marinated in olive oil with garlic and herbs. Delicious! I don't like to waste anything.
Today I have kept the toppings very simple. You can go crazy with toppings however. Adding some chopped pepperoni, or ham. Pineapple even, if you are so inclined.
Other good add ons are chopped onion or mushrooms, or both. I like red onions because of their colour and mild flavour. Spring onion is also very nice. Today I added some fresh thyme leaves.
One thing I always, ALWAYS add to my pizzas is Parmesan Cheese. Its a lovely dry and hard cheese that packs plenty of punch. You don't need a lot of it to add flavour to anything. It is the dieter's friend in that way.
You get the flavour of the cheese without needing a lot of it. I cannot imagine not liking Parmesan Cheese. It is one thing I would never be without if I could help it. Its great on pastas and in salads as well.
I always save the rinds which I throw into soups and sauces when I am making them. They add unimaginable flavour to these things. Never ever throw the rinds away!
These are just my suggestions for topping these quick and easy pizzas. You can of course adapt the idea to incorporate your own favourite toppings as and how you wish.
I always make a salad to serve with these, and with the nice bagged salads on offer these days, even that need not take a great deal of effort to execute. And there you have it, a delicious supper for the family that everyone is sure to love!
With minimum fuss, and minimum muss. Little to clean up and yet still incredibly edibly pleasing to everyone involved! The perfect catch-your-breath meal!
Quick Naan Bread Pizzas
Yield: 4
prep time: 10 Mincook time: 10 Mintotal time: 20 Min
These make for a quick and easy midweek supper. Perfect for when you are just exhausted and can't be asked! They are delicious, simple to make and use store cupboard ingredients. You can also make as many or as few as you want.
Ingredients
- 2 cups (280g jar) of quartered artichoke hearts, marinated in olive oil,
- 4 small individual Naan breads (I like the plain ones with garlic)
- 12 ounces (350g) sliced Taleggio Cheese (Dutch Gouda is a good substitute)
- 2 cups (400g) pimento stuffed green olives
- 4 tsp fresh thyme leaves
- 4 heaped TBS frshly grated Parmesan Cheese
- 2 heaped TBS of chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
- fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F gas mark 6. Have ready a large baking tray.
- Drain the artichokes, reserving the oil.
- Place the naan breads onto a large baking tray. Brush with a bit of reserved artichoke oil. Divide the Taleggio cheese between the breads.
- Top the cheese with the drained artichoke quarters, the olives and the thyme leaves.
- Sprinkle Parmesan cheese evenly over top. Dust with a bit of sea salt and lots of black pepper. (Remember that the olives and artichokes will probably be quite salty)
- Drizzle a bit more of the artichoke oil over top.
- Bake for about 10 minutes in the heated oven, until the cheese is bubbling and the naan are golden brown at the edges.
- Sprinkle with some of the chopped parsley and serve hot.
This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you may report it to me at: mariealicejoan at aol dot com Thanks so much for visiting. Do come again!
Even though this year most people's Christmas's are going to be on a much smaller scale, a lot of us will be looking for quick and easy meals to prepare for our family bubble's in the run up to the holidays. Simple dishes like this Smoked Sausage and Cabbage fit the bill perfectly!
Dishes that go together quickly and easily and that use simple every day ingredients. Recipes that are not a lot of work for anyone! Recipes that are delicious and that the family will enjoy. Recipes without a lot of faffing about!
Today's recipe comes from one of my sister's cookbooks. It is called the Irish Cooking Bible, more than 120 delicious recipes from pub fare to country classics. There are a lot of good recipes in this book. I have already mentally flagged quite a few of them to try at some point!
I love this book so much that I ordered a used copy for myself. I hardly ever buy new books. You can quite often get used copies in very good shape for a fraction of the cost of the new ones. We can all appreciate being able to save a few pennies when we can these days!
Sometimes these used books are available in almost new condition. Often they are available as "very good" condition. I usually pick those. So far I have been very lucky. Most come from non-smoking environments and can even be ex-library copies, so well cared for.
I have only ever been disapointed once. I received a book that someone had gone to great lengths to very carefully remove the pages of all the best recipes from. They used a razor blade. Unless you looked very closely you wouldn't have noticed.
I might not have noticed but one of the recipes I had really wanted and had specifically purchased the book for, the roast chicken, was one of the missing pages. Shame on them.
There are some very unscrupulous people about I have to say. I am glad that I am not one of them!
This recipe really appealed to me for several reasons. One, I love smoked sausage. I also love cabbage, in any way, shape or form!
Two I loved the simplicity of it and its easy of preparation. Other than seasonings, there are really only four simple ingredients.
Smoked Sausage. Cabbage. Garlic. Onion. All four are ingredients that I almost always have readily available to me in my kitchen. Well, the cabbage, onion and garlic at any rate.
One might have to go out and shop for the smoked sausage. I used Schneiders Original Recipe Smoked Sausage. There were about 8 sausages in the pack. I used four and froze four for a future date!
Smoked sausage is quite different than hotdogs. A hotdog is usually made from a smooth textured paste-like filling which is encased in a fragile skin.
Sausages are normally filled with a ground more composite type of meat filling, with texture and they are encased in a thicker skin. Usually a skin which will snap a bit when you eat them.
Whilst hotdogs (frankfurters) are always smoked, a sausage can be either smoked or plain. I enjoy them both ways. Today, for this purpose, you need the smoked.
Smoked sausage, really good smoked sausage, was one of the things I missed when I was in the UK. You could get all kinds of polish sausage, but I was never quite sure which was the best one to use for something like this.
While they are not something which should form a regular part of your diet, they are something which can be very enjoyable from time to time. Both sausages and hotdogs. And yes, I do know what goes into a hotdog.
And some sausages for that matter! I always try to buy only quality, known types of either one. You do get what you pay for in a case such as this. If you don't want to pay a bit more, you get cheap and nasty.
I am not fond of cheap and nasty and would rather pay more to get a quality product. Of course I do understand that not all people have that option.
But while I can, I will. Its as simple as that.
There are many kinds of cabbage available to us these days. I recommend using the hard white cabbage or a winter king cabbage. You want one which will hold its shape well when it is cooked, and not go to mush in the longer cook time.
A savoy or Chinese cabbage would go to mush, and be quite unpalatable. These are more suited to quick cooking methods and do not take very long to cook at all.
I cut my cabbage into 1-inch chunks which worked perfectly for this purpose. It cooked evenly and was beautiful with the smoked sausage. I did not have to add any oil to the pan as the sausage had rendered out just enough to cook the cabbage in.
When Dan got home from work, the first thing he said was, "What smells so good!" High accolade indeed! We served it with potatoes, which we had simply boiled. They were perfect together. I am thinking a nice crusty rye bread would also go well, and perhaps some mustard on the side.
This was a MOST enjoyable meal! The simple things in life really do bring us the most joy.
Smoked Sausage and Cabbage
Yield: 4
prep time: 10 Mincook time: 20 Mininactive time: 5 Mintotal time: 35 Min
A delicious supper dish that uses simple ingredients, and goes together very easily. We enjoyed with some boiled potatoes
Ingredients
- 1 pound of smokd sausage, cut into 2-inch pieces
- 6 cups coarsely chopped white cabbage (1 small head)
- 1 large onion, peeled and cut into wedges
- 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
- 1 tsp brown sugar
- 1/4 tsp caraway seeds (optional)
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Add the sausage to a large skillet. Cook and stir over medium high heat for about 3 minutes, until nicely browned. Scoop out and set aside.
- Add the cabbage, onion, garlic, sugar, caraway seeds (if using), salt and black pepper to the pan drippings. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion begins to brown. (about 5 minutes)
- Add the sausage. Cover the pan and cook for a further 5 minutes.
- Remove from the heat and let stand for five minutes. Serve hot.
This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you may report it to me at: mariealicejoan at aol dot com Thanks so much for visiting. Do come again!
I confess to being rather lazy at times and most weeknights I will go for an easy option when it comes to feeding us. I did plenty of fancy smancy when I worked as a Chef at the Manor.
In my real life I don't necessarily need to have a gourmet meal every night.
Special occasions are obviously on a different scale and I am very happy to do a special meal, which requires a lot more work.
Holidays, Celebrations, Dinner Parties, Lunch with friends, etc. They are well worth the extra effort and I really do enjoy preparing for those!
This recipe I am sharing today has been adapted from one I found on the Betty Crocker site. I am always looking at the Betty crocker page as well as the Pillsbury page.
I used to buy their little monthly magazines when I lived in Canada quite often.They were always in the stands next to the cash registers in the grocery stores and I was always tempted by them.
Although I did not always cook many recipes from them, due to lack of availability of ingredients, etc. I found them quite inspiring and was always able to glean some great ideas from them.
You can find their recipe here. Traditionally Porchetta (pronounced Por - ketta) is an Italian type of pork roast in which a fattier cut is boned, stuffed with plenty of garlic, herbs and seasonings, rolled up skin on, and then roasted on a spit over an open fire for about 8 hours.
Sounds delicious!This is sort of a riff on that. It doesn't use a fatty cut of pork however. It uses pork tenderloin.
I love Pork tenderloin. It is one of my favourite cuts of pork. If you buy bone in pork chops, it is that tender nugget of meat that you will find next to the bone on theone side. It is so juicy and delicious!
Sounds delicious!This is sort of a riff on that. It doesn't use a fatty cut of pork however. It uses pork tenderloin.
I love Pork tenderloin. It is one of my favourite cuts of pork. If you buy bone in pork chops, it is that tender nugget of meat that you will find next to the bone on theone side. It is so juicy and delicious!
It also cooks very fast in comparison to other cuts of pork. Pork tenderloin is a long narrow muscle of meat that comes from the muscle that runs down the backbone of the pig.
It is one of the leanest, more tender cuts of pork on the market, and so can also be a bit pricey sometimes.
But it is worth every penny. Rated as extra-lean it actually has a nutritional value and profile that rivals that of boneless, skinless chicken breast meat!
It lends itself beautifully to this type of recipe where it is going to be cooked quickly and easily.
Like Chicken breast, it can dry out very easily as well, so you don't want to be doing that if you can help it. Cooking it quickly at a high temperature is the way to go.
In this recipe it gets rubbed in a delicious herb mixture composed of garlic, fennel seeds, thyme and crushed red pepper flakes.
Over here they are called crushed chilis and they do pack a lot of heat, but there is just enough of them in this for you to know that they are there, but not so much as to be obnoxious.
Once you have rubbed the pork all over with the spice mixture, you then wrap it in Prosciutto, which is a type of Italian cured ham.
This helps to keep the flavours of the rub next to the pork and also helps to shield it from drying out too much.
The pork is roasted on a baking sheet with a quantity of vegetables. Sweet potatoes, red onions and brussels sprouts.
I have to confess that this is not my favourite way of cooking Brussels Sprouts. If I made this again I would replace them with another vegetable.
I don't really think Brussels Sprouts lend themselves well to being roasted, or maybe mine were just too small.
I ended up with lots of burnt leaves and chewy over-done sprouts. I think maybe green beans would be a better choice! Or even broccoli florets. Or maybe just really large brussels sprouts.
I don't really think Brussels Sprouts lend themselves well to being roasted, or maybe mine were just too small.
I ended up with lots of burnt leaves and chewy over-done sprouts. I think maybe green beans would be a better choice! Or even broccoli florets. Or maybe just really large brussels sprouts.
The Sweet Potatoes worked beautifully being roasted, as do the red onions. Both ended up beautifully caramelised.
When picking vegetables to roast along side of the pork, you will want to pick ones that will be cooked and lightly caramelised in the appropriate cook times. I think regular potatoes might take too long, but I could be wrong.
The Pork itself ended up beautifully cooked. Just slightly pink, which is okay today. Our modern pork is not as dangerous as it used to be years ago.
A small amount of pink indicates that it has been cooked well enough, but not so long as to have dried it out. Remember it will continue to cook whilst standing.
The flavour were spot on. It was moist and tender and had a lovely garlic kick. I also really enjoyed the flavour of the thyme and the fennel seeds.
Fennel can have a bit of a licorace quality to it, but not overpowering. It is a flavour that works very well with pork.
The prosciutto got nice and crisp without being dried out as well. Both were so yummy. The proscuitto lent a smoky and salty flavour, which is why you don't really want to have any salt in that rub you put on the pork.
I cut the pork into large thick slices as you can see. Just look at how juicy and tender that looks. If I make it again (and I will) I will make a nice sauce to serve with it.
Maybe something creamy and buttery. Nothing too spicy because I wouldn't want to take away from those lovely porchetta flavours.
I served this with some dauphinoise potatoes and baby peas. I buy the dauphinoise potatoes frozen, and they are beautiful. Absolutely beautiful.
If you keep a good variety of frozen potatoes and vegetables on hand you can go a bit wild with your protein and spend a bit of time on that because you know your sides are not going to take much of an effort.
The leftovers of this pork were lovely serve cold and sliced thinly with some potato salad. I highly recommend this Potato, Egg, and Green Bean Salad. You really don't need anything else. Its really nice.
At the end of the day we both really enjoyed this quick and easy supper. It fed the two of us for two days running and was not boring in the least.
It was deliciously different and is something I recommend and would/will make again on another occasion, with perhaps some different vegetables on the side. I give it an English Kitchen Two Thumbs Up!
Sheetpan Porchetta Dinner
Yield: 4
prep time: 10 Mcook time: 35 Mtotal time: 45 M
Nothing could be easier. Everything roasts on one baking sheet. If you line that with foil, clean-up is minimal! The meat is delicious, tender and perfectly cooked!
Ingredients:
- 2 TBS light olive oil
- 1 pound Brussels Sprouts, trimmed and halved
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1 extra large sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes
- 1 medium red onion, peeled and diced
- 1 tsp dried minced garlic
- 3/4 tsp dried thyme leaves
- 1/2 tsp bruised fennel seeds
- 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 1/4 pound pork tenderloin
- 4 thin slices of Italian Proscuitto
Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 225*C/425*F/ gas mark 7. Line a fairly large rimmed baking sheet with aluminium foil and spray with nonstick cooking spray.
- Mix the brussels sprouts in a bowl along wih 1 TBS of the oil and 1/4 tsp each of the salt and black pepper. Toss together and then place on the baking sheet.
- In the same bowl toss the sweet potato cubes and onions togeher with 2 tsp of the oil and 1/4 tsp each of the salt and black pepper. Place onto the baking sheet with the sprouts and then roast in the oven for 10 minutes.
- Pat your pork tenderloin dry and remove any silverskin using the edge of a sharp knife.
- Mix together all the spices and the remaining tsp of oil in a small bowl. Rub this mixture all over the pork tenderloin. Wrap the tenderloin in the proscuitto slices, tucking the ends underneath the tenderloin.
- Place onto the baking sheet with the vegetables. Roast in the heated oven for 23 to 25 minutes until the pork is no longer pink inside and the vegetables are tender. Tent with foil and let stand for 10 minutes before slicing.
This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The
English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are
reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you
may report it to me at: theenglishkitchen@mail.com
Thanks so much for visiting. Do come again!
Thanks so much for visiting. Do come again!
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