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