This is a recipe that I have seen kicking around the internet for years which I have always wanted to make. It always sounded simple and delicious, and of course you know that my main criteria for cooking here at home is simple and delicious!   I can be rather lazy when it comes to cooking.   Quick, easy and delicious works for me!  Don't get me wrong.  I can do complicated  with my eyes closed . . .  but why???  If I can find a short cut which will get me the same results.  I'm taking it.

 

And you really couldn't get much simpler than this actually . . . chicken mini fillets (Or chicken tenders as they are called in North America) dusted with a tasty mix of spices, browned in butter (*slurp!) and then simmered in cream until done. (**Double slurp!)   Yes . . .  I am also somewhat of a glutton.

 

There is a little tendon which lays on the bottom side of these mini chicken fillets which I always remove.  I don't like the texture of it in my chicken.  It can make them a bit tough if you leave it in.  It's not all that difficult to remove. You can see it quite easily, it's very visible.  Just lay your chicken piece, underside up on a cutting board and firmly grip the end of the tendon with your left thumb and forefinger and then using a very sharp knife start to slide it down the of the tendon, chivvying the knife against the tendon without cutting through  . . . Once you have it all loosened, just throw it away!  

   

Then it's as simple as just mixing the spices and rubbing them into the chicken pieces and browning them, then pouring on the cream.   Talk about big time flavour for very little effort!  You will love this.  I know we sure did!    I serve it simply with some steamed new potatoes (so good this time of year) and haricot verts.   Delicious!




*Chicken Lazone*

335ml of beef stock (1 1/2 cups) 1 small jar of marinara sauce (1 1/2 cups) 1/2 tsp dried basil 1/2 tsp dried oregano 1/2 tsp onion powder 1/4 tsp garlic powder
salt and black pepper to taste
splash of hot pepper sauce 1 bay leaf 1/2 pound of uncooked spaghetti noodles, broken into bits 1 cup chopped leftover roast beef or browned ground beef or turkey a handful of grated mixed mozzarella and cheddar cheese finely grated Parmesan cheese




Put the beef broth and spaghetti sauce in a large skillet ong with the seasonings and the broken spaghetti.  Stir to coat the pasta well.

Bring to the boil, then reduce  to a simmer, cover and cook on low for about 15 minutes, stirring a couple of times.  Stir in the cooked meat and cover again.

 

Let it cook for a further 5 minutes or so to heat through, adding a further 110ml (1/2 cup) of water if need be. Remove the pan from the stove.

Cover with the cheeses.  Place lid on for another 5 minutes to melt the cheese and serve.

I was recently sent a few flavour extracts from the Nielsen-Massey Vanillas company to use in my baking.   I am no stranger to the Nielsen Massey line.  I have a drawer containing quite a few different ones, and of course their line of Vanilla products have been a favourite of mine for a number of years now.

Their most famous product is their Vanilla extract.  Started in 1907 in the United States, this family-owned business has gone from strength to strength. Want to know the secret of their super high quality? They use a cold-extraction process, slowly and gently extracting every bit of flavour from the beans, without harming them using heat.    They also have quite a variety of other pure extracts, including coffee, almond, chocolate, lemon, orange, peppermint, orange blossom and rose water.    I was sent a bottle each of the orange blossom, vanilla and rose water.

Like I said, I use the Vanilla all the time so there is nothing really new about that, but this was my first time using Rose Water or Orange Blossom Water.  If you are a fan of turkish delight you would already be familiar with the flavour of Rose Water as that is the predominant flavour in that lovely sweet treat.  

Sweet and fragrant Rose Water is an elegant steam distillate of rose petals. Its delicate floral notes are perfect in Middle Eastern, Indian and Greek cuisine and offer a wonderful accent to delicate French pastry glazes and creams. In addition to pairing well with vanilla, cream, white and dark chocolate and mild cheeses such as Brie or cream cheese, this water blends nicely with fruits like strawberry, raspberry, lychee and mango. Rose Water can also elevate sweetened hot water or milk and is a delightful way to flavour sugars and cookies.


I did a search on line and came up with a recipe by Sophie Grigson for a delicate sounding Almond Cake with a Rosewater and Lemon Syrup.   It almost sounded Greek with its flavours and of course the texture of the cake very much reminded me of a special Greek Cake that one of my friends back home always made.  I fell in love with it the first time she made it, and I fell in love with this cake as well.

It's incredibly moist . . . and rich.   You start it in a cold oven, which means that the outside surfaces bake first, leaving the centre with an almost damp and incredibly squidgy texture, all of which is greatly enhanced by the Rosewater and Lemon Syrup which you spoon over it as it is cooling . . .  a bit at a time so that it soaks into the cake, adding to it's wonderful depth of flavour and richness.

The syrup had an almost perfumed quality, not at all unpleasant in the least.   The lemon and rosewater went together beautifully.  I simply dusted the top of the cake with a bit of icing sugar to serve.   I thought a nice dollop of  crème fraiche or Greek yogurt would go perfectly with this, and . . . quite simply, it did.



*Almond Cake with a Rosewater & Lemon Syrup*

I have to tell you about this bottle of cola I was sent recently.  I have been an imbiber of Diet Coke for years and years.  Recently I decided to stop drinking diet drinks.  My sister has been warning me about the dangers of taking in artificial sugars and such, and I realized that drinking the diet drinks actually increased my craving for sweet things.  I had a horrible headache for about two weeks after I stopped drinking the diet coke and once I got past that, I have slept like a baby for the most part.  I don't know if the two are related or not, but I am thinking they might be.



Anyways, the Fentimans people recently contacted me and asked me if I would like to try one of their drinks and so I said yes.  They sent me a bottle of their Curiosity Cola.  The Guardian newspaper has said . . . "It's the world's best cola!"

 From the Fentimens' page: This curiously invigorating recreation of colas from yesteryear is made using infusions of the finest herbal ingredients.  

Sounds intriguing to say the least.  So what is it made of?

Ingredients: Carbonated Water, Fermented Ginger Root Extract (water, glucose syrup, ginger root, yeast), Sugar, Flavourings, Colour: Caramel (E150d), Phosphoric Acid (E338), Caffeine

Boo about the caffeine, it does say on the bottle that it is botanically brewed and fermented, with ginger and herbal extracts.   My sister is really into fermenting and I I thought this was a good thing.



My thoughts?   Ice cold and served over cracked ice it was delicious and refreshing.  I quite, quite enjoyed it.  And at only 40 calories, it's not too bad calorie wise either.  I love that it's fermented.  I love that it's botanical.

Thanks Fentimans for introducing me to a new beverage that I will probably buy from time to time!

To find out more about the Fentimans products do check out their page.

I always thought I had already discovered the World's Best Gingerbread.   I was very happy with that recipe and I still am.  

I just have to show you what I recently received via the Post.  Yep that is a cookbook that was created using some of my favourite recipes here on the blog!  Don't you just love the cover?  I know! Sooo cute!   It's a nice size (A4) with a hard back glossy cover and ring binding, perfect for laying out flat to read and cook from.

 

There is a complete index of recipes with their titles and page numbers . . .



And included on each page, along with the recipe there are lovely recipe photos (my own of course) as well as highlighted handy tips . . .



As well as handy keys stating serving size and prep and cooking times!  Plus it's been published in France, not in China.  (That's a real plus in my books!)

And where did I get this you ask?   Why it was created myself on the Gourmandize UK-Ireland site.



If you have a blog, or you like a blog, or you even like recipes and want to, you can very easily create your own book too.

Gourmandize books are designed by you. As such, they are perfect for Mothers and Fathers Day, birthdays, Christmas, graduations, retirement parties and even just for yourself to cuddle like a proud parent and then place on your shelf, where you can gaze at it admiringly every time you walk past!!

For more information do check out Gourmandize UK-Ireland.  It's easier than you think!  Right now they have a Limited Time offer on as well!  

Right now you can:

* We are offering free cookbooks to promote the launch of our site, limited to one book per member. Sign up to receive a voucher code valid for 90 days after registration to make your free book. Books are available from a minimum of 10 original recipe submissions to the site. The format you can order cost-free is determined by the number of recipe submissions to the site. After this offer our cookbooks will be available via purchase only. This is an offer to aid the promotion of our site.

This is our spring bank holiday this weekend, which means it's a long weekend for working people.   I hear we are supposed to have some nice weather as well.   I am loving these longer, brighter and warmer days!



I normally like to pull out all the stops for breakfast at the weekend.   A leftover from my working days I suppose.   I didn't have a lot of time during the week to make much of a cooked breakfast, so Saturdays usually meant I would do us something special.



Retirement means that every day is a bit of a holiday it seems, although in truth I don't know how I ever got everything I had to do done when I was working full time as my retirement time seems to just evaporate into thin air!  I still reserve goodies like this for the weekend however . . . old habits die hard.



I saw something similar to this on Pioneer Woman Cooks a number of months back, but you know . . . yeast breads are truly not my forte, and I am rather lazy on top of it all, so I never did anything about it.   I got to think though, I could really actually do something similar using buttermilk scone dough . . .



And so that is what I did.  I created a flaky and light buttermilk scone dough, flavoured with a bit of fresh lemon zest . . .  I rolled this out flat into a rectangle.   I then rubbed butter, sugar and more lemon zest together until it was a bit crumbly.  I sprinkled this over top of the dough . . .



I scattered fresh blueberries over top and rolled it all up tightly and cut it into thick slices which I placed into a butter glass baking dish, brushed with some more butter milk and then baked in a hot oven until the scone dough was all puffed up and golden brown and that lucious lemon and blueberry filling was just slightly oozing.   Slathered with a lemon buttercream drizzle hot out of the oven it made a GORGEOUS breakfast bake.  And to think . . .  it didn't take hours of waiting for dough to rise or any such thing.  Almost instant, pure taste gratification.   You can spell that SCRUMMDIDDLYUMPTIOUS!  That's almost like supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, except its a whole LOT better.  ☺  Tastier too!



*Blueberry & Lemon Breakfast Buns*