This is my fool-proof method to cook chicken breasts for use in other recipes, which results in perfectly cooked, moist and tender chicken breasts each time.
Its something which I started doing when I worked at the Manor. The microwave is perfect for cooking them and cooks them quickly and perfectly and its such an easy method to use.
You simply put your chicken breasts into a micro-wave safe dish, thick ends at the outside, smaller ends towards the middle . . . season them as you desire, add a small amount of liquid . . .
Cover them and then microwave on high for a specific time. You can also use plastic cling film if you want, or even greaseproof paper. All work well. If you are using plastic cling film, leave a corner open for venting.
They come out perfectly cooked and ready for other uses. I like to check the internal temperature just to make sure they are cooked through properly with a meat thermometer.
*Microwave Poached Chicken Breasts*
Two
tasty ways to poach chicken breasts in the microwave. Both work very
well, giving you delicious and succulent cooked chicken ready to use in
a multitude of chicken casseroles, etc.4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 T chicken broth, white wine, citrus juice or water
Trim the chicken breasts; place in a microwave-safe 9-inch glass pie plate, and arrange them with the thicker portions toward the outside of the dish. Drizzle with the chicken broth. Cover with microwave-safe plastic wrap. Make a vent for the dish by turning a small section of plastic wrap back on itself, leaving a slender vent on one side of the plate. Microwave on high for 6 to 8 minutes, turning after 4 minutes. Let stand covered until ready to serve.
Method Two:
60ml orange juice (1/4 cup)
2 TBS butter
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp salt
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
In an 8 x 8 inch microwave safe baking dish, mix orange juice, butter, pepper and salt. Microwave on high for 2 minutes. Place chicken in baking dish. Spoon liquid mixture over chicken and cover dish with wax paper. Microwave on high for 12 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.
You can of course use other seasonings and liquids. The secret is to have the tight cover so the juices do not evaporate in cooking.
They're really quite easy to prepare for cooking. You need to
first take a sharp paring knife and strip
away the stringy bit on the join at either side of each bean.
If you are
lucky enough to have one you can then feed
them through a bean slicer. If you don't have a bean slicer you can do
the same thing with a sharp knife. It will just take you a lot longer
to do it!
It doesn't work cutting them into cubes or diamonds.
If they're simply chopped into little diamond shapes, the skins take
longer to cook than the insides and they end up being either grey and
overcooked, or undercooked and tough.
I
came up with this delicious side dish when I was gifted with a nice bag
of runner beans and was trying to figure out something tasty to do with
them besides just boiling them.
a package of runner beans
(about 10 or so of them. If you don't have runner beans,
you could use a small packed of frozen french style beans)
1 medium leek
Pre-heat the oven to 180*C/350*F. Butter a 2 litre casserole dish very well.
Begin by layering in the bottom with a layer of the sliced potato and topping that with a layer of the bean and leek mix Sprinkle on some salt and pepper and flour and some of the grated cheese. Repeat the layers until all the potatoes and runner bean mixture are used up. You should have a bit of cheese left to sprinkle on top of the final layer. Top with crushed cracker crumbs and dot with butter.
Carefully pour the milk into the sides of the dish until you can just barely see the milk under the surface. You don’t want it to completely cover the potatoes. I use the tip of the knife to kind of lift the edges a bit as I am pouring it in. You want it to come up about ¾ of the way.
Cover loosely with foil and bake for about 45 minutes, then remove the foil and continue to bake until bubbly, the top is golden brown and the potatoes are tender (about half an hour longer).
Remove from the oven and let set a few minutes before serving.
I do hope you will give them a try and that you enjoy them as much as we did. If you can't get runner beans, then feel free to use regular haricot verts, or string beans. The taste difference would be negligible if there was any at all. Bon Appetit!
I cut mine by hand into long strips. I didn't simply want to steam them
however, I wanted to try to incorporate them into a tasty vegetable
bake.
I looked online to see if I could find anything there . . . but
everything I found used tomato sauce or tinned tomatoes. That did not
appeal to me in the least.
.
I wanted something rich and indulgent, and filling. I will admit, I
have gone a little bit off meat lately for some odd reason. I am
wanting vegetables and lots of them.
I have always enjoyed my veggies, and I love potatoes and so I decided
to incorporate the beans into one of my all time favourite potato dishes
. . . Escalloped Potatoes.
Layers of potato and onion cooked in milk
until meltingly knife tender . . .the potatoes absorbing the milk for
the most part, the rest becoming a butter sauce when the flour and
butter you also layer with the potatoes melds together.
A bit of cheese and seasoning and they get even tastier. I thought
adding a layer of runner beans and some leek (instead of onion) would
result in a really delicious vegetable bake!
I was right. This was fabulous. Todd had his with some sliced turkey.
I enjoyed mine on their own with some sliced ripe tomatoes on the side
and was as happy as happy could be!
*Escalloped Runner Beans and Potatoes*
Serves 4
Serves 4
a package of runner beans
you could use a small packed of frozen french style beans)
4 medium potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
Flour
Flour
240g of grated strong cheddar cheese (scant 2 cups)
Salt and pepper
Butter
cracker crumbs
Whole fat milk
Butter
cracker crumbs
Whole fat milk
First
prepare your runner beans. De string them, then cut them into 3 inch
lengths and slice them lengthwise into thin strips. If you are lucky
enough to have a runner bean slicer, you can use that. Trim the dark
green and root end from your leek. Wash it carefully and cut it into
thin rounds.
Cook the runner beans in a pot of lightly
salted water for about 6 minutes, adding the leeks for the last
minute. Drain all very well.
Pre-heat the oven to 180*C/350*F. Butter a 2 litre casserole dish very well.
Begin by layering in the bottom with a layer of the sliced potato and topping that with a layer of the bean and leek mix Sprinkle on some salt and pepper and flour and some of the grated cheese. Repeat the layers until all the potatoes and runner bean mixture are used up. You should have a bit of cheese left to sprinkle on top of the final layer. Top with crushed cracker crumbs and dot with butter.
Carefully pour the milk into the sides of the dish until you can just barely see the milk under the surface. You don’t want it to completely cover the potatoes. I use the tip of the knife to kind of lift the edges a bit as I am pouring it in. You want it to come up about ¾ of the way.
Cover loosely with foil and bake for about 45 minutes, then remove the foil and continue to bake until bubbly, the top is golden brown and the potatoes are tender (about half an hour longer).
Remove from the oven and let set a few minutes before serving.
I do hope you will give them a try and that you enjoy them as much as we did. If you can't get runner beans, then feel free to use regular haricot verts, or string beans. The taste difference would be negligible if there was any at all. Bon Appetit!
I was asked the other day how to cook cabbage. Cabbage is one of those vegetables that we just love in this house, but it is a very easily maligned vegetable, mostly because a lot of people cook it rather horribly. There is nothing more appealing than a plate of ather insipid and stinky overcooked boiled cabbage. Blah. Blah. Blah. Fresh cabbage, lightly cooked, is full of goodness, packed with vitamins, minerals and flavour and it’s not expensive or boring in the least.
Cabbage should always be eaten as fresh as possible – it loses nutrients if stored for too long. An unwrapped fresh cabbage should look bright and crisp, with its outer leaves intact (often if it’s had its outer leaves removed, it was because they were limp, which is not a good sign). The centre should feel firm and the leaves should squeak as you pull them apart. You will want to get rid of any discoloured or wimply outer leaves and then cut the cabbage into quarters. Remove and discard the core and then cut the cabbage crosswise into thin strips, about 1/3 inch in width, with a sharp knife. The secret to cooking cabbage is to cook it briefly in rapidly boiling water. I like to pack it down quite tightly into a saucepan, sprinkle with some fine sea salt. I then place the pan over a high heat, adding boiling water from the kettle. This comes back to the boil almost instantly. I then time it for 3 to 5 minutes. It is done when you can bite a piece and is just yields, much like cooking pasta. Drain it immediately in a large colander, tossing and pressing it lightly to extract as much water as possible from it. I use a bread and butter plate for this. I cut down into the cabbage with the edge of the plate which chops it lightly. You can then dress it with a bit of butter, some salt and pepper and serve it while it is nice and hot. Delicious!
I think the old school method of cooking most vegetables was to cook them pretty much to death for some reason. I have some very old cookbooks which recommend cooking carrots for 45 minutes, for instance. Absolutely all of the nutritional value would pretty much be boiled out by that time I would think! I wouldn't want to eat a carrot which had been boiled for that long. Neither would I want them rock hard. It is the same with most vegetables. There is a very fine line between them being overdone or underdone, but with a bit of practice anyone can get it right. You can find an excellent chart with cooking times here.
This dessert recipe that I am sharing with you today is wonderfully old fashioned and delicious. It is not a pudding in the usual sense that we think of a pudding as being. It is not a rich and creamy custard type of pudding.
What you have here instead is a lovely moist and dense cake, cut into squares and served warm with a lush Lemon & Nutmeg sauce spooned over top.
The cake itself is a simple cake . . . quickly beaten together, with a mild lemon flavor . . . On its own it's a very plain, simple, yet moist and delicious cake. Very good . . . but when you spoon over the warm sauce . . . it becomes quite remarkable!
This Lemon Nutmeg Sauce really makes this dessert. It is very simple to make and very simply flavored . . . with fresh lemon zest and juice, freshly grated nutmeg . . . and mmm . . . gorgeous dairy butter.
Who says delicious needs to be complicated???
INGREDIENTS NEEDED
TO MAKE AN OLD-FASHIONED
COTTAGE PUDDING
There really is nothing complicated here. What you have here are simple, ordinary ingredients, put together in the most delicious of ways!!
For the cake:
- 1/4 cup (55g) of white vegetable shortening
- 1 cup (190g) white sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 3/4 cup (219g) plain flour
- 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp lemon extract
- 2/3 cup (160ml) whole milk
For the Lemon & Nutmeg Sauce:
- 1/2 cup (95g) sugar
- 1 TBS cornstarch (corn flour) dissolved in 1/4 cup (60ml) cold water)
- pinch salt
- 1 1/4 cups (300ml) boiling water
- 3 TBS butter
- 1 tsp grated lemon zest
- 2 TBS fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
White shortening is a type of vegetable fat that is white in color. In North America you can use something like solid Crisco. In the U.K. you can use either White Flora or Trex. Both of these can be found in the chiller section of the grocery store.
Do not use self-rising flour, or sifted flour. This recipe is meant to use plain, all-purpose unsifted flour, simply spooned into the cup and leveled off.
If you are not fond of lemon extract, you can use a tsp of finely grated fresh lemon zest. Rub it into the sugar before creaming the sugar together with the fat in the recipe.
It is worth using fresh lemon zest and fresh lemon juice for the sauce and your own home-grated nutmeg if possible. Freshly grated nutmeg has a superior flavor!
HOW TO PREPARE
OLD FASHIONED COTTAGE PUDDING
As I always like to say, it's not rocket science!
TO MAKE THE CAKE PART:
- Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Butter an 8 or 9 inch square baking tin really well. Set aside.
- Cream together the shortening and sugar until light and fluffy.
- Beat in the egg, salt and lemon extract. Sift together the flour and baking powder. Stir this into the creamed mixture in three lots, alternating with the milk, beating well after each addition.
- Spread into the prepared pan and bake for 35 minutes until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
TO MAKE THE SAUCE:
- While the cake is baking make the sauce. Stir the sugar, salt and dissolved corn flour/water mixture together in a saucepan.
- Slowly whisk in the boiling water and cook, stirring constantly over medium heat until the mixture comes to a full rolling boil.
- Turn down to low and simmer for five minutes. Blend in the butter, lemon zest, nutmeg and lemon juice. Keep warm.
COTTAGE PUDDING FAQ
DO I NEED TO USE WHITE VEGETABLE SHORTENING?
I have never used anything but white vegetable shortening so I cannot say with any certainty that butter would work as well with the cake.
HOW TO STORE LEFTOVERS & REHEAT:
Wrap any cake up tightly with plastic cling wrap and store at room temperature. Store the sauce in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Slices of cake can be reheated gently in the microwave, for 10 seconds or so on high and the sauce can be reheated in a saucepan over low heat, or in the microwave for 60 seconds or so on high.
CAN I FREEZE THIS?
You can certainly freeze the cake part, properly wrapped, for up to three months. I do not recommend freezing the sauce as it may split.
A FEW OTHER
OLD-FASHIONED DESSERTS
TO ENJOY
ROLY POLY JAM PUDDING - I never bake this but what I think about that Beatrix Potter story about Tom Kitten and the Roly Poly Pudding. No worries, no kittens have been harmed in the making of this simple old fashioned and delicious pudding! A bit stodgy. A lot comforting. An old-fashioned suet dough spread with jam, rolled up and baked. Served warm, cut into slices and drizzled abundantly with custard sauce.
CHERRY BLUSHING BETTY - A simple dessert with cherry filling on the bottom, topped with an almond cake topping and flaked almonds. This is so easy to make. The cherry filling is already made, and you need only make the cake batter to bake over top. Served warm it is just wonderful served with a scoop of Vanilla Ice Cream on top.
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Yield: 6 servings
Cottage Pudding
Prep time: 15 MinCook time: 35 MinTotal time: 50 Min
This isn't really a pudding at all, but a moist and delicious cake that is anything but plain, served warm and cut into squares with a fabulous nutmeg sauce spooned over top. This is a very old recipe.
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 1/4 cup (55g) of white vegetable shortening
- 1 cup (190g)white sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 3/4 cup (219g) plain flour
- 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp lemon extract
- 2/3 cup (160ml) whole milk
For the Lemon & Nutmeg Sauce:
- 1/2 cup (95g) sugar
- 1 TBS cornstarch (corn flour) dissolved in 1/4 cup (60ml) cold water)
- pinch salt
- 1 1/4 cups (300ml) boiling water
- 3 TBS butter
- 1 tsp grated lemon zest
- 2 TBS fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Butter an 8 or 9 inch square baking tin really well. Set aside.
- Cream together the shortening and sugar until light and fluffy.
- Beat in the egg, salt and lemon extract. Sift together the flour and baking powder. Stir this into the creamed mixture in three lots, alternating with the milk, beating well after each addition.
- Spread into the prepared pan and bake for 35 minutes until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- While the cake is baking make the sauce. Stir the sugar, salt and dissolved corn flour/water mixture together in a saucepan.
- Slowly whisk in the boiling water and cook, stirring constantly over medium heat until the mixture comes to a full rolling boil.
- Turn down to low and simmer for five minutes. Blend in the butter, lemon zest, nutmeg and lemon juice. Keep warm.
- To serve cut the cake into squares and spoon some of the warm sauce over top.
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I first saw this Carrot Cake Roll on La Table De Nana (one of my favourite spaces) back in July of this year.
It looked fabulous, but then everything she makes looks fabulous. Monique is such a talented lady in so very many ways.
As recipes go, she had purloined it from French at Isa's, but also gave a link to an English version to be found here.
It is a fabulous cake in any language.
Carrot cake is my husband's favourite kind of cake. As soon as I saw Moniques, I had in mind to make this for him and that's just what I did today. It only took me two months to get to it, haha.
And then I had to search and search for her photo of it so I could find the recipe. Note to self: from now on pin what you want to make. Just don't take it for granted that you can easily find it again!
So after much searching I found it again and set out to make it for my husband. I used the English version and adapted it a tiny bit.
I have incuded the recipe in both linear and metric measures.
Its a very easy cake to make. There is no fat in the batter, unless you count the eggs. I used large free range eggs. The size had not been specified, but large free range worked perfectly.
There is rather a lot of sugar however . . . almost as much sugar as flour. I am not sure if you could cut that down or not.
I added chopped raisins and toasted walnuts to the batter as well. I like carrot cakes to have raisins and walnuts in them.
I just put them into a coffee mug and chopped away with my kitchen scissors. Easy peasy. Worked a charm.
My filling didn't turn out as solid as the original recipe did. I think that is because of the difference in cream cheese between North America and over here in the UK.
Our has a lot more liquid in it. Not sure how I can fix that either . . . but as far as taste went, it didn't really matter too much.
My husband really, really enjoyed this cake. I would make it again for company. I think its a good solid recipe. Easy and delicious, pretty and much more interesting than a normal carrot cake.
*Carrot Cake Roll*
Serves 12
For the filling:
170g cream cheese, at room temperature (6 ounces)
4 TBS butter, at room temperature
260g sifted icing sugar (2 cups)
1 tsp pure vanilla
You will also need:
icing sugar to dust (optional)
toasted walnut halves (optional)
Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F. gas mark
4. Line a 10-inch by 15-inch rimmed sheet pan with aluminium foil and
spray it well with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside.
Crack the eggs into bowl and beat well for about 5 minutes until thick and creamy. They should get lighter in colour. Beat in the sugar, salt and vanilla. Sift the flour and spices together. Stir in the raisins and walnuts. Stir this into the egg mixture to combine. Stir in the carrots. Spread the mixture into the prepared pan, spreading it to completely cover and fill to the edges.
Bake for 9 to 11 minutes, until just done. The top should spring back when lightly touched, but it should not have browned too much.
While the cake is baking place a large cotton tea towel on a flat surface and dust with icing sugar. As soon as you remove the cake from the oven, carefully invert it over the icing sugar dusted tea towel. Carefully remove the foil. (If you have sprayed it generously, this won't be a problem) Starting from a short end, fold a bit of the end of the tea towel over the end of the cake and the roll it up tightly in the towel. Leave to cool completely.
To make the filling beat the cream cheese and butter together until fluffy. Beat in the icing sugar and vanilla.
When the cake is completely cold, carefully unroll and spread the filling evenly over top. Re-roll. Refrigerate for about an hour to firm it up. Place onto a decorative plate, dust with icing sugar, place toasted walnut halves decoratively on top and serve. Cut into slices to serve.
Store in the refrigerator. You can freeze the finished cake, wrapped tightly in cling film, for up to one month.
Crack the eggs into bowl and beat well for about 5 minutes until thick and creamy. They should get lighter in colour. Beat in the sugar, salt and vanilla. Sift the flour and spices together. Stir in the raisins and walnuts. Stir this into the egg mixture to combine. Stir in the carrots. Spread the mixture into the prepared pan, spreading it to completely cover and fill to the edges.
Bake for 9 to 11 minutes, until just done. The top should spring back when lightly touched, but it should not have browned too much.
While the cake is baking place a large cotton tea towel on a flat surface and dust with icing sugar. As soon as you remove the cake from the oven, carefully invert it over the icing sugar dusted tea towel. Carefully remove the foil. (If you have sprayed it generously, this won't be a problem) Starting from a short end, fold a bit of the end of the tea towel over the end of the cake and the roll it up tightly in the towel. Leave to cool completely.
To make the filling beat the cream cheese and butter together until fluffy. Beat in the icing sugar and vanilla.
When the cake is completely cold, carefully unroll and spread the filling evenly over top. Re-roll. Refrigerate for about an hour to firm it up. Place onto a decorative plate, dust with icing sugar, place toasted walnut halves decoratively on top and serve. Cut into slices to serve.
Store in the refrigerator. You can freeze the finished cake, wrapped tightly in cling film, for up to one month.
Yield: 12 servings
Carrot cake Roll
Prep time: 20 MinCook time: 11 MinInactive time: 1 HourTotal time: 1 H & 31 M
Its carrot cake, rolled up with a cream cheese filling. Deliciously simple.
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 3 large free range eggs
- 126g caster sugar (2/3 cup, can use granulated)
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp ground cardamom
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 105g of plain flour (3/4 cup)
- 2 medium carrots grated (about 2 cups)
- 75g raisins, chopped (1/2 cup)
- 60g chopped toasted walnuts (1/2 cup)
For the filling:
- 170g cream cheese, at room temperature (6 ounces)
- 4 TBS butter, at room temperature
- 260g sifted icing sugar (2 cups)
- 1 tsp pure vanilla
You will also need:
- icing sugar to dust (optional)
- toasted walnut halves (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F. gas mark 4. Line a 10-inch by 15-inch rimmed sheet pan with aluminum foil and spray it well with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside.
- Crack the eggs into bowl and beat well for about 5 minutes until thick and creamy. They should get lighter in color. Beat in the sugar, salt and vanilla.
- Sift the flour and spices together. Stir in the raisins and walnuts. Stir this into the egg mixture to combine. Stir in the carrots.
- Spread the mixture into the prepared pan, spreading it to completely cover and fill to the edges.
- Bake for 9 to 11 minutes, until just done. The top should spring back when lightly touched, but it should not have browned too much.
- While the cake is baking, place a large cotton tea towel on a flat surface and dust with icing sugar. As soon as you remove the cake from the oven, carefully invert it over the icing sugar dusted tea towel. Carefully remove the foil. (If you have sprayed it generously, this won't be a problem)
- Starting from a short end, fold a bit of the end of the tea towel over the end of the cake and the roll it up tightly in the towel. Leave to cool completely.
- To make the filling beat the cream cheese and butter together until fluffy. Beat in the icing sugar and vanilla.
- When the cake is completely cold, carefully unroll and spread the filling evenly over top. Re-roll. Refrigerate for about an hour to firm it up.
- Place onto a decorative plate, dust with icing sugar, place toasted walnut halves decoratively on top and serve. Cut into slices to serve.
- Store in the refrigerator. You can freeze the finished cake, wrapped tightly in cling film, for up to one month.
This made the perfect cake to celebrate the beginning of Autumn and the weekend.
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!
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