Stir Fried Chicken with Honey, Soy and Cashews

Tonight's final post also happens to be tonight's dinner and not a recipe I have made before, or one of my Cook Book Challenges either!  Instead this is one of the multitude of recipes I have saved from one of my food magazines, it was resting contently on my 'must make' list until it was unearthed yesterday!

Stir Fried Chicken with Honey, Soy and Cashews
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp hoisin sauce
1 tbsp clear honey
2 tsp cornflour
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
2.5cm piece root ginger, peeled and finely chopped
4 skinless chicken breasts
4 spring onions
2 tsp oil
200g sugar snaps
100g cashews

In a small bowl or jug, mix the soy, hoisin sauce, honey, cornflour, lemon zest and juice and ginger.

Cut the chicken into strips and trim and shred the spring onions.

Heat the oil in a wok or large frying pan, stir fry the chicken for 5-6 mins, until lightly coloured. Add the spring onions, the sugar snaps and the cashews and stir fry for a couple of mins. Add the sauce and toss everything together over the heat for a further 30 seconds or so.

Serves 4
Sainsbury’s Mag, Oct 09

The lemon was a little overpowering, I would maybe use only half a lemon next time.  I used a pack of fresh noodles that I added to the pan along with the sauce to heat through but it could also be served with some plain boiled rice.

This has now been moved from my 'must make' list onto our 'must have again' list!

CBC 16 - Ching's Chilli Chicken Noodles

This is another recipe that I used to make all the time and I can't quite remember why I stopped making it all the time.  This dish is fabby any time of year, in summer when everything is crisp and fresh or in winter when the chilli really kicks in and warms from the inside out.  We affectionately call this 'Ching's Chilli Chicken Noodles' as the recipe comes from Ching-He Huang's book Chinese Food Made Easy which accompanied the BBC TV series.  There are loads of fantastic recipes in the book but I shame-facedly admit that since trying this recipe I haven't ventured on to any of the others.  I really must rectify that!

Ching's Chilli Chicken Noodles
180g rice noodles
250g skinless chicken breast fillets, sliced
1 courgette, sliced into strips
1/2 red pepper, deseeded and sliced into strips
2 tbsp light soy sauce
2 large spring onions, sliced lengthways
For the Sauce
4 garlic cloves, crushed and finely chopped
2.5cm piece of fresh root ginger, peeled, sliced and finely chopped
1 medium red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
1/2 red pepper, deseeded and sliced into strips
2 tomatoes, sliced
5 tbsp water
2 tbsp tomato ketchup
1 tsp soft light brown sugar

Place all the ingredients for the sauce into a blender and blitz.

Cook the noodles according to the packet instructions.  Drain, then run them under cold running water and drain again.  Drizzle with a little groundnut oil and put to one side.

Heat a wok over a high heat and add 1 tbsp groundnut oil (I use fry lite!).  Add the chicken and stir fry for 2-3 mins until it starts to turn brown.  Add the courgette and red pepper and stir fry together for 1 min.  Add the sauce and bring to the boil.

Add the cooked noodles and stir well to combine.  Season with the soy sauce, garnish with the spring onions and serve immediately.

Serves 2
Ching-He Huang's Chinese Food Made Easy

One shortcut I take is to boil the kettle and pour the boiling water into a bowl that has the noodles ready and waiting with a couple of crumbled chicken stock cubes.  Not classy, but tasty!  By the time the chicken and veg have stir fried the noodles are soft enough to drain and add to the wok along with the sauce where they finish cooking but soak up some of that spicy flavour.  To bulk the meal out I often add extra red pepper and / or courgette if I have it.

CBC 15 - Broccoli, Feta and Tomato Salad

Chocoholics and baking fiends should look away, for the next few post have a decidedly savour bent to them!  Hubby and I have taken to packing our lunches for work and this salad has once again made its way back onto my weekly menu.  When I first moved to Edinburgh I made this salad for dinner quite a few times a week, its quick and easy to make, the ingredients cost pretty much next to nothing (this is a very important element to ones menu when one was on a temp!), its fairly healthy and above all else, it tastes pretty good too. 

Now is the part where I have to admit which cook book this comes from in order to qualify for my Cook Book Challenge .... deep breath, apply the same strategy as removing a band aid ... Ainsley Harriott's Friends and Family Cookbook.  I have nothing against Ainsley, except for maybe that hip shimmy, arm flailing in the air  like a maniac move he seems to love.  In fact most of the recipes of his that I have tried I seem to like quite a bit but I can't help but feel a little shameful for having bought this book.  I blame my local book retailer for reducing the price and shameless praying on my vulnerable book fetish.  How dare they!  ;0)

Broccoli, Feta and Tomato Salad
400g broccoli, broken into small florets
100g feta cheese, cut into cubes
225g cherry tomatoes, halved
6 tbsp mustard vinaigrette (recipe follows)

Blanch the broccoli for 1-2 mins in a pan of boiling salted water, then drain and refresh under cold running water.  Tip into a bowl and scatter over the feta and tomatoes.  drizzle over the vinaigrette and fold until well combined.

Serves 4
Adapted from Ainsley Harriott's Friends and Family Cook Book (said it twice now!)

Mustard Vinaigrette
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
a pinch of caster sugar
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp dijon mustard
1 tsp wholegrain mustard
1 small garlic clove, crushed
A small bundle of fresh chives, snipped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Place the vinegar in a screw topped jar, add the sugar and a good pinch of salt, then shake until the salt has dissolved.

Add the oil to the jar with the mustards and garlic and shake until you have formed a thick emulsion.  add the chives, season to taste and then chill until needed.

Makes enough to dress 1 large salad (serves 4)
Ainsley Harriott's Friends and Family Cook Book (thrice!)


To avoid the dressing from cooking the broccoli beyond the fresh, vibrant green that comes from blanching it, I pack the salad and dressing into separate containers to transport to work. 

Fresh From The Oven - Whole Wheat Walnut Bread

Here it is - finally!  I'm a little late with this months Fresh From The Oven challenge but I finally got a chance to make it this morning.  Adding its weight to the 'finally' is the fact that this is also my 200th post - woo hoo!

This months Fresh From The Oven Challenge was picked by Sarah from Simply Cooked.  Sarah choose Whole Wheat Walnut Bread which has been adapted from The Neighborhood Bakeshop by Jill Van Cleave. 



At this point I need to point out that this bread and I did not start out life as friends!  The dough was awkward and unruly at times but with a firm hand (and more than a few choice words of which I will not repeat here) determination won the day.  The end result is a wonderfully crusty loaf that is moist on the inside and flecked with hidden gems of walnuts, with a deep nutty flavour that surpasses the addition of the walnuts alone.  It is wholesome!  I've surprised even myself to discover that I actually really like eating this bread ... but part of me wonders if that is pay back for having to put up with its 'attitude'!  We've eaten it simply with a good farm churned, lightly salted butter to really bring the flavour out but I think it would also work really well alongside an 'earthy' flavoured soup like butternut or sweet potato, or equally as well with some rich blue cheese liberally applied.

My only punishments modifications to the recipe below was to use my kitchen-aide to knead the dough and two dinky little bread tins to bake the finished product in.  Both of these measures were on account of how wet the dough was to work with, it resisted all efforts (by this I mean adding all the reserved flour and a whole bunch more!) made to pacify it into a workable dough.  I'm wondering if the recipe states too much water?  Neither of my proving steps resulted in the bubbling mixture described below, just a bowl of drowned yeast!

Whole Wheat Walnut Bread
1 tsp active dry yeast, divided
500ml lukewarm water, divided
380g plain bread flour, divided
1 tbsp honey
1 tbsp olive or walnut oil
220g stone-ground whole wheat flour (40g of this can be replaced either with semolina flour or oat flour if you have any handy)
1 tsp sea salt
150g coarsely chopped walnuts, toasted

First prepare the sponge starter. Dissolve 1/2 tsp yeast in 250ml lukewarm water in a medium bowl. Let prove until bubbly, about 5 minutes.

Add 190 g bread flour and stir until a thick batter forms. Cover the bowl and leave at room temperature to rise and bubble for 6 to 8 hours. The starter is ready to use now or can be put in the fridge overnight. (Bring it back to room temperature before using.)

Dissolve the remaining 1/2 tsp yeast with the remaining 250ml lukewarm water in a large bowl. Let prove for about 5 minutes.

Add the sponge starter and mix well. Stir in the honey, oil, whole wheat flour, semolina flour (if using), and salt.  Add 160 g of the remaining bread flour gradually to form a stiff dough. Add the walnuts.

Turn out onto a floured surface and knead for ten minutes, adding as much of the reserved flour as needed to keep it from being too sticky. Knead until the dough is smooth and elastic.

Grease the bowl and return the dough, turning it to coat it in oil. Cover the bowl and allow the dough to rise until it is doubled in size, about 2 hours.

Divide the dough into two pieces and form into loaves. Place on a baking pan and leave them to rise again, about 30 minutes.

Bake at 200C for 30 to 40 minutes, until the loaves sound hollow when tapped on the bottom.

Cool on a wire rack.


Makes 2 loaves
 

 
I really enjoyed using the sponge starter technique as described in the recipe.  I've tried twice now to make my own sourdough starter but both times have ended in smelly tragedy.  This recipe has encouraged me to give the starter another try.  I made my sponge starter on Thursday night and it has kept in the fridge until this morning, even surviving an accidental summer holiday on the bench top for an hour or so last night!
 

White Chocolate and Raspberry Brownies

I was supposed to make this to take along to a family birthday celebration yesterday.  Unfortunately time got away from and so I never made it.  It seemed such a shame not to use up the ingredinets I had collected specifically for this recipe though and so I made it this afternoon to distract me from the commentary on the TV for the grand prix!

White Chocolate and Raspberry Brownies
150g butter, chopped
100g dark eating chocolate, chopped
100g milk chocolate, chopped
220g caster sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 eggs, beaten lightly
75g plain flour
75g self-raising flour
100g white eating chocolate, chopped
150g frozen raspberries

Preheat the oven to moderate (180°C/160°C fan-forced). Grease a deep 19cm square cake pan, line base and two opposite sides with baking paper.

Melt butter and dark chocolate in a medium heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water.

Stir in the sugar and vanilla, then the eggs, sifted flours, white chocolate and raspberries.

Spread the mixture into prepared pan; bake in a moderate oven for about 35 minutes or until just firm. Cool in pan.

Turn out; cut into squares.

Serves 10 or more
Nine MSN

Ordinarily Hubby and I aren't dark chocolate connoisseurs, we find it too bitter.  In this recipe I wanted to keep the rich chocolate brown colour that comes from using the dark variety though, so instead of using 200g as the original recipe states I reduced it to 100g and then replaced the other 100g with milk chocolate.  This seems to have worked very well, it has the proper brownie colour but with the taste and texture that Hubby and I both like.  The raspberries are a great addition too, lending a tart tang to the sweetness of the chocolates and the batter.  Defo making this one again!

Peach and Apricot Jam

It is no secret to anyone that Peach and Apricot jam is my all time favourite.  In my opinion there is nothing better than the sweet and tart mixture of the two fruits and when its presented in jam form, all condensed together with sugar .... summer on a slice of bread.

The first jam I ever attempted to make was a Peach and Apricot Jam last year.  For my first attempt I was pretty pleased with it but Mrs Bridges it wasn't!  Then I found this recipe and decided to give it another try.  I think this second attempt is probably the recipe that Mrs Bridges uses ;0)

My favourite way to have this jam is pretty simple, but decadent in its own right.  A nice thick slice of a rustic white loaf, good quality farm churned butter and a healthy dollop of jam smeared over the top and I'm like the cat that got the cream!

Peach and Apricot Jam
500g peaches, chopped coarsely
480g apricots, chopped coarsely
375ml water
1 tablespoon lemon juice
880g sugar, warmed

Combine the unpeeled fruit, stones and water in a large saucepan, simmer, covered, for about 20 minutes or until the fruit is soft and pulpy. Remove stones and discard. Stir in lemon juice. Test for pectin.

Add the sugar, stir over heat, without boiling, until the sugar is dissolved. Bring to the boil; boil, uncovered, stirring, occasionally for about 20 minutes or until the jam jells when tested.

Pour hot jam into hot sterilised jars; seal while hot. Invert the jars until cold.

Makes 4 cups of jam
Nine MSN

Breakfast Club - Baked Blueberry French Toast

We're treating ourselves with two Breakfast Club's in the one weekend :0)

There is a big day of baking planned so a hearty breakfast is in need! Not only that but its also Grand Prix day and biting your nails while sitting on the edge of your seat really takes it out of you lol. 

Baked Blueberry French Toast
Butter, for greasing (I used frylite)
2 large eggs
380ml milk
80ml maple syrup, plus extra for serving
A pinch of fine sea salt
1 lemon, zested (I didn't have a lemon to hand so used a small orange instead)
3 thick slices (about 130g) day-old challah or sourdough bread, cut into 3cm cubes
250g fresh or frozen, thawed, and drained blueberries
1 1/2 tbsp vanilla sugar

Place an oven rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat the oven to 180C. Butter a large baking dish and set aside.

In a large bowl, beat the eggs until frothy. Add the milk, maple syrup, salt, and zest. Add the bread cubes and mix until coated. Stir in the blueberries. Pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish.

Sprinkle the vanilla sugar over the egg mixture in an even layer. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes until the top is golden and the filling is set.

Spoon onto serving plates and drizzle with maple syrup.

Serves 4
Adapted from a recipe by Giada De Laurentiis on the Food Network UK Website

In an attempt to reduce some of the calories I've tweaked the recipe a little bit, reducing the number of eggs and using semi skimmed instead of whole milk, omitting the butter etc, etc, etc!  I've also omitted the cinnamon (it's alarming just how often that spice makes its way into a recipe!) and replaced it with vanilla (mmmmmmmmmm!) and finally my final 'tweak' was to reduce the quantities by approx half.  By rights, and according to Giada's original recipe, my version should only feed 2!  Indeed the smell of the French Toast baking was so intoxicating I was convincing myself that I could feasibly eat half the contents of the baking dish myself ... but I managed to restrain myself :0)

Next time we have this I'll try raspberries instead of the blueberries, for no other reason than we are raspberry fiends!  I'll also cut back on the maple syrup, it was a touch on the sweet side.  Maybe elderflower cordial instead of maple syrup would have been a nice substitution?

Breakfast Club - Puffed Peach Pancake

How many of us take a cook book to bed to read?  Or is it just me?  The other night I pulled Bill Granger's 'Holiday' off the book shelf and trotted off to bed, its been a while since Bill and I caught up!  Flicking through the book I came to the recipe for the Puffed Apple Pancake which I make regularly for breakfast

throughout Autumn, when I noticed Bill's footnote "... It's also fabulous with peaches ..."

This was a bit of a light bulb moment for me!  Why have I not thought of this seasonal improvement myself!?!?!?! 

I stand by my original comments though, swapping the apples for peaches has not made it any prettier to photograph with my little point and shoot!  Clearly the ugly duckling of the breakfast world because it is a very tasty way to start the day.  If I had to choose though I think I probably prefer the apples to the peaches ~ it's a texture thing!

Puffed Peach Pancake
50g butter (I use frylite nowadays)
4-5 medium sized ripe peaches, cut into quarters
3 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
1 tbsp lemon juice
90g plain flour
A pinch of salt
1 tsp finely grated lemon zest
1 tbsp vanilla caster sugar
4 eggs
185ml milk

Preheat the oven to 200C (220C for conventional ovens). Melt the butter in a 25cm frying pan with an ovenproof handle. Add the apples and cook for 5 mins over medium heat. Add the brown sugar, vanilla and lemon juice and cook, shaking the pan occasionally, until the butter has dissolved.

Mix the flour, salt, lemon zest and sugar together in a large bowl, make a well in the centre and slowly add the eggs and milk, whisking lightly to combine (don't worry too much about the lumps). Pour the batter evenly over the apples (it's fine if the apples show through). Put the pan in the oven and cook for 15 mins until puffed and golden. If your pan is shallow, place a baking tray underneath to catch any drips. Serve absolutely immediately with either yogurt, honey or maple syrup.

Serves 4
Bill Granger's 'Holiday'

Strawberry Jam Bread

After making the jam tarts last night I got to searching for some more ways to use up all that excess jam, in particular the cement like Strawberry Jam.  Google very kindly pointed me in the direction of this recipe, and though its title is a little deceiving ~ its more of a loaf, along the same kind of lines as Banana Bread, than an actual bread ~ it has already earned its place as a regular feature in our home by request of Hubby.  Over set Strawberry Jam is not a pre-requisite for this!

Strawberry Jam Bread

485g plain flour

1 tsp salt

3/4 tsp. cream of tartar

1/2 tsp baking powder

330g vanilla caster sugar

225g unsalted butter, softened

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp lemon juice

4 duck eggs

250 - 300g strawberry jam

130ml buttermilk
250g chopped nuts (optional)

Combine flour, salt, cream of tartar and baking powder in a bowl. Set aside. Combine sugar, butter, vanilla and lemon juice in large mixing bowl; cream together until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beat well after each addition. Stir together jam and buttermilk; add to creamed mixture by alternating with dry ingredients, mix just until blended. Stir in nuts, if using.

Spoon batter into 2 greased 9x5x3 inch loaf pans. Bake at 180C for 55 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool 15 minutes; remove from pans onto cooling racks.

Makes 2 Loaves
Adapted from Cooks dot com

A Trio of Tarts

My zeal for making jams seems to be taking over my fridge!  Currently occupying space is a failed Strawberry Jam recipe, which tastes perfect but could be used as mortar ... it clearly did not need that extra 3 minutes of rapid boiling!  There is also some seriously under set Apricot and Passionfruit Jam that Hubby is not that keen on and a new attempt at Peach and Apricot Jam which (in my humble opinion!) is just right!  Technically this one isn't taking up room in my fridge at all, but there always seems to be that bit extra left over that isn't quite enough to put in a jar.  I'll post the recipe for this jam at a later date, but if you can't wait please click here to find a more 'chunky' version which was my first ever attempt at making jam! 

As such there isn't really a recipe for these tarts.  All I did was make up some of Rachel's Sweet Shortcrust Pastry, used a pastry cutter to cut circles and used them to line 3 'mince pie' tins.  All that was left to do then was to dollop [where reasonably practical!] a teaspoon of the chosen jam in the center on the pastry circles and bake them in a preheated 180C oven for 12 mins. 

Easy peasy!

And a little bit yummy too ;0)

Although it hasn't used up any where near as much jam as I would have like it too!  Guess I'll just need to make some more hehehehe

Roasted Apricot and White Chocolate Muffins

I woke up early this morning so put the time to good use!  This recipe is in Australian measurements, my kitchen is decked out for both Aussie and British baking but if you need to convert any of the measurements then I find this conversion site pretty useful.

Roasted Apricot and White Chocolate Muffins
For The Roasted Apricots
1kg apricots, halved and stone removed
¼ cup brown sugar
For The Muffins
1 ½ cups plain flour
1 cup self raising flour
½ teaspoon bicarbonate soda
3/4 cup brown sugar
½ cup light olive oil
1 duck egg, lightly beaten
1 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
200g white chocolate, chopped
60g pecan nuts, roughly chopped

Preheat oven to 200°C.

To make the roasted apricots; place apricots on a tray lined with a baking sheet. Sprinkle with sugar and bake for 30 minutes or until soft.

To make the muffins; prepare 2 (12 hole) muffin tins either with olive oil spray or with paper liners. Sift flours, bicarbonate soda and cinnamon into a large bowl. Stir through sugar.

In a jug, combine olive oil, egg, vanilla extract and milk. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients. Pour in wet ingredients. Quickly combine using as few strokes as possible. (Mixture should still be a bit lumpy). Quickly fold in apricots, chocolate and nuts.

Spoon into muffin tins and bake for 20 minutes.

Makes 24 muffins
Adapted from The Australian Women's Weekly

My version is a bit different to the original, which included cinnamon and ginger but no chocolate.  If you would like to try the original then the recipe can be found here.

Home Alone!

Maria from The Goddess's Kitchen could not have been more timely posting her pasta dish, Linguine with Garlic, Prawns and Spinach.  No sooner did I comment to her that I would need to tuck the recipe away for a rainy day (Hubby doesn't like Prawns) than he ends up being out and I end up home alone and fending for myself. 

Owing to the fact that I am eating for one tonight I altered the recipe slightly, not much mind, but just enough that I didn't end up eating 3 other peoples portions as well as my own.  The original can be found over at Maria's wonderful blog, my version can be found below!

Linguine with Garlic, Prawns and Spinach
75g linguine
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Fry lite
1 garlic clove, crushed
150g spinach leaves
140g cooked prawns (the original recipe calls for uncooked peeled prawns but I could only find those frozen!)
1 1/2 tbsp chopped flat leaf parsley
Grated zest 1/2 lemon

Cook the pasta in a large saucepan in plenty of boiling salted water until al dente.

Meanwhile, in a large frying pan, heat the oil over a medium heat and fry the garlic for 1 minute until golden.  Add the spinach and cook for a further 2 minutes.  Add the prawns with the parsley and season with salt and pepper. Stir well and continue to cook for 2 minutes.

Once the pasta is cooked, drain and add to the frying pan, then lower the heat.  Add the lemon zest and cherry tomatoes and stir everything together for 30 seconds.  Serve immediately.

Serves 1 (very happily!)
Adapted from The Goddess's Kitchen