I was a tiny bit afraid that my father would turn his nose up at this. He is a man of very simple tastes. For years my mother was only allowed to use salt and black pepper.
Surprisingly he didn't say too much about it. He just ate it. He did dip each piece in ketchup however. Men!
Mary recommends marinating the chicken in the herb and olive oil mixture for ten minutes. I marinated them for a bit longer as I felt it would enhance the flavours even more.
I also added some garlic and onion powder for a bit more oomph. (Now you know why I was worried about my father, lol)
He always worries if he eats anything with garlic in it that he is going to have bad breath. In all truth after he leaves here, he goes straight home and watches the news, falls asleep in his chair and then goes to bed.
So, nobody would actually be smelling his breath except for us. As we ate garlic as well, we probably wouldn't notice.
Men are often quite resistant to change of any kind. I get that. I am not fond of change either in most things. But I am open to trying new flavours and things when it comes to cooking.
So long as my protein comes from a source with fins, legs, etc. I am not overly fussy about things reptilian or that crawl on their belly.
For instance you would never get me to try frog's legs. I don't care how much you tell me they taste like chicken. And snake is definitely off my menu.
I also won't knowingly eat insects or rodents. I know in some spots of the world these are great delicacies, but not in my little world.
Having said that, I am open to most other new flavours. Whew!
Mary likes to do this with chicken thighs. I have to say I found chicken thighs to be a bit greasy and if I make it again (and I will) I would make it with breasts. This is just a personal preference.
We are so lucky these days and have a variety of quick side dish options available to us. I love the pouched of ready cooked rice.
If you opened one of those and popped it into the microwave along with some steam pouches of vegetables you could have supper on the table in not much more than half an hour, which would include the marinating time for the chicken.
I think these herbs would also work well with cubes of salmon or cod, or even cubes of pork. That makes this quite a versatile recipe all told.
Tonight we are having the leftovers chopped up even smaller and then fried with some rice as a stir fried rice side dish. I will add some peas and corn, and possibly some scrambled egg.
There I go again with the garlic! It does sound good however!! Or maybe with some Tzatziki sauce.
I think it would also make a great salad topper. A hot salad. I love salad in any way shape or form. Hot, cold and in between.
Mediterranean Chicken Bites
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken (thighs or breasts)
- 2 TBS olive oil, divided
- 1 TBS butter
- 1 tsp dried oregano flakes
- 1 tsp dried thyme leaves
- 1 tsp dried basil leaves
- 1 tsp dried parsley leaves
- 1/2 tsp dried rosemary, rubbed to break it up
- 1/2 tsp dried marjoram leaf
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- the juice of a lemon
Instructions
- Trim any fat off your chicken and then cut it into 1/2 inch cubes.
- Whisk together 1 TBS of the olive oil along with all of the dried herbs. Add the chicken cubes, tossing them to coat them in the oil and herb mixture. Leave to marinate for about 1/2 an hour or so.
- Heat the remaining olive oil in a large skillet, along with the butter. When the butter starts to foam add the chicken pieces.
- Stir fry and cook the chicken until it just begins to brown in places and is cooked through. Squeeze the juice of the lemon over top, give it another good stir to make sure the lemon flavour gets all the way through.
- Scoop into a serving dish and serve immediately.
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Basically it was a rice dish combined with pasta. You browned the rice and pasta in a skillet and then added water and a seasoning packet. I am sure it was pretty high in salt and artificial flavours and ingredients.
These days I prefer to make it from scratch. Its not very hard to make from scratch when it comes right down to it. Is quick, easy and delicious.
These days I prefer to call it a Pilaf . A Pilaf is a rice dish that originated in the middle east. It usually involves browning or toasting some rice (and in this case vermicelli) and then adding seasonings, vegetables and stock.
You can also add bits of meat or fish. This version is meant to be a side dish and I have added Italian flavours.
Normally I would use vermicelli, which is a very thin pasta. I did not have any of that today. Today I used broken up spaghettini. It worked well.
You can also use orzo. Orzo is a rice shaped pasta. All work in this. You are going to toast it in some butter. This adds flavour, colour and interest.
You brown the pasta in some butter and then toss in the rice. I used Jasmine rice.
I love Jasmine rice. You sometimes will see it called popcorn rice. It is a long grain rice and is perfect for things like pilaf. It has a delicate floral and buttery scent.
Once you have coated the rice in the butter you then add water and a mix of herbs and seasonings. Today I added Italian flavours.
Basil, oregano, thyme, rosemary, parsley, etc. You can use fresh if you like. Just double the amounts. I had no fresh today so I used dried.
In the olden days fresh herbs were a real rarity. My mother never used fresh herbs. not ever. Except perhaps fresh chives of parsley. And even that was once in a blue moon.
Parsley was meant as a garnish. My father grew a pot of chives. He liked them in his bologna sandwiches.
My mother didn't use a lot of herbs at all. My father didn't (and doesn't) like wildly flavoured food. He likes things simple. My mom used salt and pepper.
When I was a teenager she discovered oregano. Before we knew it she was sneaking dried oregano into everything!
When I say everything, I mean literally everything. Nothing was safe from her bottle of Oregano. it ended up in our soups, stews, BBQ sauce, Chili, everything.
Bless her heart. She was actually living life on the edge with this discovery. For her anyways. My father accepted the oregano and peace reigned. He is always reminding me however, that he likes simple things.
I am not sure if he will like this or not. We shall see. I hope that he will. I happen to love it.
It goes together really quickly and has fabulous flavours. Flavours that go together with just about anything.
I especially love it with grilled salmon. Salmon is one of those fishes that demands strong flavours to accompany it.
Salmon can be quite a strongly flavoured fish . You want something on the side that will stand up to it, but not overcome it. You want it to complement it.
If you wanted to you could turn this into a main dish by adding some cooked meat or fish to it. It would be kind of like a fried rice then I suppose. With Italian flavours.
I was trying to describe how to make this to my daughter earlier. She thought it sounded really delicious.
My oldest daughter is developmentally challenged. I always try to write my recipes so that anyone can cook them. I try to explain them in simple terms.
I try to write them so that she can make them. Generally speaking that is my criteria. If I think she can cook them. That way I know most people can have success with them.
I really get perturbed when someone tries one of my recipes and they say it didn't work for them. They will say, I cut down this, and I added that and I left out whatnot, but it didn't work!
Like its the recipe's fault. Cooking is very subjective and very much a matter of taste. What I present here have always been tested and tried. I have had success with them, as written.
Anything else is a matter of taste. And we all like different things. In any case, I hope you will make it and enjoy it.
It makes a great midweek side dish and the leftovers reheat very well.
Italian Rice Pilaf
Ingredients
- 2 TBS butter
- 1 cup (100g) short cut vermicelli
- 1 cup (165g) jasmine rice
- 4 cups (960ml) water
- 2 TBS chicken boullion powder
- pinch crushed red chillies
- 1/2 tsp dried basil
- 1 tsp dried rosemary
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 2 tsp dried parsley
- salt and black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a large skillet. Once it begins to foam add the vermicelli. Cook, stirring until it turns golden brown. Add the rice, stirring it to coat. Add the water, chicken stock, and all of the herbs. Bring to the boil, then reduce to a slow simmer and cover.
- Cook for 15 to 16 minutes until the rice is tender and all of the liquid has been absorbed. Remove from the heat. Taste and adjust seasoning with some salt and pepper if need be. Let rest for five minutes. Fluff with a fork and serve.
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!
One of my favourite blueberry pancakes has always been Maple Sauced Cornmeal and Blueberry Pancakes. They are light and fluffy, but do involve a bit of faffing about.
I am not a huge fan of faffing about, but I am a huge fan of blueberries and so I put up with it for those. I was really lucky to grow up in an area where wild blueberries were amazingly abundant.
My mother used to put us to work picking wild blueberries every summer. She had her favourite spots. I confess, it was not my favourite thing to do.
I was always really cognizant of the fact that bears also love blueberries. I had heard tales of people being interrupted in their berry picking by black bears. Scary stuff.
I always kept one eye on the berries and one on the horizon looking for bears just in case. I remember one time my dad pretended to be a bear and scared the cheese-whillikers out of me!
Yep, dropped every blueberry I had picked, so the joke was on him!!
My mom would freeze them all, or make blueberry pies and freeze them. She didn't make pancakes or muffins with them. That just wasn't her thing.
I, on the other hand, love blueberry pies, pancakes and muffins. I am always on the lookout for a new recipe. I do love my older ones, but can one ever have too many recipes for these things? I think not!
I was so happy to be able to finally find buttermilk in nice and tall one litre containers. In the UK, if you could find it, it was never in a container larger than about 260ml ( about 1 1/4 cup).
That's if you could find it at all. I used to always have to use milk with lemon juice added. It does make a great substitute, but it is still not quite the same.
I didn't have any wild blueberries either. I did pick up a pack of frozen ones, but I put them back because I wasn't sure that I could keep them frozen until I got them back to the house.
We were going to my dads after shopping. My sister always goes and changes his bed on Saturdays She's so good to him. He really appreciates her. I would do it too, but its her thing. I would never want to interfere with anything!
See how light and fluffy these are! Just like little airy clouds of deliciousness!
Its a wonder they didn't float right off the plate. I think my sister thought I was a bit nuts this morning, running around like a blue-arsed fly trying to find the best light for taking photos!!
As you can tell, these were photographed in two separate spots. Once on the end of my bed on a background paper. Good, but could be better.
The second lot was taken by me holding the plate up in front of my bedroom window. I was trying very carefully not to drop them and take pictures at the same time.
I think both photo sets turned out alright, but I do prefer the ones from in front of my window better. And what happened next?
The sun came out and everywhere was brilliant for photo taking. LOL Isn't that how it always goes?
Apple Puff Pancake: In a French Kitchen, this would be called a clafoutis. Clafoutis,
Pancake, apple flan, no matter what you call it, this is one heavenly
breakfast dish!
Strawberry Buttermilk Pancakes with Honey & Vanilla Butter: This recipe is an old favourite from one of my favourite cookbooks, The Great British Farmhouse Cookbook, by Sarah Mayor. It's one of my favourite books, and these pancakes are one of the reasons why.
Blueberry Buttermilk Pancakes
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups (210g) sifted all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 3 TBS white sugar
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1 large free range egg, lightly beaten
- 1 1/2 cups (360ml) buttermilk
- 3 TBS melted butter, cooled
- 1 cup fresh wild blueberries
Instructions
- Sift the dry ingredients together into a bowl.
- Beat together the egg, milk and melted butter. Add to the dry ingredients, all at once. Stir just to combine. You will want all of the flour incoporated.
- Scoop the batter in 1/4 cup measures onto a heated, lightly greased skillet or griddle. Sprinkle some berries on top of each pancake.
- Cook until bubbles begin to burst on top and the bottoms are golden brown. Carefully flip over and cook for a minute or so longer until cooked throughout and golden brown.
- Scoop out and keep warm in a low oven while you cook the remaining pancakes.
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!
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