Chicken Gloria

I made this without the cheese topping as I think it detracts from the mushroom and sherry flavour

• 4 skinless boneless chicken breasts, trimmed and filleted in half lengthwise
• 1/3 cup of flour
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons of butter
• 1 (8 oz) container of sliced fresh mushrooms
• 1/2 cup of sherry
• 1 small can of cream of mushroom soup
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley for garnish
• Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4

Season both sides of the chicken with salt and pepper, dredge lightly in flour to coat both sides. Shake off excess.

Add oil to frying pan and brown chicken in batches on both sides. You don’t need to cook the chicken completely.  It will finish cooking in the oven. Transfer the chicken to a baking dish.

Add the butter to the frying pan and let it melt over medium high heat. Add mushrooms, season with salt and pepper and brown mushrooms until golden.  Then add the sherry and cook for another minute or two. Add the creamy mushroom soup and mix well.

Pour sauce over the chicken breasts, cover with foil and bake in oven for about 30 minutes.

Remove from oven and top each piece of chicken with one slice of cheese. You can fold the cheese in half if it is too wide for the breast.

Place the chicken back in oven uncovered and bake for 10 minutes to brown the cheese.

Top with chopped fresh parsley and serve.

Tres Leche Cake

I made 3/4 of the cake recipe in a 7 inch square tin and 1/2 the sauce; must have been a bit heavy handed as cake did not rise that much - it was very tasty served with clotted cream and raspberries :)

For the sponge

• 4 free-range eggs, separated
• 200g/7oz caster sugar
• 200g/7oz plain flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 100ml/3½fl oz milk
• ½ tsp vanilla extract

For the sauce

• 400g/14oz can sweetened condensed milk
• 400g/14oz can evaporated milk
• 200ml/7floz double cream

To serve

• strawberries, rasberries or blueberries

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.

Grease and line a 23cm/9in square cake tin.

In a bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form when the whisk is removed. Gradually fold in sugar. Fold in the egg yolks one at a time.

In another bowl mix the flour, baking powder, milk and vanilla. Fold this quickly into the egg mix and pour into the cake tin.

Place in the preheated oven and bake for about 30-40 minutes.

For the sauce, beat together the condensed milk, evaporated milk and cream.

As soon as you take the cake out of the oven skewer holes all over the top and pour over half of the milk mix.

Place in the fridge to chill.

     Once chilled pour over the rest of the sauce, slice and serve with fruit

Pulled Pork

This pork turned out spicy & tasty but I found it a little tough; next time I will try pork shoulder in a slow cooker which I have seen other recipes use. We ate it 3 different ways - I had it in lettuce wraps; Rob had with veggies and Ricky with Jacket & salad

• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1 teaspoon chilli powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 1/3 cup ketchup
• 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
• 2 tablespoons molasses
• 1 pork tenderloin, about 1 pound, cut into 4 pieces

In a large Dutch oven heat 2 teaspoons of oil over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and season with salt and pepper. Cook until softened and lightly browned, 5 minutes. Add the chilli powder, cumin, cinnamon, and cayenne and cook until toasted, 1 minute more. Stir in the broth, ketchup, 1/3 cup vinegar, and molasses. Bring to a simmer and add the pork. Simmer, covered, until the pork is just cooked through and tender, about 30 minutes

Remove the pork to a cutting board and let stand for 5 minutes. Increase the heat on the remaining sauce in the pot to medium-high and cook until thickened, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat.

Shred the pork with two forks into large chunks and add back into the thickened sauce. Toss well to coat. Let stand 10 minutes, tossing occasionally, to let the pork absorb the sauce

Recipe courtesy of foodnetwork.com

Zesty One Pan Turkey

I used up 8 of my frozen tomatoes with 1 tbsp tomato sauce in place of 3 fresh ones; I added thyme instead of the capers and had to thicken the sauce with white granules. Probably had too much sauce for just 3 turkey fillets

• 1/2 tbsp oil
• 4 turkey breast fillets - sliced
• 10 oz chicken stock
• Zest and juice of a lemon
• 4 tomatoes roughly chopped
• Salt & Black pepper
• Handful of chopped parsley

1. Heat the oil and fry the turkey slices until nicely browned on both sides

2. Add the rest of the ingredients (except parsley) and simmer for 15 minutes or until the turkey is cooked

3. Top with the parsley and serve with rice, seasonal vegetables or salad

203 Calories - Recipe courtesy of goodhousekeeping.co.uk

Gin and Tonic Cake

Had a couple of limes to use up so found this delicious cake to make. I made half the recipe in a loaf tin (took only 25 minutes to bake) and added lime zest on top of the icing.

Cake

3 cups plain flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup granulated sugar

4 large eggs

1 1/2 tablespoons freshly zested lime rind

1/4 cup gin

1/4 cup tonic

juice of 1 lime

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F Gas 5.

In the bowl of your electric mixer, beat butter on medium speed until creamy. Add in sugar and beat on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 5 minutes, scraping down the bowl if needed. Add in each egg one at a time, beating until fully incorporated before adding the next. Add in lime zest and juice mix.

With the mixer on low speed, add in half of the dry ingredients. Add in gin, and tonic mixing until combined and scraping the bowl if necessary. Add remaining flour and beat until just combined. Pour into a greased 9×13 baking dish, and bake for 35-40 minutes, until top is golden and center is set. Remove cake from over and immediately poke holes over top with a toothpick or fork. Pour gin glaze over then, then let cake cool completely. While cake is cooling, mix up icing and once cooled frost. 

Gin Glaze

1/2 cup sugar

4 tablespoons gin

juice of 1 lime

Mix ingredients together until a glaze forms, then pour over cake immediately while it is still warm. Add more gin if desired.

 Gin Icing

2 cups icing sugar

2-3 tablespoons gin

Mix ingredients together until a very thick but spreadable icing forms. Once cake has completely cooled, spread a thin layer of icing all over the cake. 

Recipe courtesy of howsweeteats.com

Roasted Maple-Glazed Pork Tenderloin

I had a "grey moment" and did not read the recipe properly; I rolled the tenderloin in the flour mixed with paprika & ginger - it still came out tasting delicious :)

1/2 cup pure maple, divided (meaning you'll use half at first and save half for later in the recipe)
1/4 cup black treacle
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 cup cornstarch
Salt & ground black pepper
2 pork tenderloins
2 tablespoons vegetable, canola or coconut oil

1.Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F Gas 5. Stir 1/4 cup maple syrup, molasses, vinegar, paprika and ginger together in a liquid measuring cup or bowl; set aside.

2.Mix cornstarch, salt, and black pepper in small bowl until combined. Transfer the cornstarch mixture to a plate. Pat the pork tenderloins dry with paper towels, then roll in cornstarch mixture until evenly coated on all sides. Pat or shake off the excess cornstarch (really important or the excess coating can get gummy).

3.In a 12-inch nonstick skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat shimmering and hot. Place both tenderloins in the skillet, leaving at least 1 inch in between and cook until well browned on all sides, 10 minutes total.

4.Transfer the tenderloins to a lightly greased oven-proof wire rack set in rimmed baking sheet. If you don't have a rack that size, the tenderloins can be placed on a lightly greased baking sheet - the coating on the undersides of the pork may be a bit soft after baking but it will still work fine.

5.Pour off any excess grease/fat from the skillet and return it to medium heat. Add the syrup mixture to the skillet, scraping up any browned bits with a wooden spoon, and simmer the mixture until it is reduced slightly, 1-2 minutes.

6.Transfer 1 1/2 tablespoons of the hot glaze to a small bowl and set aside. Using the remaining glaze, brush each tenderloin with approximately 1 tablespoon glaze. Roast the pork for about 20 minutes. Brush each tenderloin with another tablespoon glaze and continue to roast another 15 minutes. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and brush the pork with the remaining glaze. Let the pork rest for 5 minutes.

7.While the tenderloins rest, stir the remaining 1/4 cup maple syrup into the reserved 1 1/2 tablespoons glaze (you may need to warm the reserved glaze slightly if it has thickened). Brush each tenderloin with the glaze (it's ok if there is some remaining; read on). Slice the pork into 1/4- to 1/2-inch slices and serve with the remaining glaze.

Recipe from melskitchencafe.com

Banana Bread with Brown Butter frosting

This was the best cake I think I have ever made :)

I made half the recipe in a small loaf tin and it took 30 minutes to cook; my bananas were slightly frozen which I think made the cake very moist. I used Kerrigold Irish butter and I could not get it to go brown for the topping but it did taste very fudge like.

I did not put walnuts inside but only on the top as I am the only one who likes them. Fifth time made and still as good with Banana Crisps on top.

    

• 1-1/2 c. sugar
• 1 c. creme fraiche
• 1/2 c. butter, softened
• 2 eggs
• 4 ripe bananas, mashed 
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 c. all purpose flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 c. chopped walnuts (optional)

Brown Butter Frosting

• 1/2 c. butter
• 4 c. powdered sugar
• 1-1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 3 tbsp. Milk

Directions:

1.  Heat oven to 375F.  Grease and flour 15×10-inch jelly roll pan.  For the bars, in a large bowl, beat together sugar, cream, butter, and eggs until creamy.  Blend in bananas and vanilla extract.  Add flour and baking soda blend for 1 minute.  Stir in walnuts.

2.  Spread batter evenly into pan.  Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown.

3.  Meanwhile, for frosting, heat butter in a large saucepan over medium heat until boiling.  Let the butter turn a delicate brown and remove from heat immediately.

4.  Add powdered sugar, vanilla extract and milk.  Whisk together until smooth (it should be thicker than a glaze but thinner than frosting).  Using a spatula, spread the brown butter frosting over the warm bars (the frosting will be easier to spread while the bars are still warm). 
Recipe from TheRecipecritic.com

Pork & Mushroom Stroganoff

This is an adapted recipe from Jamie Oliver's Venison & Wild Mushroom Stroganoff

I used pork loins and a mix of brown & white mushrooms; it was served with a jacket potato and peas

• olive oil
• 1 medium onion, peeled and finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic, peeled and finely sliced
• 3 pork loin, sliced into finger-sized pieces
• sea salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• 250 g mixed mushrooms, wiped cleanand sliced
• 1 bunch fresh flat-leaf parsley finely chopped
• 1 knob butter
• 1 good splash brandy
• zest of ½ lemon
• 150 ml crème fraîche 

1. Toss the meat with the paprika and a good pinch of salt and pepper.

2. Heat a medium skillet over medium-high heat add 1 tablespoon olive oil. Add the meat and sear until browned on all sides, about 7 minutes total. Remove from pan and set aside.

3. Toss in the onions and garlic saute until everything starts to brown and caramelize, 5 minutes. Add the butter and mushrooms and cook for 3 minutes.

4. Add the brandy and let it sizzle about 1 minute. Add the lemon zest and most of the crème fraiche. Stir to combine.

5. Nestle the meat back in the pan (with its collected juices) and simmer until cooked through 5 to 7 minutes. Give a good pinch of salt and pepper.

6. Serve the stroganoff over a bed of rice or jacket potato and garnish with spoonful of crème fraiche and parsley.

Turkey, Bacon and Thyme Casserole

This turned out very tasty, had with mash and carrots - recipe serves 4

• Low calorie oil spray
• ½ large onion chopped
• 8 slices back bacon, all visible fat removed and chopped
• 4 turkey breast fillet, cut into pieces
• A small handful of fresh thyme, chopped
• 200g mushrooms, sliced (optional)
• ½ pint veggie or chicken stock
• 3 level tbsp tomato sauce
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Chives

Fry bacon with no oil until browned; set aside on plate

Add oil and fry seasoned turkey till well cooked; add to plate

Fry onion until just cooked

Add tomato paste, stock, thyme (mushrooms) and salt & pepper; continue to cook over a high heat for a further 15 minutes until nicely done - thicken sauce with flour if too runny

Top with chopped chives

Milk Scones

A really quick scone to make and cook - tastes lovely fresh from oven with plum jam

• 225g / 8oz or two small cups of self-raising flour    
• 50g or a dessertspoon of margarine spread   
• 1 dessertspoon sugar                                
• 150ml / 5fl oz or small cup of milk           

Preheat oven to gas mark 7 / 220ºC / 425ºF.

Put flour into bowl, put in the spread using a knife to cut it into little bits.

Rub the butter and flour together with fingers, until it resembles breadcrumbs.

Stir in sugar.

Add the milk and stir using a knife until it forms a dough.

Sprinkle flour onto your work surface and tip dough onto it.

Use hands to flatten the dough to around ½ inch thick.

Cut into rounds using cutters or an upside down glass.

      Put onto baking tray brush milk over the tops.

Put into oven for 10–15 minutes. 

   

Roasted Cauliflower

Had some roasted cauliflower tonight with roast lamb

• 1 (2 lb.) head cauliflower
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1/4 tsp salt

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F Gas 8.

2. Cut cauliflower into florets, about 1 1/2-inches each. Transfer the florets to a bowl. Toss the

cauliflower with the olive oil.

3. In a small bowl, stir together the chili powder, ground cumin, paprika and salt.

4. Pour the spice mixture over the cauliflower and, using your hands, toss to coat the cauliflower.

5. Transfer the cauliflower to a baking sheet and roast the cauliflower, turning occasionally, until it is tender and golden brown, about 20 minutes. 

Smothered Pork

This recipe does well for pork or chicken

• 4 chicken breasts or pork loin
• 4 oz cream cheese
• chopped spinach
• 1/2 onion
• 4 tbsp white wine
• grated cheese
• salt & pepper
• oil for frying

If using chicken breasts flatten them a little in a plastic bag. 
Preheat oven to Gas 5 Electric 190

1. Pour boiling water on spinach and allow to wilt, drain well.

2. Season meat and fry till nicely browned on both sides, put into a casserole dish.

3. Chop onion and fry in pan scrapping up any meaty bits. Add cream cheese and drained spinach. Mix well and cook for a 2 minutes then pour over meat.

4. Fry mushrooms for 4 minutes till slightly cooked then pour over wine. Allow the wine to be absorbed by the mushrooms then pour over meat in casserole dish.

5. Sprinkle cheese over dish and bake in oven for 35-40 minutes until nicely browned 

Baked Zucchini Sticks

Made these to go with Smothered Pork Loins and Mash - I used Panko breadcrumbs which I would not do again as most fell off - I think if you made fresh breadcrumbs they would stick better

For 4 people

• 1 large zucchini, sliced into skinny sticks
• 1 large egg white, beaten
• 1/2 cup bread crumbs
• 2 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 tsp dried oregano
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• Salt and pepper, to taste

1. Preheat oven to 425° Gas 8. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray. Set aside.

2. In a small bowl, beat egg whites with a fork until frothy.

3. Put the breadcrumbs, oregano, garlic powder and cheese on a plate. Mix well.

4. Dip the zucchini sticks in the egg whites and then into the bread crumb mixture, make sure all

sides get coated well. 

5. Place the sticks on the prepared baking sheet. 

6. Bake for about 20 minutes or until golden brown and a little crispy. 

Greek Yogurt Pancakes

I had some left-over yogurt and had missed pancake day so decided to try these. 
The mixture made 5 and they are like a scotch pancake although not so sweet.
I ate 2 of them; the one on top had mulberry jam and Greek yogurt the other I ate just buttered.

• 6 oz of Greek yogurt
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup plain flour
• 1 tsp baking powder

1. Mix yogurt till creamy

2. Beat egg in a cup and then stir into yogurt and mix well

3. Add flour and baking powder and mix well - mixture is quite thick

4. Warm a well oiled frying pan or griddle

5. Add spoonfuls of mixture - should make 4 to 5 pancakes

6. Cook until batter starts to solidify then turn over and cook other side

Top with jam, butter, lemon juice or anything you like

Chester Cake

Needed a comfort fix so decided to make a Chester Cake that I saw on the Hairy Bikers Tour of Britain

You need some frozen shortcrust pastry (or make your own)

• 300g stale bread(about 8 slices)
• 350ml fresh, strongly brewed tea
• 150g mixed dried fruit(sultanas, raisins or whatever else takes your fancy)
• 2 tblsp treacle
• 1 tblsp golden syrup
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 0.25 tsp cinnamon
• 0.25 tsp cloves
• pinch of salt

Remove any very thick, hard crusts from the bread and place the bread in a medium-sized bowl and pour the tea over it. Allow the tea to soak in and soften for a minute or two, then mash well with a fork. You need just enough liquid to wet all of the bread – the mashed bread mixture will be stiff rather than overly liquidy.

Stir in fruit, treacle, golden syrup, ginger, cinnamon, cloves and salt. Mix well and leave to plump up for an hour or two.

When you’re ready to bake, preheat the oven to 200C

Remove the pastry from the fridge. Then smooth the filling over the base layer and top with the rest of the pastry. Prick the pastry topping all over with a fork, brush with a little milk.

Bake until golden, around 30 minutes or so. Allow it to cool in the tin before slicing into squares

Optional add icing to top

Chocolate Marzipans

Saved money for Valentine's Day by making my own marzipan's for the boys. I just made 2 colours of marzipan white & pink.

• 200g Ground Almonds
• 200g Icing Sugar
• 2 Egg Whites (medium size)
• ½ tsp Vanilla extract
• Few drops of red food colouring
• Few drops of green food colouring
• 250g Dark chocolate

Mix the ground almonds and icing together thoroughly.

Whisk the egg whites and add to the mixture together with the almond extract to form a dough using a wooden spoon or your hand.

Weigh the marzipan out into 3 equal portions and wrap 2 portions in cling film.

To the unwrapped portion add a few drops of green food colouring and knead the colour into the marzipan on an icing sugar dusted work surface until colour is totally mixed in. If necessary add more food colouring to get a good green colour; do the same with the red. The last portion is left white.

Divide a portion of marzipan and flatten to get to a width of 2 – 2 ½ cm. Repeat for the other 2 portions of marzipan and lay the pink, green and white flattened strips on top of each other in 2 separate bricks.

Cut the marzipan bricks with a sharp knife to form squares. Then cover them in cling film.

Now melt the dark chocolate by breaking it up and putting it in a bowl over a pan of simmering water. Once it has started to melt well you can turn the heat off.

Using 2 forks dip each marzipan diamond into the chocolate and on lifting out scrape away excess chocolate from base. Carefully slide each chocolate marzipan onto a sheet of baking paper.

Place in the fridge for 10 minutes to allow to set.

Bitmore Pudding

1st March - Decided to make a reduced fat version of the classic Biltmore Pudding. I left it to soak overnight and it turned out delicious. I had mine with maple syrup :)

Makes 6 Servings  

• 4 cups cubed day-old bread
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup Semi milk (Full Cream Milk)
• 1 cup half-fat crème fraiche (Double Cream)
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1/4 cup melted butter
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1. Place bread cubes in a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish. In a large

bowl, whisk the eggs, milk, cream, sugar, butter, vanilla and
cinnamon. Pour evenly over bread and let soak for 30 minutes.

2. Bake, uncovered, at 350° Gas 4 for 40-45 minutes or until a knife
inserted near the center comes out clean. Let stand for 10 minutes
before cutting.

Have with ice-cream, cream, greek yogurt or caramel sauce

Oreo Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies

March 5th - Today I decided to try these; they turned out very large so I probably wrapped the biscuits in too much dough. I prepared half the mix and made 8 cookies. They were moist and very tasty especially when warm.

Recipe courtesy of Picky Palate - Makes about 2 dozen

• 1 Cup softened butter
• 3/4 Cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 Cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 Tablespoon pure vanilla
• 3 1/2 Cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 10 oz bag chocolate chips
• 1 bag Oreo Cookies, I used the double stuff

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a stand or electric mixer cream butter and sugars until well combined. Add in eggs and vanilla until well combined.

2. In a separate bowl mix the flour, salt and baking soda. Slowly add to wet ingredients along with chocolate chips until just combined. Using a cookie scoop take one scoop of cookie dough and place on top of an Oreo Cookie. Take another scoop of dough and place on bottom of Oreo Cookie. Seal edges together by pressing and cupping in hand until Oreo Cookie is enclosed with dough. 

3. Place onto a parchment or silpat lined baking sheet and bake cookies 9-13 minutes or until cookies are baked to your liking. Let cool for 5 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.