I don't normally go in for thinking that raw meat looks beautiful, but this chicken covered in delicious tasty marinade certainly did. The fact that once it came out of the oven it was a lovely, dark and caramelised meant that an "after" photograph didn't really do it justice. Taken from Nigel Slater's Real Cooking the cooking part of this meal had to be one the simplest things ever - it just goes in a hot oven! The preparation of the marinade did take a little while to prepare, but containing lime juice, lemon grass, hot red chillies, fresh ginger, spring onions ... read more
Egg-enriched White Loaf
Continuing my cookbook challenge I decided to be a bit adventurous with my bread making. For years have just been using the same wholemeal recipe. I've no real idea why though as I do love a range of different breads. Habit I guess. Today I broke that habit though by actually using one of the two bread machine books that I have on the shelf. Admittedly I didn't become super adventurous, but to use up some of the egg glut that we seem to have I went for the egg-enriched white loaf from Bread Machine by Jennie Shapter. I have to admit that I don't think I have made a single ... read more
Pork Stroganoff
Less than 24 hours into the new year and my cookbook challenge seems to be going well - even if I did start it last year! Mr C was responsible for cooking up the pork stroganoff from Gary Rhodes' Keeping it Simple even though some of the recipe wasn't quite as simple as the book's title suggested. Our brandy just didn't want to flambe no matter how much Mr C tried. A shame as otherwise it was quite tasty and relatively simple to make. It did remind us a fair bit of the paprika pork recipe from one of the 101 books, but the mushrooms did add a certain something ... read more
Mustardy Toad
I realise that we're still in 2010, but I've already started my 2011 cookbook challenge - I figured that seeing as I invented it I could write the rules, and bend them as I need to! There are two cookbooks on my shelf that I use more than any others - 101 simple suppers and 101 cheap eats. Both contain a fantastic mix of tasty, easy recipes that form the main part of our regular dinners. Tonight's dinner was one that we had done before, but enjoyed so much that it was time to do it again - a mustardy twist on toad in the hole that can be found in 101 cheap ... read more
cookbook challenge
Christmas has been and gone in a mass of laughter, tears, food, wine, wrapping paper and new toys. Thoughts are therefore turning to the new year and the ups and downs that it may bring. Resolutions are being planned and it's fair to say that most of mine centre around family and home. The kitchen has to be at the heart of most family homes and this one is no different. I may not be anywhere near as domesticated as I want to be, but that doesn't stop me imagining I am. I love looking through new cookbooks and planning what to make. The only problem is that I'm very poor at actually ... read more
The power of tea!
Coming from Yorkshire, I've always believed in the power of tea. Finding this message inside a new box of Twinings Earl Grey tea bags made me realise that I'm not the only one. "If you are cold, tea will warm you. If you are too heated, it will cool you. If you are depressed, it will cheer you. If you are excited, it will calm ... read more
A morning in the kitchen
My whole morning has been spent in the kitchen today, sadly not baking, but instead coming up with meals for Little Miss C. Pureed vegetables are nice and simple, but today I branched out a bit and tackled my first Annabel Karmel recipe: Apricot Chicken and Sweet Potato. I'm beginning to wonder if I should have bothered though. LMC is currently teething and while her front bottom two teeth have come through the gum, I'm pretty sure there's more going on in that little mouth of hers. Not only is she chewing everything that comes into her hands, but she also has moments where ... read more
Homemade pizza
Finally I'm finding the time to catch up with various blog posts that I've been meaning to write for a while. Following on from the various meals that I planned I'm pleased to report that all were a success.One that we particularly liked was homemade pizza. It seems silly now that we hadn't tried this before now and since our initial attempt we've this weekend enjoyed the second batch.The recipe that I've been using for the dough is a Jamie Oliver one that I found online. I halved the quantities to make enough dough for just three pizzas (six ... read more
Meal planning
With a demanding baby in the house (Little Miss C is teething at just eleven weeks old!) the variety of our evening meals has been somewhat lacking of late. I'm hoping that over the next week I can change this a bit and whilst ordering my groceries online I have also been seeking out some new recipes to try. Earlier in the year I also tried to take part in the 52 in 2010 challenge but as expected my participation eased off somewhat once LMC arrived. May be I can get a bit back on track this next week.Firstly I was drawn in by the Waitrose TV advert featuring Delia's ... read more
Hummingbird Bakery Chocolate Muffins
Life is greatly improved when you add a chocolate muffin and cup of tea to it! Muffins from the recipe in The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook. Slight deviation in that I used chocolate chips rather than a bar of chocolate broken into pieces. Still tasted good though - I just need to learn how to stop the chocolate pieces sinking to the bottom! ... read more