CRISPY CHICKEN BREASTS WITH A HONEY GARLIC SAUCE - A tasty alternative to what you might find  in your local Chinese takeaway.  Healthier  too. Crispy chicken with a fabulously delicious sauce. Simple to make as well.

I was once told by my ex husband that I had a lazy streak down my back a mile long . . . Here's what I have to say about that!!! PFFTTT!!!



Having said that though, I am not adverse to taking short cuts if I can find one that is suitable and has no adverse affects on the results of what I am trying to achieve! (if that makes sense!)

ie . . . if I can do something with less steps and have it turn out fabulously tasty, then I am all for it . . . but then again, I am no stranger to hard work.



His loss is Todd's gain, especially when you are talking about a deliciously easy dessert such as this *Magic* Pie!!



It could not be more magical if you threw all the ingredients into a top hat and waved a magic wand over top! Yes . . . you do have to do a bit more than wave a wand over top . . .

but not much more, I promise you.



And the end result is truly magic . . . in every way. A totally tasty custard tart, filled with buttery almonds, and coconut, that creates it's own crust as it bakes.



What could be easier or tastier??? If this is what having a lazy streak down your back a mile long gets you . . . well, then . . . I'm all for it!!



*Magic Pie*
Serves 8
Printable Recipe

So called because just like *magic*, presto chango, a pile of ingredients separates into three perfect layers! Delicious coconut custard pie that is fabulous served with cream or fruit, or both! I have included converted American measurements as best as I can.

75g plain flour, sifted (1/2 cup plus one scant TBS)
220g caster sugar (1 cup plus 1 TBS plus 1 tsp)
60g dessicated coconut (1/2 cup, slightly heaped)
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
125g of butter, melted (1/2 cup plus 2 tsp)
40g of flaked almonds, divided (scant 1/2 cup)
500ml of whole milk (2 cups)

To serve:
Fresh or tinned fruit and or cream

Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/Gas mark 4. Butter a deep 9 1/2 inch pie or flan dish well and set aside.

Whisk the flour, sugar, coconut, eggs, extract, butter and half of the nuts together in a large bowl. Slowly whisk in the milk, stirring until completely amalgamated. Pour into the prepared dish. Bake in the preheated oven for 35 minutes. Sprinkle the remaining flaked almonds on top. Bake for an additional 10 minutes. Remove from the oven to a wire rack to cool.

Serve cut into wedges along with some cream or fruit, if desired.

I make no secret of my passion for parsnips! I could eat them every day of the week and never get tired of them. Truly! That is no lie!

Although they do have rather funny smell when they are cooking, that I don't exactly cotton to . . . their flavour more than makes up for it, and I am willing to forgive them of that small sin! Kinda like husbands I guess . . . they sometimes don't smell so good either, but we love them just the same!



It was a nice sunny day here today, but boy oh boy that wind was bitter. I spent half of the morning and half of the afternoon, tramping around our town, picking up Catalogues with Todd and freezing my little toosh and fingers off. I didn't want him to be out in that cold wind for too long and if I do half of them, it cuts his outdoor time in half as well!



Then when we got in, I made him a nice pot of hot soup to help warm him up, and myself too!! I had a bag of parsnips in the fridge that needed using and a few apples that had seen better days and so I threw them into a pot along with some onions and stock.



I've seen recipes for spiced parsnip soups before, but they mostly use curry powder to spice it up. I didn't want to use curry powder. I thought with the apple cardamom would go rather nicely and so I threw in some ground cardamom . . . but I wanted something else as well, to give it an extra zest.

I spied a bottle of Sumac in my spice drawer that I had bought a few months back coz it looked interesting, but I had not opened it yet or used it. I wondered what it would taste like.



Sumac powder is the ground berries of a decorative bush which grows wild in the Middle East, and is used fairly often in Middle Eastern Cookery. I had no idea what it tasted like though, so I opened it up and put a bit on my finger to taste. It had a somewhat lemony taste . . . kind of like the smell of lemon . . . if that makes any sense. I thought it would be perfect in this soup and go very well with the cardamom. I didn't want to put it in yet though . . . I took a spoonful of the broth and sprinkled a bit of sumac on top and then tasted it. Perfect! I added some, and let it simmer for a bit longer.



Oh my . . . this was a wonderful call on my part. This soup turned out lovely. One of my most favourite yet! You got the wonderful flavour and creamy sweetness of the Parsnips, with the underlying spicy warmth of the cardamom and a nice lemony hint of sumac. Absolutely fabulous!



We polished off the whole pot all by ourselves . . . I know . . . we're little piggies aren't we!



*Spiced Parsnip Soup*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe

A delicately spiced parsnip soup, with just a hint of cardamom and sumac, which will have your guests wondering what that is that is making this taste so wonderfully rich and different!

1 large cooking onion, peeled and chopped
16 ounces parsnips, peeled and cut into chunks
2 TBS butter
2 granny smith apples, peeled and cut into chunks
12 ounces chicken broth
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
1/4 tsp ground sumac
salt and black pepper to taste
1/2 cup cream

Heat the butter in a deep saucepan. Add the onions and parsnips and cook, stirring often, until the onions are soft and the parsnips are very fragrant. Do not allow to brown. Tip in the chicken broth, apples, cardamom, sumac and salt and black pepper to taste. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer and simmer for 20 to 25 minutes, until the parsnips and apples are tender to the fork.

Using a stick blender, puree the soup until smooth. Add the cream and warm. Taste and adjust seasoning as necessary. Delicious!

A good friend of ours has been a bit under the weather lately. As she is also a bit elderly, this can be somewhat serious, and we wanted to go and visit her this afternoon, both to cheer her up and to check on her, and to make sure she had everything she needed . . .



I didn't want to go empty handed though. I wanted our cheer up visit to be more than just our two ugly mugs . . . I wanted to bring her a little treat that might tempt her appetite a bit, and bring a smile to her face.



Cupcakes are the perfect portable pressie for someone who is ailing. Just small enough that they aren't too much for them to handle, and yet so cute and tasty looking, that they are sure to tempt even the smallest appetite.

Little cakes are sure to bring a smile to most people's faces . . .



Especially when you dress them up in lacy coats and candy sprinkles. These were well received and went down a real treat. Slightly spicy with the warm flavours of chai tea and a lucious lemon buttercream icing.



*Chai Cupcakes*
Makes one dozen
Printable Recipe

A delicious cupcake, with spicy warm flavours, and a delicious lemony buttercream icing on top!

For the cupcakes:
8 ounces self raising flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
pinch salt
1 TBS chai tea powder
2 1/2 ounces unsalted butter, softened
5 ounces soft light brown sugar
2 large egg whites
5 fluid ounces of sour milk
(To sour milk add 1 tsp of lemon juice to a measuring beaker and add
milk to the measure required. Let stand for 5 minutes before using. You
can also use an equivalent amount of buttermilk)

For the Icing:
5 ounces butter, softened
10 ounces icing sugar, sifted
the juice of one lemon as required
a few drops of yellow foodcolouring if desired

Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/Gas mark 4. LIne a 12 cup muffin tin with paper liners. Set aside.

Sift the flour, baking powder, salt and chai tea powder together into a medium bowl. In a separate bowl cream the butter and brown sugar together until smooth and light. Add the egg whites, slowly beating them in until the mixture is well amalgamated. Stir in the flour mixture along with the buttermilk, mixing until well combined. Divide the mixture equally amongst the prepared cups. Bake for 20 minutes, or until they test done and the top springs back when lightly touched. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes before removing from the pans to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the icing beat all of the ingredients together, adding only enough lemon juice to make an icing of proper spreading consistency. You may or may not need it all. Add 1 TBS at a time. Spread over the tops of the cooled cupcakes. Sprinkle with sprinkles if desired. Delicious!



You didn't think I was going to give a cake to someone that I hadn't already test tasted first . . . just to make sure they were gift worthy . . . ahem . . . you know how it is!

What do you make to comfort your soul on a dull wet Saturday on a bank holiday weekend, all your plans for barbeques, gardening and days out together gone up in smoke???

How about a stodgy, sweet and traditional pudding!!!! The type of pudding that school dinners used to be famous for!!



The type of pudding that would have had the famous five clambering back home, over hill and dale, to stuff themselves silly with!!! The type of pudding that the mere sight of makes your arteries start to ache and moan with anguish . . . and your heart and soul beat with longing . . .



You know exactly the kind I mean . . .



Something buttery, oh so very buttery . . . and deliciously, moreishly short and crumbly . . .



and filled with the sticky sweetness of golden treacle . . . or golden syrup as it is also known . . . giving it an underlying tone of *caramel-like* goodness . . . Served up hot and sliced . . . and then doused with lashings and lashings of custard or double cream . . .



Ohhh yesss . . . this fits the bill perfectly.

Just the ideal pud to eat slouched down on the sofa, with your legs tucked beneath you, as you watch the rain lashing down on the pavement out front of the house. Silently congratulating yourself on your decision to stay at home, and feeling sorry for the poor sods that are stuck in their cars in the motorway traffic, listening to the kids argue in the back seat, as the windshield wipers race back and forth in front of their noses . . .

not that we are smug or anything . . .

Now this . . . was worth staying in for. ☺



*Hollygog Pudding*
Serves 4 to 6
Printable Recipe

Stodgy, rich and luvly. This is very easily made and is delicious when done. Don't let it's simplicity fool you into thinking this isn't something special.

280g self rising flour (2 cups)
a pinch of salt
2 TBS caster sugar
170g cold butter, cut into bits (3/4 cup)
approximately 3 TBS cold water
Golden Syrup
Milk for baking and glazing
demerara sugar for sprinkling
Warm custard or cream for serving


Pre-heat the oven to 200*C/400*F/gas mark 6 .Sift the flour and salt into a basin, raising the flour up high to aerate it. Stir in the caster sugar. Drop in the butter and rub it into the flour mixture with your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add enough of the water to make a stiff dough. Pat out on a floured surface to a rectangle roughly 12 inches long and 8 inches wide. Spread the dough very thickly with golden syrup, leaving a one inch border on one side. Brush this edge with some milk. Roll up like a jelly roll to form a sausage shape. Pinch the ends together to close and then place the roll into a buttered deep pie dish or gratin dish, placing the seam underneath. Brush with milk and sprinkle with demerara sugar. Pour sufficient milk into the dish to come about halfways up the side of the pudding. Place into the heated oven and bake for 3o to 45 minutes, until the pudding is light golden brown.

To serve, cut into slices while still hot, or spoon out into bowls. Serve with warm custard or cream drizzled on top.

Friday night is mostly fish night over here in the UK. Chippies all over the land have queues going right around the corner most Friday nights . . . or at least the good ones do.



People lined up for a Friday night feed of delicious fried fish and hand cut chips, doused in lashings of malt vinegar and salt, and then wrapped in plain paper. Oh my but they are extra good. We like the ones up here in the North West far better than the ones down South. I sure did miss them when we were down there . . .




I fancied something different this week though . . . so thought I would make some fish tacos. I hadn't made them in quite a while and I thought it would make a nice change from our usual Friday night fare . . .



Todd's not into really spicy fare though, so instead of using a spicy batter, I always use a fairly simple beer batter, cutting my cod into strips for quick and easy cooking. I add a spicy dressing though, to make up for the lack of spice in the batter . . . that way Todd can add as much as he wants, or not . . . depending on how spicy he feels!




These are quite simply fabulous!! (They're even better when I make my own tortillas, but I didn't have the time last night so used ready made ones instead.)



*Fish Tacos*
Serves 8
Printable Recipe

Fish Tacos are the best. We love these, and they are very easy to make. Serve in hot flour tortillas with this zesty sauce drizzled over top and some shredded cabbage.

For the fish:
125g plain flour
2 TBS cornflour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tspsalt
1 large egg
8 fluid ounces of beer or sparkling water
16 ounces of cod fillets, cut into strips
flour for dusting

For the sauce:
120ml of plain yoghurt
12og mayonnaise
the juice and zest of one lime
1 tsp minced, drained pickled capers
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp dried dillweed
1/4 tsp ground cayenne pepper
pinch of hot chili powder

To cook:
mild flavoured cooking oil, to the depth of 1/2 inch

To Serve:
heated flour tortillas
1/2 of a medium head of cabbage, finely shredded

First make the batter for the fish. Combine the flour, cornflour, baking powder and salt together in a bowl. Blend together the beer (water) and the egg. Whisk this into the flour mixture, mixing it in well.

Make the sauce by whisking together all the ingredients. Mix well. Chill until ready to serve.

Heat the oil in a large deep skillet until it is 190*C/375*F. Season the pieces of cod and then dust with flour, shaking off any excess. Dip into the beer batter and then drop them into the hot oil. Fry until crisp and golden on both sides. Keep warm in a slow oven until all are cooked.

To serve place the fried fish in a heated tortilla, topping with some shredded cabbage and drizzling the spicy sauce over top. Yummy!!

I picked up some really nice looking fat and juicy bangers (otherwise known as sausages) at the local butchers the other day, and could hardly wait to cook them. You can tell a good butcher by his sausages you know! I was eager to see if our local butcher was up to scratch!

I just love a good sausage, which is strange, because . . . when I was a child I absolutely hated them! My mom always got the cheapest ones going, and once in while you might get a piece of gristle or bone in them. As soon as it touched my teeth, it made me want to gag. There was no way you could get me near a sausage with a ten foot pole!



As an adult I have come to appreciate a really good quality sausage . . . fat, moist and meaty, with not a lot of fillers, and a wonderfully, somewhat coarse texture. Skin so *quality* that it almost snaps when you bite into it, and a good mix of spice to flavour them, depending on the variety you buy. My personal favourites happen to be Cumberland, which are nicely flavoured and peppery.



Anyways, I picked up some sausages from our local butchers and decided to cook them for our tea tonight. I wanted to create something delicious with them . . . not the usual bangers and mash, but a fry up that would use up some of the things in my fridge that needed using up NOW! ie. some cream left in a cream jug, a small piece of cabbage and some pasta that was soon going out of date. I also had some mustards living in the bottom of a couple of jars that I wanted to get rid of. They were taking up a lot of space in the fridge that I needed for other things.



I think I came up with a real cracker here! I had to write it down so that I wouldn't forget it and so that I can make it again. It turned that good!

Imagine little meaty bites of a well flavoured sausage, in a creamy sauce filled with not one . . . but two tasty mustards, caramelized onions and cabbage, and a rustic homestyle pasta . . . perfectly shaped to hug and soak in all those lovely juices.



Oh my but this was good. I may have the leftovers for brekki in the morning, and who could blame me!

Oh, and just for the record??? This local butcher is a real gem! I'm keeping him!



*Creamy Mustard Sausage and Pasta Hot Dish*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe

This is delicious. You get the caramelized sweetness from the onions and cabbage, along with the spicy tang of two mustards, and the richness of a good Butcher's sausage and cream. Fantastic!

a good glug of a well flavoured olive oil
4 medium onions, peeled and sliced
1/4 of a firm head of cabbage, trimmed and thinly sliced
6 good quality fat Butcher's sausages, skinned
a small handful of fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped coarsely
1 heaped TBS of Dijon mustard
1 heaped TBS  of grainy mustard
300ml of double cream (about 1 1/3 cups)
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
half a pound of pasta shapes, such as conchiglie or cicatelli

Heat the oil in a large, heavy bottomed skillet. Add the onions and cabbage. Cook and stir, until they begin to wilt and become very sweet. You want them nice and soft and golden. If it helps, pop a lid on and let them steam/fry for a good ten minutes or so. When the vegetables have caramelized, add the sausage meat torn into chunks. Cook, stirring occasionally, until well browned all over and sticky as well. Stir in the mustards and cream, mixing in well. Check the seasoning and add salt and pepper as needed. Stir in the parsley, cover and take off the heat. Set aside, while the pasta cooks.

Cook the pasta according to the package directions in some lightly salted boiling water. Scoop the cooked pasta out of the water and right into the pan with the sausage mixture. Give it a good stir to coat. Taste and adjust seasoning once more as needed. Serve immediately. ( Don't worry if a bit of the pasta water gets into the pan, this adds to the sauce, just so long as it's not a lot. You don't want it to be too thin.) Scrummily moreish!