I saw these marshmallows at Asda the other day and I just could not resist picking up a package! They are so cute. Little snowman faces. I just couldn't pass them by without picking up a package! (or two)
Hot cocoa has never been my favourite drink. First of all I am not fond of chocolate milk, or chocolate ice cream. I adore chocolate candy and chocolate bakes, but when it comes to milk, I could take or leave it.
Add to that the fact that most hot cocoa powders you get to use at home and largely disappointing. You end up with watery hot cocoa with lumps and bits of cocoa powder in them, because no matter how hard you try you just can't get the cocoa to dissolve completely!
About the only place you can get a decent hot chocolate is at one of the coffee shops and then it costs more than a coffee and is far too sweet for my taste.
Todd, on the other hand, really loves a nice cup of hot cocoa, although in all truth he finds the packaged hot cocoa mixes a huge disappointment as well.
One exception is the Strawberry Hot Cocoa Mix that I make myself. That is perfectly delicious. I saw a recipe on a blog called Baking Mischief the other day for a creamy rich hot chocolate sized for one person the other day and so I printed it out and decided to try it for Todd.
Oh boy . . . this is the Cadillac of Hot Chocolates! Its rich and creamy and quite delicious!
I adapted it to our tastes and measures. I left out the espresso powder as we don't drink coffee drinks in our home as we are Latter Day Saints.
Do feel free to add it if that isn't a problem for you, its only 1/4 tsp. I also adapted it so that I could make it in the microwave without having to dirty a saucepan.
I confess I had a little sip and it was absolutely gorgeous! That's coming from me who doesn't really like hot chocolate, so you know it must be really good! Todd felt very special when I set this down in front of him.
Creamy and Rich Hot Cocoa For One
Yield: 1
The perfect cup of cocoa, rich and creamy and beautifully sized for just one. You don't get much better than this!
ingredients:
- 1 TBS white sugar
- 1 TBS unsweetened cocoa powder
- pinch salt
- 1 TBS boiling water
- 160ml whole milk (2/3 cup)
- 80ml heavy cream (1/3 cup)
- 2 heaped TBS semi sweet chocolate chips
- your favourite toppings (marshmallows, whipped cream, etc.)
instructions:
How to cook Creamy and Rich Hot Cocoa For One
- Combine the sugar, cocoa powder, salt and boiling water to make a paste in the bottom of a measuring cup. Add the milk, whisking to combine well. Put in the microwave and microwave on high for one minute. Whisk in the cream and return to the microwave and microwave on high for one minute longer. (Keep an eye on it. You don't want it to bubble over.) Add the chocolate chips and whisk all together to melt the chocolate chips. Transfer to your favourite mug, top as desired and enjoy!
There are ways that you could adapt this to someone who needs to watch their sugars. For one, leave off the marshmallows. Two you could use a granulated sugar substitute instead of real sugar. You could also use evaporated skim milk instead of cream and semi sweet milk instead of whole milk I would leave in the chocolate chips however. We can't take away ALL of the fun and goodness can we?
I had taken some sausages out of the freezer to cook for our supper last night, thinking I was going to cook them with some onions, apples and apple juice, only to discover today that I had no apple juice. I really should have checked before I took the sausages out . . .
I have had this Mary Berry Cookbook, called Mary Berry Absolute Favourites, based on the television series of the same name, and I am ashamed to say I haven't used it.
I just love Mary Berry, don't you? I really miss seeing her on the GBBO. To me, its just not the same without her. I love all of her television shows as well. She seems like a genuinely nice person. This book contains over 100 brand new, simple and satisfying recipes from one of her latest cooking series, and I really have no excuse for not having used it before, as the recipes in it all seem sound and quite delicious!
I was drawn to the bright colours of this dish! I also liked that I was easily able to cut it in half to just feed two people.
I hate wasting food, and so I tend to freeze my sausages in 6 sausage lots, and I had only taken one lot out.
I buy my sausages at Costco. They are just lovely. I usually get a mix of Italian and Cumberland, and then break them down and freeze them in lots.
Her original recipe called for baby new potatoes, cut in half. I did not have baby new potatoes, so I used medium white potatoes, skin left on and cut into quarters.
I used dry thyme, and reserved some fresh thyme leaves for garnishing the finished dish.
When you peel your onion, make sure you leave the root end as intact as you can, so that when you cut it into sixths the wedges don't break apart and they stay whole while roasting.
I think a mix of red and yellow peppers would also be very nice, and pretty colourful, as would red onion.
If you line your baking tray with aluminium foil, there won't be any pan to wash up either. Perfect for these busy days we are in the middle of.
You do need a bit of white wine, but if you don't have it, I think either white grape juice or apple juice would also work very well in its place.
It helps to keep the sausages from drying out and they become almost sticky. We enjoyed this with dollops of grainy mustard on the side. I had thought to do a salad, but then forgot. In all truth we were both very satisfied with just this!
Roasted Sausage & Potato Supper
Yield: 2
A delicious recipe adapted from Mary Berry perfectly sized for two. Quick and easy also. You can add an extra vegetable on the side, but this is surprisingly filling.
ingredients:
- 6 thick pork sausages (I like Cumberland)
- 1 medium red bell pepper, trimmed, seeded, cut into chunks
- 2 medium potatoes, washed, dried and cut into quarters
- 1 medium onion, peeled and cut into sixths
- 1 TBS olive oil
- salt and black pepper to taste
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme leaves
- 100ml white wine ( 3.5 fluid ounces)
- fresh thyme leaves to garnish if desired
- grainy mustard to serve
instructions:
How to cook Roasted Sausage & Potato Supper
- Preheat the oven to 220*/425*F/ gas mark 7. Have ready a baking tray with sides, large enough to hold everything in a single layer.
- Put the sausages, potatoes, onions, and red pepper chunks into a bowl and toss together with some salt, pepper and the dried thyme leaves. Mix together with your hands and then spread out onto the baking tray, making sure that nothing is piled on top of the other.
- Roast in the preheated oven for 1/2 hour. Remove from the oven. flip over the sausages. Pour the wine around them in the baking tray. Return to the oven and roast for a further 15 to 20 minutes. The pork juices should run clear and the vegetables should be tender.
- Transfer to a heated serving dish, garnish with some fresh thyme leaves and serve with some grainy mustard.
I hope you will give this a go and that you enjoy it! Next time I might roast some sweet potatoes and carrots in place of the peppers, and use red onions! I can't believe it is already Thursday! Can YOU? This month is already whizzing by!
We've had some really cold days this past week or so, with heavy frosts on the ground in the morning and the days haven't warmed up too much either.
Before things get a chance to warm up the sun is setting, and things are chilling up again! Wintry, cold, damp . . . these days call for proper comfort food.
There is nothing we enjoy better on a cold damp night than a hot bowl of soup or stew. My husband's very favourite is a stew.
Stews are lovely. You can make them with beef, or lamb, pork, chicken . . . venison. Almost any kind of meat is good in a stew. Today I used beef.
My vegetables that I use for stew are pretty simple. Onions, garlic, carrots, parsnips, swede (rutabaga) . . . humble vegetables, comfort vegetables . . . winter vegetables. I like to cut them into a pretty uniform size.
I find there is something really mindful standing at the counter peeling and chopping. My mind is usually everywhere else and I am channelling my mom, nan, great nan, etc. I also add potatoes, but I cut those into larger chunks so that they don't disintegrate in the long oven braising time.
One secret to a really good stew is to brown your meat really well. You will want to do this in batches.
If you add too much to the pan at a time, it won't brown really well. There is a lot of flavour in the browning . . . so do it in small batches and . . .
brown it really well. Once you have it all browned you can add it back to the pan and add the aromatics . . . (I use a flame proof oven roasting/braising tin with a lid for this.)
By aromatics I mean onions, celery, leek . . . just bung them into the pan with the meat and cook and stir until the oven has softened . . .
I have a few secret ingredients . . . you can see them above. Nothing too out of the ordinary, but they add fab flavours!
The Balsamic adds a hint of red wine and sweet . . . the Worcestershire is a bit sharp and the Ketchup a bit of tomato and spice . . . back home I would add a splash of vinegar from a jar of sweet mixed pickles, but we don't get them over here in the UK.
I add the potatoes and some herbs and cover everything with beef stock/bullion, just to barely cover and I show a broken bay leaf right down into the mess.
Did you know that breaking a bay leaf in half helps to release its flavours? Now you do . . .
And that's it pretty much, cover it tightly and bang it into the oven to oven braise for 2 or 3 hours. I check it every now and then to make sure its not boiling dry.
You can add a little bit more of stock if it is. The stews done when the beef and vegetables are tender.
The gravy will be nice and thick and beautifully flavoured with all of those browned meat juices and aromatics, herbs, etc.
The vegetables add lots of flavour also . . . yummy.
I like to serve it with plenty of crusty bread to help sop up all of those delicious juices . . . .
If you wanted to you could add a cup of frozen peas to the stew about half an hour before it's finished for colour. Its delicious either way.
Beef Stew
Yield: 6
A satifisfying dish on a cool and wet and wintery evening. Long slow cooking ensures that the meat is melt in the mouth tender.
ingredients:
- 3 TBS olive oil
- 2 onions, peeled and chopped
- 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
- 1 leek, trimmed, washed and sliced
- 1 stick celery, trimmed and chopped
- 2 large carrots, peeled, sliced in half and then cut into half moon chunks
- 2 parsnips, peeled, quartered and sliced into 2 inch long bits
- 1/4 of a small swede, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes (rutabaga)
- 6 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into quarters
- 2 1/2 pounds good quality beef stew meat, cut into cubes
- 2 TBS plain flour
- 2 pints beef stock (5 cups, or to cover)
- 1 TBS Balsamic Vinegar
- 1 TBS Worcestershire Sauce
- 2 TBS tomato ketchup
- 1 bay leaf, broken
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- 1/2 tsp dried marjoram
- salt and black pepper to taste
- 1 TBS chopped fresh flat leaf parsley to garnish at the end
instructions:
How to cook Beef Stew
- Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4.
- Heat 1 TBS of the oil in a large flame proof casserole. Add the beef cubes, working in batches. Try not to overcrowd the pan. Brown well on all sides. Scoop out to a bowl and continue to brown the meat until all is browned. Add the onions and celery. Cook, stirring until the onion has turned translucent. Stir in the garlic and cook for about a minute and then the herbs, seasoning and flour. Stir to combine. Cook for about a minute and then add the remaining vegetables and the stock. Stir in the Worcestershire sauce, Ketchup and Balsamic vinegar. Add the bay leaf and cover tightly. Pop into the preheated oven and oven braise for 2 to 2 1/2 hours at which time the vegetables and meat should all be tender. Remove and discard the bay leaf. Spoon the stew into heated bowls to serve. Crusty bread goes very well!
I confess one thing I have always loved to do with stew, since I was a child is to mashe the potatoes up in that stew gravy . . . and if I am feeling a bit indulgent I will dot a bit of butter on top so it melts down into everything. Yes, I AM naughty like that sometimes!
Million Dollar Salsa Chicken. My friend Elaine, who lives in Toronto, was making this chicken the other day for their dinner and it sounded so delicious that I decided to try it for ourselves!
She said to Google it and so I did. I seriously don't know what I would do without google in my life. I use it a bazillion times a day. It is my go-to source for all kinds of information.
At first I just Googled Million Dollar Chicken. This brought me all sorts of other recipes but none were the right one.
That's not to say they weren't delicious looking. They were just not the right one and I wanted the right one.
Most of them were identical to the recipe my friend Leona gave me for Lazy Chicken, Lazy Chicken is very delicious. Its a recipe I got from Leone many, many years ago.
Despite it being very delicious . . . . is not Million Dollar Chicken, or at least the one that Elaine was describing to me. I wanted to make Elaine's recipe that she had used.
She said it had salsa and stuff in it, so I Googled Million Dollar Chicken with salsa and found this recipe on Pillsbury.
It looked like it might be the right one. It sounded like it had all the right ingredients in it that I was looking for.
I also found it on Just a Pinch but am linking to the original one on Pillsbury since it was a winner of the bake-off in 1997, apparently.
In any case its a winner/winner chicken dinner! I decided to go with it!
I have adapted the recipe to feed just two people. I have also adapted it to cooking it in the oven. Elaine cooks hers in the Slow Cooker, and Pillsbury cooks their on top of the stove.
I have it on pretty good authority that it is delicious in the slow cooker . . .
I can tell you first hand that its pretty darned delicious done in the oven. We also have Pillsbury's word that it is delicious done on top of the stove!
I think we can safely say that it is full-on delicious! Don't you?
This is my kind of chicken and my kind of cooking. I love dishes like this. Quick, easy and delicious.
Dishes which are created by throwing together this and that, thrown together using ingredients that you find in your store cupboard or larder. Meals that you can easily adapt to whatever kind of day you are having.
Having a busy day with a lot on and no time for real cooking?? Throw it in the slow cooker.
Want it quicker than that? Just cook it in a skillet on the stove top, or bang it into a casserole dish and bake it in the oven.
It has a very Middle Eastern Flavours . . . with the cumin and the cinnamon, not to mention the dried fruit. Tagines often have those three things in them.
The salsa is the surprise and it gives this simple and very tasty dish a bit of a zip (depending on the heat of your salsa) and plenty of flavour! You really can't lose!!
Million Dollar Salsa Chicken
Yield: 2
This was a Pillsbury Bake Off winner in 1997 I have switched it out to serve just two people. You can cook in oven, slow cooker or on top of stove.
ingredients:
- 1/2 TBS flavourless vegetable oil
- 4 free range chicken thighs, bone-in, skin removed and discarded
- 80g tomato salsa (1/2 cup)
- 2 TBS water
- 1 TBS dried currants or raisins
- 1/2 TBS liquid honey
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
- salt and black pepper to taste
- 2 TBS chopped toasted almonds or toasted pine nuts
- Cooked rice or couscous to serve
instructions:
How to cook Million Dollar Salsa Chicken
- Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Season the chicken all over with garlic powder, salt and black pepper. Add to the hot oil and brown slowly on both sides, turning once. This will take about 5 minutes.
- While the chicken is browning mix together the salsa, water, currants/raisins, honey, ground cumin and cinnamon.
- Oven - Preheat to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Add the browned chicken to a casserole dish. Pour the salsa mixture over. Cover tightly and cook for 35 to 45 minutes until the chicken is cooked through and the juices run clear. Stir in the toasted nuts. Taste sauce and adjust seasoning as desired. Serve the chicken pieces plus any sauce, spooned over hot rice or couscous.
- Stove top - Add the salsa mixture to the chicken in the skillet. Reduce heat to medium low, cover tightly, and simmer for about 20 minutes, until chicken is done, stirring occasionally. Stir in the toasted nuts. Taste sauce and adjust seasoning as desired. Serve the chicken pieces plus any sauce, spooned over hot rice or couscous.
- Slow-cooker - Put the browned chicken into the bottom of a slow cooker. Pour the salsa mixture over top. Cover and cook on low for about 6 hours or on high for 4 hours. The chicken should be thoroughly cooked, tender and the juices run clear. Stir in the toasted nuts. Taste sauce and adjust seasoning as desired. Serve spooned over hot rice or couscous.
I served this with brown rice and it went down a real treat. Thanks so much for the recommendation Elaine! This is the perfect meal for these busy days we are all going to have over these next few weeks!
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 Thanks so much for visiting. Do come again!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Social Icons