Sheetpan Crispy Chicken & Potatoes! I love easy and delicious suppers like this fabulous all in one sheet pan supper for two! With this tasty meal you get fabulously tasty chicken that is crispy on the outside and yet still tender and juicy on the inside.
Add to that an array of deliciously roasted vegetables. Crispy roasted cubes of potato. Crispy tender green beans. Lush roasted baby plum tomatoes. All in all a dinner made in heaven!
Everything cooks beautifully on one sheet pan as well. No fuss no muss, and very little clean up involved, especially if you line your sheet pan with aluminium foil as I always do.
Just rip off the foil after you have removed your dinner to serve, and throw the foil away. You cannot get a much easier cleanup than that!
The quantities given are for just two people, but can very easily be multiplied to serve more. Just double the ingredients and spread them out onto two baking sheets! Easily done!
A full meal in one, with only one dish to wash? Sign me up! Life gets so busy sometimes and I get so lazy. Meals like this were made for people like me, and I am betting you too!
Boneless, skinless chicken breasts are pounded and then dipped in an egg and lemon mixture before coating them in crispy seasoned bread crumbs and parmesan cheese to coat. The pounding evens the chicken out and creates a really tender piece of chicken.
The bread crumb coating created a beautiful crisp coating that is absolutely filled to the hilt with flavour. There is some really scrumptious crispy chicken going on here, let me tell you!
I have chosen to roast whole green beans with this. First of all they were on special and looked really lovely in the shop. Secondly they are one of my favourite vegetables and lend themselves beautifully to the roasting treatment!
These do not get really tender, but rather crispy tender. (If you want your green beans to be exceptionally tender, then you can blanche them for a few minutes first.) Tossed together with melted butter and garlic, etc. they come out really tasty I could eat a whole tray of these and nothing else!
Likewise those crispy roasted potatoes. I like to leave the skins on, both for colour and flavour, not to mention texture and fibre. I adore roasted potatoes, probably more than fried potatoes.
Plus they also get the butter, herb and garlic treatment. Today I used red skinned potatoes. They have a beautiful yellow flesh and lovely flavour.
I roast them first, along with the chicken. Both take approximately the same amount of time to get crisp and cooked through perfectly.
I love those crisp and golden gilded edges on the potatoes. The flavours of the garlic, butter and herbs are amazing on these potatoes. I could eat them every day of the week and with everything! I am a real potato lover!
Baking the potatoes rather than frying them makes them a tad bit healthier. And they always come out crisp and golden brown yummilicious!
If you are low carbing it, and many people are, you could replace them with
cauliflower florets. Equally as delicious, but they won't take quite as long to cook. (Just a warning.)
I had some baby plum tomatoes which needed using up. Roasting is a great way to get some flavour into the anemic tomatoes we see in the shops this time of year. A drizzle of good balsamic vinegar and some salt and pepper are the only seasonings you need for these.
Do you keep your tomatoes on the counter top? If not, you really should. Tomatoes are one fruit (and they are considered a fruit) that continue to ripen on the countertop at room temperature. You can really bring out lush flavour in pretty inspipid shop tomatoes simply by leaving them in a bowl on the countertop for a few days.
I am really going to miss those beautiful tomatoes that I was able to have delivered from the Isle of Wight in the UK here in Canada. They were always beautiful, no matter the time of year.
I haven't been able to source anything similar here in Canada yet. I suspect that North America is not quite so advanced in the art of home delivery of food and food products, but I could be wrong. If you know any different, please enlighten me!
As you can see the chicken in this sheet pan supper is perfectly cooked succulent and juicy. Not greasy at all, and the coating is beautifully crisp. I use panko crumbs because I like them.
The vegetables are crispy tender, beautifully flavoured and go really well together with the chicken. Likewise those roasted tomatoes. Beautiful, all of it. Beautiful.
I served this with wedges of fresh lemon (its citrus season) and some freshly grated Parmesan cheese to finish it off.
This is such a beautiful combination . . . tender juicy crisp coated
chicken, crispy buttery potatoes, crispy tender green beans, caramelised
tomatoes. No fuss, no muss. What more could you ask for?
Yield: 2
Sheetpan Crispy Chicken & Potatoes
prep time: 15 Mincook time: 30 Mintotal time: 45 Min
An oven baked all in one pan chicken dinner for two with delicious Italian flavours!
Ingredients
For the crispy chicken:
- 1 small free range egg, beaten lightly
- 1 TBS lemon juice
- 1 tsp minced garlic
- 1 tsp chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
- 1/4 tsp each salt and black pepper
- 35g dried bread crumbs (1/4 cup) (I like panko)
- 3 TBS freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1 TBS melted butter
For the Vegetables:
- 250g baby potatoes, washed, dried and quartered (1/2 pound)
- 250g green beans, washed, trimmed and dried (1/2 pound)
- 12 baby plum tomatoes, halved
- 1 TBS balsamic vinegar
- 60g melted butter (1/4 cup)
- 1 tsp minced garlic
- dry Italian seasoning
- salt and black pepper to taste
To finish:
- Chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
- a dusting of Parmesan cheese
- fresh lemon wedges
Instructions
- First prepare the chicken. Whisk the egg, lemon juice, garlic, parsley, salt and pepper together in a shallow bowl. Pound the chicken breasts so that they are roughly the same thickness throughout. Add them to the egg mixture, turning to coat them. Refrigerate and marinate for half an hour at least.
- Preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F/gas mark 6. Line a baking tray with aluminium foil and spray with non-stick cooking spray.
- Put the bread crumbs in a bowl with the Parmesan cheese. Dredge each chicken breast on both sides in this, pressing them lightly to help the crumbs to stick. Place them onto the baking tray. Drizzle with the melted butter. (Alternately you can spray them with the low fat cooking spray). Place them in a single layer on the baking sheet.
- Melt the butter for the vegetables and mix with the garlic, Italian seasoning and salt to taste. Toss the potatoes with half of this and the green beans with the other half.
- Place the potatoes in one layer around the chicken, reserving the beans for later.
- Roast the chicken and potatoes in the oven for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven. Push the potatoes to one side and add the green beans around the chicken on the other side. Return to the oven and roast for a further10 minutes.
- Remove the tray from the oven again. Push the beans aside to make room for the tomatoes. Add the cherry tomatoes and drizzle with the balsamic vinegar and season with some salt and black pepper. Return the tray to the oven and roast for a further 10 minutes, until the chicken is golden and cooked through, the potatoes are crisp and golden brown and the green beans crispy tender. The tomatoes should be wilted and beginning to caramelise. Scatter some Parmesan cheese over the tray and sprinkle with the flat leaf parsley. Serve immediately with lemon wedges for spritzing over top
If you want to make this really quick, you can use frozen ready fried crispy chicken breast cutlets like the ones you get the bag in Costco. They are excellent. Also, ifyou don't like your green beans crispy tender, you may want to blanch them first. If you don't like green beans you can use trimmed asparagus spears, or baby corn cobs. Tasty either way!
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!
My sister had printed out a recipe from Sally's Baking Addiction earlier this week for "The Best Banana Cake I've Ever Had." We had some ripe bananas that needed using up.
They were well freckled. I don't know about you, but I am not overly fond of eating really ripe bananas as they are. I am also not fond of under ripe bananas. In order for me to enjoy a raw banana, it has to be just so.
And even then I am not overly fond of eating them raw. I do enjoy them with ice cream, custard or on top of crisp rice cereal. That is pretty much the only way I will eat them.
When I was a child I wouldn't eat them at all. I had heard about big spiders living in them on the banana trees and I had some crazy idea in my head that the little brown specks in their centres were spider eggs. I know! Kids! Crazy!
I decided to bake it on Friday when my sister was at work. She didn't mind. I think she was happy just to have cake in the house!
Her daughter Crystal had baked the cake and recommended it to us. I always admit to being a bit dubious when someone calls their recipe the best ever, but I suppose it is all relative to taste. One man's meat being another man's poison after all.
Her metric measurements were a bit off. I can speak with authority on that, having lived and baked in the UK for 20 years, and only ever baking by weight the whole time I was there.
I have corrected them in the recipe for you below. Those are the only adaptations I made to her recipe, and I pretty much made it exactly as per hers in every other way.
I apologize for the poor photos. Kitchen light, wrong time of day, but I couldn't really cut into it until after supper. I know you will forgive me.
The smell when this was baking was pretty A M A Z I N G! I seriously was drooling the whole time. It smelled sweet and very banana-like! I could hardly wait to dig in.
It uses ground cinnamon in the batter. To be honest I can't really taste it in the finished cake. If you want to taste the cinnamon, I would suggest upping the amount to at least 3/4 tsp if not 1 tsp.
Otherwise I would leave it out altogether. With two teaspoons of vanilla in the batter, it probably overpowers the cinnamon, so you really need to amp it up a bit if you want to taste it.
It has a moist and delicious crumb as you can see. Nice and dense like a good snacking cake should be.
The use of buttermilk helps to insure that it is moist as does the use of brown sugar. She suggested either dark or light soft brown sugar. I used light.
It was baked in a 9 X 13 inch Pyrex baking dish. My sister does not have any metal baking tins. I allowed it to cool entirely in the dish which also enhanced its moist texture.
I cut the quantities for the icing in half as I knew we would only be frosting the top of the cake. This was a smart decision and allowed for plenty of icing. Any more than what I made would have been too much.
I do like frosting on cakes, but I don't like to overdo it. Half a recipe was the right amount for this cake. If you are doing a layer cake (and you can) I would double the amounts below as you will need to fill and frost the sides.
I have also shown you the adapted bake times, etc. in the Notes for the recipe.
You can also bake it as cupcakes or as a Bundt Cake. See notes. I am not sure how to frost it as a Bundt cake. Perhaps just make a drizzle frosting instead of a cream cheese frosting. Or make a drizzle frosting using 1 TBS each softened butter and cream cheese, icing sugar, vanilla and then milk to give you the right consistency.
I think this would be lovely with the addition of toasted walnuts or chocolate chips, or both. I was very tempted to sprinkle some toasted walnuts over the top of the finished cake, but it wasn't my cake!
As you can see, it cuts beautifully into nice squares and the texture is spot on. This is everything that you would expect in a good banana cake. It has a lovely texture and a "spot on" banana flavour without having to use any kind of banana extract.
I confess that I am not overly fond of anything using an artificial banana flavour. If you can do it with real flavours, that's perfect to me.
If you are looking for a great family style Banana cake, a wonderful snacking cake, well flavoured, dense and not overly sweet look no further. This is your cake.
Best Banana Cake
Yield: one 9 X 13 cake
Prep time: 10 MinCook time: 45 MinTotal time: 55 Min
This banana cake is moist and deliciously filled with plenty of banana flavor! Make sure all of your ingredients are at room temperature before beginning.
Ingredients
- 3 large ripe bananas, peeled and mashed
- 3 cups (420g) all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
- 3/4 cup (180g) lightly salted butter, softened
- 1 cup (195g) granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup (100g) soft light brown sugar, packed
- 3 large free range eggs, lightly beaten
- 2 tsp pure vanilla
- 1 1/2 cups (360ml) dairy buttermilk
For the frosting:
- 4 ounces (110g) of cream cheese
- 1/2 cup (120g) butter
- 1 tsp pure vanilla
- 2 cups (260g) icing sugar, sifted
- pinch of salt
- 1 TBS milk or cream (may or may not be needed)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/gas mark 4. Butter a 9 X 13 inch baking dish with butter and dust the bottom only with flour.
- Sift together all of the dry ingredients for the cake. Set aside.
- Cream together the butter for the cake and both sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in the vanilla and then the eggs a little at a time until thoroughly incorporated. Beat in the mashed bananas.
- Add the flour mixture, alternately with the buttermilk, making three dry and two wet additions. Try not to overbeat it. A few lumps are quite acceptable.
- Pour into the prepared baking dish.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 45 to 50 minutes, until well risen and the top springs back when lightly touched. A toothpick inserted in the centre should come out clean.
- Allow to cool completely in the pan.
- To make the icing beat together all of the ingredients until smooth and creamy, only adding milk as necessary to give you the proper consistency.
- Spread the frosting over the cooled cake, swirling the top a bit. Cut into squares to serve.
Notes:
You may bake this as a layer cake if you wish, but double the recipe ingredients. Two 9-inch round pans, 26 to 30 minutes.
You may also bake this in a Bundt tin, 10 to 12 cup tin, 50 to 65 minutes.
Can also be baked as cupcakes. Makes two dozen, bake for 20 - 22 minutes.
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!
I love quick and easy desserts. Especially Berry Desserts that make a great use of all the berries I pick and freeze during the summer months!
At this time of year when the winds and snow are blowing, berries and other summer fruits can be a beautiful taste of summer to brighten up your days! So much the better when you are able to incorporate them into desserts which don't require a lot of effort or time.
S'mores Rocky Road. I am sharing a recipe with you today that doesn't get more indulgent or delicious. Those of you not familiar with it will probably wonder what Rocky Road is.
Scrumptious, indulgent and easy to make, it is simply a refrigerator cake composed of melted chocolate, crushed biscuits, dried fruit, etc.
This gets pressed into a pan and then refrigerated until set and solid. Once this happens, you can cut it into squares to eat.
I had never tasted this type of Rocky Road before I moved to the UK. There was the American version of course, which were a kind of a Brownie type of bar, but these were completely far removed from that.
British Rocky Road is said to be Prince William and Harry's favorite dessert. I am not sure about that, but having tasted this variation, I can predict that it is going to become a favorite everywhere!
This recipe for Rocky Road I am sharing with you today is a delicious twist on the original recipe. It is quite an unusual take, involving a fusion with the ever popular American S'mores.
American S'mores are present at most North American BBQ's, etc. Composed of graham crackers, filled with hot toasted marshmallows and melted chocolate they are something everyone loves.
These S'mores Rocky Road bars are every bit as scrumptious, as well as being indulgent, and very easy to make.
Instead of crushed and crumbled biscuits/cookies, it uses crisp rice cereal and salty pretzels. Mini ones, or larger ones broken into bits.
Personally, I think the smaller ones work better. But you can use whatever kind you have in the house.
Normally Rocky Road will involve a quantity of dried fruit. Usually raisins or sultanas, sometimes candied fruit.
There is no dried fruit in these. There is plenty of chocolate however, to make up for the lack.
For this I have used two kinds of chocolate. Dark and milk chocolate. Make sure you use a good quality of each. I like to use chocolate with a high percentage of cocoa solids, at least 70% or higher if I can.
The two chocolates are melted together in a saucepan. Make sure you use a saucepan with a heavy bottom and very low heat otherwise your chocolate may burn and seize.
Melted along with the chocolate are butter, golden syrup and a quantity of mini marshmallows. Yes, these are sweet, but don't worry about that.
Any sweetness is counteracted by the saltiness of the pretzels.
If you haven't got golden syrup you can use corn syrup. It will work fine.
Once these ingredients have all melted and are amalgamated together, you will be adding something crisp, which will also serve to give these lush bars substance.
Salty pretzels and crisp rice cereal, or rice bubbles as they are called in the UK. (I just love the names they give things! Most of them make more sense then their North American counterparts)
These get stirred into the chocolate mixture all at once. Just stir them in until everything is evenly coated and well mixed together.
You will need an 8-inch square pan for these squares. You want to line it with some aluminum foil.
You will need a piece large enough to line the pan with enough overhang to be able to lift the squares out when done.
The chocolate cereal mixture gets spooned into the prepared pan. Smooth it out and and then lightly press to compact it a bit.
Don't press too hard. You don't want them smooshed in there too compactly or they will not have the right consistency.
More mini marshmallows get sprinkled over top. You also need to press these down lightly. This is only so that they adhere to the chocolate mixture a bit.
Again, don't press too hard. Pop the whole pan into the refrigerator. This is when the hard part comes. The waiting.
After chilling for a couple hours until solid you take the pan out of the fridge and pop it under a hot grill to gild the marshmallows on top, golden brown. And, that's it. Bob's your Uncle. Tout finis!
Ooey, gooey, sweet. Salty, rich and indulgent. Creamy and crisp . . . chocolaty. What more could you ask for?
Yield: Makes 16 bars
Rocky Road S'Mores
Sweet, salty, gooey, crisp and chocolaty!
ingredients:
- 75g butter (1/3 cup)
- 1 TBS golden syrup
- 150g white mini marshmallows, divided (3 cups)
- 200g dark chocolate, broken into bits (7 ounces)
- 100g milk chocolate, broken into bits (3 1/2 ounces)
- 50g crisp rice cereal (1 1/2 cups)
- 100g salted mini pretzels (about 2 1/4 cups)
instructions:
How to cook Rocky Road S'Mores
- Line an 8 inch square pan with aluminium foil. Set aside.
- Place the butter, golden syrup and half of the marshmallows into a heavy bottomed saucepan. Heat over low heat, stirring until melted and amalgamated. Stir in the chocolate, stirring until the chocolate melts. Remove from heat and stir in the rice cereal and pretzels. Press this mixture into the prepared pan. Scatter the remaining marshmallows over top, pressing down lightly. Place in the refrigerator to chill for 2 hours.
- Preheat the grill/broiler to high. Pop the rocky road (still in the pan) under the grill for about 45 to 60 seconds until toasted golden brown. Remove immediately. Let cool.
- Cut into squares with a wet knife to serve. Store in an airtight container.
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!
You don't have to get very far in a grocery shop today to be inundated with choice when it comes to snacks to buy for your family. There are snacks to please every family, every person, every lifestyle choice and they meet you right at the door inside the shops! We are a nation of snackers for sure!
Whether you are looking for healthy snacks to buy or wanting to indulge in something a little less healthy, we are truly spoilt for choice.
When I was in the UK, I used to dream about the snacks from home that I could not get and hope that someone would send me some. Now I am back in Canada I am sure that there will be things I miss terribly from the UK that I got used to enjoying.
Since I have been back in Canada I have made it my goal to try some of my old favourites and see how they stack up against my memories of what I was missing for those 20 years. I am also trying some new things which I have never seen before. I thought it would be fun to share my findings on a few of them!
Terra Sweet Potato Chips - Sea Salt
I love sweet potatoes. They are one of my favourite vegetables and I was really keen to try these chips. Unfortunately they didn't live up to the hype. They were somewhat crisp, but not totally crisp. I think this is because they are too thick. I think a thinner chip would be a better chip.
The ruffles do make them attractive, but in the long run I think un-ruffled would make for a crisper chip. I tried the sea salt ones and they were not quite as salty as a regular chip. This is probably a good thing in many ways, because we all consume far too much salt. Not so good in a potato chip however, in my humble opinion.
I did not really like these. Chips are the naughty snack and they should feel and eat as being incredibly moreish. These did neither one. They were not a favourite.
Smart Food Popcorn - White Cheddar
This snack was something I had eaten before I moved over to the UK and it was something which I had missed while I was over there. It was always incredibly moreish with just the right dusting of white cheddar on it. You could easily lose yourself in a package of these. Since my return I have noticed there are a lot more flavours of the Smart Food Popcorn. Gouda & Chive. Jalapeno & Cheddar. Caramel & Cheddar. Flamin' Hot. Sour Cream & Onion. Hot Buffalo. Movie Theatre Butter, etc.
I have not tried any of those, but I did buy myself a small bag of the White Cheddar for old times sake and it was enjoyed. Nice and cheesy and crisp. It tastes of white cheddar as always. My teeth are older however and it was quite husky. I don't think I can enjoy popcorn much anymore. Not to mention the problem with my diverticulitis. This is a younger person's snack for sure!
Covered Bridge Storm Chips.
Old fashioned, Kettle cooked, these are chips I had read about when I was in the UK and was really keen to try. I was really excited when I saw them in the shop. They promised to be a "flurry of flavours." The contain four flavours of chips. BBQ. Sea Salt & Vinegar. Homestyle Ketchup. Creamy Dill. I love all of those flavours of chips on their own, so I really thought I would love these, and kettle cooked. What could be possibly be wrong with that??
Nothing if each chip was individually flavoured. They aren't. Every single chip is coated in all four flavours, which may be to some people's tastes, but they were not to mine. I found them decidedly distasteful, so much so that I ended up throwing them away. (And they were not cheap.)
I think from now on I will be sticking to my old favourites, storm or no.
They were nice and crisp however so on that score there were no complaints! I have had their other chips and liked them. I just did not really like these.
It is all a matter of taste I guess!
Lays Dill Pickle Chips - exactly as stated
Simulated flavour or not, these have not disappointed. Of all the potato chips, these are my favourite kind. I dreamt about these when I was in the UK. My son sent me a small bag once and they were incredibly enjoyed. If you like Dill Pickles, you will like these chips. They are crisp and moreish, with just the right amount of Dill Pickle flavour as well as the tiniest smidgen of garlic flavour as well. At least I could taste the garlic. Not over done, not underdone. Just right.
Apparently there is a Flamin Hot variety of Dill Pickle Chips. I don't think so. But a younger person might be tempted.
What is it with Flamin Hot these days? Does everyone want to stretch their tastebuds beyond their capacity of endurance?
Ritz Real Cheddar Cheese Crackers
Disappointment. There is no other word for it. These were a disappointment. I could not taste the cheddar. They were decidedly orange however, I suppose to help differentiate them from the regular Ritz cracker. I actually expect a cracker purpoting to be real cheddar cheese to taste like cheddar. Neither my sister nor I could taste it, but perhaps that was because they were quite salty. Maybe we just got a bad box. These just tasted like orange coloured ordinary Ritz Crackers to us. Not that we don't like Ritz crackers, but we were expecting the flavour of cheddar. We also both noted that they don't seem to be as thick as they used to be and they are now shaped as ovals, not round.
I will now tell you what didn't disappoint us as far as Cheese Crackers went.
Cheeze-it Original
These crackers were crisp and tasted exactly like cheese. They were a bit higher in calories than the Ritz ones, coming in at 10 calories more per 20g, but they were lower in sodium. We much preferred these.
I also tried their Cheeze-it Crunch Crackers in the Zesty Cheddar Ranch flavour and they were quite good as well. Both varieties got a thumbs up from me.
Let's face it, when you want a CHEESE cracker you want a cracker that tastes like cheese and these did not disappoint!
Dare Veggie Crisps.
I saw these one day in WalMart and picked up a package. I am afraid I am a person who likes to munch on something when I watch television in the evenings and I am always looking for something a bit healthier than the potato chip.
From their page: Dare Veggie Crisps are made with the goodness of real vegetables like yellow and green peas, tomatoes and carrots. Vegetables like these contain fibre, making them a nutritious snack. Enjoy the delicious flavour of Sea Salt in every crispy bite.
Made with real vegetables with no artificial colours or flavours
and 90 calories per serving (14 crackers)
These were okay. I have found them to be very similar to those rice pop crackers. They have a pleasant crisp texure and are not overly salty like some of these things can be. I can taste the vegetables in them. They have a "green" flavour, which is not overwhelming, but really they kind of taste like the rehydrated vegetables in a dry packet of vegetable soup mix. So, in my opinion, they are not in line to take over the potato chip type of snack corner of world.
Ace Bakery Mini Baguette Crisps.
I spied these on special at the Atlantic Super Store over the holidays. I think I paid $7 for two packs. I got the Aged Cheddar ones and the Cinnamon Raisin ones. Essentially they are thinly sliced baguettes, seasoned accordingly and then baked until crisp.
I have to say I found both kinds to be incredibly moreish, on their own, without anything added. (although I can just imagine how wonderful they would be with dips) I really liked the cinnamon raisin ones. So much so that I finished that bag first. They were not totally crisp however, probably due to the raisins.
I really enjoyed the cheddar ones as well. Beautifully flavoured, although they need to work at keeping the toasted cheddar on top of the baguette slices. Most of the cheddar had fallen off into the bottom of the bag. Having said that however, it hasn't stopped me from buying another bag of them at full price, or enjoying those lovely little crunchy cheesy bits at the bottom of the bag!
Kraft Pizza Kit.
Pizza kits were something I miss in the UK. They are always really convenient to have in the cupboard for when you are in a rush or when you just want something simple and uncomplicated for your supper, etc. With the package of crust mix, tin of sauce and package of cheese, you really can't go wrong. I fear their packaging is a bit misleading however along with the instructions. It states on the package that the mix will make two 12 inch pizzas. WRONG! There is no way this would make two 12 inch pizzas. And I tried.
First fault, the dough mix is in one package so there is no option of baking one now and baking the other one later. You do need to mix it all up at once.
Second fault, halved the dough did not come even close to spreading out to fill a 12-inch piece pan. I ended up putting it back together and we had a baking sheet pizza. Our baking sheet was approximately 11 inches by 17 inches in size. It fit perfectly into this pan and was neither too thick nor was it too thin.
The sauce is, well, Kraft Pizza sauce. Not as good as a homemade sauce or a Pizzaria sauce, but as good as you could expect from a pizza mix.
We did not use the cheese, preferring instead to use our own cheese.
This was as good as it had ever been. We all enjoyed it, having adapted to use our own favourite toppings etc. This is still something I would have in my own cupboard for emergencies, etc. even if it didn't actually make two pizzas.
From what I could see this was the only complete pizza mix available. I didn't see any others, although you can certainly buy crust mix and sauce separately and the cheese of course. Buying all those things separately is much more costly than buying a complete kit however, so the kit will always be a bargain in comparison.
Old Dutch Popcorn Twists.
These were something I had missed terribly when I was in the UK. Essentially they are like cheesies or wotsits (British version of cheesies) but they taste like popcorn without any of the angst of kernels and hulls getting caught in your teeth. I have always loved them. They are incredibly moreish and they literally do melt in your mouth.
Looking at them you might be tempted to think that they would be squeaky like styrafoam peanuts, but they are not. They do melt. They are nice and salty. Buttery. Addictive.
I picked up two bags before Christmas and I used one to make the delicious Caramel Corn Recipe on the back of the bag. Can you say INCREDIBLY EDIBLY DELICIOUS? That it was.
You can find that delicious recipe here. Prepare yourself to fall utterly and totally in love.
Talk about taking something totally delicious and turning it into something even more delicious and to love!
Hershey's Milk Chocolate with Almonds
Next to the Crispy Crunch, this was probably one chocolate bar I missed the most in the UK. I did find them on the odd occasion, but they never tasted like I remembered them tasting. There was a powdery taste to them and the chocolate felt a bit waxy in the mouth. Not enjoyable in the least.
There was a special on chocolate bars at WalMart the other day however and you could buy three packages for I think it was $8, with each package having four bars in it. A real bargain. I picked up KitKats (who doesn't love those), Jersey Milk (the taste of my childhood) and Hershey's Milk Chocolate with Almonds.
Suprise! They magically tasted as they always had in the past. Perhaps I just never got a good one in the UK. These were rich and creamy, not powdery and the nuts perfectly toasted. Score!!
Ketchup Potato Chips
They did have these in the UK, but in all honesty they did not come up to the memory of my North American onesm neither did the BBQ ones. I picked up a small bag in WalMart one day at the cash to eat in the car on the way home (I was starving). They did not disappoint. Same flavour that I have always loved. Just like ketchup. Not too vinegary. Not too tomatoey. Just like eating a plate of fries and ketchup. Yum!
So there you have it. A few of the flavours I had been missing from home. Snacks I was missing. There are many more of course, like Hickory Sticks, and I am sure I will try them in due course, but for now this is my list and thoughts.
The things you do for love . . . I have come to realise that taste memories are subjective, and yes, sometimes absence does make the heart grow fonder.
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