The Bloglings

This is very very much much in it's raw state and it is my new baby and I don't even have a badge yet!

I hope it will set you on a path of self discovery and will be self peculating.

An InLinkz Link-up

An InLinkz Link-up

Silent Sunday

Transparent Leaf

For me many moments are flash and feeling , as mentioned before I think it , see it do it.

For me photography is a pleasure a release , I've just ordered a ring flash and I'm looking forward to playing with that.

Cheats Chicken Kiev And Eaton Mess

My son is obsessed with chicken Kiev and given half a chance would eat it every day , I much prefer him to have fresh chicken Kiev rather than ones than look like they have spent too much on the sun bed. Fresh Kiev's are available from the local village butcher but are rather pricey, so I much rather buy a packet of 4 chicken breasts and as we are a family of 3 there is one left I can slice up for my husbands pack lunch result !

Ingredients

4 chicken breast

cream cheese about 4 tablespoon 

3 garlic cloves or less depending or your garlic levels

You could also use garlic paste as a quick option

100g fresh breadcrumbs

1 egg/ olive oil

mixed herbs 2 tea spoons

Optional you could add some garlic to the cream cheese  and put less in the seasonings, 

Method

Heat your oven to 200c/180c/gas mark 6 

Peel the garlic cloves and together with mixed herbs, breadcrumb whizz in a food processor.

Place the seasoning onto a plate.

Cut a slit in your chicken ( about a thumb length) carefully making sure do not go all the way through.

Spoon  some cream cheese into the slit and push down , repeat this for the remaining chicken breasts.

Spoon in the cream cheese.

You can either brush your chicken with olive oil or brush with beaten egg the choice is up to you .

Then press the chicken into the herby breadcrumbs.

Please in a shallow roasting tin.

Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes.

Bake for 20-25 minutes until the chicken is cooked and the breadcrumbs are golden brown.

Serve will a sale and corn on the cob.

Eaton Mess

Ingredients 

1 punnet of strawberries hulled and chopped.

I carton of extra thick double cream

2 packets of mini meringues 

First break up the meringues in a plastic bag

Then spread some at the bottom of a glass bowl.

Put in some chopped strawberries spoon on some cream

Repeat this process until all the ingredients are used up.

Give a massive stir place in fridge.

All this can be done while the chicken Kiev is cooking and is a ideal summers desert.

Layer the ingredients.

Place to chill in fridge.

Eaton mess an ideal summer dessert.

Moroccan Chicken & Tenderstem® Tagine Cooked With Cous Cous

This time as part of the Tenderstem challenge we were off to Morroco, with the prospect of cooking with my tagine I couldn't wait.


"It's not going to be uber spicy is it " ~ said J the mild mannered teen.

The changes I made to their recipe were as follows I actually cooked it with the cous couss in it and I swapped out the chick peas for Barlotti beans and no harissa paste.

Ingredients

2 tbsp olive oil
800g chicken thighs, or a combination of thighs & drumsticks
2 carrots, chopped
2 onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
500ml chicken stock
1 tin chickpeas, drained & rinsed
2 tsp runny honey
300g Tenderstem®, each stem cut in half

To serve:
Harissa paste (optional)
Generous handful coriander leaf, chopped
Steamed couscous

Method

The sweet and mild spicing of a Moroccan tagine is a really appealing way to introduce children to spices. Serve with fiery harissa on the side to spice things up a bit.

1. Add the oil to a flameproof casserole or large saucepan and set over a medium heat. Fry the chicken pieces on both sides until golden, doing this in batches if necessary to avoid overcrowding the pan. Once the chicken is all browned, return it all to the pan along with any juices. Toss in the carrots, onions and garlic along with the cumin, cinnamon and ginger and fry for a further couple of minutes, stirring well to coat the meat with the spices. Season with a little salt and pepper to taste.

2. Pour over the stock and add the chickpeas and honey, stirring thoroughly and bring up to a steady simmer. Turn down the heat, cover with a lid and cook gently for around an hour to an hour and a quarter, or until the chicken is tender.

3. Once the chicken is cooked, stir through the Tenderstem®, re-cover and simmer for a further 10 minutes, or until its just tender but with plenty of bite. Scatter over the coriander and serve with plenty of couscous to soak up the juice

"The spice was a little overwhelming but I liked the broccoli and chicken" ~ said J the teen now searching for the ice cream.

This is not a dish we would usually cook , but I can see how to tweak it in the future to suit my fussy teen all the more. Having the amount of spices helped the teen cous cous needs flavouring.