We are off to Liverpool tomorrow to meet up with our good friends Jo and Colin. We haven't been to Liverpool since my lads were over here in 2001, pre 9/11. We took them up there for the day and did the whole docks thing. A lot of walking.
We saw the Beatles Yellow Submarine, ate some GREAT chips and just had a nice day together. This time we are traveling up on the train and I am hoping to visit the Cavern where the Fab Four started out and a few other things, eat some great food, but most important of all . . . do it all with Jo and Colin.
I saw this recipe I am sharing today on Pinterest and it caught my eye. It was called Creamy Chicken Picasso. You can see the original on Kayotic Kitchen. She shows step by step photos for her version and you may want to try her take on it instead of mine.
Like everything I had to change things a bit to suit what I wanted and to use up what I had. I didn't add the water to the sauce, and I am glad I didn't because the sauce would have been far too watery if I had. (I wouldn't add any water to it, just saying is all.)
I also added oregano, basil and parsley instead of mixed Italian herbs. I like to control that sort of thing and I added a couple of tablespoons of black pepper boursin cheese, for some added creaminess and flavour.
I also add balsamic vinegar to the sauce, and a bit of sugar to cut back on the acidity of the tomatoes. Plus I cut the peppers and onions into half moons. I didn't want whole circles. I think half moons serve nicer. But that's just me. I also added some Parmesan to the cheese.
I also pounded my chicken breasts to an even thickness so they'd cook evenly. All in all we quite enjoyed this, and I think you will too. I'm bringing my camera with me to Liverpool today so expect some pics! Enjoy your Mondays! (This isn't a dish that photographs well.)
*Creamy Chicken and Peppers*
Serves 4an even thickness
1 TBS olive oil
1 TBS butter
salt and black pepper to taste
3 sweet bell peppers
(Trim, seed, cut in half and then thinly slice into half moons)
2 fat cloves of garlic peeled and crushed.Heat the oil and butter in a large skillet until the butter begins to foam. Season the chicken breasts on both sides with some salt and black pepper. Brown the chicken lightly on both sides and then place it into the prepared baking dish. Add the onions and peppers to the skillet. Cook, stirring until they begin to wilt. Scoop out and layer them in the casserole with the chicken, placing half beneath the chicken breasts and half over top. Add the garlic to the skillet and cook for about 30 seconds. Dump in the tin of tomatoes. Add the herbs, stock cube, balsamic vinegar, sugar, nutmeg and cream. Heat to the boil, then whisk in the boursin cheese. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cook for about 5 minutes on low heat and then pour this mixture over the chicken and peppers.
Cover tightly with foil and then bake in the oven for 30 minutes. At the end of the 30 minutes, mix together the mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses. Sprinkle this over top of the casserole and return to the oven, baking for an additional 15 minutes. Serve hot with rice or pasta, and crusty bread for mopping up the sauce.
Note - There are some of you who have requested a newsletter, but haven't given me an e-mail address to send it to you. If you have asked for one but not received it, that would be why!
There are some recipes that are just great. You can try to play around with them, or look for something better . . . but you always find yourself coming back to the original because you just can't get any better than that which was great to begin with.
That's what this recipe for peanut butter and chocolate sauce is like. Good, better, best. This is a solid recipe which works every time, always tastes delicious and is very versatile . . .
As a sauce for on top of fudge cakes, or brownies . . . ice cream, etc.
Heck . . . I've been known to just sit down and eat the sauce with nothing else, it's that good. Seriously. Solid, don't fool with it, basic . . . good. You can't do much better than that.
*Peanut Butter and Chocolate Sauce*
Makes about 2 cups
It's the same as my basic chocolate sauce recipe, except I have substituted peanut butter for the butter. No fooling. Good stuff for those who don't like peanut butter with their chocolate. I know . . . hard to believe, but . . . it does happen.
*Basic Chocolate Sauce*
Makes about 2 cupsOh, and if you wanted to cut down on the calories a bit you can use non fat evaporated milk, undiluted instead of the cream. Just saying is all. I like to use Lindt dark chocolate for this or Valhrona if I can get it.
I like to use pure vanilla for all of my baking. I happen to be one of those people who think it is worth the extra expense of using the real thing. There is just no comparison. Yes . . . I am a vanilla snob. That's why I was really pleased recently to receive some vanilla products from Taylor &Colledge! I received a lovely box containing some Vanilla Bean Dusting Sugar, Vanilla Bean Paste, Vanilla Beans, Pur Vanilla Bean Extract and their newest innovation a Vanilla Bean Grinder.
The revolutionary Vanilla Bean Grinder is
adjustable, supports either a coarse or fine grind, and contains approximately
three whole pure vanilla beans. It is perfect for adding a hint of the finest
Vanilla to savoury and sweet dishes, baked treats and drinks, and – like all of
the other products in the Taylor & Colledge range – is available now in
Waitrose (RSP: £5.99, 12g).
“Our innovative, Vanilla Bean Grinder is the first
home baking ingredient and Vanilla condiment of its kind,” says Taylor &
Colledge MD Sam Himstedt, a member of the family that owns Taylor &
Colledge.
We have been sourcing the finest Vanilla from
around the globe for more than 100 years and our new grinder is the latest in a
long line of Vanilla innovation that we have introduced to the world in that
time.
Amazingly for such a high quality range of
ingredients, we have always been able to ensure we are extremely competitive, while
at the same time remaining true to our long-held commitment to ethical
sourcing, fair trade and sustainable packaging.”
The new Taylor & Colledge Organic Vanilla
Bean Grinder joins Taylor & Colledge’s other fine vanilla products in
Waitrose, including its Vanilla Bean Paste (RSP: £4.19, 65g jar); Vanilla Bean Extract (RSP: £3.69, 100ml
bottle), Vanilla Bean Dusting Sugar (£2.99, 100g shaker); and Organic Vanilla
Bean Pods (£3.89, 10g tube).
You can look for more than a few treats in this coming week using this lovely line of Vanilla Products.
Occasionally you run across a cake that is so squidgilly good that you either have to share it right away, or hide it and hog it all to yourself. *tee hee*
This delicious loaf cake falls into both those categories. I kid you not. At first bite you will want to run to your bestest friend or partner and share it with them, coz something this scrummy just begs to be shared . . . but then again, the glutton in you may be tempted to want to hide it and save it all for yourself!
Truth be told . . . you probably won't be winning any beauty contests with this. It's just not that pretty a cake. It doesn't rise really high and have a pretty peak in the centre . . . it may even get a little dark on the outside before it gets completely cooked, but do not fear . . . that ugliness, low height . . . and yes the darkness are just it's humble way of hiding the truth of it's complete ND TOTALLY decadent squidgieness . . .
It's so dense and so moist and so totally stogged full of lovely bits . . . stem ginger, 5 whole sticky nobs of that delicious gold all finely chopped . . . a lovely large handful of soft ready to eat prunes, again finely chopped . . . and no less than 3 tsp of powdered ginger. There is lots of flavour and texture going on here . . .
Not to mention the fudgy-ness you get from a cake full of butter and dark muscovado sugar . . . and golden syrup . . . sweet caramel flavoured golden syrup . . .
And if THAT'S not enough to convice you that you have to go out and bake this cake NOW, the top of the cake is brushed with oodles of the syrup from the stem ginger jar when it first comes out of the oven and is still hot enough to absorbe all that gooey stickiness . . . and then sprinkled with golden demerara sugar on top . . . just to add a bit of class and crunch.
I can't believe you are still here reading this. Just look at that cake. Take a virtual bite and then run . . . run as fast as you can to the store to pick up the ingredients, then dash home and turn on the stove and break out the mixer. This is one cake you will not want to pass by!
Seriously folks. This is a keeper. But you will be tempted to share . . . maybe. Depends on how greedy you are . . . sigh . . .
*Sticky Stem Ginger & Prune Cake*
Makes one medium loaf,
Makes one medium loaf,
cutting into approximately 10 slices
This cake will keep very well in a covered tin for about 4 to 5 days, should you have it around that long! I'll confess . . . it's even better spread with butter, but shhh . . . I didn't tell you that.
I am really grateful to my mother for having taught me the principles of thrift when I was a child. Clothes were mended and handed down. Anything that wasn't wearable any longer was turned into rags for cleaning and other chores, and when my mother cooked anything at all there was absolutely no waste whatsoever.
When a roast or a chicken was cooked, everything got used, right down to the bones, and she always bought meat with bones in it . . . my mom made the most beautiful soups from the leftover roasted bones . . . chicken soup, turkey soup, pea and ham soup, vegetable beef soup . . . and we loved them. Her homemade soup was a real treat and we always looked forward to it.
One other thing she did was she used the leftover vegetables, gravy and some of the meat to make beautiful pot pies. My mom made the best pot pies and we loved these more than anything that she made, probably even more than the actual roast dinners! Turkey, chicken, beef, pork, they all got made into pot pies.
She would freeze them and then take them out a week or two later and we knew we were in for a real treat for supper! You could keep those frozen pot pies that were all gravy and no substance. We were so thoroughly spoiled by our mom's pies that those frozen pretenders fell far short of the mark.
Todd always loves it when I make him a pot pie from our roast leftovers too. He is such a pie man Something else we have in common amongst the many things we share. I love that about him. Sigh . . . and I love homemade pot pies!
*Basic Flaky Pie Crust*
For a double crust pie, or two singles
1/2 cup cold water (125ml)
*Beef Pot Pie*
Makes one 9 inch pie
My
mother often made these with leftover roast beef, or even roast pork.
We loved them and in fact I would even go so far as to say we loved
these pies even better than the roast dinner!Makes one 9 inch pie
2 large mugs full of cooked roast beef, cubed
chopped green beans)
1 egg yolk, beaten together with 1 TBS milk
Line the bottom of a nine inch pie tin with pastry, having about a two inch overhang. Set aside.
Mix
together the meat, potatoes, vegetables, grated onion, herbs, and gravy
with salt and black pepper to taste in a bowl. Scrape into the lined
pie dish. Roll out the other half of the pastry to cover. Place over
top. Trim the edgs and seal together. Flute decoratively. Cut a few
vents in the top of the pie to let steam out. Brush with the beaten egg
yolk. Place onto the baking tray and place into the heated oven. Bake
for 15 minutes. Decrease the temperature to 180*C?350*F/ gas mark 5
and bake for a further 30 to 45 minutes, until the crust is nicely
browned and crisp on the bottom and the filling is bubbling and cooked
through. You may need to cover it lightly with foil if the pastry is
browning too quickly.
Remove from the oven and allow to stand for about 10 minutes before cutting into wedges to serve.
Have a great Friday and to my Canadian friends and family . . .
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
I am no stranger to the Crazy Jack Organic products. I often buy their coconut and pine nuts. I was recently sent a bag of their Soft Apricots to try and I don't mind telling you . . . I have fallen totally and completely in love!
They may not be pretty, but that's because there are no sulphates used in the drying process. Dried in the traditional way, under the hot sun, they have a rich, sweet, intense almost caramel-like flavour and fudgy texture. It's no wonder they just scooped Gold and were awarded the outright winner in it's category of Best Store Cupboard Staple in the annual Soil Associaltion Food Awards for 2013!
I was going to use them to bake a tasty treat with, but these are just so good I couldn't help eating them out of hand. Soft dried apricots are naturally high in fibre, low in sodium and a great source of natural iron and potassium (great for the blood pressure), as well as being full of antioxidant phytonutrients. These are one jam packed full of nutrients healthy snack! I love that they contain no artificial additives, colours, no added sugars or preservatives and they are gluten free.
What a wonderfully healthy alternative to the candy bar, biscuit or cake!
Love, Love, LOVE!
Many thanks to the Crazy Jack people for sending them out to me to try! They are available from Tesco, Ocado, Amazon and all good health food shops for £2.99.
Note - I was sent these apricots for free to try out, but all opinions are my own!
We had one set of the Missionary Sisters serving in our area to supper the other night. (We have two sets of Sisters and one of Elders, and we try to feed each set once a month!) We do love to feed them and spend time with them. Its a very small thing to do and they very much appreciate it. I like to think that if I had a son or a daughter serving on a mission in another part of the world, people would be kind to them too.
Generally speaking if they are from North America, I try to give them a little taste of home away from home . . . so this time I made my Meatloaf Pie for them, along with roasted garlic mash and some vegetables and salad. I think they enjoyed. At least I hope that they did. They ate it all up at any rate!
For dessert I wanted to make something which would showcase the lovely apples we grow on our own apple tree. These are a dessert apple . . . and I am really bad because I can't remember what the name of them is, only that they were a variety of apple that was good for both eating and cooking.
I decided to make an apple crostata. A crostata is an Italian type of free form tart, usually composed of a filling placed on a round of pastry, the edge folded partially over the filling, and then baked. Crisply crusted and delicious, they can be either savory or sweet. Needless to say this one was sweet.
(I do make a delicious savoury one with spinach, peas and gruyere, which is really tasty too.)
I like the rustic look of these free form tarts. This one has a crisp sweet pastry base, and a buttery crumble topping. It went down a real treat, cut into wedges and served with a dollop of creme fraiche.
Ice cream, pouring cream, or custard would go very well also. In any case . . . there were no complaints. We had the leftovers today for our lunch and, although the base had softened a tiny bit from sitting, it was still delicious. Best on the day, but still good a day later. I don't know about you, but that spells winner to me!
*Spiced Apple Crostata*
Serves 6
Crisp sweet pastry encases a free form sweet apple tart, topped with a spiced buttery crumb. Delicious! Serves 6
For the filling:
To finish:
Preheat the oven to 220*C/425*F/ gas mark 7. Have ready a large baking sheet.
Allow to cool. Serve warm or at room temperature. Dust with some icing sugar prior to serving if desired.
I do get sent the nicest things, and I'm quite happy to try just about anything anyone wants to send me. Most times I am not disappointed and others I am ecstatic, especially when it comes down to being sent chocolate goodies, so when I was recently contacted by Prestat and asked would I like to try out their Finest Truffle Advent Calendar, I jumped at the chance!
Established in 1902, Prestat is one of the oldest chocolate houses in London and every truffle is handmade in Great Britain. Prestat’s first shop was opened in London by descendants of Louis Dufour, the man who created the world’s first recorded chocolate truffle.
mmmm . . . truffles, who doesn't love truffles. I adore them, and I will put my hand up, I had never tasted a Prestat Truffle until afforded this opportunity.
The packaging is bright and colourful and religious. I loved that on all counts. As a person who is always seeking to put the "Christ" into Christmas, the vision of the Three Kings was a plus for me. It is also very "Adult" looking, and not overly childish, so I immediately saw this as being an Advent Calendar that I would be happy giving to my Adult friends and family.
A really neat feature of it is this bit on the back which makes it possible for you to . . .
Stand it upright as somewhat of a focal point. This truly can become a part of your Christmas decor if you so wish it to! I love the bright colours myself.
It contains two of each of twelve different Prestat Truffles. The names are so enticing . . . Orange and Frankincense . . . Coconut Oasis . . . Pistachio Summer . . . Sicilian Key Lime . . . Ginger Fire, to name but a few. Each one sounding more delicious than the last.
The front is filled with 24 easy press open doors, each one embossed by the number of the day, from one to twenty four.
Nestled inside a sturdy plastic holder is a sweet delight . . . with it's very own paper case. Beautifully decorated and looking tastily lush . . . tempting.
Orange and Frankincense . . . the delicate flavour and warmth of orange, with just a hint of the scent of frankincense, altogether beautifully melded into a creamy rich and velvety smooth filling encased in a crisp and beautifully decorated chocolate shell.
Sigh . . . it's a tough job, but somebody's got to do it.
My verdict. Total bliss. Worth the indulgence. The perfect pleasure gift for that chocolate lover in your life. With 24 luxury truffles inside, well worth the expense.
Prestat is one of the few British artisan chocolatiers to make all its own chocolates – giving it complete control of recipes and the sourcing of ingredients as well as the opportunity to nurture the traditional skills needed to create its handcrafted chocolates.
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Read more on their BLOG
Many thanks to Lucy and Prestat for affording me this most delicious opportunity. Any and all opinions are my own.
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