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Showing posts sorted by relevance for query sandwich. Sort by date Show all posts
True confession here. I love chicken (or turkey) and stuffing more than anything in the world. Even more than a good steak, and that is saying a lot!
When we have a roasted chicken or turkey dinner I always double up on the stuffing. Its quite simply a favourite with us all. It has ever been so.
That means that this Chicken and Stuffing Casserole also figures high on our list of things we love. And for a variety of reasons! First of all there is the stuffing, an abundance of it covering the top, crisp on the outside and yet moist beneath.
Secondly there is its ease of preparation. This really could NOT be easier to make. Things are simply layered in baking dish, covered and baked.
Prepared stuffing mix. Tinned soup with milk. Boneless, skinless chicken breasts. Canned green beans.
Yes, canned cream of chicken soup. I am not a canned soup snob. So many are and I just don't get it. I think it has great value in the kitchen and in your store cupboard.
I was brought up on it and it never killed me. Not once. I am now 65 years old and I have not suffered any ill effects from eating canned cream of chicken soup, nor canned cream of mushroom soup for that matter.
Actually I have not suffered any ill effects from eating any canned soup. It has its place and anyone who turns their nose up it is being a tiny bit pretentious in my opinion.
I don't meant to offend anyone by saying that. So my apologies if you are offended. I feel that things like this have a very valid place in my kitchen at least and I always have a few tins in the cupboard.
They are great to use in casseroles or as quick and simple sauces. With a few additions, Bob's Your Uncle. If you are worried about salt and fat there are low sodium and low fat options readily available these days.
If you really don't want to use tinned soups, you can replace them with a simple homemade cream sauce. For every cup of cream sauce you want, melt 1 TBS of butter in a saucepan. Once it has melted whisk in 1 TBS of flour for every cup of sauce you want to make.
Whisk it into the butter and let it cook for several minutes to cook out any flour flavour. Then whisk in 1/2 cup (120ml) of chicken stock, and 1/2 cup (120ml) of milk for every cup of sauce you need.
Cook, whisking constantly over medium heat, until the mixture comes to a boil and thickens. Leave to simmer on low for a few minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning as required, and its ready to use. Easy peasy.
Full disclosure here. My casserole got a little bit too dark. Somehow the temperature got turned up a bit too high (not naming any names) and so . . . it still tasted delicious, it just was no as pretty as it should have been!
This is an old, old recipe. Probably copied from a magazine years ago and meant to advertise soup and stuffing mix. I have adapted it through time to suit my own family and what they like.
I added a can of green beans. Another casserole we really love is green bean casserole and I thought canned green beans would work wonderfully in it. I was right. They do.
When we were children my mother could not get us to eat mushroom soup. There was no way we were going to even touch the tips of our tongues to it. No way. No how.
I guess we were somewhat picky in that respect, and maybe even a bit spoiled.
Then when I was ten years old we took an exciting adventure almost all the way across the North American Continent. My father's job took him from the wilds of Manitoba to the stony shores and cosy inlets of Nova Scotia.
My parents took advantage of the trip to take us on a bit of a holiday. We had never been on one in our lives. We went down from Manitoba into the Dakotas and across the Northern part of America to my mother's cousin Polly's home in Vermont. What an adventure that was for us!
We got to stay in a Howard Johnson Hotel and have chips/fries and hotdogs for lunch every day if we wanted to. And we got to meet a part of our family that we had only ever heard about but had never spent time with.
My brother, sister and I loved being at Poly and Red's house and meeting our third cousins. We got to experience the joys of extended family and we got to enjoy Green Bean Casserole for the first time in our lives and we love LOVED it!
Even if it was made with Cream of Mushroom Soup. To be honest, I doubt we were told until after we had eaten it and enjoyed it.
For the most part my mother made her own soups from scratch. French Canadian Pea Soup from the Easter ham bone, and turkey/beef/chicken vegetable soups from the leftovers of roast and Thanksgiving dinners. Mom always had containers of soup in the freezer.
Every other kind of soup came from a can. Tomato. Vegetable, etc. To this day I love Heinz Tomato Soup with all of my heart. Especially if it comes with a grilled cheese sandwich along side.
I never experienced homemade tomato soup until I was an adult and had made it myself. And it is gorgeous I will admit.
I love LOVE homemade tomato soup, but if you are in a hurry and just want some comfort in a bowl, you cannot beat a bowl of Heinz Tomato soup in my opinion.
So I guess that was an awfully round about way of convincing you that canned soups have a real purpose to serve in the modern day kitchen. They fulfil taste needs that nothing else quite can. Hence, I am not a canned soup snob.
This casserole is not quite the same without it and neither is green bean casserole. Or tuna casserole for that matter. Or meatballs and gravy, or poor man's steak.
Just one glutton's opinion.
I aways like to serve this with mashed potatoes. It also goes very well with baked potatoes or even rice if you are so inclined. We enjoy the comfort of mash.
I do use frozen mash these days. There is only two of us and its quite practical. Back when I was raising five children I had to peel a lot of spuds to fill them up. A poncey bag of frozen mash would not have cut the mustard. I used to peel five pounds at a time and fill a stock pot.
When three of those five are boys with hollow legs, you need a lot of mash. Frozen mash is quite adequate for us and with a few additions you cannot tell the difference between that and the real thing. Never dry mashed potato flakes. Those are not the same and my taste buds know it.
I tried to balance it all out with a salad on the side. What you see here is a sandwich plate. I always eat from a sandwich plate. Todd uses a larger full sized one. He doesn't eat salad if he can help it. He is a thin as a rail.
Yes, it IS most annoying, and to be honest I don't think it is fair at all, but then again. My mother taught us that life was not always going to be fair. The end.
Chicken & Stuffing Casserole
Yield: 6
prep time: 10 Mincook time: 45 Mininactive time: 10 Mintotal time: 1 H & 4 M
This delicious casserole is very simple to put together. I usually divide it into two casserole dishes and freeze one for a later date. All you need is some mashed potatoes and a salad on the side and you have a meal fit for a king!
Ingredients:
- 6 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
- 2 cans of condensed cream of chicken soup (10 3/4 oz or 295g each)
- 2 tsp dried parsley flakes
- 2/3 cup (160ml) of milk
- 1 (4 serving size) can of cut green beans, drained well
- 1 (6 oz) box of stove top stuffing mix, prepared according to package directions (Here in the UK use any package of stuffing mix prepared according to package directions)
Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F/ gas mark 6. Butter a 9 X 13 inch baking dish well. Lay the chicken breasts in the pan in a single layer and scatter the drained green beans in between each.
- Whisk together the soups and the milk. Stir in the parsley. Pour this mixture over top of the chicken and green beans. Sprinkle the prepared stuffing mix over top evenly.
- Cover tightly with aluminium foil. Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes. Uncover and bake for 20 to 25 minutes longer, until chicken is cooked through and juices run clear.
- Let stand for about 10 minutes prior to serving.
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Just as promised here I am today with Ten easy and elegant dessert parfaits! Oh, I do so love to make dessert parfaits in the summer time!
For one thing they make great use of all of the fresh fruit that we have available and coming into season, especially berries!
Our strawberries are finished now, but you can still get good local ones in the shops. There are also plenty of blueberries, raspberries and the blackberries are just beginning!
These Raspberry, Ice Cream and Brownie Parfaits are a real favourite and so easy to do. Especially if you have some ready made brownies about.
The berries are sweetened with a bit of sugar and then layered in pretty glasses along with softened vanilla ice cream, crumbled brownies and milk chocolate chips!
What's not to like about that? Nothing! These are so simple to make and oh so tasty!
If you don't have brownies, you could use chocolate cookies, or pound cake . . . crumbled vanilla sandwich cookies, etc. The world is your oyster!
You can let your imagination go wild with these!
If you wanted to you could even macerate your raspberries with a bit of Chambord raspberry liqueur, or drizzle with a bit of Mozart Dark Chocolate liqueur for something really special, especially if you are entertaining!
Raspberry, Ice Cream & Chocolate Brownie Parfait
Yield: 4
A little taste of Heaven on Earth I believe.
ingredients:
- 250g fresh raspberries (2 cups)
- 2 TBS sugar
- 450g vanilla ice cream (2 cups)
- 4 brownies, crumbled
- 2 TBS milk chocolate chips
instructions:
How to cook Raspberry, Ice Cream & Chocolate Brownie Parfait
- Sprinkle the sugar over the raspberries and let sit for a few minutes to macerate. Stir the ice cream until a bit soft and then begin layering the ingredients into four parfait or decorative glasses, beginning with a bit of ice cream, half a crumbled brownie, some of the berries, some more ice cream, more crumbled brownie, more berries and some chocolate chips to finish. Serve immediately.
One of my absolute favourite combinations however has to be these Mixed Berry and Lemon Cream parfaits!
A mix of berries is macerated in orange juice and sugar (you could use Cointreau or Gran Marnier if you wanted to.) You whip some cream and fold in lemon curd.
And then layer the berries and some crumbled shortbread biscuits along with the cream in pretty glasses. Oh boy, so yummy!
Summer Berry & Lemon Cream Parfaits
Yield: 4
So delicious you won't be able to resist!
ingredients:
- 450g mixed summer berries (strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries) (2 cups)
- 2 TBS sugar
- the juice of 1/2 orange
- 240ml double cream (1 cup)
- 2 heaped dessertspoons of lemon curd (1/4 cup)
- a few crumbled shortbread biscuits
instructions:
How to cook Summer Berry & Lemon Cream Parfaits
- Sprinkle the sugar and the orange juice over the berries in a bowl. Leave to macerate while you make the lemon cream.
- Whip the cream until soft peaks form. Fold in the lemon curd.
- Crumble the biscuits. How many you will need will depend on how many biscuit crumbs you want in your parfaits. I would calculate one biscuit per parfait.
- Have ready four decorative glasses or parfait cups. Beginning with the cream, layer in the fruit, biscuit crumbs and lemon cream, ending with a dollop of the cream on top, plus a few berries and some biscuit crumbs to garnish. Chill in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
*Eight Easy & Elegant Dessert Parfaits*
Each serves four
Parfaits
are perfect, quick, easy and delicious desserts to serve! They take
advantage of the natural flavours of fresh fruit and they don't require
baking. A plus in the summer when fresh fruit is readily available!
Here are some suggestions for some delicious combinations!
Strawberry Parfaits:
Sprinkle 450g (2 cups) sliced strawberries with 95g (1 cup) of sugar,
the grated zest and juice of one orange and 1 TBS Balsamic vinegar. Set
aside for 15 minutes. Whip 240ml heavy cream (1 cup) with 95g sugar
(1/2 cup) until soft peaks form. Starting with the fruit and ending
with the cream, make 3 layers in each of 4 dessert glasses.
Ricotta Cheese, Walnut & Honey Parfaits:
Stir enough heavy cream into 250g ricotta cheese (2 cups) to obtain a
soft consistency. Starting with the cheese building the parfaits in 3
layers, drizzling each layer with some nicely flavoured honey (Greek is
lovely) and a sprinkling with portion of chopped toasted walnuts.
Finish with honey and nuts.
Pineapple Caramel Sundae Parfaits: Sprinkle
450g (2 cups) chopped fresh pineapple with a few spoonfuls of soft
light brown sugar, or to taste. Stir 450g (1 pint) of vanilla frozen
yogurt until soft. Starting with the pineapple, layer in the pineapple
and frozen yogurt in four dessert glasses. Drizzle with some prepared
caramel sauce and serve immediately.
Jelly Parfaits: Prepare
a package of cherry or raspberry jelly according to the package
directions and pour into 4 dessert glasses. Add mixed berries, sliced
strawberries, or sliced banana and refrigerate until the jelly is firm.
Top with a dollop of whipped cream or creme fraiche and a scattering of
the fruit you have used in the jelly.
Mixed Berry Creme Fraiche Parfaits:
Sprinkle a few spoonfuls of sugar over 125g (1 cup) of blueberries and
125g (1 cup) of raspberries to sweet them to taste. Add the grated zest
and juice of one lemon. Let sit for about 5 minutes. Whip 120g (1
cup) of creme fraiche with 30g (1/4 cup) sour cream until fluffy.
Starting with the berries, layer the berries and creme fraiche mixture in
four glasses and chill until needed to serve.
Ambrosia Parfaits: Sprinkle
a few spoonfuls of sugar over the peeled segments of 1 orange and 1
grapefruit (with their juices) to sweeten the fruit. Starting with the
fruit, layer wedges with whipped cream and coconut flakes in each of
four glasses. Top with a scoop of marshmallow fluff and a maraschino or
fresh cherry to serve.
Chocolate Sandwich Cookie Parfaits:
Stir a 450g (1 pint) of chocolate ice cream to soften slightly.
Starting with the ice cream, layer the ice cream with crumbled chocolate
sandwich cookies (2 for each parfait) in each of four dessert glasses.
Drizzle each layer of cookie with chocolate sauce. Top with a dollop
of whipped cream and some chocolate chips, chunks or shavings. Serve
immediately.
Its truly amazing what you can do with a bit of imagination and whats in the store cupboard when it comes to creating simple and delicious summer desserts! Happy Weekend!
Up tomorrow: Chocolate Birthday Cake
Its not very often that I can afford to buy a really good steak to eat. Food, especially meat, is becoming more expensive with each day that passes and steak is one of the things that is one of the more expensive items.
Occasionally though I come across a bargain. If you get to the shops early in the day you will often find things marked down that are right on their sell by date and need to be eaten or frozen right on the day.
It was just my luck one day to happen upon a bone in rib eye one day, at 30% off. Although I wasn't planning on cooking steak that day, I snapped it up.
I knew that I could bring it home and, properly wrapped, freeze it for a future date!
.JPG "Rib Eye Steak")
I decided to cook it the other day. It was a bone-in cap-off rib eye steak. Just the right size for two people to enjoy. One inch thick.
I ended up with a tender and juicy, delicious rib eye steak, cooked to juicy perfection. Seasoned with fresh herbs and cooked to a golden crust with plenty of garlic and butter.
.JPG "Rib Eye Steak")
Oh boy but it was some good!! Fancy food that I wouldn't normally eat every day. It was a real treat!
You don't have to go out to a fancy restaurant to enjoy a juicy steak dinner. You can cook one perfectly and deliciously in the comfort of your own home.
This can be a bit intimidating to some people, but if you follow my handy tips and suggestions, there is no reason why you can't cook a delicious steak to perfection in your own home as well!
.JPG "Rib Eye Steak")
It goes without saying that, if you want to enjoy a perfect steak, you have to first start out with the perfect cut of meat.
For panfrying, broiling or grilling, I wouldn't recommend anything less than a good quality sirloin, rib eye or filet steak. Steak that has been properly aged on the bone will give you the best flavor.
I also like to start with my meat being at room temperature. Take your steaks out of the fridge at least half an hour before cooking or longer if possible. Some cooks eschew seasoning the meat prior to cooking.
.JPG "Rib Eye Steak")
I am a firm believer, however, in salting the meat prior to cooking. The heat helps to seal in the salt, allowing it to penetrate and really flavor the surface of the meat.
That old idea about the salt drawing out the moisture and meat juices doesn't really wash with me.
If pan frying, which is my preferred method, you want to use a really heavy skillet, heated to a hot temperature. Brush your seasoned meat with some butter, and then place it in the hot pan. Alternately you can have a nice knob of butter ready and foaming in the hot pan.
.JPG "Rib Eye Steak")
Cook for several minutes to sear the first side, and then flip over and finish searing it on the second side.
Don't turn your steak any more than once. Turning it over and over, is what causes the meat juices to release and your steak ends up stewing instead of frying.
I like to use the finger test when judging the doneness of my meat. It works perfectly every time. This is a simple way to judge how done your meat is. The further your thumb has to move across your hand, the more resilient the ball of muscle in your hand becomes.
.JPG "Rib Eye Steak")
The amount of resistance felt by your opposing finger when compared against the same finger pressed onto your meat is an excellent gauge in guessing as to how done your meat is.
First finger stage: for blue meat and lightly cooked fish.
Touch your thumb to it's opposing first finger and press the ball of your thumb with the tip of a finger of the other hand, the ball will offer no resistance.
The surface should be seared in steak, and firm, and the beads of meat juice not yet risen to the surface. The meat is rare to almost blue when cut with a mild flavor.
.JPG "Rib Eye Steak")
Second finger stage: for rare meat.
Touch your second finger to your thumb and press the ball of your thumb. The ball will feel spongy. The meat should be well browned and spongy when pressed in the center.
It should be firm at the sides and any beads of juice on the surface should be deep pink. The meat when cut is read, juicy and aromatic.
Third finger stage: For medium cooked meat, game or duck, or well done fish.
Touch your third finger to your thumb and press the ball of your thumb. The ball will feel resilient.
The surface should be crusty brown and the meat should resist when the center is pressed. Firm at the side, the juices on the surface should be pink, and when cut the meat is juicy, deep pink and well flavored.
.JPG "Rib Eye Steak")
Fourth finger stage: For well done meat, or poultry.
Touch your fourth finger to your thumb and press the ball of your thumb. The ball will feel firm.
The surface of the meat will be crusty brown and dry and the meat will feel quite firm when touched in the centre. Beads of juice on the surface of the meat will be clear and when cut no pink juices will be visible.
.JPG "Rib Eye Steak")
I like my steaks medium rare. This is something I learned not to ask for in France. It always came raw, or blue. 😖 Apparently the term medium rare takes on a whole new context on the continent!
Anyways, I really enjoyed my steak the other day, cooked simply in the garlic and butter, with those lovely flavored herbs pressed into its surface. It was beautiful.
I enjoyed it with some of the Broken Potatoes Recipe I shared the other day and some fresh steamed green beans. It went down a real treat!
.JPG "Rib Eye Steak")
Here are a few more steak recipes you might be interested in!
GARLIC STEAK BITES AND POTATOES - Quick, easy and delicious, the steak is sliced and marinated in a soy/sriracha marinade while you cook the potatoes.
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.
This is a tiny bit spicy and a tiny bit salty. In short, incredibly tasty!!
GRILLED STEAK SANDWICH - This pub style steak sandwich is an open faced sandwich that even a lady can feel comfortable eating. Light enough to please a delicate palate, but hearty enough to please a man, especially if you add some chips (fries) on the side!
Rib Eye Steak
Yield: 2
Prep time: 10 MinCook time: 10 MinInactive time: 6 MinTotal time: 26 Min
A delicious steak, rubbed with fresh herbs and browned in butter and garlic. Perfectly cooked and delicious!
Ingredients
- 1/2 pound (bone in) rib eye steak (about 1 to 1 1/2 inch thick)
- fine sea salt to taste
- freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 2 tsp chopped fresh rosemary
- 1 tsp fresh thyme leaves
- 1 TBS butter
- 1/2 TBS olive oil
- 2 small cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
- chopped fresh parsley to garnish
Instructions
- Remove the steak from the fridge. Pat it dry with paper towels and season it generously on both sides with salt. Leave it to sit on the counter for 30 minutes.
- Season with black pepper and rub the herbs into the surface of the steak on top and bottom.
- Place a heavy bottomed skillet over medium heat. (Cast iron is ideal if you have it.)
- Add the butter and oil, swirling to coat the bottom of the pan.
- Add the steak to the skillet and cook for 5 minutes on one side, or until browned on the bottom. Turn over and add the garlic to the pan.
- Continue to cook or a further 3 to 5 minutes longer, basting with the butter drippings. (This is easily done by tilting the pan to spoon the butter drippings.)
- Thicker steaks will take longer to cook. Mine was about 1 inch thick and it was perfect at 3 minutes. The steak will continue to cook after you remove it from the pan.
- Remove to a cutting board and leave to rest for 5 to 6 minutes before slicing and serving.
- Serve garnished with chopped parsley and your favorite sides.
Thanks so much for visiting! Do come again!
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