I just love cooking with boneless, skinless chicken breasts. They're very versatile and there is no limit to the manner of ways in which you can dress them up!

You must be really careful when you are cooking them, mind . . . for an overcooked chicken breast, dry and tasteless has about as much flavour and as much texture as an old boot . . . and it has taken me years of experimentation to get my cooking times down pat.



A tasty piece of chicken breast is the perfect canvas on which to paint a delicious dinner. This recipe, for example shows you how, with just a few additional ingredients, you can create a dinner that is sumptuous and special enough to serve to your honey on an intimate occasion. It's very easy to increase the quantities though, should you want to serve this to more . . .



I guarantee your honey will love it . . .



hmm . . . you may want to double it anyways . . . just in case.



They do say the way to a man's heart is through his stomach. ☺

♥ ♥ ♥ I heartily concur ♥ ♥ ♥



*Bacon Wrapped Chicken for Two*
Serves 2
Printable Recipe

This is quick delicious and special enough to serve for a intimate dinner a deux! It's also quite easy to double the quantities to serve more than two.

2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 ounces crumbled blue stilton
2 heaped TBS chopped toasted walnuts
1 spring onion, finely shredded
4 slices of good quality dry cure smoked streaky bacon
olive oil
1 TBS butter
1 TBS plain flour
4 ounces chicken stock
2 ounces single cream
1 TBS grainy french mustard

Pre-heat the oven to 190*C/375*F. Get out a shallow baking dish large enough to hold two portions. Set aside.

Take your chicken breasts, and using a very sharp knife, cut them in half horizontally, not quite all the way through, so that you can open them up like a book. Pound them lightly with your fist. Season well with salt and pepper on both sides. Divide the spring onion amongst the two pieces, placing it on one half of the book and leaving a bit of a border on the edge. Sprinkle with the blue cheese, in the same way, as well as the toasted walnuts. Bring the other half of the chicken breast over top to cover the filling completely encasing it. Using two strips of bacon per breast, wrap them around the chicken securely. Fasten with toothpicks so that it won't unroll.

Heat a medium nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Add a touch of olive oil and then brown the chicken breasts on all sides evenly. This will take 5 or 6 minutes. Place the browned breasts into the baking dish and pop them into the oven and roast for 8 to 10 minutes longer or until the juices run clear. Do not overcook.

While they are baking make the sauce as follows.

Melt the butter in a saucepan. Whisk in the flour. Cook and stir for about a minute before whisking in the chicken stock. Cook, whisking, until it thickens then wisk in the cream and the mustard. Het through. Taste and adjust seasoning as necessary.

Remove your chicken from the oven. Cut in half diagonally and place on heated plates. Drizzle with a bit of the sauce and serve.

Mushroom rice and a tossed salad goes very well with this. Enjoy!

By heck!!! We've sure had a miserable week here in the UK weatherwise these past few days. All's there has been is rain, wind and . . . well . . . more rain. It's been cold and windy and downright horrible.



It's all a body can do to keep warm and dry . . . and comfortable. Where, just a few short weeks ago, we were complaining about the AGA being far too warm and wondering if we had turned it on too soon . . .

Our chattering teeth and cold damp tootsies now convince us that it was a wise move altogether . . . and we pat each other on the back in congratulations for having had so much forethought.



We are thankful though . . . Our little cottage is warm and dry, and it is not under eight feet of water . . . our hearts, prayers and thoughts go out to those whose homes are . . .



These are comfort food days . . . *stick to your ribs* food days . . .



Home . . . warmth . . . comfort . . . food . . . love. Funny how all those words make your toes curl with pleasure, and your heart feel all warm inside.

Is love . . . food for the soul . . . or is food . . . love for the soul . . .

You decide.



*Marie's Burger Delight*
Serves 6
Printable Recipe

Yes, this is an unusual list of ingredients, but trust me when I tell you that this is fabulously delicious. Everyone loves this. You will too.

2 TBS sunflower oil
750g of extra lean minced beef
1 large onion, peeled and chopped
1 OXO beef cube
1 fat clove of garlic, peeled and minced
salt and black pepper to taste
418g tin of creamed corn
295g tin of condensed tomato soup
1/2 jar of Ragu spaghetti sauce
300g spaghetti noodles, broken in to bits (I'll tell you how to do
this easily and quickly)
200g of grated strong cheddar cheese, or an Italian cheese mix

Heat the cooking oil in a large skillet. Add the beef, onion, garlic, crumbled oxo cube and salt and black pepper to taste. Cook, and stir until the meat is nicely browned and the vegetables are softened. Stir in the corn, tomato soup and the spaghetti sauce. Mix together well, taste and adjust seasoning as necessary.

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to the boil. Take your spaghetti out of the packet and roll it up in a clean tea towel, like a salami. Holding tightly onto both ends of the roll run it down the edge of the countertop from top to bottom several times. This will break your spaghetti into 1 to 2 inch bits. Drop these into the boiling water. Cook until al dente, according to your package directions. Drain well and then stir the cooked spaghetti into the meat mixture.

Pre-heat the oven to 180*C/350*F.

Stir half of the cheese into the spaghetti mixture. Lightly grease a 3.5 litre casserole dish. Pour the spaghetti mixture into this and then cover with the remaining cheese. Cover with a lid and bake for 35 to 40 minutes. Uncover and bake for 15 to 20 minutes longer, until nicely browned on top. Remove from the oven and serve.

It may be surprising to know that chestnuts have been a staple food in continental Europe much longer than the potato. It's taken us British a bit longer to embrace it's goodness, but I think we can safely say that it has become well ensconced in our diets and favour. Indeed you can find delicious recipes using this very versatile and flavourful ingredient scattered amongst cookery books from the 19th century onwards . . . puddings, soups, sauces and savoury stuffings . . .

Chestnuts differ a great deal from other nuts in that they have a high starch and water content, yet are low in protein and fats, which makes them ideal for storage. Dried and ground, they can be easily incorporated into breads, cereals, soups and batters.

In Britain wild sweet chestnuts are generally not available until they fall from off the trees in late October, and in a good year a lucky harvester can come away easily with a carrier bag or two! Plump, smooth and shiny, be sure to avoid any that are wrinkly or dried looking, and don't confuse the nuts from the horse chestnut tree with edible sweet chestnuts. They are completely un-related in the edible sense and the horse chestnuts are only really good for conkers! Edible sweet chestnuts are encased in a shell of long sharp spikes and inside there will be anywhere's from two to four nuts.

If you are lucky enough to have a bag of them and want to prepare them for roasting and eating I would suggest that you soak them in some water for a good 30 minutes before scoring them with a sharp knife on their rounded side and then roasting them in a hot oven for 25 to 30 minutes . . . and there is no tastier treat than to buy a fresh bag of hot roasted chestnuts from a street vendor in the depths of a cold December's day . . .




I recently purchased some delicious sweetened vanilla flavoured chestnut puree and was able to create a delicious dessert for some guests we had here at the cottage a few nights ago. I am sure most of you have heard of Mont Blanc, which is essentially a dessert composed of tasty meringues, sweetened chestnut puree and chantilly cream. (sweetened whipped cream)



The chestnut puree was so delicious, I could have just stood there and eaten it by the spoonful, right out of the tin . . . but . . .

that would have been quite greedy, don't you think??? And . . . I do like to share . . .



Not only was this incredibly easy to put together, but it was most impressive to look at and had our dinner guests ooohing and ahhing all over the place . . . especially the ladies.

Every spoonful was bliss . . . total . . . and utterly . . . bliss. But don't take my word for it. Try it out for yourselves. I think you'll quite . . . quite . . . like it.

A lot!




*Mont Blanc*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe

This has to be one of the easiest and the tastiest desserts around. Your guests will think you have slaved all day.

4 glasses with stems
8 to 12 small plain meringues
250ml of double cream, chilled
2 TBs icing sugar
400g sweet vanilla flavoured chestnut puree
chocolate sprinkles (optional)



Crumble the meringues and divide them equally amongst the stemmed glasses. Put the chilled double cream into a large bowl and whip with an eletric whisk until it forms soft peaks, but is not stiff. (if perchance you have whipped it a bit much, gently stir some unwhipped cream into it to loosen it up a bit. It works a charm) Fold in the icing sugar. Cover the layer of meringue in the glasses with chestnut puree and then cover that with the sweetened whipped cream. Sprinkle with sprinkles if desired.





 

The other day when I got that tasty piece of beef from the people from Abel and Cole, they also very generously included a package of their delicious free range organic back bacon. The Ensor family have had a butcher's shop in Gloucestershire's picturesque Royal Forest of Dean for nearly a century. They currently cure outstanding bacons and gammon hams for Abel and Cole. As well as running the butcher's shop, they're also organic farmers. Much of A & C's organic bacon comes from their slowly-reared pigs. The succulent pork for their free-range bacon and gammon comes from neighbouring farmer, Richard Hazell.


I just have to ask, how could anything farmed with such care and so responsibly produced fail to be good???



And good it is. Just look at that wonderful colour. It's bright and tasty looking, not anaemic like some bacon I have seen. It also has a wonderful proportion of lean to fat, and what really made me fall in love with it, was that it isn't pumped full of water, like some are. This is a big plus in my books. I also hate it when my bacon smells like, to be perfectly blunt . . . pigs. I know bacon comes from pigs, but I don't like to smell them when I am cooking it. This smelled heavenly . . . all smoky and bacony, if you know what I mean . . .



I just love air cured, smoked back bacon and here in the UK we have some of the best. After having tried this bacon I have to say, in all honesty, it's just wonderful! I think I'll be adding it to my veg box on a once a month basis. (We try not to eat too many cured meats, but once a month, it's a real treat here at Oak Cottage.)



I know that calling this the World's Best Bacon Sarnie is pretty bold, but I'll stand by my words. It has all the ingredients that constitute a great bacon sarnie in my opinion. Great tasting pan grilled free range organic smoked bacon. Free range organic eggs, cooked in butter. Some really flavourful cheddar. Soft, fresh buttered white bread, and . . . let's not forget the lashings of brown sauce!!!



I challenge you to give this a try and then come back and tell me . . . is this not the greatest or what! It goes without saying that this is a once in a blue moon treat. There has to be a bazillion calories in it, but . . . once in a blue moon? Why not go whole hog and treat yourself! (every pun intended!)



Go on . . . dig in . . . you know you want to.



*World's Best Bacon Sarnie*
Makes 1
Printable Recipe

I am giving the quanities to make one here, but it is easily multiplied to make much more. I know this is a bold statment, calling this the World's Best . . . but just make one and try it out. I think you'll agree! This IS the best! It will be love at first bite!

4 rashers of good quality free range organic smoked back bacon
2 slices of good quality white bread (you don't want the bread to compete with the flavours here,
only to enhance)
softened butter
2 medium free range organic eggs
1 slice of cheddar cheese (I used Simply Inspired's sliced medium cheddar with Roasted Red Onions,
fabulous darling, simply fabulous!)
Lashings of Brown Sauce (optional)

Lightly spray a large nonstick skillet with some oil and heat. Once it is hot add the rashers of bacon and pan grill them, until done to your preference. It shouldn't take too long. I like the fat along the edge to be a bit crispy, so I hold it up with the tongs so that the fat is just hitting the pan and I get it really crispy that way. Place in a warm oven to keep warm, whilst you cook the eggs. Wipe your pan out and melt a bit of butter in the pan over medium heat. Once the butter begins to foam, crack in the two eggs. Cook on one side, until the edges are just beginning to crisp, then flip it over and cook the second side for about 20 seconds. Slap on a slice of cheddar cheese, dividing it between the two eggs. Allow to melt.

Butter the bread and then place one slice on a plate, buttered side up. (You don't want to toast the bread. Part of the appeal of this sarnie is the way the bread is all soft and squishy) Top with a bit of brown sauce if using. Place the bacon on top and then finally put the eggs on top of the bacon, cheese side up. Top with the other slice of bread, buttered side down. Cut in half, kick your feet up and enjoy!



mmmmm . . . now that's a great Bacon Sarnie . . .

PS - if you haven't figured it out by now . . . Sarnie is another way of saying Sandwich. You know, a rose by any other name et al . . .

Last week the kind folks at Abel and Cole quite generously sent me a beautiful piece of rolled sirloin. If there is one thing that is done really well here in the UK, it's beef. We have some of the nicest beef in the world and the people at Abel and Cole have made it their job to source out some of the best of the best. It arrived in a compact returnable cool box, filled with ice packs and came right to my door along with my weekly vegetable box delivery. (I do have to say that their delivery people are polite and very personable, or at least that's been my experience. That says a lot in my books . . . ) I've already put in my order for my Christmas Turkey and my Christmas Vegetable box. I'm taking the year off this year! There's no way I'm battling my way through the crazy line ups in the grocery store in the few days before Christmas! I'm having it all delivered right to my door from the good folks at Abel and Cole. I know . . . you might think I am taking somewhat of a chance, but in all honesty folks, they haven't let me down yet!



Mind you a good piece of meat is only as good as the method used to cook it. If you don't prepare it properly, well . . . it wouldn't matter if it was organic, non organic, an expensive cut, or a cheap cut . . . badly cooked meat, is badly cooked meat. And very unappetizing and unappealing all round! Who wants to eat a dry, tasteless piece of leather . . . not me!!! It's taken me years and a lot of experimentation to come up with this fool proof way of cooking my roasts. If you follow my directions to the letter, you will be rewarded with a beautifully cooked piece of meat, full of flavour and tender, tender . . . tender . . . EVERY time! Trust me.







*Perfect Roast Beef*
Printable Recipe

This is more of a technique than it is a recipe. There is a lot more to cooking a roast than just banging into an oven. Whilst it is also very simple to cook, there is a proper way to do it and helps and tips that can produce the perfect roast every time. (if you follow them!) First of all, allow approximately 350g or 12 ounces of meat per portion.

8 to 10 pound wing, rib or strip loin roast of beef
2 TBS prepared English Mustard
1 TBS maple syrup
4 TBS water
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 TBS of beef dripping





I think it's best to cook meat always from room temperature so plan ahead and take your meat out of the refrigerator at least 30 minutes before you plan on cooking it. Pre-heat your oven to 250*C/480*F.

Mix together the water, mustard and maple syrup. Massage this mixture into the meat on all sides. This concoction will help to flavour and colour your meat. (Trust me here.) After you have massaged most of it in, or as much as you can, season your meat liberally all over with the salt and pepper. The fat will largely wash off a large portion of it so more is better. Always season just prior to cooking it as well, to prevent the salt from drawing out the blood and juices.

Heat a heavy based roasting tray over high heat with the dripping inside. (If you have no dripping a knob of butter will do.) Once the fat is hot, lower the beef into it to commence the browning process, lightly browning it on all sides.

Lower the oven temperature to 220*C/425*F. Roast the beef in it for 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and baste with the pan juices. Lower the temperature to 180*C/350*F. Return the beef to the oven and roast for a further 15 minutes per pound of beef, plys an extra 15 minutes. The end result will be a perfectly cooked joint, pink in the middle without being overdone.

Once the meat is cooked allow a further 30 minutes resting time in a turned off oven or a warm place.

This resting time is very important. This helps the juices and the temperature of your meat to stabilize and relax, which helps to make the meat much more succulent and easier to carve. When you cut into hot meat alot of the delicious juices escape, and we really don't want that.

I often roast my meat on a bed of root vegetables . . . chunky carrots, parsnips, onions. This helps to raise the meat above the fat in the roasting tin and prevents it from frying instead of roasting, not to mention it gives a lovely flaour to the juices and the gravy!

To make a delicious gravy, add some liquid to the pan, once the meat has been removed and set aside to warm. (leave the vegetables in the pan) Your liquid can be some beef stock, or even a bit of red wine. It's your choice. Cook and stir, scraping up from the bottom to get all your brown bits etc. Strain this into a saucepan, removing all the solids. Skim any fat off of the top. I then shake some flour together with some water in a jar until it's smooth and I strain this back into the pan juices in the saucepan. I then cook it over medium heat, stirring constantly until it thickens. Leave to cook over low heat for at least five minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Place in a gravy boat and pass with the meat.

I think ginger has to be one of my favourite spices. There is nothing I like more than digging into a warm slab of tasty gingerbread . . . a sweet gingerbread cookie. My Gran made the best Molasses Cookies on the planet, filled with . . . you guessed it . . . ginger! Wow, were those ever good with an ice cold glass of milk.




My mom still makes them whenever we go home to visit and it's a real treat. It doesn't seem to matter how many times I bake them myself . . . the taste of mine never quite lives up to the memory of the taste of my Gran's or my Mom's! Funny how that goes!



When my children were growing up I used to create a huge gingerbread cookie fantasy for them every year. Sometimes it would be a house, with clear coloured candy glass windows, and a roof tiled with delicious sweets. One year I did a church, complete with stained glass candy windows. Another year it was a gingerbread Christmas Tree, with silver dragee garlands, gummy bear ornaments and other fancies all over it. In recent years I made a Ginger Cookie Wreath centre piece for my Christmas Table, which you can find HERE on my Oak Cottage Blog. It was so much fun, and looked so nice sitting on the middle of my Christmas Table.



I am sure you have the idea now . . . I just love gingerbread, in any way, shape or form.




Like these tasty cupcakes. Now these dear friends . . . are totally moreish. I think it's the lemon glaze . . . that is, well . . . the icing on the cake! (Of course the preserved ginger in syrup on the top doesn't hurt either!!)



*Gingerbread Cupcakes with Lemon Icing*
Makes 12
Printable Recipe

Ohhh . . . soft, sticky and moist and chock full of lovely ginger flavour, these cupcakes are real husband *pleasers* . . . and, come to think of it, wife *pleasers* too!


60g butter (generous 4 TBS)
50g soft light brown sugar (4 TBS)
2 TBS golden syrup
2 TBS dark treacle
(If you can't get the golden and dark treacles,
do use 4 TBS mild molasses instead)
1 tsp ground ginger
80 ml whole milk (5 1/2 TBS)
1 large free range egg, beaten
2 pieces of preserved stem ginger in syrup,
drained well and chopped finely
140g self raising flour (1 cup)

For the Topping:
the juice of one lemon
(bring the lemon to room temperature and roll it on the counter
a few times under the palm of your hand before squeezing)
200g icing sugar, sifted (generous 1 1/2 cups)
1 piece of stem ginger in syrup, drained and chopped
1 TBS chopped candied ginger


Pre-heat the oven to 170*C/325*F. Line a muffin tin with paper cakes and then set aside.

Place the treacles (or molasses) butter, sugar and ground ginger into a largish saucepan. Place over medium low heat and heat gently until the butter has melted and all have blended well together. Remove from the heat and allow to cool a bit.

Beat together the milk and the egg. Stir this into the warm mixture along with the stem ginger. Sift the flour over top and fold it in until well combined. Spoon into the muffin cases, dividing it equally amongst them all.

Bake for 20 minutes, or until they spring back when lightly touched, or when a skewer inserted into the centre of one comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Squeeze the lemon juice into a bowl, removing all the pips. Gradually stir in the sifted icing sugar, stirring until smooth and thick, yet still spoonable. Spoon this icing over the cakes. Combine the chopped stem ginger and candied ginger and then sprinkle a bit over the top of each one. Let set before serving.

As you can plainly see . . . these went down a real treat!

When I was a child, I hated minced beef. I think it was because my mother used to buy the cheapest mince she could find and there was always lots of bits of bone and gristle in it . . .



and the bone and gristle always found it's way to my plate . . . and into my mouth. I couldn't stand the feeling of it or the texture . . . it made me gag, to be perfectly blunt. I would be forced to sit there for what seemed like hours, long after the rest of my family had finished and left . . . with a plate of congealing mince in front of me . . . not allowed to leave the table until I had eaten my dinner . . .



As a result . . . I became an expert at routing out every piece of it . . . and hiding it, if I possibly could.

At first I tried hiding it under my plate. That only worked once . . . for obvious reasons. As soon as my mother lifted my plate to take it away . . . there was the minced beef sitting there . . . sigh . . . a better way had to be found.



Next I tried hiding it under the edge of the carpet. That worked several times . . . until my mother hoovered the room and found it all lurking there. Foiled again . . .

Finally, I discovered the perfect spot. Down the heating duct in the corner of the dining room. That worked for a long time. I don't think my mother discovered that hiding place until she went to do a heavy spring clean or summat like that.



At that point . . . my mother gave up trying to feed it to me, and it was a very long, long time before I tried to eat it as an adult. I have since come to quite like it. I always only buy the extra lean mince and so far (fingers crossed) I have been lucky enough that I've never come across any gristle or bone in it. Whew!

Our local butcher only stocks free range hereford beef, and it's very, very good. This is one of my favourite ways to cook it, amongst many. Todd really likes these with a nice big pile of mash, but sometimes he gets chips. He doesn't mind, as long as it's potato in one way, shape or form. He is truly a meat and potatoes kind of a guy.




*Meatballs and Gravy*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe

My Todd is a real meat and potatoes man. He loves these tasty meatballs that I make, similar to Swedish ones, but not, if you know what I mean.

For the meatballs:
1 pound lean ground beef
1 slice white bread, soaked in a bit of milk and then squeezed dry
1 small onion, peeled and grated
2 tsp dried parsley
1 medium egg, beaten
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
a bit of oil for frying
For the Gravy:
the freshly grated zest of half a lemon
1/4 tsp dried thyme
2 TBS drippings
2 TBS flour
8 ounces beef stock
8 ounces milk
1 TBS creamed horseradish

Combine all the meatball ingredients and mix together well. Shape into walnut sized balls, wetting hands as needed. Heat some oil in a large skillet. Add the meatballs and brown them all over. Remove with a slotted spoon to a paper towel lined plate and keep warm until they are all done. Reserve 2 TBS of the pan drippings, disposing of the rest. Heat the pan drippings in the same pan, Whisk in the flour for the gravy. Cook and stir one minute, then slowly stir in the stock, milk, lemon zest, thyme and creamed horseradish. Cook and stir until the gravy is smooth and thickens. Taste and adjust seasoning adding salt and or pepper if needed.

pre-heat the oven to 180*C/350*F. Place the meatballs into a shallow casserole dish. Pour the gravy over top. Bake, uncovered, for 20 to 25 minutes, until bubbling and browned. Serve hot and spooned over mashed potatoes, buttered noodles or steamed white rice. Delicious!